Reflections on 2022!

 This was one of the best years of our entire life! I can't wait for 2023 but am sad to leave behind 2022, the year we finally welcomed our sweet rainbow baby boy! I felt the same for 2021 going into this year because everything was so perfect and so good, I didn't want that to change, I feared it would not continue that way. We found out Conner had at least one clubbed foot January 6th. We were so grateful he was so perfect and healthy but I feared so much for his quality of life after looking at how it impacts Cody and his dad daily. 

This year's word in 2022 was faith, the faith we needed in God that got us through the rest of my pregnancy waiting for Conner's arrival. There wasn't a day I wasn't scared in this pregnancy and I am so grateful the birth was amazing and he arrived safely. I leaned on my faith heavily. This year was absolutely incredible. The year I finally get to be a mama and we are a family of 3 (plus Lucy)!! Here's the rundown:

January 

-We bought Cody's dream truck in full.

-We discovered and confirmed Conner had a clubbed foot.

-We enjoyed many snowy days!!

February

-Very cold and uneventful month filled with puzzle building!

-We had a consultation with Conner's club foot doctor making a plan ahead for him.

March 

-We had a surprise snow day in the middle of March!

-We got to see little Conner's face on 4D ultrasound! It was so special I felt like I had met my son that day!

 

-I took and failed the first gestational diabetes test but passed the second test.

April

-I had my incredible baby showers for little Conner!!

-Lucy turned 2, a big milestone age!! I wanted Lucy to be 2 when Conner was born.

-We took beautiful maternity pictures!!

May

-I was on edge all month if Conner would come 3 weeks early like I did.

June

-We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary! When we got married, I always promised Cody if he let me have kids when I wanted (waiting till 5 year mark in marriage to start trying), then I would give him his first kid in his arms by our 6th wedding anniversary and man, I was only 6 days off! So so close! Sorry Cody, lol. 

-The best month we've ever had, we welcomed sweet sweet Conner into this world! Our rainbow baby! Our lives forever changed!!

-We also learned that his right foot was half clubbed, called skewed and would need treatment too.

July

-We started his club foot correction journey with casts.

-We got to celebrate turning 29 with sweet Conner here with us!

-Conner was put into two casts surprisingly 10 weeks earlier than expected.

August

-Conner had his Achilles cutting surgery this month for his left heel.

September

-Conner got out of casts and settled into his new braces. It was such a rough transition.

October

-Conners started sitting up on his own at 4.5 months! We were so so proud of him!!

November

-Conner said mama for the first time!!

December

-Conner is so close to crawling!!

-Conner also tried solids for the first time!!! He loves sweet potatoes so much!

-Conner was dedicated to our church and beautifully Christened!! 

Also in this month and on the 31st marks around when our angel baby would have been 2. Our life would look so different if that baby would have stayed with us. We most likely would have just welcomed or would be welcoming very soon our second baby if our first baby had been born 2 years ago. Conner wouldn't exist and things would be very different. I want to honor that first baby of ours because it is part of our story and we love them. Just because we have Conner here doesn't mean that that first baby didn't exist. It is almost even more painful now knowing how perfect it is having Conner here and what we missed with that first baby and how that first baby will never get to experience or love on the outside. It is painful. It shaped who we are now and changed our path forever. I wonder about every day who that little person would have been. I look forward to meeting that first family member we grew, in heaven one day.

2023 is the year of Love for us. That will be my word of the year going into this year. Towards the middle/end of this year we also hope to add a little bit more love to our family, Lord willing. I am so excited to see if God will give us another boy or a girl and if that baby will be more like me as Conner is Cody's twin (which I love so so much)! So hopefully expect to see an announcement towards the end of the year just like 2021 with Conner!

With so much love, bring on 2023!!!!

Kayla Raborn

12/31/22

Club Foot Update, Phase 3 pt1&2 Braces!

Hey guys, I just wanted to back up and fill everyone in that only reads my blogs and doesn't have instagram! So Conner has been in his boots and bar brace for over 3 months now but this is how it all went after Conner was finally finished in his last set of casts:

We have entered phase 3 in Conner's club feet journey and are LOVING the new knee mobility! He has had a little rough adjustment to the brace but we are getting there. His legs are super sore right now and will swell for the next 2 days as they transition out of casts and are bound in the brace. In this phase he will wear the boots and bar brace 23 hours a day until he starts pulling up on things and then he will wear it only at night until he's 6 years old. If pulling up is the only criteria to getting him to only wear the brace at night, you'd better believe we will try to blow through these next milestones to get to that as soon as possible. His doctor said club foot babies still reach their physical milestones on time or early so here we go, time to start working. 💪🏻 Also the doctor said this week enters "H-E-double hockey stick" week, the worst week during the whole thing and it has shown to be difficult for sweet little Conner. With this phase we have to be conscious about sore spots, blisters, and actually staying on top of him wearing the braces because if he misses more than a day or two, guess what, his feet will go back to the way they were born quickly (even with the corrected Achilles) and we have to start over with the casting and correcting😵‍💫🤯. Also if he gets a bad enough sore or blister, he has to go back into casts for a month for it to heal🤪. The doctor said yesterday a bad enough blister can occur even in as little as 45 minutes, so that's a little stressful. They start the angles off at 60 degrees and move to 70 degrees next week. But here's to new challenges, and moving forward in the process. Conner is so strong and such an encouragement to us, we hate he has to go through all of this. 

We are excited for the 1 hour a day he gets to take his brace off and during that time he can get a bath, relax, and we can massage and stretch his little legs and feet! 1 hour of freedom 🥳 #phase3part1 

All of the preparations for his braces!

We really really struggled with the braces for the first 5 1/2 days but pulled through.

 

The process of getting new molds for his braces!

Conner has come such a long way, I am so proud of him!!

With so much love,

Kayla Raborn

December 21st 2022

Conner's 6 Month Update and Thanksgiving!!

Happy first half birthday to our sweet Conner James! Our sweet boy is 6 months old today . Conner is 16.8 pounds now and is still in size 2 diapers and is in size 6 month clothes. We have hugely accomplished exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months (goal is 13 months) and I am so proud of us. We are ready to start solids once we are cleared Monday from his pediatrician . Conner loves to babble and chat with you, and a few days ago his babble has turned from noises to more direct sounds that sound like he is trying to communicate with us. Conner said Ma Ma and Da Da a few weeks ago and it melted our hearts into a little puddle (he said mama first). I'm pretty sure he's just making noises but he said both consistently for days. Conner now gives hugs when you are near him and it is the sweetest thing. He recognizes people really well now and has stranger danger with most strangers. He loves to play peek-a-boo. He can now put his paci back in his mouth all by himself. Conner now not only recognizes Lucy he pulls her fur, ears, and pokes her eyes. Thank goodness she's a good sport. He has been rolling over 1/4 of the way still, still not there yet, his brace stops him cold. He's been sitting completely independently now for over 6 weeks and sits like it's his occupation, we can barely get him to lay back for anything especially sleep. When sitting out of his braces he kicks his leg back to reach for far away items signaling he is getting closer and closer to wanting to crawl. He seems unsatisfied to just sit and watch, he wants to be able to move and go so we have been encouraging that to get out of his braces faster. Also while on his tummy he can "swim", spin a slow 360° (also spin when on his back), he can also raise up tall with his arms, and kick his knees up underneath him! Oh and that tooth he was getting last month turned out to be cartilage surfacing and his pediatrician said it would go away soon and sure enough it did. So so odd. We are thrilled to be celebrating Conner's first Christmas this month and I can't wait to start new family traditions with him!

We are SO close to trying to crawl!! I am so proud of what he can overcome.

Conner loves beards so much!! Thankfully Cody's family is full of men with beards haha.

 

My bear has a face, eyes, nose, and ears!!!

 

Hug night-night bear!!

 

Chilly walks on November evenings! Conner is a sport lol.

 

We also pulled out Conner's bouncer when he turned 5 months old since he was sitting like a pro and he absolutely loved it so much! So did Lucy LOL.

 

 

We tried out the high chair in preparation of eating solids soon!!! It was a hit!

 

Is this really my spoon mom?

I'm so grateful I could cry, this is the life I always dreamed of and I am finally here💙. In this very spot I sat many many times pondering what life would be like right now and how I literally couldn't wait for it. The second picture is from 2018 when I visited this favorite peaceful spot very often, I was traveling a lot for work and it was a very stressful time, Cody was in the thick of his masters degree and we were itching to start building our house to kick start the rest of the journey to now. I was longing for our dream house perfect to grow our future family, I was missing Lucy even though she wasn't even a thought of the breeders yet, I just knew her little soul was coming to me and I was deeply missing Conner, my little blonde haired blue eyed clubbed foot perfect angel😇. I always knew they were mine and how perfect they would be but I just couldn't reach them yet. My heart ached to quickly get to the perfect of what was to come. Little did I know it would take many many many months to start our house, and we would unexpected get pregnant and shortly after even more unexpectedly lose our first baby. Oh what I would give to sit next to that 2018 Kayla on that bench and the knowledge I would share🥰. I always dreamed of leaving that bench with my dog in my hand and my baby in my stroller and the other day, I did just that😍😍. Absolutely everything I could ever want in this entire lifetime is right here right now (minus baby #2 which is NOT on the way yet ;)). I feel like the richest girl in the world because I have my family. 

Our first Thanksgiving!! We were in town this year for it since it's hard for us to travel right now long distances. The braces hold us back sometimes but it was nice being so close to home.

No Thanksgiving food for me yet!

Our yearly step picture!

And of course after Thanksgiving we decorated for Christmas! I had been looking forward to decorating my house for Conner for so many years. I know he is only 5 months but he loved the tree so much!

Cody at 4 years old aka future Conner lol!

 

Our very own nativity scene and advent wreathe. I am so grateful to find the perfect sets!

Not only did we get to put up Conner's stocking this year again but it will actually be in use!!

Both of our Christmas card pictures! I wanted to get them send out quickly this year!

 I loved how they turned out this year so so much!

Me and my son!!!

 

 

Our Christmas card!! 2022

Conner got fitted for his next brace set!!!

 

Me and my baby!!! Hanging out on a November morning!

Conner's first playground experience!

And yesterday, just as I imagined for so many years, I am staying home with my son full time and I took him to the park and swung on the combined swing with him at 10am on a chilly November morning just looking at the joy in his deep blue eyes as he swung back and forth with me. This is absolutely heaven on earth. 

I've dreamed of taking my son here to swing on the combined swings for years and years! I pictured it as I walked by so many times and here we are!!

Thank goodness Grandma is here, mom and dad are crazy!!! LOL

We love Grandma!!

We drove through the Christmas lights and Lucy loved it so so much LOL!!!

With so much love,

Kayla Raborn

12-10-22