Happy Valentine's Day

Joel had beautiful flowers delivered to the house for me for Valentine's Day. They were so beautiful and I have been enjoying them so much. He also sent a Pajamagram. =) He is so thoughtful. I wish I had gotten him something better. I gave him a hammer and nails. Seriously. =) I thought he would rather have something we needed. I had better do something really good for his birthday.

Joel and I make a special breakfast for the kids every valentine's day. This is a tradition from my side of the family. Half of the fun is setting it all up and writing the little valentine's for each member of the family.

Photo Shoot

A good friend took some beautiful pictures of Lily recently. The pictures tuned out really nice. I am glad that we did it before her feet were casted. I think it will be a good memory of how her feet looked. Thank you Rachel!

Dads and Doughnuts

Anna's school held a special event recently called "Dads and Doughnuts." All of the first-graders got to invite their dads to class for a little doughnut social, including a little music by the class. Anna was thrilled to have her dad there with her. I guess that they do another day called "Moms and Muffins." I told Anna, though that I wish it was switched to "Moms and Doughnuts" and "Dads and Muffins" right???

And the winner is. . .

We won tickets to Disney on Ice for the whole family with this picture. Joel sent it in to a radio station and was chosen as the photo of the day. It is a classic Joseph moment!

Casting

Joseph asks to hold Lily every day.
He loves her so much and gives her kisses every chance he gets.

Lily's blessing day.

Isn't this so cute?? She smiled just as I snapped the shot. Her little casts go all the way up her legs. But they are placed to stretch her feet into correct positioning.

Here is a picture of her feet when she was a few weeks old.
I may post another picture later if I can get a hold of it.

The Orthopedic Specialist changed his mind about casting Lily's feet. He had originally thought she would not benefit from the process because her feet were a little stiff. But after consulting with other doctors he was encouraged to try because other similar cases have been successful. So we have jumped quickly into starting her casting. The process is a lot more involved than I would like. It requires weekly visits to replace casts for about six weeks, then about 3 months of wearing shoes with a bar connecting them for 23 hours a day. Then the shoes will be worn for nap and bed time up until she's maybe two years old. I have to keep telling myself that it is better for her life in the long run. I just can't help but feel a little sad for her and for me to have to deal with all of this.