What a year... from bad to good to great

Have you ever played the game, "What were you doing this time last year..."?  Byron and I play this game from time to time, especially this year with Elliot.  For instance, we have said, "This time last year, we could sleep in whenever we wanted", "This time last year we could pick up and go to the grocery store in 5 seconds, now it takes 10 minutes to get out the door".  Ok, so where is Jamie going with this.  I played this game this morning and got a little teary eyed.  This time last year, I was 35 weeks pregnant and experiencing some stop-me-in-my-tracks pain, that I was told by the midwives was just baby boy experimenting with dropping and getting ready to arrive...well my mama instincts tell me that this time last year is when Elliot's head started to grow.  Just a guess, but I don't think Elliot was experimenting with dropping, I think Elliot's growing noggin' was getting stuck...

Then it brought me to, WOW, little did Byron and I know that 2 weeks later we were going to be delivered some of the most painful news we had ever heard.  I think we like to try and convince ourselves that it was all a blur and that we don't really remember the weekend from hell, but really and unfortunately we remember it a little too well.  I remember the ultrasound, the techs face and poor eye contact, the doctor walking into the room tell us little boy wasn't going to make it (obviously he proved her wrong), myself saying multiple bad words, looking at Byron wondering if this was a dream, calling my mom, being escorted out a back exit, naming Elliot on our drive home and trying to eat stew for dinner.  Even writing this feels like a little therapy to me, haha... I think that Byron and I are different people now because of that day, but not in a bad way just a different way.  Last February 4th, was a hard hard day that we try to erase from our memories and I noticed that at first we thought about that day EVERY day and now I can say that sometimes a week will go by and I won't think about that day at all.  Although Byron and I realize unfortunately that we can never get rid of that memory, hopefully we can make EVERY future February 4th another day to remember with positive memories.

Alright, alright, alright...at least we all know how that bad day turned out, Elliot is a fantastic miracle that is surprising us daily with his growing personality and mad skills.  I try not to relive that yucky Friday but sometimes its therapeutic to just look back and realize how far we have come and how lucky we are and we can't imagine our lives without him.

On a new note, just yesterday Elliot pulled himself up to a standing positioning and now that he has done it once, he has been doing it all day.  He is also babbling up a storm and I think "singing".  Its really fun to see new cognitive skills (sorry that's the speech therapist in me).  When we ask him if we can have a bite, or kiss his ducky, he actually lets us...its really fun to notice him understanding requests.

A little over a week ago, little boy's incision just did not look good...especially after it was looking amazing.  We decided to take the helmet off, get ahold of the doctors and see what was going on.  Now, listen to how amazing our doctors are...we e-mailed them on a Friday night, got a call immediately from Dr. French who just told us to keep it clean and let her know if it gets worse.  Then Sunday, it definitely looked worse and so after Dr. French and I texted back and forth she then called in an antibiotic for Elliot.  It seems as if his stitches inside are abscessing.  We took him down to Children's this week and had them officially check him out and yep they are abscessing.  Luckily we were told that his brain and shunt will not get infected from the incision infection AND after a week on antibiotics he is looking SO much better.  He will probably be ready for his helmet again mid-week.

Elliot is also officially a movie star, haha.  During one of his helmet appointments, DEX yellow pages was at the clinic videotaping an advertisement for the group and Elliot makes an appearance.  If you want to check it out try this link, http://www.dexknows.com/business_profiles/prosthetic_and_orthotic_group_of_northern_colorado_llc-b592771/gallery#videos?pdt=pibasic  and then watch the video.  Its pretty fantastic.

Byron and I are both back to work and in full swing of second semester and already looking forward to summer.  We are gearing up for Elliot's 1st Birthday and just enjoying every weekend we have together.  Enjoy some photos...

 

This next video is a blast from the past, we were looking at videos this past weekend and this one just floored Byron and I..Elliot was just 2.5 weeks old and I made this video to send to Byron who just returned back to work and was missing Elliot.  His head is HUGE in this video, Byron and I have no recollection of it ever looking like this...haha, we never thought it was this bad...now it makes sense why the doctors would say it was pretty serious, ha.  Look how far we have come...

Thanks Chris and Ann for my new sweet boot...I'm such a cowboy!

I don't need toys, I just need a clear plastic cup...

Eating is a whole new experience

But mom, look how cute I am with cottage cheese in my hair

Elliot is very resourceful and when his hands are in mittens he uses his mouth to hold ducky

On his knees playing

Getting close to standing tall

and off I go...

their's our cute naked boy

cute buns

Brotherly Love

These were taken at Children's, the top photos in November and the bottom are post-surgery...Incredible!