Heart Update and More!

We took Brogan to his cardiologist recently for his bi-monthly exam. To start with we were running late, I don't even know how that happened to tell you the truth. I was pretty sure we left on time. I do have my own standard time though so maybe I got them confused. You know my standard time and everyone else's. Anyway, we were running late, and the office is like an hour and a half away, so we knew we were going to be late when we were halfway there but we couldn't do anything about it because we don't have phones right now. So we get to the office, late, and they decide they need to see Brogans insurance cards, which apparently I don't carry with me. They still let us see the doctor, but I still can't believe I didn't have any of his insurance stuff with me. He was well behaved as always, and the doctor even mentioned he was wondering who was making all the noises! Brogan loves to hear his own voice I think, and it is the cutest thing! Finally the doctor goes to look at his heart and puts that jelly goop on his chest. He tolerated it well at first but by the end got a little antsy!

So we are being scheduled for a heart catheter to see what his numbers are, and to hopefully balloon a piece to not have to open his chest back up. We have to go back down to Ann Arbor for the procedure.  I think it is probably going to be in a couple of months or so, and meanwhile he is terrorizing our apartment!

Did I mention he can walk now? Yeah, he can walk now! He walks everywhere! Our apartment looks funny because we have different sections. We have the T.V. and all the movies sectioned off behind the ottoman, the pack and play is blocking the hallway, and some totes have come in handy at the entrance to the kitchen. We are finding as well as you think you may have him blocked in, there is always a way around it. The other day I was knitting as he played and I looked up to him standing by the totes, look down, do a couple stitches, look up and he is gone. GONE! I was running from room to room till I found him in front of his dresser helping to reorganize his clothes. They looked better on the floor then they did in the drawer! He can sure move when he wants to.

His favorite thing to do is to walk down the hall to the bathroom when he gets his bath. LOVES it! He also likes it when dad spins in a circle, and tries to imitate him. He only falls down every now and again. Not to often really. He does make himself a little bit dizzy I think. Another of his favorite past times, reorganizing the living room. More specifically his toy box and book shelf. The toys look better outside of the toy box and the books look better on the floor. When he goes to bed the cleaning fairy stops by, most of the time. Then it's a clean slate for him to work with in the morning.

Catching Up?

So it's been a busy sort of time here. Lets see, where did I leave off? Right around our vacation I think.

We took our first family vacation to visit some of my family in Missouri. We left July 1st at around 7pm. It's about a 12 hour drive so we were pretty anxious to see how well the baby would do. He slept most of the way there, only waking and fussing a couple times but he went right back to sleep. So he got lots of sleep but the rest of us didn't. Good thing my grandma was happy to see us and then let us take a nap! We celebrated his first 4th of July in style with a big family get together. Then right before we headed back home we celebrated his FIRST birthday! I can not believe he is already one! My family were all very happy to meet the baby and of course the hubby, they hadn't met him before. We can't wait to go back, it was so much fun. Oh and we went to the Kansas City Zoo! Brogans first adventure at the Zoo! It was very hot that day, and we almost melted, thank goodness for the misters set throughout the Zoo! I think Brogans favorite part was when he got to pet the sheep, or more like pull the wool out of the sheep!

Coming back from our first family vacation we found out that my hubby was fired! That's right, no more income! So we are now frantically looking for employment for either one of us. It's not the end of the world and we will get through it.

A couple days after we got home we had a birthday party for the baby up here. That's right, my baby got two parties! It's a good thing we bought mostly everything in advance or we might not have had a whole lot for the party. It was a nice party with lots of family and friends, and the baby got lots of new toys that get scattered throughout my living room. At both parties Brogan didn't like touching the cake, he just wouldn't do it! When my mom put his hands in the icing at his second party he about threw a fit. He likes ice cream though!

Did I mention my baby turned ONE! How crazy it went by so fast! I still can't believe it.

Well that was the major goings on that I hadn't said anything about yet. We have another eventful week ahead of us. Today we have a developmental checkup for the baby. Tomorrow we have pictures being taken (they are free thanks to inspiration through art, like their facebook page!) with an awesome photographer. Then Thursday we finally have the year checkup, I am dreading them shots!

Guess who no longer has any bottles! That's right I finally gave them up. How was I gonna take it away from the baby if I still had one? No just kidding, of course I was talking about the baby! Yeah, no more bottles! It's kinda funny how he gets mad at his sippy cups though! Now the next step is the binky, and I don't think it is going to be too bad. I think.

Happy Fathers Day!

Yes I know I am a couple hours late, but just think of it as getting some attention on a non specific day!
So I found a card that gave the history of Fathers Day. It was simple, and I can totally see it happening this way! So do you wanna know yet? Well it said something like, Fathers Day was invented because about a month after Mothers Day somebody said, "Wait a minute!" It was one of the best cards I saw! Then I got a card for my dad from his grandson and it said, Grandpa, I know I'm cool and I know your cool, so what happened to that weird generation in the middle! That was also one of the best I have seen!

So to all the fathers, soon to be fathers, and single mothers who fill that description as well,
HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

Playing Catch Up!

So it's been a little bit since my last post and some things have gone down as they say. I don't know why they say they have gone down, it wasn't much of a downward motion for me, but you know how it is. Don't you hate it when people say you know how it is? What exactly? I might know how it is but I have no clue at any given time what you are thinking, and how it is for me probably isn't even close to how it is for you! Anyway, now that I have wasted the appropriate amount of time on nothing in particular, lets get down to it!

I had a couple of birthday parties to go to just recently. They were both for the babies 1st birthdays. Yeah! So anyway their actual birthdays are at the beginning of June, just four days apart, so I knew the parties were probably going to be the same weekend. Boy was I dreaming! They ended up being on the same day! Yeah! So the first party I went to was a little better for my baby because he actually got to play with other babies. Although there was this little 10 month old that was walking everywhere! The little girl whose party it was is NOT walking and my baby (11 months) is NOT walking, so this little 10 month old is walking around showing our babies up! She tripped on something a couple of times though I had nothing to do with it! I'm just kidding, I was the one tripping her! No I was kidding about her tripping, she didn't actually trip on anything. She was bigger than both of our babies though so maybe that had something to do with her walking so soon! Yeah that's what I am going with! I didn't get to see the cake smash for her party though because I had to go to the other party!

So I left to go to the other party and I was asked to pick up the balloons for this party on my way there (I was going right by the store) so I stopped and made my mom (the unofficial grandma for all the babies in question) hold all the balloons on her lap, well in front of her face because I didn't want my baby playing with the strings. It was pretty hard to see around these balloons on the way to the party and then we saw two cops on the way, I just knew we were going to get pulled over! We made it to the party without a ticket though! This party was a little slower. First we had to wait for the birthday boy to get there. Then they played pass the baby, which is fine, but like I said not very fun for my baby! Finally we got to see the birthday boy drop the cake in his lap! It took some encouraging but he finally started to really make a mess!

Whew! Glad that day is over with!

On the home front Brogan has really been trying to walk. See, he didn't like getting shown up by that 10 month old either! He does really good at walking around the furniture, and he can stand in one place (without holding onto anything) for a little bit before he starts to fall. We got him one of those toys that he can push and walk with and he walks all over the place with it. Well until he comes to a wall, or a piece of furniture, or one of his toys. Then he kinda just gets caught up and stands there waiting for someone to help him get going again. He hasn't gotten the hang of turning yet! He does love cruising the house, whether it is in his walker or as far as he can go with his push toy. So now I am trying to stay caught up with the baby as well, if he's not in his walker getting into things then he is crawling EVERYWHERE getting into things! I love that he finally crawls though! Tonight he was cruising the furniture and decided to just let go and gave himself a fat lip! This is the first time he has really fallen and hurt himself so he cried for a good amount of time till I gave him something cold to chew on.

We also tonight put his crib down to the lower setting! It's pretty exciting, my baby is getting so big! We didn't have to worry about it until now because he wouldn't pull himself up to anything, well he did sometimes, but in his crib he would just lay there looking at his musical toy or at the most sit up. So we moved it down before he decides he wants to make a great escape!

Now this month I have two more birthdays, two baby showers, and a bridal shower. Yeah I didn't need any money this month anyway! Then of course the big first birthday for my baby next month! Not to mention our trip to Missouri to see my family (my dads side) who have only seen pictures of Brogan. I am excited to be getting away honestly. Even if we don't have that much spending money!

Crawling and Swimming!

As the title suggests we now have a crawler! Woohoo! Or more likely, crap, we still don't have any baby gates! So next on the shopping list, you guessed it! BABY GATES!!! Not that he is getting around super fast or anything. He is still kinda shaky and he does this thing where he tries to walk on his feet but with his hands on the ground when he crawls. It's super funny! The hubby and I were sitting on the floor trying to get him to come to us but he just kept repositioning himself, after he got on his knees like he was gonna crawl! So we have learned he likes to tease us with the whole crawling thing. But if you put a phone on the floor, just out of his reach, then you can watch him crawl! He has some important calls to make! Apparently. I wonder if he would buy it if we got him one of those toy phones? He probably wouldn't even play with it! We'll see I guess. So shopping list so far: BABY GATES, toy phone, super glue (in case the gates don't work!), I think that's about it. Whew short shopping list this week!

I think I alluded to swimming as well. We went to the giant bathtub again (babes second time!) and he was just as impressed as he was the first time, he wasn't. Well he did warm up a bit I guess, towards the end, when we were getting out. Actually he liked it when anyone splashed. He would giggle every time someone splashed. So after a little bit he just floated around the pool in his floaty (that's the technical term) and giggled. He also tried to, well we aren't sure if he was trying to lick the floaty or the water, but he was definitely trying to lick something! We all had fun and stayed at the pool for almost two hours! I know right! Just swimming! We had the pool to ourselves though, well us and some friends also with babes.

Then we came home, the magical walker worked for it's time off and then we crawled some more! On a side note it is amazing what you can find when you do that crawling inspection thing so the baby can play on the floor. Just amazing I tell you. I'm pretty sure I found a cheese puff and I don't think we have ever had cheese puffs here! Brogans girlfriend must be sneaking in snack foods again. How many talks do I have to have with that girl!

This video shows what I was talking about with the whole walking on his feet with his hands on the floor. Just imagine a much cuter baby (you know, because he is mine!) with less equilibrium and not really going anywhere, and that's how Brogan crawls! This baby is much more advanced, obviously training for the baby Olympics. We didn't make the cut this year, thanks a lot worlds fastest baby!

The Walker

So now my son absolutely loves his walker. How do I know? Well not only does he love being in it all the time, he will cry if you have to take him out to feed him or change his but. Want more proof? Well now he will wiggle and squirm when you lay down with him to get him to take a nap, and he just won't fall asleep, he moves and moves and keeps himself awake. Then I finally decide, fine he doesn't want to take a nap so lets just play. So I sit on the floor with him surrounded by toys, and he just picks them up and throws them away from us. Then he will get really cranky. So I will put him back in his walker. A couple minutes later I will look over and, yes his magical walker did what I just couldn't do. The evasive nap has been found! The magical walker is a staple in our house.

On the other hand though, it is definitely a pain! We love that the baby gets around wherever he wants to go, since he still won't crawl, but now we have to set up barricades so he doesn't get to certain places. He loves to play in the kitchen, which I don't have a problem with, except when the oven is on. Since I bake bread every other day, the oven is used regularly. His new thing is running down the hall. He has figured out where we keep the big thing that he gets to splash in ( he LOVES his baths). So now he tries to run all the way down the hall and get into the bathroom before I get down there to turn him around. We try to keep the door closed and that has helped a bit, till he rams into it and opens it. He also likes to follow us around. Where ever we go he will follow. That's how he found out where the bathtub is, he followed me when I went to the bathroom. So he absolutely loves his walker and he never gets stuck or in a place that he just can't get out of. He has of course ran over mom and dads toes many times!

When he is not in his walker he can still get around by rolling everywhere. It is the funniest thing I have seen. He will point himself in whatever direction he wants to go and start rolling! A couple of days ago he started rolling towards the dining room and stopped at the corner of the love seat so he could chew on it. Really baby! We have I don't know how many toys that he can chew on but he prefers things that get reactions out of mom and dad! Like the love seat, his changing table, our fingers, anything that might surprise us! He definitely keeps us on our toes!

Now if you'll excuse me I have to go relieve the wonderful, magical walker of its duties for a little bit.

First Annual Heart Walk of Michigan!

Brogan staying dry, well all but the feet!

Bananas for Brogan officially got to participate in the first annual CHD Heart Walk today! Well technically it was yesterday but I haven't been to bed yet so it's today still. So Saturday we were a part of the large group of wonderful people who gathered to support the funding of research and awareness of CHD's! Yes we are still taking donations! Our small team consisted of myself, my adoring husband, mini me, the banana, and of course Brogan himself. We raised money through wristband sales (they say Bananas for Brogan) and a couple of bake sales. We haven't even hit the mark to get a free t-shirt yet, but we are still working on it!

For the walk though we didn't get the banana (she had a funeral) but we got my mom and hubby's cousin Renee.

Some of the bandannas I made the hubby help with!

We made bandannas that of course said Bananas for Brogan for the walkers that participated for our team, but of course I forgot to get them out of the car before the walk started. At least we were all wearing our wristbands! It was amazing to see so many people out to participate in an event like this and we will be a part of anymore that are in the future! I have met some heart moms at the Ronald McDonald House when everything was still new to me and still confusing, and I have met even more online through blogs. So it meant a lot to me when I could be in the same place with numerous other families that are experiencing something similar to our journey. You didn't have to over explain everything you say when they asked what your little Heart Warrior was born with. They understand all the lingo that comes up. They understand the tears that spring to your eye without notice when you hear of another little baby who is now a Heart Angel. They understand the mini celebrations for each new month and each new smile. A lifelong connection comes with the honor of having a Heart Warrior or a Heart Angel that get to share their perfect broken hearts, even for just a short time.

So I met a wonderful woman who has a beautiful little girl that was born with a CHD. We also got to hear the story of another little girl who is now a Heart Angel. If I had to stand in front of  a group of Heart Parents and their supporters, I don't think I could do it with half the grace and determination that was displayed by these two women. It makes you realize you are apart of something that is changing the future. We will find better ways of mending little hearts, we will make sure every little baby born with a CHD is given a fighting chance, we will bring greater awareness so it's not a secret club only meant for those with experience.



 After the speakers we got to release balloons. Brogan was a little tired I think and didn't really mind at all that the balloon escaped his fist. I tried to show them floating in the sky but it was still raining so he didn't really care for looking up.

Then came the walk. We all headed out in a big group and slowly the group split into two groups. We were somewhere in between the two groups, so at the very end of the first and the somewhat beginning of the second. It was still rainy for the walk to but it was refreshing knowing we were walking for a cause! When we finally made the finish line we were handed red ribbons to pin on and they called the winners of the 50/50 raffle! I never win anything that I enter myself into but I was surprised today to learn that we won a handmade baby quilt! That's pink! For my son!? Oh well guess we are just gonna have to have a girl now!

This is the groups in front of us.

This is the group behind us, with the wonderful Renee in the front!

Mothers Day!

Today was my first official mothers day! Woohoo! My baby didn't realize this day was suppose to be special and so acted no differently. The best mothers day gift ever! Seriously, I believe I have the best baby EVER! Of course I may be biased, but this is why it was the best gift, he was his normal, happy, easy going self! I got to spend my day with baby and daddy, we went to a family function (congrats great gr ma and gr pa for making it 60 years together!), then we went to see my mom together (well just me and baby) while dad cooked me (well I guess it would be us) dinner. Spaghetti and homemade bread. Good job baby! It was delicious!

One of the funniest things I have seen I witnessed today. We were at the park with the family and they have a BMX course set up and some of the kids brought their bikes to ride through it. Well uncle Mike started daring everyone to go through the course and so grandpa Cowboy (hubby's dad) decided to try it. So the family group shifted to cover the BMX course and we all watched as grandpa Cowboy, then uncle Mike, then aunt Jean rode through the course. It was funny that they were just riding through and not trying to get air on the jumps and almost getting stuck on some of the bigger hills, but the funniest part was when they made it to the end of the course and got off the bike. Well tried to get off the bike! And then tried to walk! Too funny! Then to keep the excitement going my niece was finding every puddle or ditch to walk through, losing her shoe once, and going up to strangers to say hi. She was all over the place.

And of course we had to get family pictures, which involves family members yelling anything from cheese to fuzzy nipples. Then as we posed for the second and third and fourth picture they started getting creative with different kinds of cheeses. So we had provolone, and feta. Then they just started counting down as aunt Kathy set the timer and ran for her seat. We never knew exactly when it took the picture and turns out aunt Kathy wasn't in any of them after all of her hard work. So it was a lot of fun and by the end of the outing poor Brogan was so tired! He fell asleep as soon as we started driving. We all had fun, and it was awesome that the hubby actually got to come hang out with us for once!

Bake Sale and Wristbands!

We decided to have a bake sale recently to raise money for the Heart Walk that we are participating in. The Heart Walk is for the funding of research and awareness of CHD's. Since this is something that is very close to our heart we knew we had to do it. So I had this idea to do a bake sale. Yeah! Well the first day we baked little star cakes, peanut butter cookies, and 4 different kinds of muffins. We made $7.75.

The second day we made 3 different types of muffins, sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies, and banana bread. We made $9. I'm starting to think we should sit in front of Walmart next time!

I also had some silicone wristbands made. They are yellow and say Bananas for Brogan ( of course, what else would they say!). We figured we would sell them for $3 a piece or 2 for $5. Honestly I was hoping that sweet deal would entice everyone to just give us $5 so we wouldn't have to deal with change, and so far I am right! Woohoo! So now we are selling wristbands and actually making some money for our team. Woohoo!

We are also going to make bandannas that say, you guessed it Bananas for Brogan!, to wear on the day of the walk. I have a banana costume from last Halloween that my sub commander is going to wear at the walk and that she also donned for the bake sale. Come to think of it maybe that's why people wouldn't really look at us, well mostly the crazy lady in the costume!

Doesn't she make a beautiful banana!

That's about it for now. Two days after the sale and I am still cleaning up from baking. Maybe that's why I don't do it that often. Maybe I should just get a housekeeper. Hey that's a good idea! Alrighty gotta go so I can pick some leaves off the money tree so I can get me a cleaning lady! Woohoo!

Kids Cute Comments!

So coloring eggs with my nephews, I had written dad and mom on two of Brogans eggs with that wax stick you get and then colored them. I also wrote Brogan on one, but that isn't part of the story. Once I colored them I put them on the towel to dry and my youngest nephew looked over at them. As soon as he spotted them he screamed, " Hey that's my moms name!" He apparently only cared about that one at the moment. When I explained to him it was Brogans egg for me he said, " No that's my moms name!" at this moment he caught a glimpse of the other one and screamed, " That's dad!" pointing at my other egg. It took a little bit of explaining and then writing on his eggs for his mom and dad before he would drop the subject. It was pretty cute though!

I love some of the things little kids say!

Easter Numero Uno!

So we just recently celebrated our Brogans first Easter! The Easter Bunny was good to him! Plus he got spoiled from all three sets of grandparents! Very busy weekend! Now I think I will stop with the exclamation points! Maybe just one more!

Anyway our busy weekend started with coloring eggs with Brogan, the nephews, uncle Billy, and the Grandparents Fuhrman. He was slightly confused I think on why we wanted him to push down the button that made the egg spinner spin, and was happy watching someone else do it. Plus it was a little hard for him to push on his own. He got to make 8 different eggs, meaning mom got to color them of course while he watched. The nephews were excited to watch Brogan attempt to hit the button and of course loved playing with the colored dyes. We didn't even have a mess this year, which is a tradition that I am glad we skipped!

The next day we got to go to the Nichols Grandparents house and get the basket the Easter Bunny left there, a couple days early. (I heard he works through the weekend to get it all done, taking requests for people who might want their chocolate a little early!) So grandma and grandpa got it love on him for the day, and of course they loved it! Brogan is not gonna want to sit on the couch with Grandpa much longer though, cause he always ends up taking a nap.

Early the next morning, and I mean early!, we got up to go to an Easter Egg hunt at Aunt Vons church. They let the little kids go first and we took so long finding our 18 eggs that the other kids almost died with the anticipation, literally! O.K. so not quite that literally, they just thought they couldn't wait any longer! We were however almost tackled coming back in through the doors as they let the kids go at the same time. It's a good thing I was carrying Brogan, not that he can walk yet, I even had to push a little 8 year old out of my way to get through! Don't worry I didn't hurt him, can't say the same for the little boy he ran into, but that was all him! So we cracked Brogans eggs open and got lots of candy that he can't eat and some pictures of him sitting in spots throughout the hunt just holding an egg. He didn't care to much for them that day, he didn't even want to chew on them! He was probably still a little tired. I mentioned it being early remember. Early for us is like 10:00 a.m. I know, that's not really that early for some people, but for us it is! My little man sleeps till like 10, maybe 9:30 if he is hungry. So when we get up at 8:00 a.m., that's really early! I love my baby and his sleeping habits, and my husband for always getting up with him.

Anyway, after the Egg Hunt we went to Gr ma & Gr pa Furlo's. They of course had a basket for him too! We got to have Easter dinner with the Grandparents Furlo. The hubby had to work so it was just me and baby, flying solo, or well duo, something like that. We had some awesome lasagna, and chicken alfredo lasagna. For desert Uncle J.D. made some yummy cheesecake and we had some apple pie as well. The babies, my niece is almost 2, got to go outside and blow bubbles and see the horses. It was a very eventful day and also very hard driving home, 45 minutes from the Furlo ranch! Momma was tired from the early day with no naps!

So that was our weekend, it may not have happened all in that order, but I promise it did all happen. I think. Maybe.

Till next time, Happy Easter, a couple days late!

Did I mention I am gonna be an Aunt again! Yeah! I can't wait! Only 8 months to go! I know, again with the exclamation marks! I just can't help it sometimes!

CHD and my Baby!

I am a stay at home mother to a wonderful baby boy. He is about to turn 9 months and is growing like a weed! Coming from a recovering workaholic, parenting is the hardest job that I have ever had! I say recovering workaholic because parenting isn't really work. Sure certain aspects of it are daunting, especially when you bring your little bundle of joy home and you no longer have the friendly nurses to help you, or answer questions at 2 in the morning. Then you have the days where you just want to stare at him all day because you can't believe he is yours. He is a little part of you that you get to shape for the rest of his life, or at least as long as he will listen to you! If you couldn't tell I love my job!

So to tell you a little bit about the stress that came with bringing our son into the world, Brogan was born with a CHD. We knew about this before birth but knowing didn't help us deal with our new reality once Brogan was with us. We also were not sure of the type of CHD until we had him. He was born with Tetralogy of Fallot or TOF with Pulmonary Atresia.

My 2 day old baby!

Brogan after fist surgery

We had to have a c-section because of the baby's heart rate dropping at the end of my contractions. Daddy got to stand up and see what the baby was (it was a surprise!), but once they had the baby they whisked him away to the NICU. I didn't even get to see him except for the pictures that dad got to take before they wheeled him away. Once they sewed me back up, I went to a recovery room. Once I could move enough to get up and sit in a wheel chair, I went to see my baby. He was just beautiful, and SO tiny! I wanted to hold him right away, but the first time I got to hold him he was 6 days old. The night before his first open heart surgery. We both held him for a long time that night, and the next morning came with some of the hardest moments I have had yet! Watching them wheel him away from us after giving him a kiss, waiting anxiously for updates through his surgery, and then seeing him completely unresponsive after his surgery because of the anesthesia. Some very hard moments for me. He healed up pretty quick though and we were going home just 9 days later. He came home with aspirin and a feeding tube. He only used the feeding tube for a week at home, and then he ripped it out and just ate from the bottle!

Brogan after second surgery

Four months later, right after his first Halloween (he was the cutest little monkey!), we were back in the hospital waiting to have his second surgery. This one would be the complete repair with the gortex patch and them closing the holes they found in his heart. It was just as hard to hand him over this time, but I got to hold him until right before they took him into the prep room. Another day of anxiously waiting for updates through surgery, and then the heartbreak of seeing him not responding to touches or noises. He bounced back quicker this time and we went home 7 days later with some lasix for his fluid retention.

Now at 9 months, we just had a cardiologist appointment and Dr. Z said everything sounds good. He did an echo cardiogram of his heart and saw the piece that they patched isn't growing as well as he hoped, so he says they will have to do a heart cath in 6 to 12 months. If it's anything like the last time they said 6-12 months we will be in the cath lab in 4. He hasn't had to take any meds for a couple of months now, but he did get his RSV shots through the winter. We had a doctors appointment today and she said he looks great and the nurse measured him twice because she couldn't believe how much he had grown!

He is doing great developing, the only thing he doesn't do is crawl. He doesn't like to be on his tummy! He will roll over right away if you put him down for tummy time. This doesn't stop him from moving however. If he wants to get somewhere he will get there! He does the cutest little scooting maneuver and a couple of turns, and he can get anywhere!

Brogan at 9 months!

So that is the short version, or not so short I guess, of my smiley, always happy, chunky monkey! We love him so much and know that we are blessed to have him! Now for the planning of his FIRST Birthday! Yeah!

Welcome one and all!

Hello everyone! Thank you for giving me a moment of your time!

I created this blog to put myself out there a little more than I am used to. Out where? Well I am still trying to decide. This is a start and the first time I have written like this, so excuse any minor mistakes you happen to find. I'm sure there will be plenty. Plus I have things to talk about, right? I think everyone does, but is it worth the time people have to spend to read it? So far no, not at all. So lets get down to the meat and potatoes shall we!

Telling you a little about myself and what brought me to today, I am married and have a wonderful son. My husband and I have walked a path so far that we could never have guessed we would be down. From a very short long distance relationship, to a chaotic wedding,to wondering if we were ever going to have babies, to nervously waiting for our son to come out of surgery! I will tell you more about each of these and more but right now I want to introduce you to my family.

Meet my husband, he is almost 30 (this year) and the light of my day. I think the house gets a little brighter when he walks in! I have never dealt with being alone very well and yes I am still afraid of the dark, so his light is like the life of our relationship. I love him to the ends of the earth and the depths of the seas! We have been together so far for almost 9 years (this year), married for 6 (almost).

Next meet my baby boy, Brogan Dean. He is almost 9 months old and my love for him is deeper than for my husband! Brogan has a CHD that was discovered in utero and he has had 2 open heart surgeries to date. We are very grateful to have our son, he is our heart and our world! He loves to smile at anyone he meets and is very easy going. My husband says we should stop while we are ahead because he just knows the next one is going to like to test us! I think one more would be great!

Well I guess that brings us to me. I am a 28 year old stay at home mom that absolutely loves her job. I also like to sew, crotchet, knit, and cook. I'm mostly mediocre on all things listed but love them just the same. I love having parties for anything really and throw myself into the planning and funding, which gets me into trouble with my hubby!

The reason for the title, well we love the Renaissance Festival and usually don't miss a year. We missed last year because Brogan was born and we were in the hospital longer than normal! So we can't wait to take the baby this year! I hope he likes it as much as we do because he will be going quite a bit throughout his life! I love fairies, they are a little mischievous like myself and something you can't help but smile about. When you are at the Festival you just can't help but think about fairies and dragons and things lost in time. It's like stepping into a different and beautiful world. Also who doesn't like fauns, and babies, of course, are something that most of us can't help but fall to pieces over.