Some Things We've Neglected

Somehow in the course of travelling, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. we missed a few significant events that I need to document here.

The week after we got back, Dan once again served as musical director for the High School's community musical. And, of course, Diva Madeline had to take part. This year it was quite a family event since Auriana and Carter (cousins) also participated. It was wonderful to see them all on stage together.

The 3 of Spades

A very pretty Flower

Madeline, Carter, Auriana

Right after Christmas, Madeline, Mason and I went with my Mom down to Virginia to finally meet my new nephew. He was born as we were boarding our flight home from New Delhi! Both of the kids did extremely well with the long ride down and back. Mason did not like the idea of Mom holding another little person, so I had to wait until he was asleep or really intent on another activity to get my snuggle time in.

Maddie, Fin, Mimi (Jaime)

Mason and Mimi

Maddie reading to Fin

Maddie and Fin

On the way home, we got caught up in a storm and stopped in a motel in MA. Mason had been asleep and we had to wake him up to take him in. His reaction was so very sad. He screamed at the top of his lungs. He grabbed onto me so tightly and would not let go for anything. It took him a long time to settle down, and I literally could not have pried him off of me. It is the only time I've seen him react like that, and although I'm glad he's attached to me, it makes me sad that he was so terrified that I might leave.

I'm going to try to be better at updating here. I just finished formatting the first year of this blog to have it bound into a book for us. I'm horrible about keeping up photo albums, and scrapbooking has never happened at my house, so this is really our way of keeping our family history.

I'm horrible and haven't posted in forever.

We had a wonderful Christmas together. It was nice to not feel like we were waiting for someone, or someone was missing. We definitely feel like a complete family. Mason did great with all of the chaos of the holiday season, and we're glad the whole family has met him now.

The week after Christmas, my Mom, Mason, Madeline and I went down to VA to visit my sister and her new son. I just couldn't wait any longer to meet Fin. It's about a 14 hour drive each way, and I could not have asked for 2 more well behaved kids throughout the whole trip! A very pleasant surprise. Fin is just a doll, and I think Jaime was impressed with how well Mason was doing. Of course, I left my camera in VA, and it's driving me nuts not to have it!

Right now I feel like my life revolves around appointments for Mason. This will die down a bit soon, but we're still trying to make sure we know all we can about him, to make sure we're doing all we can for him. We've seen a neurologist, who answered so many of our questions and really clarified what we are dealing with and why. He was lovely and really took the time to listen to us and answer every question we had. We had him evaluated by the local Early Intervention program, and have referrals out there for opthamology and cardiology. He is also seeing a chiropractor. This is something our family is relatively new to. I went to a presentation by the local office, and one of the things they talked about was how it was helpful to children with CP. I enrolled myself to kind of scope him out and see if it was something I trusted for my child. We've had really great results. I see such a difference in Mason, especially in the way he uses his right side more. And he loves going. We are not using it in lieu of other medical interventions, but to augment the other things.

Mason is becoming quite the social little guy. He loves to "go, go, go" and yells "hey" at anyone passing by so he can flash them his fabulous smile. And Max is really warming up to him now. He reminds me all the time, "I can be a good big brother," to which I whole-heartedly agree. We're all very happy with the new family dynamic, and cannot imagine it any other way!

The video was taken before we went to India, and it's just about the cutest thing ever. I never know where my pics and videos will end up now. I used to be able to move them to wherever I wanted, but I can't do that anymore. Not sure why.