Happy 23 months sweet Aspen! Is it even possible that you will turn TWO YEARS OLD next month? You are SO fun and funny. I can just look at your sweet face and my heart is SO full and happy.
In this picture, I asked you to smile for the camera and this is what I got! I laughed so hard because this is a clear picture of who you are! You are silly, funny and your facial expressions keep us all rolling. You're independent (you MUST do it yourself), you're stubborn (you don't get that from your Dee Dee…haha), you are smart, talkative and VERY social. You love to run and jump and aren't scared of anything. You only sit still when you are tired or sick. You LOVE Chipotle and that is so great because our whole family loves it too. You love fruit (oranges, bananas and grapes are your favorite) more than anything but you also love avocados, grilled chicken and pizza. You're a picky eater at times and at other times you can CHOW down. You walk into Dee Dee and Pop's house saying…"car, orange, bagaaa (banana), grape, PERCY, down, Bow"… usually in that order. You are a happy camper playing outside, eating, watching Elf or Percy (better known as Thomas the Train), playing in the basement in your toy room or playing with Bow. I love how happy you are when you are playing. I love how you grab my finger and want to watch a movie or go back to our bedroom. I love how you grab Pop's finger and tell him you want to go downstairs or outside to play with Bow.
You are a tad bit jealous of Bennett (or B as you now call him…even though you called him Bennett when he was first born) but you've grown to love him SO much. You are going to be an awesome big brother and I can't wait to watch you two grow together.
I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON and BACK and BACK again!
I will admit, this winter made me a little anxious as we approached Thanksgiving. The flu season was the worse than it had been in years. Cases of Enterovirus D68 were out of control and landing healthy children in the hospital and on breathing machines. Children with respiratory diseases were dying and this virus covered the news. It seems like everyone we knew had the flu or were sick. Before Aspen was born, we had no reason to be "fearful" because our family was healthy. Cystic Fibrosis changes EVERYTHING. I had to make a conscious choice to turn my anxiety over to HIM, tried to make wise decisions, we stayed away from sick people and we all used immune boosters in our daily diets and PRAISE BE TO GOD… Aspen was sick for 2 days (more on that later) and the rest of our family remained healthy all winter. WHAT A BLESSING!
Every now and then, it's fun to have a "Dee Dee and Aspen" afternoon. Chick-Fil-A was advertising for the circus and Dee Dee couldn't resist wearing the nose. I love how you look into the phone camera and make faces now. You are silly!
We went home to play outside before it got dark. Dee Dee loves to push you in a cart in the grocery store and let GO and wave as I do. So… when we got home, you decided to push your "car" (better known as a lawn mower) down the hill and waved BYE BYE as it went down the hill. We did this about a dozen times before we went to play with Bow. :)
Your sweet face says it ALL! Happiness!
Bow Valley is such a good sport. She just waited as you threw her antlers to fetch.
You weren't in the mood to "pose" for the camera and neither was Bow, so this is the best we could get. You, Bow and your "car". The things that make you happy outside at Dee Dee and Pops!
You wanted to eat ANOTHER banana and I was explaining to you that you were like a MONKEY. :)
February ended with COLD, COLD weather but the start of February was quite the opposite. It was warm and we had a few beautiful days to play outside. Me, you, Pops, Bennett and Mama went to Harbin's park. There is a playground for 2-5 year olds that you seem to think you are too big for (the side that is for 5-12 year olds is where you ran to… after your picture on this ladybug of course).
I've looked at this picture 100 times. Look at your hair! Look at that HUGE smile!
You are SO big!
I love this picture so much! The concentration on your face! The way you are looking at Bow! You have such a strong arm. You use your right arm as much as your left arm. I think you are going to be a baseball player!
I'm not sure you knew what to think. Dee Dee decided to sit in your car and wanted you to push me! I know… Dee Dee is a little cray cray!
Round and round you two went!
You were so sweet to let Granny push you down the driveway.
This picture is one of my new favorites! I love how you are looking up at Pops as you and Papa walk.
The silly faces of Aspen! Mama was getting her hair cut and it was FREEZING outside. We decided to sit in the car and laugh…oh, and eat goldfish!
Mama and Daddy date night! They went to Atlanta to see a play and out to eat.
You, me, Pops and Bennett went to Athens to eat at Chipotle! Pops is so silly! He rode in the back with y'all!
Chicken quesadilla, black beans, brown rice and milk! Your favorite!
Dee Dee bought you some special cookies for movie night! You wanted one for each hand. I think you were afraid this wasn't real or that I would change my mind! ha!
Thomas the train, movie night, cookies and milk and your toy room = FUN TIMES!
Look at your face! SO sweet! You run and jump and have the best time!
But… you really weren't in the mood for family movie night group shot! That would require you to STOP. :)
Jumping off the couch? NOW that is more your speed!
MOVIE night! You sat for about 3 minutes! That was fun! :)
You went to sleep around 11:30pm and woke up before mid-night with 101.5 fever. I'm not sure how that happened so quickly. You slept MAYBE an hour all night. Your Mama and Daddy were still out on their date night but came to get you the next morning. The picture on the right is you when you got home that next morning. Your fever reached 102.5… which is your highest temperature ever. We were all so concerned about you.
We tried to keep you out of Bennett's face, but….
We asked for prayer for you on Facebook and several sweet, faithful prayer warriors prayed for YOU and asked their friends to pray for you. What a difference prayer can make!
Sunday morning you went to sleep around 6am (yes, you were sleep deprived) and woke up a few hours later with NO fever. You felt so much better and came back to Dee Dee and Pop's house to celebrate Uncle Cookie's birthday. What a difference a day makes and what an answer to MANY prayers!
You have only been sick a few times and we are SO grateful for your awesome immune system. BUT…the times you have been sick, you've needed a round or two of antibiotics to get rid of what you had and it's always turned into a cough.
Thank you, LORD, that this cleared up on its own and didn't turn into a cough! The power of prayer is a wonderful thing! To all of our praying friends… THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
It's so easy to let the voice of "Satan" flood our minds with worry and to frighten us during times like this! God loves to calm and comfort and ENCOURAGE us…and sometimes through wonderful friends… JUST at the right time!
Speaking of encouragement from others… WOW! Just WOW!
We set a HUGE goal this year for our CF walk of $10,000. Last year we reached almost $6,700 for a CURE and I knew this would be an amazing goal and a tough one too. I know that people may be tired of hearing about our fundraising but I feel like it's one of my missions in life…to do ALL that I can to change your tomorrows… Aspen! To raise awareness, money for a CURE and to advocate for all with Cystic Fibrosis.
I woke up one morning and signed onto my computer as usual. I saw that our amount raised had increased ONE THOUSAND dollars. What???? How could this be? Where did it come from?
I'm not sure my heart has ever been touched so much as I learned that the donation was given from a dear, sweet, prayer warrior friend of mine! A selfless donation from someone that didn't have it to give but made the choice to sacrifice. To say my heart was touched would be an understatement. It wasn't the amount of the gift but the LOVE and deep desire to help be a part of a CURE for CF and to give Aspen more tomorrows.
I love this saying below… "Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world."
You don't have to give a large gift like my dear friend to do good. EVERY little bit helps. If all of our Facebook friends gave $10… we would surpass our goal today.
The cool thing is… a friend wrote and said…"We don't have much but we want to help!" That gift of $10 meant SO much to me. It showed care, concern and LOVE for our cause.
Would you stop and consider giving TODAY for a cure for TOMORROW?
http://fightcf.cff.org/site/TR/GreatStrides/40_Georgia_Atlanta?team_id=30688&pg=team&fr_id=3271
Our much anticipated 3 month check-up at the CF clinic was on February 24th. Our previous visits have been pretty uneventful. This visit had us a little more concerned because getting Aspen to eat consistently had become more of an issue for him. People with CF need about twice as many calories as those without and that can sometimes present a problem with a picky toddler. Aspen looked like he was getting too thin and while we knew he was growing "up", his pants seemed looser in the waist. Many children his age require a feeding tube in order to get the proper nutrients and calories. We sure want to avoid that at ALL cost, if at all possible. Lindsey does such an awesome job with Aspen's food. She tries her hardest to think about the number of calories that he eats and to buy healthy fats and calories.
Isn't it a GOD thing that she changed her major in college to NUTRITION before she knew Aspen was going to be born… much less have CF?
GOOD NEWS!!!!
Aspen weighs 25.9 pounds which means he is right at the 50th percentile for his age and 35 inches.
While that is "average" for most kids, that is AMAZING for a child with CF. I can remember a time that they wanted him to get to the 15th percentile because he wasn't even on the charts.
PRAISE GOD his weight is holding up! It's a daily battle to get those calories in him but he's doing it!
The doctor said it was amazing that he has not been hospitalized since his original hospital stay for a jejunal atresia. She told us that was very encouraging and a great sign! She said with all the sickness she has seen this winter that she is shocked he hasn't had any "respiratory" issues. We aren't shocked but we are grateful! We prayed, we asked others to pray and God was faithful.
One of our concerns has been Aspen not being able to be around many children. He can't go to church nursery or to an indoor playground (like one at CFA). Would he have enough socialization? Would he know how to play around other children? The doctor said he was very "mature" in his social skills (he has no trouble talking, walking or even leaving with anyone). ha! She said he was mature in his talking and communication. In my un-biased "Dee Dee" opinion… I think he does AMAZING around people and interacts well. When it was time to leave, Aspen said…"bye bye, down, outside, tree, Dee Dee". In other words… GET ME OUT OF THIS ROOM I'VE BEEN STUCK IN for 3 SOLID HOURS! haha!
Going to the CF clinic is quite the experience. We were there for 3 hours - in ONE room - while the nurse assistant weighs him and checks his height, the nurse comes in to discuss how he is doing. Oh… and did we mention a social worker, nutritionist, respiratory therapist, DOCTOR and the research department? Whew! That's exhausting for me to think back on… imagine being a little 2 year old. BUT… no complaining here. We left with HUGE smiles on our faces from the good report and celebrated with a stop at Chipotles. :)
His next visit is the BIG one for the year. He goes back at the beginning of May. He will have to go to CHOA for a chest x-ray, blood work and more than likely a chest CT scan. He will also see the liver doctor to make sure his liver isn't having any problems like it once was. We would appreciate your prayers for this appointment.
We were SO thankful to make our 3 month visit because most of the school systems were closed because of snow/ice. We had a snow night MINUS the snow (we actually didn't see a flake). We sure did enjoy our time in the basement though.
They told us to try doing the "wheel-barrow" with Aspen. They say it will be good for his lungs. We often leave and say to ourselves…"How old do they think he is?" Trying to get Aspen to understand the concept of the "wheel-barrow" or to blow on a kleenex for his lungs is kind of hard for a 23 month old… but we will all keep trying! :)
Uncle Cookie is sweet to entertain and play with Aspen! Aspen loves Cookie!
It has been a wonderful month! We have been well and Aspen's clinic visit was better than we expected. We have raised 27% of our goal for our walk in May. We have over a dozen people walking with us on May 16th to raise awareness for CF. We are blessed!
BUT… We know that CF is a progressive disease! The toddler years are often called the "silent years" as symptoms don't always manifest until early school age. We have been blessed that Aspen's lungs have been healthy but we also know that can change in the blink of an eye!
We won't give up! We won't stop trying to raise awareness! We won't stop hoping, praying and being an advocate for Aspen for a CURE!
I walk because I love you Aspen! I walk because I want you to see as many tomorrows as any child your age can expect to see! I walk so that I can see you graduate from high school one day. I walk so that you will have the opportunity to marry the love of your life. I walk so that you won't have to suffer with the problems CF can bring. I walk for all those with CF. I walk for a CURE!
I won't give up! I'll keep trying as long as I can. I'll give it all I have, Aspen! I hope one day you look back and realize a CURE happened because of the many people that LOVE you so! Your Mama, Dada, Pops, Nelly, Cookie, Granny, Papa and all the others that pray for you daily!
You are loved sweet boy!
The next time I write in your blog we will be at the beach celebrating your 2nd Birthday!
My heart could explode with gratefulness for these 2 years of health.
Won't you take a moment to give back to help Aspen have more healthy tomorrows?
http://fightcf.cff.org/site/TR/GreatStrides/40_Georgia_Atlanta?team_id=30688&pg=team&fr_id=3271
Reading his Bible and watching Elf with his Mama! Makes my Dee Dee heart happy!
Please be in prayer for:
* Aspen to remain healthy so we can celebrate his birthday at the beach!
* A CURE… for the drugs in trial to be effective.
* Our walk to have friends and family to come out and support this wonderful cause!
* For our family to meet our fundraising goal… to do our part for a CURE for tomorrow.
* For Aspen's May visit… for the chest x-ray and CT scan to show normal lung activity and for his liver numbers to remain in the normal range.
Thank you! Words can't describe how grateful our family is for YOU!
Aspen… Your Dee Dee loves you to the moon and back and back again! More than words can express!
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