My Boy Mitchell

Mitchell had a birthday; he's seven. I can hardly believe he's growing up so fast. It seems like just yesterday that I was in the hospital for that very, very long day (eighteen hours from start to finish) waiting for him to come into this world. I think he was very ready to come, it was just my body that didn't function so well that made it difficult for him to arrive. Well, that and maybe a doctor who made me try for hours to deliver a baby that couldn't come naturally because my body wasn't able simply because he wanted to finish writing letters to his missionary son and take care of few other things before performing the necessary c-section. But Mitchell arrived, perfect.



He was such an easy baby. He slept well, he nursed well, he had a happy temperament. He was such a joy. And he still is.


Oh, how I love Mitchell. He is such a happy soul. William likes to call Mitchell our "virtuous child" because he truly embodies the mantra "early to bed, early to rise," he doesn't like to eat too much sugar or anything that's not very good for him (with the exception of corn dogs, I think he would eat those exclusively if given the chance), he really has no vices and he's such a nice, happy, gentle kid. Mitchell works hard to improve himself and lucky him, he is really smart. Schooling comes very easily.

My favorite quote from Mitchell today was "Mom, can Luke and I go outside and play football? Its a nice day and we need to practice so when we're teenagers we'll be really good at playing!"


Last year was a really tough year for Mitch. We had had some scares with him during the previous year when he had two seizures that we saw but his tests at Primary Children's Hospital had shown only small brain spikes, not enough to warrant treatment. However, as time progressed his pallor turned more and more pale and he was having frequent headaches. Needless to say, we were very concerned.

But on a social level he was doing great! He was having a great time in Kindergarten. He loved his teacher, he had good friends, and he had a fabulous, winning soccer team. He was riding a wave; it was great. And then we moved and his world seemed to turn to turmoil. While we were moving he had another seizure. At the Mcdonald's playland. We started heading back and forth from the tundra to Utah every week to two weeks for the next two months for tests and check-ups. Mitchell has epilepsy. He thought his brain was broken. But its not; he's perfect. And with medication he's doing really well.

It took a while for him to feel alright about himself; to feel he was normal. And it took even longer for him to feel happy about our move. His first soccer team here really struggled. The school our kids go to didn't have space in kindergarten so he had to be "overflowed;" he was sent to another school in the district so his classmates lived in another part of town. There were no boys in his Primary class at church, his one friend in the neighborhood moved and there was only other boy on his little league team. To top it off, the medication he was on made him a bit depressed. Life was kind of tough for a while. But things have really started to look up. He's now at our neighborhood school and has made some good friends. A new boy is in his Primary class and will soon be moving in right behind us. His body is getting used to his medication and, for now, we've finally got a dose right. He's feeling better and he doesn't think he's broken anymore, at least he doesn't focus on that. Life is looking up.


For Mitchell's birthday this year he had a swimming party. One of the kids was really concerned that it would be outside and it is really cold here. But for two hours the kids splashed and played (indoors) and Mitchell is finding that he has a place.

Happy Birthday, bud. I love you so much.