Huxley's Brave New World

As the year comes to a close, it dawned on me that I hadn't written a single blog post this year. I've certainly been focusing my efforts into sharing our journey on instagram, and tid bits on facebook. I really enjoy those social platforms and the support and connection they have brought us. It didn't feel right though to close out the year without having at least one post published in 2019 and what better day then new years eve..

Given that it's the end of a decade, let's take a look of what went down these last ten years, I'll write up a synopsis of this past year, and finish off with some goals we have for the new year ahead.

2010

We made the move from our home in Port Coquitlam to Victoria. It was a big decision as we had lived in Vancouver for 4 years and were laying down some decent roots. I transferred from the Red Robin in Metrotown to the one in Victoria.

2011

Ah the care-free party days.. Red Robin crew always knew how to have a good time. I'm sure they still do but many of us are long gone from there now. I still appreciate the love and friendships that blossomed from Reds. Some of the most important people in our lives came from there. I also took two yoga teacher trainings, my 200hr certification and my pre/post natal cert. Matt made the big decision to leave his original chosen career as a carpenter to head back to school. He started off working towards a double major in political science and philosophy. I started working at Goodlife Fitness and Mothering Touch, teaching yoga.

2012

This was an eventful year. We adopted Keenan! Matt had a meniscus repair surgery on his knee. I got really sick and had to have surgery on my neck to remove an abscessed lymph node. The recovery was long and awful. We adopted a wild cat named Prince, Matt and I took a family trip to Bodega Bay in California, I took birth doula training, Matt and I got huge tattoos, and I started working at a yoga studio downtown. We both left our jobs at Red Robin.

2013

This was a more chill year, I taught a lot of yoga, Bri and I dabbled in acro yoga, I had the absolute honour of supporting many families as they welcomed their babies into the world, and in that last photo of me in "wheel pose" I was very early pregnant with little Huxley!

2014

I was so blissfully pregnant in 2014. I wanted nothing more then to be a mother. As you all know, our world was flipped upside down when our Huxley tore into the world. The rest of the year was spent parenting this little man with an uncertainty of his future. I went to therapy for the first time in my life. Matt began his Masters degree in political science. The wait and see game was really really hard on us.

2015

We baby-wore Hux a lot, he didn't like to be put down for long periods of time. We continued to wait to see if he would reach milestones as his birthday came and went. Hux had lots of therapy with a PT, OT, and SLP. Equipment began to enter our world to help him sit and stand. It was a very raw and intense year. Matt continued with his studies and I began to teach yoga again.

2016

This quite seriously was the worst year of my life. Huxley's birth year was intense and scary but 2016 was the year that Huxley got very very sick and very nearly died. We have a ton of sad photos of that time in our life and they don't even begin to scratch the surface of the living hell we experienced in the hospital for 30 days, so I'll just leave you with one of Matt looking adorable and Hux looking very pale. He had two surgeries and three PICU stays while in hospital that spring before his second birthday. In this photo below, he is recovering from g-tube surgery. He had a lovely 2nd birthday with lots of friends and family after he recovered. He was diagnosed with spastic quad cp with dystonia. Matt made the decision to enter into law school, he began is studies in September. We closed the year by taking the most lovely plaid family photos that I cherish so much.

2017

Huxley got his first wheelchair! Matt and I decided to take back our health. He began to take high level kickboxing classes, and I began to rock climb! I went to a moms retreat weekend in Oregon, and when I got home I took an aerial silks class. Huxley was gifted a tobii dynavox eye gaze system, he started preschool which was an amazing milestone. Hux started his journey with botox injections in his legs and we closed out the year announcing that we were adding to our family.

2018

Huxley continued to thrive in pre-school, he practiced becoming a big brother, swam a ton that summer, we had really sweet family photos taken, and days later our Sophie girl was born! The rest of the year was a bit of a blur as we got used to our new normal as a family of four. Huxley began spending one weekend a month in respite care. He was very very upset when Sophie first came home, but they are buddies now and their bond is really special.

2019

This has been the best year yet! Literally I can't even believe all the things that we've done. We tweaked a few meds for Huxley and he started to tolerate sitting more and more. We took him and Sophie all the way to Merritt BC for a Hope for HIE family retreat weekend. We still have ups and downs but certainly this year has had more ups! Matt Graduated from law school wooooooo! Sophie turned one, she was diagnosed with a unilateral conductive hearing loss, but it hasn't slowed her down any. We went on bike rides, hikes, trips, and more! Huxley started kindergarten at a public school, it wasn't our original plan but he's thriving and we can't believe it. He started learning to drive a power chair this year and is using his tobii more and more for communication. Sophie got fitted for a bone conducting hearing aid, and began to walk a few months after her first birthday. Sophie is such a sweet and silly bean, it's been incredible watching her grow up and do all the things. I'm so excited to see what 2020 will bring us !