Getting ready

Our little tree

Christmas card pic


Our angel

We put up the tree yesterday as well as the circus train that belonged to my dad. Evan LOVES that train. Unfortunately the video is very dark but I didn't want him to know I was there when I took it. I'll have to try and catch him again. Evan loves to get down on the floor and watch the train go around and around, just like he did when he was a little boy-he would get so excited at Grandma and Grandpa's when the train was put out. The angel on top of the tree was made by my nephews when they were 7 and 4 (now 22 and 19). It was the year of the fire and Liz and I lost any decorations that we had so they made some for us. :) I have cherished that angel ever since and it will top my tree forever. Our poor little tree has very flimsy branches so half of our ornaments have to stay in the box because they are too heavy!! I wasn't really thinking of that Saturday night while freezing my ass off as we tried to agree on a tree. Oh well. It smells good though.

Random

Just a couple pictures that were in my camera. One is Evan's Thanksgiving "essay" that I thought was so cute. Of course I did-I'm his mom. The other is of my strange cat. She loves the bathtub. She especially loves to get in it after Evan's had a bath-she licks up water. It's gross soapy water. Why??

Love it!

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Welcome to Holland

We are including this in our latest NICU newsletter at work. This is standard reading for any of us who have had a child with special needs. I remember being introduced to it by the home health nurse that came to visit Evan those first few days he was home from the hospital. I wanted to share it because it sums up exactly how I felt and some days continue to feel.

Welcome To Holland

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel.

It's like this . . .

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip-- to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make wonderful plans. The Colosseum, Michelangelo's David. The gondolas in Venice. You may even learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland!'
"Holland? You say. What do you mean, Holland? I signed up for Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy." But there's been a change of flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy, place full of pestilence, famine, and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy. Less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills. Holland has tulips. Holland has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they are bragging about what a wonderful time they had there.

And for the rest of your life you will say, "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever go away, because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.
© Emily Perl Kingsley

I loved this video!

Nativity set

I don't know what got into me yesterday but in the midst of a ton of laundry and grocery shopping (we had no food in the house), I put out Christmas decorations. I was very excited to set this up-Mike surprised me with it last year (so I didn't bother setting it up after Christmas) and it's something I've wanted for a long time. I could never find a Nativity set that I liked until I found this one.

Thanksgiving

Mike's friend John gave Evan this tank-thanks John!! It's very loud!

Evan's favorite

Helping with the pie

At John's

Uncle Walt

Cousin Steve

Cousin Steph

Aunt Carol

Bowling (I actually got 3 strikes!)

We spent Thanksgiving with Mike's family this year in PA. We left Tuesday and came back Saturday and like always, it was a busy few days! Evan had a great time with everyone-he cried when we left. :( It's hard to have family so far away. Oh and too bad I didn't get any video of me singing w/ Rock Band. I NAILED Wanted: Dead or Alive by my boys Bon Jovi. 100%. I even think my nephew was impressed. :)