A Big Day for Holden

No one should have to wait 14 months to introduce their baby to family and friends. But, we did what we had to do to protect Holden from any unnecessary colds or sicknesses. So yesterday was such an exciting day for me, as a "Mommy" to finally be able to have everyone give Holden the hugs, kisses and cheek pinching he's missed out on all these months. We had the party at Hilltop Pavilion at Stone Mountain Park. The weather was gorgeous and the staff at the Park did a fabulous job making sure it was a day we'll never forget! We had a DJ playing kids music and games, a jumper, bubbles, craft activities, volleyball and more! I loved watching all the kids having fun, but most of all, I loved watching Holden's face as he met all of you. Below are a several pictures from the day. Thank you to everyone who came to the party. And those who have not yet met Holden, hopefully we can get together soon! XOXOXO

Saying Good-bye is hard to do...

I plan to do two posts today. More later about Holden's party. I thought it was first important to share with you that Holden's friend, Lily, went to be with the Lord last Tuesday. Her mother said she went quickly and peacefully. We went to the visitation and funeral. She looked beautiful. She was dressed in an adorable yellow dress with a little yellow bow in her hair - as SpongeBob was her favorate character! Although extremely sad, the service was beautiful! I ask that you keep her family in your thoughts and prayers.

My little Superman

It seems like Holden is getting stronger every week. He is also growing like crazy and is already growing out of his 12 month clothes. Hard to see in this picture, but his gut was sticking out of his Superman shirt!!



He is becoming much more mobile. Although he is not full on crawling, he gets where he wants to go with a roll, butt scoot crawl combination. He is also very interested in standing and with support can take a couple of steps. He's becoming quite the speeder in his walker. And Mommy has to walk behind him with the oxygen tank to make sure he does not get disconnected. He has learned to get under the dining room table, but has not learned how to NOT hit his head!! Ouch!



I think the little monkey may be getting one of his first year molars. One minute he's in a great mood, the next minute he's beside himself and putting everything in his mouth - including Mommy's fingers! Ouch again!



Holden had a big week of firsts. He went to his first kiddie birthday party. Our friend's daughter, Maddie, was celebrating her 5th birthday and Holden was invited to the party! Although he mostly hung out with Maddie's 2 year old brother, Max, he was fascinated watching all the big kids run around! In this picture with Daddy, Holden is fixated on the balloons on the ceiling. With help, Holden was able to jump with Max on the trampoline. He thought is was funny to stand and bounce and then plop down on his butt - and then do it all over again.

Sunday was Holden's first time attending church. It was a day I had looked forward too for a long time now. We decided to sit in the back row. Holden was quiet and well behaved for the first 15 minutes, then he became pretty vocal, squealing and trying to talk over the Priest. So it didn't take long for Mommy to have to take him into the vestibule. Daddy came out and switched placed with me and the little guy fell fast asleep in Daddy's arms. So next week, we'll try again - but this time we'll sit in the baby room!

Happy Easter!

Happy 2nd Easter to our little Monkey!! While this year was definitely better than celebrating in the NICU - which we had to do last year, it was not exactly what we had planned. We were supposed to spend the day with our whole family, eat a nice (semi) traditional dinner and then have an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids - things changed when Holden and I got sick again.

Holden had a mild fever, runny nose and was just cranky. I had a fever between 101 and 103, ache, chills and at times felt delusional. It broke my heart to have to uninvite everyone as we were really looking forward to the being together for the holiday.

Fortunately, the Easter Bunny still came to visit Holden and was not scared off by our germs!! Holden was excited to see his special basket waiting for him and quickly started playing with the plastic wrap - which he liked as much as the gifts inside!

Mommy spent much of the day on the couch and by the evening found herself covered with hives. After a freak out call to my doctor, we determined that I must be allergic to the antibiotic I had been taking for the past week for my sinus infection. And all of the flu like symptoms were likely just additional side effects. So after a shot of steroids, new antibiotics and a couple more days of being miserable, I'm finally starting to feel better! Thank goodness because Holden was not liking Mommy staying at a distance!! And I missed my Monkey kisses!! Oh, and Holden...turns out he probably did not have the flu either. Looks like another tooth was cutting!!

Spring Colds...

Holden played with one of his little friends last week. It was awesome to see him interact with another infant - but unfortunately three days later the little monkey got sick. We had a couple long nights and he had all the classic signs of a cold - possibly even the flu. So just to air on the side of caution, I took him to see his pediatrician last Friday. The doctor said his lungs sounded good, but his throat was really red, so they tested him for strep. It was negative, so ultimately she thought he just had a bad cold. Other than Tylenol, we just needed to let him work through it. And now Mommy has his cold - which makes me realize how miserable he probably was. No wonder he just wanted to be held!

On Saturday, I took Holden to his 1st Easter Egg Hunt (Reece had a tennis match) in Cleveland, GA. We were 5 minutes late and all 18,000 eggs were gone!! Fortunately, Holden's cousins shared their eggs with him and he had a great time just picking up the eggs and putting them in his basket.

After the Easter Egg Hunt we went to visit Aunt JoJo at the Post Office and then all went to see the Easter Parade. Holden loved waving at all the people on the floats that went by and his eyes lit up when he saw the big shiny red fire trucks! After the parade we had lunch and Holden took a much needed nap. Then, we went to the spring festival at Babyland General (Cabbage Patch place). Holden was able to see the birth of a Cabbage Patch baby - but was way more fascinated with the choo choo train! It was a long day for the little guy, but he handled it great, especially considering he was still getting over his cold. He slept almost the whole way home!! He loves his tin Easter bucket and likes to drop anything in it that will make noise!

Baby Lily's Mom called yesterday to let us know that Lily has been put on the heart transplant list. We ask that you keep Lily and her family in your prayers.

Who do I look like??

I love this picture of Holden and Reece! His face was a mess because he had just eaten baby food (prunes of all things). Despite what you'd think looking at those chubby cheeks, getting Holden to eat on his own has been a daily struggle for us. We were so proud of him and you can tell looking at his face, he was happy with himself!! It is amazing the little things we've grown to appreciate. I certainly thought that the feeding stuff would get easier after his fundo surgery. But it has been a struggle. We are fortunate that he does well being fed with the feeding pump via G-Tube and that we've had no growth issues. He was drinking at least 1 bottle a day, however last week he started throwing the bottles on the floor. I'm not sure if it is because his teeth hurt or if we are dealing with another feeding aversion issue. But we continue to try with bottles and solids daily. Some days go better then others. He'll get there, but it is definitely on his time frame!!

So I assume everyone has their opinion on who Holden looks like. It has been fun to dig out some old baby pictures to see if he favors either one of us (more than the other), as a baby. I have to admit, I did think he looked more like Reece, but after seeing my baby pictures again, I can see he is a good blend of the both of us! Decide for yourself. The 1st four photos are Reece, the final four are me. All taken under the age of 14 months. Enjoy!

I have not heard how Lily is doing. I have a call into her Mom and will post once I hear something.