October 27, 2009

Blaze had his shots (MMR, Chicken Pox and Seasonal Flu) on Friday. We were told that these would be terrible on him, but this has been NOTHING like the scare we had on the last ones, Praise God! He does seem to be coming down with a cold. He has a runny nose and a very slight fever. Hopefully it will quickly run its course.

Sunday morning I was getting Blaze's clothes out of his closet and I heard a funny noise. I realized I was hearing climbing on the stairs. Maggie and Blaze had been chasing each other and decided to take the game upstairs. I flew out of the room and snagged our boy who was quietly trying to crawl back down the stairs without me noticing and Maggie knowing where he was. I laughed as he tried to hide from her on the stairs, by lowering his head under the height of the step. He was, of course, lower than the dog, who could perfectly see him, but she waited patiently for him to rise up, before acting like she was going to lick him, then run away again-in the opposite direction. Then they did a version of peek-a-boo, around the corners of the stairwell. They were playing and having such a great time. I love it when they interact together. I gave him a few minutes, then got them both into his room, in order to get him ready for the day. The stinker tried to climb up the door! He put his feet onto the door, grabbed the frame and attempted to climb up the closed door. I couldn’t believe it. I let him try. There was no reason to stop him, obviously he couldn't get very far, but I admired the determination and effort. We'll need to learn how to harness that energy someday into something he can make a difference in. He's an inspiration to his momma!

We took Blaze to the Pumpkin Patch on Saturday. He had fun rolling pumpkins around. We took some great pictures and saw some friends we hadn't seen in a long time. We had a nice time.

My mom is having a much needed and greatly anticipated eye surgery on Thursday! I will go to Nevada Wednesday night and stay with her until she's released and at home on Friday morning. The surgery will be in KC. We appreciate your prayers! We have high expectations and hopes for this surgery.

Please remember our family in your prayers. Things are catching up to us emotionally and we appreciate your love and support.

Uh-Oh!

"Ooohhhh" and "Uh-Oh!" seem to be Blaze’s phrases right now. This weekend, for the first time, Blaze looked under the hood of a car. "Oooohhhhhh" was what he sighed when he saw all the stuff around the motor. I showed him how to check the oil-that was the only thing I was confident in showing him without fear of messing something up! Tim worked on the car all weekend and into this week, so Blaze has been fascinated with tools this week. It’s been fun. Last night he grabbed a pair of pliers ("Squeeze" if you watch "Handy Mandy".) He enjoyed getting his hands on Daddy's tools. He's also learned that if he says "Uh-Oh!" when he drops something, he's more likely to get the object back…like the cup of apple juice he threw off his high chair tray. It's amazing how young this starts. He'll act like it's an accident, or he can't hear you when you tell him not to drop food off his tray to Maggie, who is begging below. I love his willingness to share, but it's an effort to get Blaze to eat Blaze's food! He has it in his head that saying "Uh-Oh!" makes it alright. It is rather charming. We have our hands full with this one!

He is such a fun child, though. I had no idea what a blessing Blaze would be to us. He's just a delight. Our plan is to take him over to the Pumpkin Patch near our home to pick out a pumpkin! I am so excited!! Before Blaze I wanted to go, it looked like such a fun place. Now we'll look like we belong a bit more, with a child to take with us.

Last night I struggled to sleep when I woke up in the night. After praying things through, I realized I hadn't been Praising God the way I should lately. Once I praised Him I began counting my blessings. The first 40 had things to do with Tim. I am so incredibly blessed. Thank you for praying us through and helping us throughout Blaze's journey and through our latest sadness. We are blessed to have you in our lives!

Blaze the Dragon

Blaze has the funniest trait, it’s a dragon imitation! We gave him some play money in one of my old wallets to play with, mostly to keep him from emptying out ours, I think. HA! There’s nothing like looking over and seeing your wallet, with everything scattered out on the floor…so this, we thought, would be a good distraction. Blaze loves to empty out his wallet with the play money, pile it all on the floor and sit on top of it. Tim assures me this is what dragons do, they hoard their loot underneath them so no one else can get to it. He often does this with his stuffed animals, too. The whole thing just makes me laugh. He’s such a fun kid.

Melissa had left a drink carrier from Sonic on the coffee table over night. Blaze was excited to discover it this morning. I showed him how to put his cup in it, and he began to carry it around, a bit awkwardly. I explained to him and demonstrated how to hold the carrier, putting my hand in the handle. He immediately began to hold it the way it was designed. He had the best time swinging it back and forth, without losing his cup. Too funny.

Blaze and Maggie have been getting along fabulously lately. She chases him, he chases her. He gives her hugs, she licks his face. It’s been fun. Finally they are bonding. Maggie has always tolerated Blaze, now she seems to be having fun with him.

I went to a “Get Motivated” seminar yesterday at MSU in Springfield. They had many fabulous speakers. Most talked about the importance of faith in business and the plan of salvation was given. I was very impressed. It was a long day, but worth it. I’m getting more energy back, though today I am on the tired side of things. That might have more to do with the constant cloudiness of the weather more than our situation. I’m hoping to take a long nap sometime this weekend.

I remember last year, buying “Baby’s 1st Halloween” socks and a little orange outfit, complete with matching hat. We’re having a pirate this year in our house for Halloween, fake musket and all. It’s funny, isn’t it, how fast things change? Life can change in an instant, or it can be a slow progressive change-like the difference in a child over a year. To think our little baby is already a little boy…wow. He is growing and thriving and delighting in life. To know what it could have been…we revel in what is. Thanks for your prayers and encouragement. We are so blessed.

Blaze-what can I say!?! We have been going through a pretty rough time lately, and Blaze is a bright spot and a joy to us. He is such a funny kid, full of life and energy. I am excited to say that he has grown lately and he’s in 18 month clothes. EVEN 18 month pants. Blaze has always had a problem keeping his pants up. They’re too long or he crawls out of them or he sucks in his belly and watches them flop to the floor. BUT his waist is now big enough that some (not all) 18 month pants actually fit him now!!!! Some we have to roll up…but it’s getting much better. Overalls are still our friends, but it’s nice to know that he’s catching up! Considering he’s not quite 15 months old and he is a good fit in most 18 month clothes…he is doing well! He loves going outside on walks, too. We are constantly on the look-out for shoes on clearance. It’s my belief it must be some code that boy shoes can’t go on sale and he is growing so fast, I’m not going to spend much on his shoes. His favorites are hiking boots. Too funny! He has a pair that are still too big for him that we bought ahead of time, and they are still connected by an elastic band. He loves playing with those…and eating them. He is teething again…for the last time with his baby teeth…and apparently eating shoes makes him feel better. Ugh!

Blaze loves his CATERPILLAR dump truck that he can ride around the house. He’s finally figured out he can ride it. He had it taken away for an extended period when he decided he’d rather use it as a skateboard, but he is starting to ride it the way he should. He drums out a beat all the time, too! His daddy keeps telling him what good friends Blaze will be with Uncle Paul. Paul, Tim’s oldest brother, was a drummer and has a lot of skateboard experience. I expect they will have lots of fun together.

Tim took Blaze to a store this weekend. He came back with a “Cars” winter coat and pictures of Blaze trying on motorcycle helmets! Funny pics. We have some photos to add to the website soon, including Blaze trying on his Halloween costume. Fun stuff!

Blaze has also been on his climbing kick. It’s like living in a house with Spider-Man. Ha! You just never know where you’ll find him. He moves things over in order to stand on them and reach up higher. Now he has figured out how to use a hula hoop to knock things down that he wants to get, but can’t reach on his own. He’s brought “baby proofing” to a whole new level. I’m a little nervous about Christmas decorations. Another favorite thing of his to do, is to throw plastic balls down the stairs and watch them fall. He carefully knocks them underneath the gate, then tries to climb over the gate to get a better look as they bounce down. I am grateful he can entertain himself!

He is definitely our bright spot. Blaze’s Aunt Carla lost her brother, Craig Hendrickson, on the last Wednesday of September. Tim was on his way to Jeff City that Saturday when he learned that his grandmother, Jeane Gilzow, had a stroke and was in Cox. She is, thankfully, doing much better now! My mom came to stay with us for a week or so, we ended up taking her home a little later than that. While she was here she lost her vision totally in one eye. It is impossible for her to read a book or drive right now, which is beyond frustrating for her. She has an appointment on Wednesday, hopefully we’ll learn more then. In the midst of this, we went through a miscarriage. We had gone in for an ultrasound on Monday, September 28th, and learned there was no heart beat from our tiny one. Yes, it’s common, yes women go through this all the time, but it was heartbreaking. There’s some sad irony in the fact that Blaze’s heart was what we prayed and cried over and that the lack of heart-tones was how we knew we had lost this one. It was devastating. But, we are hanging in there. Physically, I have miscarried now and I am feeling much better-the first trimester of pregnancy just totally wipes me out, energy wise. Emotionally we’re dealing really well. We have a Christian Counselor that we went to when we learned of Blaze’s diagnosis and we’re going back to her now. Things are okay, but we would love your prayers. Thank you for those!

Hopefully in the next week or two we will go to Springfield and celebrate our anniversary! We were married 5 years on October 2nd! It feels like longer! HA!

Blaze is such a blessing to us, and you are, too! Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Despite all this sadness and uncertainty we have SO MUCH to be thankful for.