Caden is scheduled for an MRI of his back and head on Thursday January 8th. This will require sedation and will let the orthopedic surgeons know if Caden’s spinal cord is healthy enough to undergo surgery for the scoliosis if required. Please keep Caden in your prayers this week as he is sedated for this procedure.
I say “if required” in regards to back surgery because we have taken a little different approach with the scoliosis in recent months. We believe this new approach will prevent surgery to correct the curve in Caden’s spine. Caden is now seeing a chiropractor. We were referred to visit James Family Chiropractic a couple of months ago. Sherry received strong recommendations from two ladies from our church who follow Caden’s Page. One is an RN who has come to help us administer injections at home. We followed their advice and took Caden in. We were encouraged by what Dr. James had to say. Dr. James is a very active member of church family and we view his advice as well as the two ladies who recommended him as Godly counsel. The chiropractic approach immediately set well with me because it fell in-line with a statement made by an orthopedic surgeon while at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) back in May 2008. We were in an examination room and I was lifting Caden by holding him under his arms. Caden did not have a shirt on and one of the doctors on the other side of the room blurted out, “that is what we need to do for Caden’s back”. What he was referring to was the straightening of Caden’s spine when the weight of his lower body stretched his back while being suspended in the air. What I have come to realize is that there are much less invasive ways to change the curve of your spin without surgery. The doctor at CHOP echoed this without even realizing it when he commented on how Caden’s back straightened when being lifted. Caden has been seeing his chiropractor Dr. James for nearly two months. It took Caden a couple of weeks to become comfortable with the adjustments 
and he is still getting used to some of the exercises. We are very pleased with Caden’s progress and we are optimistic that this will stop further progression of the scoliosis and possibly even reverse it.
December Events
The month of December brought some of the greatest joy a family can experience. We celebrated Jesus birthday with family and friends as you might guess.
The brightest point of the month came early on. On December 6, 2008 I had the privilege of baptizing my Big Boy Riley. The folks at Seacoast Long Point have a program idea that the “borrowed” from North Point in Atlanta. They create a time of celebration for the young folks who have accepted Jesus. The kids’ testimonies are video taped and a special event is put together that highlights the day they get baptized. The record of the event is provided for the kids to be able to refer back to for the rest of their lives. Below is a picture of Riley’s baptism.
Riley being baptized by his daddy
That was in the top events of my entire life. What more can a Christian parent ask for than to have their child accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior?
This post would not be complete without mentioning the little “tinker” as I have started calling him. It is a little nicer than “stinker” which is what I started out calling him as a baby. Josiah is “two”, at least in terms of parenting math and is a full blown toddler. He is actually about to turn 17 months on Saturday of this week but as we know the 2’s start early. The 2’s are more like a two year period of Toddlerhood rather than a numeric age. Our little toddler Josiah (JJ) is walking well and has begun to talk. Unfortunately he is mimicking Caden more than anyone in the family. Caden has been doing great with his speech development especially with vowels and has been really enjoying saying “Daddy” or as he says it with vowels only “/A/ – /E/”. Josiah has been following Caden’s lead and has been wearing my name out over the past few days. He si so proud of himself when he does it too.
Below is a taste of Josiah’s cuteness. This was taken Christmas morning as the boys discovered the contents of their stockings.
Josiah and Caden - Christmas 2008