luke is walking!

For those following our journey with posterior medial tibial bowing, you know that this is a total answer to prayer. 

This little man is up on his feet and walking.  Everywhere. 

I love the way he holds his little hands in fists, out to the side, balancing just perfectly.

And how his little hips swing front to back with every uneasy toddler step. 

And the determination, confidence, concentration, and excitement on his face.

I love that in this picture, Luke is out of focus.  Because it reminds me that though I love these precious little footsteps, Luke is not my focus at all.  The Lord has heard our cry, and answered our prayer.  We are thankful for the way He works in our lives and shows Himself through our son.  We praise Him because we do not walk this journey alone, but with a loving, merciful, powerful God who goes before us to prepare a way. 

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known; along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth; these are the things I will do.  I will not forsake them.  Isaiah 42:16

ironman training

Have I mentioned that Adam is training for Ironman Texas 2012?

Well, he is.  This has been a really big deal over the last 8-10 months, and now, with the race just over five weeks away, training is in full swing. 

A typical week right now includes twelve or more hours of swimming, biking, and running, and all the resting, eating, and hydrating that comes with that level of cardiovascular training.

Just this morning, for example, Adam ran 14 miles.  Ya know, before he went to work!

Luke and I went to the end of the street to watch for him and we got there just in time to see him finish his long run!  He was actually smiling! 

I am so proud of my husband.  This level of training takes commitment, tons of discipline, lots of research, and sacrifice.  He has worked so hard for months and months and he's going to do so well on race day.

Ironman training can be really tough on families because workouts take up so much time.  But Adam has been very intentional about getting his hours in while we are still sleeping, or napping, or during his work day day so that he very rarely misses a family dinner and he can still take care of Luke on the evenings that I work.  I'm so thankful for all the time we've still had as a family.

I can't wait until May 19!  I love you babe!

happy easter!

No guilt in life, no fear in death.

This is the power of Christ in me!

We had a sweet Easter.  Church, egg hunt, family nap, late lunch at GiGi's house, more family time, and a lazy little evening.  Happy Easter, everyone.

a little of this...

I spent last week in San Antonio at the 2012 NAPNAP conference. 
It was so nice to get away and spend some time by myself.
Even if I was sitting through lectures about probiotics and asthma.
Actually, I love sitting through lectures about probiotics and asthma. 
And infectious disease and immunizations.  Ah.  What a great week.

But it was so nice to come home to this little guy!

He didn't start walking while I was gone, (thank goodness! wouldn't that have been sad!), but he's making slow and steady progress, and that's fun.  He'll let go and take a step or two on his own, he just doesn't quite have the bravery - or balance - to go too far yet. 

While I was gone Luke and daddy spent their days doing all kinds of fun things.  In this picture, they're watching the lawn guys.  Luke loves the mowers.  So cute!

And this isn't relavent to much of anything, but this picture is from dinner tonight and you can really see those top two teeth, which are brand new.  He's just the cutest thing in the whole world.

We had king ranch chicken casserole (or my version of it, anyway) and I'm pretty sure he ate as much as I did.  Chunker. 

HaPpY wednesday!

We've had a great week.  Last week we were in the medical center three days, so this week I promised little man some stay-at-home-play-time!  Unfortunately, we'll be headed back down there this afternoon for some adjustments to the new splint which is a big bummer.  But we have managed to squeeze in some fun.  We had a picnic at the park, several good stroller rides, a wagon ride or two, and lunch with friends at Kobe, which Luke thought was amazing.

It's hot here.  Like 80s hot, which is a great reason to pull out the shorts and t-shirts.  Lots of our friends are on spring break, so there's a little bit of a vacation mood going around.  Dad is training hard for the Ironman and I'm back to running after my week of recovery.  We got to go out on a date this weekend and it was fantastic!  

Can I just say that I'm so thankful to be his mama.  What a humbling, amazing, exhausting, joyful, did I mention humbling, and wonderful job this is.   Happy Wednesday, hope you're enjoying spring break as much as we are!  

end of a long day

By the time we finally got home, this little man was missing his pants, his shoes, and his socks.

He had blue sticky sucker drool on his shirt and his face and his hair.

He had marker on his left leg and plaster on his toes.  

He had hospital floor germs on his hands and dust under his fingernails.

He had snot smeared from his nose to his ears.

It was the end of a very long day. 

 

Today was our appointment at Shriners Orthopedic Hospital in the medical center.  Though we already have an orthopod - Dr. B - who we really do love - we decided to get a second opinion to make sure that there's not something we should be doing that we aren't doing for this little man.  Our recommended course of action up until now has been to watch and wait, hoping that time + growth would straighten Luke's tibia most of the way, and then surgeries later down the road would help straighten and lengthen the bone even more.  So we drove to the med center today for our long awaited, highly anticipated Shriners appointment. 

Two-and-a-half hours, three x-rays, and tons of questions later -- we finally got our second opinion.  And ironically enough, it was about the same as the first. 

To sum it up, the doc at Shriners today pretty much agreed with Dr. B.  Time, growth, and weight bearing would help Luke's tibia straighten out, but that he would be left with a leg length discrepancy that could be treated surgically. 

So we left Shriners and celebrated that bit of news with a cupcake from Crave - yummy! - and headed to Dynamic Orthotics, where we met our new orthotist.  This is the guy that's going to try to make Luke a splint that works.  Our old orthotist has tried three times to no avail, so it was time to move on and give someone else a shot!  He was wonderful, and this was probably the highlight of our day.  We got a plaster cast of Luke's leg and it looks like we'll have a new splint on Friday.  Awesome.

So overall it was a really good day.  Despite hours in the car and hours in a little bitty exam room and a really bad cold, little man was a great trooper and stayed happy all day long. 

I can honestly say that tonight I have such a peace about what we are doing for our son.  I wish he didn't have this challenge in front of him, but he does.  I thank God for the opportunity to watch him grow and be a part of his amazing little life.  We continue to pray for complete healing, and every day until then we will fight for his best possible care.

13.1 miles and a prayer request

I did it!  I finished the The Woodlands half marathon on Saturday in 1:57:27, accomplishing my goal to run the sucker in under 2 hours!  

It was a great day for a run, with cool weather and a nice easy course.  I had so much fun that I'm genuinely sad it's over and can't wait to sign up for another race. 

Look who else is feeling a bit proud.  This little man is getting closer and closer to taking steps on his own.  We are working really hard on balance and still trying to find a splint solution that will give him stability and flexibility at the same time.  This has been a huge challenge and a ton of work.  

We have a big appointment tomorrow, too, regarding Luke's leg.  Please pray with us for wisdom and peace and discernment.