I am SO excited for autumn! I didn’t have an autumn kick-off party this year (in part because I am just trying to keep us all alive most days), but I think I’m going to have to do something at some point this season! It’s just too delicious a season to not celebrate!

This evening we went to Josh’s parents’ house for dinner and the presentation of Grandma’s pumpkins! She planted 2 pumpkin plants in the spring hoping to get enough pumpkins for each of her 7 grandchildren to have one. Well, those plants ultimately yielded 25 big, beautiful pumpkins! 

Some other goings on include: Halloween preparation for Josh. No spoilers. But trust me: it’s going to be good! 
Also, I felt like a Halloween photoshoot with the kids; so I got them some cute stuff to wear and we attacked a wall with balloons and kind of just let them play in front of the camera. Please be advised that these pictures are ANYTHING but pinterest-perfect. But I know that if I didn’t post anything until it was perfect I would never post anything. So enjoy some fun Halloweeny imperfection!

Something we have been doing in the past few weeks is trying to do one-on-ones with the kids each week. We cycle through the three big kids and switch off with Josh and I so we each get to spend time with each of the kids. The kids love it and so do we!  This past week was my turn to go out with Portia. She chose to get ice-cream from “the ice-cream restaurant” and get a spider balloon from the party store. 

Here are some other pictures from everyday life.

If you haven’t heard about Helen’s hips, here is some information. When Helen was born breech all the doctors told us that her hips would need to be closely monitored for hip dysplasia. She had an ultrasound at 6 weeks old that showed that her hips were still slightly immature (whatever that means). Because of the results of that ultrasound she had another at 12 weeks that showed all was well. But apparently you can’t see everything on an ultrasound and so–from the beginning–an Xray was planned for when she was 6 months old. We got that Xray a week and a half ago.

I went to the appointment in full confidence that all would be fine. After all, the second ultrasound came back great. So I was a little alarmed when the nurse from our pediatrician’s office called to tell me that Helen did, indeed, have hip dysplasia and that I would need to get in touch with the orthopedic specialists at Primary Children’s. I made an appointment, but had to wait for five days for it. I, naturally, spent those days worrying.

I went to the International Institute for Hip Dysplasia website and looked at potential treatment options. I read there that between the ages of 6 and 18 months the most successful treatment is surgery followed by a horrible thing called a spica cast. I watched a video of how to change your baby’s diaper while she is in the spica cast and I nearly cried thinking about my sweet Helen having to wear such a thing. 

Finally the day of the appointment arrived and I had a whole slew of questions I was prepared to ask, particularly about the long-term repercussions of performing surgery on a 6 month old baby. But as the doctor looked at Helen’s Xrays (and I finally got to see them as well!) and the severity of her dysplasia, he seemed to find it quite manageable. And before I even had a chance to pull out my slew of questions he said “We’re not going to call the surgeons if we don’t have to. I don’t want you to even meet those guys.” And instead of surgery, casts, and a million trips to Primary Children’s, I went home with just a brace and an appointment for 6 months from now.

She has to wear the brace for the next six months, but it is only at night! I don’t have to buy special clothes that fit over casts or even the brace! I don’t have to watch her try to figure out mobility through the brace! I just have to reach out a little farther when I switch sides feeding her in the night! 

We prayed that she could be healed with as little intervention as possible, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the way Heavenly Father answered our prayers! 

That being said, we do know that this treatment isn’t necessarily the end of her dysplasia. We will only know what is to come after we get her looked at again in six months. But for now, we are just enjoying this blessing!