All in a Day

Friday, January 18, 2013

PJ's newest adventure!

Here is a little video of PJ's latest adventure! He just received a stander and it is going to help him bear weight on his legs and hopefully build the muscle he needs to do it on his own. It's short, but oh-so-cute!!! Enjoy!

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Picture Blog!

So I managed to figure out how to post pictures to go with the blog I posted earlier today! yay! Enjoy!

Daniel's first day of school!

Daniel and mommy

Always keeping us entertained!

Daniel fell asleep with his headlamp on while practicing his Awana verses.

Watching the soccer game!

On a mission!

The boys with Grandma Dorothy (Mitch's Grandma)

All the Hinton men! Grandpa Simmie, Mitch, Daniel and PJ

Aunt Vanessa and PJ!

These two would cause some serious trouble if they lived closer! Cousin Nathaniel and Daniel

Enjoying the Saturday morning workshop at Home Depot

Working on a firetruck

Grandma Marsha and PJ. I just love this picture!

Grandpa Simmie and Daniel doing what Grandpa loves to do: bowl!!

All the siblings together at last! Aren't they a good looking group?!

Here are the handome Hinton men again.

How did he get himself in this postion?!

Taking a bath in the sink is lots of fun!

He loves bath time!

Somehow PJ managed to flip over on his belly to fall asleep with his hip brace on.

Time to celebrate my 1st birthday!!!!

His birthday present from Daniel. He LOVES puppies (that is an understatement!)

Me and my buddy :-)

Nanny and PJ

Merry Christmas!

We're back!!

So, it’s the new year! Can’t believe it’s been over 4 months since I’ve posted a blog. Four months?! Yikes! I have to laugh at myself a little because you don’t know how many times I wanted to post, but always felt farther and farther behind…well, I better just update everyone with EVERYTHING and go from there! Ha!

As you all know, Daniel started kindergarten this year. What a bittersweet time that has been. I must say, I could tell he was ready by the end of the summer because I think mom and PJ were becoming quite the bore and he needed some better entertaining ;) He was so excited for his first day all the way up until the actual day. He was a bundle of nerves (as was I!). It took a good couple weeks for him to feel comfortable and excited every morning for school. He is doing so well now. He’s received some reading awards which made me so proud! The school year is already half over and I just can’t believe it.He was a soccer stud this fall on the grey tigers (can you tell the kids pick the team name?). Taking him back to school after Christmas break was so hard! My sister-in-law mentioned that it felt like the first day all over again and it did! We had so much fun as a family during his break, I didn’t want it to end! Daniel and I had so much fun baking endless amount of cookies, trying out new candy recipes and watching Christmas movies. He is a great big brother. I’d be lying if I said it was always peaceful. I have seen the two boys go at it! It’s hilarious! PJ is quite the feisty little boy and when Daniel does something he doesn’t want, he lets us all know, and especially Daniel. Daniel has been attending AWANA as well and is now a proud little Sparky! He has already completed and reviewed his book!! He has just been soaking up God’s word and loving it!! Praise God! We are so thankful. We are so thankful for God blessing us with such a wonderful son, who loves God and has such a kind heart. I don't want him to grow up!! ha! Now, it’s the countdown to summer (too early??.....nah!)

PJ has been doing SO great! It’s really unbelievable!! Let me think where the last blog left everything…I believe it was the check up after he’d been out of his spica cast for a while. PJ still wears his hip brace at night time, although, he has become quite mobile and somehow manages to maneuver himself halfway out of the brace by the morning time. Yes, you heard right, MOBILE!!! He is a crawling machine! He has been rolling around for quite some time, but never crawling. It was right after his birthday, we were getting a visit from Early Intervention (state therapy) and right in front of the therapist, he did his very first army crawl! I couldn’t believe my eyes! I could have screamed!!! Ever since then, he has been ALL OVER THE PLACE! He is still doing the army crawl, but he has been getting on all fours a ton, but won’t progress to a full-on crawl yet. He will, I know it! He has also mastered the art of sitting himself up from laying/crawling. This is a lot of work for babies with spina bifida because their core muscles are very weak and it takes a lot of strength for them to be able to do that. He is just surprising us left and right!! He is quite the personality as well. He’s making you laugh one minute and the next he’s making you drop your jaw in shock of his sass! He is a cuddle bug, mama’s boy, food lover, kiss blower, high-fiver, puppy lover, blankie loving blessing to our lives. Our latest visit to San Fran in November proved, once again, that PJ has been and will remain in God’s hands! He underwent a sedated MRI to check his fluid levels in his ventricles which turned out to be not as bad as I aniticpated. I definitely didn’t enjoy holding him while they put him to sleep, not to mention I think I caught wind of some of that gas, so I was feeling a little woozy myself! His ventricles REMAIN STABLE!!! They haven’t changed since March 2011. PRAISE GOD!!! I can’t mention enough what a miracle this has been. We’ve been anticipating this dreaded shunt for over a year and he remains to be one of the 10% who don’t need it! How awesome is that!! He received a hip x-ray as well as a renal ultrasound to check his bladder and for reflux to his kidneys. His hip is still in (YES!) and his ultrasound was good. He’s also been fitted for a new pair of AFO braces. We’ve had quite the ordeal with those. He has developed horrible pressure blisters on is right heal a few times, one time, scaring me so bad we took PJ to the E.R. But, I think we finally have the braces altered and fitted just right, we can start to work on him bearing some weight on those legs of his and get his feet into the correct position!

Mitch and I have been through the ringer a little as well. With much prayer and time spent searching God’s word and waiting in Him, we decided for Mitch to make a career change. Most of you know that he has been a police officer for the past 5 years (he is still doing a little reserve duty when time allows), but the insurance could not provide what our family needed. He is now working at a gold mine about an hour out of town. Northern Nevada is mining country and most of our town is populated by mining families. He is really loving it and we can see God’s hand in opening and closing doors along the way. We are totally at peace with our new adventure and we praise God for His provision! I can tell you first hand that the insurance has been such a blessing. I got my gallbladder removed the first week of November due to gallstones and nasty side-effects that brings and I have to tell you…it’s been nice seeing that explanation of benefits saying “you saved 89%”…um, wow!!

I was going to post a lot of pictures, but for some reason I am having trouble uploading them, so it's just a wordy update this time. Sorry folks! I will try to figure out what the issue is and get some pics up. Here's a little recap of the past 5 months:

o Daniel started kindergarten

o Daniel became a sparky at AWANA

o We celebrated PJ’s first birthday on October 3^rd!

o We flew to MN to visit Mitch’s family. What a blessing and much needed trip!

o I celebrated my 29^th birthday (the 30’s are creeping up on me…NO!)

o I got my gallbladder out! What a pain in my side…literally!

o PJ crawled!!!

o We celebrated Mitch’s 30^th birthday (old man!)

o We celebrated the birth of our savior…I have to say, this was my favorite Christmas so far as a family!

We are excited to see what God has in store for us this year. Seeing how He guided and provided for us in so many ways, we know that God is and will forever be in control. He is our foundation and we are thankful that we have Him to turn to and lean on. What a blessing!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Hinton Family Update

Just a warning...this blog is HUGE! Yes, I know, I haven't blogged in FOREVER! Honestly, this summer has gotten away from me! I can't believe that in just a few short days, my baby will be an official kindergartener. I really don't know how I will be on that day. I am just hoping to make it to the car so I don't embarass Daniel with my emotional outbursts! ha! I am going to try and control myself. There is no promising though. BOO! Ok, let's not dwell on that thought for now. I would like to live in denial for the time being. :)

This summer has been a long, yet short one. It's been hard because we haven't been able to do the normal "summer" activities we've been used to because of PJ's medications. One of the side-effects of one of his medications is over-heating and dehydration. It's been difficult because we have been trying to train PJ to take a sippy cup to be taking in more liquids, but he still hasn't taken to it, so we give him water through a straw for now. But, it isn't enough to keep him hydrated in the heat and cool enough to let him be outside for long periods of time. We did make it the pool once, but the heat has just been unbearable for PJ, so we have been creative with inside activities. We've tie-dyed shirts, played countless board games, watched movies, read, colored...you name it, we've done it! It's been a blessing though because Daniel and I have had a lot of quality time together that I will cherish, especially this coming year. Daniel is my buddy and I am so thankful for our time that we've shared this summer together.

We've recently returned to San Francisco to get an ultrasound of PJ's head and kidneys as well as an x-ray of his hip. This was such a heavy, stressful trip because we were meeting with the nuerosurgeon personally so we could decide whether PJ would be getting a shunt. Just to remind you all, 80-90% of kids with Spina Bifida develop hydrocephalus so sever that that they need a shunt. It's almost a given with this disease. Along with that huge percentage of children, they usually get them shortly after birth or w/in the first 6 months. I held on to the fact that PJ is 10 months!!! 10 months and no shunt so far! Also, he wasn't showing any signs of severe hydro (vomitting, lethargy, sunset-eyes, bulging soft-spot, rapidly growing head circumference). The only symptom that PJ has shown so far is having a big head...but have you seen him?!! We have a big boy on our hands!! haha. This trip was a stressful one because PJ's shunt surgery was already scheduled for the following day after our appt with the surgeon, we had already had the consultation for pre-op, etc, so we were definitely hopeful, but trying to be realistic as well. When the dr. came in the office to meet with us, he had WONDERFUL news for us! He said that the ultrasound showed NO CHANGE since March! That is amazing news!!!! The dr. told us that so far, no shunt! PRAISE GOD! PJ isn't totally out of the woods yet, but the longer we go w/o one, his odds just get better and better! In a couple months, we will go back again and this time instead of an ultrasound, PJ will be getting a sedated rapid sequence MRI that will look at his ventricles since his soft spot will be closed and we can no longer get the ultrasounds. The whole trip and months leading up to this appt I kept praying that no matter what happened God will be praised. I was praying for strength and comfort that if we got the news we didn't want, that we knew God was in control and He knows what is best for PJ. Shunt or no shunt, God is in control and we will continue to trust in Him and rest in His plans for our PJ.

The x-ray of his hip was great as well! His hip is still in socket and the joint is molding PJ's socket beautifully and it is going as planned from the dr. The dr. told us that PJ can be out of his brace eventually all day (gradually getting there!) and only needing to wear it at naps and bedtime. YES! This summer has definitely been dificult in finding ways to keep PJ happy and content while wearing the huge brace. We mananged, but we are ever-so-thankful to be out of that during the day!! And let me tell you, PJ is loving it as well!! He sat in the high chair for the first time ever the other day and he just about burst!! He would be in there all day if I let him!!! Things people take for granted, like being able to put your child in a high chair, have been such milestones for us! We are so thankful!!

God continues to show us His faithfulness and love for us. There have been times where we have been frustrated, disappointed, hopeless, and weary, but God has continued to show us, through His word, through the love and generosity of others, that He will NEVER leave us or forsake us! Just when we get to a certain point of uncertainty, God brings someone or something into our lives to show us His control and love for us. We have never questioned God's love for us, but, being human, we have times of sadness and worry, but God continues to show us that He is our Father and He is our source of comfort, hope, strength, encouragement, and provision. I could go on and on and on!!! All I can say is, GOD IS SO GOOD!!!

Well, there are a lot of pictures below and I'll just let them do the talking about our summer. Hope you enjoy...and sorry for the long blog!! LOVE YOU ALL!

PJ in his highchair for the first time!!!

Mitch and Daniel sleep in the backyard every summer at least once, and here is Daniel helping Daddy get tent ready!

Here's PJ at the annual Anderson LUAU at my parent's house...what a fun time!

My parent's got PJ and Daniel Cub's hats when they were in Chicago (don't worry Hinton Fam, we are Twins' fans all the way!) and PJ wasn't too happy about modeling the hat!