Day of Appointments

We have had a day of appointments today. We started out the day getting an ultrasound done of his hips to rule out hip dysplasia. Dr. Shapiro who has been doing Eli's casts came and looked at the hip ultrasound and told us immediately that his hips looked great. There was no signs of hip dysplasia. We were so thrilled to hear that information.

The next appointment was to get Eli's third set of casts put on. I will not bore you with pictures of the whole process of getting the casts taken off even though I did take them because I am "that" mom. You can look back at this post to see the process. I think it will be the same every time it may eventually change as he gets bigger and older, but for now it is the same. The manipulation of the feet changes every week which is kind of crazy at how far the doctor can turn his feet. Here is a side by side photo of last week to this week. There is a lot of change in his right foot which was the foot that was the worst off to begin with.


Here is the casts from last week to the casts this week to show you how much manipulation was done this week. He said today that by next week and the next people are going to look at the casts and think that we broke his feet. They are going to be so far turned out.

Poor guy after the casts were put on. You can tell by his eyes how much he was crying during the procedure.


After we were done with that appointment we had a little bit of a break, so the little guy got a little nap. He also got to eat which he loves to do lately. I think he is going through a growth spurt right now. The next appointment was to see the geneticist. She was very informative and after looking at him said that he had distal arthogryposis which we had heard last week from Dr. Williams. She asked both Brad and I a series of questions. She said that when a child has distal arthogryposis the prognosis is really good. They will endure a lot of surgeries in the first two years of life, but usually make a full recovery. We were so encouraged to hear that news. She does want to do a neural MRI as a precautionary measure. He will have that done when he has his surgery for his heel cord lengthen. They want him to be sedated when they perform the MRI. She said in no way is it urgent to have the MRI done. After we have the results of the MRI, we will have a follow up appointment with her to get the results as well as see how Eli is progressing and developing.

After all of the appointments today we are very tired, but feel very good about everything that we learned today. God truly watched over Eli while he was developing in utero. We could have it a lot worse off. We are so thankful and can't thank you enough for your prayers and support. We are truly blessed by each one of you.

Eli, I am so proud of you. You are such a trooper! You have already had so much to endure and you are only seven weeks old. Your dad and I are so blessed to have you in our lives. You are going to impact so many people in your lifetime. We love you so much!! XOXO Daddy and Mommy

Red Poppy Festival 2009

We went Saturday night to the Red Poppy Festival in downtown Georgetown. Georgetown was certified by the Texas Legislature to be the Red Poppy Capital of Texas.

The Red Poppy flowers have been a part of Georgetown heritage for over 70 years. Every year they have a festival to mark the coming of Spring. On Saturday nights they have a free concert and this year it was the Bellamy Brothers. We have gone every year since we have lived here. We went this year with our friends Doug and Kasie and their daughter Naomi and Naomi and her kiddos, Ashley and Reece. It is a lot of fun to just sit around and hear some good music and visit with old friends. Well, this year we had a treat and had our very own dancing going on right before our eyes.

All of the girls dancing the night away...


Kasie even joined in the fun, Ashley loved to dance...


Madison wanted to make sure that Mommy was taking a picture of her. Dancing everywhere that she could (mainly just sticking her bottom out and jumping up and down, so cute!)...


It is a long of fun for everyone in the family. We had some much fun catching up with friends and getting to hear some great music.

Friday Morning

This morning was like any other morning in the Reeves' household. I get to wake up to a precious cry from Mr. Eli wanted to eat then shortly after I start feeding him I hear "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" (usually in a whiny tone). After about one minute of doing that, she starts talking to her baby that she I talk to Eli. It is really cute! Then, I go get her up and her first request is usually milk and then, watch Elmo. She gets to sit on Daddy and Mommy's bed and watch Elmo. Well, today she wanted to sit and "hold baby" while she watched Elmo. So, I decided it was the perfect opportunity for a photo shoot.

Madison saying "cheese" for the camera, followed by "I see that"...


Duke wanted to join in on watching Elmo with the kiddos...



After she was done with Elmo she wanted to talk to brodder, I got him smiling at her on camera... (it was precious)


I have loved these days I get to spend with these two kiddos. They are so much fun! There are hard days, but these moments make those days all better.

Madison and Eli - Daddy and Mommy love you both so much! We are so excited to see what God has in store for each one of your lives.

Thank you!

I wanted to thank you and every one of you that read our blog regularly. First of all, for taking time out of your day to read about our family and also for your prayers for our little "mister". We are truly blessed to have each and every one of you in our lives. God has truly been carrying us through this time. I often think of this poem that I have loved since I was a new Christian.

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two
set of footprints, other times there was one only.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods
of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could
see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord, "You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you, you would walk with my always. But I have noticed
that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set
of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there
for me?"

The Lord replied, "The years when you have seen only one set of footprints,
my child, is when I carried you."

Thank you God for carrying us through this time in our lives. Thank you for watching over our angel and gift from you. Our lives are clay in your hands. We thank you for molding it into what YOU want it to be.

2nd set of casts

Well, Eli got his second set of casts put on this week. The whole process was a little different than last week. He got the first set taken off and we got to see the difference that just a week makes. Of course, again he didn't like the whole process, but I was very encouraged by the results. I will let the pictures tell the story...

Here is the sawing machine that takes the casts off...


Eli's old casts that his sister drew on. She loves to color right now and enjoyed coloring on brother's casts. She says "I colred that..."...

Kara, Dr. Shapiro and Dr. Williams nurse taking his casts off. She was very fast in taking them off. It doesn't hurt them to take the casts off. It just is a lot of vibration and the machine is really loud, so it scared him a little bit.

They use this tool to take the casts off and then, tear the gauze, so that his legs can breath a little bit.

She was taking the very last bit of gauze off his left leg, so we could see the results the first week of casts did.

Eli's feet after the casts were taken off. They leave them off for a little bit, so they can see the results and his legs/feet can breath a little while.

I got to give him a little bath with wipes before they put the second set of casts on his legs.

Dr. Williams checking out his feet and doing an assessment before he puts his casts on again...

Ready to get his casts put on (well, maybe mommy is just ready)...

Dr. Williams putting the gauze on, so they can start the process of putting the casts on...

Applying the plaster to his left leg and forming the plaster to move his foot around...

Making it to where we could see his little toes...

After the procedure was all over, he wanted to eat. He is a growing boy...

Here is a side by side picture of what his feet looked like just last week and then, what they looked like today. It is huge improvement to me, but we still have a long way to go.

We will continue with this procedure each week. The doctor did say today that most arthogyposis patient's feet sometimes resist the treatment and additional surgeries are needed to correct the feet. We are praying that we don't have to do that.

Eli, we love you so much and are so encouraged by the results that just one week proved for you. You are such a trooper and we are so proud of you. We are excited to see what next week holds for you. XOXO, Daddy and Mommy

Brown Eyed Girl

We were watching Austin City Limits with Van Morrison and Madison had an itching to dance. It was kind of funny that it was to Brown Eyed Girl. Brad used to call me that when we were dating. The video is kind of long and please excuse the quality of the video.

She got her dancing skills from her momma. She is so much fun. Madison you are such a blessing and make daddy and I so proud everyday.

Scottish Rite Appointment

We went to Scottish Rite today to see Eli's hand team. If you don't know anything about Scottish Rite Hospital it is the leader in the treatment of pediatric orthopedic conditions.

We were very excited to go and see what the doctors had to say. We got there and were escorted back to our particular clinic. We waited for awhile for the doctor. It was so amazing to see all of the kids that the hospital was going to help while waiting to see the doctor. We were called back and saw Dr. Oishi. He looked at Eli and immediately knew that he has arthrogryposis which is a condition that includes multiple joint contractures and lack of muscle development. The most commonly affected joints are in the child’s hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees and feet. In Eli's case, it is only his hands and feet. The doctor told us with children who have arthrogryposis it doesn't affect them cognitively. He told us that his prognosis was very good for our little angel. The plan for Eli is do to some stretching with an occupational therapist, then later on do some splinting. He will possibly have a surgery done after he is a year old on his wrists. After Dr. Oishi told us our plan of action for Eli we went to see the occupational therapist who showed us some stretches that we need to do with Eli everyday. We are going to go back in three months to see his progress and see where we need to go from there. We were very encouraged by the whole process and appointment. I would highly recommend Scottish Rite hospital to anyone who may need to use them in the future.

I also wanted to share a picture of the kiddos tonight. Madison didn't go with us to the appointment, so she was so excited to see us and his "brodder". Here is them laying on the pillow together. He loves to hear her voice.

Madison and Eli we are so blessed by you both. You both brighten our days so much. We love you more than you will ever know.

First Set of Castings

Today Eli got his first set of casts put on. He did really well or as well as could be expected. He will have a new set of casts put on each week. The whole process will be at least 12 weeks because his feet were so severe it might take longer. I have attached pictures of the whole process. It will be really interesting to see how much the feet have changed each week.

Eli last night after his last real bath for awhile...

All of the castings materials before the process started...


Eli before the process started (he doesn't know what is about to happen)...

Dr. Shapiro putting on the gauze before putting on the plaster to form his casts. Brad had to hold his other leg, so that they could manipulate his right leg. Dr. Shapiro's nurse is holding his toes, so that Dr. Shapiro knew where to stop the casts.


Applying the plaster to the right leg...

Eli after the first leg is done. He stopped crying briefly in between the legs.


His left leg in between the gauze and plaster...

Dr. Shapiro manipulated the left foot in position before the plaster dried. This is when Eli cried the most while he was moving his foot into position.

Momma consoling Eli after the process is over. He was crying pretty hard after the whole process was done.

He fell asleep while we were paying for the appointment. He was a trooper and little does he know that we will have this done again next week.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers. We definitely felt the prayers this morning while in the doctor's office. Thank you God for watching over us during this process. It is only through His power and strength that we are able to go from day to day.

Week of Appointments

Well, the appointments begin. We have a week full of appointments this next week. Eli is getting his first set of casts put on and we are going to visit Scottish Rite to see what they can do to help with his hands. We are looking forward to seeing what his hand team has to say. He will have his first casts put on on Wednesday, April 15th and then, we will travel to Dallas that evening. We are going to Scottish Rite the next morning which is Thursday, April 16th.

Then, the next week we are going to a geneticists to figure out what is truly wrong with our angel. They will be able to tell us what syndrome he has and how we can best help him.

Thank you all for your constant support and prayers. We are truly blessed by little "mister" he is truly a miracle.

Easter 2009

So, we had a fun filled Easter weekend with both set of grandparents. Madison and Eli were spoiled this weekend. We went out to Brad's parents place in Salado and Madison got her first taste of fishing. She loved it for 2.2. seconds. She didn't like touching the fish either, but loved to watch Daddy "do it".

Daddy trying to get Madison to touch the fish...

We then went to church in at First Baptist, Austin with Brad's family and my family also. It was a first in many ways. It was Eli first church service and the first time in a long time that my family all got together. It was so much fun and very special. I know that my Dad and mom were so proud to have all of their children together. Here are some pictures after the worship service.

Our new family of four...


Madison being a sweet big sister and kissing her brother who slept through the entire Easter service...

We are so blessed to have such wonderful families. Madison and Eli are defintely loved and prayed for daily. Thank you God for our many blessings and sending your son to die for our sins.