Back to REAL Life

Winter is almost out of here and we are all smiles!  Jett received a new piece of physical therapy equipment (a stander) and he is looking like such a big boy in it.  His favorite place to stand and play is right next to our back door with the sun shining on his face.  I love having a piece of equipment that actually DOES something for his muscles, his bone density, his lungs...I could go on and on. For some reason, Jett's favorite "toy" is this Christmas garland.  It must be the color and/or shine, but he just goes for it.  He's usually not happy unless he is interacting with another human, but put some Christmas garland in front of him and he's hooked for at least five minutes...gives me time to go to the bathroom or something. LOL.

  A couple weekends ago, I left my little Jett man with Cody for the entire weekend while I went to a wedding for my college friend, Kara, in Savannah, Georgia.  From what I hear, Jett and his daddy partied, ate ice cream, and stayed up late without mommy around! Even though it was so strange to fly somewhere by myself, I found great comfort in knowing that Jett had his daddy to take such good care of him.  With that said, I had the TIME OF MY LIFE!!  I can't believe that my college friends and I haven't planned a girls trip sooner because we had a blast.  Kara was a STUNNING bride and I was so happy to be there to witness her marriage.  Savannah is such a beautiful town; a town that I have always wanted to visit.  I shared a hotel room with my friends Ally and Jana and when we reunited, it was just like old times!  

I've been lucky in the traveling department lately because the following week (just last weekend), Cody, Jett, and I went to Chicago, which is hands down, one of my favorite U.S. cities.  Cody and his dad had a Special Care Dentistry conference to attend so while they sat in boring lecture after lecture (from what I hear...haha), Jett and I got to tour the city.  Our hotel (thank you Jerald) was right in the heart of the city so you could literally walk out the front door and you were downtown.  I LOVED IT!  To sum up Chicago in two words, they would be: FOOD & WALKING.  It's definitely good that we did a lot of walking because we sure ate a lot of good food.  We didn't have a meal that we didn't love.  We had Chicago Dogs at Portillo's, Stuffed Pizza at Lou Malnati's, Carne Asada at Cantina Laredo, and the BIGGEST meal that I have ever seen at Hash House A-Go-Go.  Oh my, just thinking about it, makes my stomach feel bloated.  We've definitely had to go back to our healthy eating ways (for the most part) now that we're back in Omaha. 

We're back to real life now, but real life isn't so bad!  It's crazy busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  Jett is my main focus (and my favorite at that) and I've had the privilege to be doing and working on a lot of other things as well.  I took an aerial yoga class a couple weeks ago, which felt wonderful, but I'm pretty sure I'm still dizzy from hanging upside down.  I've also been busy working as a Director of Marketing for The Shanahan Plan.  It really is one of the funnest and most challenging jobs that I've ever had.  I love creating and writing new Paleo recipes, coming up with marketing strategies, and expanding Terry's online business.  We have some really fun things in the works, which include a collaboration with my Paleo Plate Treat business. 

  

Cody is incredibly busy with school and finals, but is getting closer and closer every day to being finished.  He gets tired of studying and will usually find a good reason to not do so...it typically involves playing with Jett, but can you blame him?

Oh UTAH, How We Missed You!

I'm going to take the fact that I haven't written on our blog in MONTHS as a good thing.  

NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS, right?

It's true, we have nothing bad to report from the Boseman household!  We made it through the rough Omaha winter without any major sickness or hospital visits.  I am seriously amazed at how far Jett has come.  He is thriving and is one happy boy.  

Our little family (including Kusaba) hadn't been back to Utah to visit family since Christmas 2012.  If you want to know how that ended up, read HERE.  Just know, however, that it wasn't good.  We weren't sure if Jett was going to make it because of how sick he became.  Thus, the thought of returning to Utah has been a rather scary thought.  

Taking Jett on a commercial aircraft that is chuck full of people's recycled nasty germs just makes me want to slather myself and Jett in sanitizer and never go anywhere.  However, we took a giant leap of faith and made the trip out at the beginning of March.  For Cody, this trip wasn't necessarily a vacation, but a chance to get some real world clinical experience at a Salt Lake dental clinic.  His externship was scheduled for a two-week period and I wasn't about to let him go back home to Utah without us!

To make a long story short, the trip was AMAZING.  Jett didn't get sick once and was full of smiles and cuddles for family and friends.  Kusaba was able to fly out with us as well (thanks to my mom for buying him a plane ticket!) and quickly made new friends with my parent's new dog, Wyatt. Although I was busy with work stuff, which I'll get to in a minute, I was able to meet up with old friends and hang out with my family.  It was so nice to be back home where you are surrounded by mountains and the people you love.  Don't get me wrong, we love Omaha, but it's definitely not anything great to look at!  The first day we were back in Utah, I was snapping pictures of the mountains left and right.  You really forget how beautiful they are when you don't live there anymore...sigh, the things I took for granted.

Some of my favorite moments in Utah were:

* Seeing my Aggiette friend, Amy, and attending a couple Crossfit classes with her.

* Going out to lunch and catching up with my childhood best friend, Kara.

* Watching Jett interact (in his own special way) with his grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, and his cute little friend, Harvey.

* Acting a little crazy at Walmart with my sister, Tiffany.  (I miss her!)

* Attending Harvey's 1st birthday.  Harvey is our friends, Jason and Becky's little boy who is so cute and full of personality.  He was recently badly burned in a horrible accident, but is healing wonderfully.  It was so fun to celebrate his 1st birthday with him because it meant so much considering how much he had just been through.  His parents are rock stars!  

*  Hanging out with Cody's childhood friends, Natalie and Chaz Tucker and our pilot friend, Brandon.

*  Going to my nieces' musical Oliver.  Addie and Talia did such a good job and you could tell that they had worked hard on it...I swear the youngins' these days have way more talent than I ever did.

*  Going to lunch and shopping with my sisters-in-law (Amy and Christy).  It was so nice to get to know them better without all of the kiddos around.

*  Seeing Cody's entire Boseman side of the family.  Unfortunately, while we were in Utah, Cody's grandma Rowine Boseman passed away unexpectedly.  Although it was sad to see her go, it was nice to get together as a family and celebrate her life.  I'm glad we happened to already be in Utah.

*  Getting my entire family together to celebrate the March birthdays. 

*  Hearing Cody get excited about doing dentistry...honestly, people, this is a first!  Apparently the real world and the Creighton School of Dentistry are two very different things, thank goodness.

*  Watching Cody do some pretty sweet cheerleading moves with our niece, Maddie.  She is so flipping good...literally.  She's definitely a cheerleader/gymnast in the making. 

*  Working out and going for a jog in a safe neighborhood.  Seriously...where we live here in Omaha, you definitely DON'T want to go running outside. 

Oh my goodness, I hope I'm not forgetting anything!  A lot happened in those two weeks and I'm so grateful that we all got to be a part of it.  We were extremely lucky that Jett did so well.

Actually on that note, I do have an interesting story to share.  To preface this story, we usually have night nurses (in Omaha) that take care of Jett so that Cody and I can get a good night's sleep.  Jett needs to be monitored 24/7 due to his feeding and medication schedule.  Well, while we were in Utah, we got to feel what it's like to be real parents, which was kind of unsettling to me.  I was rather scared to leave Jett's feeds going throughout the night because you never know what could happen.

Anyway, one night, we were all sound asleep, myself included.  All of a sudden I hear a man's voice whisper, "TENNILLE!"  I literally jumped.  I turned over and Cody was sound asleep.  Who in the world had woken me up?  I lay there for a second just stunned and then I listened some more...I could hear Jett struggling in his crib.  At that moment, I jumped out of bed, flipped on the bedroom light, and ran to Jett.  He had refluxed and was choking.  I immediately used his suction machine and was able to calm him down.

If I had not been woken up by that guardian angel, I don't even want to think what could have happened.  We were truly blessed that night.  From that night on, I didn't put Jett on his feeds while he was sleeping unless I was awake and could monitor him, which made for some late nights. 

Now that we're back in Omaha, we're kind of on the final countdown!  We only have one more year here and then we will be moving back to Salt Lake City where Cody will practice dentistry.   You will all be required to call him Dr. Boseman and me, Mrs. Dr. Boseman so just keep that in mind.  (I sure hope you can sense my blogging sarcasm!)

 Right now, I'm having a lot of fun with my new job, which I had somewhat mentioned earlier.  I am now the Director of Marketing for a company called The Shanahan Plan ( www.TheShanahanPlan.com ).  Terry Shanahan, the creator/owner of the company hired me on to help expand his online business.  I am really busy creating different social media content, but this job is right up my alley.  It includes nutrition, fitness, and social media marketing...my three favorite things.  

Cody and I are also currently participating in the Crossfit Games OPEN and are raising money for the Jett Powered Foundation.  The workouts are super hard and they make us want to cry (for real), but it is so worth it knowing that we are doing it for those who don't have the capabilities to move like us.  If you would like to learn more about our fundraiser, go HERE.

Oh that little Jett is so kissable!  That guy in the background is kind of my favorite too.

He RADIATES

 It's hard to put into words how grateful we are to see Jett reach his 2nd birthday...and reach it BOLDLY, might we add!  He is one healthy and strong boy right now.  This past year has been so much fun with him. We can actually say that now and MEAN what we say!  He really is so much fun. Our first year with Jett was scary and full of hospital visits and the unknown.  We weren't sure he would even make it past his first birthday.  In fact, at times, we prayed that Heavenly Father would do what He needed to do to ensure Jett's comfort...whatever that may be.  However, Jett's strong will to live took over and he stayed with us!  The second year started out rough for a bit (with sickness and such), but from March until now, Jett has been the happiest and healthiest boy!  We couldn't be more happy with our little guy.

Daddy was able to come to Jett's PT appointment last week.

Jett cuddling with Grandma Sherrie

Cody and I talk a lot about what exactly it is about Jett that draws people to him.  There's something about him that just melts your heart and makes you smile.  For the longest time, we couldn't figure out what it was and then, just last night, I was reading a passage out of a book and the answer became very clear.  Currently, I'm reading a book that my mother-in-law gave me called One Tattered Angel by Blaine M. Yorgason.  It is a true story about a family that adopts a little girl with severe disabilities.  She was born missing a large portion of her brain (much like Jett) and was expected to only live a few months.  Well, I'm not finished with the book yet, but I do know that the little girl lived until she was 8-years-old and greatly impacted the lives of those around her.  Below is the passage that I read last night.  It starts out with the father speaking to his wife about their daughter, Charity.

Passage from One Tattered Angel:

"That little girl touches me in ways I have never been touched, " I told Kathy one day. "I absolutely love and adore her, but I'm also in awe of her; I cry with joy when she smiles at me; I can hardly keep myself from smothering her with hugs and kisses; I find myself constantly singing to her; I feel guilty when I'm around her because I don't know how to care for her the way you do, and yet I know with every fiber of my being that she loves me unconditionally; and I don't think I will ever in this life stop wondering who she really is.  Yet if I were asked what Charity does to affect me like that, I don't know if I could give a sensible answer."  (The last statement is exactly what Cody and I talk about all the time!)

Continuing on:

"Sure you could," Kathy responded.  "She may never talk or sing or run or jump or play like other little girls, which are the things we always talk about when we describe our children, but she does do something.  She RADIATES.  She is like a lamp with a bulb that seems to grow brighter the older she gets, radiating love and joy and peace to any who come near and want to feel it."
                                                                                                   -Blaine M. Yorgason

I couldn't have said it more perfectly myself.  Jett isn't able to do much physically, but what he does for us emotionally and mentally far outweighs any of that.  He simply RADIATES.  When I hold him, I literally feel all of the stresses in my life melt away...and he IS my biggest stress! I don't get it.  I really don't, but I'm grateful for the blessing that he is in my life.

Happy 2nd Birthday to our little Fighter Jett!!  Keep fighting the good fight little man.  We love you so much and look forward to many more years with you.

One of Jett's nurses did this fun Christmas craft with him.  Jett's hands and feet were painted and stamped onto the canvas to create the pictures.  Too cute!  It immediately made it's place on our wall.

My Mom…The Cat Lady

Summer was not complete without a visit from Jett's other Grandpa and Grandma, Ray and Charlene.  My parents arrived on my birthday and spoiled me like crazy, which, by the way, does not get old no matter how old you are or how many kids you have.

Here they are sporting their Jett shirts and new eyewear.  Just so you know, my mom did NOT want her picture taken…so I'll make sure that I make the picture extra large on this blog.  

Its always nice to still be a kid every once in awhile. They took us out to dinner, took me shopping, cleaned my house,  and spent their days here cuddling Jett and a new cat…yup, a new cat.

Now, I need to preface this story. If any of you know my mom well, you know that she is a huge animal lover. That is my nice way of saying that she is a "cat lady".  In her neighborhood back home, I am certain that all of the stray cats meet together and discuss which house to go beg from.  For some strange reason, all of the cats end up at my mom's house.  She has gone to many lengths to ensure the comfort of these dirty, ratty, stray cats (one of which is missing both ears) such as canned cat food, their own cat house that sits on the porch, and a warm room and bed for one cat to give birth in. In all honesty, I admire what my mom does.  She doesn't like to see any animal suffer and that love has been instilled in me.  However, I do enjoy poking fun at my mom whenever I can.

So fast forward to their trip out to Omaha, Nebraska.  My parents had only been in town for a total of four hours and OUT OF NOWHERE a flipping black cat showed up at our house.  Seriously, do cats have phones?  This cat knew that my mom would feed and take care of it and did not back down.  Just imagine the most annoying "nails down the chalkboard" cat meow that you can and that would describe the sound that this cat made. Kusaba would freak out every time the cat came clawing and meowing at our door, which was not okay with us.  My mom tried to convince me that we needed a cat.  "Well can't you just let it stay on the other side of the fence and just feed it every day?"  No…no, I can't.

Mr. Black Cat took a special liking to my Dad

So to make a long story somewhat short, my mom wanted to take the cat home with her back to Utah.  She was willing to pay for the cat to fly home, but when I called the airlines, they informed me that no animals were allowed to fly due to intense heat conditions.  Well, crap.  My parents ended up taking Mr. Black Cat to the Omaha Humane Society...but my mom made sure first that the cat would not be euthanized if it wasn't adopted.  I wouldn't be surprised if she has called back to make sure that they're holding true to their promise.  

My parents were able to come to a couple of Jett's physical therapy appointments.  The pictures below are of Jett's feet being measured for braces.  Braces are custom-made to provide ankle stability.  We had these braces made and ready to go by the time my parents were here.  Cody and I decided that they look like wakeboard bindings. What do you think?

Jett was NOT a fan of his first time in a stander.  I won't post the pissed off pictures, but just know that he was NOT happy!  I ended up singing to him (in my awful voice) and that seemed to do the trick.  He tolerated everything after that.

The purpose of a stander is not to make Jett do things that we know he cannot.  There are many great benefits for putting him in this ginormous contraption.  First off, it's good for him to be upright every once in awhile.  Our bodies are not meant to lay horizontal all of the time.  For those who lay flat most of the time are at greater risk of pneumonia and other complications.  Putting Jett in a stander allows all of the gunk to get out of his lungs and lets everything move downward. Another great benefit of a stander is that it allows the muscles around Jett's joints to be strengthened.  The braces support Jett's ankles and allow him to stand using his own body weight.  I'm glad my parents were there with me! Cody was super busy with clinics at school and wasn't able to come. There are a lot of different things that I've had to experience as a special needs mom and I'm incredibly grateful that I have an amazing support system. 

Jett loved cuddling with his Grandma!

I gave up cooking the week that my parents were here and we were able to try some fun Omaha restaurants.  One of our favorites was Wheatfields in Old Market.  Jett did AMAZING in his wheelchair while we ate some yummy food.  Sorry for the blurry phone pics, but I caught a rare, and very cute smile, from Jett.

My dad ordered a BRICK of lasagna.  No big deal.

I ordered a Cobb Salad and pretty much ate all the goodies on top.  Does anyone else do that?

Annndddd....we can't forget about Kusaba.  He was WORN out by the time my parents left, but still was alert enough to protect all of his tennis balls.

Thanks for coming to visit MOM and DAD!

Boseman Family Reunion Nebraska Style

Our family must really, really like us.  Do you want to know why?  They all agreed upon Nebraska (aka Omaha) as our family vacation destination this year.  They could have gone to Hawaii.  They could have gone to Disney World.  Nope. They really wanted to come to Nebraska instead annnnndddd they all wanted to drive over 16 hours to get here.  Okay, okay…maybe they didn't necessarily want to come to Nebraska, but awhile back, Cody and I made the decision that we're not putting Jett on a plane anytime soon.  He gets sick way too easily.  Usually we're not the over-cautious parent, but when a simple sickness can land your kid in the hospital, you learn to take some precautions!  Anyway, Cody's family is amazing and didn't want to leave us out so they packed up their cars and buses (if you're Peter) and headed out to Nebraska!

Cody and I called it our "stay"cation.  We were able to feel like we were on vacation, yet we could come home each night and hand Jett off to a nurse.  Cody's parents rented a cabin that is located about 15 minutes north of Omaha.  It was surrounded by horses and a small lake. Who knew that Nebraska had such beautiful countryside?  Since moving to Omaha, I was always looking for that picturesque image in my mind of what Nebraska is supposed to be.  You know…windmills, cornfields, horses, cows, tractors, crop dusting airplanes…that kind of thing.  Well, if you've ever been to Omaha, it doesn't really offer much…just a bunch of freeways and trains.  However, travel 15 minutes north of Omaha and you are in beautiful cornfield country.

We had a blast with Cody's family.  Jett loved hanging out with all of his cousins and was able to spend some quality time with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Amy, and Uncle Peter.  They showered him with cuddles and kisses.  He even got to participate in the "golden ticket" challenges that Cody and Amy planned for the kids.  Prepare for a picture overload below.

Jett helped WIN a golden ticket challenge…go Jett!

Oh ya know…just working on a BOONDOGGLE keychain.  Back in my day, I was the queen of boondoggle.  You can pretty much call me Deb (from Napolean Dynamite)

At the Air and Space Museum, Jett looked like such a big boy in a real stroller.  He loved looking at all of the planes (obviously)…well, shoot, he IS sleeping in this picture.

I found my next winter coat at the Air and Space Museum.  How do you like it?

Boating DAY!  Even Grandma got a turn on the tube.

Little Henry Wyatt (our nephew) was not a fan of the tube.  He shrieked in terror the entire time, yet when he came back in the boat, he screamed out, "I did it mommy, I did it!"

Jett loved the water and it was a good thing that he did.  It was a HOT day!

Our niece, Addie wakeboarding for the first time.  She's already better than I am.

My older nieces (and sister-in-law, Amy) gave me this cute hat for my birthday!

Jett and Daddy doing their "A-Okay" sign

Jett and I roasting, literally roasting, on the beach.  The sun kept moving so we had to keep moving spots.  

The entire Boseman clan (minus Chad's family) sporting our awesome reunion shirts that Cody made.

We loved hanging out at the ranch…Kusaba especially.  He would leave and go on his own adventures and then come back hours later with horse poop all over him.  He was in heaven.

We LOVE our Boseman family! Come on back now, ya hear?