The time has come!

For the last couple of months we have really been needing to get a new comforter for our bed. When we got married we were given our comforter as a gift. We LOVED it!!!! It was one of our favorite gifts that we received.

Well, 6 1/2 years later the fabric started to get thin and started to tear. Once the tears began they just kept getting bigger. For months now I have been trying to find one that I liked as much as my beautiful gold cover.

Well ... I found one!! Tell me what you think :-)

OLD

NEW

A week ago we took our family Christmas pictures. Afterwards we went to dinner and this is how Landon fell asleep. It is really surprising that he fell asleep at all. He is one of the lightest sleepers EVER!

Speaking of sleeping. This is how I found Justin tonight (it was only 9:40). Check out how the bottle isn't even really in his mouth. Landon was just chewing away happily while Daddy was snoring. So funny!

When he isn't SCREAMING Landon is just tooo darn cute!
Latest Evan-ism's

1) Evan's favorite TV show is: "The Little Einsteins". I was watching an episode with him and he says "look ... Machu Pichu". Sure enough ... I look and it was indeed Machu Pichu. :-)

2) He is obsessed with guns. He woke up from his nap and the first thing out of his mouth was "ha ha ha!! Look Mama, I shoot Minnie Mouse!! Ha ha ha ... Minnie Die!"

3) Justin's mom is Granny Lanny. Evan calls her Ranny Ranny (soo cute!!)

Justin

Today I was at the gas pump and I had to phone Justin to ask him how to open the gas cap. It is a good thing that I did, because I would have never found it.

This got me thinking about all of the little things that my sweet hubby does for me. The reason I didn't know where the gas cap was is because I haven't had to fill up on gas yet in our new car. I have nothing against filling up the car, but Justin just does it for me when he can. He has done this since we got married.

He is always buying me little treats that he knows I like. For example, last night he brought home some Pocky :-)

He is fun and jokes with us all the time. This is one of the reasons that I married him!

He wants me to be happy and does everything he can to let me achieve that.

These are just a couple of reasons why my husband rocks!

Thank You Becka

So my friend, Becka, has the best luck on the face of the planet. She wins everything she enters. Well, she won tickets to a preview for the Michael Jackson "This Is It" movie. She couldn't go so she gave the tickets to me and Justin. All I can say is ... what an AMAZING concert that would have been!!! I was dancing the whole time :-)

Two Funny stories

Yesterday we went to my in-laws house to celebrate my sister-in-laws birthday. Happy 21 Birthday Jamie!

Story #1
I took Evan "swimming" in my in-laws hot tub. He loved it! After we were done swimming we were getting changed in the bath room and Evan picks up my bra, hands it to me, and says "here Mama ... shirt for you boob!" I couldn't stop laughing. :-)

Story #2
Earlier in the evening Justin answers the phone at his Dad's house. The conversation went something like this:

Justin: Hello?
Operator: Hi we're trying to accept donations for the wheel chair basketball association of Canada. We are hoping to get into the Paralympic games.
Justin: Hey, my son is in a wheel chair. How do we find out more information, in case he wants to join?
Operator: Uuuuummmm ... do you want to donate? It is only a $40 or $20 donation.
Justin: No, we would like to join. How do we join?
Operator: Uuuuuummmm ... I'm new to this.
Justin: Do you know how we join?
Operator: Umm ... no. Do you want to donate money?
Justin: nope
Operator: click

We thought that was just too funny!

another update in pictures

Yeah ... they don't get much cuter than this!

The Wiggles concert

(seriously ... they ROCK! We all had a BLAST. Evan loved the whole thing and I am even more in love with these Australian middle age men. Anthony is totally my favorite now :-)

CORN MAZE

with Auntie Kelley

The Pumpkin Princess (where do you find an orange dress??)

Landon threw up and peed all over himself. It was REALLY cold and so we had to bundle him in blankets and Evan's hat. Doesn't he look cute?

A new outfit from Grandma

(Evan was NOT cooperating and so I didn't get very many good shots of him. This was the best one that I managed to get. I included a full length shot so you could see the full outfit. He has already worn it to church and got loads of compliments.

HALLOWEEN PHOTO SHOOT

(Here are the boys in their Halloween costumes. Again ... Evan was not really working with me, but I did get a few shots that are adorable)

Pirate outfits from Grandma. Yes we wear these normally, not just because it is Halloween next week.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

(love this time of year!!!)

On a final note: I have always been thin. I'm not complaining, I know it is a blessing. That said my arms have always been the thinnest ... like completely lack muscle!! I was going through pictures today and I noticed this picture of me with Evan. I guess there is one benefit of constantly doing heavy lifting of 2 children and large equipment. I swear I never thought that I would see these arms on me :-)

BIG BIG NEWS

I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!! I don't even know how to start this post! I'm sure I am not even going to be able to say it the way I want to.

Tonight Evan and I were waiting for an hour and a half to get our flu shots. We were sitting on the kid size chairs watching Sesame Street and Evan wanted to stand. I was helping to support his weight so that he could stand. I was looking the other direction, wondering what number they were calling, and I hear Evan say "look Mama ... stand". I look down and CANNOT believe my eyes. Evan had slid himself off the chair and while leaning on the chair for support was standing all by himself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think this has happened as a result of a couple different things. When we started the medicine in June Evan did get some strength back. Evan received his leg braces a couple of weeks ago. I think that wearing the leg braces has helped train his legs to hold a little bit more weight without collapsing. Obviously we need to be right there, as his legs will give out at any moment. This is just so amazing!

We came home and promptly showed Daddy our new ability. We couldn't be happier!

Isolation

I know I don't lead a "normal" life, nobody who lives with a handicap does. I have never actually considered myself a "normal" girl. I was just at a function with a large group of women in the same stage of life as me. I was sitting alone most of the time and I realized that I am probably not always great company to be around. I really can't relate to their lives. The conversations mostly revolve around their children and pregnancy. I have never been pregnant, so can't contribute to those conversations. The life I lead with my children is GREAT but it is very different than what most people experience as normal. I cannot contribute to most of the issues that they face. Maybe I will with Landon, but not Evan. Having a handicap child can be quite isolating. This is not the first time I have felt this isolation, and I know it won't be the last time either.

On the flip side, I took Evan to a "Music Makers" class today. He loved it and reveled in singing the songs and doing the actions. We sang, ran, danced, and jumped around together. The interaction with other kids his age is so beneficial and I love seeing him having "conversations" with his peers. Studies have shown that children with SMA are very bright. Evan proves this to me day in and day out. Often times he was the only one actually singing (or trying to sing) the songs in the class. At only 2 years old that is amazing. It is a major blessing to be able to communicate with my child on a fairly intelligent level. I am biased, but I do have to say that Evan was THE cutest kid in the class.

some cool quotes

Here are a couple of awesome quotes that I have come across in the last couple of days.

"Blast all men. Women aren't blessed with the ability to look good and disheveled. Life is most unfair"

question - "Didn't you take that shirt out of the Hamper?"

answer - "Don't worry, I sniffed it ... it has another day in it" :-)

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Now to my real life:

People say that they love the seasons. I say that the seasons SUCK!!

I miss my truck! There is no need to go to the toboggan hill for our family. Driving our van around is like driving a 2 ton sled.

We are going to the Wiggles on stage tonight. I CANNOT WAIT!!!

plain ol' kid update

Saturday: a family wedding
Sunday: Thanksgiving dinner at Justin's mom's house
Monday: Thanksgiving dinner at Justin's Dad's house

Lots to blog about ............... later! For now a good old fashioned update on the kidlets.

Poor Landon is sick with his first cold. I hate it when babies are sick. I always feel so bad for them. He is just sad :-( It was inevitable though. I was sick for 4 days and gave it to Evan and Justin, who haven't been able to shake it for 2 weeks. Again I say "poor Landon".

Landon loves his mobile! He giggles and laughs everytime he sees them going round and round.

The latest "Evan-isms":

Marnos = marshmallows
Soopnaman = Superman'

A Day in the Life of an SMA Mama

I have an announcement. (no I'm not pregnant)

I have "borrowed" an idea from my good friend, Irene! She is making a blog about their journey with their son and his cleft palate. I thought to myself, maybe there are some people who might benefit from our journey through life with SMA. I know what a help it is for me to connect with other SMA families. I know how I benefit from their stories. For this reason I have started a blog about the highs and lows, what has worked for us, and what hasn't.

Sometimes the posts might coincide with my main blog, but this new blog will be solely dedicated to how SMA affects our family, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Y'all are invited to read it if you'd like, but no pressure. I do warn you that I am being very honest and the first couple of posts are not going to be the most positive (it was a very hard time in my life), but I do promise that there are sure to be some spiritual, happy, and even funny stories to come.

Maybe nobody will read it, but maybe it will help someone. For that reason I am sending it out into cyberspace.

Seriously???

There are a couple of things that just make me furious!!!! One of them is looking out my back window at my neighbor taking her smoke break 3-4 times a day. It is not the fact that she is smoking, it's that she is smoking and VERY far along in her pregnancy. She always goes outside to smoke, which shows that she cares about her house. Fine if you want to destroy your body, but seriously ... how selfish can you be? It is a good thing I don't know her ... I would have a hard time with this one!

I swear it seemed like a good idea

Yesterday we decided to go to the Corn Maze as a family. It was windy, but it didn't seem out of control so we made the decision to head out while there is no snow on the ground. We get out of the car and stepped into a gale force wind storm! Seriously, I wish you could see in the pictures just how strong the wind was blowing. Landon took off a couple times without us. If we didn't literally have a hand on the stroller it went racing away!!!! Poor Evan kept getting blown over and was having a hard time driving. After 5 minutes of not going very far we turned right around and got a refund. It sure seemed like a good idea at the time, hopefully we'll get to go soon!

Super Random post

This is a totally random post, but I wanted to share some of our everyday life that we have been up to ... and some cute (and funny) pictures that I have gotten of the boys!!

The Backyardigans on stage

I think it would have been a lot more magical if we weren't on the very back row, but it was still fun regardless. Evans face was soo cute as he watched some of his favorite characters come to life right before his eyes :-)

Transformers

Anyone who really knows me knows that I am girl who loves her trucks! I drove a truck in high school, my dream car is my truck (I mean Justin's truck *tear*). We stopped by Daddy's work the other day and this was parked out front. I said to everyone there ... what is the point? I mean don't get me wrong, that is one of the MOST beautiful machines I have ever seen ... but it is own by a normal guy that works in the building. Then my friends told me the BEST part.

This truck is the truck from the transformers movie. Not a replica of the truck in the transformers movie, but THE actual truck. This big fella is a movie star!!!! I had to get my picture taken with it after that!!!! Can you imagine how much it costs???

The Zoo

Had to share a picture of Evan's outfit. My mom sent it to him and I just think it is the cutest thing ever! I loves being a pirate!

Evans favorite thing to do at the zoo is to chase the peacocks in his wheelchair.

Oh yea ... check out these skills!



Fun in the Bath




2 months old!!!

Videos

Video #1- Every time I need to leave the room to do/get something I ask Evan to "babysit" for me. He loves having a job to do and takes it very seriously! The other day I needed to get a bottle for Landon and asked him to watch the baby. I came upstairs to this ... when I turned the camera off he knew that his job was done and pushed Landon toward me saying ... " here mama!"

Dialogue in the video:
"Come here baby Landon"
"Come here Landon"
"here you go ... Your Welcome"
"Sorry Landon ... oh Thank you"

Video #2- Evan's "Foot Phone"

Ode to my beautiful, sexy, wonderful Truck

Ode to my beautiful, sexy, wonderful Truck

Oh how I have loved thee from the time I was young.

To drive my dream car has really been fun!

You are beautiful and sexy beyond belief,

which is why trading you gives me such grief.

It breaks my heart to give you to Justin,

but between you and Evan, my son will always win.

Loading his wheel chair onto your bed

is NOT convenient and is making me crazy in the head.

So to you I now say adue,

as I join the mama van crew :-(

And on a Final note:

Yesterday- this is CUTE!

Today- this is NOT cute

(the beginning of the end has arrived)

I am so grateful for the gentle whispering of Heavenly Father to certain people in our lives. I am grateful when people listen to that inspiration and act on it. Thank you Dad ... Love you!

Superpowers and Food

Who knew that Evan could fly?? (yes he is actually airborne!!!)

(apparently when you learn how to fly your feet disappear)

Who knew that carrots grew legs and fell in love with each other?

We have so enjoyed our garden this summer! Being able to eat the food that I have grown and know that we have saved so much money and get a better tasting food is awesome! In fact, I cannot wait until next year ... now that I know what I am doing :-)