Isaac is 2 1/2!!

I am so happy to be celebrating today!  Isaac is 2 1/2 years old!  We are grateful to be celebrating this milestone, and we are able to because of so many people. I am grateful to Jeremiah for all of his sacrifices and bravery, for his quick-thinking and his planning ahead.  I am grateful to Natalie for her thoughtfulness and love for Isaac, for her silliness and willingness to help him and entertain him.  I am grateful for Isaac's nurses, especially Ele and Jessica, who both helped to save his life, and who love him and made me finally feel comfortable enough to leave home and go to work.  I am grateful to the emergency response teams, for helping to stabilize Isaac when he needed them, and for listening to us and helping us to get what he needed.  I am grateful for the muscle team at Children's Hospital Colorado, for being supportive, informative, helpful, and genuine.  I'm grateful for our parish, Guardian Angels, which has become like an extended family for us. We still have friends who make us a meal every single week, and parish members who step in to help us financially just as we are about to be late with a bill.  I am grateful to our friends, who celebrate Isaac and see him for who he really is.  I am grateful to our family, who continues to support us, love us, help us, and pray for us. I am grateful to God, for granting us more time with our son than we ever hoped.  And I am so grateful to Isaac, the strongest, sweetest, most handsome little lion, for being his wonderful and perfect self.  I'm also grateful for the unprecedented 6.5 hours straight that he slept last night. Thanks sweet pea, that was a nice surprise.

The birthday boy!

We had a really nice afternoon celebrating with friends, The Goulds, at their house.  My friend Renee made a cake (with 2.5 candles), and her oldest son picked out balloons and suggested they hang them up high so Isaac could see them.  All of the kids played with balloons, which Isaac really enjoys.  They had also gotten Isaac a birthday present, an awesome, circular, twirling xylophone type toy with a 'mallet' that is light enough for Isaac to hold and move around.  He might have loved it even more than the chocolate frosting, which is saying quite a lot.  Isaac loved going outside and watching the chickens peck around the yard, the dogs wrestle one another, and he got to hold a tiny 2 week old kitten!  He had a great afternoon, and Natalie is spending the night with them (her first non grandparent sleep-over!).

Natalie holding a kitten

Cake and his new awesome toy!

Yep, dude, that is a tiny kitten on your chest

Polka dot balloon!

Tomorrow is Isaac's quarterly check-up at the muscle clinic, which means we have another long day at the hospital.  This Saturday is the annual Cure SMA Candle-lighting event.  We light candles all over the world in memory of those who have died, and in honor of those still fighting like lions.  Please, light a candle this Saturday at dusk, and say a prayer for Isaac. It will take only a moment!

Just another sword fight with Daddy