HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU....MONKEY!

Today is monkey's birthday!!! We are happy and sad all at the same time.  Time just goes by toooooo quickly. I wish I could bottle him up and keep him at this age forever. He's learned so much this past year and has accomplished all the goals that  his therapist set for him. He's learning to do the army crawl and he's pulling up on things at therapy and he's just so smart. I have no doubt in my mind that he will walk...soon. God has truly blessed us with an amazing little boy that has brought so much happiness to our life. We have learned so much about Spina Bifida over the past year and let me just tell you.... I would be happy happy happy to have another child with Spina Bifida. LANDEN IS AMAZING. My heart is truly full.

Lexi left Landen a note on his crib this morning....take a look. What a sweet sister she is!

There's no birthday cake for the monkey tonight because he's allergic to EVERYTHING under the sun. Saturday for his party there will be a cake just for him( with no eggs and topped with whipped cream.) YUMMM...
But for the rest of us, we'll have the good old fattening, all sugar, and packed with calories and fat cake!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONKEY!

Love,  
Mommy, Dadddy, Bubba, and Sis

LANDEN'S BIRTHDAY PICS!

Landen's first beach trip...

Well, I was hoping to come back from the beach and post all these cute pictures of Landen playing in the sand and splashing in the pool...NOT SO MUCH! This was Landen's FIRST vacation and he was miserable. He hated the sand, was not fond of the heat, disliked the pool and had an allergic reaction to the pool water.( I assume it was the pool water)We went out on the beach for like 20 minutes and Landen was sitting on a towel most of the time, we then left and went to our pool and was in the water for maybe 10 minutes. Ron noticed that Landen looked like he had a sun burn on his face so I took him up to the room to clean him up. When I got him undressed, he had a severe rash from his face to his waist and his face was swollen and getting worse. Ron went to the drugstore to get benadryl for our sweet baby and about an hr or so later, he was fine. I do not think we will be planning any more beach trips in the near future for our vacations.

He had a great First Easter though!!! The Easter Bunny brought him a baseball basket with lots of suckers and chocolate bunnies.( The only two things he can eat and he's not allergic to)

Now it's time to get things ready for his BIG 1st BIRTHDAY PARTY on Saturday. I can't believe my baby will be 1 on Thursday. How time flies by. He is such a blessing to us. I can't even remember my life before we brought him home nor do I want to remember. He brings so much happiness to our little family.

Here's a few pictures from the beach of all of us. Ron, Lexi, and Zach had a great time while we were there.(Glad someone did) =)   I'm not complaining because we get to go to the Mountains instead of the beach from now on. =) 

                                              RIDING WITH MY BIG SIS

                                            GETTING ALL STICKY FROM THE SUCKER!

                                               LEXI AND ZACH ON THE BALCONY

                                              LANDEN'S FIRST TIME ON THE BEACH

                                                 

                        JUST WAKING UP WITH SIS

It's about time for an update!

Catching up!!

I haven't blogged in quite some time and I am sorry to those who have been asking for some new updates and pictures! What's been going on at our house? What's new with Landen?
How's the rest of the family?

1.We had hard wood floors put down in our house which took a total of 2 weeks and it drove me insane!(My OCD got the best of me during that time) During this 2 weeks of he--, I wondered how in the world can people become hoarders??? Seriously for 2 weeks I had heart palpitations, SOB(no I'm not talking about the person who laid the floor)(shortness of breath people =), anxiety(from dust being everywhere) and Landen stayed sick the entire time b/c of the dust. Thankfully that is over and my house is back to being clean! YEAH... I can breathe and the heart palpitations are gone! This is mainly why I haven't blogged in so long. Plus, I just can't find time to sit down and put my thoughts together.

2. Landen now says "A Duck", "was sat" (What's that) and lello (Yellow). He's so stinkin' cute MOST of the time. He has acquired a temper and has thrown a temper tantrum... IN PUBLIC! Gasp! a 1 yr old throwing a temper...what? We were at Greenville hospital and he was hungry(I couldn't feed him though b/c he was getting ready to have a swallow study). He would scream for a toy so I would give it to him, then he would throw it down as hard as he could. I would give him another toy and he would throw that one down too(as hard as he could) I kept telling him NO NO and he would look at me and throw both hands down while tightening up his body. Cuteness can only go so far! =)

3. We are STILL waiting on his stander. I personally think that he'll be walking before we get the stander.( I hate insurance companies).

4. Swallow study was Monday and he does aspirate his food/milk into his lungs. They were shocked he hasn't had pneumonia yet(That is what usually happens when children aspirate their food). Now we have to thicken ALL his foods with baby cereal. It has to be in the consistency of a thick milk shake. He already has texture issues and DOES NOT like any vegetables. Looks like he'll become a chunky monkey just eating baby cereal, formula, pears and peaches.

5. He has significant sensory issues which we are working on as well as his therapist. He does not like grass, sand, anything mesh, feather dusters, bees(not sure if it is the sound of it or the bee itself)dogs, nothing over his head (like an enclosed area)rough or rigid things etc. We are learning more and more of the things he is sensitive to. I am doing deep tissue massages and brushing as well as joint compressions so hopefully that will help. It's amazing at how much you learn from a child with different abilities. For example, I may hear the buzzing of a bee sound whereas Landen may hear a VERY loud siren sound. It's odd but interesting. Next week for Spring Break we are headed to the beach for both Landen's first vacation and Ron's birthday. Landen and the sand may not be a good combination! We are excited to see how he does and enjoys his first vacation! Pictures to be posted after Spring Break.

6. Landen's 1st birthday party is coming up on April 30th. Yeah! Can't wait to post pictures of that day!

7. As I said before, we went to Greenville on Monday for the swallow study and post op with the Urologist. It NEVER fails that every time we go to Greenville, Landen has a massive blow out...EVERY TIME WE GO TO GREENVILLE! OK, so I am rushing to get to Dr Teague's office(Urologist) for a post op appointment. I park, grab the stroller, get Landen out of the car seat and put him in the stroller. Grab diaper bag, shut doors, lock up etc. As I am walking, almost jogging b/c I am running behind, I look down at my feet and see this wet brown spot on my foot. I wonder, what the heck is this? I bend down, wipe it with my pointer finger,look intensely at it and think,"oh my goodness!" (This is gross y'all so I apologize). I smell it. Yep, I smell it. It's Landen's dookie on my foot! So I wonder, how the heck did it just drip on my foot? As I inspect more closely, I see it's all down my slacks. OK, I am standing in the parking lot giving myself a baby wipe bath while almost having a breakdown because I'm already running late. I go inside, go to the bathroom, completely undress my son who has dookie all over him except for his feet. Again, I give him a wipe bath and as I am almost completely finished cleaning him, he pees everywhere! So now not only does he smell like turd, he is sitting in his own urine AND people are knocking at the door wanting to use the restroom. APPARENTLY they only have one bathroom! Instead of crying uncontrollably, I start laughing like an insane woman. Landen starts laughing at me and I can't stop. I have a WLB ( weak,leaky bladder) which laughing doesn't make the issue any better. I'm standing there, laughing and praying that I don't pee on myself too because I don't have a change of clothes!!! When I left the Urologist's office, my makeup was gone(from all the laughing/tears), I smelled like crap, my son was hungry and it was only 10am. Oh and we never even saw the Dr because he was running behind.  All that rushing around and anxiety that I was feeling was for nothing. I didn't even reschedule, I just left mad! Then we rushed to the hospital where he was having his swallow study. He throws a tantrum and is very tired and all because he's hungry too.
I'm telling you, mine and Landen's Greenville trips are never dull at any moment. Now if I can just talk my Dr into giving me some xanax or valium before every trip to Greenville we should be fine. =)

8. The rest of the family is doing great! Zach is playing baseball and loving every minute of it. He just got his courses for Middle School next year and he is in ALL advanced classes. Way to go Big Z! I'm so proud of you. Ron turns the big 40 next week. It's hard to believe he's 40(He still acts like he's 20). Lexi is doing great and driving more and more. She just got her first job. She starts this summer at the YMCA working with Camp Little Feet. She's so excited. And of course Landen is getting bigger and bigger and his little personality is coming out more and more.
Ron and I are discussing adopting another baby with Spina Bifida; if the Lord is willing and I'm still sane by then. So, if any of you readers hear of anything, please let us know. We would love to have another angel in our family.

That's all for now. Will post pictures of our upcoming events soon.

Love,

The Blacks

Please Consider Alternatives to Abortion

(A letter that will appear in the Herald's Voice of the People)

Approximately one year ago, our family received a phone call from our social worker informing us that we had been chosen to adopt a baby boy with Spina Bifida. This past year has been an unbelievable joy filled with happiness, love, emotional highs, and blessings! It is hard to put into words the beautiful journey we’ve encountered with our beloved son.

Needless to say, the past year has been very educational; neither my wife nor I knew anything about Spina Bifida when we received the phone call. Since April of last year, we’ve spent a tremendous amount of time reading and researching this condition that affects our baby. During this same time, we’ve been blessed with medical experts who have committed to helping our family.

Just recently, our family has discussed the possibility of adopting another baby with Spina Bifida. While recently reading additional information on Spina Bifida and adoption, we were terribly saddened to learn that at least 50% of pregnancies with a fetus diagnosed with Spina Bifida are aborted (http://www.spuc.org.uk/students/abortion/disability reports 90%)!

If you or someone you know is considering aborting your fetus that has been diagnosed with Spina Bifida (or any other condition), please STOP immediately! Instead, let us know. We’ll be glad to adopt your baby. Check out our blog at www.littlelanden.blogspot.com. Feel free to contact us at ronandtosh@comporium.net.



Sincerely,

Ron Black