The TOT Collar

For those of you who aren't aware of my son's problem, he has what they call torticollis. He has had this ever since he was born, but we were only made aware of this problem when Ethan was about 3 months old. If you who don't know what this is here's what Wikipedia has to say about it: " Birth trauma or intrauterine malposition is considered to cause damage to the sternocleidomastoid muscle (the side muscle) in the neck. This results in a shortening or excessive contraction of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, often with limited range of motion in both rotation and lateral bending. The head is typically tilted in lateral bending toward the affected muscle and rotated toward the opposite side." Basically, it's a weak neck ( at least on one side). The doctors said that Ethan was so scrunched inside me that he never developed the muscles on the one side of his neck and that the birth process forced his head and neck to be straight which in turned ripped those weak muscles.. ouch!

We have been going to the physical therapists, doing strengthening exercises, and stretches with Ethan for months now trying to correct the problem and have had no such luck! So two weeks ago the doctors said that they were going to go to more "extreme" measures now and made this neck brace ( or T.O.T collar) to help him develop those weak side muscles. He is suppose to wear it whenever he is awake during the day. He does not particularly enjoy wearing this contraption but hopefully it will fix the problem. However, if it doesn't, the doctors say that surgery will be our next option.. yikes! Here are some pictures of our poor little guy with his collar on...

PS.. Ethan is 7 1/2 months now and is basically crawling (well, in between an army crawl and a normal crawl) everywhere! He definitely get where he wants to go! He is also waving bye-bye! I'll post some videos tomm. hopefully.

Doesn't he just look so sad and pitiful!?

Roomate Reunion!

My freshman year I completely skipped the whole dorm experience and went right to living at the infamous Liberty Square (which is where I just happened to meet Justin). There I lived in Lafayette #17 and had the most amazing roommates! We called ourselves the Lovely Ladies of Lafayette 17 and were pretty much the coolest girls/apt in the ward. A few weeks ago, we all got together again at Cold Stone with our boyfriends/husbands and did a little reminiscing on how much fun we all had together. Heather, just got back from a mission in Taiwan and is now engaged so this will give us all an excuse to see each other more often ( bridal showers, etc.) I absolutely LOVE these girls and owe a lot of my awesome experience here at BYU to them.

Starting at back left: Tiff and Dave, Jeff and Alicia (who is my bet friend from back home), Heather and Heather's fiancee (I dont remember his name).
front left: Brittany and Brittany's boyfriend, Scott and Marcelle and then of course me, Ethan and Justin.
Heather feeding Ethan... this was her first time seeing him.

All About the 6th Month

Even though Ethan is now 7 months old, I just realized that I never posted any of his 6th month stats! Well, we went to the doctor and I am pleased to announce that Ethan is healthy and happy weighing in at a whopping 16lbs and 13oz ( 25th percentile) and measuring 26.5 inches (44th percentile). So all in all he is a small little guy but the docs aren't worried at all. They said that this is a good ratio. He did not like his shots and ran a little fever that night. He is now eating not only a little bit of rice cereal but also some baby food. Surprisingly, he is not such a fan of the fruit but LOVES the veggies... isn't that a little backwards? Just in the last couple of days he has started army crawling around! It's so fun to watch him practicing this newly acquired skill! Here are some 6 month pictures...


I love this picture! Yes, I do realize that there is a huge string of drool coming from his mouth, but for some reason I just think this one is so cute! Not every picture can be perfect right?!
My Grandma Sims had this beautiful blanket made for Ethan. She had some fleece fabric sown in the middle and Ethan loves to feel/play with it. She also bought him this cute church outfit that we think he looks so handsome in! Thank you so much Grandma!We love you!

Justin Got A Job!!

I know this is old news for some of you but for those of you who do not get to hear my "good news" moments in relief society, Justin did infact get a job after we graduate in April! His dad owns a agriculture company called BioHumanetics (BHN) which sells product all over the world ( mostly China, Mexico, Guatemala, etc). Anywho they extended a job offer to Justin to be the International Sales Manager! One of the most exciting things we get to do with this job is to live abroad! The company needs a representative to live in Mexico for up to 2 years to take care of the sales that go through there... so... that is where we are moving to.. Culiacan, Mexico! Right after we graduate, we are moving down to Mesa, AZ for a few months for Justin to get trained and then we have to report no later than Aug 1st to Culiacan. Now for those of you who might be a little nervous for me, have no fear. I lived in Guadalajara, Mexico for a semester ( so i speak a little espanol), and am well aware of what dangers might come to a light haired, blue eyed- American girl down there. Don't worry though, we plan on living in a nice area surrounded by good people, and I definitly don't plan on roaming the streets at night by myself!
So anyways, we are so excited for this awesome opportunity and know that this is where we are suppose to go. We feel as if great missionary opportunities to share the gospel are in store for us as well. I am especially excited to really learn the language and want to expose myself to it as much as I can! Thanks for reading!