Happy 10th Birthday Evan!

Ten years ago my life changed forever. Today is Evan's 10th birthday. This kid has taught me more about courage, resilience, empathy and self-acceptance in the past 10 years than I managed to learn in my first 37 years.

As usual, we just didn't celebrate his birthday today-it started on Saturday.  We took 5 of his friends to a place called Sky Zone-a warehouse that is basically one big trampoline!  The boys had a great time.  Sunday was our family party complete with sloppy joes and  a DQ ice cream cake.  Today we started off with cinnamon rolls and ended with wings from BWW.  Yes, I ate my way through his birthday weekend! It's just so hard for me to believe that he is 10.  Double digits.  How did that happen?

Man vs Food (again)

The Thurman Burger!!

We had a great time today at the Thurman Cafe in German Village. Ever since Evan saw the Columbus episode of Man vs. Food, he's wanted to to go there. So, today was the day. He decided on the Thurman burger which was the same thing Adam Richman ate when he there. This is a 12 oz burger with ham, 2 kinds of cheese, sauteed onions, mushrooms, banana peppers, lettuce, tomato. As you can see, this thing is huge! Evan had so much fun eating it-he got halfway thru which is more than I ever imagined he would eat. Oh and then we went to Schmidts Sausage Haus to get a cream puff to go.  Adam went there too.  So, now we've been to two of the three places on Man vs Food.  One more to go!

The countdown has begun.....

10 years ago I was on "bedrest" at home. It was a horrible, boring yet stressful time. I had been off work since Dec. 27th and while I wasn't totally confined to my bed, I couldn't do much. I had to check my blood pressure 2-3 times a day (stressful) and then lie on my left side for a certain amount of time each day and count how many times the baby moved. THAT was stressful.  I just prayed that I would feel movement each day. Mike picked me up at home on January 4th 2001 and off we went to the high risk OB.  I think this was my first visit with the guy-my regular OB recommended I see him after my blood pressure spiked. He took this ultrasound and the moment I saw the profile, I knew we were having boy.  Evan Michael. Now, I guess I was naive and thought that if anything, I'd just hang out at home until March when he was suppose to be born.  Little did I know that two weeks after this ultrasound was taken, I would be at OSU recovering from a c-section and Evan would be fighting for his life at Children's.

Just one more......

Michael Jackson: The Experience

Christmas 2010

 Mom after opening Evan's gift

Christmas 2010 has come and gone. Hard to believe that we're into 2011 already!  We had a very nice Christmas although it was different because my brother and sister-in-law were not with us. Unfortunately, Kate's dad passed away on Dec. 29th and they had gone down to Hilton Head on the 22nd to be with him in his final days. Jack and Sam stayed in Columbus so we had fun with them.  I couldn't imagine Christmas without my nephews!  I think the highlight of the day was playing Michael Jackson: The Experience on the Wii.  OMG.  Talk about fun. I've laughed so many times since then watching the videos.  Good times!  Oh and Mom surprised us with new masks.  Need I say more?