Build-a-Bear + IKEA + CP Clinic

Monday dawned in the hotel after a fun overnight get-away.  While we got prepped for the morning, the kids watched PBS (Curious George) in the living room and Disney Jr (PJ Masks) in the bedroom, which was almost overwhelming for their lack of screen time brains.  When we were put together, we headed down to breakfast.  There were plenty of choices - eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, bagels, cereal, oatmeal, and more, and everyone left with their tummies plenty full. 
We headed back up to do teeth and pack up before checking out and heading to a nearby mall.
The younger two had Build a Bear gift certificates from Nannie and Vance and got to use those for a fun experience.

Ameliya chose a fairy bunny, whom she proudly named Rosey.

She chose no sound, contemplated adding a scent and, after the associate helped her sniff each one, decided no, and had the most fun choosing an outfit for her bear. #fashionista

Washin' and fluffin'

She chose a white dress with matching slippers and a bow to go on one ear.

Zayden was not sure what to think of his experience, but he had fun!  With brother's help, he chose a hot wheels bear with a Captain America outfit.

He, of course, chose a sound, which I got to hear at 6:30 this morning when he crawled in my bed.

Hello, new friend.

He named his new bear Speedy but calls him Captain 'Merica a lot.

He kept saying, "I didn't build a bear yet."  He's in love with his new friend but I must not have explained what BAB was - I'm not sure what he thought he was going to do.  LOL

After waiting patiently for the little ones to build their loveys, the big kids got to do some shopping.  We took them to the Lego Store and the toy/game store to browse and shop.  Xavier spent nearly every dime he'd brought along plus some of mom and dad's dimes (HA) and thrifty Natalee chose one item to treat herself with and saved the rest.  She wouldn't even choose a second small item for dad and I to treat her to (after all, we'd treated Xavier a bit).  Watching her grow and save and learn money management is really interesting as a parent.

The Beelers hit the mall!  Thanks, Des Peres.

I was MOST excited to go to the Dough Company at the mall, after my sister's rave reviews, but as it turned out, we were all so full from breakfast that no one could even really think about lunch or food treats, myself included, so we didn't go to the food court.  Another time, maybe.

We left the mall, hearts full after a fun couple hours, and headed to IKEA.  This was our first ever IKEA experience and we had a good time wandering the showrooms, checking things out, and dreaming.  We actually went for a 3 tiered cart (one for me and one for a friend) and didn't buy *much* more than we went for.  We had a fun time trying things out though!

Zayden and his swedish gummies. ^^ He was sure we needed them and they haven't even been opened yet.  Ha.

Mommy and Mia pretending we live in one of the living rooms.  She liked the bedrooms with the "lady shoes" they put in the displays.

Natalee was wearing down greatly at this point and mom was a little bit but we'd learned from Nannie that we had to find the item in the showroom, look at the ticket and it would tell us what aisle and bin to find it at in the warehouse.  Okay....
So after playing in the showrooms, we went to seek out the warehouse.  We accidentally got into the marketplace and, while fun to look, at we weren't planning to walk through all of that.  We finally found a shortcut into the warehouse and Daddy got a flat cart for our items that also served as a leg break for Natalee (and by default, Xavier).

Daddy promised to take me back when we move or build sometime to make some other brain plans come to life.
We checked out and headed for lunch and then to the hospital for CP clinic.

We checked in over an hour early for our appointment and they took Natalee almost right away.  All in all, we were there for 3 hours, working hard, getting measurements, having hip x-rays, seeing the PT, catching up with our neurologist NP Miss Helen, and making a plan moving forward.

I had wrongly assumed that, with Mike present, our other 3 children would be able to play in the sibling playroom or run in the noisy garden upstairs and was really disappointed to be told no, those are only for siblings of in-patient kids.  It was a really long 3 hours for Mike and the other 3 as I hadn't brought much to do.  He ended up taking them for a walk across to Forest Park to burn some energy and kill some time.  He and I communicated via text regarding decisions needing made for Natalee.  Some days aren't perfect - sometimes it's just the best we can do.

Natalee's hip x-rays came back as "normal hips" with a slight height discrepancy.  The PT gave us new exercises for at home and also prescribed DAFOs with ankle stretchers.  

Natalee is not super excited about these but, not everything in life is roses, right?  I also need to call our PT clinic at home and visit with them as the CP team overall though increased out patient PT would benefit her right now.  She lost 5% range of motion in her ankles since we were at the neuro clinic last time in January.  Backwards is not the direction we want to go.  Along with solid pain management, we want the best plan of mobility for her so she doesn't need to become reliant on a walker or wheelchair for as long as humanly possible.

The PT also offered Botox injections, but I had reservations, and she agreed that it was fine to try increased PT, the DAFOs, and a more stringent at home regimen before resorting to the injections for relief of tightness (which causes the pain).
Overall it was a hard visit, but there was a reason I chose to move it up, and my gut was validated by the team agreeing that the plan needed re-visiting and adjustments needed made.
The benefit of aqua therapy was also mentioned and is something I'm going to look into again, here around home.  If nothing else, I'm hoping for increased water time for Natalee (and the rest of the crew) this summer.

We were beat after such a long visit and when we got in the van I told Mike to point us to home.  We briefly stopped in Kahoka to potty at Lauren and Lance's and dropped a box off for a friend in Memphis, but otherwise journeyed home.  The kids ate "van food" that I had packed and dozed on and off.  Driving home in blinding rain finished up our long but necessary day of adventures!