so sad

got this message on facebook:

Noah Biorkman is a 5yr old boy who is in his last stages of neuroblastoma cancer after a 2 1/2 year battle. His family is celebrating Christmas next week and all he wants are xmas cards. Lets try and see how many we can get to him from all over the world please. His address is 1141 Fountain View Circle, South Lyon, MI ...48178.

I checked this story out on snopes........it is true.
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/medical/biorkman.asp

please send cards to let this little boy know you are thinking of him. Thanks. Shauna

too tired to post - cute picture instead :) !!!!!!

Attack of the baby touchers.......

I'd like to open a dialogue (with all 2 of my readers....LOL), about WHY people think it's OK to touch and slobber over someone else's baby? I'm talking about situations such as in the grocery store, department store, whatever......where a stranger walks up and physically touches your baby. I want to know from the baby touchers out there exactly WHY they think that is OK?

I was in Target yesterday and stopped on my way out at the snack bar to get a mango smoothie and a soft pretzel (yum) and walked to the other end of the shopping cart to pay the cashier, when I turned around there was a woman (now she looked fine, was clean and appeared sane) not just talking to Andy (which I think is totally fine) but actually had her hand in his carrier touching him! OMG - get your grubby paws off my baby! (I think that actually came thru on the look of my face even though I smiled at her because she backed off a little). She then made small talk about the usual "boy or girl, how old, etc..." ---- as I was pulling him away from her space so she could get to the cash register she said "well....he WAS smiling at me!" Like because he smiled at her that gave her the OK to reach her hands into his space and touch him.

Ok - I'm ready for it......give me the 30 lashings with a wet noodle if you think I deserve it......if you think I'm being over protective and rude......I'm ready!

I have no issue with people looking at Andy, talking to him, asking questions (i didn't even get upset when he used to have to wear the tape on his face and people would ask "what's wrong with him" in their best "I'm curious but trying not to be rude voice")......but TOUCHING is not cool people.....unless you're invited to do so, my vote is don't touch other people's babies!

Also.....If you're a creepy guy - don't approach a mom and a baby who are shopping alone and corner them! That happened last week at Meijers.....a quite dirty man with teeth that were the color of fresh sweet corn cornered me in the bread aisle and totally invaded my personal space while peering his head over Andy's carrier (I have a thing with personal space.....I get claustrophobic if you're in my space)....anyway, I was polite, smiled and tried to move on with my shopping only Mr Creepy McCorn-teeth kept following me (in my space may I add) until it got to the point that I started getting panicky that he wouldn't back off.....I thought in my head "one last try, i'll try to walk away again and if he doesn't back off I'm going to loose the politeness and tell him to back off." I again, smiled at him and moved on with my shopping and he backed off that time.......It took quite an effort to get away though.

I don't get it......I don't think I ever touched someone else's baby un-invited.......have you? Now....I have grabbed toddlers that were headed out the door I'm standing by if I see them running out the door by themselves with their parents frantically trying to chase them down yelling "no, no...Jimmy STOP!!!" Then I reach down and grab them for the parent - because it's for their safety......but I have never reached into someone's baby carrier at touched their child.

Anyway - I'd be interested to hear people from the other side's opinion....where are the baby touchers? I want to know from them why they think it's oK? Maybe I'll change my mind.......but probably not.

Baby Einstein = Happy Baby

Just a quick post to say I'M IN LOVE WITH BABY EINSTEIN. oh goodness.......love the baby einstein.
Now don't think that I have Andy watch endless hours of TV a day or anything........the tapes are only 30 minutes long and when he's fussy once a day (maybe twice on a really fussy day)....I pull his swing up to the TV, put in Baby Einstein, and instant silence while he sits there fully glued to the pictures chewing on his fingers.
Usually this 30 minutes of "educational" TV is enough to calm him down from whatever fit he may be throwing at the time.
So yes, I admit........Baby Einstein rocks!

Just a cute little bath time video - guaranteed to make you smile!

I love my little Andy..........

He makes me smile every single day.

(even when I want to pull my hair out from the screaming, crying and puking....the next minute he'll make me smile). I wouldn't trade him for anything.

2 Months Old!!!

well really....more like 10 weeks.....but counting this pic as the 2 month picture! so cute!!!

Mother's Day

Thank you to all of you who left comments on Andy's pictures - I too think he looks amazing. (He also IS amazing).

I wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to everyone and also to everyone struggling with infertility and loss (I know that road as well) - I wanted to wish you peace and comfort on this day and every day.

I am going to go enjoy my first Mother's Day with my sweet little boy - I think I hear him calling for me now.

Andy's surgery

I wanted to post some before and after pics of Andy. The surgery was such a blessing for him. He can breathe and eat so much better now. And he looks great. Next surgery is not until March/April 2010.

This picture is immediately before surgery in the waiting room at the hospital. 5/5/09

This is immediately after surgery 5/5/09.

This is one day post op in the PICU 5/6/09.

This is 2 days post-op at home in his beloved swing. 5/7/09

surgery

Andy is having his first surgery tomorrow - please wish/pray for him a successful surgery and speedy recovery.

Quit???

I'm thinking about quitting my blog. I'm finding that I don't really feel like posting and I've never had very many people read it anyway........I don't know. Just thinking about quitting. We'll see.

Andrew Jack

So.....the story of Andrew Jack.

On Sunday 3/22 my mom called me at 9pm and said "there is a baby at the hospital with a cleft lip and palate that needs adopted. Are you interested?" I said....."what are you talking about?"

You see, my husband and I have been trying to have a baby for a while now. We have been through 2 failed IVF cycles and were going to try another one this summer. We thought about adoption but hadn't registered with an agency yet as we were still going to try more IVF first. (Adoption seeming to be so expensive and all.......).

Anyway, there's a labor and delivery nurse at the hospital (we'll call her "nurse baby" in this note). So "nurse baby" is a patient at the doctors office where my mom works as a medical assistant. And a while back, my mom being as talkative as she is with everyone (she makes friends with everyone she meets.....) she told her of our troubles and said "if you ever have a baby that needs a home give me a call." So "nurse baby" was working on Sunday (on a day she usually doesn't work and in post-partum that she usually doesn't work in) and she got assigned to the birth mother who wanted to give her baby up. "Nurse baby" remembered us/my mom and found the home phone number for the receptionist at the doctors office and called and asked her for my mom's number. She called my mom....then my mom called me.

Greg and I went up Sunday night at 10pm to see baby and birth mom. We spoke with her for quite some time.....came back the next morning and spoke with the social work, plastic surgery, financial counselors, nurses, and a lawyer.....and less than 24 hours after getting the call we were signing our initial paperwork for adoption.He had to stay a couple days in the NICU as he had to get put to sleep to get impressions made for his mouth as he is getting a splint made and fitted this coming Monday to help him eat better until his cleft palate and lip are repaired.

He is wonderful, perfect and we love him with all our hearts.

I feel that there were so many factors that had to be aligned for this to happen.......I think that God and our guardian angels/guides were looking out for us and I truly believe that he is meant to be ours.

His name is Andrew Jack. Andrew because that was our boy name that we had picked out with the IVF's. And Jack because when birth mom decided to give him up and we hadn't been called yet (we met him when he was 15 hours old).....the nursery nurses decided to "adopt" him and give him a name. They named him Jack. So we are keeping that as his middle name to honor those nurses that cared for him as their own during those 15 hours he was alone.

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts, prayers and support.

News!!!!!!!

I haven't posted in a long time because there was nothing to post about.

However.....THINGS HAVE CHANGED.

We (emergently) adopted a baby on Monday of this week!

It was a complete surprise.......

We were not even in the adoption process currently......

It is a long and complicated story that I will post later on because right now I have to take little Andy to the family doc for his first checkup.

Will post the whole wonderful teriffic story very soon i promise! :)