Time to Reflect..

Do you remember a time when your life was calm and you didn't have to worry about any kind of adult worries? Honestly I have a hard time remembering what life was like a year ago let alone 10+ years ago 😂 One thing that I don't ever think that I will forget is what life was like with one kid, even though that one kid was a HANDFUL he is still the best thing that has ever happened to me! Well, now that handful of a child is in the care of a teacher... that's right! We started Kindergarten!!!! I don't think I have ever seen Ry so happy and tired as I do each day after school! With Ry in school that has given me some more one on one time with B which has been phenomenal! Poor baby, I feel like he has been so neglected lately with us just focusing on full day school and full time work for Zach and I (man, I get tired just typing about it😂😂😂). My work has been so accommodating and has been able to help me so that I can get out of work to pick up Ry from school Wednesday- Friday which has been amazing!!

Another great reason for reflecting today is because my little baby is going to be 1 in 12 days! I feel like I was just going on Maternity leave and "graduating" from Training at eBay and getting put on my team (I mean this was just last year and then some... but it feels SOO long ago!!)!!😮 It is complete insanity how fast this time has gone by, I still am in complete shock! My little B has 4 teeth, likes to dance to the ABC's and the Wheels on the Bus and can do all the actions to the Itsy Bitsy Spider! Today he ate a whole pancake and had his first sippy cup of Apple Juice! B LOVES everything about big bro and will 95% of the time has a giant smile on his face! B also has just started walking and almost refuses to crawl while we are at home, which this whole part of parenting is all new to us and we are still trying to figure out how to baby proof everything..... and I mean EVERYTHING!! I can't believe how fast this year has gone by!

Don't take the little things for granted! In a blink of an eye they disappear and your babies grow into little people!!!

xo
Zach, Kodey, Ryker and Brycen

Things I Wish I Was Told....

I know that I haven't posted for quite some time but recently in a group that I am apart of on Facebook, there are a bunch of new Moms/ first time Special Needs Moms and I am so happy that I get to be apart of this community!! Some of the questions that we get over and over again are "What do I expect?" "What did you do with.. x, y, and z" Well, I'm here to say that not every pregnancy/ birth is not the same and it's hard to sometimes answer these questions... When I had Ryker I was fresh into my Twenties, newly married and it was my first time being pregnant! When we found out about Ryker's disability I, in all honesty, was devastated. I kept on telling myself that it was all my fault that our baby was disabled--and believe me those nurses at my ultrasounds from then on out were not helpful either (but that's for a different story)!! I keep looking back on that time and I can't help but think about how naive I was and how I didn't even think of what questions to even ask the Doctors (I got super lucky and have a husband who thinks of the questions I can't or don't want to ;) ) but not everyone is like my husband... so I wanted to create a post about What I Wish I was told/ What I Wish I Knew, so here goes nothing.

• Depending on the circumstances with your baby's condition/ your condition during the birth, always push for time with your child right after he/she is born. I feel like for me that I would have a better relationship with Ryker if I had pushed for that more, for the skin to skin contact that a baby needs with momma! You just spent 8+ months cooking him/her.... get a chance to see what masterpiece you've created!!!

• If you are wanting to nurse, make it known to the nurses!! If you had a similar situation to mine, where Ryker was in and out of the OR for surgeries for the first 2 weeks we were at Primary's, let the Nurses know that you want to pump and feed or you just want to bottle feed your baby... key word in this one is YOU!! Take as much time as you can holding and loving your little one (they grow up WAY too fast!!

• If you have the chance, talk to your OB-GYN/ Neurosurgeons/ Anesthesiologist WHOEVER you are going to have with you when you are having your baby and right after your baby is born.. they are here to help YOU and make you feel good about this whole experience... It's their JOB!! If you aren't happy with the way that they treat you, talk to you, the way they come into the room to talk to you about your kid at 6 am when you've only gotten 2 hours of sleep bring it up and do NOT be afraid to stand your ground.. What does a workplace do to you if you don't improve after you've been talked to?? They fire you!! Don't be afraid to "fire" Dr's and Nurses off your care or your child's care!!!

• YOU ARE YOUR CHILD'S ADVOCATE!!!! You are their voice!! If you think for one second that just because you are a first time Mom/Dad that the nurses know best.... You are WRONG!! Momma, YOU have been growing this thing, this tiny human for 8+ months [EIGHT OR MORE MONTHS], you better BELIEVE that you know what you are doing from their first breath!! You know how YOU want things done and how you want your baby to be handled.               (also a side note here: if you ever feel like there is something wrong with your baby please, please, please for the love, PLEASE DO. NOT feel like you are ever and I mean EVER a inconvenience to the medical staff.. There is always a Charge Nurse on staff if no one is listening to you... There's a Social Worker ON SITE to help facilitate what ever you need!!)

• Ask questions!! Doctors and Nurses forget that we don't speak medical, don't ever feel like you are dumb because you aren't!! There is no way in this world that you could be "dumb" for wanting to know what they are going to do to your child while he/she is in surgery or whatever the situation may be.. Remind them that they need to speak in layman's terms.

• I think that the last thing that you should always be told/ remember is that you are not alone!! I remember feeling so alone through Ryker's diagnosis and through his birth all the way up until he was two... 2!! I remember the sleepless nights at the hospital, the countless tears that were shed because no one understood where I was at and for the most part I was putting on a show for everyone that I was okay. I knew that there were people, like my family, who sympathized with me but there was no way that they knew what I was going through with a physically disabled child (to be clear, my family is my rock! They were there when I thought there was no one else! Also these were and maybe still are, my feelings from that time. It was dark and lonely and honestly I'm glad that I was able to survive those years!) If you need a support group reach out to the Doctor and Nurses, especially the Nurses.. they are the eyes and ears of the hospital.. they know a lot ;) look on Facebook and do some research there! Heck, you can even reach out to me and I will help you try to find something! You. Are. NOT. Alone. period, end of story. Never, ever, ever will you be alone. I will always be here for you. No matter what. You can reach out to me personally if you would like to talk. I will always listen! 

  

This list could go on and on for the longest time but just remember these little things; Push for what you want to have happen in your birth, Ask Questions, You are in charge, and You are NEVER alone!

If any of you have things to add to this list please let me know and we can add them! :)

<3

Lets play a game.. :-)

I have the hardest time with blogging regularly...so let's play catch up!! Ryker will be 2 years old next month. I can't believe it.. I am the mom of a 2 year-old!  Ryker loves to talk and sign and sing! He signs please, help, thank you, & cookie.. he loves to give hugs and kisses, say hi to everyone... and I mean EVERYONE! He can say up, cookie, bye, dad, mom, bird and so much more! He is starting to walk more and more everyday. He's growing up so fast I can't even believe it!! I am so proud of him! I know I have already posted sssoooo much about Spina Bifida Awareness Day on Facebook but im gunna do it again here!!! If you want to know more please read my post from Feb 6, 2013. October 25 I'm trying to get everyone to wear some kind of yellow to spread the word about S.B. that's all for now..I'm exhausted!!

Hugs and kisses
Xoxoxo
-kodey, ryker, & zach

A Long Hot Summer...

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7dtfBxUTXRY

This Summer has been really good to us this year!! Here are just a few pictures of us from this summer!! :) :)

Ryker got his own beach chair!!

We celebrated Zach's birthday!! :)

Driving to Grammy's

We are always the only ones at the pool!!

He is so cute!

Tanning

"Say Cheese!!"

At the pool

Its been a long day! 

I think he looks like my little brother Josh

While celebrating Zach's birthday my dad took us shooting!! It was my first time and I had a BLAST!! We think it was a bullet casing that hit me... it stung soo bad!! Good thing we were almost done!!

I think I have a picture of me like this!! ;)

I crocheted this turtle for my Turtle!!

We are half way through the year and we still have SO much planned!! :) My birthday this month... and in the next few months Halloween,  Ryker's 2nd birthday, our 3rd Christmas together... and those are spaced out until the end of the year!! :) :) :) we are off to Seven Peaks now so.. goodbye for now!! :) :)

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo!!!

~Kodey, Zach, & Ryker

Trips and things! :)

So Zach and I just celebrated our Second Anniversary!!!!!!! I'm still in shock! I can't believe its been 2 whole years!!!!! We decided to take a trip to Texas and we decided that we would go to Six Flags! Thats what we were really excited for! :) so we packed up and left for 8 whole days! :( that was really hard because I have never left my little baby for that long!  I missed him so much!! :( :( I literally cried myself to sleep that first night and Melatonin was my best friend :/ we spent 5 total days in Texas and it was hard to come up with something to do!!! ;) we did Six Flags the first day... the second day we spent at Ripley's Believe it or not/ the Wax Museum... the third day was spent at the Zoo and the Aquarium!  The fourth and fifth days were spent being lazy we red boxed movies and went to dinner and was just plain lazy!! It was the best feeling ever!!! Every night was spent relaxed in the Hot Tub which made me wish that I had someone to watch Ry every night so I could relax in MY hot tub! Personally I thought our trip was FANTASTIC!! Some things we did were, I felt, overpriced but what do you do, ya know?  It was nice to get away but it so much better to be home and watching my little boy grow up!!!!!!! While we were gone my little Ryker James did some growing up.. he learned to climb up and down stairs, he stood up for a couple of seconds (by himself!), hes talking more (still all nonsense but theres more of it), and he just looks bigger!!!
The pool opened over the weekend but some people destroyed it the two days it was open and now they had to close it so that they could clean everything up! :( we were so excited to go swimming but now we just need to wait for the rest of the pools to open!!!! &&&& when they do we will have so many more pictures!!
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo ~~~♥kodey, zach, &&ryker!

a catch up on the three of us.

well.. where do i even begin? 
                           April... 2014
   Ryker went in for surgery... This time he got out his Tonsils and Adenoids AND they fixed his right inguinal hernia.. this was all a morning surgery and we were only supposed to stay a night.... ONE NIGHT. Well hooking up Ryker to all his room equipment all the nurses/techs said that his oxygen levels were low...Well that's understandable.. He just got out of surgery, that's normal right? So we just decided that we were going to just watch him and see if it improved... Well it didn't.
    They turned on Blow By ( Blow By is just oxygen that can be next to your face... and it doesn't have to be in a canula in your nose) so they had that on him and his levels were still dropping down into the 60's (which is really bad), but then he would bring it right back up to the 90's and everyone thought that the machine was broken or something else was wrong.. None of the DR's could tell us what was wrong and why he was dropping so low randomly but they couldn't discharge us while his oxygen was that low... well day two that we were there Zach went to work but then the third day called in because he kept calling us to see how Ryker was doing.. (this little boy has his daddy wrapped around his little finger!!!) So we just hung out. 
     Zach had an amazing idea the second night coming home from work... He said to put the oxygen on his hand because we were told by the Orthopedic Dr that he has poor circulation in his cute little pudgy feet!! They always put the oxygen readers on his feet.... and that's one of the reasons that he was put on oxygen was because his levels were low!! Well  we moved it to his hand AND IT WORKED!!!!! HE STAYED AT 95 OR HIGHER OVER NIGHT AND THE REST OF THE NEXT DAY!!!!!! :) :) needless to say we were really happy to go home! :)

crawling ALL over the hospital!!

we got to go on walks all around the hospital inside and out... and we had to get a picture with Superman because this little boy is my Hero!

our go home picture!!!

I think that was the majority of our April... OH! At the end of April, Ryker got a cast on his little foot!!!

  He has a problem foot and it was on for two weeks and that was it!! We just got it off on Monday and he doesn't need anymore for right now!! :) :) :)

MAY 2014

Lets jump to May... 

             I won an Easter contest to become a Lia Sophia Advisor!! :) I am now an Advisor and I have my first three parties this week!! on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday!! im going to be super busy this week!! 

             Tomorrow is Mother's Day which is pretty exciting!! This is my SECOND Mother's Day :) Ryker and I are making treats for his Grandmas and I can't wait to post pictures!!! :) :) Zach has to Drill today and tomorrow.. hopefully they let him out early tomorrow!! i really want to spend the day with him!!! <3

              Monday we are celebrating 2 years of marriage!!! I can't believe that it has already been TWO YEARS!!! :) :D 

we are leaving on the 18th for a week... and we are leaving the little man here with family.. which is going to be super hard!! i just love him soo much (even when he's throwing a temper tantrum, like he is right now! ;) ) 

i think that is everything new about us right now... i cant really think of anything else... maybe thats because ryker is being angry and screaming ;) of the love of being a mom! :)

well thats it for now!! :) xoxoxoxoxo~ zach kodey and ryper-man

HAPPY TWO YEARS BABY!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!