Amazing

Sorry this is sideways! But this is too inspiring (at least for us) to not share!

Christopher is now gaining the confidence to walk up and down the stairs by just holding on to the rails!

And he has managed to put my camera on a "sepia" mode so my video looks funny! One smart little boy I tell ya!

anything is possible

Love this of my kids! Christopher is learning so much!

We were told he would have major learning disabilities due to his Hydrocephalus.He is quite the opposite! In fact... when being evaluated for Special Needs pre-school he almost didn't qualify. You need to qualify under 2 different categories. Apparently being (extremly) physically handicapped is just not gonna cut it!
Interesting huh?

Project ELI.avi

this is amazing...I got this from my friend Adrienns blog. All that look at my blog and wonder about Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalous this is a great video. This is exactly what we went through.

Along with so many families, we didn't know anyone else with this diagnosis. We were so scared and no where to turn but to our Heavenly Father. With his help we became stronger than we ever thought we could and our little Christopher Rudger was born, and our lives changed forever.Our lives changed for the better.

Since the moment Our little Christopher was born I decided I wanted to be a source of strength to any family that needed my help. Any mother who felt scared and alone, I wanted to help. I have come across some amazing Mother's through this experience who build me up and make me a stronger person as well. It's been an amazing journey so far.

All about Chris

OK So I am changing it up on our blog. 3 years ago My friends helped me start a blog so I could keep my friends and family updated on the progress of Our little Christopher. And for some reason I have gotten distracted from that. I think now more than ever I need to blog about Christopher's life because I hope that some mother out there who has just found out their son or daughter will be born with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalous will find strength and hope through our experiences since Christopher's Birth.
It's amazing that Christopher has been in our family for 3 years already. It's been a whirlwind, but it has been an amazing journey. I am so excited to watch this little boy grow up and eventually turn into a man. And what a man I know he will be. The sky's the limit for him.
In the last year Christopher has made many changes. He has learned to use his walker perfectly as if it is just part of him. He goes anywher and everywhere with it. He is now talking in full sentences, it is so fun to be able to carry on a conversation with him. He started preschool in October, and there has been so much growth there. Biggest thing now is his learning how to use his 4 arm crutches. He does not like them much right now, but he is improving every day.
So, this is going to be the way I am going to Chronicle Christopher's growth and adventures in life. Please follow along because I'm telling you this little boy is inspiring and our family is so blessed to have him be ours.

best friends and brothers

spencer started Kindergarten today! Christopher is not quite sure how to take it either. His best friend will be gone now every day. Thank goodness we are starting with baby steps, he is only half day this year. I tell you though when we left Spencer at school all Christopher would say was "Get Spencer"..."where's Spencer". Made me pretty sad. If Chris is ever in a bad mood, or he's not feeling like doing his PT or he doesn't want to go to bed... he just needs his big brother to turn his mood right around. Spencer can convince that child to do anything. Thank goodness he convinces him to do good things and not bad! :).
So This is going to be a new adventure for Christopher, daring to try things with out his big brother by his side all the time. It will be good for him, and for us I think. This will be the first time that It will be just he and I...We will get some serious bonding time, and I am really looking forward to that. The only thing that makes me sad is that my kids are GROWING UP!!!! Emily is now an 8th grader, and James is in 7th. There is no picture of the two of them because they only let me take one quick one of them on my phone...PUNKS! I'll get a good one of them and post it soon though. I love my 4 beautiful children so much. I know I say this alot but Rob and I are so lucky to have these very specific special sweeties. We are so grateful!

newest family picture

I have been trying forever to upload these pictures to my blog!!!! Hoping this finally works. This is the newest picture of my family. We were on vacation for a month this summer visiting family. We were actually together with ALL of my brother's and sister's (there are 6 of us), our spouses and all of our children. We were all together to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary. My Dad's wish for the last few years was to have the whole family together for a family portrait.We were able to acomplish that, and we are so excited about having all these new pictures of everyone. OOh I'm telling you we had the most amazing time with everyone. Now that we are home and settled I am going to be able to blog all about it. Lots of amazing memories to perserve. But, Here is the first of many pictures to share.....My kids sure are growing fast.

Christopher update!

What a CRAZY month we have had here at the ETCHELLS! I just wanted to catch all who is interested up on everything that is going on with our little Christopher.
We had a SB clinic and he is improving fabulously with his MAD Walking skills :)!
Doctors are so stinkin impressed with his mobility. They have been waiting for him to start using his legs more so they could sort of determine his level of mobility. The best news I could ever hear was when the Doc said next step after the walker will be the for-arm crutches, and after that he just might be able to walk with just braces! Now I am not holding my breath on the last part, we will just patiently wait and see.
Now with every bit of good news comes some bad news right? Christopher's bladder is not doing so swell. It is now time to start the cathing. I knew it was only a matter of time though. Robert and I just took the news like...well we had a great 2 1/2 years without it! Christopher had to have all the extensive testing done on his bladder, and all the results came back worse than the time before. I tell ya, they wasted no time at all! I did not leave the hospital that day without learning how to cath my son all by myself. I will admit I was pretty darn scared. But, you have to think to yourself... what are my options?" Their are no options, so put your big girl pants on Becky and deal with it. So that's what i'm doing, dealing with it. I have to admit some days I deal with it better than others. Today, has been a pitty party day. But, i think I have to allow myself those days in order to endure. I have to get the tears out and move on. I don't want people to think I am this solid as a rock person and I never break down, because I do break down(just ask my husband)! It's ok though.
So, after a day of cathing my son every four hours Rob and I woke up at three in the morning with Christopher having a 104 temp. and being completly lathargic. We tried waking him up, but he would just look uncomfortable and try to fall back asleep. We called the Dr. and we were on our way down to Children's before you knew it. They always send us there if he has these symptoms because you never know if it is a UTI or a shunt infection. Kind of nerve racking to say the leaste. So gratefully we have our Emily to come lay in our bed and be there if Spencer wakes up. We were in the ER for about 3 hours, and he had a pretty major UTI. But they just told us go home give him his antibiotics and continue cathing him every 4 hrs. Seriously I was so nervous to cath him after that, because you never know if you are the one doing harm to him. Again though, what are my options? Just suck it up and do it. He is doing much better now, and I think I am less nervous now too, which is a very good thing. We just keep praying that we are doing the best we can for our precious little gift.
I just never thought in a million years that I could add to my resume....expert Catheter putter inner :). But if anyone needs help with cathing Let me know!I guess that's looking on the bright side right?