1. Henry turned 5 years old on May 30th! He is pretty proud of this new number and reminds me everyday of this major milestone. His birthday celebrations were plentiful between preschool, my family and Aaron's family. He was spoiled rotten as usual but in the end the thing Henry wants more than anything is time and attention - FROM EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE!!! So while the gifts and cards were great... he still really just wants a stage and a huge audience :)2. We also completed our first overnight trip away from home during Memorial Day weekend. This was a pretty big deal for all four of us mostly because we have not traveled anywhere overnight in the last four months besides Mayo Clinic. We figured out how to pack and travel with the oxygen, pulse oximeter, feeding pump, etc.! Lots of gear to drag along but in the end it was totally worth it. We had a fantastic visit in Appleton with "Grandma Colleen, Grandpa Davison, Uncle John and Daisy". They all spoiled us rotten with great food, lots of laughs, golf for Aaron and a pedicure and shopping for me:)
3. Father's Day weekend was one of the our best weekends too - with the best dad ever. While Aaron did not get to golf on Father's Day weekend, he did get to play A LOT of golf the week before. Aaron and I were able to spend FOUR hours out of the house on a date without the kids. This has not happened in at least 6 months. It was wonderful! Hopefully we won't have to wait six more months to do that again.
4. Mason is officially 2 1/2 years old this week and he is doing amazingly well in his first cast. He is fearless and he longs to keep up with his big brother. His determination and spunk are what get him through each day. He is finally saying "Mommy" and "Daddy" and yesterday for the first time ever he actually called "Mommy" from his crib when he woke up. He is also imitating short words. While he doesn't understand how to spontaneously communicate yet, he understands a lot of what we are saying to him. Next week we will head back to Mayo Clinic for more appointments and the application of Cast #2.
5. Many people have asked how I am doing... the short answer is that I am "fine". But to be honest... I am getting there... one day at a time. I think I am finally passed the stage of being totally pissed off about this experience. Or maybe its just that I am tired of being bitter. While I know that God has big plans for me and my family, I am still grieving the life I had pictured for our family of four. I am quite certain that God's plans are MUCH BETTER than whatever I had planned in my head. But right now, the days feel so long. There are lots of funny moments... but they are still long days. It feels very awkward to write this... to say it out loud. But I feel its important because I think there are many mothers out there that are afraid to admit that they are mad or sad about the challenges that come with their special needs child. I plan on sharing more about this topic as God continues to work on my heart...
Wishing you all a happy, healthy and safe 4th of July!
