The Hartwells

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! HAPPY FIRST OPEN HEART SURGERY ANNIVERSARY!

What a big, big weekend Blaise had! He turned ONE on Friday, April 12th! The day kicked off by Grandpa Craig coming up to replace our screen door, and Grandma Donna and Aunt Jenna heading up to help mom and dad get ready for the party. We spend most of Friday cleaning and prepping for the party.

Saturday was a great day, and we had lots of family and friends come to our house to celebrate. Blaise did absolutely amazing the whole entire night. If I ever dreampt of how a first birthday should be, this was exactly it.

Blaise smiled his biggest smiles and loved getting sung happy birthday to. He was curious about the birthday candle. He ate his cake very carefully, pinching it piece by piece with his left hand and sticking it in his mouth. This is exactly how he eats his other food, so I should expect no diffrent!

He enjoyed opening presents and really got into ripping of the paper. I think he would have done the whole present himself if we would have had all night. He was particular to not miss any pieces.

He got lots of fun toys, and loved getting on his new rides and testing each of them out. He of course had everyone's attention in the palm of his hand all night, and was such a sweet, sweet, sweet boy.

The theme was Monster Mash Birthday Bash, and the decorations and cake all reflect that. He's the light of our life! I absolutely cannot believe he is one!

Sunday the 14th marked one year since his first open heart surgery. Unbelieveable. Monday we made a trip to Children's to meet with the feeding team and they gave some feedback to hopefully improve his eating.
Tonight, he had his one-year appointment at the pediatrician, and he unfortunately lost about 8 oz in the last two weeks. We are aggressively trying to reintroduce fortified formula in his whole milk and fatten him up with any sort of meat, or other food that can pack on the calories. Bring on the

chocolate cake and ice cream for this kid! Extra prayers for continued weight gain and eating improvement are welcomed!

A Letter to Blaise on Your First Birthday

Dear Blaise,

Daddy and Mommy want to wish you the happiest first birthday in the entire world. We can't believe how much love we have in our hearts for you. In your one year of life, you've managed to completely redefine the definition of love in our dictionary. We can't believe that an entire year has passed since we met you for the first time. That memory is permanently planted in our memory and we promise we will never forget it.

Blaise, you made us a daddy and a mommy for the first time. We've tried our absolute hardest to be the best parents we can be, and raise you to be the incredible young boy that you are. We are so, so thankful God chose us to be your parents, because we feel so blessed to get to enjoy and spend every minute with the most incredible boy many people will ever meet.

You exude pure joy. You are the happiest baby, always smiling, entertaining and giggling. I've not met a single person who doesn't melt when they meet you and claim you are the cutest boy they've seen and adore your personality. What a personality you have!!!! You are SUCH an entertainer! Always getting us to laugh, making silly faces, giggling and so forth. You love the outside world and we love to see the look of wonder and amazement on your face when we go outside.

You are a lover and a cuddler. You crawl into our laps and give the biggest hugs. You are constantly on the move!!!! You love to go check out everything that's going on and hardly ever sit still.

You are our hero. You are the biggest fighter and strongest person we've ever met. Your determination is one of a kind, and we pray that you never loose that. Never, ever forget that there are NO odds against you. Anything is possible, and God will always provide whatever you need. Daddy and mommy will be here with you every single step of the way, and always be your biggest supports, protectors and cheerleaders. We promise we try our absolute hardest every day and do everything for you.

Blaise Andrew- You are our world, our pride and joy and hold our entire hearts!

HAPPY HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Easter & Trip to Kansas

What a busy, busy few weeks! We had a wonderful Easter. Hard to believe I was so pregnant at this time last year! Blaise enjoyed Easter and getting his Easter Baskets. We spent it in Treynor, and he got to taste test most of the Easter meal. We took him to church for the first time since last fall, and he did very good. We held him most of the time and he was very into watching all of the people at church. I thought his Easter outfit made him the cutest boy there!

The weekend after Easter, we loaded up in our new vehicle, a Traverse, and headed to Garden City, Kansas (an 8-hour one way trip) for Great Grandpa Glenn's 90th birthday. This was the first time Blaise or I had been to Kansas where Grandma Peg is from. Blaise did exceptionally well in the car and was an incredibly good baby while we were there. He slept great in the hotel room!

We are now busy getting ready for his first birthday on Friday! We will be celebrating on Saturday night. If you catch the WOWT news on Friday morning around 6:40, Blaise should be on there!

We were blessed to have a few days of nice weather, which solidfied even more the fact that Blaise loves the outdoors. He got to try out the swing and slide at the park, but the pebbles/sand turned out to be his favorite part. Blaise also got his first haircut, and he hated and screamed every minute of it! He looks so much older now!

Next Monday the 15th, Blaise is scheduled to see the feeding team/speech pathologists at Children's to be evaluated on eating. We ask for prayers that this appointment goes good and they are able to provide some suggestions on how to get Blaise to eat better. Than on Tuesday, we are off to the pediatritian for the big one year appointment. Once I get the chance, I'll blog all about his birthday. A year ago, Mike and I ran to West Point to go out to eat for our anniversary. The next day around noon, my doctor called and told me to check in that night to be induced.

How blessed are we to have spent an incredible year with this little miracle. WOW. He is simply amazing.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Outta my way!

We were able to go outside this week after work, and we went straight to the end of the driveway gave Blaise his walker that he pushes and walks behind and this is immediately what he did. He took off straight down the street! I think he would have gone to the end of the block, had we not stopped him. He was practically running! He is doing so good!

Blaise got his last RSV shot (for this year) tonight. He weighed in at a whopping 19 lbs 11 oz! I'm so proud of him for this! He tripled his birth weight, which is what they would like, and might actually top the scales at 20 lbs by his first birthday in two weeks! GO BLAISE GO!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Look Out World!

Look out world! Blaise is making his grand appearances! Not quite, but we are venturing out little by little. This weekend he got to experience Hy-Vee and Valentino's in Fremont. On Sunday he went to the 4-H Pancake feed in Oakland. He takes all of these new experiences in stride, and for the most part is a very very good little boy. I was a little worried about how he would react to all of these new things, and thought he might get very scared and cry. Instead, he is very interested and intrigued by it all. He is doing great!

We are slowly but surely trying to get this table food thing figured out. Jessica, his babysitter, was able to get him to eat almost half a banana today, and tonight I fed him some Gerber baby ravioli things that he did really good with. We are getting there!

Here are a few pictures.

Eating food- very messy!

Sampling mashed potatoes at Valentinos!

Got my green on for St. Patricks Day.

Meeting the cows. I yelled and talked to them. Lots.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Mr. 11 Months!

Blaise is 11 months old today! Oh what a joy he is!

We've been living a fairly normal life, and are so thankful for that! God shows us everyday how great HE is!

Blaise's favorite mode of transportation is walking. He will only walk when holding on to fingers on BOTH of our hands though. I've tried to make him hold just my right hand, and he is immediatly reaching for the other. He can also cruise around the house by holding on to his walker. He can pass back and forth from the couch to the coffee table and once and awhile if he is brave enough will lunge foward into my arms holding on to nothing.

It warmed up enough the other day that I was able to take him outside and let him walk by outside for the first time! Last fall he was always just pushed in strollers! He was pretty dazed and amazed and did more stumbling around looking at the "outside" world than anything. He went straight to the grass and reached out to touch the leaves. Poor baby is just starting to realize there is a whole other world beyond our living room! He now will walk right over to the front door and reach for the handle acting like he wants to go outside. He loves it!

Blaise has now also made trips to see grandpa at Red Barn, the grocery store in Oakland and Subway in Tekamah. Slowly but surely, we are venturing out!

He is still pretty behind on the eating department. We've conquered Saltine crackers, graham crackers, cottage cheese, little bites of toast and waffles and that's about it. He pretty much loves to put the food in his mouth, but will just hold it in his cheeks instead of chewing and swallowing. We keep trying every day, and hopefully he will get there soon.

He also still gets a bottle/pacifier once or twice a night. I am VERY ready for this to be over! We've graduated to all 12 month or 12-18 month clothing.

Blaise also LOVES Grandpa and Grandma Hartwell's dog Cartman. He screams with joy non-stop while visiting him. Last night, Cartman learned that if he sticks pretty close to Blaise's high chair during supper, he will get a treat. We caught Blaise with a handful of cottage cheese hanging over the edge, with Cartman licking it clean! Too funny!

The next few weeks will be in fast-forward! We have Easter, followed by a trip to Garden City, Kansas for Great-Grandpa Voth's 90th birthday, then Blaises first birthday and one-year old pictures the weekend after that! PHEW!