Broken Promise

I know that I said I was going to be better at posting on here...and well, you can see I have not been so great. I am really going to try to commit myself to posting at least weekly. Things here are going well. Evan is growing so fast, he is already 4 months old. As of last week he weighed 9 lbs 6 oz. He is such a good baby...he sleeps (pretty much all night) and he has recently started to smile a ton and loves to coo and make sounds.

Lauren is doing great at school. Last week she won an award for academic achievement and perfect attendance. She was rightly very proud of herself. She amazes me every day with what a great big sister she is. She is such a loving and compassionate little girl.

Tommorow I start my new job. I am very excited about this job and know that it is a great oppurtunity for me, but it is going to be hard to not be home with Evan anymore. I am grateful for the four months that I was able to spend at home with him and to have the opportunity to pick Lauren up from school every day. My life was not written for me to be a stay at home mom but I will always cherish the time I did get.

I know that Evan will be well taken care of and loved, these are the same women who took such amazing care of Lauren as a baby.

Some pictures from the last month


After his bath: it's nice to see him
without oxygen and his braces and
really enjoy what a cutie he is!

Lauren wanted to dress up like a cowgirl to go to the stockshow

Enjoying her new sled that Santa brought her for Christmas

Spina Bifida Holiday Party

Today we attended the Spina Bifida of Colorado Association Holiday party. It was so nice for us to meet other families who have already traveled this journey before us. It was a small dose of reality to see that yes, these kids have medical problems, some of them use walkers, some of them use crutches, and some are even in wheelchairs, but behind all that they are just kids. Just as Evan is just a sweet baby boy. I know that he will be able to someday accomplish whatever he wants. Not having your legs work doesn't mean that you can't be a doctor, or a lawyer, or...whatever he dreams to be. Lauren made many new friends and had a great time decorating cookies and making crafts. Best of all, Santa showed up with gifts for all the kids.

Back to Normal

It's amazing to think that Evan has now been home longer than he was in the NICU. He is already 8 weeks old and it is hard to remember what it was like before he joined our family. It finally feels we are living a normal life again. We are incredibly lucky to have such a good baby. He sleeps really well and so far has been an easy baby ( I probably just jinxed it). Lauren is getting excited for Christmas. Her letter to Santa has been written and the tree is up and decorated.

Yesterday we went to a birthday party and Lauren went on a sled pulled by dogs, then she and I went on a horse drawn carriage.

Trying this Again

I couldn't believe when I opened this blog today that it had been since March that I had posted anything. So much has changed. I've decided to go back to this blog because I felt like I wanted to be able to document our new journey with Evan and continuing journey with Lauren, if for no one else but myself, and I hope that some of you will follow us along the way. So much has already happened and I want to remember everything. The first thing that comes to mind when I think about the day we got Evan's diagnosis was how wonderful people have been to us. Something as life changing as this changes your relationship with people, and you definetly figure out quickly who will be there for you in the tough times. I don't think I will ever be able to express my thanks and gratitude to those people who have been by our side during this time. I think one of the hardest things about having a baby with Spina Bifida, is the not knowing. When we met with multiple doctors during my pregnancy we were always told such a range of things that Evan may have to deal with once he was born. It's very much a wait and see situation. I think that I have always been okay with that. A mom of a little girl who also has Spina Bifida told me early on after our diagnosis "things are going to happen, but they aren't all going to happen in one day." Probably the best advice I've ever gotten, not just applying to our situation with Evan, but to my whole life. Things are okay today, but tommorow they may change, and when they do I will worry about them then and figure out how best to deal with them. I know that worrying today about what may happen with Evan is not goood for any of us. So for now, he is doing better than anyone expected and is showing everyone what a stong little boy he is. Evan was born on Friday, October 9, 2009 at 2:41 pm weighing 4 pounds 1 ounce, measuring 16 inches long by c-section. Like a lot of other mothers, I imagine that after delivering a baby once you hear that sweet cry, you let out a sigh of relief. A sound I won't forget. So tiny and sweet. The nurses quickly cleaned him up I was able to see him quickly, then he was off to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to begin his care.Our time in the NICU was difficult, but I count our blessing every day that he had such amazing care while we were there. After 29 long days Evan came home. Amazingly, he is already 7 weeks old. In those 7 short weeks he has already been through so much, but he is doing so well. So many days I find myself looking at him and thinking he looks just like a normal baby, and then it occurs to me that he is. I know that we will have many hurdles along the way, but right now, he is doing amazing and fills our hearts with love and joy.