Friday, January 20, 2012

Baby Harlan Turns 1

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone!

Yay for 2012, the year of our third (and according to Steve, final) baby. The start of this New Year was not so kind to me. I fell into a funk that I just could not get out of. I don't want to get all serious and whiney on here, but I had a rough few weeks where most days it was crying, yelling and barely making it through each day. Nothing like that had ever happened to me and it was hard. The good news is that I had a trip to Oregon planned that could not have come at a better time. The reason for the trip was this cute baby boy named Harlan!

This is my oldest niece, Cierra with her little boy. He was born with HLHS, which is a heart defect, and also an extra chromosome. He fought hard to make it to 1 year and since I had never even seen him before I decided to make the trip. And Steve, being the awesome husband that he is, let me go all by myself so I could spend some qt with my parents. More on the rest of my trip later. It's amazing to me that this little guy went from this:

To this!!! It's just a miracle. He has had several surgeries and several long stays in the hospital, but when I saw him, I would have never known. He was a happy, chubby, snuggly, cute little boy. He just melted my heart right away. My niece threw an awesome party and was the best host to so many people. It was so much fun to see her, my sister and my other nieces and nephews that I hadn't seen in years. It was just what I needed. I'm in awe of my niece and think she's the best mom ever.

This is my oldest sister Tina and my brother, Darren. I've always looked up to Tina as a mom, and love watching her be a grandma too. She sure loves that little boy and is so dedicated to his health and treatment. She's a great mom, grandma and sister.


More party pics. I was just so impressed at the decorations. My niece did it all herself and went all out. It was a monkey theme, and apparently this is my dad's version of a monkey face.


I was so happy that my brother and his family could come down from Seattle, making my trip even more special. These 2 boys were busy with foosball the entire time. They are so cute and grown up I just love them.

And baby Erica is the cutest thing. She didn't want much to do with me, but that's okay because I have a daughter who is the same exact way. She loves her daddy and her grandpa though, and I just had to show this pic of her gorgeous curls. Love her!!!

It really was one of the best trips ever, and just what I needed. I think that break can get me through these last 2 months. I've never had my parents all to myself for a whole weekend and it was the best. They get their own post though.

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday sweet baby Harlan!

9 comments:

Courtenay Beth said...

Looks so fun! What a treat to get to go all by yourself! That looks so fun and Harlan is one cute boy!

Jenni said...

OH I'm crying. This was such a great post. Harlan is such a miracle boy and I couldn't agree with you more that Cierra is a true inspiration. And Tina and the whole family. It looks like SO MUCH FUN. I am so glad that you got to surround yourself with all those wonderful people!

I hope you're feeling better sis! I'm so sorry about your rough year so far. It's going to be getting happier here VERRRRRRY SOON.

And just looking at your kids faces makes my day. I just saw that Jake and the Neverland Pirates is on... I might go watch it.

Jenni said...

P.S- I LOVE your pictures! Those must have been taken with your new camera! They look awesome!!!

Bringhursts said...

I love your post; thank you so much! It was so timely for me. When we think we have it tough, we don't need to look too far to realize just how good we have it!

Aimee said...

Baby Harlan brought tears to my eyes!! What a strong and awesome little man. Happy Birthday, Harlan!

I'm glad you're feeling better and I hope it continues. I also hope you find an ice cream truck and that pesky little unmentionable will stop unsnapping (especially while bowling!).

Aimee said...
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Christi said...

I love how happy he looks in the picture with the cake!!! I am glad that you got to go too!!

Lindsay said...

Cute baby! I had no idea Harlan had been through so much! Wow, amazing! I'll be in Vegas early May... when is your baby due??

Jill said...

Holy cow, I love the pic of your kids at the top! I miss them!

What an amazing party that was. So glad to be there with you. Harlan is so incredible and so is his mom and grandma!