Conner's 11 Month Update and Mother's Day!

 

Our sweet Conner James is 11 months old!! It's so hard to believe! This month has been so special as he calls me mama on purpose now! When he wakes up in the morning, the first thing he does is call out to me! nothing melts my heart more, and leaves me running to him! His big physical milestone this month is stair climbing and big time cruising on everything!! Also he unfortunately is showing signs of self weaning already, I need him to make it 1 more month pray we can get there! His love for actual food has grown, and his desire to feed himself, but we still have no way for him to drink liquids as he refuses to drink from every kind of bottle, sippy cup, straw cup, and regular cup. We have a month left to master it, I've been trying diligently since he was 6 months old. Conner loves throwing the tennis ball for Lucy and climbing her like a mountain....as for Lucy, that is her least favorite new skill of his this month. He is 19 pounds and wears size 12 month clothes! Cheers to 11 months of Conner James!

Daily walks with Lucy!

Where did my spoon go?

My fourth Mother's Day but my first with my baby in my arms. There are no words to describe how special today is. Today is so monumental, I prayed for this day for so so long hoping it would come. Being a mom is absolutely everything I ever dreamed of and more. It is an honor to be this sweet boys mom I always dreamed of being a mom and wondered what it would be like, it seemed so grown up, with so much important responsibility. I knew being a mother was always going to be my calling, and that I would put everything I have into being the best mom to my kids, and they would be my whole world. I have 100% wholeheartedly dove in head first to this mom'n thing and I am 100% there in every way. I look forward to the future and have found something I feel very good at. What I've learned about being a mom is there is so much self sacrifice and realizing that I've lived my life, now my son is here and it's my responsibility to give him the best childhood so he can be able to happily live his life and have his own kids someday. And I am more than happy to give up what used to make me happy for him. Now that I'm a mom I find joy in the simplest things and my priorities and interests have shifted. With being a mom I wasn't prepared for the immense love and desire you have for your kids to be happy and ok. You'd give them anything you can. Conner has taught me so much more already than I will ever be able to teach him in his life, has taught me what pure love is.

When I enter a room he lights up and says mama!!! My heart swells beyond its limits and I would do anything to get to him. The greatest honor and title of my life is mama and I can't wait for the future with my babies. I'm just so grateful #connerjamesraborn

My Tennessee boy!

Visiting the local park!!

Library time!!

My happy boy!

Conner was stung on his finger by a wasp in our bathroom. When I looked over he was holding it. Yikes. 

Yogurt is his favorite food!

Fighting nap time so hard!

With so much love,

Kayla Raborn!

5/10/23

Our Lucy Cove is 3!!

 

 

My beautiful Lucy is 3!!🥳🎂 My angel girl is 3, I can't hardly believe it! I remember driving you home for the first time, so tiny, sleeping in my lap, and here you are already 3. I've been looking forward to celebrating you all month! You are my best friend and are always by my side, it's an honor to be your favorite! 

People think I'm joking when I say you are my biggest helper but it's true, you help me carry things up the stairs when I need an extra hand by me just asking you to go and grab something, you help me sort laundry and find missing socks, you locate Conner when he's crawled off, you love him like he's both of our child and that is the greatest feeling of all ❤️. It amazes me how intuitive and intelligent you are Lucy, you live to please and are as loyal as they come. You know when I'm upset and sit on my lap or around my neck to comfort me, and comfort Conner when he's screaming. When we are on walks, you show me the nearest trash can after I pick up your poop. When we get home from walks, you bring me to the mailbox right away and help me carry in the mail. You successfully communicate through 8 different words on little talk buttons. I can ask you to help mama upstairs and you run from the office and up the stairs and wait for me, and I love that we can watch movies together at night (even if you bark at every animal on the tv, cartoon or not lol)! The other day I was nursing Conner and I put him down on the floor when he was done, and you got up in our tiny little rocker and sat in my lap for your turn to be loved❤️. 

 God really sent you us in the midst of our world falling apart, and you saved us, our angel! My main goal in life is for you to know how incredibly loved you are. This last year has been a major adjustment for you, Lucy, and I pray you never feel left out. You live a short life compared to us humans but my utmost responsibility is to make sure every day you feel involved, loved, and have absolutely the best time because that is what your days consist of during your short time here on earth. And that's what you love most and what your days are all about here. I will live every day giving you one of your best. You have helped me more ways than I could ever do for you. I will forever be grateful for you Lucy Cove, cheers to 3 years.

On the way home from playing in the creek, her favorite activity!!

 

After opening presents!

Love,

Kayla Raborn

4-20-23

Club Foot Update! Phase 3 Part B

  So as you know, Conner is out of his braces during the day and only has to wear the braces at night for 12 hours. We are ecstatic to say the least and Conner is so much happier. Also life is SO much easier, I had no idea how much it impacted. I am just so happy for him, he gets to be a typical 9 and 10 month old!

With that being said, we weren't supposed to be cleared for only night wear until April 12th.... We had to schedule an "urgent" appointment on March 14th (the day we ended up being cleared) because we were having some major concerns with Conner's feet, mainly his left one... or so we thought. So we went to an appointment in Atlanta and they said Conner's right foot was the major issue and had something called a vertical tailes and needed a tenotomy like his left foot and needed his bones shaved and reformed, held together by a metal pin. He said the metal pin sometimes comes out so he most likely will need another surgery to put it back in and then another to take it out after 6 weeks. That would require 6 weeks of hip to toe casts on both feet and of course non weight bearing. We were devastated. He said it needed to have been done at 6 months so the sooner the better and his left foot needed a tendon replacement surgery from a cadaver giving him a new tendon because his tenotomy surgery he had at 8 weeks failed. We left there devastated as you can imagine. We didn't know where to go from there considering we were told everything was beyond great just weeks before minus his left ankle not being able to move at all as you know.

So the next day was the "emergency" appointment with his normal doctor to get even more x-rays taken (he took all of them and was extremely thorough), and really addressed Conner's foot and our specialist said his right foot is beyond fine, it's actually over corrected which isn't a problem at all (which explains why it can turn almost 360 and the top of the foot can touch his shin when flexed, (it was found to be skewed at birth if you remember). But his left foot indeed had some issues that did need to be addressed. To start with the good news, his left ankle can move now slightly and really might get better with time without surgery on that when he is 8, that will be a waiting game. And the bad news, basically his tenotomy surgery at 8 weeks old was unsuccessful on his left foot. His tendon is still too short and tight (which is what causes clubfoot in the first place). So we will see how much stretch and movement we can get from that foot in the next 3 years from walking and brace wearing at night and at 4 he most likely will need the tenotomy again. It will be 6 weeks of hip to toe casts on both legs and he will be in a wheelchair. Luckily with a summer birthday (thank God) he won't have to worry about it during preschool but won't get the typical summer of swimming or outdoors (due to sweat issues with casting again). So we are devastated because all we went through basically was supposed to prevent and fix this and it being smooth sailing from here. 

All we have left to do is pray that between now and 4 it will have the movement he needs to run and play sports to avoid this surgery again. I cry for Conner, he doesn't deserve to go through this but he is strong. I am so grateful he doesn't need to redo the surgery now and he will be able to walk on time like everyone else because guess what, there is no keeping this boy still lol. 

Conner's 10 Month Update, Easter, no more day Brace Wear!

 

Our sweet Conner James is 10 months old!!! This has been such a fun month, Conner is officially eating actual small bites of food and not pureés , he LOVES puffs. He unfortunately likes to put non food items in his mouth too which keeps me on my toes. He absolutely LOVES being out of his brace during the day, there's a whole new world now. He likes to crawl in the grass outside and when inside, he just makes laps around the house now all day. He likes to hold a toy in each hand as he crawls around and he enjoys closing doors too. He very much understands object permanence. He officially naps in his crib now too and is now cruising around! Also Conner has discovered his top teeth too and likes to bite my arm a lot, ouch. Conner is 19 pounds and is in the 60th percentile in length, 20th percentile in weight, and 10th percentile in head circumference . We are enjoying the warmer weather and stroller rides outside!

Also, Great news!!! Conner is out of his braces during the day!!Almost 6 months of 23 hours a day brace wearing. As of a few weeks ago, he has officially been cleared to only wear his brace for 12 hours at night!! It had definitely become more of a hindrance than a help during the day, especially since he is crawling and pulling up everywhere. It was literally holding him back, and it was TIME! His doctor saw his videos and without hesitation said, yep, its definitely time. Let me tell you, life has gotten so much easier and I am so grateful . Some made it seem like the brace was no big deal but now I know the flip side, wow, it impacted a huge part of our lives. Conner is so much happier too and that just warms my heart. He deserves to get to live "normally" like everyone else for the first time since he was 3 weeks old. And guess what, my back no longer hurts! The brace and it's awkwardness was what was killing my back! And now Conner can also enjoy the simple things of life like taking a bath whenever he wants, fitting in his high chair, and cuddling close with mommy. Now I'm having to readjust because I realize I don't know how to hold him correctly. During his daily hour out, we were doing a billion things trying to cram them in and were doing anything but holding him. So now I hold him way too low where I almost pitch him over my shoulder because his center of mass is much higher now. The braces were heavy! I'm getting there! Today is a day of celebration and next post or blog post soon will be an update of his actual feet situation and what we need to do moving forward, there have been lots of new information.

 

I'm not a fan of spring at all but the beautiful blooms help ease me into the season.

Tons of family stroller rides since the weather isn't freezing anymore!

We love when Nana comes to visit!!

My boy is looking so grown up lately!

Park adventures as a family! Life just gets better and better.

Hi mom!

I go to the bathroom for 2 seconds and I turn around to this! He even climbed over the tile lip of the shower entrance. 

We took Conner to swim for the first time the other day and he absolutely loved it!! I'm so happy to have a water baby!!

During the work day I like to take Conner of different adventures such as the local greenway! When I have a day where I feel well rested I like to do this so he can nap and it's not taking away from my "nap time" while I push him around. When he does wake up he loves the sights and sounds!

We are not officially too old for sink baths AND the bath chair. This boy hates sitting in a little chiar.

Also since Conner is out of the braces during the day, I can get stuff back out that he was using the first 3 weeks of his life before the casts and stuff were started.

Conner's first trip to the mall! The elevator ride was very scary ha.

Conner crawls everywhere with one item in each hand always. It is so precious!

And Conner's first Easter!!

4th gymnastics class ever! We had a blast! This was his best class yet and I think it was because he was able to crawl around. The same day as his last class he started crawling but later that evening. 

The weekend before easter we had an Easter egg hunt at our church! 

Conner was most interested in the grass growing between the cracks of the asphalt than the actual eggs. 

And to kick off Cody's spring break week we saw the cows at his dad's property. It was Conner's first time to see the cows and Lucys! Them plus the cows were equally enthralled lol. 

The next day we explored the incline railway, it was a surprisingly chilly day but we had a blast!

Then we went to the Chattanooga Zoo and Conner was so confused about the giraffes hahaha. 

My favorite picture of Cody and Conner ever! I think I'll have it framed! 

On actual Easter morning we had an egg hunt for Lucy outside and one for Conner inside!!

Also we have been so blessed that Conner has taken to solid foods so quickly, he was behind a little bit, now his favorite food is toast LOL.

With so much love,

Kayla Raborn

4/10/23