Waiting to blow out his candle
I LOVE this picture because Evan's little face looks just like his baby face...
Friday, February 17, 2012
Evan is 8!
A few say they can't get to pic's so I'm posting a few of my favorites from his party. Evan says that this was the best party ever. It was definately the easiest and most inexpensive one. We bought $5 pizza's, made cupcakes and hung some black plastic from the ceilings in the basement - threw a few boxes around for them to hide behind. They had a blast and played Nerf Guns for hours. So thankful for great family and friends that celebrated with us. That was one good group of boys!
Waiting to blow out his candle
I LOVE this picture because Evan's little face looks just like his baby face...
Waiting to blow out his candle
I LOVE this picture because Evan's little face looks just like his baby face...
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Evan's 8th Birthday Nerf Gun War party!
http://photo1.walgreens.com/walgreens/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=8902326003/a=5171701_7311049/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=walgreens/
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
My Sensitive Guy
I think of things I want to document on Evan's blog and then think - I should wait until x and then post a big update. Then he says something else that I want to document and I remember, wasn't there something else I had meant to put but, by then I have already forgotten. That's how it's been lately when I think of posting here. So... I'm posting today in fear I'll forget what I'm thinking if I wait until there is more to say, lol.
Evan is doing great. Sometimes he pushes me to the limit and I lose my cool and then others I have tears in my eyes at how proud I am of him. At school Evan stays in the top of his class. He doesn't struggle at all with any of the subjects and doesn't need help hardly with any of his homework. He loves school and doesn't want to miss a day. I was exhausted after the holiday and mentioned to him tha he and I should skip the first day back and he looked at me like I was crazy and said... I have perfect attendance and I'm not ruining that Mom. Okay... geez. He loves his teacher. He has been blessed with good teachers and so far has loved each of them. I'm so thankful for that. His testing scores are really high - in the top 2% of his grade - he and his little school/heart buddy friend hold the top % - isn't that cool?!? His handwriting does get a little sloppy and I sometimes make him redo it. Mean Mama. He usually doesn't complain though - at homework time he climbs up to the kitchen bar and 5 minutes later he is done and off to play. He loves to read and be read to. So academically at school he is doing great. Socially he is doing pretty good. He still struggles to understand relationships. He is so sensitive. He still cries very easily if his feelings are hurt. It doesn't take much to hurt his feelings and he doesn't forget it easily either. I still encourage him to try hard to not let little things get to him and his response is always, "I try Mom, I do, but it hurts to stop the cry when I need to." So he cries. He also tells everything. If Evan says how something happened you can be pretty sure it's the truth. He doesn't hold anything in, even if it is going to get him in trouble. Because he tells everything he can be known to be quite the tattler. I'm sure this is annoying to his teacher at times, it is to me. He will be telling me a whole run down of something that happened at school and it ends with "and Mom I told!" Like I should be surprised. I'm always trying to encourage him to give people a break or to remember that sometimes people, including himself, have bad days. He is so sensitive. Have I said that? Some things have really been worrying him. This usually comes out during his shower at night. He doesn't like to be in the bathroom alone so usually he gets in the shower as I'm finishing up with my nightly routine of brushing teeth and putting on moisturizer. He will ask in a slightly trembled voice "Mom, I have a question." Currently he is very worried about his middle finger. Someone at school explained to a number of kids on the playground what it was. Evan came home and asked about it and we explained in terms we were okay with and why we don't use those gestures or language. However, Evan has always liked to pop his fingers. He also uses his fingers to count sometimes, etc. He has asked probably no less than 20 times if that is okay. While he is in the shower the conversation goes
-Mom I did it again and I wondered afterwards if I was doing a bad thing or not
-Did you mean it to be bad
-no, I was just popping my fingers
-then it wasn't bad, it's only bad if you mean for it to be bad Evan
-but after I popped them I remembered what it means so is that bad because I remembered
-no...
And so the conversation goes. I've told him God gave him 10 fingers and expects him to use them for his good. He still worries and brings it up quite often. He is really hard on himself if he thinks he possibly did something bad so we have been really trying to make sure he doesn't think HE is bad. So often he pushes his limits on smart mouthing or saying what we consider bad words that I have started to worry that maybe all this is because he doesn't get enough praise. So Eric and I have really been working on making sure we praise him for all the good things he does and remind him how proud we are of him daily and that we think he is a good boy. This does seem to have helped. I wish he weren't so hard on himself. So sensitive...
I think he is going to be an amazing man someday... I just keep thinking about how hard Middle school will be for his sensitive little self. Hopefully we can keep his confidence in himself high. Thanks for checking in and from now on when something happens I want to document I'm just going to post it instead of waiting because I'm just too scatter brained for that.
Evan & His school/heart buddy Caleb at the Globetrotters game at the Yum Center.
Us at the Harlem Globetrotters game. Our local heart support group went together. What a fun night.
Evan is doing great. Sometimes he pushes me to the limit and I lose my cool and then others I have tears in my eyes at how proud I am of him. At school Evan stays in the top of his class. He doesn't struggle at all with any of the subjects and doesn't need help hardly with any of his homework. He loves school and doesn't want to miss a day. I was exhausted after the holiday and mentioned to him tha he and I should skip the first day back and he looked at me like I was crazy and said... I have perfect attendance and I'm not ruining that Mom. Okay... geez. He loves his teacher. He has been blessed with good teachers and so far has loved each of them. I'm so thankful for that. His testing scores are really high - in the top 2% of his grade - he and his little school/heart buddy friend hold the top % - isn't that cool?!? His handwriting does get a little sloppy and I sometimes make him redo it. Mean Mama. He usually doesn't complain though - at homework time he climbs up to the kitchen bar and 5 minutes later he is done and off to play. He loves to read and be read to. So academically at school he is doing great. Socially he is doing pretty good. He still struggles to understand relationships. He is so sensitive. He still cries very easily if his feelings are hurt. It doesn't take much to hurt his feelings and he doesn't forget it easily either. I still encourage him to try hard to not let little things get to him and his response is always, "I try Mom, I do, but it hurts to stop the cry when I need to." So he cries. He also tells everything. If Evan says how something happened you can be pretty sure it's the truth. He doesn't hold anything in, even if it is going to get him in trouble. Because he tells everything he can be known to be quite the tattler. I'm sure this is annoying to his teacher at times, it is to me. He will be telling me a whole run down of something that happened at school and it ends with "and Mom I told!" Like I should be surprised. I'm always trying to encourage him to give people a break or to remember that sometimes people, including himself, have bad days. He is so sensitive. Have I said that? Some things have really been worrying him. This usually comes out during his shower at night. He doesn't like to be in the bathroom alone so usually he gets in the shower as I'm finishing up with my nightly routine of brushing teeth and putting on moisturizer. He will ask in a slightly trembled voice "Mom, I have a question." Currently he is very worried about his middle finger. Someone at school explained to a number of kids on the playground what it was. Evan came home and asked about it and we explained in terms we were okay with and why we don't use those gestures or language. However, Evan has always liked to pop his fingers. He also uses his fingers to count sometimes, etc. He has asked probably no less than 20 times if that is okay. While he is in the shower the conversation goes
-Mom I did it again and I wondered afterwards if I was doing a bad thing or not
-Did you mean it to be bad
-no, I was just popping my fingers
-then it wasn't bad, it's only bad if you mean for it to be bad Evan
-but after I popped them I remembered what it means so is that bad because I remembered
-no...
And so the conversation goes. I've told him God gave him 10 fingers and expects him to use them for his good. He still worries and brings it up quite often. He is really hard on himself if he thinks he possibly did something bad so we have been really trying to make sure he doesn't think HE is bad. So often he pushes his limits on smart mouthing or saying what we consider bad words that I have started to worry that maybe all this is because he doesn't get enough praise. So Eric and I have really been working on making sure we praise him for all the good things he does and remind him how proud we are of him daily and that we think he is a good boy. This does seem to have helped. I wish he weren't so hard on himself. So sensitive...
I think he is going to be an amazing man someday... I just keep thinking about how hard Middle school will be for his sensitive little self. Hopefully we can keep his confidence in himself high. Thanks for checking in and from now on when something happens I want to document I'm just going to post it instead of waiting because I'm just too scatter brained for that.
Evan & His school/heart buddy Caleb at the Globetrotters game at the Yum Center.
Us at the Harlem Globetrotters game. Our local heart support group went together. What a fun night.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Another Great Report!
I posted in on FB from the parking lot of the cardio's office but just haven't had a chance to do so here yet BUT, we got another great report from the cardio! There hadn't been any changes since the last visit in June and we don't have to go back for 6 months again. I feel so incredibly blessed and was given the best Christmas present this Mom could hope for.
A little bit about this appointment...
I have always been honest and open about Evan's heart and all that involves it. I didn't want him to worry too much about the appointment but didnt' want to wait to tell him in the car pool line that morning that he had an appointment in fear of a meltdown. I told him the night before that he would be going to see his favorite Dr. the next afternoon. At first he was quite excited and then almost just as quick he started to cry. He said things like, I don't want to have another surgery, I can't have another surgery, please tell me I won't have to ever do that again, why do I have to go, do they think I'm going to have to have another surgery, I wish I could just get a break, I wonder why God made me this way, I wish God would take this away. All the things that just broke this Mommy's heart. I sat and listened and talked to him about how everyone has something and the good that has come from it. That our little local support group would have never been formed if it wasn't for him and the other Brave Hearts that started it. That he will help children in our community with special hearts for years to come. I also reminded him of heart friends that have it much worse off. He has a special place for one of them - Annie - and he said, your right Mom, Annie hasn't had as many breaks from this as I've had. He seemed to do okay and then broke down again at bedtime. When we got to the cardio the next day he told him that he was scared. Our cardio is awesome, have I said that before? He told Evan that he would always be honest and that let's do this echo and see. He told him all was well and Evan said, not even a cath?!? He was so happy. The cardio told him if he ever got scared and wanted reassurance to call him. How sweet! So how AWESOME is that? Another six months! I'm praying more good visits like this help Evan's fear and anxiety be less and mine as well. What an amazing present though.
A little bit about this appointment...
I have always been honest and open about Evan's heart and all that involves it. I didn't want him to worry too much about the appointment but didnt' want to wait to tell him in the car pool line that morning that he had an appointment in fear of a meltdown. I told him the night before that he would be going to see his favorite Dr. the next afternoon. At first he was quite excited and then almost just as quick he started to cry. He said things like, I don't want to have another surgery, I can't have another surgery, please tell me I won't have to ever do that again, why do I have to go, do they think I'm going to have to have another surgery, I wish I could just get a break, I wonder why God made me this way, I wish God would take this away. All the things that just broke this Mommy's heart. I sat and listened and talked to him about how everyone has something and the good that has come from it. That our little local support group would have never been formed if it wasn't for him and the other Brave Hearts that started it. That he will help children in our community with special hearts for years to come. I also reminded him of heart friends that have it much worse off. He has a special place for one of them - Annie - and he said, your right Mom, Annie hasn't had as many breaks from this as I've had. He seemed to do okay and then broke down again at bedtime. When we got to the cardio the next day he told him that he was scared. Our cardio is awesome, have I said that before? He told Evan that he would always be honest and that let's do this echo and see. He told him all was well and Evan said, not even a cath?!? He was so happy. The cardio told him if he ever got scared and wanted reassurance to call him. How sweet! So how AWESOME is that? Another six months! I'm praying more good visits like this help Evan's fear and anxiety be less and mine as well. What an amazing present though.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Elf Magic
Our Elf Jingle is back!
Jingle wanted to shop Black Friday too!
He drew on every picture of Evan in the house.
Evan took him with us to see "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever"
Evan's friend has an Elf and he left Graham Crackers out and the elf left a letter saying "NO GRAHAM CRACKERS!" You are supposed to leave a saltine cracker and water each night. Evan left graham crackers and his elf got his own crackers and left a note saying "Didn't Farley tell you? No Graham Crackers Evan!"
Jingle wanted to shop Black Friday too!
He drew on every picture of Evan in the house.
Evan took him with us to see "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever"
Evan's friend has an Elf and he left Graham Crackers out and the elf left a letter saying "NO GRAHAM CRACKERS!" You are supposed to leave a saltine cracker and water each night. Evan left graham crackers and his elf got his own crackers and left a note saying "Didn't Farley tell you? No Graham Crackers Evan!"
Sunday, November 06, 2011
Caroline Jane & Fall Break
Evan is Star of the Week this week! We are so proud of him. Isn't that poster the cutest thing. He is so cute! I love that he picked his cardio as his hero! I hope he is always so proud of his heart story and continues to share it. I'm also glad he see's himself as a Tae Kwon Do, baseball, regular little boy as well. He is my sunshine.
Since Evan started preschool when he was 3 I've always sent notes in his lunchbox. In K someone made fun of it and Evan asked me to stop although he seemed very sad about it. After a few days of no notes Evan asked if I would start sending them again. I had also always sent him a damp napkin in a baggie as he always likes to clean his hands after lunch. We came up with a way to still send notes and not be so obvious about it. So everyday I write a little note and put a sticker on his napkin baggie. He saves them in a little pocket in his luncbox and he doesn't like for me to throw them away. I sneak them out when it gets really full. Isn't that the sweetest thing? I'm starting turkey stickers this week!
Great Wolf Lodge - Fall Break 2011
Great Wolf Lodge - Fall Break 2011
This is a very small kiddie coaster at Kings Island. Evan was scared of every ride there, including this one. He did want to ride it but you should have seen his face when it ended. He wasn't easily persuaded to ride anything else the rest of the day. Thankfully they had trick or treating with the Dinosaurs and he enjoyed that.
Kings Island - Fall Break 2011
Munc & Daddy had a great time riding crazy rides and coasters at Kings Island.
I was so happy when our friends called us last Sat. morning and said "It's Time!" Eric was already up getting ready to leave to beat the old ladies at the hair salon. I ran into the bathroom and scared him to death saying "It's time, it's time!" He went there to get their boys while I got ready and waited for Evan to wake up. We spent the next 24 hours waiting for their sweet sister to make her arrival. This was a break from the hospital at the park. The oldest told Evan he was the God brother. Evan had a hard time that evening. He is always fine with his buddy to come over but the little guy without his Mommy and needing Evan's Mommy to help him with things didn't go over too good. I had the talk "Evan you have got to quit acting like this and quit being selfish" probably 20 times. He remembers it much differently - the night both boys stayed and they all shared and went to bed on time. Rolling my eyes.
Introducing Caroline Jane (Jane is my middle name!) our dearest friends - the kind you consider family - who are with you for a nice night out or with kids running around like crazy while we paint walls in a nursery have another blessing added to their family. I'm loving spending baby time with this precious little sweetie.
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