Plan B

This morning Dan had a plan to wake me up and surprise me with a trip to Islands of Adventure! He wanted to kick off Mother's Day weekend with a bang! He took the day off work, Evan was at my parents... he thought he had it all worked out. What he did not plan on was that I woke up this morning still feeling sick. I have been sick with an upper respiratory infection and sinusitis all week. Since I was not feeling up to riding roller coasters Dan quickly started working on Plan B. I slept most of the day, taking full advantage of Evan being at my parents. When I woke up in the afternoon I was feeling a little more refreshed. Plan B was for us to go to Color Me Mine in Hyde Park. I have been wanting to do this for a long time!! Color Me Mine is a paint-your-own ceramics studio. I walked around the store for a while looking at all the options of things to paint. I finally narrowed it down and chose to paint a heart shaped plate. Dan on the other hand new exactly what he wanted to paint before we even got there. He painted a Celtics chip 'n dip plate.

We had a great time! We ended up closing the place down and they were nice enough to stay open an extra hour so we could finish our pieces. I can't wait to see how our masterpieces turn out!! Afterwards we were starving so we went to Chilies. Thanks Granny and Pop-Pop for my mother's day the gift card! It ended up being a perfect day with my hubby!

Fun at Home

Here is a new video of Evan playing at home!!

http://s14.photobucket.com/albums/a320/sara0710/?action=view¤t=silly017.flv

Things That Make Me Smile :)

Evan's froggy shoes from his Great Aunt Nancy.

My silly boy! We were playing one of his favorite games-
Where, Oh Where, Oh Where is Evan??

The beautiful flowers Dan got me on his way home from work!

Fun Day

Friday night Dan, Evan, and I spend the night in Dunedin at my parents house because we had to wake up and be at the March for Babies walk at 8:30 am. My parents walked with us along with my good friend Tiffany and her family. This year we raised $450 for March for Babies!! The weather was perfect, not to hot and there was a nice breeze.



After our walk to went to a Touch a Truck event. It was fun to see all sorts of trucks from fire trucks to dump trucks to ice cream trucks :) It made for some fun pictures! After our eventful morning we went back to my parents for subs and afternoon naps.

Happiness

As I am sitting here watching Evan roll across the living room floor, I am overcome with happiness. One thing we do in our house is celebrate every little one of Evan's milestones, big or small. To most it is just the natural progression babies make... but to us it is a huge, much anticipated accomplishment. I love documenting all his firsts and all the new experiences he has. His baby book is filled with dates and descriptions of all his firsts, lots of pictures, and stories.

It amazes me to see Evan's little personality coming out. He is cautious and skeptical of new things. Once he masters a new skill, he will practice it over and over again until he perfects it. He loves to observe the world around him. He is calm and happy going most of the time and easily comforted. He loves being around people and would be perfectly happy to be held and cuddled all day long. However, he also has a wild side and fearlessly likes to be tossed up in the air :)

Here is a poem I found that makes me smile because it reminds me so much of my baby boy!

A Special Child
by Sharon Harris

You weren't like other children,
And God was well aware,
You'd need a caring family,
With love enough to share.
And so He sent you to us,
And much to our surprise,
You haven't been a challenge,
But a blessing in disguise.
Your winning smiles and laughter,
The pleasures you impart,
Far outweigh your special needs,
And melt the coldest heart.
We're proud that we've been chosen,
To help you learn and grow,
The job that you have brought us,
Is more than you can know.
A precious gift from Heaven,
A treasure from above,
A child who's taught us many things,
But most of all- "Real Love"

Out with the old, In with the new

Yesterday I packed up some of the things Evan has outgrown and brought them to my parents to store them for our future babies :) Evan is now too big for his infant bath, travel car seat, swing, and kick n play. I had a huge bag of 6-9 month clothes that were also ready for storage. My baby is growing up :)

These last few weeks Evan has been so much more alert and is doing new things all the time. Evan can now sit up unassisted. This definitely makes trips to the store so much easier. He has tried many new foods: avocado, mango, papaya, tofu, pasta, yogurt, and mashed potatoes. I have had fun making some of Evan's baby food! It took some time, but Evan is now drinking whole milk. We are still working on introducing the sippy cup. He now rides facing forward in a convertible car seat and uses a bath ring to take a bath. His favorite game right now is peek-a-boo and flying around like an airplane. He also loves when we sing "The Titsy Bitsy Spider" and "The 5 Little Horsemen".

You know you have a child with special needs when...

1. You view toys as 'therapy'
2. You don't take a new day for granted
3. Everything is an educational opportunity instead of just having plain old fun
4. You cheer instead of scold when they blow bubbles in their juice while sitting at the dinner table (that's speech therapy), smear ketchup all over their high chair (that's OT), or throw their toys (that's PT)
5. You teach your child HOW to pull things out of the cupboard, off the bookcases, and that feeding the dog from the table is fun
6. Your vocabulary consists of all the letters OT, PT, SP, ASD, VSD, IFSP, etc
7. You keep your appointment with the specialist even though a tropical storm is raging because you just want to get this one over with.....you waited 8 months to get it.....and besides, no one else will be there!
8. Fighting and wrestling with siblings is considered PT
9. When the Doctors/Specialist/Hospitals etc. all know you by your name without referring to your chart
10. His medical file is several inches thick and growing"

**I found this posted on a message board I belong to.

Smash Cake

Happy Birthday to our sweet baby boy!

March for Babies!

As you might be aware, our family has been touched by the March of Dimes mission to prevent birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. That's why we have formed a Family Team to raise money and participate in March for Babies. Please join us in our fundraising efforts by making a donation to our walk.

Your gift will fund research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. It will also be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care. Evan was born at 41 weeks with an increased respiratory rate and spent 12 days in the NICU. We will be walking in support of the March for Babies because of how grateful we are for the care he received at the hospital.

Please support this important work. Contributing to our team online is fast, easy and secure. You can make a donation with your credit card, or if you prefer, cash or a check is fine, too.

To make a donation, visit my personal web page at http://www.marchforbabies.org/ejm

If you would like to learn more about March for Babies, visit the web site at marchforbabies.org.

Evan's 1st Birthday

Our sweet baby boy turned one years old. We celebrated his birthday with our family and friends at Gymboree. Evan was just getting over a cold and unfortunately was not feeling too great so we decided to wait to do the smash cake until he was feeling better. I will post pictures this weekend of him eating his cake. I can't believe it has been a year already. I can't wait to see what this year brings!