Texas Triggs

Morgan's Wonderland

2011-12-31T14:24:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year 2012! We spent a wonderful time together the last few days of 2011. We decided it was a beautiful warm 70+ degrees in Texas so we should venture out to Morgan's Wonderland in San Antonio. We are so glad we did!

All of the super hero kids are differentlyabled.

Every ride is wheelchair accessible! It was better than we had imagined.

It is a huge beautiful park and Hanna loved driving with Dad. Too bad I didn't have the camera.

Hanna driving the truck.

The kids loved the train the best. We rode it two times.

Hanna could hardly wait to get there to ride the carousel. 1st time was the giraffe.

The ride made Hayden's chair go up and down. He loved it.

2nd time was the zebra.

Climbing the playground.

Awesome swings. They even had swings that you could drive the chair right onto and hook on.

Here we met a family from Houston that also had a child going to the Rise School. They had driven out for the day as well.

Hayden loves winking these days.

The huge lake for fishing was awesome.

There were so many wonderful things to do we couldn't post all the pictures. We highly recommend that you take your family to Morgan's Wonderland whatever your child's abilities, they will have a great time. The price can't be beat. Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas All Ya'all

2011-12-25T22:54:00.007-06:00

We have felt abundantly blessed this Christmas season. Last year we spent Christmas cooking at the Ronald McDonald house with a few of our closest friends. Fortunately we have had another year pass that we have not had to stay any time in the hospital or at the Ronald McDonald house. While we have made a few visits to the hospital to visit friends and share with them our love, this year we stayed home and celebrated quietly with one another with good tidings and great joy giving God thanks for all we have. If you don't get any further in this blog, please accept this message as a gift by clicking this link:

A Light unto All: A Christmas Gift

Their may be snow from Denver to Boston, but there's no place on Earth like Christmas in Austin!

Scott does a great solo act working hard to decorate the outside of the house.

These are some of our cute neighbors' houses that we have the view of from our front door.

I love the contrast of black/white. Reminds me of old Christmases past. Hanna and Scott decorated the tree this year.

Starting off the holiday with a fun mother/daughter cookie party and Hanna getting her face painted as Rudolph.

My beautiful shirt my brother John brought back for me from his trip to India with my cute Rudolph.

Christmas morning Hanna woke us up excitedly early to point out that Santa had come and eaten his cookies and drank his milk.

Putting Santa to shame drinking all his milk.

Hanna made us all name place cards (can you find the pink squares ie. Hayden) to sit at the BIG table for dinner.

Wonderful cards from wonderful people. Some of my favorite decorations.

My first time in 15 years to make all the trimmings from scratch: spiral glazed ham, marinated turkey, sage sausage apple stuffing, brown sugar acorn squash, bacon brussel sprouts, mash & gravy, cranberry sauce & pecan pie. Now I can check that off my bucket list:)

Scott's collection of snow villages. We started collecting one annually the year before we left Denver.

When we moved to TX we had to collect the BBQ one of course. The pink house on the right was this year's addition.

Santa stuffed our stockings. No coal this year. Even Domino got some greenies.

Hanna couldn't have had a better day. Happy Birthday Jesus!

The attached link is a great Christmas message. May you feel joy in your heart this season and take a few minutes to watch these great messages!

Wise Men Still Seek Him

Hanna turns 5

2011-12-14T10:43:00.000-06:00

I can't believe how fast 5 years has gone. My little girl is now a little lady. She loves all things Princess. So Scott and I set out cleaning out our garage to have a drop off Princess party. Since it is winter and rainy in Texas, it has to be inside and the easiest thing to clean up is the garage.

Princess Hanna/Ariel

Our nurse, Christy, gave us the great idea of hiring an Ariel mermaid. She was great! She called Hanna the night before and told her she was coming. Hanna was out of her mind with excitement. For her birthday gift, we had purchase Hanna the official Ariel costume and wig at the Disney store when we were in NYC with light up slippers. She was such a happy girl and as you can tell, so were her little princess friends.

It was a lot of work to decorate, but so fun to do.

Hanna was able to invite her school friends, and her church friends. We were sad to not invite the boys, but with a princess party, it was a girls only thing.

Later that night we took the kids to meet Santa. Hayden was giving his Dad a big kiss for this one.

Hanna is not fond of Santa. I wonder who has been a good boy and girl...

NYC marathon blog post

2011-11-13T09:21:00.002-06:00

www.haydentrigg.blogspot.com

ING New York City Marathon Course Video

2011-11-11T22:15:00.000-06:00

Hayden's last blog before NYC marathon

2011-11-02T16:23:00.002-05:00

http://haydentrigg.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-our-way.html?spref=fb

October Field Trips

2011-10-24T00:58:00.000-05:00

11 Days left to DONATE to the Spina Bifida Association for the NYC marathon! Thanks to all of you for such generous support! Please follow my updates on www.haydentrigg.blogspot.com.

Hanna and her BFF Canryn on a twin playdate.

I even had to style their hair the same.

Our Warrior walk advocating for NAMI.

My Capital to Coast Relay with 12 of my fellow mommies all running to honor and Live Like Trevor Searle who passed away at 17years old last April. Between all 12 of us there were 47 kids left at home with their daddies.

Trevor's momma Stephanie in the middle wearing yellow.

Trevor's parents, Ryan and Stephanie running in Trevor's honor. It was very touching.

Running my last 7.8 mile stretch (total 21miles) in the hot Corpus Christy heat. Can you say sweating much?

Getting goofy from exhaustion. But loving the wild flowers at sunrise.

Refueling at the grocery store.

Finishing 32 hours later with the fastest time for a all women's team.

In order of our relay leg. This was a special moment. So glad that I got to be part of it.

Hayden and Hanna's Rise school field trip. It was a blast!

Good thing Hayden's teacher is strong enough to help him out. He loved it!

Hanna is a strong monkey to do it all on her own.

This girl can climb anything.

After the field trip we made a stop to pick up our pumpkins.

Here is a sneak peak at the prototype of Hayden's Thomas the Train Wheelchair costume. It was much harder than I expected but worth it for sure. He loves it and will get to use it 3 times.

Hanna is of course Rapunzel with the beautiful wig that she got at Disneyland.

This was our early Halloween event at Ronald McDonald house for Spina Bifida Families.

Hayden and his BFF Josiah with Buz in the background.

Hayden's Blog was updated:

2011-10-10T16:13:00.000-05:00

www.haydentrigg.blogspot.com
Please check it out for holiday shopping with a portion of retail proceeds going to SBA.

1st Day of School, 1st Big Boy Bed & visit with Trigg cousins

2011-08-14T23:31:00.001-05:00

We updated Hayden's blog too www.haydentrigg.blogspot.com about the NYC SBA fundraising totals so far.

Hayden tried out his first big boy bed and did great sleeping through the night with no pacifier/binki all by himself. Hanna was begging to sleep there too. Since he now has bunk beds, we got the kind where Hanna can't climb the ladder as it is put away at the top.

We traveled to Dallas the first of the month to meet up with cousins Tayler and McCarley. Hayden hadn't seen his cousins since he was a baby visiting Albuquerque. We got to play with the cousins for a few hours in the aquarium and the merry go round before we all headed home on our long drives. It wasn't long enough but the best we could do. We also got to stay at my cousin's home overnight. It was a cousin visit trip.

Tayler, McCarley, Hayden and Hanna. Hanna and McCarley are only 3 months apart but several miles apart.

The kids were so excited for their first day of school. The new school is for special needs kids and their siblings. Rise School Austin is better than we imagined. We think all our SB preschool friends kids should have a school like this. There are several in the country and we encourage you to check out their site.

They loved it! Hanna's teacher is Miss Glass, just like the Fancy Nancy books!!! She thinks she is so fancy too.

Hayden's teacher is Mr. "D". He is a really cool tough guy who loves kids. Hayden is doing great there and his speech and activity level is improving every day.

Trying out new wheels

2011-07-18T01:08:00.000-05:00

Just update Hayden's blog www.haydentrigg.blogspot.com please go there to donate to the SBA.

This is one of the biggest purchase decisions we have had to make for Hayden. So many things to consider. We will have to get a new vehicle, change all our doorways and many more things. But most of all we have to find the best fit for him to last him several years. We haven't made up or mind just yet, but the kids are sure having a good time trying them out!

This one is called the Tiger Cub

This one is called Ottoboc

trying offroading

National Spina Bifida Convention and Disneyland

2011-07-03T21:45:00.001-05:00

Please DONATE now to the Spina Bifida Association and check out Hayden's blog at www.haydentrigg.blogspot.com.

I am about to begin to post our most memorable family vacation photos of all time. Last week we had the great pleasure of attending our first national Spina Bifida Association convention that also happened to take place at the Disneyland hotel. It was our first trip to Disneyland was well.

It was a wonderful trip full of positive emotions. However, checking into the hotel and being among so many people in AFOs, arm crutches and wheelchairs was unexpectedly a bit overwhelming. I wasn't expecting to feel that way.

The best that I can explain it is that each day has brought greater understanding and peace while working within Hayden's abilities. I have worked hard to stay in the current moment and not worry about what Hayden's future physical difficulties may be. Then all of a sudden, I was catapulted to forseeing him as one the many brave young adults that we were meeting. I had to work hard to taking that step back and give myself that little coach pep-talk about having faith that all the therapies we do will be beneficial and that I can not place limits on his individual potential.

We met some of the greatest families on Earth at the "happiest" place on Earth. For nearly 3 years we have been in communication with other families from around the country that have experienced and have walked the path that we are walking. They have been our greatest comforters, knowledge centers and inspiration along this journey. They tell us things no doctor has been able to, such as the power in the joy these children bring into our lives and their limitless abilities.

Scott and I took turns taking care of the kids while each of us attended a day at the conference. The third day was my birthday, so we spent our time together as a family. There was no good way to get everything we wanted to do crammed into an 8 hour day. While we wanted to spend more time with the other moms and dads chatting, our kids still needed our attention.

The conference topics that were my favorite were the discussion on the results of the MOMs fetal surgery study that we partially participated in (we were one of the 299 people over the course of 7 years). The lead researcher Dr. Adzick presented. My second favorite part was the parent-to-parent forum chat. We all got to meet face to face for the first time. The second day, Scott participated with some other dads and attended various classes that they thought were beneficial.

Our main goal with our kids was to put them first, since they were the reason were there. So we went full throttle at Disneyland. Disney was wonderful to those in wheelchairs and/or disabled. We rode every ride that we could with the exception of Indiana Jones and some rides twice because we didn't have to wait in lines. Hanna had many favorites. Her first ride was Space Mountain. She loved the roller coasters. Hayden was a bit worn out and scared by everything that was dark indoors but he took it for the team. By the last day, we were so tired even Hanna wanted to go home. We are glad to be home and cherish our memories.

God bless all the families we met at the Spina Bifida convention and Disneyland for making it easy and fun for those in wheelchairs.

Donations

2011-06-22T16:53:00.002-05:00

http://www.haydentrigg.blogspot.com
Please see the donations link on the top left of Hayden's page.

Sister Melyssa joins Spina Bifida Association team for New York City Marathon

2011-06-15T21:39:00.000-05:00

www.haydentrigg.blogspot.com

Springtime Part 2

2011-06-07T22:26:00.000-05:00

Springtime= bubbles and dinner outside

Here is Scott at his first triathlon the weekend before Easter.

We were all so happy for him.

Hanna and Hayden in their cute new Easter clothes from Gaga.

Hanna colored her first Easter eggs.

Hayden's favorite therapist is always trying new things for Hayden. Here she brought her skateboard to help his arms in crawling.

Nana and Poppy drove out from Albuquerque for a visit and Nana made new bath robes for the kids.

The boys checking out the view from Mount Bonnell.

Hayden saying goodbye to his wonderful respite nurse Angela. She really knew how to care for our special boy having 2 special boys of her own.

Here I got invited to a small private luncheon where I got to meet and chat with Gov. Mitt Romney. My picture with him is in the mail. It was really cool.

Hanna's last day of school with her patient loving teachers Rebecca & Christa & teacher from last year Jogee. Thank God for Lakeway Christian Preschool!

Scott and Hanna on their way to the Daddy Daughter Luau party where their favorite dance was the limbo...Hanna called it the bimbo.

My best girls night in history...the flying trapeze. One of the coolest scariest things I have done. The flip and the handoff were amazing.

Best ladies night ever!!!

Scott finishing his second triathlon!!! We couldn't be prouder.

Memorial Day tri with a water sprinkler for Hanna & her cheer sign.

This past weekend Hayden got to be in his first rodeo on behalf of Red Arena.

Hanna and her mini donkey at the rodeo.

Hanna wasn't left out of the rodeo fun on her little pony with red socks.

Hayden getting saddled up.

Hayden is in blue on Maggie and his girlfriend was on Sven competing on the ring race.

Hayden got a third place ribbon. He loved it!

This summer Hanna's favorite thing is kitties. Here our neighbor is doing a summer preschool and painted her face. She didn't want to wash it off.

Today was Hanna's first day of dance lessons.

She loves the mirrors, the twirly dress, the pink tights, the tap shoes and everything about it to fit her Diva attitude.

NYC Marathon Fundraising Kickoff for Spina Bifida Association

2011-05-23T16:13:00.000-05:00

Click Here! Let's go to Hayden's page!

Springtime

2011-04-20T23:53:00.000-05:00

Hayden is crawling everywhere and loving scooting on the new floors.

Kristin and Barry came for a visit. Since they left, Hanna hasn't stopped saying that she wants to turn into a bird so she can fly to Kiki & Bear Paws house. Bear Paw was the real hit with his magic trick finger lights. They got to see both horse riding lessons, feed the baby goats and see Hanna play soccer. It was wonderful to have them here. Scott and I even managed to enjoy a few wonderful free date nights. We love family visits.

Last weekend, like only in Texas, Lakeway had a citywide free egg hunt for the kids with tons of fun events. Hanna and Hayden loved it and so did we.

This is Hanna's favorite picture of herself. She can't get enough of it.

Here is Hanna on the take in the center. Her BFF is in the blue dress in the back.

Her hunt was just for the 4 & 5 yr olds.

Hayden and I crushed the 1 & 2 yr old hunt while we strolled right up to the eggs.

Hayden not very impressed with the "prize" inside the egg.

Hayden got his first tattoo making glitter tough and cool.

More Easter pictures to follow. This is all for now.

Soccer Girl Hanna

2011-03-28T14:49:00.000-05:00

Cutest tiniest soccer shoes

Our girl on the run. Matching bow cuz no headers just yet and this picture was pre-self-haircut.

Practicing her score dance. She was pumped for her first game and then scared to death on her second and warming up on her third, so hopefully she is developing more confidence.

Proudest Mommy and Daddy ever.

Once this short season is over, we are already on to swim team here as it is getting hot here. Our community is having its first ever swim team. Hanna is enrolled, so we will soon see how she likes it.

Hippotherapy, Birthday, Spina Bifida Clinic and Pediatrician Well Check

2011-03-20T10:35:00.000-05:00

Big post with few words. This is Hanna with her horse Crystal and her patient teacher Lynn. Lucky for us Hanna gets a lesson 5 minutes away from Hayden's lessons at Red Arena.

Here is Hayden's horse Sven, a Norwegian Fjord, his two handlers and his PT Jennifer. The cutest horse with the cutest boy.

It doesn't get any cuter folks.

My baby really started acting like a big boy shortly before his birthday when he began to crawl. It was one of my proudest moments.

Happy boy loved his cake. He seems to have eating issues with everything besides sweets:).

Hayden's new birthday wheels...but Hanna thinks it is hers.

Hayden's best friend joins him for a fun day drive to the San Antonio zoo.

Perfect warm weather in February for a day at the zoo.

It was a busy and happy month for the kiddos. Hayden had his 2 year Well Check that was no big deal in comparison to what he goes through at clinic. Hanna on the other hand hated her 4 year Well Check with the 4 shots she got. It was a rough day for her but she did great and we are learning all about how shots help keep you healthy and strong.

At Spina Bifida Clinic, Hayden only had a kidney ultrasound which took up 4 hours of the day. The scary thing we don't want to see is damage to the kidneys from reflux from his high pressure bladder. He seems to continue to do well enough emptying his bladder so we continue to not have to catheterize him. His brain shunt also continues to do well so we don't have to see the neuro for a year from his last visit.

And for the big finally, both kids have been accepted to a special needs pre-school called the Rise School. You can read all about it at http://www.riseschool.org/austin/.

New flooring for new walker

2011-02-16T23:29:00.000-06:00

Hooray to no more carpet downstairs! Our flooring finally was completed today after a long 2 weeks. Hanna and Hayden didn't mind at all living with plastic sheeting or "tents" as Hanna liked to call it. We had been debating about our flooring for the past several months. And now since Hayden has gotten more mobile, we decided we needed to bite the bullet and make most of the house accessible to him by getting rid of the carpet.

One of the most emotional days for us as a family happened 3 weeks ago when Hayden started army crawling at 23 months. We have it on video, but can't figure how to upload it to the computer just yet. Anywho...he now is "WANT"ing to "GO" all the time.

After months of research, 4 good bids and the advice of family, the flooring we chose was brazilian pecan and we love it. It is one of the hardest woods we could find so it should hold up well with the kids and dog. Below are before and after pics. Not the best pictures for the "afters" as they were taken tonight. I just couldn't wait till the morning.

before

after

before

after

Checking out his new green wheels

I have taken some time off since the marathon in January, but February has been a busy month with many new fun things to blog about for the kids. More to come soon.

My First Marathon

2011-01-07T17:31:00.002-06:00

I am humbled by the 26.2 miles of Houston trails and grateful to my feet for allowing me to run with blisters, my knees for enduring the swelling and pounding, and for my hips and back for not giving up on me to complete my first marathon.

I once read that the first 10 miles you run with your head. The second 10 miles you run with your legs and the last 6 miles you run with your heart. It couldn't be more true.

The conditions were perfect for the race. Weather was in the high 60s & sunny. I was over my battle with sinus infection/bronchitis and my hips and back were holding up.

Now I know I can do the NYC marathon 2011 for Spina Bifida, just gotta see if the Spina Bifida Association gets accepted as a charity partner again.

Still standing and happy at the end of completing my first New Years resolution to run a marathon.

My sweetest surprise was getting to see my family every 6 miles while I made one of 4, 6 mile loops.

Scott made signs for the kids to hold and cheer. It was by far the best thing about running a smaller marathon. Getting to see my family really kept me going. Even though I took a few minutes to stop and give them all hugs and kisses, it was time I was happy to give up.

Waving to Scott while he managed the kids at the park for nearly 5 hours. He was amazing.

"Running for my little Warrior Hayden" shirt that I made for the race to keep me going. Those that were faster than me ran by and cheered for Hayden. Toughest part was heading back out while others were finishing the half marathon race (white bib).

This was another racer.

This was the 12th annual Texas Marathon held on New Years day in Kingwood, TX (Houston). It was a small race (650 participants) that sold out. I was a back up and got in because I was a 1st time runner with a cause. There were several people running for their own causes.

My half way mark. The same time as my previous 2 half marathons. I am truly a 10 minute mile pacer not a racer thanks to my Garmin watch that beeped every time I slowed down or went too fast. This way I knew I wouldn't burn out.

My girl Hanna just hanging out while she waited for Mommy to finish.

I kept thinking this guy used to run for Ricks, my alma mater. So who knows him? Since it was one of the few Saturday races, there were plenty of BYU shirts showing up in the crowd.

My final time 4:27. You can't tell it, but here come the tears and emotion.

Crossing the line to see my sweet family!

By the size of the medal, Hanna thought I won the race. Everything is bigger in Texas.

My lil Hayden endured 5 hours at the park waiting for that medal. He cried when I took it away.

The best sweaty congratulatory hug for my sweet boy who inspired me the whole way.

I couldn't have done it without the love and support of Scott. I love you Scottie!

Without challenges, you wouldn't have champions.

2011-01-02T20:55:00.001-06:00

Willie said it best, "without challenges, you wouldn't have champions." This had me smiling and crying. God Bless Eli's family!

I wish I had been able to see something like this when I was pregnant. I never even saw another child with Spina Bifida before Hayden was born. It was such a scary thing to feel so alone.

I do not have the words to describe how this challenge has been my greatest blessing.

Happy Marathon New Year!

2010-12-28T23:08:00.000-06:00

Short post. 1) Here is the shirt I am going to wear in my race:

2) Hanna cut her hair for the first time today. She has never had a "real" hair cut before because she has such precious little of it. Now all I can think of is Dawg the Bounty Hunter was her inspirational style.

Merry Christmas, Look to the Light

2010-12-23T19:05:00.003-06:00

We hope you are getting ready to enjoy a Christ filled Christmas and find what will fill you with true joy, the pure love of Christ. We are getting very excited to spend Christmas serving at the Ronald McDonald House with several other past guest families as we continue to strive to be like Him.

Above is our Christmas card. Thanks to our blog, we no longer feel like we need to include a family letter.

We would love to have sent out many more cards, but we must not have your address. If you didn't get one, we would love to add you to our Christmas card list for next year, so please leave us your info. Here is hoping you have a great holiday season!

20 mile Town Lake run, next my first marathon

2010-12-11T13:34:00.001-06:00

Today I completed my longest of runs before my first marathon on 1/1/11. 3/4ths through my run on mile 15ish, I was brought back to my childhood. There I was chasing the man on his bike hauling the ice cream cart for about a half mile. It was like dangling a carrot in front of my nose. I finally caught up to him on a hill and really wanted that bomb pop but forged ahead.

It was an emotional experience to know this was my last big run before the big race. I am ready for this to come to an end and start spending Saturdays with my family again. I miss them and I appreciate all the support from Scott that allowed me to take off and run away on Saturdays.

It was a tough journey for me not being a runner. And honestly I can't imagine running the whole 26.2 miles. At the same pace including bathroom and refueling breaks, I should complete the marathon between 4 hours and 50 minutes or 5 hours 15 minutes. I would love to finish before 5 hours.

My ultimate goal is to gain the confidence that I need to complete my first marathon, so that next year I can run and raise money for the Spina Bifida Association. If I achieve this goal, I'll soon be contacting and asking for your financial support.

So here I go...off to my first marathon. My next entry I think I will be able to officially call myself a runner.

20 miles Town Lake by adriennetrigg at Garmin Connect - Details

Holidays 2010

2010-12-07T22:42:00.001-06:00

We started off the Christmas shopping season with Grandma Williams flying out from Idaho, Anna and sister Melyssa also came out from Montana to do some serious shopping. We loved spending time with them and showing off Austin. We had a great time and the kids miss them so much. Especially the bike lessons.

I can't believe Hanna is 4 and Hayden is almost 2. Hanna is becoming more fun at 4. I think this is going to be our best year yet. She is becoming more affectionate saying I love you and along with the extra hugs and kisses, she can't get enough of sneeking into our bed at night.

As fun as each milestone is, Hanna and I had a hard milestone. The weather here has been perfect, so we have been out practicing on Hanna & Haydens' new bikes. The other day, Hanna was playing with all the kids in the neighborhood and one boy (whom I hadn't met before) yelled at her and purposely excluded her from riding in his motorized truck when he gave everyone else rides. She came running crying several times after asking for a turn to ride. Luckily another mother who knew this boy, kindly introduced the children and they made up. Hanna was then very happy when he offered her a ride. And so it begins...

The sweetest women you will ever know.

I had a gift idea to personalize ornaments for Hanna's preschool classmates and made a donation in each of their names.

I thought it was a win, win.

Scott ran the charity run and we all had a blast.

The first Santa that both the kids liked showed up at the race for the kids.

Scott getting ready for his fun 5k run. He did great!

Our friends Angie and Josiah, who also has SB. We will be cooking Chirstmas dinner for the Ronald McDonald House together.

Hanna getting her face painted at the run and loving it.

Birthday girl enjoying her weekend!

Hayden getting even more handsome.

We had a scare last week when Hayden was throwing up with a fever. Most kids you give an antibiotic to and send them home. Not so with Hayden. We spent an entire day at the Dr. office getting all sorts of test to make sure it wasn't the shunt in his brain. Both kids were very patient and I had a peaceful feeling the whole time. Fortunately, it was "normal" kid stuff. Gotta love "normal".

Recently, it is also hard for me to believe that Hayden is now about the same age that Hanna was when he was born. I still view him as my baby. He is growing up into such a big boy. He can repeat almost any word I say. It is so surprising what he can say. He surprises me each day.

October was Spina Bifida Month/Colorado/Halloween

2010-11-20T12:31:00.002-06:00

October was a trying month for our family. We had long planned a road trip vacation to Colorado for several reasons, to visit family, run a race and attend a good friends wedding. Even the best of plans changed quickly when Scott became very ill at the start of the month. Once Scott started feeling better we felt that support from family by traveling to Colorado was still what we needed. So we packed up the car with 2 kiddos, many games and our dog, Domino, and hit the road for the two day drive.

Here was a stop to stretch our legs and see where both of Scott's Grandmothers lived. If any of you follow Dora's adventures, I kept telling Hanna that like Dora, we had to get to the mountains before we got to Grandma's house. The mountains came 4 hours before we got to Grandma's house. That was the longest part of our trip. Overall, the kids were wonderful troopers.

October was Spina Bifida month along with Breast Cancer Awareness. Because it was Spina Bifida month, I thought it would be great to run a half marathon on behalf of my son, Hayden, at Denver's 1st Rock and Roll Marathon. Training at 500 feet in Austin and running at 5,000 feet in Denver was a challenge, but worth it. Before the race I got to train at my mom's at 7,000 feet. Below are a few pics.

This is my race shirt that I made and felt proud to wear on behalf of SB awareness. I teared up as I was running next to a man in a wheelchair who said he had raced in over 100 marathons. We cheered for each other.

I am not yet Hayden's Hero, but I aspire to be. Pushing myself makes me want to be better for him. My family and friend Nicole waited and cheered for me at mile 5 & mile 8. I hope to run on behalf of Spina Bifida in the NYC marathon next year like my cyber SB momma friend Liz.

Below is a pic of my Mom's new house in Colorado Springs (Black Forrest) with plenty of room for the whole family to stay. Her view is fantastic.

The front of the house

the view from the front of the house

First pumpkin carving & tasting

My brother came out with his family from Provo, UT to introduce their newest addition Conrad and Hanna & Hayden got to play with their cousins Drake and Pierce.

cute chubby Conrad

Hanna and Drake running around the long driveway.

Pierce and Hayden are only 3 weeks apart.

The weather was colder than we are used to, so on the first warm day we headed to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It is my favorite zoo. It is built up on the mountain with great views of the city.

My dad happened to be in the area so he took Hanna on a tractor drive too.

Here we all are at Sarah's wedding. She was a lovely happy bride.

Hanna finally got to meet her buddy Collin and go to the Pumpkin patch with him. I try and make it a practice not to post other children other than my own family.

Batman at Halloween

Hayden will get this medal from my race.

Mean/bad black hat cowgirl with a scary cat shirt her momma made

Hayden's new bike. More to be published for the November post.

September Happenings

2010-09-21T20:45:00.010-05:00

Wow, I am getting really behind by blogging only once a month. Here is our September breakdown:

Hanna happily started back to preschool twice a week. She didn't have a lot of the same kids in her class this year because many of them went to three days a week. Although, this year she gets to see many of her friends from church in different classes. She loves preschool almost as much as her mommy.

Hayden had his 18month doctor's check up, Spina Bifida Clinic and started church nursery. All were very big events that in hindsight caused his mom and dad a lot of unnecessary emotional anxiety. We surely want to express our gratitude for all of the Facebook love and prayers for our little guy that gave us hope and now gives us peace. Here is what I posted on FB:

Hayden got a brain MRI, ultrasound of kidneys and x-ray of hips. Haydendid great. All clear on everything!

Before we go we think, have we done enough with his therapy? Have we been faithful enough to receive spiritual blessings? Have we been observant enough of his needs? Then we say to ourselves, he is happy and seems to be healthy. We exhale and hold our breath again trying to have patience and faith and know we have done all we can. Here we have to leave it up to God and this is the hardest part.

It was an exciting emotionally loaded day. Thankfully when it was over, I got to crash and take a nap with my kids. The Neuro said we are clear for a full year! And the Urologist said the kidneys are clear so we don't need to cath for another 6 months.

As for me, I pulled off a large Back to School Enrichment/Relief Society meeting with 3 great teachers (including my hubby as the Ward Employment Specialist). Our Ward is so huge, that the attendance is great. And our big news next Sunday is that our Ward is splitting for the second time in 5 years. Change can be hard and exciting.

I continue to train for my 2nd half marathon in Denver and my 1st marathon in Houston on New Years Day. I do this all in the hopes that I can run NYC next year on behalf of Spina Bifida with my Blogging/FB friend Liz. I am inspired by so many of these kids with Spina Bifida. Recently I posted on FB about an amazing kid Aaron Fotheringham's "Hard Core Sitting." No pitty for this kid. You have to watch his video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z43PXkvVC5c.

You can also learn about Liz's race for Emily and support her at: http://lizkeicher.blogspot.com/

Our most recent SUPER exiting thing is....First Class Parking!!! The opposite of pity...gratefulness!

August Fun

2010-08-31T21:30:00.008-05:00

Many of you may be thinking eeeewwwwwhh gross! We have the sweetest dog Domino. He loves the kids and is very gentle. The kids are far more likely to hurt him than he would ever be to hurt the kids. He is great motivation for Hayden's therapy.

These are a few pictures of Hayden's new $1,800 bling AFOs(ankle foot orthotics). They have pictures of helicopters, fire trucks and police cars. The simple use of the AFOs is to help him stand and put weight on his legs properly. Thank goodness for insurance and medicaid! He really loves the new colors and designs. He cried when "Bud" took them off to size them.

Already other kids are asking about them and seeing just how cool he looks in them. Hayden is a great teacher.

The kids have been having a lot of fun trying to stay cool in the water. Hanna just loves her home made water slide even better than the pool.

Kristin also came for Scott's birthday and Hanna hasn't stopped talking about it since. We had a great visit.

Below is a picture of our breakfast in bed tray used for Hayden to sit up and play. It works more this way than any other.

Until We Meet Again

2010-08-26T21:52:00.001-05:00

This is dedicated to my new friend Viviane in Brazil. I have the privilege of meeting many new mothers through this blog and my children. Viviane lost her son who was diagnosed with Spina Bifida due to premature complications. My heart goes out to her.

Therapy

2010-08-10T15:56:00.006-05:00

Hayden's loves almost all of his therapy sessions with the exception of a few when he really didn't want to work/play. June was bitter sweet for Hayden because he lost both his favorite play therapy with Ms. Leslie, and his favorite physical therapist Mrs. Kimberly.

Leslie and Kim have been with him since his first therapy sessions. We have welcomed them into our home and hearts. It was very hard to let them go.

Kim has moved to Chicago, so we had to wish her well that she may bless the lives of other children in Chicago. Leslie has not left Austin and will periodically visit our community, so we hope to have stop-in-visits. While we will miss Leslie and Kim, we get to welcome Ms. Karla who just graduated from TCU and moved to Austin. She is a sweetie to Hayden and he took to flirting right away. Hayden also got a new occupational therapist, Ms. Emily who he has the pleasure of seeing twice a week.

Hanna's therapy of choice has been swimming. She can't get enough of it. She swam so hard the other day that she was complaining that her legs hurt. I would have thought that her tummy would hurt from her nonstop belly flops. Can you see the corner of her grin? We also managed to get some shopping therapy in with a heck of a summer sale at the cutest baby...I mean toddler boutique.

Horse Therapy/Hippatherapy at birthday party

2010-08-04T21:39:00.006-05:00

This was Hayden's first time on a horse. We have been searching for true Hippatherapy and not had any luck in Austin. He can't sit up yet, but he sure loved the movement.

I try and keep our blog only exposing our family, but this is the back of the birthday girl. She is Hanna's favorite girl friend and had the best birthday party. They had many horses, ducks, tractor rides, fish ponds and a good ol' bbq.

Williams 50th Anniversary in Rexburg, Idaho & our few days in SLC

2010-07-19T20:29:00.008-05:00

See more pictures on Facebook or ask me to send you the Kodak Gallery for more Williams Family photos.

We had an amazing time visiting Idaho and Utah for our short trip.

Hanna has had way too much fun at this point and is getting very tired.Most of the Williams' Family.

Hayden almost always is smiling. He even was about to drop from all the fun with family.Hanna thought this was the best part of the trip aside from winning $240 from guessing the correct amount of change in the family coin jar.
We visited 3 temples in just a few days. Rexburg, Idaho temple trip.
Salt Lake Temple where Hanna burst out singing "I am a Child of God" in the visitor center.
Hayden and Hanna were the best lil travelers I could have prayed for. Even when I braved the 5 & 1/2 hr flight back alone while Scott flew off to San Fran for work, they did wonderful.

Seattle surprise birthday get away

2010-07-15T15:45:00.007-05:00

No doubt I am spoiled. I had the best birthday surprise of my life. My sweet mother, together with my sweet Scott, arranged a surprise birthday getaway. I had no idea when my mom rang the doorbell that she was flying in for a visit. I thought that was the last of it when Scott told me to pack my bags, we were leaving for a 4 day trip without the kids and that my mom flew in to take care of them.

Seattle is one of my all time favorite cities. Here we are on our way to Bainbridge Island. Ironically, I saw a longtime Montana friend Tiffany Hancock, who I hadn't seen in 15 years, visiting that same island for a weekday lunch. It was awesome!

View from Bainbridge Island.On my birthday, I got to eat lunch with another longtime friend, Heidi Stumpff, and catch up on all our lives since we both had babies. Good luck Heidi on your half marathon in Chicago! It was a great day.

Deadliest catch.Flower market is always my favorite.
The best birthday dinner at Elliots.
Japanese Gardens.

View from Seattle Market where you could see Mt. Rainier perfectly. Perfect weather the whole time. Whoever said it always rains in Seattle just doesn't want you to know how beautiful it is there.

The trip was wonderful with fresh flowers, delicious food and an amazing husband.
Best of all, the kids were safe and happy at home thanks to my wonderfully thoughtful momma.

Driving me crazy or driving Mrs. Daisy

2010-06-09T16:46:00.002-05:00

So when is it time to shop for a new car? We bought our GMC Envoy in 01. It is an 02 and today we hit 100,000 miles. It is paid off and running great. Just wanted to get your thoughts.

Crawl Assist Device

2010-06-09T16:44:00.002-05:00

Here is what our PT is letting us borrow for Hayden to help him learn how to crawl. If anyone has had luck with this, we would love to know.

NBC News Tonight Grad with Spina Bifida

2010-06-07T23:13:00.003-05:00

SYTYCD Season 7- Episode 2 - Andrew Phillips Audition (Part 9)

2010-06-03T16:11:00.000-05:00

Yeah for Spina Bifida Families!

Day 11-14 Paris

2010-05-16T17:06:00.009-05:00

Coming home to these two...priceless
Street performer in Paris.
I am trying to be a street performer.

After seeing Moulin Rouge, we headed strait for church.
The capital of defense building downtown. The lift to the top to look out was closed for mechanical reasons:(

The palace of shopping.
Yes, we really did take this picture.

Palace of Versailles and all of its grandeur.

Marie Antoinette Hall of Mirrors.

Day 9-10 Samur/Loire Valley

2010-05-16T17:05:00.009-05:00

Château de Chenonceau

This is the dance hall that spans across the river.

The grand walk leading to the chateau.

Villandry was my favorite. Even more impressive was that an American woman, Ann Coleman, gets credit for bringing it back to its original beauty.

This is the areal view of the most impressive gardens I have ever seen. We even saw posters of these gardens at our local Hobby Lobby when we were getting some pictures framed. Most of the gardens are edible.This is where the help lived.

Scott on the draw bridge.

Our hotel/chateau was close to Samur. It is a great French village with tons of history. The Loire Valley is famous for its many châteaus where kings and their courts built an impressive array of homes ranging from the medieval times through every period to the second empire in the mid 19th century.

Chateau Samur was sadly under renovation so we couldn't go through.

Here is where we had the great pleasure of staying. If you are ever in the area. This is our #1 recommendation!
Driving to the chateau.

Farm villages. I might be a farmer if they were like this in the US.
Small farm Chateaus all along the way. We would blink and miss them.
Harley bikers from Finland. It's a long way to Sturgis.
Scott thought he was a speed daemon.

The start of our driving road trip in France. We just couldn't put the camera away. Everything was amazingly beautiful.

Day 8-9-Lyon France

2010-05-16T17:02:00.020-05:00

The pictures are in reverse order of all that we did in Lyon and it was just too hard to change it in Blogger. Just like the posts are in reverse order. It goes from most recent to oldest.

This is what you see down below.

Yep, we hiked all the way to the top for this view. Scott was pretty warm in all black carrying his backpack. It was worth it Our only day that we didn't have to wear a jacket. It was beautiful.

Where is Waldo/Adrienne? Can you see my head? Hint...look under the wing.

Lyon was founded as a Roman colony in 43 BC by Munatius Plancus, a lieutenant of Caesar, The three parts of Gaul mentioned by Caesar met at Lyon. Agrippa recognized that Lugdunum's position on the natural highway from northern to south-eastern France made it a natural communications hub, and he made Lyon the starting point of the principal Roman roads throughout Gaul. It then became the capital of Gaul, partly thanks to its fortunate site at the convergence of two navigable rivers, and quickly became the main city of Gaul.
Here was a waterfall along our hike.
This is the view from our hotel room.

Beautiful city square. Tons of history here we didn't expect.

Sunday in Lyon the city is pretty shut down. Good example for us Americans.

This was our only train ride. Since it is very expensive to cross country borders with a car, we took a train to Lyon. It was a fun time, but we are glad we drove everywhere else.

Day 7-Geneva

2010-05-16T17:02:00.010-05:00

This was our most crazy busy beautiful day. We feel like we cheated Geneva. We didn't realize there would be so much beauty to keep us from getting there sooner. We will have to make another trip there one day.

At the United Nations headquarters.

Our last day in Switzerland.

Castle Chillon.

Gstaad

Wildflower trespassing.

This is the cost for just a half tank of gas.

On our way to Geneva we took the long route. We had the most beautiful drive through the mountains. Here is where my uncle grew up.

Day 6-Bern

2010-05-16T17:01:00.012-05:00

Beautiful capital city of Bern. We drove all around this city and purchased our beloved hand painted fondue pot here to help remind us of Wernerly and Rebekka's hospitality.

Swiss Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Temple

Bern Munster 1421 cathedral.

Capital buildings behind Scott.

Day 4-5-Grindelwald/Interlaken

2010-05-16T17:01:00.009-05:00

Old Town Interlaken

Cousin Wernerly and his son David. We loved staying in the Lengacher home in Grindelwald. Wernerly built it himself. We slept awesome in this mountain paradise.

Tulip season.

We saw blueberries growing on our drive to the top of the Eiger with David and Joelle.

World famous Eiger mountain. Watch the Imax movie that came out last summer.

Wernerly drove us to the top of the Eiger mountain that only employees of the ski resort have access to. It was scary but much easier than hiking:)

Waterfalls easily missed with the low clouds.

Day 3-4- Lucerne

2010-05-16T16:59:00.010-05:00

Perfectly beautiful Lucerne. Our favorite city of the trip. You'll see me jumping on the top of this building.An amazing cathedral we went into to get out of the rain. All white and pink marble with gold of course.

Old Capital foot bridge dating to the early 1600's.
We had fun staying the converted jail hotel. Our room was the library.

Driving through villages to Lucern nearly every home was this pretty.
They mow everything. It is beautiful. I bet they don't need an HOA.
The cow bells make the prettiest sound. We even brought one back to ring for dinner time:). Just like my grandma used to have.

Day 1-3 Europe Trip-Zurich Switzerland

2010-05-16T16:52:00.004-05:00

It was a hard time adjustment seeing the sunrise at 11:30 our time and then adjusting to not having the kids. We had to Skype the first night to say hello. It was thrilling.

Zurich was one of the cleanest, safest feeling, most beautiful big cities we had ever been to. Everything old was restored and kept in prime condition. The people garden wherever they can. The rooftops were my favorite.

Great views from the old Grossmunster. Panoramic views from the top.

Scott about died when he parked next to these cars in our hotel. Driving our first day in a foreign country was an experience.

On our river cruise.

We stayed right downtown walking distance to everything.

The main train station where we ran into the Mormon missionaries on transfer day.

Some big beautiful old doors.

Swiss pride everywhere.

Old Town cobblestone alleys were awesome.

SWAGGER WAGON

2010-05-16T16:49:00.000-05:00

This is LOL funny. I just don't have enough swagger to get a wagon.

Texas Bluebonnets

2010-04-20T10:13:00.007-05:00

This week in Austin has been more beautiful than I have ever seen it. While we have been getting tons of rain, it really promotes the growth of Texas wildflowers. The roadsides are covered with purple/blue, orange and yellow. On Sunday we got familiar with our new Cannon camera and took these pictures.

In just a few weeks Scott and I are going to Europe for 2 weeks without the kiddos to celebrate our 10 year anniversary and we wanted to take some fab pics. So Paige, thanks for helping educate us about the camera.

Half Marathon

2010-03-28T21:22:00.004-05:00

Saturday I completed the Zooma Austin half marathon!!! It was the most challenging course I have ever run, the longest distance I have ever run and the fastest time I have ever completed at that distance.

I was honored to train along the way with "real" runners who encouraged me and fellowshiped me into their inner circle. Here is a terrible picture of the gang (I'm #257) who supported Hayden and Spina Bifida awareness by wearing the shirts that I had made.

Here is the history of why I set out on this journey. I decided to set this goal for myself to loose the rest of the baby weight and to just get in shape. Since I had never been a runner beyond 2-3 miles, I thought this might not be attainable. So I started training for 11 weeks and I did it!! Every time I wanted to quit and not push myself to run anymore and all my excuses like asthma, waking up to nurse a baby, how tired I was, etc, etc, I drew on the strength of Hayden. I thought about how he works so incredibly hard to do the littlest of things. I thought about how he just has to push to hold a pose in PT. I thought about those people with Spina Bifida who may not be able to run. Then it hit me...this was going to be FTWC (for those who can't). Since I could, I had no more excuses.

It was amazing. I don't know if I will do it again, but I know I can as long as I continue to have the love and support of such a wonderful husband like Scott.

Half Marathon for Hayden

2010-03-19T16:42:00.004-05:00

In one week I will be running my first half marathon, Zooma. I have never done anything like this. All the times I wanted to quit, I just think of the strength of my little guy, Hayden.

I am having tank tops printed on Monday and if you want one, lemme know ~$20.

The reason behind the design; somewhere I read that the daisy is the symbol and the light color of yellow is the ribbon for Spina Bifida.

The Tender Mercies of the Lord

2010-03-14T14:35:00.001-05:00

Saturday was a big day for us. Scott and the kiddos were hit by a red light runner going 55+mph. Amazingly all are OK except for the vehicles. The man that ran the light by our community flipped several times and walked out uninjured. It was a great blessing that everyone was OK.

I also got a note from a new friend, Nicole, that just found our blog as she learned that her unborn child has Spina Bifida. Here is what she had on her blog. It is a good video.

1 Year Spina Bifida Clinic at Dell Children's Hospital

2010-03-10T20:29:00.006-06:00

Hayden might kill me for this picture when his is older, but isn't it cute!

Thank you for all of the prayers for Hayden. They are working. Hayden had a hip x-ray and an ultrasound of his bladder and kidneys. Everything came back perfect! And after a year of 7 surgeries, his bladder is emptying nicely (no cathing!), his shunt in his brain is working beautifully, his spinal scar has healed handsomely and we leaned from his MRI that his syrinx in his spine has completely gone away! These are enormously positive reports for Hayden and our gratitude to God and the medical staff that works with him is never ceasing.

However, our happy champ, Hayden's biggest battle is with low muscle tone called Hypotonia. It is caused by neurological injury from his Arnold Chairi II malformation. Hayden's sweet neuro surgeon was very sensitive in telling us that Hayden's cerebellum is very small and has not grown. This is the reason why he is delayed in his gross motor and fine motor skills. There is no known treatment or cure, but his doctor was optimistic in that Hayden's smart parts of his brain are making up for his lack of cerebellum. Muscle strength and tone are very different things and I would strongly recommend that you read this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypotonia

Another great link is:

http://www.curepity.org/

check out Chloe

SB Clinic & 1 year well check

2010-03-07T20:05:00.003-06:00

BTW... In addition to our earlier post....Hayden did great at his 1 year well check. He weighed in at 20 slim lbs and is in the 50% for height. This week his in now enough in weight and height to change his car seat around to better watch his sister's mischievous advances.

Spina Bifida clinic is also on Tuesday. Prayers and good thoughts are always appreciated. He will have a bladder and kidney ultrasound to make sure everything continues to look OK. This is always a little bit frightening. We have been able to stop catheterizing him because he seems to be voiding his urine well enough on his own. All in all...we have no reason to expect anything but good news at this all day clinic.

His clinic visits will be less frequent from every three months to now every six months. Since he has had a good pattern of his shunt working properly and not being symptomatic of his Chairi brain condition, we fully anticipate continued further positive development and health. Currently Hayden is "emerging" in several of the 6-9 month developmental checklist. I have attached a link to see what this entails.http://www.satellitefcc.com/checklist.htm

Austin Ronald McDonald House

2010-03-07T17:34:00.005-06:00

This Saturday our church women's group, Relief Society, volunteered to cook breakfast at the Ronald McDonald House (RMDH). It was such a joyful experience for me to have other women who volunteered their time to serve. I think they all benefited from the experience but none as much as I did. It was exactly one year ago that we were there. It brought back a lot of emotions mostly happy.

I have such great love for this organization. Most all the meals provided at the RMDH are done through volunteers. The love provided via meals is such a welcome support and relief for those staying at the house. Now, being on the service end, it was even more enjoyable.

This weekend was a great one. We also got to sneak in a great photo session with a wonderfully skilled photographer, Sara Boulter. Remarkably she kept Hanna occupied and happy. This is a real talent. Be sure to check out her web site:http://www.saraboulterphotography.com/ Here is a peak (home photos) at how we dressed the kiddos for the pictures..

Hayden's First Birthday

2010-02-24T22:02:00.007-06:00

I have so much to say but don't know where to begin to summarize this little hero's first year. Since it is late at night and I am tired, I'll have to save it for another post.

I had started with a new blog link to show a progression of Hayden's growth.

http://haydentrigg.blogspot.com

Hayden has changed dramatically the past few days. He is interacting much more and looks like such a big boy with his new and improved eyes.

We practiced eating cake tonight for his party on Saturday.

Some random pictures for good measure are of Austin's first real snow storm, yesterday.

7th Surgery for Strabismus Esotropia

2010-02-11T20:26:00.008-06:00

We pray that #7 is the lucky end to all of Hayden's surgeries. He was a champ for his crossed-eye surgery today (strabismus esotropia). I am attaching pictures for those other kiddos that may have to have this surgery some day. To explain the medical definition of what this is and how it works well in infants, see this link:http://www.strabismus.org/esotropia_eye_turns_in.html

The pictures of Hayden's eyes look pretty bloody. While they look bad, he has been a happy little guy all day. We go for a follow up with the doc in the morning. Our camera's red eye reduction made the red black.

You can see how his eyes crossed in the before pictures while in his stander. His stander came in this week. While it looks just like his loaner, he seems to love it even more! On a side note, Hanna slept in her big girl bed for the first time last night and was great. She loves her big bed and horsey sheets. She also had a great time at her pre-school Valentine's party.We also had a fun time making and distributing our valentines to a few of Hayden's special care providers.

Stem cells growing new organs | Video on TED.com

2010-02-07T06:45:00.000-06:00

Anthony Atala on growing new organs Video on TED.com
This is great hope for the Spina Bifida community.

Playground and Hayden's 1st Birthday Announcement

2010-01-28T15:11:00.006-06:00

This is the front of Hayden's Birthday Announcement.This is the inside of the announcement.I can't believe my baby is going to be one year old. There have been dozen's of people that have cared for Hayden since his birth. All of them we feel eternally grateful for. We call them Hayden's Heros. We are going to have a small birthday celebration with family and try to get together a few other Spina Bifida families.

The big news this week, other than the kids both being sick was the new PLAYSYSTEM.
Even though both kids have been sick, the sunshine, and warm wonderful weather lured the kids outside for a great time playing on their new set. After being cooped up inside for a week with sick kiddos, I don't know who was more excited to be outside, me or the kiddos!

Follow up to Hayden's medical apmts

2010-01-14T16:04:00.009-06:00

The first two weeks of medical apmts wiped us out. We have mostly good news to report.

First the bad news. While we have patched Hayden's eyes for 4 months, he will still need eye surgery 2/11 to correct both eyes. The Opthamologist said that Hayden does not have depth perception and that the surgery will correct it. She said that the risks are less than Lasic eye surgery. However, he will be recovering for at least 10 days with bloody looking eyes. The good news is that he has good eye muscles and a perfect optic nerve.

MRI- went well. Hayden at at 2:30am and didn't get to eat again until 1pm. We had to be at the hospital at 6:30, which meant leaving the house at 5:30 just to be there for the 8am apmt. For some reason they think you need to be there really early with a baby. Then we got pushed back until 9:30 and Hayden didn't even cry from hunger until he had to be held down for the gas from the anesthesia. Our nurse Kathy said from the report it looked like he did great and held stable throughout. We didn't get the brain and spine results until at the Cranial Facial Clinic from the neurosurgeon Dr. George.

Cranial Facial Clinic- this is a scary place. These poor children had some real obstacles. Fortunately for Hayden, his MRI looked good as far as his brain development. While his sutures were prematurely fused, the doc said they still looked good. Whew! No surgery to open his skull!!! And as for the helmet, the doc said they are mainly for kids who have a flat spot due to sleep positioning and that can be corrected with the helmet. Hayden's flat spot is due to his shunt. He doesn't sleep on that side and so we are extremely grateful that the shunt is working and that is that.

Cool news...after the clinic, I got to meet one of my on-line babycenter Spina Bifida moms, Angie, and her 8 month old son Josiah. She recognized us from our blog pictures and stopped us in the parking lot! This was an awesome chance encounter! After the good news from the clinic, this left me with a real rush of joy feeling that we are not alone. Unfortunately for Josiah, they found that his shunt was not working and he had successful surgery shortly thereafter.

This was a long post, but there have been a lot of medical apmts.

Videos: I have also uploaded many new videos on my youtube link. Check them out!

Happy New Year

2010-01-09T23:12:00.005-06:00

Above are the highlight pictures of our 10 day 13hr/each way trip to New Mexico for Christmas. We all had a wonderful time and are very grateful for our dear family and friends.

Hayden's medical update

2010-01-09T21:55:00.008-06:00

Most recently we have been busy once again with many, many medical appointments for Hayden. In order of discussion 1) MRI, 2) cranial facial clinic, 3) eyes, 4) ankle foot orthodox, 5)bath chair & equipment, 6) allergies:

1) Hayden had another MRI last Thursday. This one required full sedation for the 2 hour test which meant we went to the hospital at 5:30am for an apmt at 8 that got pushed back to 9:30. With sedation it meant that Hayden couldn't eat or drink anything since 2:30am. With a 10 month old lil guy I was worried but he was just a wonderful little boy and didn't fuss even though he couldn't eat. This MRI was ordered at his last SB clinic to see how his spine syrinx and tethered chord and brain shunt and vents were doing since surgery. Since I had mentioned that Hayden has continued to have low muscle tone even with regular in home physical therapy, the neuro wanted to do a follow up.

2) Hayden also has been referred to a cranial facial clinic with a team of doctors to evaluate the shape of his head and premature fusing of his skull sutures and small fontanel. One of his neuros is on this team as well as the plastic surgeon who so skillfully sewed him up. Hayden's home health nurse, Kathy, and I went to a 4 hour clinic with Scott working from home on Tuesday before they realized we had been scheduled to the wrong clinic. We will be going to the right one this Thursday for the evaluation.

3) This week Hayden will get the follow up opthamologist eye exam to see how his 4 months of patching his eyes has done for his vision (strabismus). His eyes visibly still cross, so there is the possibility that he will need eye surgery by the time he is a year old. A great link to describe this procedure is below:

http://www.childrenseyefoundation.org/For-Parents/Patient-and-Parent-Guide-to-Strabismus-Surgery.aspx?gclid=CPS8lYr_mJ8CFQS7sgodfzYyuwhttp://

4) Ankle foot orthodox, AFO's, were cast and will be picked up this week too. I am excited that these will further encourage Hayden to stand and feel confident. These little foot braces look like our fellow SB kiddo Zachary's:

5) Hayden just got his $400 bath chair delivered this week thanks to our insurance and medicaid. He has had one bath in it and Hanna tries to take it over. It is awesome and makes me feel much more secure washing him. The only down side is that I can't bath both kids at one time cuz it takes up the whole tub.

Hayden will also be getting a new chair to sit in, since he can't yet sit up and he is outgrowing his infant chairs. We are so grateful that all of this is being provided for our little guy.

6) Allergies: Hayden has developed a good size rash after an introduction to bananas. With the SB Latex precaution some of the other foods that he may be allergic to are pears, avocados and kiwi and other things that are listed on the link on the right side of our blog. We might try again later or go to an allergist to see if it is a true allergy.

Please pray for Pierce

2010-01-08T14:42:00.000-06:00

My nephew is in the hospital. Please keep him in your prayers.
http://houseofhannas.blogspot.com/

2009-12-14T21:12:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Hanna's 3rd Birthday Party

2009-12-07T16:51:00.004-06:00

Hanna had a great 3rd Birthday!!! Here she is with her favorite present, a horse named Lucky. Thanks Kiki & Bear Paw! After her party at the bounce house, she got to open her presents at home and the sun glasses were the biggest hit:). She had a great time with all her friends that could make it to her party. Thanks for coming guys and gals!

Gaga came for the fun all the way from cold Colorado.

Below are some of our attempts at getting a nice family Christmas picture. We have yet to have any professional pictures taken of our family. I just don't know who would have the skills to work with this lil Diva.

We might be sending out a New Years or Valentines card instead this year:). Notice Hayden's protective reflexes developing.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T20:31:00.004-06:00

We had a great day today. Here is a sneak peak of our Thankful day!

This is the dessert buffet!
Hayden was his handsome, happy self. He ate his first mashed potatoes.
Hanna loved the chocolate fountain best!

This is Hayden's borrowed stander until his fancy metal custom one is made. Check out those cute legs!

He loves his stander as long as Hanna is a nice sister.

Great Video about Spina Bifida

2009-11-21T22:15:00.000-06:00

http://sophiesvoicefoundation.org/home.html

Big Week

2009-11-12T22:15:00.005-06:00

This week has been a big one for us. On Monday, we almost lost our wonderful 8 year old dalmation, Domino, to a ruptured bladder. After rushing him to the vet hospital, he had surgery to repair his bladder and has been recovering for the past few days. We are excited to take him home tomorrow.

Hanna had her first "hair" cut -- just shy of 3 years old. It was a small curly lock that had her looking mulletish. This was hard for her momma to do but she didn't even notice.

Hayden also got approved for Medicaid!!! This provides many things for us all including his first in-home RN to help with respite care. This is a great thing.

Today was also a great day. Hayden got fitted for a stander from his PT. The stander is to help him start bearing weight on his feet and legs. He absolutely loved it!!! His PT said in all her years she had never seen a baby take to it as well. He looked like such a big boy upright, not like the baby I cradle in my arms.

I was overly emotional to see him love it so much. A custom stander runs about $3,000 and will take 3 months to order. Fortunately, medicaid along with our private insurance provider should be picking up the tab. He also will be fitted for ancle braces (AFO's) and got a chair ordered to help him sit upright and a chair for his bathtub to help him take baths.

Also, as to the update for Hayden's eyes, we will continue to patch them for another 2 months.

Halloween Pics

2009-11-02T22:15:00.005-06:00

We sure had a lot of fun with Kristin/Kiki and Barry/Bear Paw's visit from Albuquerque. Hanna got to wear her costume 4 times so she got lots of trick or treating in. Hanna decided to be a butterfly princess and Hayden was a pirate with his patch. This is Hanna saying cheeseburger!

Hanna has recently been showing us her 2 year old trick/tantrum if she didn't get her daily treat(s). We love our visitors and we all had a great time!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

2009-10-24T21:12:00.010-05:00

Hayden is now 8 months old. It was a year ago at this time that we learned the news after our 20 week ultrasound that Hayden had Spina Bifida. We had never even heard of it. We were devistated. Honestly our emotions were so strong, it was a blur as we were informed of our options just after our appointment. It was a great trial of our faith and of our extended families. Our options discussed with us were to continue with the pregnancy, see if we qualified for a national in utero surgical study, or a late term abortion. It was overwhelming. This can be re-read on our October 08 and November posts. We cried nearly every day for a long time.

For any other parents out there faced with this same information, I would like you to know that where we had overwhelming saddness we now have overwhelming joy. Hayden is a happy, sweet baby and most would never know that he had any disability by looking at him. He is a blessing and a gift that we can not deny. When I was pregnant, I feared that our lives would never be normal again. Our lives have been changed and greatly enriched. This October, we celebrate and enjoy!

Over the past month I have been collecting quite the collection of Fall photos. Attached are a few to date. This was the best picture we could get of all the kids at one time. Not an easy shoot with 4 kids under 2 yrs.

We had the unique experience of going to visit the pumpkin patch 2 times this year. This is Hanna's patient picture smile and Hayden's cute goofy scrunched up chubby smile.We had so much fun we had to go to the pumpkin patch again with our friends. The first time we went all of our photos got deleted from our camera. So the second time we went, our camera battery died. We did get some great pics though thanks to our friends.Thanks Nana for knitting Hanna this awesome poncho!

Hanna got to ride Stormy the horse 2 times!Hanna's friends Blake and Bairn.

Spina Bifida Awareness Month

2009-10-02T14:05:00.001-05:00

A shout out and CONGRATULATIONS to the Burr family (see their blog link on the bottom right) and the birth of their little girl last 9/23/09. What a courageous family to undergo the in utero fetal surgery!

Last weekend we got to participate in a national walk for people suffering from Arnnold Chiari brain Malformation, often referred to as ACM. We met a lady from our church that has ACM I. She worked hard to organize and get information out about Chiari and its terrible effects. Our precious Hayden was diagnosed with ACM II which means that his part of the brain that controls his nervous system is compressed and under pressure. ACM II is often associated with Spina Bifida. To learn more about ACM please visit:
http://www.conquerchiari.org/index.htm

Along with this, October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month!
http://www.cdc.gov/features/spinabifida/
It was a year ago that we learned the devastating news that our precious baby boy was diagnosed with Spina Bifida. The race was on to learn as much as possible to help our unborn son. Our resources for information seemed limited. Doctors could diagnose, but prognosis of the day-to-day life of the children and parents was hard to find. For those families that we were able to talk to, they brought us great hope. For that reason, we continue our blog publicly so that we may give others hope and share our happiness and triumphs over challenges.

Spina Bifida is a major birth defect of a baby's spine. It is one of the most common, permanently disabling birth defects in the United States.

Spina bifida occurs within the first few weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman knows she is pregnant. It happens when the spine and back bones do not close all the way. When this happens, the spinal cord and back bones do not form as they should. A sac of fluid comes through an opening in the baby's back. Much of the time, part of the spinal cord is in this sac and it is damaged.

Most children born with spina bifida live full lives, though they often have lifelong disabilities and need many surgeries. Some of the problems that a person born with spina bifida might face include:

• Not being able to move lower parts of their body. (Some might need to use crutches, braces, or wheelchairs to get around.)
• Loss of bowel and bladder control. (Some might have to wear protective clothing. Others learn new ways to empty their bladders and bowels.)
• Fluid building up and putting pressure on the brain (hydrocephalus), which needs to be fixed with an operation.
• Learning disabilities.
• Allergy to latex (a created material found in some rubber-type products such as balloons or hospital gloves).

All children born with spina bifida don't have the same needs. Some children have problems that are much more severe than others. Even so, with the right care, most of these children will grow up to lead full and productive lives.

Fall is finally here!

2009-09-30T20:30:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since our last post. It feels wonderful to have no new medical news for you other than our most recent overnight stay at a nursing home (this is to help expedite Medicaid benefits for Hayden). Hayden continues to wear his eye patches practicing to be a pirate for Halloween and Hanna continues to love learning at preschool.

Earlier this month we went to Dallas for our cousin, Anthony's, engagement party. We had a great time and the kids loved getting to see Gaga too. Hayden is getting stronger at holding his head. He rolled over for his first time on this trip and is working on sitting up and pushing up. On our road trip back home we toured the new Dallas Cowboys football stadium before it opened for the official first game. Not being a football fan (this is Adrienne typing), it was still fun.

We also had a great time with the Hanna family visiting from Philly. Work conference, BBQ, ESPN, outlet shopping, swimming and birthday party were lots of our festivities. John and Scott went to UT College Game Day with ESPN and took the kiddos while Paige and I got to go shopping with the babies. It was wonderful for all of us. Hanna and cousin Drake were so cute and nice to each other while Pierce and Hayden (both 6 months old) were sweet as ever and acted like twins. I have to break my own rules and put thier pictures on our blog. The cousins are just too cute and I know that these pictures are already out on the Hanna's blog or facebook:).

"Even without a perfect body, one can have a perfect soul."

2009-09-08T18:45:00.000-05:00

I usually delete all forwarded e-mails but this one I thought might be good to post as it relates to kids born with Spina Bifida. It also applies to anyone told they "can't" do something. Below is posted the content of this e-mail:

This dog was born on Christmas Eve in the year 2002. He was born with 2 legs - He of course could not walk when he was born. Even his mother did not want him. His first owner also did not think that he could survive and he was thinking of 'putting him to sleep'.

But then, his present owner, Jude Stringfellow, met him and wanted to take care of him. She became determined to teach and train this little dog to walk by himself. She named him 'Faith'. In the beginning, she put Faith on a surfboard to let him feel the movement. Later she used peanut butter on a spoon as a lure and reward for him for standing up and jumping around. Even the other dog at home encouraged him to walk.

Amazingly, only after 6 months, like a miracle, Faith learned to balance on his hind legs and to jump to move forward. After further training in the snow, he could now walk like a human being. Faith loves to walk around now. No matter where he goes, he attracts people to him.

He is fast becoming famous on the international scene and has appeared on various newspapers and TV shows. There is now a book entitled 'With a Little Faith' being published about him. He was even considered to appear in one of Harry Potter movies. His present owner Jude Stringfellew has given up her teaching post and plans to take him around the world to preach that even without a perfect body, one can have a perfect soul'. In life there are always undesirable things, so in order to feel better you just need to look at life from another direction.I hope this message will bring fresh new ways of thinking to everyone and that everyone will appreciate and be thankful for each beautiful day. Faith is the continual demonstration of the strength and wonder of life.

Eye patch

2009-09-02T21:11:00.000-05:00

Hayden has got two months of practice for his Halloween pirate costume. This was his first outing with it on and first swing time in the park.

You have to check out the video of him eating cereal on the right bar of youtube videos. I couldn't get it to upload on this posting.

Firsts

2009-09-01T18:15:00.000-05:00

Hayden's first food, rice cereal...not really a favorite. See how he is eyeing the Sunday morning breakfast of Scott's green chile scrambled eggs & french toast.

He got his first pair of Nike shoes thanks again to the Pool fam!

Hayden's trip to the Ophthalmologist was a success. She said his optic nerves were great and that he had good vision. He does have weakened muscles on the outer edge of his eyes due to the hydrocephalus and that we will need to alternate patching his eyes for 2 months to help strengthen them. Whew..this was great news!

Hanna's first day of pre-school. She loved it and didn't look back. Even cried when she had to leave. Makes you wonder what her mother does or doesn't do at home doesn't it.

Birthdays in Billings

2009-08-29T15:18:00.000-05:00

We had a great week long visit in Billings, Montana for Scott & Anna's birthdays. So out of courtesy for others privacy, since our blog is public, we typically try to not post pictures of anyone other than our family.

Hanna loved riding Mooders everyday and playing in the sandbox best. We loved Julia and Austin's babysitting/playing and the cool weather and great company best.

We had such a great time with all of the Montana Hannas and even got to visit with the Rexburg Williams and go out to the Jordan's ranch.

Now that Hayden is 6 months old, he has also visited 6 states in his short little life.

6 months old

2009-08-26T19:46:00.001-05:00

Hayden is now 6 months old and I can't believe it. His smile melts my heart. He is the sweetest baby. Since we have taken a break from the medical community on our vacations, we have been able to relax and just have fun. My vigilant eye looking for things that might be wrong has taken a break. Now that we are back to the regular check ups, there are many wonderful things going right, but also a few tough ones that keep me up at night.

At clinic, Hayden was found to have great weight gain, an MRI of a working shunt and an ultrasound to find some fluid built up in his kidney. We are also treating him for a UTI at the current moment. The urologist's office tried to test him with an analysis of his strength of stream to see if we need to start cathing him again. During this test they couldn't pass the catheter after trying for a very long time. Now he has been swollen for days and are waiting to see where we go from here and have him rechecked after the round of antibiotics.

An optimist would hope that his stream is well and that it doesn't matter if a cath won't pass, because he won't ever need one. The pessimist/realist might think that there is an obstruction, or narrowing of the opening to the bladder and another surgery might be required and possible cathing again to reduce further UTIs.

At his Pediatrician's office, his weight was in the 50% at 17.6lbs and height in the 75% at 27 inches while his head is so small it didn't make the charts. This is something we need to follow up with at next clinic. He got his vaccinations and the doctor recommended we see an opthomologist for his eye (translation= another possible surgery).

During his physical therapy sessions, the PT was concerned about his "low tone". This is not new, but he is lagging significantly in a few areas ie. hands are still in fists, doesn't play with toys, doesn't sit unsupported and falls with rounded back, not rolling over, not pushing up with arms on tummy and head control isn't where she thinks it should be. She recommended a neurologist apmt.

While we are blessed to have great health care and insurance, the co-pays are really adding up. I don't know how others do it with less than we have been blessed with.

Here is a beautiful picture of our little hero and his aunt Melyssa. Please keep him in your prayers. They work.

Happy Hayden's SB Clinic

2009-08-11T21:43:00.000-05:00

Hayden had a very very long SB clinic today. We left home at 6am and left clinic at 1pm. He had an MRI and an ultrasound. The MRI was great and again no news is good news. The ultrasound of the kidneys showed he had some fuid in his left kidney. The doctor said his didn't see reflux or UTI, but we should watch it to see if in the future we have to start cathing again. Only 30% of SB people don't have to cath. We hope Hayden makes that percentage, but the more important thing is to keep his kidneys healthy. We will keep watching.

Hanna was a trooper big sister as always watching cartoons and keeping busy with snacks and playing. When we were out, Hanna and I ate lunch in the cafeteria of the hospital and found our Seton photo shoot poster up for all to see. All the staff thinks Hayden is famous. We have to agree he is pretty special!

Ruidoso, NM Family Reunion

2009-08-05T21:36:00.000-05:00

We feel blessed that we were able to drive to New Mexico for a wonderful family get together in the mountains and take a break from the heat. We are posting a few of the pictures of our wonderful family time there.

Hayden's 5 months, Great Grandma Spencer, Denver Antiques Roadshow

2009-07-28T21:44:00.000-05:00

Hayden is now 5 months old and weighed in just over a whopping 17lbs. That is huge for the Trigg family. Hanna was only 18lbs at her first birthday. Great Grandma Spencer came from Colorado to visit for the first time. She was a great baby holder having had 6 babies of her own. Hayden loved falling asleep in her arms for hours. I flew back to CO with Grandma to attend the Antiques Roadshow and visit friends. I am no richer for my antiques, but feel richly blessed with my family and friends. Scott took excellent care of both the kiddos while I was gone having a great time.Hanna has recently become camera shy so getting pictures of her is harder and harder.

Hayden's first trip to Cali

2009-07-18T22:21:00.001-05:00

We had a great time in California. We got to go to the LA temple for a date, to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, to the beach, and toured 2nd Street on Belmont Shore. While Scott and my mom were working, Hayden, Hanna and I were playing at the beach. Hayden loved taking naps there and Hanna couldn't get enough of the mud. It was a great break from the heat of Texas.

Soul Mates

2009-07-09T22:09:00.000-05:00

So when I was thinking about what to title this blog, I thought of all of the other Spina Bifida parents that I have been learning from. We are a sort of Soul Mate. Each mother that I have connected with over the phone long distances or through Spina Bifida Clinic share our deep concern and love for our children. I know that most people love their children, but the emotions that we parents go through seem to connect us on such a deep level.
Through my blog, I recently got an e-mail from Shelly (http://kendallandshellyburr.blogspot.com/) in Houston. She found our blog from searching the internet on Spina Bifida.

By making our blog public it was our hope and intention that we could be a resource and a personal connection to someone else as the Etchells (http://theetchellsfamily.blogspot.com/) family has been to us along with the many other families on the SB links on the side of the blog.

Shelly had just learned of her daughter’s diagnosis and all the scary things that go along with it. I called her and I felt such a connection with her and the whirlwind of things that she and her family were going to be going through.

Today I learned that she is going to SF for the MOMs study (in utero surgery) this Sunday (http://fetus.ucsfmedicalcenter.org/spina_bifida/). If they decide to go through with it, they could have surgery this Thursday. The preparation that they are having to make for the possibility that Shelly may not be with her kids for the following 3 months after the surgery is a BIG step in its self.

This brought back so many emotions for me. We documented our few extraordinary days while we were in SF for the MOMs study in October and November. The decision to be a part of a national study on the effects and benefits of a risky in utero fetal surgery at 25 weeks is such a enormous decision. We fasted and prayed and got as much information as was possible through a litany of exams and meetings with Doctors in many specialty areas. Ultimately we were disqualified which was an answer to our fasting and prayers as neither of us could totally come to an agreed upon decision.

The in utero surgery is very risky but it is thought that it may 1) reduce the chances of needing a shunt in the brain and 2) protect nerve endings on the spine from further damage.

In addition. I am posting this short story and photo of an operation done at Vanderbilt.
The picture is that of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being operated on by surgeon named Joseph Bruner.The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would not survive if removed from his mother's womb. Little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta . She knew of Dr. Bruner's remarkable surgical procedure. Practicing at Vanderbilt Univ Med Ctr in Nashville , he performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb.During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and makes a small incision to operate on the baby. As Dr. Bruner completed the surgery on Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but fully developedhand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger. Dr Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was the most emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the procedure he was just frozen, totally immobile. The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity. The editors titled the picture, 'Hand of Hope.' The text explaining the picture begins, 'The tiny hand of 21-week-old fetus Samuel Alexander Armas emerges from the mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life.' Little Samuel's mother said they 'wept for days' when they saw the picture. She said, 'The photo reminds us pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness, it's about a little person.' Now see the actual picture - and it is awesome... incredible... and hey, pass it on. The world needs to see this one! Don't tell me our God isn't an awesome God!!!

Celebrating Independence Day

2009-07-05T21:57:00.000-05:00

We have been having a really fun weekend. I would love to post all of our pictures, but since I do not have the permission to post everyone out on the internet, I will have to condense it to my family and they can't complain. I have also made a Kodak gallery of the many pictures that are not included if you would like me to send them to you.

We have a new family in church that moved from Dallas with quadruplet babies Hayden's age, and an older daughter Hanna's age. They celebrated their daughter's second birthday with a blow up waterslide, fancy cake & pizza, and great take home treats. All of the quadruplets family was in town for their special baby blessings at church today.

After the birthday party we went home for a nap and then onto a 4th of July celebration to watch fireworks from the Lakeway park. Hanna got to swim two times in one day and eat cake twice. She loves Independence Day! She was the happiest girl ever, little miss independent! She even got to stay up 2 hours past bedtime. Hayden appears to be recovering well from his surgeries. He will have a check up later this month.

Hayden's Surgery

2009-06-28T17:26:00.000-05:00

Last Friday, Hayden went in bright and early at 6am for surgery. The night before, to help ease my worries, I went out with a few of my June birthday girlfriends to a Ladies of the 80's sing-a-long that was a blast and got me home really late.

The children's surgery center had told me that Hayden wouldn’t be allowed to eat after 2am. This is so that he wouldn't get sick from the anesthesia. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep, so I stayed up to feed Hayden an early feeding that he isn’t used to and it worked like a charm. He was just fine skipping his morning meal. He slept for the hour drive to the children’s surgery center and was all smiles when I had to hand him over in tears to his nurse.

Even with the knowledge that the surgery was best for him and my faith that all would be well, nothing could stop my tears from flowing knowing that my little baby had to cut open once again and recover from being stitched up.

Hayden had hernia surgery, circumcision, a bladder scope and another corrective surgery that went along with his circumcision that we weren't anticipating. Fortunately after all the doctor’s hard work for the 2 hour procedure and the recovery from anesthesia, Hayden was on his way home around noon. We both ate lunch and slept the rest of the day.

Thank you to those of you who prayed for Hayden. We took him to church today to thank and worship God for his goodness to us. Hayden was happy to see everyone and has been handling his recovery pain amazingly.All along we have been blessed by the good care that Hayden is receiving.

In the world of Spina Bifida, one of the most important specialty doctors is a urologist. The urologist helps with the day to day bladder and bowel issues that many SB people deal with. Not only are we blessed to have a urologist that focuses on children but that also specializes in Spina Bifida. We are blessed by his care, skill and education that enables Hayden to live a fuller life.

After such an emotionally serious weekend, our 2 year old knows how to keep us laughing….
Hanna is currently becoming interested in potty training and all of its dirty details. This morning, I was applying a self tanning lotion with a bronzer in it that I was rubbing onto my legs. Hanna excitedly pointed out to Daddy…Mommy pooped!

On another note…below are some of the adorable pictures that we took recently of Hayden and Hanna.