Maddie’s Track Meet

Maddie has been eagerly counting down the days to her first track meet. She was so excited!

Rick took Joshua to the AAU state championships while I took everyone else to Maddie’s track meet. The weather was perfect and Maddie was ready to RUN!

Her form has improved a lot since last year. I was very impressed! And she has figured out how to find a “kick” when she needs too, which was also cool to see. She ran the 1500m, her favorite race, in 7 minutes and 23 seconds. This is her personal best and about 45 seconds faster than last year.

She is still “famous” for her mile. She’s been known as “that little girl that runs the mile” for going on three years now and everyone loves her, knows her name, and cheers for her. She’s still the smallest one running the 1500m. She’s so short, so determined, and so cute too!

She also ran the 100m and the 800m and did great in both races. She took 3rd for her 1500m and 2nd for 800m.

At the end of the day, after running hard and spending all day in the sun, my little track star (she grins whenever I call her that) asked if she could run a “goodbye lap.” So off she went, to run just one more lap, and she smiled the entire time. She just LOVES to run! I’m so proud of this sweet, determined, hard-working little girl!

Joshua wrestled so well, and took 1st in Greco and 1st in Freestyle. He added more wins to his tally (on the road to meeting his goal of 100 wins this year), claimed two more state titles, and qualified for Grand Nationals in June. Go Josh! Rick and Josh were able to make it in time for Maddie’s last race of the day, which meant a lot to her!

It was a great day!

   

   

   

State Championships 2013

We spent two days at the Freestyle and Greco State Championships. Josh wrestled both styles, while Braden and Asher just wrestled Freestyle.

Asher wrestled so well! He did a great job. His finals match was awesome and he won by tech, taking first place. We have a cute little four-year-old state champ now!

Braden wrestled well too. He was up against some really tough, talented wrestlers, but he worked hard and did his best. He took fourth place at state.

Joshua wrestled in both Greco on Friday and Freestyle on Saturday. He took first place in both styled and came home with two gold medals and two state championship titles!

I am amazed that he’s come so far in the last month! Two months ago he was still dependent on a feeding tube, and now he’s doing so well! I am very thankful!

The younger boys are done for this season. Joshua will have a two-week wrestling blitz in June and he can hardly wait. Congrats on a great season, boys!

Feeding Pump

Home Health Care picked up Joshua’s feeding pump this week. What a nice milestone to hit!!

Josh is eating a normal diet now, though he does need to eat smaller portions. He is weaning off his meds. He only gets sick on very rare occasions and then recovers quickly. He is 62 pounds now, having gained back most of what he lost. His energy and stamina have mostly returned; he can wrestle through an entire two-hour practice and he can easily run a mile.

It’s wonderful to see him doing so well!!

Balloons by Josh

Josh has quite the knack for making balloon animals!

Happy Tenth Birthday, Josh!

Ten. Joshua is ten, and the past decade went way, way too fast.

Joshua’s birthday happened to be on the first day of Spring Break, which was very convenient. We had overnight French toast for breakfast and then went swimming.

After swimming, we picked up one of Joshua’s best friends and went out for ice cream. Josh got a giant sundae and then he and Will spent the rest of the day playing.

Nachos were his birthday dinner of choice. Homemade, of course. He ate a lot and didn’t get sick. (This was a huge moment for me because months ago he was praying that his gastroparesis would be better by his birthday. I’m so thankful that prayer was answered for him!)

I didn’t have any candles to put on his cake so I grabbed ten little tea lights and arranged them around his cake. The kids were all impressed and several of them asked for similar candles on their birthdays.

We finished the day by watching a Harry Potter movie (Mom, Dad, Brenna, and Josh) after the younger ones were sleeping.

Josh is eagerly planning his big birthday party. He wants his entire wrestling team there. He decided to celebrate after the state tournament so that we wouldn’t have to schedule the party around any of April’s big tournaments. He’s excited.

I have a million things that I want to write about this sweet boy, but I’ll cut it down and just say that he’s one of the strongest, smartest, most valiant people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. I’m very thankful that such an incredible young man is a part of our family. I know he will do amazing things as he grows; I know the Lord has amazing things in store for him.

Nationals and a Gym Meet

When Josh got sick, we ended up skipping several big national tournaments. Last weekend we finally were able to get the boys to a big event. It was Joshua’s first national tournament since he got sick and it was Asher’s first national tournament ever. The boys were so excited to go to a big tournament, eat lots of food, stay in a hotel, and swim.

Joshua battled through a large 32-man bracket, the biggest of the entire event. He did get more tired as the day went on, but he wrestled well and took first place.

Braden wrestled hard, but ended up losing some matches, including a very close loss that bumped him to consolation. He took fifth place and was very sad because he wanted a plaque like his brothers.

Little Asher did awesome! As a four-year-old in the 5&6 year old age division, he wrestled all the way through to the finals. He lost his finals match and took second place. Very impressive for such a young guy at such a big tournament!

The boys had a wonderful weekend together!!

While the boys were gone, Brenna also had a gymnastics meet. She did so well! Her routines were beautiful!! She competed in a higher age group than usual. She got 9.1 on vault (1st place), 9.4 on beam (1st place), 9.35 on bars (1st place) and 8.7 with a fall on floor (3rd) place. She ended up with 2nd AA, only 0.05 behind 1st. She looked amazing!

Physical Therapy Graduate!

I’m seriously so proud of this kid! He got sick five months ago. The first two months were hard, the next two months were so difficult that I can’t accurately describe them without swearing and this last month he has improved so much that it’s been amazing! This has been the hardest thing he’s ever gone through, but he hasn’t complained. He has been so brave, and so full of faith! Now he’s doing so well! He’s gained four pounds back, he’s eating a “soft food” diet, he’s off the feeding tube, he’s done with physical therapy, and he’s wrestling again! Way to go, Josh!!

The Spirit of God

Today Jacob’s teacher asked him what his last name was. In a solemn voice Jacob reverently replied, “My last name is… The Spirit of God.”

He’s such a funny kid! He is creative, imaginative, and inventive. He’s very physical and totally hilarious. He’s still incredibly intense, but he also has such a sweet, loving, gentle, thoughtful side to him as well. I love watching a child’s personality emerge as they grow. They are each so unique.

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Also noteworthy today: Joshua took the Sacrament for the first time in about three months and he did not throw it up. What a milestone! He’s doing well on soft foods (stuff that could be easily mashed with a fork). I am so thankful for his amazing progress!

Gastroparesis, GI Visit, and Trying Tube-Free!!

We made the hour-long trek to the children’s hospital again yesterday. Josh hasn’t seen his GI for about three weeks and I think the change in him was dramatic because Dr. V walked in, grinned and gasped, “Who is this kid? He looks so good!”

Josh is gaining weight back, has color in his face again. He is eating a puréed diet. He’s happy and he has energy again. He does look good and he’s come so far since this whole mess with gastroparesis first started.

Josh said more words during this appointment than he had in all his previous appointments combined. He talked about Super State and Wrestler of the Week, getting his Bear in Scouts a few days ago, and finally saving his money to buy his own Kindle. He mentioned with a smile that it was easier to save money after he got sick because his grandparents kept giving him money.

It meant a lot to me that Joshua’s doctor, who has seen him sick for so long, finally got to see the REAL Josh! I think he liked seeing that too, and watching the transformation of a sick boy back to his healthy, energetic, animated self.

The Plan:

Joshua will stay on his current meds for another two months. We will try a very gradual weaning process in April to see how he does. Hopefully in a few months from now he will be off all meds.

He has permission to try a “soft food diet” which will allow him to eat mashed potatoes, bananas, eggs, oatmeal, and even noodles. We have to be careful and go slowly because we certainly don’t want him to backslide at this point. He’ll also continue to eat puréed stuff because we can calorie-pack those liquids more easily.

He’s going to need lots of oral calories because he’s actually going tube free!! His GI thinks Josh can get enough calories orally to leave his feeding tube behind. This is an incredible milestone!! We will keep all of our supplies just in case and we will really have to watch calories and his weight, but I think he’s ready! Dr. V even pulled the tube out in the office and it felt like the day Josh got his cast off only a thousand times better!!

The last tube picture!

Tube Free!!

I am feeling so HAPPY!! The last five months have been such a challenge. It’s great to finally see improving Josh improving so much!

(I write this blog as a family journal, but I would love to also use it as a means to reach out to families living with gastroparesis or wondering about the recovery from gastroparesis. Josh is obviously not fully recovered yet, but I feel like he’s well on his way. I know I could have used a positive story during our darkest days.)

Brothers

Oldest son and youngest son