New Casts

Things went well today with the casting,
Highlights included:

• Aunt Brooke came all the way from Haiti to support Katie and Luca!!!! (she had all of the dr. impressed with her service there and a fanfare of friends welcoming her home)
• Luca was happy after the casting
• Dr. Mosca kind words of support that this has been a challenging year and said maybe it feels like you have 3 or 4 children? He is softening up and doing a remarkable job on Luca's feet. Dr. Mosca told me that Luca keeps surprising him with his progress.

Dr. Mosca will decided this coming Monday about the surgery or not on the left foot. I will keep you posted

Getting ready for the big 1 year mark!

John and Katie before the babyKatie pregnant before the first ultrasound
Luca in 3-D before we knew his name would be Luca (but we already knew that he would be cute)
Katie 28 weeks pregnant with lots of questions and uncertainties

As we approach the one year mark of Luca's birth, I think back to a year ago now. The waiting, the wondering of what he would look like, how his body would be affected by his lack of movements and arthroyposis, and wondering what his personality would be like. I was thankful every day to get to go to work and not be on bed rest in the hospital. I was thankful for our friends, and family who showered with us with support and gifts to prepare us for caring for this little guy.

Cute Luca

Here is a super cute picture of Luca taken before his last set of casts. Cousin Oliver and Jen gave Luca this adorable orange coat that he is just starting to fit into. I think it will fit perfectly for this coming fall/winter/spring! Thanks again Jen! Luca also loves the sock monkey key chain.

Yesterday Luca and I went down to Gig Harbor WA to visit Joshua. He is an adorable little boy born 5 months ago with AMC. It was so fun for Luca and I to hang out with Joshua, his mom and three older siblings. Becky and I swapped stretches, dr. stories, adaptive equipment and info. from the therapists. Joshua's big brothers and sister let Luca sit on the big trampoline while they bounced around him. He LOVED it:) Thanks again Becky for having us over! We look forward to Joshua and Luca becoming friends. (I think they already are)

New Casts

Well, as you know Luca gets new casts every Monday so yesterday was the day. Luca had on hard casts so he didn't like getting them sawed off but after that there were NO more tears. He even cracked a smile during the casting a one point. Dr. Mosca said, "what did you do with Luca" "this can't be him:)" John and I did get him a little meds before hand which I think helped but it is definitely not as painful or traumatic as it use to be. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.
His right foot is pretty much corrected and just being held in the good position. The left foot still has a ways to go. If we can't get it corrected with the casts then he will have to have surgery again on that foot only. I really hope the casts work. Once the feet are corrected then we will go back into new AFO's.

New Cousin

Harmony and Briant had a baby boy, Nathan Briant McKenzie on March 19th. We are so happy for them! He is super cute. Right around 7 pounds and 20.5 inches long. Can't wait to get all these boy cousins together!

Luca and Layna

Happy St. Patrick's Day

New casts

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Luca did better than expected and so did I:) He seems be adjusting ok after he slept for 3 1/2 hours after the casting. Makenzie and Lewis decorated them last night so I will put a picture of his colorful hard casts up soon.

Another series of Casts

Luca is starting another casting series this morning. We don't know how many weeks we will have Monday castings but we will let you know as we do. I think we have the next 4 weeks scheduled. Please pray Luca will ajust to the casts and be able to tolerate them. I am sure there will be some extra tears this week. I will let you know how it goes as the day goes on.

Luca in the bath

I don't know if I have mentioned before how much Luca LOVES the bath. He is like a little fish.

the kitchen gutted

Great visit with Nanny and Grandpa Walker

John, Nanny, Grandpa, Luca, and I all went down to eat with John at work the other day. Luca enjoyed his time with his grandparents and is sad to see them go. John and Harry have been working hard on the house.

John and his dad working hard on the house!

Celebrating the moment

I am celebrating the moment today and our precious time with Luca. A child at our church went to be with the Lord recently which has reminded us all of the shortness of our days and the urgency to enjoy each moment to the fullest. Luca helps us to do that with his smile, laugh, and love of life. I think Luca and Noah would have gotten along quite well together! Our hearts are with the Bishops today as they continue without their dear son, Noah. www.bishopbrothers.com