Riley's Journey, Part 1

We've known for a while that Riley is somewhat unique, not like most other kids his age.  It's often been very frustrating for me, not being able to participate in many of the activities that my other friends do with their kids or feeling the need to make excuses for him - why he is acting the way he is or why he's so upset.  At his two-year appointment, I brought up my concerns with his Pediatrician.  The way that he behaves along with a speech delay was concern enough for her to refer Riley to a Behavioral Pediatrician.

Over the next 5 weeks, we had a long series of appointments and evaluations, and Jace and I had to fill out a LOT of questionnaires, answering what felt like hundreds of questions.  It was determined that Riley had developmental delays in several areas, his skills being almost a year behind in most areas, excluding motor skills - no problems there for sure!  It was like we had a one-year-old in a two-year-old's body, who, because of his size, looked like a three-year-old.  The decision was made that Riley would greatly benefit from therapy from a variety of specialists.  Then came all the referrals, and yet even more appointments and evaluations.

At this point what we know is that Riley will be receiving 10 hours per week of in-home behavioral therapy and 2-4 appointments per week of speech and occupational therapy.  We are overwhelmed by the amount of assistance we are receiving, both because we are excited for this opportunity for Riley to grow and improve, AND because what this means practically is that we will spend the majority of our days over the next year participating in therapy sessions.  As a mom and as an introvert, this sounds exhausting.  But when I think about what can be accomplished I am SO excited, and SO grateful.

We want to share this journey with you because God has used these circumstances to teach us and grow our faith in several ways:

- God made Riley exactly how he is and He chose us to be Riley's parents.  God has a plan and purpose for Riley's life and He is more than able to accomplish His purposes.

- God can do things that medical professionals can't.  In our hearts, we have had to entrust Riley's little mind and body to God for healing, and we truly believe that God will take care of our son.

- God answers prayers!  Already in the past couple of months, God has answered many prayers, from getting in for appointments quickly to choosing therapists that Riley would connect with quickly.  It has been a real faith builder to watch as friends pray along with us and seeing God answer.

Therapy starts this week! (if we can get Riley healthy enough to participate).  More updates to come...

One Trip, Many Celebrations

We visited Texas for 9 days in March and it was a whirlwind of a trip but it was all good stuff.  But first we had to get all of our stuff and our two kids there!  Wish we could have taken a picture in the airport of how ridiculous we looked, but we were too busy trying to get everyONE (two adults, a toddler, and an infant) and everyTHING (two suitcases, two carryons, and two strollers) through security and on the plane!  It could not have gone ANY smoother.  Thanks to planning ahead and being prepared (and prayer!), the kids were champs and we didn't lose anything!

We spent the first half of the week in San Angelo with Jace's parents and sister, getting some much needed visiting, and grandkid playing and snuggles.  Riley and Kiersten took to Texas pretty well :)

Mimi made sure the kids had more than enough fun toys to play with!

We celebrated Riley's second birthday at Mr. Gatti's, it's like the Texas version of John's Incredible Pizza.  Riley pretty much just ran back and forth, so excited to have a giant room with bright lights and noises where he was let loose to do as he wanted.  We ate (too much) pizza and had chocolate chip cookies, Riley's favorite.

Jace headed out to Fort Worth on Thursday, and I joined him on Friday, for our friends' Randall and Meghan's wedding.  Randall is a dear friend of Jace's and he had the honor of being a groomsman in the wedding.

In between the rehearsal and dinner on Friday night, and getting to the church early the next day for the wedding, we stayed at a historic hotel in downtown Fort Worth called The Ashton, to celebrate our 8-year anniversary.  It was a short celebration but our first night away since Kiersten was born, and it was a treat!

After the wedding we extended our Anniversary celebration when we stopped at The Cracker Barrel, something Jace had been anticipating for months.  Can't beat those rocking chairs and good old-fashioned country cooking!

While we were away the kids had a blast with their grandparents and Aunt Kelly.  Riley even got to go on the boat for the first time.

That's right, everyone wears a life vest, even the dog :)

We had such a good time and although it was definitely not relaxing, we returned to California refreshed and feeling very blessed.

Beginnings...

We've had a lot of beginnings in the past couple of years. Jace began a new career, and a few new jobs. I began my new role as a stay-at-home mom. Our kids, Riley and Kiersten, began, well, life! It's been a big shift for us to go from married with no kids, Jace in school, me working full-time, to this new season in life. But I can't help but feel like all is how it should be. We worked toward this time for so long, it always felt like we were waiting for our "real" life to begin. It's not all sunshine and roses for sure, but God has really blessed us and answered every prayer we've ever prayed about Jace's jobs and about having a family.

So, here it is, the BEGINNING of our family blog. I'm hoping that this blog will help me to be better at documenting my kids' milestones, latest goofy things they're doing, and just what we are up to. And hopefully I'll be better at taking pictures!