One year pictures!

Ok – just to let you know upfront.  Call it “full disclosure”.  There will be no long post this time.  Nothing wordy.  Not a lot of mumbo jumbo.  Today, we are going to get straight to the point.  No beating around the bush.  We are going to say it using as few words as possible.

…or maybe it’s already to late for that…

At any rate – We have our 12 month pictures back!  We’ve had them for a little while now – but I’ve had trouble getting the pictures and the computer in the same room (or the same state…).

So – without further ado – here are some pictures for you to peruse!  And if you want to see more – just click HERE and you can see them all!

 

“Baby needs a new pair of shoes”

It’s been a little while since there has been a “club feet” update.  Mostly, because there has been nothing to update you on.  It’s been a few months since we’ve seen the orthopedic surgeon – and it’s still another couple of months before our next appointment.

But we HAVE been putting off on task.  Mike has been wearing the same shoes for several months now.  So long, in fact, that his toes were sticking out over the end of the shoe (yes - they are open-toed shoes!) and the straps were hanging on by a thread (literally!). 

We were hoping that Mike would start walking and we could ditch the shoes (and the brace) altogether.  And while he has no problems standing up (as long as his hand is touching something that at least appears stable) he still hasn’t taken those first “solo” steps yet.  That’s not to say that he doesn’t walk.  No sir!  he will walk behind anything that he can stand behind and push around the room.  Chairs.  Walkers.  Cardboard boxes.  You name it.

But that’s not enough for our orthopedic friends!  Nope – they want him to be fully walking with no assistance before they will consider dumping the brace.

So it was off to our favorite orthotics place.  The folks at Hanger’s really are fantastic.  The will bend over backwards and do whatever it takes to make the orthotic device fit as good and comfortable as possible – which is certainly important for clubbed feet kids (remember those pressure points?  We sure do…) but it’s just as important for people with artificial limbs – or any other type of orthotics device.

So – we walked in the door and handed them the shoes and brace.  A quick look resulted in a “Wow!  These have been around the block a few times”.  A quick measurement of Mike’s foot – a quick trip to the back – and viola!  New shoes mounted on the brace.

So – how long have we waited for these new shoes?  Let me put it this way.  His original shoes were a size 00.  The shoes we just replaced were a size 0.  His new shoes are a size 3!  And boy – they sure do go on his feet easier!

Fare well Queen City – we have left the building…

It was a wonderful ride.  Filled with a bunch of fabulous folks who helped us out (and in the famous words of Julius:  by “us” – I mean “me”).  And while I may not have ever found WKRP or Johnny Fever, I did find a great job with a great group of people – even if it was only for a temporary “contract”.

And while I’m not much on your weather – especially the winter weather – I did enjoy following your beloved Reds and beleaguered Bengals.  You provided safe harbor for a stranger and shelter from the storm.  You took me in and treated me as if I was one of your own.

But not everything is permanent – especially in these current times.  I hope that everything continues to go well for you all!  And I’m sure we will be back for a visit (to stock up at Jungle Jim’s if for no other reason!)

In the meantime, we’ve already loaded up the U-Haul and vacated the “Cincinnati Vacation Home”.  And that was quite an ordeal!  It sure would have been easier to carry all of that stuff out if there wasn’t all of that snow in the way (did I mention the winter weather yet?).  But it’s done – and our possessions are now consolidated into two locations (even if they are in two different states!).

And the weekend was not all “packing and loading”.  There was some fun involved too!  There always is when Mike is around!

One of the best times was after running the vacuum in the bedroom.  Mike crawled over to the vacuum and started pushing it around the room making a “WRRRRRR” sound.  I can’t wait to get a toy lawn mower so he can follow me around the yard!  Heck – I might even skip the toy lawn mower and just let him push the real thing around!  After all – he didn’t need a “toy vacuum” to push around…

And while he was there, “the dad” was giving him tips on cell phone testing.  He spent several hours comparing the Blackberry with the DroidX – including the “infant toss test”.  In the end – I think he preferred the Blackberry – but only because it had more buttons!  He wasn’t too impressed with the Droid’s touchscreen…

 

“This blackberry has a BUNCH of buttons I can press!  The droid only has eight tiny ones – what fun is that?”

The (not so) secret big news!

Not that it was every really a secret – but we had some big news happen recently.  Many of you already know the news – but there are plenty of folks that we don’t get to talk to on a regular basis and I’m sure that you don’t yet know.

“The Dad” has a new job!  This time it’s a permanent position (no more contract work – yea!) and it’s with a nice, stable company (have you ever heard of Verizon Wireless?).  And the job is in “The Dad’s” hometown – Evansville Indiana!

In some ways – it’s really exciting.  Mike will be closer to family.  He’ll be able to visit a LOT more with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  And we still have friends in the area.  So it’s certainly not like starting over in a brand new city.

In some ways – it’s a bummer.  Lot’s of friends in Knoxville, “The Mom’s” job is in Knoxville.  Our house is in Knoxville.  But we stay focused on the positives!

But the absolute best part?  We’ll be together – living in the same house – in the same city – as a family!  This road as proven to be a long hard detour – and there are still a lot of things to get done before everything is worked out.  But we are hoping that soon the wind will soon be at our back and the sailing will finally be smooth…