#52

Tuesday August 30, 2011

Water Baby

Dear Water Baby,
This photo was taken one day this week when you just could not be consoled. You were crawling around crying. I would pick you up and you would cry, I tried to give you a bottle and you would cry no matter what I did you would cry. I was at my wits end so I did something that I have never done before, I put you in the sink for some water fun. You loved it! You sat and played with the running water or the water that was around you for almost 20 minutes. You were just as happy as can be.
You are such a great baby
Love you, your very happy Mama

Celebrate Good Times... Come On!

On Friday August 12, 2011 Aj, Grandpa and I made the familiar drive into Oakland to go visit our favorite  pediatric  oncologist Dr. Goodman.  Three month back when we found the tumor the Doctors noticed that Ajs AFP was also elevated. After the surgery his AFP never dropped like we were expecting, since then we have been watching his levels very closely hoping that they would fall back into normal range.


Aj's AFP History
5/25 - 35.4, 5/31 - 31.1, 6/7 - 25.8, 6/14 - 30.3, 6/21 - 21.5, 6/28 - 23.06, 7/5 - 28 and finally 8/9 - 27.8

Most doctors would consider 0-15 to be the normal AFP range.  Since day one Aj never has done anything normal, so why would his AFP be any different? Dr. Goodman is confident that because everything else looks good that this slight elevation in his AFP just happens! He is eating, sleeping and playing like a normal healthy little boy. All his blood work and ultra sounds are also coming back normal.  This all comes down to.... Aj has been given a clean bill of health... its time to celebrate!!!

In this time of celebration, I would like to take a moment and send out a prayer for all those families who are still going through the fight or who have lost the battle. My thoughts, love and prayers will always be with you

#51

To my Little Boy,

I had to leave for a couple days to go to a friends wedding. Your daddy was still revoverying from his throat surgery so I made sure that some of your favorite people were here to help take care you of.  Grandma-ma Barger, Uncle Tristan, Grandma Carbaugh, Robin, Shannon and Seena all came over to help. Everyone loved being able to spend time with you and really enjoyed seeing all the new things that you could do. You showed Robin how you play peak - a- boo and Grandma-ma how you play drums with the wooden spoon and bowl. I loved recieving messages from everyone with all the cute things that you have done. I missed you so much but I was so proud of you for being such a good boy.

Love your very proud,
Mama

Fadi and Liz's Wedding Long Beach, Ca

 In college you face many challenges: getting into your classes, passing exams, finding food at 2am, you know, the important stuff. Some how through all the parties and late night studying Fadi and Liz met, fell in love and had time to build a relationship together. Over the next seven years they allowed their relationship to grow and mature with them. Their friendship grew stronger, their love for each other more true. The day finally came when they knew that it was just meant to be 

They truly fell in love 

Happy Groom waiting for his Bride

Love is a beautiful thing

Proud Father walking his Daughter down the isle

I always cry at weddings, they remind me of hope and the wonders of the future. I am  reminded again about my own vows,  my own promises that I took with the one that I love

Saying I do

The Kiss

Friends old and new come together to celebrate with the happy couple !

Crazy Theta Chi Boys

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Fadi's Beautiful Sister giving a touching toast

Sean not disappointing us with his 11 minutes and 30 second toast

Me with my wonderful friend Fadi

Thank you very much Fadi and Liz for allowing me to share in your very special day. The whole weekend was a blast and I enjoyed every moment of it.

#50

Dear Aj 

Can I try your Finger

You are so full of life and wanting to always be on the go. I Knew you were full of energy but I did not realize how much until I saw you next to you cousin Lanie. She sat all sweetly in her Daddy's lap all morning and then there was you. Crawling like a mad man all over the place. You older cousins were following you around the house to make sure you did not get into any trouble. I have come to terms with the fact that you will only cuddle with me when you are sound asleep. I can't even get loves when you are drinking your bottle. You will drink about 2oz and the start squirming around wanting to be put down. 

I may put you down and I may allow you to explore the world but I promise you that I will never let you go. EVER! 





Love you 


Mommy

Brunching it up with the Family

More time Enjoying the nice weather and my wonderful Family

Pool Time 

Working together to fill up the Pool

Me with the Babies

Someone had a vist from the tooth fariy

Beach Babies

Summer Time is a time for us to all enjoy the nice weather and each other. I love when I get to spend a relaxing afternoon with family at the lake. We are so lucky to be able to enjoy this hidden gem all summer long

Brookie Jumping off the Dock 

Tristan shows Brookie how the Big boys do it!

Dont rock the surf board

Brookie and Aj

Dylan and Aj

Aj playing in the Sand

#49

Tuesday August 9, 2011

Dear Aj aka little busy man,

You have been full of energy this week  and are constantly moving. You have places to go and people to see apparently and will not let anyone get in your way. If you are not crawling like a mad man you are walking around the furniture. You are CRAZY in just the cutist way possible. Your new trick is something we like to call "Aaron Go Smash" this basically consist of you coming up fully on your knees with your hands above your head and you flinging your arms and your whole body forward until your hands smack the ground. You then finish by coming up laughing waiting for someone to shout out "Aaron Go Smash!" Oh the simple things in life.

We went swimming on Sunday at the local pool. You have become more and more comfortable in the water. The pool has an area for little ones that is only 11/2 feet deep, you love to hold on to the edge and play with your toys.  This week you figured out that you can also walk around the edge. You are perfectly content to play by yourself, every once in awhile you will look over your shoulder to make sure I am still sitting right behind you. Sometimes you will fully turn around a do a superman dive towards me! You make going to pool special again for me. We can hang out for hours if I let us. I know when you get older we will spend our summer days pool side. Those day will come, until then I will cherish every little memory that we make at the pool this summer.

I lover everything about being your mom, the icing on the cake this week has been your cuddleness. You have always been so interested in the life going on around you that you have never been big on just letting me hold you. For some reason the last couple weeks you will just lay your head on my chest or crawl into my lap and hold on. I love it with every oucne of my body. I think you cuddling with me is definitely in the top 10 best moments of my life and always will be.

The Luckest Mom in the world
Mamma

#48

Tuesday August 2, 2011

Dear Baby Aj

You have taken cuteness to a whole new level.  Your Daddy has been telling me that you have been giving high five's but I have never seen it. One night this week you were eating dinner and I was proud of you from finishing your veggies so we clapped bravo bravo  and then I placed my hands out to give you five and guess what! You. Gave. Me. High. Five. Back!!!!!!! Oh my gosh, how cool are you!

So as I have mentioned you have started to crawl and pull yourself up to standing on the furniture. This week I noticed that you would pull yourself up on your playpen and take your hands off the side and just stand there for a second or two just balancing and then you would plop down. I have also found you walking along the couch and then reach over to the coffee table and keep going. My favorite of them all though is when you crawl over to me and do your little monkey climb up my legs till your standing behind me!

You always fill my heart with love and joy. Your smile can light up my whole day and I love you so much.

 Love you Always and Forever

Mommy

What's For Dinner?

I have talked to a couple moms in the last couple of weeks with babies starting to eat solid foods and the question that everyone is asking is "What's for Dinner?" my answer is I am still trying to figure it out.

I know this, Aj LOVES
1. Blueberries
2. Shake and Bake Tofu (tofu cubes shaken in crushed up cereal)
3. Yogurt (any flavor)
4. Cheesy Toast (thanks Christine for the tip!)

He will pick through the rest of the food on his tray to make sure he only gets his favorites.

I am finding this to be a hard stage for a couple different reasons besides not knowing what to feed him. My Biggest concern is finding enough foods that are soft enough for Aj to eat, that are easy to make and healthy. Up until now I would make batches of baby food and freeze them. At the beginning of the week I would pack Aj's meals for the week to sendto daycare and when we got home at night all I would have to do for dinner is stick a couple of frozen cubes in the microwave and presto I was done! Now I am having to try to find my dinner making groove for this new stage! I am hopping in a couple weeks I will have it down with a longer list of baby likes and easy home cooked meal tips and tricks!