Happy Holidays!

Hi,

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I know we did. Last year we were in the hospital with Andrew for two months so being home and with family was the best thing in the world. My husband and I just kept hugging Andrew and so thankful he was healthy this year.

I wanted to wait until this post to give our wonderful news! I am happy to announce we are going to have a baby girl in April. So far everything is healthy. I was so nervous getting the sonogram telling us if she had spina bifida because the fetal surgery isn't available the 2nd time around. I would hate not being able to do for her as I have done for Andrew. Luckily she doesn't have it so I don't have to worry about it. The doctors have been so great about making sure everything is going well. I have ultrasounds almost every three weeks. As it gets closer I will have one every week. They definitely don't want to take any chances. We are so excited to meet her. Of course this time around I'm hoping we get to wait to meet her on her due date versus too early!

Here are some pictures from Christmas!  I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

Yikes it has been months since I updated this blog. I am so sorry! Life has been so busy...still no excuse. I will make sure to update after Christmas to put up pictures. We have so many cute ones already but I will put them all up at once.

I do want to put some from Halloween even though it seems so long ago now.

As far as what Andrew has been up to..he is a little crazy man. He is still the sweetest little guy even while going through the terrible two's. We are so blessed to have him. I know I am biased because I am his mom but he just brings so much joy wherever he goes. He is just such a happy kid. Okay enough gushing about his personality. I will now gush on his accomplishments..haha. He has been walking over 20 steps on his own. He does have a walker he uses to walk long distances but the therapist thinks we will only need it for a little while longer. Overall he has been doing really well after his surgery he had last year at this time.

We took him to Disneyland over Thanksgiving and he had such a great time. He did so well. We were there from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm and he was awake and excited the whole time. I was very impressed.

I hope everyone is having a great holiday so far! This is my favorite time of the year so I am enjoying every second. Like I mentioned I will post some Christmas pictures after the holidays.

Below are some from what we have been up to over the last few months (Halloween, our trip to California and our trip to Telluride).

Halloween! 

 (our little Benjamin Button) 

 Yes we get really excited about the holidays. 

At the pumpkin patch 

Telluride, CO

Disneyland 

Hi,

Nothing new to update on the Botox yet but Andrew did take two steps on his own! His legs are still a little bent so hopefully the Botox will kick in soon and help him get even stronger. We are so proud of him!!

Below are some pics from last night. My husband was receiving an award for his job. I am very proud of him too!

Hi,

I hope everyone is having a great summer! I can't believe it is only a couple of more weeks until Labor Day. Summer went by way too fast!

Yesterday Andrew got botox in his legs. The doctor is hoping it will help him walk. I was so nervous. I know botox is poison and I hated the thought of it going into my son's legs. After lots of prayer and research we decided to try it. The doctor said we will hopefully see results in a week. I will keep you updated.

Below are some recent pictures.

I had to post some other funny stats. I can see what part of the world is reading this blog. Below are the daily stats of who is viewing. It is crazy to think people in Latvia, Russia, China and more are reading this. Whoever you are thank you for being interested in my son. I appreciate it. We truly and literally feel the love from around the world. Thank you!

Hi,

Sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks. Summer has been so busy!! Fun but busy. We have been traveling and just enjoying the warm weather. Things here are good. Andrew has been standing for a little while at a time on his own. I feel like he is so close to walking. Every night we walk around the block with him while he pushes his  red wagon. His legs are getting stronger and stronger. I hope everyone is having a good summer! It is going too fast.

Below are some pics of this weekend. We went to the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. It is about three hours north of where we live. The Stanley Hotel was the setting of the The Shining. It was actually really beautiful and we didn't see any evil twins on tricycles..haha.

July 4th

Happy July 4th weekend! I hope everyone had a good one. We took a trip to New Mexico it was so much fun. Below are some pics.

I realized I have been just been posting pics of what we are up to and not really saying much about how Andrew is doing. Andrew now says three words-hi, dog and dad. He started to see a speech therapist last week so I'm hoping his vocabulary will expand soon. He is still walking along the furniture but not taking steps on his own. He was fitted for braces last week and will start wearing those a few hours a day. We are hoping it will give him the confidence to walk on his own. The doctors see no reason why he can't. He has full leg function and movement. They think he just needs to get the hang of it. Everything health wise has been good (knock on wood). I definitely don't take anything for granted. After we took that big trip to Hawaii I was holding my breath hoping he would be fine. Last summer when we travelled he would get run down and sick but after his spinal surgery in January he seems to be doing a lot better (again knock on wood). It is crazy having a two year old. He developed a personality overnight. He is funny, kind and loves animals. He has his typical two year old moments but overall we really lucked out when God chose us to be his parents.

Happy 4th of July 

The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge 

The Sandia Tram 

The beautiful New Mexico scenery 

One of the oldest churches in the United States 

My Little Cowboy!

I had to share these pictures with you. We signed Andrew up for horseback riding lessons. He loved it!! Next lesson I'm going to try to take a video and post it here. It was so funny. He was supposed to start on a miniature pony named Rosie. Well poor Rosie didn't stand a chance. Andrew hopped on like he was John Wayne so his instructor moved him to a bigger horse named Sally. By the time he made it around the track once he was already giving her flank a kick to get her to go. He did so well!

When he was outside riding he had to wear a helmet. 

Happy Father's Day!

I wanted to say happy father's day to all the fathers out there!

My dad was a fantastic example to me growing up on what makes a man great. I know he is just a phone call away and he is always there for me. When I was in Philly on bed rest after having fetal surgery he drove 6 hrs to sit by bedside when my husband had to leave for 2 hrs for his job. That is just the type of dad he is and I am really lucky!!

My husband is also a great man, husband, and father. All the things that happened to our son was always manageable because I had him. I remember one awful time in the NICU where they didn't think our son would make it. My husband was away in training for his job in Texas and he jumped on the red eye and was back with us as soon he possibly could. As soon as I saw him walk through Andrew's hospital door I fell asleep. That may sound strange but I was so exhausted from staying up and worrying all night. When I saw him I knew he would take on all the worry for me and be there by Andrew's side just as I would. He always keeps us going and is strong for me when I can't be strong. Aside from my son he is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Again I am so lucky!!

Happy Birthday to our sweet boy!

Hi!

This last week we have been celebrating Andrew's birthday. I can't believe he is two. His birthday always makes me reflect back on everything. My husband and I just spend the day hugging and kissing him. We are both so grateful he is here and doing well. He is truly our little miracle. Below are some pics of his bday celebration!

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far!

Back from Hawaii!

Hello,

We are finally back from Hawaii. We got in last night. It was such an amazing trip! Andrew did so well on the long plane ride. He read his books and slept. We were so proud of him. During the trip we went to Oahu and Maui. We also had Andrew baptized on the beach. While we were in the NICU I used to daydream  about taking Andrew there and getting him Baptized. To have it finally happen was amazing. It was more beautiful than any daydream I had. Below are some pics of our trip (sorry for the amount but it was Hawaii so  it was hard to choose just a few.

Baptism 

The Minister's at Andrew's Baptism

Hiking 

Beach 

Oh yeah matching Aloha shirts....cheesy but so cute!!! 

Watching the dolphins