March Madness = Survive and Advance

We've made it to March!!!  For college basketball fans, like the Christmas song says..."It's the most, wonderful time of the year!!  And just like the saying goes during tournament time, it's all about "Survive and Advance."  That is the mode we have been in a lot since our first trip out to Philadelphia in August, but we're now feeling like life may REALLY be getting back to what normal will be.  The Hope Basketball season is, unfortunately, done as of last weekend with a loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament to Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.  It was our test trip (although after our experiences this past 6 months, Shawna and I aren't/weren't too worried about our families ability to travel) with Kierstyn for our spring break trip to Florida coming up.  Well, sort of, as Peyton was able to ride the "Hope Bus" with the "Hope Boys" and spend the first night at the hotel with the team before Shawna and Janet came out with Myles and Kierstyn.

It just so happened that the John Deere Pavilion was literally across the street from the hotel.....couldn't have worked out better....talk about a kid in his glory - John Deere, hotel with a pool, getting attention from the Hope players.....
It has been over a month since I've last blogged so I'll get down to the nitty gritty even though lots has happened since then.  Our Sweet KJ is filling out and growing very well.  She sleeps like a champ at night (knock on wood) and is starting to become more and more content NOT being in Shawna's arms.  She is/was quite the Momma's girl but for good reason.  For all that they've gone through together they've got quite the bond.  Also, Shawna has been our medical expert with setting up and going to the countless appointments with a whole array of doctors and specialists.  If you want the lamens terms explanation of things, you can ask either of us, but if you want more than the WebMD version, ask her.  She's been at the front and center and is the expert.
Kierstyn has continued to develop and things have gone as smoothly as we could have hoped for.  Once out of her casts, she was put into a harness as ultrasounds showed she had hip dysplasia.http://patient.info/health/developmental-dysplasia-of-the-hip-leaflet .  This isn't uncommon among even "normal" babies.  Here is the doctors terms....

If you can read that, then you'll understand why I can't explain any of the deep medical stuff (the image is of her diagnosis).
We continue to feel blessed in our transition back to reality.  Still this week, I've had a handful of people ask how our family is doing.  It takes a few more minutes to get out the door and would have with a third child no matter what (although I'm glad no one has witnessed me trying to navigate Kierstyn's new shoes that are connected by a bar!!!).  So, we continue to trek on.  Two colds and maybe the harness probably contributed to Kierstyn's small bits of fussiness (or her just being a typical baby) but now that those factors have passed, we look to the future and stay on our toes as we know there will be other challenges that will present themselves but only small bumps compared to many other things that other people have to deal with on a daily basis.
Thanks, again, to all of your thoughts, prayers, meals, emails, texts, etc.  Not sure if we can ever say this enough and thank you all enough.

CHOOSING JOY

-Jeff