Hi guys! Well… I never intended to take the last 9 months away from this space. But, I guess that’s just how these things happen. Life gets busy, other things take priority, and the little things you love get left behind. I really do love this little blog and I am beyond excited to pick it back up! It fuels my creativity and gives me an outlet for all of those jumbled thoughts constantly swirling around inside my head. Thank you so much for being here and following along.
Let me start by reintroducing myself and giving you an update on our crazy life. My name is Tristina and I am very happily married to my college boyfriend turned husband turned baby daddy. We have three babes – Ella is the sassy, sweet, always dancing five year old; Cole is the high energy, all boy, sour patch three year old; and Bryn is the easy going, cute as a button one year old. Bryn also happens to have been born with spina bifida (MMC at the L4 level).
When I last posted (back in March) Bryn was home from the NICU and we were settling in as a family of five. Which, as a side note, was such an easy transition for us! If you are contemplating a third baby, my thought is an overwhelming GO FOR IT! 😄 Anyway… in March we started serial casting on both of Bryn’s legs to correct a foot bone that was out of place. She had surgery on her foot in April and did really well. At the beginning of May she was finally able to loose her supplemental oxygen! This was just about the best day ever – getting to see her full beautiful face and not having to lug around the oxygen tank any longer.
In June we were crazy enough to decide to move! We love our new neighborhood and our home that we hope to never again move from. Moving is the worst. In August we took a vacation to Arizona with Connor’s family and Orange County with mine. Promptly upon our return, Ella started kindergarten (I am still not used to her being at school full time 😭) and Cole started preschool (which HE is still not used to 🤣).
Bryn kept getting outstanding checkups at spina bifida clinic and we are forever thankful for her continued health. However, throughout the second half of 2021, she did have a few complications that we felt could have been avoided with more consistent care. She also seemed to be falling more behind in her gross motor skills and we wished we could devote more time to her physical therapy. It started to become very clear that our best path at this point would be for me to stop working. I’ve always imagined my life as a stay at home mom, but dang did this make me realize how much I truly loved my job. I was in medical sales for over 10 years and it was grueling much of the time. It was also filled with amazing people and fun days.
Just before Christmas I had my last day and I am now a full time stay at home mama! We have been very fortunate to be in contact with a home healthcare company and are working to become certified caregivers for Bryn – an amazing benefit Colorado offers. If you or someone you know has a child with special needs, especially if you are considering leaving your job to provide care, please reach out and I can help navigate this confusing, yet insanely beneficial opportunity.
And that brings us to now! Settling in to a new family dynamic and a new “job” for me has had its rough patches. It has also been so apparent that this is the exact spot I am meant to be in right now, which is really all I need.
I am really looking forward to continuing to share Bryn’s journey on the blog, as well as all of my other journeys in motherhood and all of the fun stuff along the way. Let’s do this 2022!