Life Is Good: Birthday!!!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Birthday!!!

We had a birthday around here the other day.

A first birthday!!! And first birthdays are a BIG deal around here.

Evan turned ONE on June 26th. I just can't believe he's already one!

For Evan's first birthday we, like with all our other kiddos, spent a great deal of time planning and scheming for making his first birthday a great big and fun celebration. We decided on a beach party!

Our plans got changed a little on the day of the party. The public pool we were renting had a major malfunction the night before and over half the pool drained. We were told the pool would be filled in time for the party, but we decided to move our party to the house (since the idea of swimming in cold water wasn't too appealing). We didn't mind too much though. The temps that day were over a hundred and very windy. No ONE nor THING was going to spoil our fun for the day! We still had a beach party...just without the water. And the heat.

The birthday boy had a great day! Here he is with his new car...

Of course one of the highlights of a first birthday party is watching the "birthday boy" dive in to his first cake. He was a little shy at first but he got the hang of it pretty quickly...

Oh...and presents! He got the hang of that too! He got some great things! Sticks, balls, push toys, banging toys, clothes. He even got his very own stick horse.

And he got a new water table to enjoy with his big brother.

Mister Cheese...

We had a great time! We were surrounded by some of the most wonderful people we know. Nana (my mom), Papa (Nana's friend), Uncle David, Aunt Jennifer and Cousin Lucas (my brother and family), Great Uncle David (my uncle) and his friend Cindy, Aunt Lizzy (my sister), Uncle Tobin, Aunt Shelly and Cousin Addy (my brother and his family), Papa Yogi and Grandma Sue (my dad and his wife), and Uncle Paul (Wade's brother). We had several friends planning to attend but we canceled on them when the pool broke. Thank you to everyone who made my little boy's most special birthday a MOST SPECIAL DAY!

At ONE:

Evan has a head circumference at 90%, a height at 50% and a weight at 25%. I can't remember the exact numbers and I'm too tired to try to find that paper.
He started walking completely unassisted about 1 or 2 weeks before his first birthday.
He now (2 weeks later) is climbing and practically running. He loves to play chase.
He loves animals and squeals with delight at all kinds.
He loves MUD!
He loves outside and a foul mood can be turned around instantly by going outside with him.
He is still eating well and eats only table food. He has, however, started showing some pickiness. The doctor said that's normal and will last until he's 5 or 6.
He LOVES his brother, Mamma and Dadda and Nana.
He's somewhat delayed in speech, but nothing we're concerned about.
He says mamma, dadda, ca for cat, do for dog, and ba for ball. He once said di for drink.
He is a mama's boy...and that's okay!
Stranger anxiety...oh yes.
He loves fruit.
He picks on his brother but he would much rather play with him if Ryan would allow.
He competes with Ryan.
He ducks and squats down when Ryan comes running because he knows he's about to be knocked down.
He has 7 or 8 teeth now.
He sometimes pats me.
He occasionally gives kisses.
He loves to clap and he knows that with "Yay!" clapping goes with it.
He's super sweet.
And so very very much more...
OH HOW I JUST LOVE THIS LITTLE BOY!

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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