Whew, we made it to Denver and back again…all in one piece. I didn’t realize how truly exhausted I would be today. But, when I think about the great weekend we had, it was all worth the drive.

We got to see, (my) Uncle Marc, Auntie Al, (Daven’s) Uncle Tucker, Auntie Jody, Uncle T (Trevor), and finally Cousin Tia. We had a great time. When it comes to family, time never seems to be long enough. We could have been there for a month, and I would still dread the “goodbye.”

We weren’t there long enough to do any amazing things to brag about. We simply enjoyed each other’s company and watched the babies play. Speaking of bragging…I did learn to play poker. Yep, I single handedly smoked everyone that played! I guess my next impromptu trip will have to be Las Vegas. [evil laugh]

Here is GranZ getting all the love she can from Tia. Nice wet applesauce filled kisses!

And this is Uncle T. We are so glad you are officially back to this side of the nation, sure is easier to make a fast trip to Denver as opposed to Atlanta!


And, GranZ helping Daven walk to Aunt Jody. (Jody is expecting Daven’s next cousin in September! We can’t hardly wait!)


Auntie Autumn enjoying her time with Cousin Tia. She just gets bigger every time I see her! (Let me make myself clear – Tia gets bigger, not Auntie Autumn)

And finally here we all are. This will be the last time we are all together until Christmas. Autumn, you best be making your way home for Christmas! If only Logan and PapaT would have been there, we could have been an episode on TV Land. (I am pretty sure this picture isn’t flattering to anyone of us in the group!)


We head off for the next road trip on Wednesday. Better break out the “conversation starter” questions because it will be a long drive!!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Yesterday I talked for a minute with Uncle T and he mentioned Autumn. She had planned on ridding with a group of friends to Denver and was going to see both our brothers, sister-in-law and Cousin Tia. I started to sulk because I was the only sibling that wouldn’t be in Denver this weekend.

I then started to think…why am I not going? Was I simply not invited? Do I have somewhere to be at this weekend? When I couldn’t come up with an answer for any of the questions I was pondering, I decided, THAT’S IT…I am going to Denver!

Subsequently within the past hour, I have conned GranZ and Auntie Autumn to get in the car with Daven and I for an impromptu road trip. From Clovis, Denver is about an eight hour drive. The plan is to throw clothes in the car (literally), throw Daven in the car (not so literally), and drive halfway tonight. We could easily be in Denver by mid morning on Saturday. Spend about 24 hours with the family then throw everything/everyone back into the car and head home mid day Sunday.

It will be a fast and furious trip, but I am getting excited. Not about the driving (I already have a 24 hour drive ahead of me next week!), but to see all my siblings. I can’t even begin to tell you the fun that we always have when we are all together.

Keep us in your prayers as we head towards the mountain state. We will be there and back before you even knew we were gone!

Ready, Set, Go…and we are off!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Well, there is no turning back now…I will be driving with Auntie Autumn, helping her move to Washington DC, in officially 5 days, 19 hours and 30 some-odd minutes. Sigh. Autumn has been keeping track of this count down for about a month now…but I have been in denial. It hit me yesterday, that the time I have with my sister as a roommate…is limited.

So, Logan and I took advantage of the time we had …and went out on a date. HA! Yep, we left Daven with Auntie Autumn babysitting. We figure, might as well take advantage of the free in-house babysitting one last time. And when we arrived back home, Autumn just raved at how good Daven was the entire night! He even got to flirt with a few pretty girls that stopped by. (Have I mentioned how much he loves the pretty girls?)

Here is Daven and Auntie Autumn playing on her bed. She had him giggling and even bursts of belly laughs. If I could figure out how to add video clips on this darn thing…I would. The picture shows Daven talking to her saying how much he wants her to stay!

Also, here he is holding on tight to the strings from my dress. As if to say “Giddy up, Mom!”

You will miss us Autumn! (Okay so maybe not Logan and I…but you will miss that little boy!) Are you sure you want to go that far away from home? Wait; don’t actually change your mind until we are in Washington DC. I have already geared myself up for the road trip of a lifetime! NO TURNING BACK NOW! But once we are there and I have done all the sightseeing possible, I would be happy to drive you back home. ;-)

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Yesterday I witnessed one of the most precious moments I have had since becoming a mother. When I got home from work, I went to see Daven in his crib. He was laying on his back munching on his bottle. When he saw me; he instantly rolled over to his belly, pushed and pulled himself up to a sitting position, and looked over to me with the biggest smile. I knew exactly what he was saying…”Look what I can do mom!” Oh how I will cherish this moment for years to come!

Daven spent the day and weekend with his GranPa, GranMama, and Auntie Shayla. There were down from Oklahoma to see those precious grandsons of theirs. And we were happy to show them off! Saturday was a big Marshall family reunion. So we all loaded up and headed down to the local memorial building to meet and greet as many old family members as we possibly could. (And I mean nothing when I say old…we spoke to all ages!) This is Daven enjoying a scooter ride by Logan’s cousin Janette. How precious is this? He loved her and she loved him! I think they were both having the time of their lives!

On Sunday we went to church and like always, he didn’t think the preaching was worth sitting still for. So, we spent the hour in the nursery play room. I sat Daven by the box o’ toys just to see what he would do. Much to my surprise, he reached in and started emptying out that box. I was thrilled watching him empty something, anything out! I have watched a “normal” developing child do this many times, mostly annoyed…but when Daven did it, I was overjoyed! He emptied that box out until he found every “spinner” in the place. I was lucky enough to bring the camera along (only because grandparents were there) to catch this exciting feat!

Needless to say, we had a super busy weekend. There are too many good pictures to share with you at once. I don’t want to overwhelm you with amazingly cute pictures of Daven…so I will only share some for now. One of Daven looking up at his GranPa is so great. You can see all over his face how much he loves him!

We love you and miss you and can’t wait to see you again; GranPa, GranMama, and Auntie Shayla!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

This just in...

Daven's GranMama (Logan's mom, my mother-in-law) just called and informed me that he officially went from a laying down position to a sitting up position all on his own! What great news this is. A huge accomplishment for my little angel! No pictures were taken, however, because they didn't want to distract him. HA! This happens to me so often. I get excited about what he is in the process of doing and start cheering him along. But in the end, he stops because I have simply distracted him. I am so proud of my little man and I wanted to share our good news with you. I have been anticipating these growth spurts for a long time now…maybe this is the beginning of what I have been waiting for!

GO DAVEN, I will be crying tears of joy as I chase you around the house pulling things out of your grip and keeping your tiny fingers out of the electrical sockets. I LOVE YOU Bubee and am proud of you for working so hard!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

As I was closing up some things at work on Friday, I started going through some old emails. I came across an old email that I had sent out to the Williams Syndrome list back in February asking about scoliosis and bracing Daven. A fellow WS mom emailed me back cautioning me about bracing Daven. Strongly suggesting that we NEVER put him in a brace.

Apparently her son also had the same issues and luckily they came across a doctor that had dealt with scoliosis and Williams syndrome. She said all it does is fix one problem, but creates an even bigger problem. Studies are starting to show some complications with “muscle atrophy” in kids with WS who have used braces. Meaning that yes, the brace might straiten out his back, but once we take the brace off…he won’t have the muscle tone to hold himself up. This in return means that in the end Daven would have to have back surgery anyway.

I wouldn’t really think much about this email, except that the nice woman knew exactly what the doctors were going to tell us. (Keeping in mind this was sent to me back in February, long before we got the final diagnosis) “The doctors” she said, “will want Daven to be in a brace for 23 hours a day, until he stops growing.”

As I was reading these emails I could feel my heart racing and my blood pressure rising. I started to think, yes the doctors are probably doing the right thing for Scoliosis, but are they doing the right thing for scoliosis in a Williams Syndrome child? And the FREAK OUT had started. I didn’t know what to do next, but to cry. I just want there to be one simple answer for once! I want to know 100% without a doubt that I am doing the right thing for my child, and he will be bigger and stronger because of it.

As soon as I picked Daven up that day, I stripped that brace off and just held him and cried. Not knowing what is best for your child is crushing. I called all the family, friends, PT’s, OT’s and doctors that I knew to call to ask their opinion. The consensus that Logan and I came up with was to keep Daven in the brace during the night, but keep it OFF during the daytime when he will actually be using those muscles. At least until we get further instructions from the doctors.

Other than that, our weekend was great. I have said enough for one day…so I won’t bore you with the weekend details until tomorrow. But I do have this AMAZING picture to share with you. Here is Daven pushing up to the sitting position. I am elated to see this accomplishment. Also, here is Daven talking up a storm with Cousin Luke! So precious those boys are.

Thanks for letting me vent it out yet again!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Last night, Autumn and I decided that we should go out and enjoy the beautiful New Mexico evening. So, we packed Daven up, grabbed a bottle and went shopping. ;-) (Being bored cost me way too much money!)

After we shopped for a while and decided Daven was shopped out, we stopped by Sarah’s house. While we were checking out some amazing hand bags from Pakistan (Sarah is from Pakistan), her mom picked up Daven and instantly started loving on him. And he was loving her back as long as she let him watch their giant TV. As far as Daven is concerned…it doesn’t get much better than a big screen TV. Just put a Baby Einstein movie on that tv and he will be wide eyed for the next hour. (not that I have ever done that!)

As soon as we got back in the car to drive home, the doctor called to give us the results of Daven’s calcium test. The news was a bit unexpected. Daven has had two calcium tests before the most recent blood test we took last week. The first came back in the normal range, high normal…but normal. The second test was normal. And finally the test we took last week was ABnormally high. So, we will need to go back to Lubbock and have it checked again. He said no rush on having this test done, but he would like to get another blood sample from Daven so that he will have 4 tests to compare. Sigh…

On a good note…he had a great Speech Therapy session yesterday. The ST said that she thinks Daven is truly shaking his head “no” with a real purpose. Meaning that he is trying to communicate with us by shaking his head saying he doesn’t want something. This is a great sign! Also, (speaking of sign) he is motioning the “more” sign that we have been teaching him for 3 or 4 months now. This is also another form of communication. YAY Daven!

These are very small and subtle things, but when I consider how long we have been working on these small things…it is very exciting to see progress on the horizon. Rumor also has it, (GranZ said she has seen him do this twice today) that Daven is trying to push up on all fours to get from the laying position to the sitting up position. Again, this will be major progress!

I will keep my eyes peeled this weekend and if I see this, I will be sure to take pictures! We do have a busy weekend planed; Daven’s GranPa and GranMama are coming in from Oklahoma to see Daven and Cousin Luke. We are all so excited to see them and show off their two grandsons. I assure you there will be lots of pictures to share with you Monday.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

After a long exhausting day yesterday, Auntie Autumn and I were playing with Daven in the floor with balloons. He hasn’t been around any balloons for a few months now so he wasn’t sure what to do with them at first. He first tried to bite one, but we quickly stopped him from doing that knowing what the final outcome of screaming would be. And then finally, he tried to spin the balloons. After allowing Daven to explore the balloons Auntie Autumn started playing with him.

Here he is scantily clad in his wife-beater t-shirt playing. I thought the picture was too cute not to pass along.

The evening otherwise was pretty quiet. Logan was working late last night, so Daven and I went to Auntie Micah and Cousin Luke’s house. As usual, we (Micah and I, not Daven and Luke) had plenty of girl talk and giggles.

Once I got home and put Daven fast asleep in his crib, I picked things up a bit then crashed myself. Then about 11:30 pm he woke up just screaming in pain. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I hate these nights. Not only is it exhausting, but terribly frustrating for me to not know what the problem is.

We have dealt with the pains of colic for the first year of Daven’s life. What an arduous year! Now that the colic is MUCH better, nights like last night bring back so many raw memories of that first year. I revert back to colic relief mode in an instant. Consisting of running through the cycle of what may or may not work. It usually goes like this…

1.) Holding him close swaddling him while humming a soft gentle tune
2.) “...” + bouncing him up and down or rocking
3.) “.............” + static TV
4.) And finally swinging him in his car seat or a blanket

This is obviously the last resort because it is so hard now that Daven is getting bigger. Nineteen pounds doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you start swinging dead weight back and forth for long periods of time…it gets to be grueling. But 9 out of 10 times this works!

I just hate that feeling of not knowing what is wrong with my child. I feel that every other mom knows instantly what is wrong with their crying baby and can fix the problem within a minute or two at most. Granted, most of the time I know the difference between a hungry cry, a sleepy cry, a “hold me mom” cry, but I am baffled with colic cries.

I got Daven settled down when I finally got to the swinging part of the cycle and he fell back into sweet sleep. Was it a bad dream, a tummy ach, a stuffy nose, or a scratchy throat…I may never know. Maybe soon enough, he will be able to tell me what the problem is, or at the least…point to what hurts.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Today marks the day when my baby sister arrived 25 years ago. I think I will always refer to her as my baby sister. No matter how grown and/or independent she gets. However, even considering her as my baby sister, I look up to her in so many aspects of life. Autumn has been such an amazing support system for me throughout the past year and so many years before. I truly don’t know how people make it through life without a sister.

She is one of the bravest women I know. No matter what life throws at her, she takes it all in stride. (And life sure has thrown her some doozies.) Such as…Her apartment being broken into, only to turn up that there had been a man living in the attic of her apartment. I still am not over this drama, but Autumn simply brushes herself off and makes another mark in the “stories to tell” category.

She is getting older and older as the years go on. (I guess we all get older as the years go on, with the exception of Monga. She has been 29 for as long as I can remember; how does she do that?) I read somewhere once that “a sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.” Oh how profound that statement is to me. No matter her age, she will always be that little girl that I remember growing up with.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUTUMN! Thanks for being the great sister that you are!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Friday was Blanca’s (a coworker and confidant of mine) last day in my office. Not until this very moment did it hit me how terribly sad this makes me. As I came to work today, I was thinking about my weekend and ready to give a re-cap to Blanca, as was the Monday morning ritual.

Only now did I remember that Blanca isn’t coming to work today. She is officially no longer an employee at Clovis Community College, Blanca has moved on to bigger and better things. This is devastating to me because it seems like my life, lately, is being taken over by icky, stinky, coodie filled BOYS.

For those of you that don’t know me, I am your all American girly girl. (Such as: I never leave the house without make up, I love big gotti jewelry and high heels, and there is nothing better than a good chick flick staring Matthew McConaughey) I have worked for a woman for the past 7 years and now I have to change my mind to a mans way of thinking.

When my old boss (Beverlee oh how I miss you too!) left, my only reprieve was Blanca as we would gossip and giggle throughout the day. Now, my once beautiful office is going through a transition. The beautiful expensive art has been replaced with trout fish and ugly man art, and great girl talk has changed to men grunting and gloating about shooting things. All that's missing now is camouflage as the office color scheme. Sigh

So, I just wanted to say how much you will be missed Blanca. Your girl-talk and gossip that was once a daily occurrence will now be a fond memory of the days when estrogen used to rule this office.

Wait, I just remembered that Autumn will be leaving my house in 2 weeks. Oh I might as well learn to use one of those guns; I might have to shot myself!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

So, I have to renege on what I said about Daven and not being mobile. Last night, I had Daven in his walker as I was busy cooking dinner. I was cooking away not thinking about anything else in the world when I hear Daven starting to move around in his walker. Still not thinking much I then hear him crash into something. So I peak around the corner to check on him and his fingers were red. I panicked thinking he was bleeding and couldn’t figure out what it was coming from.

As I am franticly searching for the source of the blood, I noticed a strong cinnamon smell??? “What in the world?” I was saying to myself. Then I started looking around and he had gotten far enough to reach the end table. On that table I have a warming plate that heats up wax to fill the room with a sweet smell of…cinnamon.

Sure enough, my inspection lead to this…

Unfortunately, I didn't grab the camera before I had him all cleaned up. That would have been a great picture!

Thank goodness that I did not have the warming plate on and wax hot. I guess I really need to start paying more attention to my now somewhat mobile child. I forget that he isn’t just a baby that plays in the floor without going too far.

My big boy will soon be getting into many more things that I will be chasing after him saying “No, Daven…” Again, I look forward to this day. What little I already do makes me smile on the inside.

Happy Friday everybody!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

We had Daven’s second annual IFSP (Individual Family Service Plan) meeting yesterday afternoon. Overall, it went very well. We set new goals and objectives for Daven for the coming year. Some of the new goals consist of increase his gross motor skills (ie. crawling, standing, walking), work on feeding issues, work on speech and finally to increase Daven’s OT to twice a week and ST to twice a week.

All in all I feel very good about this meeting and these new goals. I am excited about bumping up his therapy time and anxious to see results. We did also decide to get Daven in a small "mother’s day out" program. This will increase his time with other children in hopes that he will see how others babies crawl and walk.

After the overwhelming response I got from the last post, I am feeling much better today. When we got home last night, we went outside to swing and Daven was just belly laughing. I felt the emotions coming and couldn’t stop myself from crying. I loved him more and more with every laugh. (I didn’t think it was possible to love him even more.)

Thanks to everyone for the kind words, along with Daven’s laughs it was truly exactly what I needed. I feel much more confident in myself as a mother today and at peace with Daven’s growth. Like others have said…look at that face, how could I think he wasn’t happy. Daven is my precious angel for a very important reason and I intend to find out what that reason is.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

I know that this has been the topic of so many posts on this blog, so I apologize in advance for bringing it up again. But I am going to anyway.

I obviously know that Daven is a little behind the curveball when compared to a normal developing child. But, lately I am starting to realize that he is getting farther and farther behind the curveball of a Williams Syndrome child. As much as I try not to compare children and try not to let this consume me…it is.

The more research I have done and the more WS children I am introduced to, the more I see it. Daven is simply much farther behind than other children. Okay okay, I have already heard the arguments…”don’t compare,” “girls are much faster than boys to develop,” “he will get there eventually,” yade-yada. I have been told this all of Daven’s 18 month long life.

I am starting to think that it is my bad parenting and question everything I do or don’t do. Should I be at home with him and instead of being a working mom? Am I too lax with him? Should I have a strict therapy session/workout for him to do 5 or 6 times a week?

I can’t help but take his slow development personally. With the help of my mother and his GranZ he gets all the therapy sessions during the week. Which is a HUGE task to take on and I couldn’t have survived the first year of mommy-hood without her help. She helps with Daven on a daily basis, and I am a better mom because of it.

However, I still have that sick sinking feeling that I am not doing enough to help him progress. Sorry again for bringing up this topic yet again. But it has been weighing heavy on my mind as my close friends compare milestones. I love them all and can’t begin to imagine where I would be without their support. I just wish I had a great milestone to report back to them.

Maybe someday Daven will have his spotlight! And when that day comes, you will see so many pictures as I document every step! Until then, I have these to share with you. This is Daven holding on for dear life to his crib and attempting to take steps with Dad’s support. I can’t wait see him walking to me all on his own. Some day soon my precious angel and Mommy will be there with waiting arms!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

What a busy few days Daven, Logan and I have had. Friday, as you know, was Daven’s sedated echocardiogram. Great news there! I won’t recap what I have already said. As soon as we got back from Lubbock, Logan and I packed up and headed to the mountains with some friends. Here is the camper that we got to stay in…


HAHAHAHA, Just kidding. We just happen to see this on the way up there and thought it was so funny! Notice the swamp cooler on the top…LOL Oh so funny. Sigh

Back to the story…The camping trip was so fun! Logan and I got a break from Daven and got to enjoy a small vacation. Daven stayed with his GranZ and LOVED every second of it. Logan and Kyle got to fish until their hearts were content. (Wait, who am I kidding…they would still be fishing if they could!) And Amanda and I got to enjoy some nice fresh mountain air and stick our feet in the cool river. Here is a picture of the boys fishing and the girls playing. (It is a rare occasion when I share a picture of me with no makeup)

Yesterday, Auntie Autumn, GranZ and I went back for Daven’s Orthopedic appointment and his 18 month well baby check up. The prognosis from the orthopedic doctor is great! His spine has already gone from a 28 degree angle to an 18 degree angle within only two months. Which is GREAT news. The bad news however, (there is always bad news to go with the good news) is that he may have to remain in the brace until he stops growing. The doctors said that scoliosis tends to get worse during puberty stages and they strongly suggest that Daven remain in a back brace until he has gone through puberty. Sigh

As for his well baby check up, it was all great news as well. His weight is 19 pounds 10 ounces and 31 ½ inches long. He is our tall skinny boy. Just like his daddy! The doctor seemed concerned with his weight, but that is a major concern every time we go for a well baby check up. But I am pleased with his progress.

It is truly a blessing to have three good doctor’s reports in a row. I almost don’t know how to react to that. Part of me still tends to focus on the negative and I hate that about myself. I will try to focus on the good side of things and enjoy all the great progress Daven is making.

I hope everyone is having a good week!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

We are now home from our trip to the Cardiologist. Drum roll please…we have finally gotten a good report. The doctor was very pleased with what he saw.

Daven’s main artery is looking very good. One spot at the bottom of his artery is a bit narrow, but nothing to raise red flags he said. He requested that we come back and see him for another sedated echo in 9 months to a year!!!

I am sure you know what a huge relief this is to us all. Daven was a true champ during the entire procedure. They tried to get the pictures they needed without sedating him, without fail. So they gave him one dose to see if that would work. (Most other moms may know how hard it really is to get WS babies sedated. Usually a double dose does the trick.) However, today one dose worked great for Daven. It didn’t put him completely out, but it did help relax him enough to stay calm and be still. So it worked out great!

Here is Daven snuggling up close to a nurse after the procedure. They requested that we stick around for a few minutes after our appointment just to make sure he was okay. So the nurses took advantage of his sleepiness and snuggles. So precious to see how fast people fall in love with him.

Thank you to everyone who said prayers for Daven today. It truly worked and we were blessed with GREAT NEWS! I will write more on Monday.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Bubble…

Just the other night Logan, Daven, Auntie Autumn and I all had dinner at GranZ’s and PapaT’s house. As we were leaving, PapaT turned on his bubble machine to let Daven watch. His eyes instantly got huge and he just stopped to watch what was going on.

He kept reaching out to touch them and closing his eyes so softly when they would come near his face. So precious! I was so pleased how great the pictures turned out. You can see all the wonderful bubbles and if you look closely, even some amazing reflections.

Trouble…

We head towards Lubbock tomorrow for Daven’s sedated echocardiogram. Needless-to-say I am starting to have anxiety about it. We are not supposed to feed Daven anything after midnight, so I anticipate a long night and morning. The appointment is early tomorrow morning, so all we have to do is keep Daven calm until they give him the anesthesia.

Daven has had only one echocardiogram and that was in January. Daven was awake which meant he was very wiggly and the doctor couldn’t get a good picture of his heart, hence the sedated part. This will allow the doctor to be very thorough and allow him to get the high-quality pictures he is needing.

The biggest concern with WS children is heart issues. Most of my fellow WS moms have already had to put their little ones through one or more heart surgeries and I fear this for Daven. Please keep us in mind as we travel tomorrow and while Daven is being “put under.” This is yet another concern for WS babies. A small risk is always taken when these children have to be sedated.

We also go on Monday to get yet another x-ray of Daven’s back and to visit the orthopedic doctor. So, we will be swamped with doctor’s visits over the next few days. I always get so emotional when doctors appointments start to take over Daven’s life. Poor Logan gets the brunt of the emotional ups and downs. I know he can handle it. ;-)

Sorry this post is so long. I will try to give updates to everyone tomorrow afternoon, but until then…please keep us in your prayers.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

You may or may not know that WS children tend to have a hard time with loud noises, due to their sensitive ears. So, I am sure you will understand my concern last night as we are hiking across town to take Daven to see the amazing fireworks show. As we sat waiting anxiously I got more and more nervous about how he would handle the inevitable loud boom.

Much to my surprise he did amazing! He loved watching the first minute or two but as the booms got louder he got more skeptical of the situation. I pulled him out of his stroller and just held him to let him know things were okay and he could enjoy the pretty sparkles instead of fear them. That seemed to do the trick! Towards the end of the show he started to get a little grumpy and ready to go, I am sure he was simply tired. Bed time is normally around 8:00 pm and by this time it was around 9:25 pm.

Once we finally got home and Daven into his bed, the neighbors chimed in on their personal fireworks show. I truly feared they were going to come crashing through the house. Daven, at this point, was done with fireworks. So we finally put him in our bed and turned on the static tv to muffle the booms a bit. (Static tv has been calming him down since he was about 3 months old.) Once he calmed down listening to the soothing sound of static tv, he crashed out!

All in all, we had a great day off! Logan was off, so we went over to a friends house and had a BBQ and enjoyed a relaxing day.

In the midst of the fireworks display a child near us yelled out “THANK YOU GOD!” I just couldn’t get over how precious that was. But how true, Thank You God for this great nation! (Oh and the fireworks too.)

LOVE LOVE LOVE

As with many holidays, the 4th of July celebration includes food, drink and the realization of how fortunate we are as a nation

Today, and every day, the people of this land should be grateful for our freedom, and proud to call ourselves citizens of the United States of America. We should take special pride in the founding generation, the men and women who waged a desperate fight to live in freedom. We should also choose to believe that freedom is the hope and the future of every land.

To be an American, whether by birth or choice, is a high privilege. As citizens of this good nation, we can all be proud of our heritage and confident in our future.

May God continue to bless the United States of America.

My name is Aspen Marshall and I am running for President. ;-)

Have a happy and safe holiday!

LOVE LOVE LOVE