Happy 37 months sweet Aspen!!!
It's hard to believe you are 3 years old...and now 3 years and one month! :)
You are independent, stubborn, hilarious, steady-footed, a climber to the core, smart and full of energy. You are competitive and you always want what B has. LOL You give the best squeezes. You love to play outside. You love to run and to be chased! You love your tractor and can drive it amazingly well. You've started not needing a nap most days and TODAY .... you and Mommy are going to have a play date with just the two of you during nap time. :) You are such a big boy!
Pops made you a swing for your birthday. He gave it to you before we went to dinner ON your birthday. You were hesitant at first but soon you were asking to go higher and faster! You LOVE it! This picture of both of you smiling is what melts this Dee Dee's heart.
You were so proud of yourself!
"One, two, three.... Blast-off!"
The night of your birthday we went to Your Pie in Covington. You like pizza but you LOVE a good caesar salad. LOL You and Pops and DaDa shared one.
We went for ice cream at Scoops after we had dinner!
And then back to Dee Dee and Pops for your presents...
You got a little computer that you love to draw on.
That sweet face!
Granny and Papa got you a Spider Man bike and you were showing off your new safety gear! :)
What a fun little play area you have now. You have your plane and a sandbox and your slide...
You LOVE to go fishing with your DaDa!
I love to see you riding up the driveway...
Rock that Aspen shirt! :)
You love your tractor
And you love to climb trees or climb anything you can find! LOL
You found some left over Easter candy in Dee Dee's bedroom and wanted to take a picture of it. ha!
A playdate with your friend Brooklyn.... HAHA!
Lolly pops or Pop Pops (as Bennett calls them) are your favorite!
Playing with your bubble table that Mommy and DaDa got you for your birthday...
You and B get excited when your DaDa pulls in from work. You love to drive the car back to your house!
You are THREE now! :) You love to tell people. You also love to say you are "Aspen Hawkins!" Celebrating at Longhorn's with Granny and Papa. We celebrated Dee Dee's birthday, Mommy's birthday and your birthday.
Dee Dee and Pops bought you a "Planes" puzzle and we put it together...
You had so much fun...
So proud of yourself!
You came up to help Dee Dee make taco's for dinner. :)
You had so much fun!
And then we watched Charlie Brown...
You love to sit in your "boat" HAHAHA
Mommy and DaDa took us out to eat Japanese and you loved the sushi...
Dee Dee squeezed in the backseat between you and B to go to Monroe! You thought it was so funny!
Dee Dee came down to play with you and B while Mommy got her car tag! Y'all are so funny!
Welcome Dalilah... You LOVE her!
HELP!!!! hahaha
Now you have a REAL VW van and your own one too!
At the Night of Worship at our church... we were able to have a "Run for God-Run for Aspen" table where people could come up and learn how to support you, pray for you and help us raise money for a CURE! What a blessing!
You are trying to figure out what is wrong with "Aspen!" I love the banner that Michele had made...
Dee Dee, Mommy and Nelly just got back from Florida minutes before going to this.... I was SO happy to see you and walk around downtown with you.
B wasn't feeling well when we got there and you could see you beginning to not feel well.
We are so thankful for this sweet friend, Michele! She led this class and has helped us to raise around $1,500 for a CURE for YOU!
Not long after we got home from this event... you were sick! It came on so quickly! We asked everyone to pray that you would get over your sickness really quick. You did! Praise the Lord!
Happy 25th birthday, Mommy! You were feeling better by Wednesday and we were so grateful! We started out Mommy's day with a doughnut from Rising Doughnuts. You picked a Boston creme.
We bought Mommy a card for you and B to trace your hands and tell her how much you love her!
Your Mommy loves it so much!
You, Mommy, Bennett and DaDa took Delilah to Chipotle for dinner and we shopped for things to go in her.
Your DaDa is so strong! He can carry you so many different ways! :)
We came back to Dee Dee and Pops for cookie and you decided you would rather have an apple. LOL
Your donkey face! :) You look like your Mommy at the same age.
Dee Dee gave you an airplane to play with. You took the "luggage" and made everyone have a pillow. You are so creative and imaginative.
You are already trying to figure out how to climb up the house! Uh-OH!!!
I love you sweet boy!
You always amaze me. You don't play IN your toys. You play ON your toys!
Mommy got a headband her her birthday. You asked me to take your picture wearing it. You are a HOOT!
I love to watch you run to greet Pops when he gets home...
Taking a drink break! :)
Our first camping trip to Watson Mill Bridge State Park! You fell in the parking lot not long after we got there! Such a sad little face. You were so "proud" of your boo boo's once you got band-aids on them. :)
We took a family hike. What fun!
You make me laugh! You were trying to get B to cooperate! I wanted a picture of you two in your matching shirts! LOL
"B! Look at Dee Dee!!!!"
"Into the Woods... I think you are going to have lots of adventures "into the woods!"
It seems like in a blink of an eye, you were no longer sliding the slide... but climbing ALL over the playground equipment.
You and DaDa, Bennett and Co-Chri played football at the park.
Nelly sharing her lunch with you!
You loved having Bow Valley and Gunner along with us...
I love silly faces with you...
Our serious faces...
You were pretending you were a dog! LOL
I love hiking in the woods and watching you explore..
You didn't take a nap and were SO tired by dinner time (which was like 8:30pm) that you needed to lay down in a chair with your Mommy...
When Mommy got up to check on B... I gladly snuggled with you. I love morning and late night snuggles.
Sharing cereal with Pops! Fruit Loops... the organic ones.. ha... you LOVE them.
and poptarts...
Sure Aspen... I'll hold your pop-tart. HAHA
Checking on B's eye. He fell the night before.
I'm so SO glad you and Bennett can go camping with us!
You've grown so much in the past couple of months. It hasn't been long ago that you didn't like to swing on this swing because you were scared and now you are swinging standing up. You've gained so much confidence. You're jumping off the slide. Jumping off the swing. I love to watch you play!
This picture cracks me UP! You've started playing more and more during nap time but sometimes you just have to crash! You were having so much fun playing that you couldn't quite cave in to sleep....until you fell over on your bed standing up! LOL! #powernap
Playing outside at Dee Dee's... Someone gave me a ring pop and I saved it for you!
Why slide when you can run and jump? :)
OK! I'll slide, Dee Dee!
Mommy and DaDa made us a delicious dinner. We had steaks and potatoes and veggies! After dinner you and DaDa had a little fun!
And you and Pops played a game of pool on his phone!
And then we looked at all the things DaDa was going to change in Delilah! You love to hold the light.
You were looking for a spider! SO cute!
Every month you learn and grow so much! It's so much fun to be able to watch you grow into the little boy that you are! One of your new things is to say..."Just let me see it!" "Just let me do it!" You think you can do just about anything. I love your confidence.
Mommy heard you over the monitor saying to yourself... "You need a diaper change? Ok... I'll change your diaper" and she thought she better go and check on you. When she got to your room, you had all your clothes off and your diaper 1/2 way off. You are hilarious!
You still aren't quite ready to be potty trained. You freak out when Mommy takes you to your potty chair but I bet it won't be long. You gave up your paci on our camping trip. You were still using it for nap time and bed time. We are all so proud of you.
The end of April and beginning of May have become an emotional time for Dee Dee! Only because I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! I want - SO MUCH - for more people to understand CF. I want so badly to raise awareness. I want SO badly for people to help us raise awareness and GIVE... just once a year for this great cause. YOU!!! Some friends have given unselfishly and we are so grateful. Some friends often ask about you and pray for you. We are so thankful for each of them.
A special and HUGE thank you to Michele Yarbrough for organizing Run for God, Run for Aspen and helping us raise over $1,500 for a CURE for YOU!
A huge thank you also to Julie Bene who hosted a Tastefully Simple party and raised through her class at church over $300. Julie has been praying for you for so long! Such a faithful friend.
A huge thank you to Sandie Bazemore who supports us at every party, every event, every auction :) and everything we do for YOU and what a prayer warrior.
A huge thank you to Mrs. Wanda Jordan for raising around $300 from her Pampered Chef party for a CURE! Thank you for your constant support.
A huge thank you to Mrs. April Curcio for hosting a Thirty-One party for a CURE!
A huge thank you to Aunt Nelly for hosting a Thirty-One party and raising money for YOU!
A huge thank you to Mrs. Britton Williams for hosting a Pampered Chef party just for YOU! Her party is in progress as I type. She has been such a supporter for you this year!
A huge thank you to Miss Raegan Bare for selling nutcrackers and making them herself. She raised $400 for YOU! What a blessing!
How amazing is that??? All for you, sweet boy! And thank you, thank YOU to all that have donated, bought a shirt, bought an auction item, shopped at one of our parties or just slipped us a $20 bill. It all adds up to making a difference in your life, Aspen. It is my prayer that you will grow up and see all the ones that care for you and pray for you and that you feel SO loved by so many.
I'm praying that we can get more and more people on board to help #addmoretomorrows for you and all with CF! I'm praying that others will help us spread the word and help you #breatheeasy
So far this year we have raised over $12,000. We haven't reached our goal from last year but we've worked SO hard. We've launched a "Banking on a Cure" campaign and are praying that it takes off really well next year. We are all doing ALL we can to find a cure. To make a difference. We all LOVE you, Aspen! You are one prayed for little mister!
We would LOVE for you to join us in prayer for Aspen:
* To be able to keep weight on. The closer he is to the 50th%... the better his lungs will be (statistically). He seems to be eating better this month than he has in the past! That's an answer to prayer.
* For his annual appointment in June. This appointment is much more involved than his bi-monthly or every 3 month appointments. He will go to CHOA for x-rays and possibly a CT scan. He will have blood-work and see the liver specialist in addition to his normal doctor...etc. We are praying that he doesn't culture any bacteria and that his lungs are clear. We are praying that his liver numbers are in the normal range and that is liver is "soft!" We are praying that his blood sugar numbers stay in normal range and that his height to weight ratio is acceptable.
* For Lindsey and Chris as they find those tough boundaries with his care. Around the age of 3 (NOW), he can start being involved a little more with other children. It's a tough decision on when to possibly try the church nursery (during the summer). There are so many things that others with CF avoid (lakes, creeks, campfires...etc). We all believe that he can't live in a "bubble" but there are many safeguards that should be in place as well. Please pray for wisdom for Lindsey and Chris.
* Please pray for fear that can creep in on all of us at times. Fear if this cold will be the one to land him in the hospital...etc. We're trusting and can see God's hand on how well Aspen has done but so appreciate your prayers.
* For Aspen to grow into the young boy and young man that God has for him. For Aspen to have confidence and not allow CF to define him. For Aspen to have determination and the drive to do his treatments as he grows. For Aspen to trust and believe God has a plan for him and this situation.
* Please pray that Aspen will stay active (can't see that changing... LOL) and love to run! Running is therapy for his lungs!
Praying EVERY day to win the battle! Mommy and I are participating in a 5K tomorrow in Grayson. We are running for God and running for YOU!
Thank you ALL for joining us in prayer for Aspen!
We love you!
Aspen.... Your Dee Dee loves you to the moon and back and back again! Trusting Him with your life and your Cystic Fibrosis. He's a GOOD GOOD Father and He loves you SO much!
