I LOVE spring! All the colorful flowers everywhere, shorts weather, toobing down rivers, gardening, Fiesta; everything about it seems joyful & filled with hope & new beginnings.
Today was no exception! We began the day lending our support to our friends the Gannaway's as the officially finalized the adoption of their son Yorick. The judge even gave out fiesta pins to everyone!
Also today it became official that every couple in our original orientation (held on 11-11-11) group with Abrazo Adoption Agency has been placed with a child. I am so happy for every single person I met that weekend! Is it weird that I'm feeling....I don't want to say sad...but something....nostalgic?....I don't know....maybe that I'm going to miss our little ///Team\\\.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The Great Helmet Debate
At Riley's 2 month pediatrician appointment Jeff mentioned to the dr that Riley seemed to prefer looking to his right and rarely looked the other way. After some examining she noticed 2 things, first that his neck muscles on the right side of his neck were very tight, making it hard for him to look left & also at he had a significant flat spot on the back, right part of his skull.
She gave us some exercises to do to loosen up hs neck muscles, recommended that we see a physical therapist to help with that as well, and also gave some suggestions on how to encourage R to look and turn his head to the left. She then said she hoped all of this would help reshape his head so the flat spot was not so severe & she would re-evaluate in 2 months. Bu if it didn't seemed to mprove she would recommend he wear a helmet to more aggressively reshape his head.
We immediately started working on all of her suggestions, including seeing a physical therapist. Extreme cases of that neck tightness is called tortocollis, the dr never specifically said R had tortocollis just neck tightness. We actually only saw the physical therapist 3 times after the initial visit. I was hesitant to go to PT the whole time, mainly because R was only 3 months old and I felt a bit silly taking an infant to PT. but in the end I was glad I did, mainly because our therapist totally stroked my parenting ego each time we went. Telling how great Riley was coming along, how he was ahead fo his age, asking me if I worked with little kids because I seemed so comfortable with him for a first time mother. I really don know how much Rily go out of the visits, but I always felt awesome afterward ;)
The therapist recommended we get R evaluated by a helmet company, which we did. They, of course, recommended we go ahead and get him one of their helmets as soon as he turned 4 months. I confessed that I didn't want R to go to PT, and I really, really, really didn't want him to have to wear a helmet.
He would wear this helmet 23 hours a day, 7 days a week for at least a couple of months if not longer, and we would need to get it adjusted at least once a week it not a couple of times a week. I wondered how he would sleep in it, if it would slow down his development milestone wise, how stinky it would get , and if course what other people would think. My mother assured me that it would bother me WAY more than it would bother him. She should know, when I was 6 months old I had to wear some sort of therapy thing to do something to my hips. I learned to crawl & walk I that thing, she's told me all my life. At first it was made of plastic, but I grew so fast they finally made it out of metal and canvas. This one my mom absolutely hated because of the looks people gave her at the grocery store. I on the other hand was pretty much oblivious to it. And to this day don't remember wearing it.
But still I clung to what the therapist told me, that his head seemed to be getting better and possibly by 5 months it would take care of itself. I at least wanted to wait until his 4 month pedi appointment to see what the dr said.....which of course was that she recommend we get it.
After even more feet dragging, humming and hawing about it, we finally made an appointment to get his head digitally scanned so he could make a "band" ( as they call it) just for him.
I should mention the cost of his helmet and where the company is located....$3800 & Austin, TX. Other reasons why I had drug my feet. Jeff was all for it, I was the one with concerns.
An article in people magazine in 2005 demonstrates on way to look at the helmet.
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20148067,00.html
After I read this article I wondered how much research the author actually did for this article. There is no mention of the different types of flatness or different reasons it happens. I also wonder if the author ever wore braces, because honestly I don't see the difference between the helmet & getting braces.
Here are pictures of what e looked like so they could get an accurate scan.
And here are some with him in his helmet, before and after decorating
She gave us some exercises to do to loosen up hs neck muscles, recommended that we see a physical therapist to help with that as well, and also gave some suggestions on how to encourage R to look and turn his head to the left. She then said she hoped all of this would help reshape his head so the flat spot was not so severe & she would re-evaluate in 2 months. Bu if it didn't seemed to mprove she would recommend he wear a helmet to more aggressively reshape his head.
We immediately started working on all of her suggestions, including seeing a physical therapist. Extreme cases of that neck tightness is called tortocollis, the dr never specifically said R had tortocollis just neck tightness. We actually only saw the physical therapist 3 times after the initial visit. I was hesitant to go to PT the whole time, mainly because R was only 3 months old and I felt a bit silly taking an infant to PT. but in the end I was glad I did, mainly because our therapist totally stroked my parenting ego each time we went. Telling how great Riley was coming along, how he was ahead fo his age, asking me if I worked with little kids because I seemed so comfortable with him for a first time mother. I really don know how much Rily go out of the visits, but I always felt awesome afterward ;)
The therapist recommended we get R evaluated by a helmet company, which we did. They, of course, recommended we go ahead and get him one of their helmets as soon as he turned 4 months. I confessed that I didn't want R to go to PT, and I really, really, really didn't want him to have to wear a helmet.
He would wear this helmet 23 hours a day, 7 days a week for at least a couple of months if not longer, and we would need to get it adjusted at least once a week it not a couple of times a week. I wondered how he would sleep in it, if it would slow down his development milestone wise, how stinky it would get , and if course what other people would think. My mother assured me that it would bother me WAY more than it would bother him. She should know, when I was 6 months old I had to wear some sort of therapy thing to do something to my hips. I learned to crawl & walk I that thing, she's told me all my life. At first it was made of plastic, but I grew so fast they finally made it out of metal and canvas. This one my mom absolutely hated because of the looks people gave her at the grocery store. I on the other hand was pretty much oblivious to it. And to this day don't remember wearing it.
But still I clung to what the therapist told me, that his head seemed to be getting better and possibly by 5 months it would take care of itself. I at least wanted to wait until his 4 month pedi appointment to see what the dr said.....which of course was that she recommend we get it.
After even more feet dragging, humming and hawing about it, we finally made an appointment to get his head digitally scanned so he could make a "band" ( as they call it) just for him.
I should mention the cost of his helmet and where the company is located....$3800 & Austin, TX. Other reasons why I had drug my feet. Jeff was all for it, I was the one with concerns.
An article in people magazine in 2005 demonstrates on way to look at the helmet.
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20148067,00.html
After I read this article I wondered how much research the author actually did for this article. There is no mention of the different types of flatness or different reasons it happens. I also wonder if the author ever wore braces, because honestly I don't see the difference between the helmet & getting braces.
Here are pictures of what e looked like so they could get an accurate scan.
And here are some with him in his helmet, before and after decorating
Pardon the Interruption
Please forgive my lapse in blog posts. I blame it all on living in "infant land", where pretty much every moment of my time is spent.....sorry had to step away for a few minutes, had to go feed Mr. Riley, then clean up after him (its avocados this week, nice & smooshie & green - with some going up his nose), then put some clothes in the dryer, and took some turkey out of the freezer for dinner & did some dishes. So that kinda explains my last 5 months! I just put R down for a nap, but can hear him talking away in his room, so not sure how long I will have to write, better get started!
I've read some great articles that I will try & post links to below. I thought all were great and should b read by all new parents. One hung I've found note resting is, even though we had to wait so long for Riley to come to our lives, and I am thankful I can stay at home with him, it's no all peaches and cream. Reading these have made me feel okay with realizing that & helped me appreciate all he great and amazing things that being a stay at home mom brings.
http://www.stevewiens.com/category/parentingmarriage/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/una-lamarche/how-to-be-a-perfect-parent_b_2888253.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-morrison/motherhood_b_2271349.html
So here's to future venting, getting on my soap box or just sharing funny kid stuff!
I've read some great articles that I will try & post links to below. I thought all were great and should b read by all new parents. One hung I've found note resting is, even though we had to wait so long for Riley to come to our lives, and I am thankful I can stay at home with him, it's no all peaches and cream. Reading these have made me feel okay with realizing that & helped me appreciate all he great and amazing things that being a stay at home mom brings.
http://www.stevewiens.com/category/parentingmarriage/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/una-lamarche/how-to-be-a-perfect-parent_b_2888253.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-morrison/motherhood_b_2271349.html
So here's to future venting, getting on my soap box or just sharing funny kid stuff!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
And Then There Were Six.....
Are we crazy....it's really any ones guess, but we got a 2 month old puppy from the Humane Society here in SA, And doing the math, his and Riley's birthdays are pretty close!
Poor Miles was the only dog we had left. We got him as a puppy and he had never been the only dog around, so needless to say he has been lonely! Following us around the house and looking sad and pathetic! Poor guy.
After some discussion Jeff, Riley and I all went to Humane Society....
[ Quick Side Note : I had mentioned to Jeff about taking Riley to have his picture taken with Santa this year. He nixed the idea because "Santa will be just crawling with germs", or something to that effect. I quietly agreed and went on with my day. A week later when the discussion of going to the Humane Society came up, I said we both had to be there to pick out the dog but wondered what we would do with Riley. Jeff was so stoked about the puppy/dog idea he had no qualms what-so-ever with bringing Riley to the animal shelter. A little while later I mentioned the discrepency, and asked if maybe a few years down the line we wouldn't have regrets about not taking Riley to get his pic taken with Santa his first Christmas....he agreed. So tomorrow we go see Santa!]
as soon as we walked into the puppy room there was a cage with 2 brown lab-mix puppies is the first cage we saw. I immediately fell in love, but quickly walked around to the rest of the cages to make sure I saw everyone before making a final decision. And of course these were the cutest ones. There was a boy and girl, and for some reason I told Jeff we should take the boy. He hadn't been neutered yet, so they told us we couldn't pick him up until the following Friday.
This afternoon I stopped by to See him again and ask if there was any way we could bring him home sooner....and low-and-behold he was cleared to be taken him right then. I had an errand to run, but once that was done I immediately went back to pick him up. Didn't have a cage, paperwork or anything.
Good little Coltrane sat in my lap the entire way home (in 5 o'clock traffic none the less).
Of course once we got him home and the reality of a puppy and a 7 week old kicked in...especially when I started wondering what I was going to do when Jeff had to go back to work in a couple of days! Then when Riley started to get fussy and we put Coltrane in his kennel and he started howling loudly I began to freak out! Jeff immediately sent me to the corner store to buy myself some wine....which I obligingly did.
I came home to an empty house with everyone (except Kitty - who had mysteriously disappeared) in the backyard. Apparently Coltrane was howling because he had to go to the bathroom...which he did in the kennel. Jeff noticed when it began to stick and he saw some brown substance on the gate.
By the way - please realize that for now, when I say "kennel", it's actually our cat carrier.
The rest of the night was spent getting Riley for bed, making and eating dinner, and mostly playing with Coltrane in the backyard to wear the poor guy out (which actually worked).
Of course at one point when we brought him inside after playing outside for quite a while, he promptly peed on the bedroom carpet.....why do I see an endless road of cleaning up a lot of pee and poop (human and dog) in my future....
Once we took care of that situation, we slowly coaxed him back into the kennel (he was obviously tired from a big day since he had started to fall asleep on my lap outside).
By 9:00 the house was dark and I was the only one still awake!
Stay tuned for more crazy Lunsford household antics....
Poor Miles was the only dog we had left. We got him as a puppy and he had never been the only dog around, so needless to say he has been lonely! Following us around the house and looking sad and pathetic! Poor guy.
After some discussion Jeff, Riley and I all went to Humane Society....
[ Quick Side Note : I had mentioned to Jeff about taking Riley to have his picture taken with Santa this year. He nixed the idea because "Santa will be just crawling with germs", or something to that effect. I quietly agreed and went on with my day. A week later when the discussion of going to the Humane Society came up, I said we both had to be there to pick out the dog but wondered what we would do with Riley. Jeff was so stoked about the puppy/dog idea he had no qualms what-so-ever with bringing Riley to the animal shelter. A little while later I mentioned the discrepency, and asked if maybe a few years down the line we wouldn't have regrets about not taking Riley to get his pic taken with Santa his first Christmas....he agreed. So tomorrow we go see Santa!]
as soon as we walked into the puppy room there was a cage with 2 brown lab-mix puppies is the first cage we saw. I immediately fell in love, but quickly walked around to the rest of the cages to make sure I saw everyone before making a final decision. And of course these were the cutest ones. There was a boy and girl, and for some reason I told Jeff we should take the boy. He hadn't been neutered yet, so they told us we couldn't pick him up until the following Friday.
This afternoon I stopped by to See him again and ask if there was any way we could bring him home sooner....and low-and-behold he was cleared to be taken him right then. I had an errand to run, but once that was done I immediately went back to pick him up. Didn't have a cage, paperwork or anything.
Good little Coltrane sat in my lap the entire way home (in 5 o'clock traffic none the less).
Of course once we got him home and the reality of a puppy and a 7 week old kicked in...especially when I started wondering what I was going to do when Jeff had to go back to work in a couple of days! Then when Riley started to get fussy and we put Coltrane in his kennel and he started howling loudly I began to freak out! Jeff immediately sent me to the corner store to buy myself some wine....which I obligingly did.
I came home to an empty house with everyone (except Kitty - who had mysteriously disappeared) in the backyard. Apparently Coltrane was howling because he had to go to the bathroom...which he did in the kennel. Jeff noticed when it began to stick and he saw some brown substance on the gate.
By the way - please realize that for now, when I say "kennel", it's actually our cat carrier.
The rest of the night was spent getting Riley for bed, making and eating dinner, and mostly playing with Coltrane in the backyard to wear the poor guy out (which actually worked).
Of course at one point when we brought him inside after playing outside for quite a while, he promptly peed on the bedroom carpet.....why do I see an endless road of cleaning up a lot of pee and poop (human and dog) in my future....
Once we took care of that situation, we slowly coaxed him back into the kennel (he was obviously tired from a big day since he had started to fall asleep on my lap outside).
By 9:00 the house was dark and I was the only one still awake!
Stay tuned for more crazy Lunsford household antics....
Good-Bye Mary Jane
In an earlier post I mentioned how we lost our oldest dog Sam. A couple of weeks after we brought Riley home we also lost the next oldest dog, Mary Jane. She had been sick for a few months and loosing weight. She would be fine and then would obviously feel bad, this happened off and on for several months.
Finally one day we came home and went to let the dogs inside, she did not immeduately come, which was a sign she was not feeling well again. I went to check on her and she was laying on the dog bed on the patio. One pupil was larger than the other, she had peed on herself and thrown up as well. It was a sad and scarey sight.
Jeff took her to the vet and they decided it was best to let her go. Jeff said this time he wasn't crying or didn't feel as bad, though he did not go into the room with her as he did with Same. (Mary Jane was more my favorite than his). All was well until the vet tech came back to tell him it was done. With Sam they made a mold of a paw print and sent it to us in the mail. This time the vet tech began talking with another and mentioned she thought they might be out of clay to make the mold......and apparently that was what finally broke poor Jeff. He said he started blubbering like a baby, the other pet owners in the waiting room told them they had to go out and buy more. Jeff said he was so pathetic they probably did it right then.
We did get her paw print mold in the mail a short time later.
When I texted my mom what happened she texted back the sweetest thing and said that Mary Jane taught her to love dogs. Makes me tear uo even now thinking of that!
When we would go to the dog park Mary Jane would completely ignore the other dogs and go get as much attention from the other dog owners as she could get....she was pretty smart!
Good-bye Mary Jane, you were the sweetest, lick-iest, people lovin'-ist dog I ever met.
Finally one day we came home and went to let the dogs inside, she did not immeduately come, which was a sign she was not feeling well again. I went to check on her and she was laying on the dog bed on the patio. One pupil was larger than the other, she had peed on herself and thrown up as well. It was a sad and scarey sight.
Jeff took her to the vet and they decided it was best to let her go. Jeff said this time he wasn't crying or didn't feel as bad, though he did not go into the room with her as he did with Same. (Mary Jane was more my favorite than his). All was well until the vet tech came back to tell him it was done. With Sam they made a mold of a paw print and sent it to us in the mail. This time the vet tech began talking with another and mentioned she thought they might be out of clay to make the mold......and apparently that was what finally broke poor Jeff. He said he started blubbering like a baby, the other pet owners in the waiting room told them they had to go out and buy more. Jeff said he was so pathetic they probably did it right then.
We did get her paw print mold in the mail a short time later.
When I texted my mom what happened she texted back the sweetest thing and said that Mary Jane taught her to love dogs. Makes me tear uo even now thinking of that!
When we would go to the dog park Mary Jane would completely ignore the other dogs and go get as much attention from the other dog owners as she could get....she was pretty smart!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
The Legacy of a Child in an Open Adoption
Found this and thought I'd share....
Once there were two expectant mothers.
One carried and cared for you beneath her beating heart
She became your Birthmother.
The other carried the hope of you within her.
She became your Mom.
As the days passed, and you grew bigger and stronger,
Your Birthmother knew that she could not give you all you needed after
your birth.
Meanwhile, your Mom was ready and waiting for you.
One day your Birthmom and your Mom found each other.
They looked into each other’s eyes and saw a friend.
Your Birthmom saw the life your Mom could give you.
Your Mom saw how much your Birthmom loved and cared for you.
They decided that what you needed was both kinds of love in your life.
So now you have two families,
One by birth, the other by adoption.
And you have a home where you can get:
your questions answered,
your boo boos bandaged,
your heartaches soothed,
And much needed hugs.
And a place where you can find:
answers to your questions,
your image in the mirror,
a part of yourself,
And much needed hugs.
Two different kinds of families
Two different kinds of love
Both a part of you.
The Legacy of a Child in an Open Adoption
By Brenda RomanchickOnce there were two expectant mothers.
One carried and cared for you beneath her beating heart
She became your Birthmother.
The other carried the hope of you within her.
She became your Mom.
As the days passed, and you grew bigger and stronger,
Your Birthmother knew that she could not give you all you needed after
your birth.
Meanwhile, your Mom was ready and waiting for you.
One day your Birthmom and your Mom found each other.
They looked into each other’s eyes and saw a friend.
Your Birthmom saw the life your Mom could give you.
Your Mom saw how much your Birthmom loved and cared for you.
They decided that what you needed was both kinds of love in your life.
So now you have two families,
One by birth, the other by adoption.
And you have a home where you can get:
your questions answered,
your boo boos bandaged,
your heartaches soothed,
And much needed hugs.
And a place where you can find:
answers to your questions,
your image in the mirror,
a part of yourself,
And much needed hugs.
Two different kinds of families
Two different kinds of love
Both a part of you.
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