Jami's Bridal Shower

Yesterday afternoon was my sister-in-law, Jami's, bridal shower. Jami and her fiancee, Kris, have been engaged for two years and will finally be tying the knot on July 16th in Las Vegas! Jami's soon-to-be mother-in-law threw her this wonderful shower at her home. She made a yummy lunch and the guests enjoyed visiting and getting to know one another for a couple of hours before Jami began opening gifts. Originally Jami and Kris were not going to register for wedding gifts, but at the persistence of Kris's mom, they finally did. Jami kept saying how happy she was that they did! They got some lovely gifts to start their new life together and Jami was so happy to be surrounded by close friends and both sides of her family.

Cheers to the beautiful couple, who are not only our family, but our closest friends. We are so excited for you to finally be married and cannot wait for your wedding-just one month away! Jeff & I are so excited to be able to go to Las Vegas to help celebrate your special day!

BBQ with the Rist Family

Yesterday evening we went to Portland to visit the Rist family. Josh is a friend of Jeff's from his high school days and he and his wife, Amber, had a baby girl, Autumn, almost 4 months ago. They were in town visiting family for the weekend so Jeff, Nicholas, my sister-in-law Jami, and I went over to Josh's parents' house for a BBQ. Jeff and Jami played volleyball with everybody and Nicholas and I visited with Amber and Autumn and the rest of the Rist family. Nicholas was happy and very social until it was nearly 11:00p.m. and then he was ready to head home and go to sleep.

Thanks for a wonderful evening Josh, Amber & Autumn!

Lovin' Lyndsey

The day after Abbey's wedding Lyndsey came back to Washougal and spent a few more days with us. We got to visit with high school friends, eat at all our favorite spots, and spent lots of time laughing 'til our cheeks hurt. Lyndsey and I marveled toward the end of our visit at the fact that this is the only trip in quite a long time that we didn't go clothes shopping, we opted to go grocery shopping instead. Man are we getting old! Time always seems to fly when Lyndsey is here...we miss you already dear friend. Send some of that Long Beach sun this way! XOXO

One Year Polka-Dotted

Jenifer Johnston of Polka Dot Photography took Nicholas's one year photos and I had to share a couple of him in the tall grass. Thanks Jen!!!

Four Wheelin'

Getting strapped in

Modified joystick

So happy to be independent!

Mommy protecting the wall

Zoom, zoom!

Daddy coaxing Nick forward

All done!

Yesterday Nicholas had his second try on the power wheelchair! We went to his neuromuscular clinic at Shriner's Children's Hospital and after we finished, we went upstairs to the rehabilitation floor so Nicholas could show daddy and his god mama, Lyndsey, his skills on the power chair. He zoomed up and down the hallway and had such a great time! His PT, Molly, was kind enough to take time out of her busy day to allow him to try it again. Thanks, Molly!

A Letter Full of Blessings

Today in the mail I received a very special letter from a wonderful woman, who is very close to my heart, named Teresa. Teresa is the best friend of Lisa Hall (the mother of the bride pictured below) and she lives in Mexico. I had the pleasure of meeting her when I was fifteen-years-old because Lisa, Lyndsey, and I flew to visit her for Lyndsey's sixteenth birthday. I have seen her several times over the years and her grace and soulful spirit always touches me.

Teresa sent me a very special letter with the items pictured here. She had all of the items blessed for Nicholas at the Basilica de Guadalupe. It is a sacred place and she said that people travel from all over the country to pray to the Virgin Guadalupe for miracles. She left 2 "milagros" that had been blessed at the foot of the statue of the Virgin Guadalupe: a lung and a boy. She also selected 4 different milagros to send to me and wrote these words in the card (I hope you don't mind my sharing, Teresa, I just thought your words were so beautiful):

• The Heart: your heart is sacred-it symbolizes how you love, who you love, and why you love. We can feel so many levels of pain in our hearts: physical, emotional, spiritual, that she felt it was important to have a heart blessed for me. I will use it as a reminder that the effects of love can be tangible and to always share what I have in my heart.
• The Hand: your hands are what connect you to others-for Nicholas your touch is a balm to ease his pain-your hands welcome others and let you receive what the world has to offer.
• The Foot: your feet will support you on your journey through life. You can focus on your foot milagro and let it show you the path, remind you that placing one foot in front of the other has a cumulative effect, and that your journey with Nicholas can be full of joy, but most importantly let it remind you of the importance of each individual step-each moment with your sweet boy.

Teresa also included a milagro of a young boy to represent Nicholas, a beautiful hand-made scapular and a prayer card.

Teresa, thank you so very much for taking the time to send these wonderful gifts to us! I am going to place all of the milagros in Nicholas's room so when we say our prayers together before bed, we can focus on each of the items to ask for Our Lady's intercession to our Heavenly Father. Simple things like this touch my heart in such a profound way. I love knowing that people are taking time to pray for Nicholas and that he is on so many of our loved ones' minds. We truly appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity!!!

A Wedding on the Oregon Coast

Abbey, the blushing bride
Reception time: Abbey on vocals and her new hubby, Tim, on drums

Cutting the yummy Persian Love Cake

Sister-of-the-bride, Lyndsey, and her hubby of over 1 year, Keith

A spectacular view

Pronounced "Husband and Wife"

Walking down the aisle together

Simply stunning

Abbey loving on Nicholas pre-wedding

All of us enjoying the wonderful day

Enjoying the reception...Lynds, me, and Lisa (always in her apron!)

The Yeomans' & The Gustafsons'

Today Jeff, Nicholas, and I drove to the Oregon coast to attend a wonderful wedding. The bride was Abbey Hall, the sister of my best friend. It was an intimate celebration that was attended by close family and friends. We felt honored to be a part of such a special day in Abbey's life.

It was also Nicholas's very first road trip! He endured the six hour (total time, there and back) drive with no complaints. He was singing and talking to Jeff and me almost the entire time. He slept for over an hour on the way there and Jeff and I really enjoyed some "face time." We honestly have the BEST conversations in the car on road trips! I sat in the backseat with Nicholas once on the way there and once on the way back to give him some company and his bottle. He's such a joy! He even took a two-hour nap at the Halls' house before the wedding so he was refreshed and ready to party!

It was a great day and we had a lot of fun!

Little Friends

Tonight Nicholas and I went to my oldest friend, Katie's, house for dinner. We had some yummy food and Nicholas loved playing with both Katie & Grant and KC & Angie's kiddos. Gwendolyn (the only girl in these photos) is crazy about Nicholas and helped feed him his bottle and kept him entertained with books and songs. Jesse (the oldest boy in these photos) was so sweet to Nicholas. He tickled him and kept telling me how cute Nicholas is. Tripp (the other baby) is almost 17 months old and Nicholas lit up when he toddled over to say hello. They are all such sweet kids and we had a wonderful evening!

Thank you for having us over Lewis family!

A Gift

Remember a few weeks back when I explained how we decided to put down our dog, Jake, after he attacked and bit our neighbor? Well, rest his soul, he left us a little present...they are small and black and can jump really far...

Can you guess what it is?!

That's right...fleas!

Ugg...so disgusting! I hate those things, they make me feel all itchy and dirty. So two days ago I flea bombed our house and felt relieved to get rid of all those little buggers, except now Jeff and I have spotted 3 live ones must have been wearing gas masks because they made it through the extermination.

So my question for you is...how the heck do you get rid of them? If you know me well, you know I am a clean freak, so this is really stressing me out. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Orthopedic Devices

Look mom! I can stick my finger in the air holes!
We picked a groovy design

Today Nicholas had an appointment at Shriner's Children's Hospital. A couple of weeks ago he was fitted for a body brace and feet braces and today they were ready for us to pick up. Nicholas doesn't mind either of them at all. They fit him really well. The body brace allows him to sit up really straight. We are suppose to have him wear it more and more each day so that eventually he will wear it most of the time. The leg braces (AFO's) are to help keep his legs secure and straight when he is using the stander. We ordered a stander today for Nicholas and are exited to get it so he can start putting some weight on his little legs. It should also help his respiratory function and will help develop his hip bones.

One of the most exciting things Nicholas got to do today was drive a power wheelchair. Molly (his PT) and Denee (his OT) put him in a Spree they had at Shriner's and hooked up the joystick so it was at the right level and let him drive all over the physical therapy floor. At first he just went in circles, but after a little while he was going both forward and backward. He loves the freedom of being mobile! It was so cute to watch. My mom and I just kept smiling and giggling because it brought him so much joy! He is going to get lots of practice at Shriner's on their chair and we will order one of his own when he can manipulate it well or by his 2nd birthday (which ever comes first).

Jeff and I have noticed Nicholas's strength improving in the past few weeks, and are hoping that his new equipment will help him have even more success in everyday activities!