It was a Merry Little Christmas

The Stockings were hung by the TV with care.....

Our Christmas tree glowed, waiting for Santa.

And my kids actually let me take a picture of them before tearing into the gifts!

Santa brought Grady his "veevoo games!" (or his DS as he calls it)

Santa brought Aiden a Star Wars lego Masters book!

I made Aiden a rug that he's been using to sit on while making all the Lego sets he got from family.

Grady got a bunch of "Bad Guy" stuff

And he's had a lot of fun learning how to use his video game. It has an MP3 player and he got it loaded with his favorite Irish music from Scythian, Enter the Haggis and 7N!

And Little Liam got two play mats that he LOVES spending time on!


It's been a wonderful Christmas for us all!!

Beautiful

9 days until Christmas

Earlier this month I got my handsome boys pictures taken!

As you can see....they turned out darn cute!

We've been pretty busy lately getting ready for Christmas. 

I'm ready for it to be here so I stop spending money!
Thankfully I am done shopping!

The boys are very excited (well two of the three are.)

A few days ago I made one of those North Pole Videos from Santa for each of the boys. Grady thought it was so cool that Santa knew his name and age and had his picture.

Aiden cried. Literally just started bawling when the video ended. He said it was because he's so happy. I don't know if he thought he'd be on the naughty list and hearing he was on the good list was such a relief or having that "confirmation" that Santa is real when he's at an age where so many questions are being asked by his peers.  It was magical to see that absolute Joy in his eyes. To see he still 100% believes in the magic of Santa and Christmas.  I know his time of innocence and belief is running out. Soon he will be a cynical pre-teen. But I cherish these little moments of Magic with my eldest son. 

Discharge

A little over 3 years ago, Grady was diagnosed with developmental delays including a motor planning delay. Since then, he has been in one pediatric therapy or another.

A little over 2 years ago, he started speech therapy. At 20 months old; all Grady could say was Mama, Dada and make animal noises. So he started therapy with Cyndi at FTMC Pediatric Department (this was in addition to Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy.) He was such a hard worker. He always tried everything she asked of him and had a work ethic you wouldn't expect to find in someone so young. And it paid off! He has made amazing progress! Now, at 3 1/2, Grady has a normal level vocabulary, can carry on conversations and follow directions. He still has a few articulation problems but Cyndi thinks they should get better in time and practice.

So as of today; My Grady was discharged from Speech Therapy at FTMC!! It's been a long road but  he's done awesome. He is still in OT at the pediatric center and probably will be for a while because of his fine motor delays. He is still doing home therapy with OT and PT. He does have speech at home but his teacher wants him re-evaluated because he's seen the same wonderful progress.

I'm so proud of my silly little guy!

Thankful

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I've been thinking about what I am thankful for this year. My family has been through things this year that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. It's been a hard year.

But I'm thankful that we made it through.

I'm thankful for a family, who has done their best to stick together and grow stronger, even in the darkest hours.

For the new family that we will be from now on. A better family.

I'm thankful for my husband, who works so hard and is gone so often. He misses out of so much to provide and take care of me and the boys. He allows me my dream, to stay home and raise my kids instead of working. And I am thankful for that every day.

I'm thankful for my Aiden. For the joy he has brought to my life for the last 8 1/2 years. Even through the trials and frustrations of dealing with ADHD and aspbergers, he is my light. Aiden loves so deeply and is such a compassionate child. I'm so proud of how he's excelled at his bagpipe lessons. He has such a talent and a passion for his music.

                                                       

I'm thankful for my little Grady. For all the amazing progress he has made this year. 3 years ago, his therapists and doctors didn't know if he would be a "normal" kid. They didn't know if he would walk or talk normally or the severity of his developmental delays.  Now he is almost 4 years old and developmentally very close to where he should be! He has really turned a corner in the last year; like someone flipped the switch.  Now it seems his only significant delays are in his fine motor skills and some upper body strength. It's so wonderful to see him doing normal 3 year old things.  He is ornery and funny. He has an amazing sense of humor and is fluent in sarcasm. He keeps me on my toes and keeps me laughing. My funny little guy.

But this year, I am most thankful for my Liam. My little Liam who went from this:

To this:

I'm so very very thankful that my baby is alive. That he's healthy and happy. Seeing his gummy smiles and hearing his little coos are the greatest gift. I am thankful to all the doctors and nurses at the Toledo Children's Hospital NICU for saving Liam's life. For his wonderful Pediatrician Dr. Trippe who was so active in getting him the proper care. I still lay awake at night and watch Liam sleep. My mind flips through the memories of his first week of life and I am so thankful for how far he has come. He is my little blessing. My angel.

As hard as 2011 has been, I am grateful that I DO have things and people to be thankful for. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Finger paint or face paint?

Hairy Eyeball lives on!

This month, it will be 7 years since my Grandpa died. We miss him everyday. He was an awesome guy. 

And he was "famous" for his "hairy eyeball". 

And it makes me so happy to see that it still lives on in Liam.  

Smiles

"A smile so sweet is simply irresistible. But the smile is just a hint of the true sweetness that can't help but escape from inside this little one."

"Your smile makes my heart bounce."

"Whenever I see your smiling face, I have to smile myself because I love you"

"When you smile. I melt inside."

Lego KidsFest

I gave Aiden his Christmas present early.
He's a HUGE lego freak. In fact, it's the only toy he plays with.
So today I took him to the Lego Kidsfest in Cleveland.

His first stop was to build a Lego Racer.
I love that happy smile.
He was in HEAVEN!

 Strike a Ninja Pose

 Aiden was disgusted that they make PINK legos.
He was even more disgusted when I made him take a picture in front of them.

 Battle Droid

 R2D2 and C3PO

 Why's the rum gone??

 Love it!

 I told him to make a scared face.....
turned out more like a
"Gotta Poop" face.

 Hogwarts Castle

 Aiden got to take a class with a Master Lego Builder.
Chris has worked for Lego for 17 years and made some amazing pieces
Including the R2D2 and Jack Sparrow pictured above.
See Aiden peeking behind Chris?

 Working on his rocket ship during LMB class

 The finished product

 Getting some stability tips from Chris.

 You've got a friend in me!

 How freakin amazing is this?! ALL Legos!

 Captain Rex from Clone Wars.

 Holy plastic blocks Batman! It's Batman!

 Now THAT is a HUGE Lego pile!
Don't want to step in that in bare feet!
Ouch!

 Aiden and I created structures to add to the Lego Nation

 Each piece was put into this frame of the USA. 

 Really cool watching this come together.

 A couple of cool dudes.

A fun time was had by all!

I had a wonderful day, just me and my oldest son. 

And it was wonderful watching Aiden being immersed in something he really loves!