UNO

CAN'T BELIEVE OUR BABY IS 1 MONTH OLD TODAY!

My mom told me that time really speeds up once you have a baby, she wasn't kidding! This month has flown by, we have had so much fun! We are learning and growing in ways we never could have imagined! WE LOVE YOU MILA!!!

Our New Family

This week our family grew and we love it. We met some awesome people who are so kind, thoughtful, funny and loving. Oh yeah some of them just happen to have OI. Well now we are all part of one big OI family.

Friday night we went to a BBQ at the Glad's house. We enjoyed it for a couple of reasons. One: everyone is so nice and helpful in explaining to us how to care for Mila on a day to day basis. Two: the food was great!

From the left: Karrie and her daughter Janessa (thanks for being so informative and for holding Mila when she cries); Jeremy, wife and daughter (thanks for the tips and pointers, your daughter is so cute); us; Nathan Glad (in the motor chair and also rocks on the drums) and his family Ryan, Rachel and kids (thanks for having us over and being so friendly); Trisha and her husband Mike (you guys are so positive and encouraging to be around).

The Verdict Is In

After 3 weeks of waiting, we finally have received word of the exact diagnosis. Mila tested positive for Osteogenesis Imperfecta type IV.

OI type IV is the moderate form of OI. The most mild form is type I and the most severe type, with infant survival, is type III. (Type II is the most severe which unfortunately the baby usually doesn't survive for more than a few days.)

The internet gives us a whole list of things to expect, how to care for her, what she won't be able to do, all the future complications, etc. Somewhat helpful but mostly depressing. We don't like all that sad stuff about life, so let's focus more on the positive.

So what's the positive side of OI? Well I get a perfect excuse for being overprotective of my little girl, we already have learned a lot about a new aspect of this world, we have made friends with other people across the United States who also have OI, Mila gets special attention, our perspective on life will shift a little with more emphasis on whats really important, Mila will have a permanent excuse for getting out of almost anything if she wants to, Mila will be really smart and her personality will be teeming with spunk (common for people with OI), Mila is our delicate little darling.

There will be times ahead that will be difficult but the best way to deal with this disorder is by merely treating those issues as they come. It is useless for us to worry now over things that may or may not happen. Right now Mila is happy and doesn't have a single fracture. We love her so much and don't have room in our hearts to invite grief or torment.

That doesn't mean we will deny the fact that she requires special care. We understand the importance of handling her delicately. When she presents a fracture we will care for her as best as we can. But for right now, Mila is doing really great and if we pass every present moment thinking about an unpredictable future, then we are doing nothing more than cheating ourselves out of the joy from having a beautiful daughter and trading it in for stress and worry over future events that won't even be nearly as bad as our imaginations can construct.

The present is the only moment in which we are capable of living. Our present is amazingly enriched with a wonderful daughter, fantastic family and the best friends.

Family Time

We had a good time Celebrating my Grandma's Birthday this weekend, I Love being around Family! My Grandparents just celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary by the way! Congratulations to them!

Happy Birthday GRANDMA!

One Good Lookin' Family

Jeff's "little Bro": ADAM

Mila checkin out her Great Grandpa

Hanging out with her Great Grandma

Just playin' it cool

Four Generations!

BABY CAKES

A few "FUN" faces: Our Baby Girl is 3 weeks as of Friday!

I love that her little personality is already starting to show!

Mila is doing GREAT! She seems to have gotten the BABY routine down really well, everyone loves holding her and says she is such a DOLL.. she smiles when Jeff talks to her, and she loves to cuddle with me at night.  Sometimes when I give her a bath I think she would prefer to spend the entire day in her little pink baby bathtub.  She still spends a good part of the day sleeping, but her "awake" times are getting longer and she seems to be starting to notice people and things around her more.  I am loving every minute with this cute little GIRL!

Red, White & Kentucky Blue

Happy Independence Day!

Jen, Mila and I started off the day with a nice 3K fun run. Thanks to our athleticism and top of the line running shoes we managed to finish strong in places 195, 196 and 197 out of 200 people. . . kind of pathetic for 3 people who's average age is 18 although Mila is a significant contributor to that statistic.

Afterwards my dad, my mom and I handed out otter pops at the Granite Community Parade and Carnival. Here I am sporting my red and white shorts along with my Kentucky blue shirt.

Mila wore her own patriotic ensemble that had Old Glory and the phrase, "Daddy's American Beauty."

In the afternoon we all went up to our family cabin in Weber Canyon. This cabin was originally built and owned by my great grandpa (and I happen to be his namesake) J. Spencer Cornwall. Some might know him from his years he spent conducting the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

There we celebrated our nephew, Garrett's, 4th birthday. His parents did a really cool scavenger hunt for him.

He is fascinated (and borderline obsessed) with super heroes and so all his presents revolved around that. Jen and I gave him the Hulk pajamas, and his uncle Kyle gave him these Hulk gloves:

After cake and presents Colby, Kyle and I headed off to the nearby reservoir Smith and Morehouse.

Any family resemblance? Up there we hiked to a rope swing that my uncle, Mike Farrington, had built not too long ago.

Here is a picture of my youngest brother, Colby, swinging out. He decided not to drop off into the reservoir this time although earlier today he did a couple of times.

It looked like a ton of fun and I just had to try it out. Although, I was nervous because of how high the fall is and that I'd land in freezing cold water. Turns out it was super fun.

To finish the night off the entire Ebert family went to the Oakley rodeo. It's interesting that in Kentucky they try to ride horses as fast as possible and in Utah they make them jump as high as possible and try to hold on as long as possible. I'm not sure which I'd rather do.

YEEEEEHAAAAAW!!

Today was full of fun activities and exciting adventures. I am sorry that I failed to get a decent family picture with Jen and Mila, although those two girls played hard today.