Celebration

We continue to celebrate this year of Mason's life. My mom made a video of pictures from his life. I remember that this song (Never Once by Matt Redmond) spoke to me during the hard times of Mason's journey and today we sang it in church. I was reminded that God was carrying us and with us through everything we endured this past year. And now He is with us as we celebrate! What a blessing! Hope you enjoy this video. It brought back A LOT of memories for us!

Reflections at 1 year

Tonight my heart is filled with joy and overflowing with love. Joy for a wonderful year and love for so many sweet souls that have prayed and cried and prayed some more for our family and for our sweet child. A year ago tonight my heart was filled with many feelings. It was evident that the labor was not going to stop. I was hurting and frustrated with my body. Numbers and statistics were being told to us. The pressure of wanting us to make a decision...did we want any medical help present; did we just want to enjoy our last few moments together? It all seemed a blur. But somehow I had a peace. Even through all the feelings of fear and sadness. God was there. And has been by our families side through the events of this past year.

Born at 23 weeks; 1 lb. 5 oz. 

Tonight, I look at this sweet little baby who is wild and fiery with life, kicking and grabbing with yes, all 2 arms and 2 legs and my heart is full. We are so blessed. He came out fighting not giving the dr. any choice. He was fighting to breathe and crying. As the days and weeks went on Mason never gave up. And our prayers never gave up and most importantly we never gave up on God or Mason. My son shows me daily that prayers can work and that miracles still happen. His smile lights up our life. He continues to amaze everyone at his progress. Most of all he is the most happiest precious little (well now big) baby I know.

Mason at 1 year old (8 months adjusted)

Today we celebrate that Mason is alive. His odds of life were 10%. There were numerous times we heard: he's not going to make it or IF he DOES make it his outcome will not be good. We are thankful over a million times that our son made it. Our God defied the odds and our little boy is alive. Our God is continuing to defy the odds as He is working in our and Mason's life every day. Today, Mason weighs 18 lbs., continues to work on rolling over, has almost mastered head control and his overall core strength has improved tremendously. He is using both hands and continues to use his left hand more and more. He is kicking his legs like crazy and can put weight down on his legs. His vision continues to improve greatly! He laughs, smiles, spits, blows raspberries with us and is mimicking our sounds and beginning to say, "ahh da, ga, ka and numerous other noises. His swallow study last week showed he is safe on baby food but does need his liquids thickened to nectar (if he would ever decide to take the bottle again). We are going to Chapel Hill's feeding team for some help. He continues to still show no spasticity of flaccid movements in any limbs and all of this is a testament to our God. Thank you to everyone for continuing on this journey with us. This past year has certainly not been easy. But I wouldn't trade it at all because we are blessed with 2 wonderful boys. 

I could have never imagined this time last year that we would be laughing with our little boy as we tickle him. What a sweet and precious blessing he is to our lives. Hope you enjoy this video (if you can't view it on mobile search on youtube "Daddy's beard tickles Mason":

Under Construction

We have been doing some renovating in our house and both boys have been putting up with it pretty well.

Corbin helping with his drill, of course, in his underwear.

Mason, wearing ear protectors to keep out the loud noises!

Check out Mason's new trick. You have to listen really good for it (and he has greatly perfected it since this video) but he is trying to blow raspberries. It is his newest mission in life to do ALL. THE. TIME. We are excited though because this shows good cognition and communication.  He is so proud of himself at the end. 

Can't believe this little boy will be 1 tomorrow! Will be back again tomorrow for a bigger update on this boy!

Corbin is 3!

Yesterday our sweet boy turned 3! I can't believe it! It seems like yesterday he was just being born and now he is such a big boy. Here he is 1 day old:

Yesterday was full of LOTS of dr. appointments for Mason but we still managed to go to dinner at Bravo's where Corbin got his favorite there: shrimp (and of course the bread with dipping sauce)! Yes, he finally does eat bread but is still picky about what kind. He couldn't understand why his birthday party wasn't on his birthday, therefore he said it wasn't his birthday (the logic of a 3 year old). I can't get over how much he loves his brother and overall, what a sweet boy he is. He loves his family very much. This morning we went to get cupcakes to celebrate his birthday. He was pretty excited!

The more icing the better. 

Happy birthday boy!

So I decided I would have him answer 20 questions (once he got old enough to understand how to answer questions) on his birthday every year. I was pretty surprised that he could answer some of these questions but he did a good job. I was also surprised for some of the answers. So I am going to put his actual answers and then what I thought he would say next to them just so we won't forget (if it is different than what I thought). Our boys are growing up so fast!

Corbin's answers to 20 questions on his 3rd birthday (5/16/13)

1. What is your favorite color?  john deer green

2. What is your favorite toy? my jeep

3. What is your favorite fruit? oranges

4. What is your favorite TV show? Charlie brown; I am going to add in youtube tractor videos. He watches them all the time!

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Chinese

6. What is your favorite outfit? shirt (typical boy answer right?)

7. What is your favorite game? play toys

8. What is your favorite snack? gummies

9. What is your favorite animal? fish ; ok I definitely thought he would say neigh neighs (horses).

10. What is your favorite song? Jesus loves me

11. What is your favorite book? an animal book; or really anything about tractors or farm equipment

12. Who is your best friend? Mommy; ok this one shocked me. I thought for sure he would say James.

13. What is your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? play with my jeep

15. What is your favorite drink? orange juice

16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Juri, Tiger, alligator, Macaroni (a bear that Mamaw gave him), and dolphin; yes, there is a little room in there for him to sleep

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? blueberry crisp

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? spaghetti or shrimp

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? a mailman

Corbin we all love you and our proud of the little boy you are growing into! We are blessed to have you in our lives!

Mom

Mom,
   We have truly been through so much together within this past year. To think a year ago last Mother's Day our lives were so different than now (which I wouldn't have it any other way).  Things changed quickly and it hit us hard and fast.  And you have been with us through it all. I don't know what I would have done without you, Josh, and God. You have been a constant supporter and encourager. I remember that night in the delivery room when we had NO idea what was going to happen, you told me that no matter what, we would get through it together. And we have.
   You have been there for me and have known what I needed. Without me even asking you would come over and clean my house, do my laundry, bring a meal when I couldn't even put a complete sentence together because I had been up all night praying/thinking about Mason and pumping. You have helped out with Corbin and help to keep him steady in an unsteady world of chaos with his parents being at the hospital so often. You have been there to help us through all the medical terminology when we didn't understand (which now we could all have an honorary MD behind our name, right?). You have encouraged when it didn't look hopeful and picked me up when I was low. You have listened as I voiced my fears and frustration and been to numerous dr. and ED visits,  pulling all nighters with me there.
   Words can not express or thank you enough but I guess I can only say now I understand why you would do all this for me. Because now I am a mother to 2 children. I will be there for them as you will always be there for me, no matter what they need.  That is what it means to be a mother. Mom, we love you and appreciate you for all you do. Happy Mother's Day.

Gigi and the boys