R &R and Payton Update

Where to begin? I feel the past month has just flown by. It's funny how time works. On a day to day basis it feels like time just creeps by, bedtime seems to take for ever to come, but when I look back I realize how much time has really gone by. It's been a month already (well a little over) since our beautiful Payton was born and Jason was home. I miss the days filled with the noise of the boys wrestling with Jason while Payton sleeps on my chest. The house feels different without him here. Only two more months till his next R & R. I can't wait.

No more of that now. On to what a great time we had when he was here. Mostly we just hung around the house (mostly because going out with all five kids felt like something they should put on the show Fear Factor), the girls were at school most of the day so the boys got lots of daddy time. Daddy taught them so many wonderful things (can you tell I'm being sarcastic?), like how to say "Yeah sucka!!" and some other things that I'm not going to put on here. They also learned how to beat each other up (although I'm sure they would have learned that on their own, they are boys after all). I know they were happy to play with someone who could get down on the floor and roll around (before Payton came I obviously wasn't getting down on the floor to play, I probably wouldn't have been able to get back up).

Jason and I got to do a lot of talking. He was so sweet the first couple of nights, he would get up with me when Payton woke up and just talk to me. It was wonderful. A few nights we stayed up way too late and play games together on his ipad. I can't remember the last time we got to spend so much quality time together. It was so wonderful and I really needed it.

He took the four older kids to a place called Steed's Dairy Farm one night. They had a blast. They played on this giant slide, which of course Charlie had to go down about a million times. Once they were able to pry his little body off of it they jumped on this thing called a jump pillow (see pictures for what it looks like). The kids loved that too (surprise, surprise since they love to jump on their beds too). Hyrum enjoyed putting his head on the jump pillow while people jumped around him causing his head to shake. I have no comment on that besides I hope it didn't shake anything loose. They also did a hay ride and a corn maze which they all loved. Because they went in the evening and it was getting dark they gave all the kids ( both the big and little kids) flashlights. They had a great time jumping out and scarring each other. One of the girls got Jason good ( I have trained them well). I wish I could have been there to scare Jason too (plus I have always wanted to run through corn just to hear it make that sound, don't ask it's one of my weird little things).

We also decided to have Faith's birthday party while Jason was home (her actually birthday isn't till the 28th). The thought of having a bunch of extra kids by myself was not a pleasant thought. Faith invited her three best friends over, Kaya, Tanner and Morganath. I was a little sad (and relieved) that she didn't want a themed cake this year. Now mind you I didn't miss spending the four hours it took me to decorate the cake (I know Jason didn't miss me stressing over how it was coming out or hearing me yell that I was going to throw it out into the street because I was so frustrated). She just wanted a chocolate cake with strawberry icing. It came out very well. She had a great time with all her friends once she got over her little attitude moment. She is so much more moody than she used to be, I can't imagine what the teenage years are going to be like. I will say this though, she is an amazing big sister and she loves her newest brother so much. One of the girls hadn't been forewarned about Payton's condition and she starting making fun of him. Faith got very upset and stood up for her brother. She told her friend to stop making fun of him and that this was just they way God had made him. It still brings tears to my eyes just thinking of it. She is an amazing little girl. The girl apologized and there were no further incidents. All in all Faith had a great time.

We also picked out the kids Halloween costumes. The boys are going to be Buzz and Woody. The girls are going to be Jesse and The Little Mermaid. I tried to convince Faith to go as Barbie so we could have another character from Toy Story Three. If Jason were here we could be Mr and Mrs Potato Head. The boys are so cute together.

And finally an update on Payton. He has been such an amazing baby. He had gained almost 3 and 1/2 pounds by his one month check up and grown two inches. I can't believe how much he has grown since he was born. He is now sleeping eight hours (sometimes a little more) at night. He never ceases to amaze me. He smiled for the first time yesterday. I love this stage where they can show their love and happiness. I love holding and cuddling him and he gets lots of kisses from both me and his siblings (I actually have to pry the kids off of him a lot of the time, they have no idea about personal space when it comes to Payton, hopefully he won't be claustrophobic when he is older). He is very much loved.

I know many have asked about his condition and what it means for his future. We finally got some answers yesterday. The news is bittersweet (more sweet than bitter thankfully). Yesterday Payton had and Orthopedic appointment. His doctor was so wonderful and explained a lot and answered all of my questions for me. I really like him. He is almost 100% positive that Payton's condition isn't genetic. What a relief that was, we are still going to go to see the geneticist tomorrow just to make sure. We won't have those results for three to four months though. Anyway back to yesterday, the reason he is so sure it's not genetic is due to the fact that there are no other problems with Payton. All of his organs are normal as well as all his other bones. Something just caused a malfunction in the gene sequence as he was developing. That's probably all we'll ever know about this if his diagnosis is correct. So we have no name for what Payton has, but at least it won't be passed on to his children and we don't have to worry to much about it happening to another child if we choose to have another. I was very happy about this news.

As for his hands he will have to see a hand surgeon in six months to see what we can do. Hopefully he'll have enough bone in at least one of his hands for them to make a thumb. It would be a huge help for him, but if not we'll learn to do things another way. On to his feet, his doctor has highly recommended that we amputate his feet. He'll have prosthetic feet. In the long run this is actually better for him. First there is no guarantee that they can even reconstruct feet for him. Second he would need multiple surgeries to even accomplish this. Third it may not work and they would have to amputate anyway. Plus he couldn't have the reconstruction surgery till he was much older, like Charlie's age. That in it self (the fact that he would be almost four and not walking) can lead to other developmental delays. If we really wanted to push the issue we could go the reconstructive route, but I don't want to put him through all of that just to end up amputating anyway. With the prosthetic feet he'll be able to walk and run just like any other kid. He goes back in six months for x-rays and for us to let the doctor know what we want to do. I'm pretty positive we going to go ahead with the amputation. He would have this surgery sometime in May, around 8 months old. They recommend doing between 7 -12 months so that he'll learn to walk wearing the prosthetic. Our hopes are very high for him. I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared about my little baby having major surgery, but I have to have faith that it will all be alright. This is a great chance for him to lead a normal life. He'll still have his challenges, but we will be here to support and love him.

Some have also asked how I am handling all this and I ask you not to worry. I am doing great with this. I am usually a worry wart, but since Payton has come into our lives I have found a peace that I can't explain, I'm sure it's a lot of things combined that have changed me. Two things stand out; one, my love for and faith in our Heavenly Father has deepened. I have a stronger faith and testimony. I know that as long as I exercise my faith that it will grown and I will be more able to deal with the challenges our family will face in the future. The second, my love for husband has grown more too. This has only brought us closer together (if you thought we loved to talk each others ears off before, you should see us now). I know that he will lift me up when I am not strong and I will do the same for him. I am thankful for such a wonderful man to share this life as well as the eternities with. Our family is strong and you need not worry. The road we walk will not always be easy but as long as we are together we can make it through whatever comes our way.

I also want to thank everyone for their well wishes and help. We are so blessed to have so many wonder family and friends.