Yep, we got the results back to Caed's sleep study and we are excited to say that we get to trade in his sleep apnea monitor for a Pulse Ox monitor and Oxygen at night! This is going to be quite the adventure! During the sleep study Caed would constantly pull off the cannula for the oxygen so I was up every 5 mins or so throughout the night placing it back in his nose. I am hoping and praying that they will grow to be best friends for however long he has to use it or else this is going to be a lonnnnnng however many months for the Tripp family ;-) But anyways, the results were that he was breathing too hard and too fast and his Dr. was worried that if this keeps up he could wear out his heart quickly overtime. So, Friday night begins the fun adventure! Appreciate prayers as we tackle this next addition to Caedmon's life.
So, glad that we get to say goodbye to this monitor though! Been with us since we brought the lil guy home. Many nights with it going off all because Caed squirmed around and messed up the leads. And then there was the warning of the neighbors of it's mega loud alarm(which of course NEVER woke Caed up) But, Oh well on to the next fun thing! ;-)
Well, enough about crazy monitors and no sleep! We got a Ping Pong Table! A huge thank you to some friends of ours that donated to the Tripp family. We are so excited as we have been wanting one for a while but never really had the room. Now we have the room and the ping pong table! I see many fun get togethers in the future with friends, food, and some competitive ping pong! Thanks to our friends Luke and Sarah for helping get it to our Casa :-) Caed really enjoyed watching Luke and Josh play and would cry when they stopped. Was really funny! So it is great entertainment for the lil guy and I am sure it won't be long before he will be the one holding the paddle showing us how it is done. Looking forward to all the fun times that will be held around this table.
And here are a few pics from the rest of our lovely Wednesday. Caed was introduced to grass and surprisingly didn't eat it! He just ran his fingers through it in amazement. So, we soaked up some rays, as much as we could in the 10mins we spent outside(Caed has awful allergies) Then we came in and got a quick nap(me included!! That NEVER HAPPENS!) After that we made a chocolate chip banana loaf and have just been enjoying this beautiful day(from the inside ;-)
*Photo Cred my iPhone*
All in the day in the life of a Stay at Home Mom. I am blessed that I get to spend the whole day with this goober and soak in all these fun moments with my son
(even if some days I want to just scream, pull my hair out, and run away for just a few moments to myself)
Welcome back to the blog! I figured since of course I have ALLLLL this new time on my hands, with having a little one, that I would start back up my blog ;-) Haha. Yeah. Actually, the truth is I am reopening this blog to keep you up to date on Caed's life and our's, of course, as we tackle this new chapter called parenting and Achondroplasia and a second reason that I will mention later ;-)
As most of you know, Caedmon was diagnosed shortly after he was born with Achondroplasia(a form of dwarfism) for that story you can go to the link here:
He definitely keeps us busy with Doctor's appointments, therapists, and his crazy busy self. He has quite the personality and is quite the momma's boy. He won't let me do much without him and I have to be within sight or else! It has been rather hard as most children around his age are sitting up and can play in all those fun jumperoos or activity seats and bumbos, Caed cannot due to his back. In Achondroplasia children and adults tend to have Kyphosis: ky·pho·sis
kīˈfōsis/
noun
excessive outward curvature of the spine, causing hunching of the back.
Which if not handled properly at his age could end up with some problems down the line. Hence why we have gone through 3 carseats and one stroller before we found one that properly supports his back, found here:
So most toys that sit a child upright cannot be used by Caed until he can work on those back muscles and be able to sit and stand himself. Makes life for mommy a little more difficult as this limits how much he can do and gets easily bored. We were encouraged to get two play mats to switch back and forth with and he also has a bouncy seat that works super great! Most things need to recline in order for him to have the right support. Luckily we were introduced to a group online to gain wisdom, encouragement, and all the info we need from parents with achondroplasia and ones with children with "Achon" which you will see me use that term a lot over time. I have been so blessed by this group to feel like I am not out here alone or crazy when tackling all these Doctors appts and such. It is a lot to take in and can get very draining. I just want to make sure Caed is well taken care of and that I am being proactive in learning about his diagnosis as some Drs. don't have a clue about how to treat him. We are also truly blessed to have an amazing pediatrician who is always studying up on Achondroplasia and is in constant contact with his geneticist to gain wisdom as this is all new to her as well. She truly cares for our son. Caed is right on target for where he needs to be right now at his age. We are still working on beefing him up, which he is eating so much better now and trying a lot of new things. Definitely an answer to prayer! We have truly seen God's hand in every area of Caed's and our life!
So, now on to why we have moved twice in a month's time! Due to Caed's respiratory issues we were desperately looking for a new apartment because the lady that moved into the bottom apartment smoked heavily resulting in OUR apartment smelling as though she was living there too. It wasn't too long after that, God provided us with a house SMOKE FREE! Then shortly after we moved in, we got news that the location and place we really wanted to be at had an opening and that it was ours if we wanted it. There were many many people who were involved in this process that we are truly grateful to! God provided in a miraculous way! We love our new place and can finally settle in for a little while until God moves us again.
Josh and I stay pretty busy these days, me as a stay at home mom and him as our hard working provider and a student at Liberty again pursuing God's will for his life in the ministry. We have our little routine down as far as the days go which makes life a lil more bearable and a lil boring sometimes but so is the life of adults and parents. Comes with then territory. It's hard work raising the next generation but it will be so worth it and God has great plans ahead!
Now for the second reason I have this blog on it's way back to life, PHOTOGRAPHY! I have really neglected my camera for some time now and I am getting a lil rusty. So, I decided I would start documenting our life a little bit more. So to kick it off, I have documented a little taste of a day in the life of Caed and I. We really have a blast together. ;-)
So here you go! Welcome to the Tripps! and I hope you enjoy this blog and follow along in our journey!
It was mid April when a coworker(Jen) of mine approached me with her phone in hand and the name Josh. All of us at work would joke about match making and sorts. Jen was married and her husband worked at Liberty. As Jen approached me with a big smile on her face, she proceeded to ask me "So Beth, there is this Josh who is interested in you" I then asked "are you sure he's not interested in the other Beth(Bethany O.)" Jen's reply, "nope, he said Beth, and my husband knows the difference between you two". My reply, " Oh! so Ethan(Jen's husband) is in on this too! ok who is this Josh?!"
Jen and Ethan, the devious couple :-)
Apparently Josh had noticed me a month ago and Ethan started mentioning a Beth that works at Chick-fil-a and Josh realized it was me he was talking about and so Ethan started his devious plan on his side and Jen on hers.
The last week in April held many memorable experiences. A batting cage trip that was supposed to be only us ladies (a tradition started as a stress reliever for work) ended up being Josh and I's first time that we met. Josh had been coming to Chick-fil-a for a while and I had never noticed him, sad I know. So many faces I see everyday! lol So yes, this was our first time meeting. All I remember is sitting in my car waiting on Jen and Ethan and Bethany to show up and guess who pulls up first, Josh. I just sit in my car two parking spots away nervous as all get out! I am a very big social bug and not scared of new people but I just couldn't bring myself to get out and go and say hi. So I sat in my car freaking out texting my best friend Beth Nell who was helping me calm down :-) So then pulls up Jen and Ethan and Jen points to both of our cars and then me and hops in my car and Ethan goes over to Josh's. So forced out, the introductions begin. Bethany O. pulls up and gives me the smile of approval. I just met this drop dead goodlookin' man named Josh :-) We would both come to find out our sarcastic sides very quick as we took on the batting cages. Dinner with the group after and a few Facebook chats later someone set up a first date ;-) I texted my Best friend Beth Nell the night I was leaving from the batting cages, "I am going to marry this man"
APRIL 28th, 2012
MOVING DAY! I got off of work and began moving for the first time out of my amazing parent's house and into a house in Rivermont full of some wonderfully awesome young woman, 4 to be exact. I also had a first date with an amazing man that evening. I always said when God blesses he usually smacks me in the face with it. What a blessing of a day. I had been praying for a while seeking God's direction as to moving out and such and he answered with a dear friend Katie Halsey and her inviting me to live with them in Lynchburg. I also thought that God had some plan bigger and better than my own understanding around the corner and the first step was moving out. My parents were a huge blessing in that they have always been very supportive of my decision to do so.
So after unpacking a few boxes and a grocery trip with Katie, I waited patiently for Josh to come and pick me up for our date. He came to the door all decked out in his purple polo and jeans and lookin good. He took me to Neighbors Place where I decided I would be all girl like and get a salad because it would be smaller as I was too nervous to eat much. Well this is what I get for getting a salad:
So after a good laugh and a long chat, he took me bowling. A decision he would later regret. His comment to me "let's play best 2 out of 3 you may need that third game ;-)" Well someone's butt got whooped 3 games in a row and it wasn't mine. So after beating himself up a good bit and me feeling terribly cruel, we headed to grab coffee at starbucks, finding out that we were going to the same church just different service times, and again a long talk and seeing his face every day for the next 7 months later is how our dating relationship began and continued. My family met him and fell in love. He fits right in with all our craziness.
NOVEMBER 25th, 2012
After a long week of Black Friday working craziness and Thanksgiving with the family, Josh decided he wanted to take me out to Waterstone( a nice pizza place downtown) Where he had been asking to take me all week I was just so busy and tired. SO FINALLY, he gets to go. lol We sit down to dinner and we decide to go bowling and bets are made as to whoever wins. Josh's bet was that if he won, he could ask me anything and I would have to agree to it. So I thought "oh gosh now he is going to make me dance in the car which I have refused to for the longest time with fear of embarrassment" My bet was that if I won he would have to watch ALL 6 seasons of LOST in 6 months. He immediately said he would win. Which he did. I hated it. lol the competitive side coming out in me. So we went and got coffee which I thought was weird cause Josh doesn't drink coffee but he got me some. Then he said he wanted to go walking somewhere, which I also thought was funny but didn't get my expectations up. We drove around for a bit and then stopped in Wyndhurst to walk around. Josh knew how I had a fetish for picket fences and so we found a random picket fence where we talked a bit and he told me how the past 7 months have been the funnest and best 7 months of his life and I answered by saying, "well I am exhausted, you gave me mono" hahahaha. Anyways, then he asked me if he could ask me the question from bowling which began and ended with my man on one knee asking me to marry him. I said no just to see his facial reaction but was quick to say yes yes yes soon after :-) It's been an exciting year and most exciting 7 months! I had no idea God would bring the man of my dreams into my life so quick and sudden. I love how God works and watching his hand in all the details through friends. I would hear people say all the time that when love at first sight can happen and when you know you know. Both are very very true. The moment I saw Joshua David Tripp I was in love and couldn't wait to spend the rest of my life with this man :-) He is my best friend and I thank God for him everyday and can't wait to see where God takes us on this adventure ahead. Thank you to all those who have been prayer warriors over my life. Please continue to pray as Josh and I seek God first in our future marriage together. MARCH 9th 2013 couldn't come soon enough!
