Lily's First Trip to the Shriners

We have completed the first out of six to eight trips to the Shriners for Lily's Serial Casting. We were really impressed with the doctors and the hospital. What an amazing organization! I got most of my questions answered and just felt really good about the whole process. It will be neat to see how her foot changes.

Here is Lily with Grandma and Grandpa Heaps. It was wonderful to see them again. We so appreciate their love and hospitality. Here is Lily's cute little club foot. Sometimes she would hook it onto her other foot. It was pretty cute.

Here is her foot after the first cast! It was amazing to see how much it was able to stretch. She wailed (like the doctors said she would) for just a couple of minutes. They said the first stretch is the worst. But after they were done she did just fine and has ever since. The cast seamed a little bothersome at first (to me), but now it's no big deal. She will never know what happened.

So basically, the plan is to get a new cast on every week for 6 to 8 weeks. Then she will have a tiny surgical procedure where they will cut the achilles' tendon to allow it to grow longer and gives the ankle more flexibility. And then she will have some special boots with a bar in between. I think it looks like a mini snowboard. She will wear that 23/7 for a couple of months. No big deal, where is a 3-4 month to go anyway? Then she will just wear it for sleep time until 3 or 4 years old. Apparently a club foot always wants to be a club foot. So this will keep training the foot to stay in the correct position.
I just had to tack on a picture of the other kiddos loving her. I haven't seen one bit of jealously or anger since she came, just fighting over who gets to hold her.
I'm pretty sure the little culprit was Maggie. She can't wait to feed her applesauce. Too bad she will have to wait 6 months. I think that's a long time for a three year old. So when I came to check on Lily I saw this (that's a baby doll bottle, not a real one) I guess it could have been much worse. We are still working on the rule about not going into the baby's room when she is sleeping.

Maggie's Song

She's Here!

Lily Ann Stephenson

November 19th at 3:09pm

6 lbs. 15 oz.

We are so happy that she is here and doing just great. We chose to induce her a week early because that's what we did with Maggie and it went really well, so luckily this labor and delivery went really well again! All I can say is thank goodness for epidurals, so amazing!

We were surprised to learn right after her birth that she has one clubbed foot. With the technology and treatment available today we know she will be just fine. It was really amazing reading online about clubbed feet this morning and learning that both Kristi Yamaguchi and Mia Hamm had clubbed feet! I still remember watching Kristi's flawless Olympic performance. Her parents put her in ice skating when she was young for physical therapy. Everyone says, if you live in Idaho you have to pick up a winter sport so you have something to look forward to when winter comes. I guess we'll just start ice skating and maybe you'll see Lily in the 2026 Olympics!
Some of Lily's first visitors... Aunt Melissa and Uncle Jeff. What a blessing it is to have them so close. We sure will miss them when they both graduate in the spring.
And one more sweet picture with big brother. Big sister Maggie loved on her too, more pictures to come.

Happy Halloween!

We got lucky again this year with beautiful weather for Trick-or-Treating and a ward party.I liked this pose.
And this one.
Ben was a lucky boy this year. Part of his costume was "Toothless" from "How to Train Your Dragon." I guess in celebration of finishing the master's degree it's back to homemade costumes. Seth actually carved the head, I just covered it with fabric. And I dropped the ball with the wings and tail, they were pretty underwhelming. Oh and I didn't make Maggie's either so I guess I took another year off.
At the ward party I won best Pecan Pie in the "Nut" category. I owe that to my Mom for teaching me all that I know and who has also taken that prize at a ward party or two.
But Dad really won the "Best Dad of the Year" award for taking Ben Trick-or-Treating with him on his shoulders all night. It was fun hearing all the comments and seeing a complete stranger take their picture. Ben said to Dad, "Everyone loves our costumes, Dad!" I hope this is one Halloween he will not forget.

Happy Birthday Maggie!

For Maggie's 3rd birthday, we had a very nice family party on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

It was extra special because all grandparents were there!

Grandma and Grandpa Morgan came from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Grandma Stephenson came from St. George.

And Uncle Barry, Aunt Samantha, and Warren were there too!

Happy Birthday Maggie! We all love you very much!

Second Post of the Year!

Well it's a good thing I didn't make a New Year's resolution to post at least once a month. I thought about it, but knew better. Instead of listing all the reasons we've been MIA, I'll just say we are back and doing just great enjoying the very best part of Idaho...the SUMMER!! Spending lots of time at our favorite summer spot. And yes, Ben is sporting a mohawk for the summer. Maybe if we allow some extreme behavior now he won't feel the need for a nose ring later. On to other main events. I just became an Aunt for the first time and the kids now have a cousin! This is baby Warren and he is now three months old. We absolutely adore him, and it's the cutest when Maggie says in her little voice, "my first baby cousin" and "he's so tiny."

Also, Seth just competed in his first grilling competition. He did very well and I was very proud of him. He placed second so that was exciting. He looks forward to getting involved in other competitions in the area.

AND...last but not least, baby #3 is on the way! The little one should be arriving right around Thanksgiving. I certainly hope my next post won't be when the baby arrives...I'm not making any promises:)

Birthday Boy!

Ben just turned 5 and he had his first friend party which turned out great and everyone had lots of fun. It was a dinosaur party, but since I didn't feel like making a dinosaur cake, I just went with a volcano with dinosaur toys around it. It was pretty easy and the boys had a fun time playing with it after we cut it up.

The typical birthday party games. Ben didn't quite grasp the idea of the spoon relay race, I don't think he meant to cheat by holding on to the egg instead of the spoon. Oh well, no one else noticed:)

Aunt Miranda and Aunt Melissa were there too!

Blowing out the candles.

Everyone got to make their own volcano in their cup with Sprite and a package of Pop Rocks. It was really tasty too!

We decided to make the pinata since a dinosaur egg shape was pretty easy with a balloon form. It was the first time I had ever done any type of paper mache and it wasn't too bad. I'm glad I started it early and did one layer each night for about four nights. Decorating it took the longest! Next time the crepe paper will go on like post-it notes. Oh well, it was a good learning experience.

I hope you had a wonderful Birthday Ben! We LOVE you!!!