Time Flies When We're Having Fun!

I'm not sure if I've told you this before, but I've never gone back to read previous posts in our blog. I guess with everything we've gone through, I've chosen to be thankful for the past, live in the present and pray for the future. I say all this in case you notice that I sometimes repeat myself!!

Now that the weather is so nice, we've been staying busy between playtime outside, walks and running errands! What a difference from feeling trapped indoors during cold and flu season.

I love this photo of Holden. He is riding on his new Caterpillar Dump Truck that was a present from Joe & Betsy. To say he loves it is an understatement. He literally plays with this truck from every angle. He rides on it, pushes the buttons to sound the horn, then turns it on its side and plays with the wheels, then somehow man-handles it and flips it over and plays with the wheels some more and now is beginning to use it as a walker (with some support from us!).

Holden continues to grow stronger and is close to full out crawling. In the meantime, he's learned to get around with his roll, crawl, sit up combo. He's a little speed demon in his walker now, going forward, backwards and still loves hiding under the dining room table.

I took Holden last week to Just Kids Kuts to get his first hair cut (outside of our home). This is actually his 5th hair cut. He did great for his first visit. Ms. Michelle sat the little Monkey in a tractor. He loved spinning the steering wheel and thought it was super cool that he could watch "Sharks Tale" on his own little TV while he got his hair cut. He did fuss when she used the electric razor, but quickly realized it didn't hurt.

And while his hair does not look quite as curly now, I promise, it still has some curl on top!!

Here is Holden with his new hair cut on his new favorite dump truck. He's personality is blossoming lately. Although he's not saying complete words, he's become very "chatty" and is talking more than ever! And while he has said Dada once, I try daily to convince him to say Mama. I think he's going to say "Pupa" first. That's what we sometimes call Alex!

We think Holden is teething again. This time (I think) it is the big bad 1 year molars. I've read it could take weeks for the little buggers to finally come through. I hope not, because Holden was sleeping through the night until these teeth started acting up.

We are heading down to Tifton, GA this weekend for our Godson, David's First Holy Communion. This will be our first trip away from home - outside of hospital visits. And we are planning several other trips to visit family and friends this summer! I'm looking forward (and praying) for the future!! We have some much to enjoy and experience with Holden.

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.