My "Think Pink" Party

I went to Texarkana last week so that my mother and dad could help me take care of Noah while my biopsy sites under my arms healed. I got a nice rest as mom got up at night with Noah, bathed Noah, and got up in the morning with Noah. For the first time in a long time, I felt truly rested. While in Texarkana, my mother's friends threw me a party. I did not know about it. I was so touched. I told them I had never been to a cancer party. Diane Green quickly corrected me and told me it was a "Think Pink" party. It is truly amazing how many people love me. I don’t know what I have done to deserve all this love. I have a good life. Many people were there and everyone had on pink, even my dad and Curt Green. The snacks were all pink as were the very cute table cloths. There was pink champagne and pink lemonade. The guests brought gifts for when I am in the hospital and when I am at home recovering. I got pjs, house shoes, stationary, bath products, and inspirational books. They all formed a team for me in the Texarkana race for the cure. They named it Jenna’s Hens and Friends. It was one of those moments I will never forget. It ranks up there with the day I married Chad and the first time I met my son. Funny, those days were about joy and were full of happiness. This day was bittersweet as I am on the countdown to a bilateral mastectomy due to breast cancer. I know I will come out of this a stronger woman. I recognize and am eternally grateful for the people who care for me and sprinkle me with droplets of hope.

Rally for the Cure

It's funny how you are oblivious to things until they affect your life. Every year I play in some charity golf events. It's pretty much the same thing. You get a day of golf at a nice course, a tax write-off, and if things work out a nice fat gift certificate to the pro shop. I'm always aware of what the tournament is benefitting but it is always the last thing you think about. If a buddy called and said "Hey there's a 2-man on Thursday at Pinnacle for $100, you in?" I'd just look at the checkbook and my calendar to see if I could play. Since all tournaments on weekdays are for charity, I know it is a benefit tournament, but I doubt 1 out of 10 times I'd even ask what the charity was.

With everything happening in our life right now, I've become super pink ribbon aware. It's strange how many people you see wearing pins or signs at shops or even on stationary we've received. I saw a flyer the other day with a pink ribbon. I picked it up and it was an entry form for Rally for the Cure, a charity golf tournament benefiting the Susan G Komen foundation. I called Mika and he stopped by Pinnacle Country Club and signed us up. I thought it was cool to play in a tournament benefiting breast cancer research and cleared my Wednesday afternoon calendar.

It wasn't until I pulled up and a huge, pink blow up arch was over the clubhouse drive that I had any deeper thought than it just being 'cool' to play in this tournament. Standing there at my car I realized that this tournament was being played for my family. This wasn't a tournament for me to get out of a day of appointments. It wasn't a good excuse to play Pinnacle for only the 3rd time. This tournament was to raise money so the next generation doesn't have to go through what my wife is going through. It's being played so husbands don't have to hold their wives in the middle of the night while they cry themselves to sleep. This tournament was about hope for a better tomorrow.

Before the tournament we sat in the dining room eating lunch while the women players came off the course. A couple of groups stopped at our table and thanked us for playing. One lady told us how happy she was the mens' field of 60 teams was full for the first time. Before we went to our teeboxes a man gave a speech about what we were playing for and to play hard and play well but at least take some time on the course to think about why we were there and to realize 1 in 8 women will get this terrible thing. I've heard dozens of these speeches. All I could think was I wanted to just shout out to the assembled men that he was talking about my family, because I know the vast majority were doing what I always do. Nod their head, think about it for a few minutes, and then play golf.

I think Mika and I took a lot of what he said to heart. We didn't start out with our usual talk of what number we think it will take to win. We didn't seem overly concerned when we started scrambling for pars on the first 4 holes. Likewise, we never got too excited when we hit our stride and started throwing darts at the flags and went on an extended birdie barrage. We stopped at each hole that had a group of women in pink shirts and spoke to them and told them it really was our pleasure to play. They thanked us anyways. We just shrugged our shoulders when the men we were playing with kept encouraging us that they felt we had a chance to win if we continued to play well. We never even had our little math session where we try to find the birdies in the last few holes and which hole we can steal a bird at. We just played.

We did have 1 moment on the course where our foursome discussed the reason we were there. On 1 of the par 3's a group of women in pink were there to watch and see if someone got a hole-in-one. The prize was a new car and a Rolex watch. While we waited to hit, one lady asked if breast cancer had affected us directly. I told her about Jenna and her upcoming surgeries. She was real perky and bubbly and I could tell she wasn't ready to hear that. She looked like I'd thrown cold water on her. The group of women all gave words of encouragement and said they'd pray for us. I'll give the lady credit for not being deterred. She asked the guys playing with us the same question while McFadden and I went up the teebox to hit. The younger of the 2 guys, 24 years young, told us how his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 31 and died at the age of 34, 2 days after his sixth birthday. On the next hole, I told him I was sorry about his mother. He asked me what Jenna's plan of care was. When I told him bilateral masectomy he said, "Good. Get that out of her body and let her raise her son." I really thought I might cry. If we weren't looking at a 40-footer for eagle I may have.

I don't know if it was the relaxed way we played or not, but at the end of the day Mika and I did shoot the magic number. We beat the 59 other teams and won the tournament and got the congratulatory hand shakes...and beers. I'd also won the long drive hole and got a new driver for my efforts. I got more congratulatory hand shakes...and more beers. I felt pretty good but I still was just happy to play. I didn't think it was a big deal to have won until I got into my car and called Jenna on my way home. She'd had a pretty special day in Texarkana where a group of her friends and family had thrown her a surprise 'Think Pink' party to announce their 'Walk for the Cure' team named in her honor. "Jenna's Hens and Friends" gave her a very special day that I'll let her tell about later. When she finally ran out of breath she asked me if I had fun playing golf. I told her we won. She didn't believe me at first. When I told I was serious she started yelling to her friends that we had won the 'Rally for the Cure.' She came back and her voice was thick with emotion, love, and gratitude. She said it was the perfect end to a perfect day and she was so happy she could burst. That's when it became special to me that we won. Until then I swear I'd just been happy to have played and been a part of the tournament. I'd spent my day with a great friend, playing a sport we love, and helping out a cause that I just now get. However, when the day came to an end I listened to my sweet wife's voice and I got caught up in her emotions and I let them carry me away.

In the clear!

Good news. My lymph nodes look clear...no spreading of cancer cells. That means that after the long road of recovery after surgery, this will be over and will soon become only a speed bump in my life. Yeah! Thanks for the prayers!

Changed name and may change look

We know how many people read this blog, 'Noah's blog' because when we go a long time without posts people will inform us of our lack of effort :) . Jenna has wanted to keep you guys informed of her stuff here, as well as on the phone, and the all reliable grapevine. She's said she doesn't want to take over Noah's blog so Magga set up a Care Page for her at carepages.com but after showing it to her she decided she didn't want to do that either.

Armed with this information I have made an executive decision to give people 1 place where they can check on both (and the occasional news from Sweet Papa's corner of life). I now present to you the newly christened Sullivan Family blog. You may come here to get news of Lil'bit as well as his sweet Momma. I may change the look/theme but I'll wait for approval from the boss lady. No reason to make too many executive decisions in 1 day and overstep my authority :)

In recovery

Jenna's in Stage 1 recovery for 30-45 minutes now. I was taken to a consultation area with Dr. Cross. He said everything went fine. They took 2 out of the left and 1 out of the right but I've told it both ways now and confused myself so that may be backwards. He said the dye count in both sides was over 20,000 which means they correctly identified these as the sentinel nodes. They'll be biopsied and we'll know 100% if any cancer cells have spread from her breasts. Keep praying until Monday when we get the results.

Back in surgery

Jenna's back in the operating room for her sentinel node removal. They'll be sent to pathology and we'll know something probably Monday. I got to go back with her into the pre-op area where ordered chaos would be the best description. Dr. Cross (the oncological surgeon) came by and talked to us briefly to make sure we didn't have any questions. Of course Jenna and I have read everything about this surgery so we're pretty informed.

The most comical part was when I was taken back to pre-op to be at her side until she was taken to surgery and Jenna informed me they did a pregnancy test. Dr. Cross warned us several weeks ago that Jenna cannot get pregnant during this time because it will severely limit her treatment options and she's not allowed to take birth control now. More than that, Noah has really been doing a great audition to be an only child. Needless to say, we've been very careful. But for some strange, bizzare reason while we were waiting for the results I was as nervous as I've ever been in my life. All I could say was, "We're not pregnant, we can't be pregnant, dear God please don't be pregnant, for the love of all that's holy tell me your not pregnant!!!" This continued for about 10 minutes before a nurse came in and said she was starting Jenna's antibiotic. Jenna asked "That means I'm not pregnant right?" She said "That's right." The nurse must not have understood what I had been going through because I was expected someone to come in and say "Congratulations, you're not pregnant!" or "We regret to inform you..." But to come in so blase´ she obviously hasn't been on the other side of that curtain before.

I'll let you guys know when Jenna's out of surgery and is doing well.

Normalcy

With all the things going on right now I thought a couple of posts here would put me back to a sense of normalcy. This weekend Noah had a lot of socializing. Friday night we went to some friends' house and watched Noah play with about 7 other kids. He interacted some but about 5 of the kids are 2 and under so they pretty much all did their own thing. He found a swing and then the night was over. The only thing Noah doesn't like about swinging is when you have to stop.
On Saturday, Noah's buddy Hayden had his 1st birthday party. It's always fun to see a 1 yr. old smear cake everywhere. They had a little kiddy pool in the back yard for the kids to play in. Most of the kids splashed in the water. They'd get distracted every now and then and then wander off exploring the Green's huge (7 acre) yard. Well not our sweet little ADHD Noah. We had to keep a man on him at all times, because he just wanted to walk around. To where you might ask? Wherever we told him not to go I respond. They have a steep embankment about 30-40 feet from the pool and its another 30 feet or so to some woods. Noah thought he was Daniel Boone or something because he tried to walk to the woods about 20 straight times. I'd let him get all the way to the woods (hoping his curiousity had been satisfied) then I'd pick him up and return him to the pool. When his feet touched the ground they pivoted and took off as fast as they could go to the woods. Once our friend Misti followed him around to the front of the house. She thought he was just looking and then would return, but not our little explorer. He set off across a 2 acre pasture. He did sleep good that night but it's comical to watch him go like that.
Maybe we shouldn't let him watch Dora anymore. He's taking the Explorer part much too seriously.

Finally, a date...

Well, after jumping through multiple hoops at various doctors, having several holes poked in me, and lots of reading, I have made a decision to have a bilateral mastectomy. The cancer in my left breast is about 5 cm., which is too big to do an efficient lumpectomy and is sort of risky in that they still may not get all the cells. I had a spot in my right breast that turned out to be benign, but don't really ever want to have to think about this coming back or one day having to go back and have an "alignment". I am going to get the mastectomy and reconstruction during the same surgery. It is a long surgery (about 10 hours) and there was a wait for operating room time. The first date they could get me on is August 15. The surgery will be at Willow Creek. I am having an outpatient surgery on July 20 for a sentinel node biopsy where they will cut under both arms to make double sure that my cancer has not drained into my nodes. If that is true and the final pathology of what is cut out shows it was not invasive, then I may not have to have any therapy following. There will be a consult with an oncologist, however, when this is all complete.

I have gotten more cards and phone calls than I would have ever imagined. I am so thankful for my support network.

Just to be fair to Noah's page...He is so cute!! He is learning this summer and was quite proud of himself today when he conquered climbing onto the couch all my himself. I left the room for a mintue. When I came back, he was sitting on the couch like the cat who ate the canary. He was able to step on the dog beds though to give him an extra boost! He has also had fun learning to stomp in all these rain puddles. He even fell is some and jumped right back up. It is really funny how there is such an inate difference between the genders. My few friends who do have baby girls, those children are so dainty. Noah can run circles around them. : )

Love to all!

Update

Hey. I hate to take over my son's blog, but in the end, I guess, if Noah were older he would want our loved ones to know how his dear momma is doing. I went for a breast MRI yesterday. The news was mostly good. At this time, the radiologist did not see any evidence of this having spread to my lymphnodes. I will still have a small, bilateral biopsy though on my lymphnodes under my arm to double check. Also, my cancer shows that it has remained confined within the cell and has not yet infiltrated. It is rated as high grade, which means it is a fast grower. They also found a very small "something" in my right breast that they could not see on the mammogram or the ultrasound. So, now we are pushing some things back a few days and I am having another core needle biopsy aided by the MRI on Monday at 1. This should help me make a more informed decision about how to proceed with my treatment. Chad and I also went for a consulation at the platic surgeon's office today and left feeling very positive about our options.

Thanks so much again for all the well wishes, cards, and phone calls. Much love to you all. We Sullivans' are holding up just fine and are darn lucky to have such a wonderful group of friends and family!!

Here's the scoop on Noah's Momma...

I know many people read this site occasionaly and are interested in my well being. So here it is...We are getting armed and ready for battle! I have been diagnosed with Ductal Carcinoma In Situ, aka, DCIS, which means that I have an early stage of cancer which is confined at this time to my milk ducts. I am so very thankful to the nurse practitioner who did not blow me off when she thought the knot in my breast was nothing, but referred me for a mammogram anyway. She was right about the knot, but it lead the radiologist to find this cancer. Chad and I visited with the breast surgeon today. I am getting blood work, a chest x-ray, breast MRI, genetic testing, and having a consultation with a plastic surgeon. That will all happen by next Wednesday. The results of those tests will help to determine the course of treatment. Without going into all the details, Dr. Cross, the breast cancer surgeon, says he believes if all comes back good, this could be completely treatable with surgery and no radiation or chemo. A sample of my lymphnodes will also be taken prior to surgery to ensure this has stayed in my ducts. So, right now we are in a holding pattern running to all sorts of doctors to get these tests done. As soon, as I know more about what type of surgery the doctor suggests and we elect, I will let you know.

I want to thank everyone for their prayers, thoughts, and phone calls. I am trying to return calls, but am not getting around to it as quickly as I would like. Please also pray for my family who are also doing their best to remain positive and keep their heads up for my benefit! I almost think it is easier to swallow when it is you in the situation and not someone you love dearly.

Keep praying

We need everyone's prayers just a little bit longer. We finally had the biopsy this afternoon (I make it sound like we both have 1/2 inch holes in our breast). Jenna did fine and is feeling good. The valium they gave her before the procedure may have something to do with that:)

All joking aside, the results should be in tomorrow or Wednesday. Jenna will be notified over the phone what the results are. If it is cancer they will tell us the type and give us the date of our followup. The followup will be with a team of a surgeon, oncologist, radiation oncologist, and our radiologist. Hopefully their preparing us for the worst will be for naught and the area will be benign. If it is benign, she'll have to come back in 6 months for another mammogram to watch the area since it could develop into cancer at some point in the future. After they told us this, I'd like to know why they don't just remove it now but my brain wasn't on while the nurse spoke.

I promise to let everyone know as soon as we are told in the next few days. If you could just pray for Jenna to have peace while we wait it would be much appreciated.

Noah can hear

It's a shame we had to go to an audiologist to find out for sure, but our little biscuit can hear. In case you didn't know, Noah failed his infant hearing screening. The doctor wasn't alarmed because a lot of infants fail the screening and end up with no hearing problems. However, since Noah is a man of few words so far, we brought it up at his 1 yr. checkup and we were referred for an audiologist. The main fear was more that there is a strong maternal history of male hearing problems than a true fear on our part that Noah can't hear us.

He passed the spoken voice localization test easily. He did not respond to the 2 tones she played but she said that was common in toddlers to fail to localize to sounds other than their name or whatnot. So we'll have to go again at some point in the future to make sure he is hearing all pitches and tones but he should have no problems hearing our voices and learning to talk.

Delayed again

The biopsy has been postponed again. Apparently the multi-million dollar machine that reduces recovery time and blah, blah, blah still has been unable to get up and running. They were hit by lightning on Monday and the software on the system is still acting funny.

Jenna talked to the doctor yesterday who of course was apologetic. Jenna felt good after talking to her but all I can say is it's a good thing I didn't take the call. She said she understands the anxiety we feel and blah, blah, blah. I don't know how you can say the word 'cancer' to someone and then keep pushing the biopsy back and 'understand what your family is going through.' If this wasn't Noah's page, I'd have much more colorful language.

They are not rescheduling per se at this moment. The 'moment' it is working they are going to call Jenna and schedule her at the first opportunity even if it is late or on the weekend. I have decided if we don't hear from them by tomorrow afternoon then we are finding a doctor in Little Rock and going.

I'll update you guys as soon as we know something else. I know you all have anxiety about this as well and I'm sorry for the lack of information. If we could have forseen this, we'd probably kept it to ourselves until we knew something concrete.

I'll post the new time or the results soon...well hopefully soon.

one year check up

Well we went to the doctor yesterday for Noah's one year check up (A little overdue due to illness, etc.) We talked to her about the fact that Noah had never had a formal passed hearing test. She agreed that we need to make sure he can hear at all levels. Don't know how much everyone knows or doesn't know about audiology, but there are all different levels of hearing. Chad and I were just a little concerned because his language seems to be coming along a little slowly. That is the down side over having a school psychology specialist and occupational therapist as your parents. We worry over the little things. Anyway, we are going to the audiologist next Monday. He still only weighs 18.6 pounds and has not gained back the weight he lost during that terrible virus. We have since added some strawberry syrup to his whole milk to try to get him to drink it. He loves it now!! After he gets used to that texture, I will back off the syrup slowly. That whole milk should give him an extra boost of calories. He got his shots and appeared to hate being held down more than that actual needle...not surprising for our Noah!

We just got back from Texarkana. He had a blast running all over my parents' house. He seemed to think it was a castle and enjoyed being chased. Oh, and the stairs fascinated him too. Mom came home with us and I think Noah is really beginning to know his grandparents. This is the first trip where he has not clung to me! I think Donnie and Rosalyn's visit helped since it was right before Texarkana. We have some time scheduled this summer for him to stay with his Magga also.

A brief update on me...my appointment for my biopsy was changed until this Thursday due to technological difficulties. Please keep me in your prayers. Also, if you would keep my friends who lost their infant son last week to SIDS in your prayers, that would be good.

Our Noah is growing and learning every day. His Granda asked for a kiss today and he gave her a big open mouth right on her lips! It was so cute. Chad chases him around the kitchen table and Noah squeals in delight and runs as fast as those peanut legs will take him. He is so much fun. Every day hold a new joy as his mother!

Noah has tricks!!!

I know that's a weird title but we have had a lot of funny moments watching Noah and Hayden develop side by side. Noah has a real interest in toys and tries to figure out how things work and Hayden is just a ham that imitates everything you do. Each of us looks at the others' kid and say "I wish would do that?"

Well Noah now has some tricks as well. Yesterday he unveiled 2 tricks to his Mom and Dad. First, after 2-3 weeks of us playing patty cake ad nauseum he started to clap yesterday when he did something good. Then last night at dinner with Mamaw and Papaw, he dropped his sippy cup and said "Uh-Oh" Jenna and I squealed with delight and clapped. Of course he clapped back :)

I think Mamaw and Papaw think we're crazy.

Rough week

Well as some of you know, we have had a week similar to what the Navy SEALS go through in their first week. FYI they call it 'Hell Week.'
Sunday night Noah was a little fussy. Jenna got up with him and he was running a fever about 102. The next morning he was still fussy and was super duper drooling. We thought he was finally cutting more teeth. Anything over 100-101 in the fever dept is an automatic stay home from the sitters so I stayed home with him. As the day went on he became more and more fussy. When Jenna got home she was unable to console him either. So at 6:30 we decided maybe this was more serious than teething so we went to the MediServ afterhours clinic. The doctor looked in his mouth and did a strep test which was negative. Then they took blood. That was a nightmare. During all of this Noah is just screaming and screaming. She told us it was probably some virus and to alternate Ibuprofen/Tylenol til morning. If he doesn't improve by tomorrow then take him to the pediatrician.
Well at 11 that night it started to escalate. I went to bed and Jenna was taking the first shift. At 12 or so she came to get me in tears. Noah was in terrible pain. I won't go into specifics but it was terrible. I immediately threw on clothes and we went to the emergency room. He screamed and bucked and thrashed in his car seat the entire way. Once there he calmed down when he heard another hid screaming. A nurse almost immediately took us back and looked in his mouth and said 'Thrush.' So he had calmed down and we had a prelim diagnosis. We also had the medicine used to treat Thrush back at the house so instead of being bumped down the triage list and spending the night at the emergency room we went home. He never again was as bad as he was at midnight but it was still a long night.
The next day I went to work and Jenna stayed home. As the day went on we talked to each other and decided we thought it was more than thrush. Everything you read about thrush says mild to moderate discomfort. This was so far beyond moderate discomfort its not remotely funny. So we got an appointment with the pediatrician.
He looked Noah over and said he looks okay but then he got to the mouth and then he said, "That's not thrush." He showed us the red area in the roof of his mouth that we had seen. He said that looked like blisters that were beginning to heal. He said it looked like a strain of the coxsackievirus family. Hand, foot, mouth is in this family. We think he had the virus called "Herpangina."
On Monday night at the emergency room they must have been at their pinnacle and were weeping into his mouth and the acidic nature of the fluid made him have to swallow, but swallowing must have been unspeakably painful. The bad news is its viral so it has had to run its course. The good news is there really wasn't anything we could have done differently so we don't have to deal with guilt or anything.
Last night was the first night he has done much better. We have a mouth rinse of liquid Benadryl, Maalox, and Lydacaine that makes his whole mouth numb. Its funny to watch him after we give it to him because he sticks his tongue out and moves it around. He even put in a pacifier last night upside down and if you know Noah you know he will not tolerate an upside down paci.
He's doing much better now but I thought everyone would like to know the week he's had. Poor kid. He's even lost 2 pounds from the dehydration and lack of food. He's on the mend now but keep him in your prayers a little bit longer.

Happy Birthday Noah!!!!!

Today's the day. One year ago today Jenna and I went to the hospital to meet our son. I know everyone says its a day you'll remember forever but I have found that not to be true. I remember the order of most of the events but there is plenty that is foggy and hazy. What I will always remember will be that moment. The moment under the warmer when Noah and I looked into each other's eyes. It was the same look I shared exactly 813 days before that one. That was the day when his mother and I were taken to a small room in a church and we were given a few minutes alone right before our wedding. We never spoke. We just looked each other in the eyes. I was always told that you show people how much you love them by your actions. I respectfully disagree. Big love. Profound love. True love is communicated with the eyes.

Noah, if you ever want to know how much I love you, just come on over and look me in the eyes. It will tell you all you ever need to know. Happy birthday son. I love you.

Baptism

Noah's baptism was this morning at First United Methodist Church in Springdale. A lot of the family who came up for the party yesterday were able to stay and make it to his big day.

He did well for the most part. In fact he did great the entire time up until the moment we went up to the altar. Then he became transfixed with the floor pattern and wanted down. While the pastor went through the vows Jenna and I took he was a big wiggleworm. It was like trying to hold onto a greased cricket. Finally I gave him to his Momma and that may have been a mistake. You can take him from Daddy but you better not take him from Momma. She tried to give him to the pastor and he started to scream and kick his legs. It was actually pretty funny. So Jenna held him and took him to the water. Reverend Skarta let him put his hands in the water and that calmed him down. Jenna held him while they baptized him into Jesus' fold. Then Daddy took his grumpy butt to the nursery :)

Afterwards we all went to Cavanaugh's Pizza for lunch. It was a great day and weekend. We don't get to see our family near as often as we'd like and to have them all here this weekend was something not soon to be forgotten.

Birthday Party

We had Noah's birthday party yesterday. We are so thankful for all the great stuff he got and all the friends and family who could make to share the big day. I'll put posts up in a few days after I have time to digest everything.

Noah was in a great mood and really liked all the kids helping him out. Jana, Madison, and Mackenzie were all a big help with getting all the paper off those presents. Of course Jackson was a big help also by being the kid who actually listened to his parents :) Of course the biggest hit during the presents was all the paper and the boxes around. He would laugh and spin with tissue paper in his hand. Then he got a Dora book and he was all about that. I think he has his first crush. The insecure male in me keeps pushing him to Diego, but he just really likes Dora. He got a lot of cool stuff to play with and some nice clothes (including a Derek Jeter jersey). Jenna's been worried about clothes because he's hit a big growth spurt the past few weeks and has outgrown a ton of stuff almost instanteously.

The cake was also a big hit. I figured with his genetic makeup he would be a ham for attention but this was the first time he's had such a big audience. Not to worry, he knew how to have the stage. He started off not sure what to do with the cake. After a few tests with his finger and Daddy showing him it was food he planted his face in it to take a bite. Of course the 20 people there laughed and laughed. Then the light bulb came on over his head. He started to put his face in the cake and then come up just to make everyone laugh. He wasn't even taking a bite anymore. He just kept planting his face in the cake and come up giggling looking at all of his audience. When the laughs started to die he started to eat the cake and boy what a mess he can make. He didn't get it all in his hair like a lot of kiddos I've seen but he did manage to get it in places I didn't know the high chair had.

After cake we grilled bratwursts and hot dogs while the kids played in the yard. Noah's favorite toy so far has been his Spider-Man & Friends 4 wheeler thing. He likes you to push him while he pushes the horn and laughs. He also is showing a favorite superhero in the Incredible Hulk figure on it. I keep 'suggesting' the Wolverine one is cooler but he likes the Hulk. Oh well. As long as he's not a Red Sox fan :)

Aunt Holly stayed with us that night and got him down to bed. I think he was pretty pooped from all the excite not to mention the sugar.

Thanks again to everyone who helped make Noah's day so special. I'll post some pics as soon as I can.

Big Weekend

Noah finally did it! He took many steps all at once and never even realized he did it. He was standing up holding on to my leg and I handed him his sippy cup and he grabbed it with both hands. Then he took off walking. Since then he has walked several times, but seven steps has been the most. He tries to take off, but then falls to his knees. I guess he figures that is quicker.

This weekend Noah also went to a birthday party for his friend from Mrs. Susan's. Jack, his friend, turned three. Noah had so much fun watching all the other kiddos. He wanted to play too. Susan's little girl who is 5 or 6 loves Noah and she put Noah in her lap and slid down the slide. They had one of those bouncey houses and he loved letting the kids bounce him around. He also rode all around the yard in one of those big tonka battery powered trucks. He laughed out loud. We ate cake and ice cream to practice for his birthday weekend, then headed home. The little boy was tuckered out.

On Sunday, we went to church and then Noah watched Chad and I work in the yard. We got a little tired and so Noah and I took a break in the kitchen floor and shared some grapes. He is like a little bird...always has his mouth open wanted to know what you can put in it. He thinks grapes are good!!

Today it was back to the working world. I missed him so much. I can hardly wait until summer with him. He is just so entertaining. Five more weeks....