Dancing in the Kitchen

Dear Andrew,

As I sit by your bedside from your now 7th surgery in the last almost 4 years. My heart just aches as I see you lay in that bed with so many cords and tubes and especially seeing your epidural. This surgery compared to all there rest you have had is going to be the hardest one yet.  Right now you are wide awake and asking such silly questions and watching t.v.  So although it's after 11, I'm writing a bit on the blog to pass the time. You will be on pretty strong pain medications for the next few days as you have to lay flat so you don't feel too much now.  But in a few days when they take your epidural out, it will be much different. It's overwhelming to know the long long road ahead of you as "we" recover.  The last little while you have truly become my little hero!  I will be honest the last few weeks as your surgery has gotten closer and closer I've been a ball of emotions. Wondering if this is truly the right thing for you and anxious about how you will respond to therapy 5 days a week for the next six month and then 2-4 times a week for the next few years. It will be hard, but it will be worth it. You've been doing so well with your walking and progress with school and potty training. It will be difficult to have to re-learn everything.

Your dad and I have felt many confirmations this was the next step we should take with your medical care and now is the optimal time in your life to have this procedure done. We'd hoped that this surgery will give you more abilities and prevent some of the negative effects that spasticity can have as you get older. When we are dealing with cutting nerves in the spine and we wanted to make sure you got the best care. This is the reason we came to St. Louis and work with Dr. Park and his team. Dr. Park has pioneered this type of surgery for kids with cerebral palsy and people from all around the world come to see this wonderful doctor.

Yesterday as we met with him, he was so positive with the outcome of this surgery for you. We almost couldn't believe the things he was saying. Because you are so strong and doing so well, he told us that you'd have a quicker recovery than most and that you'd eventually be able to do some amazing things that wouldn't be possible with spasticity like running, jumping, playing sports like swimming, soccer and karate. Those things have never really been a possibility. It's almost hard to believe that they will be apart of your future. This news is overwhelmingly exciting to both your dad and I.

My favorite memory from this last week was when we were dancing in the kitchen. One night after dinner, I put some music on to dance to as we were cleaning up and doing dishes. You came over to me and yanked on my hand and asked me to put on your favorite song "Brave". Of course when that song comes on you always ask me to dance...which melts my heart. So this night we danced together in the kitchen and I couldn't help think of the words and this surgery and the tears just started to come. You of course were giggling and laughing as we spun around and danced in the kitchen not completely understanding what lies ahead for you. I soaked in the moment and enjoyed this special one on one time. You will have to be brave and be strong then next few years....but there is a reason you are here and you have overcome so much in your little life. With your determined little personality, you can do hard things and I have no doubt that you will continue to exceed doctors expectations.

You dad and I love you so much! We are grateful for the shining example you are in our family.

Love your,
Mommy

Wrap up of the last few months!

In January we got some snow!!! Apparently it's not too rare in Georgia. We heard that we can expect to get at least one good snow storm a year... so far it's held true since we have lived here. This time we were actually in town. We had two snow days and school was canceled both days. They closed the school because of rain and then the possible freeze, so to tell the kids that school was closed for a snow day is a bit misleading. So when Saturday came and it had snowed during the night Andrew was pretty stoked....We couldn't eat breakfast and get our "Snow clothes" on fast enough. It was a good thing we went and played in it when we did, because around 2pm it was pretty much all gone.

 Andrew loved making tracks, but it was sure slippery for him! 

 Of course he wanted to build a snowman but there wasn't that much snow so we opted for a miniature snowman!

Since the schools were closed that meant that daddy had to work from home too! (Pretty much the entire city closes down) Daddy builds the best forts!

Stephen and I celebrated our 9th Anniversary this January! It's crazy to think it's already been 9 years!!! We got a sitter and ate at the most amazing Argentine steakhouse! Seriously the best steak ever eaten and a fun date night together!

We've started hitting up story time each week at the library! It's always a big hit and these girls love dancing and singing! And of course the bubbles at the end are always the best! 

We had Aunt Janet come and visit for a few days! It was so fun to see her! We spent a day at the zoo since it's right close to the airport, played games and of course we got some shopping at the outlets in before she headed up to North Carolina for her big birthday celebrations!

It's hard to see, but the elephants were waving hello to us!

Riding the train is the best part of the zoo!

A few other random happenings...

We tried to take some pictures in our valentine's day church clothes...but these kiddos were way too busy for mom to snap a few pictures!

I've pulled out some of the sensory bins that I made for Andrew and these three had a blast!!!

We've loved spending time outside now it's been getting warmer. I'm getting excited about this summer!!