Life Is Good

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Let me tell you a little bit about this little guy...

First of all...he is a hoot! He's hilarious. I love this age. I adore this little boy!
He talks non-stop.
He makes jokes...sort of.
He loves to chase and be chased.
He loves to help.
He loves praise and he loves approval.
He has started asking for permission for things that previously he wouldn't have asked (like touching the neighbor's yard ornaments).
He loves his family.
He loves animals. He regularly tells me he wants 2 kitties and a dog. I'd love to oblige that request sometime. I've been keeping my eyes and ears open for a good-ole' family dog for him to run around with and enjoy.
He loves being outside.
He refers to himself as good-boy or peanut and sometimes Ryan. The other day a waitress asked him his name and he very seriously replied, "Good-Boy Peanut." She very seriously replied, "that's a great name." The rest of us were cracking up!
He's becoming very affectionate and his praises are worth the world. I love it when he says, "Momma I'm so proud of you." I really think that could be translated to, "Momma, I really love you a lot."
He's still wild and crazy. He doesn't stop running unless he's sleeping.
He fights taking a nap, but gets exceptionally cranky by 7 without one.
He won't eat green things or red things unless, of course, it's candy.
He likes watching movies and his favorites right now are: Flushed Away, Veggies Tales, and Pop-Pop-Seet-Seet (Intro to Star Trek)
He wants Santa to bring him new big green tractors although I expect that to change many times before Christmas.
He's got the "I wants" confused with the "I needs" and looking through toy ads goes something like this..."I neeeeed this and I neeeeed this and I neeeeed a bunch of these and..."
He protects his baby brother and...
He tries to beat up his baby brother.
He hasn't learned about pay-backs yet.
He likes the color pink, but hey..."Real men wear pink!"
He still loooooves cars.
He goes to bed with several cars each night.
He's learning more and more everyday.
He's my favorite 3-and-a-half-year-old and I just love him so much!

1 comment:

mimi and Grampy said...: Turn around and he's one,
turn around and he's four,
turn around and he's a
Young Man going out of
your door.; October 28, 2010 at 9:09 AM

Brandy Danielle

Brandy is our firstborn, our precious angel baby girl. Her entry into this world wasn't without excitement. At 26 weeks I started preterm labor with contractions 5 minutes apart. With 10 weeks of strict bedrest, most of which were in the hospital, she made it to 36 weeks.
Brandy was diagnosed with "possible/probable" heart defect around 28-30 weeks gestation. After her birth she was whisked away to the NICU for monitoring and after a few days her defect was formally diagnosed and labeled...atrial septal defect and a cleft mitral valve.
Brandy, upon indications of failure to thrive and pulmonary hypertension, underwent her first of 2 open-heart surgeries at 4 months of age. A week after her surgery on the day of her anticipated discharge home Brandy coded for 13 minutes...a stoke.
From that point on Brandy's life was full of doctor's visits, endless crying, pain and suffering. She underwent another heart surgery, fundoplication and g-tube surgery, treatment for infantile spasms, and a mountain of tests and procedures. Her brain damage was extensive.
Upon counseling of our wonderful, most amazing heart surgeon, Dr. Christopher Knott-Craig, and many hours of prayer, we finally called in hospice and called off all of the extensive medical interventions and surgery needs that would prolong her suffering while possibly prolonging her life. Brandy, our precious baby girl...our angel...passed out of our arms and into the arms of her Saviour, Jesus at the tender age of 17 months.

Ryan Andrew

Ryan, our micro-preemie miracle, is a ball of life. After nearly a year of trying to conceive imagine our delight when we finally knew he was on the way. My pregnancy with Ryan was uneventful at first. It seemed perfect and with all of the precautions for preterm labor being taken and monitored we entered this pregnancy with cautious anticipation covered over by a whole love of naive excitement.
At 20 weeks we discovered our "Baby Peanut" was going to be a little boy. We began to make plans and began dreaming about the day we would meet our son.
Almost 2 weeks later everything changed in our lives. It wa a whirlwind of fear and emtions as I began to bleed, was sent for monitoring in L&D and eventually had an appointment with my OB only to find out that it was serious. I had incompetent cervix with hourglassing membranes. The doctor admitted me to the hospital immediately and an emergency cerclage was placed. The statistics were grim, but the hope was to keep our son inside for at least 10 more weeks. We only made it 10 more days.
Early in the evening of February 11, 2007 our son, Ryan, came into this world in emergency fashion at only 23 weeks 5 days gestation. He weighed 1 pound 8 ounces and was 12 ½ inches long. He was so tiny. All I could think of was “oh my goodness is he really that tiny? And is there any way he could actually make it?” I tried to hold on to hope, but in all honesty I had never met anyone with a baby born that early and that small that ever made it.
Ryan did make it! It was a long, hard road, but in the end he spent 90 days in the NICU. He was on a ventilator for 2 months. Finally on one fine glorious day in May we bundled up our 4 pound 4 ounce baby boy and went home...May 11, 2007.
Ryan is now a spunky, lively, strong-willed little boy. His laughter is contagious and his spirit is compelling. He is our miracle. There are no words strong enough to share our delight and joy that God has blessed us with this little boy.

Evan Alexander