A Year Ago Today...

A year ago has passed since one of my most frightening days as a parent. A year ago today was the day of Andrew's surgery. It was a year ago today that Andrew's life started to change drastically...because he was finally able to hear at 100% again. I was so nervous during that drive to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning, signing him in at the front desk, getting him dressed in his little gown and reading him books on his hospital bed like nothing big was about to happen, and then watching him walk away holding the nurse's hand into the Operating Room...with me and Cory waving to him and tears streaming down my cheeks. Then the waiting game started...it took an hour and a half...and during that time Cory and I went down to grab something to eat...anything to keep our minds off the fact that our little 1 1/2 year old son was in surgery. When they came to tell us Andrew was okay Cory & I looked at each other with such relief...and thanked God, Papa, and all of the other angels looking over him & protecting him. They then took us into the recovery room, so we would be the first people he saw when he woke up...and we just hugged him and rocked him until it was time to go home.

His recovery was quicker than I expected, and the results of the surgery were dramatic. Andrew's speech improved almost instantly and his vocabulary tripled within a few weeks...it was AMAZING! The best part is that he hasn't had one ear infection or been on any antibiotics since!

This procedure was such a blessing for him...and us.

Andrew's Art Class - Week 5

Miss Angie Shows Andrew's Masterpiece to the Class

Andrew Claps for Everyone's Art

Showing Off His Wau Bulan

Diva Joins In

Wau Bulan - Close-Up

This week Miss Angie had us make Wau Bulans. Wau Bulans are Malaysian Kites which are decorated very elaborately. Andrew got to paint, glue down feathers and jewels, and got to use gold glitter paint which made his kite sparkle. This was a very relaxed class, and Andrew basically got to do whatever his little heart desired. This was our last art class and we definitely enjoyed it.

So Similar...

Andrew - 5 Months

Landon - 5 Months

Andrew - 5 Months

Landon - 5 Months

We, like most everyone else, see tons of similarities between Andrew & Landon. I was giving Landon a bath last night and deceided to get some updated bathtime pics of him. Once I looked at the results, I remembered a few of Andrew's looked extremely similar...and this reinforces our theory. I thought it was fun to compare and so I thought you would enjoy them too...here you go!

Andrew & His "New Bed"

Andrew is inventive, intelligent, imaginative....and the list can go on forever. That is why we weren't REALLY shocked when Andrew wasn't sleeping in his nice comfy bed when Daddy went to check on him around 9ish. He told Daddy "that he had made a "new bed" on the floor and to leave him alone". Daddy made sure he was okay, and went on his way to finish working out. Cory convinced me to let him be, and let him go ahead and sleep there. A while later, I was working out and heard Andrew still hard at work in his room. I went to check on him around 10 p.m. and he was still playing with his toys and he told me "they were going to keep him safe in his new bed". I asked if I could cover him up and he agreed...I thought he was tucked in for the night...but I was wrong. I checked on him again at 10:30 p.m. - he was still awake and had gotten all of his blankies out of his drawer...I then covered him up with all of them and told him to go to sleep. My 11 p.m. check on him was one of a peaceful, sleeping, adorable 2 year old surrounded by everything most important to him. It's a cherished memory, and of course I got a couple of pictures to share with you all...Thanks Cory for not letting me be so uptight!

We'll see how the day goes as he was awake bright and early at 6 this morning!
This will determine if Andrew will be able to sleep in his "new bed" ever again. :)

Landon

Here are some cute pictures of Landon I have captured over the past couple of days...I just couldn't wait to share them! He is changing minute by minute it seems. Notice the new hair that's coming in...he's going to have a full head of hair again before too long...it's growing in so fast now. He is becoming animated and expressive and he is so much fun to watch and be around. He absolutely loves to watch Andrew and smiles at him whenever he has a chance. He really loves his big brother. Landon's strength is also surprising as he is starting to try and sit up, and he loves to stand up. The more upright he is the better it seems. Check him out in the exersaucer...yesterday he was even starting to do a jumping motion and loved the way the exersaucer moved with him. I have a feeling that he will be mobile before Andrew was...and once he is watch out!

On a side note...have been working on updating flickr, so if you haven't checked it in awhile there's lots of new stuff there.

Some More Pics...

Andrew Reads Me a Story for the First Time

A Great Father Son Moment After Cory's Game

Andrew's "Project" One Evening

Andrew Just Having Some Fun

Such a Sweet Face!

Summer is Flying By....

How We Found Andrew Sleeping One Night

Dad Helps Andrew Bat

Andrew Runs the Bases

Sweet Landon Enjoys Some Time Outside

Andrew Has Fun in the Pool

The past few weeks have been busy ones for the fam.

That's why I'm just now getting around to getting Andrew's artwork up for all to see...all of my hobbies are taking a backseat these days. I have been working out religiously for the past 6 weeks, and now I find myself distracted by fun activities. I'm not complaining...but I need to get back with it b/c I'm seeing progress and I don't want to lose my momentum! I do consider Flickr to be a hobby of mine b/c it involves quite a bit of time...but I get to show everyone what we're up to on a more detailed level and I love it. As you all know I LOVE to take pictures so Flickr & photography provide me a way to capture the memories I want to hold onto forever and keep y'all in the know too! That being said I vow to get Flickr caught up soon! There's just so much to share b/c we've been such a busy family filled with lots of activities and even more pictures!

Anyways - I wanted to post some of my favorite pictures of our most recent activities. Here's just a taste of what we've been up to lately...

Family outing to play baseball and soccer
Art Classes
Rebecca's Birthday Party - they had it at a pool so Andrew was stoked!
Cory's softball game - it was the Championship game and we were denied *sigh*
Hosting Brian & Kalynn Over to Dinner
Going to the Garcia's for Dinner
Playdates

We've also been having fun around the house. It's been so dang hot down here that we can't play outside...so we come up with new things to do inside. That being said Andrew suffered his biggest bonk ever on Friday. It was a tough one for my Mommy heart to take, but he's fine. If you see a big ol' bruise on his forehead you now know why...

Well, I better run...Lots to do!
Alexis is coming to visit us tomorrow and we can't wait.