Babies, Bunnies and Baskets...

These are the 3 "B"s I got to focus on this weekend and I must admit I had more fun with them than the 3 "B"s from a few posts ago. :)

This first little baby bunny is the sweet little girl of our friends Matt and Laura.

I went to see Laura and baby Madeleine and this little angel was so sweet as to oblige me in some picture taking. I thought this bunny hat was precious and the perfect photo prop.

She was perfect! And it gave me a chance to combine 2 of my favorite things

- babies...

...and taking pictures of them. :)

And of course my own little bunny!
and his Easter Basket!

Jet had a great time celebrating his first Easter holiday complete with a sunshine-filled

Sunday and more than 1 basket of goodies.

My heart is full with how much my little boy is loved by so many. Of course he has an extensive family at his beck and call (waiting for a smile or even a shy dive into Mommy's shoulder) but he also has such a loving church family that have been there every step of the way. To have such support and love for your child since before his birth is an amazing feeling for a mother. God has truly blessed us - not only with this precious little boy, but with an amazing support system who help us count our blessings and stay so positive.

For all of you - we are so thankful.

Don't you just love those bright colors on him?

You can't tell in the pictures but his eyes were so blue. :)

"I thought you said there were eggs?

Where's the candy!?

What if I look really cute...then will you give me some...

Don't worry - Jet got his eggs - but those pics are on another camera. :( I'll have to post those later. Until then - I hope you all had a great weekend! And happy Spring Break to all of you who are lucky enough to have one! :)

Jet and I are 2 very lucky one's to have Daddy home for Spring Break. Yay for teaching!

Nice family pictures right? Color coordinated, handsome bow tie on David, Jet's all dressed up, Mommy's smiling and not grimacing at how heavy her son is...and then there's that last picture...what is my hand doing??? I mean, it looks like I'm throwing a gang symbol or peace sign....it's as much a mystery to me as you. I have NO idea what I was doing. No recollection at all. But it cracks me up! So enjoy the laugh as my family did when we saw that picture.

And PEACE YA'LL!

Happy, Happy, Happy Easter!

Little Longhorn

Thursday night (after a day at clinic) was a special night. Jet's finally got to watch his first soccer game - and not just any game - his Daddy's team! It was a warm, spring night and a home game for the varsity at Kell High School where Daddy is the Varsity coach - so we decided it was the perfect time for Jet to start showing his team spirit.

Go Longhorns!

Watching Daddy watch his team.

Jet stayed pretty calm, taking in the whole scene.

He's got good coaching potential. :)

And when we were tired of standing - we took a little break and played on the grass-

- picnic style!

Oh hi Daddy!

Little Longhorn.

Cutie pie. :)

He's so pretty, there was some "mistaken identity" again for our little beauty. A parent said to David "Hey, was that your daughter at the game? She's so cute!" When David said "I don't have a daughter?..." and questioned further he came to realize that the "little brunette with wispy curls" was not his daughter...but his son. lol. Oh dear.

But don't you just love those wispy curls? ;)

Future Longhorn?

Happy to be held. If any baby ever loved attention...it's this one.

Meeting the Principal again.

Jet had a blast - he ate some chicken sandwich bites, drank from a straw (well...sort of) and smiled at everyone. He had been so fussy up and till we got there and then it was like he was FINALLY where he wanted to be. With Daddy, Mommy, Nina and Papi, and a WHOLE stadium of what could only be adoring fans cheering for him. :)

Flip Flop

Jet had his 3rd visit to the Spina Bifida clinic yesterday. We left breathing another sigh of relief that it was positive (YAY) as most of our visits have been since that fateful and terrifying first visit to the perinatologist. And we offered a prayer of thanks that once again our little boy is defying the odds and making us wonder what we were so worried about. Now please don't misunderstand - our little boy is not "fixed" as I'm beginning to see is the common misconception. Yes he is doing AMAZING. But while he is wonderfully made and perfect in our eyes, and while his back closure and shunt surgeries were successful in "fixing" the immediate threats...Spina Bifida is not a broken bone or illness that can be treated and then just disappear. It is life long. It is always there. It is in the little things we take for granted and the big things we hope to see him do one day. So when people ask me how he's doing - I usually say GREAT. Because he IS doing great. When looking at the broad spectrum of challenges this condition can present - Jet is definitely one of the lucky ones in my book. He is strong. He has great potential. He has adjusted well to his shunt and has not had too many hospital visits. We are blessed. But to help explain what I'm talking about I'll try and give a breakdown of our appointment (and to our SB buddies this will be like reading nursery rhymes you've heard this stuff so many times yourselves.)

Jet's diagnosis is really divided into 4 big "B"s: Brain, Back, Bowls and Bladder. Or at least that's how it looks to me.

Brain: Jet's shunt is working fabulous and the doctor had no concerns. Yay! Doing great!

Back: Spina bifida means that Jet's "back" or spinal cord had a hole in it when he was born. So obviously that can pose some problems as far as muscle development, coordination, and strength. Jet so far has surprised doctors with his muscle tone and strength. With mild delays in reaching his milestones there are no great causes for concern yet and they still say Jet should walk fine.

There was some "flip flopping" among the different specialists as to when or if Jet should be fitted for AFO's (braces for his ankles that would fit inside his shoes). We were first told we would go ahead and fit him for them now so as to aid him in standing up and pulling to stand - as his ankles to tend to roll and give out when he stands now). This would give him confidence and keep the muscles from loosing too much by wobbling around. Makes sense right? THEN a second doctor came in - disagreed- and told us we should wait. That putting him in AFO's now could hinder potential strengthening and learning to develop those necessary muscles. He said Jet is still very young and we don't know what he can do yet - to give him support when he may not need it is not a good idea and we should wait to see what he can do - give it 4-6 months. Then if he still has trouble we'll get him some support. Okay - That makes sense too. AHH! I felt very confused. I wanted to feel confident in our decision but hearing 2 different but logical ways of thinking I ended up feeling "flip-floppy" myself. We ended up going with the 2nd opinion - waiting till Jet's older and letting him develop and seeing what he can do. But the "flip-flop" was kind of a stress to me. I'm so afraid of not giving Jet what he needs. Being the advocate for his health that I want to and should be. But I'm just continuing to trust Jet's Highest Advocate for help. :)

Bowels and Bladder: The least delicate of the "B"s but the most prominent in our daily life - Jet has both neurogenic bladder and bowels. This means these muscles are very weak and perhaps under-developed. Bladder control will probably be difficult but we aren't really "there yet." Weak bowels on the other hand means a horrible cycle of constipation and diarrhea (see...not delicate) that we have already been treating with his diet - but are now looking at some other options (suppositories and/or stool softeners) for help. Needless to say it's no picnic for Jet. And one of the "publicly unseen" difficulties of SB, but something Jet will struggle with and always have to work with. Possible medications or surgeries will follow...

But to the world....

He's the adorable, healthy, smiling boy that is the very picture of perfection. :)

So we went home. Enjoyed the outdoors

....and the outdoor creatures.

We ate dinner...

And our bib caught the leftovers...

We snuggled with Nina and made the kitty jealous.

We felt the cool breeze and discovered wind-chimes...

And we wore flip-flops...and smiled at the irony.

Flower Power

With the birds chirping (chiding us for not feeding them) and sun shinning (exposing our barren back yard) Jet and I decided it was time for some "spring sprucing" (spring cleaning is way overrated...save it for the rainy days. On days like this I'd rather be outdoors.) So after a walk around the park (yep - dusted off those walking shoes that have been hiding in the closet since the pregnancy...boy a mile feels a lot longer these days...) Jet grabbed Nina and I and headed off to the Pike Nursery for some inspiration.

If they made a garden gnome that was this cute... I'd buy 10 and put them all over the yard. lol
Pretty glass things that probably have a real purpose I'm not aware of... but want them anyway.

FLOWERS!
Jet liked the wagon.
And you can tell by the way he's eyeing those plants...
He wants to eat them...
But I'm not really into letting him figure out which ones are poisonous that way.
So it was time to move on.

It was a gorgeous day with a red wagon, pretty flowers, and cute garden gnome...

I think that 'bout says it all. :)

New Tricks and Awesome Milestones

Here are a few videos from the past few weeks of all of our little guy's new tricks. :)

He's an aspiring beat-boxer... (he goes on an on...but it's so funny I couldn't stop taping him!)

Pianist...(this one is appropriately shorter)

And He's MOBILE!!! :)

Getting to a sitting position from laying down is BIG for us. Most people think of SB and think "leg weakness" but it's often so much more than that. Jet has good leg strength and muscle town but his torso muscles and even arm muscles are weaker than you'd think. We recently learned that on average SB babies (even in the best cases) are often behind 1 month at least in developmental milestones. Jet's been pretty good keeping up until around 7-9 months and ALOT of milestones (crawling, sitting up on their own, pulling up to stand) start happening around then....usually. Jet's PT doesn't really expect Jet to be on this schedule but we want to stay as close as we can for now. SO we've been working on this for the last month at least and I remember thinking "how do you teach him that?!" but he GOT IT! Not only that but he's moving around the floor and army crawling to get to toys. It's only a matter of time before he's into EVERYTHING. :)

We're so excited at this latest milestone and so proud of our little boy!