Happy Birthday, Little Hero

Tomorrow our little Jake would have been three years old. It's hard to believe three years have passed since the first time I held him in my arms. In the same breath, it feels like a lifetime. He was such a perfect little peanut when we met him, arriving at 3:55 in the morning. I was exhausted but so completely in love with him.

Jake's candle was not lit for long, but it shined so very brightly. The ripple effect of his life is remarkable. He taught us so much about what's important and what isn't.

He graced our lives with his sweet presence, creating a very proud brother out of Ben and adding so much to our little family.

He taught us to take nothing for granted and treasure every day, reminding us of the brevity and fragility of life.

He brought to light the importance of organ donation. Because of this, many of our friends and family have taken steps to ensure they are an organ donor and make their families aware of their wishes. Some have even worked toward providing education on the topic.

He granted the gift of sight to two unknown individuals.

He saved the life of another little boy through the gift of his heart. Beckham will turn three years old on August 1st. He has endured a life of ups and downs but has remained happy and affectionate through all of the ordeals he has been through. The ripple effect of Jake's life is most evident here - because of Jake's gift a mother, father, sister and countless relatives and friends have been able to know and love this little boy.

There are a few things that get me through those moments when I want nothing more than to weep until my bones ache, my eyes are dry and my voice exhausted. These things I am eternally grateful for...
- Two little boys with the most amazing gift to make me smile - one whose "Don't cry, Mommy" got me through the worst days following Jake's loss and has carried me for all these years, the other who is blissfully unaware of the pain of the world and whose innocence and pugnacity keep me smiling daily
- A loving, dedicated, strong husband who has lived every moment with me and loved me all along
- The knowledge of Jake's beating heart, which began to pump the moment it was placed in Beckham's chest and has remained strong through countless challenges
- Beckham, adorable, unbeatable, laughing and smiling his way through life's challenges, and his family, always there to love him and passing their love on to us
- Our amazing network of family and friends (thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! There are no words to express my gratitude for all you have done, from August 13th, 2007 right up to the present. You have carried us through and I wish I could personally thank you all adequately)

I will cherish every moment I had with my second son. All the moments when he would sleep nowhere but on my chest, the many songs I sang to him, and that gigantic smile which we were privileged enough to be graced with.

I love you, my little hero. Happy birthday.

Long Overdue...

Realizing we haven't updated this in far too long, I thought I'd put out a quick update on what we've been up to lately...

Summer is here, so this family of teachers is ecstatic! Granted, Andy is still working (summer school), but he's home by 1pm every day and only works Monday through Thursday. This means we have a very busy summer schedule; it seems we've gone non-stop since our last day of work. That night we went to graduation at O-M and have just kept going since!

Ben and Alex are wonderful. Ben is in his glory as tractor show season is upon us. We have gone to two and have one more coming next weekend. Last weekend was the show in Millport that raises money for the MDA, and yesterday was the Two Cylinder Expo (all John Deere) show in Canandaigua. In both cases Ben managed to charm his way into getting to sit on a variety of tractors (shocker!). He also tried his first ever pedal tractor pulls. He moved the sled an inch the first time (I actually think it may have been less and they rounded up - he couldn't get any traction). Yesterday he got it to go 2 and an eighth, and probably could have gone farther if he could have reached the pedals a little better. He had fun!

Alex is now 11 months old and getting into everything. He's infatuated with crawling up the stairs, pulling himself up on the furniture and trying to eat everything he sees. He's not really "couch surfing" too much yet, but I don't think it will be long before he's doing that, too. He crawls very well, more or less abandoning the odd creeping method he had early on. He's got lots of teeth, which he loves to use to bite anyone he comes into contact with whenever he thinks it will help him climb on them. Actually, he seems to do it to me much more than anyone else! He loves to give high fives and has a whole plethora of fun noises that he loves to make.

We have a full summer ahead, including trips to see friends in Virginia and my parents' campsite in Canada. I've started running (well, I shouldn't exxagerate. I'm attempting to run, and spending a lot of the time walking - it's a work in progress) and we're hoping to start bike riding as a family. A trip to Watkins Glen in May showed us how much Ben loves hiking (as long as there are waterfalls as incentive), so we're hoping to hit some state parks, too. It's only the second week of July and I already feel like the summer's booked! Of course Alex has his big first birthday on 8/8 and Ben turns four a short 15 days later, so there will be parties to arrange. We're hoping to go with Andy's dad and his family to a car show and amusement park in PA toward the end of August. Life is busy, but good.

Before I sign off, here are a few photos of our summer so far...

Ben learns how to mini golf.

Love that face!!

I love it when they fall asleep in interesting ways.

Alex plays in the grass at Grandma and Grandpa Roder's.

Water Babies!

Ben rides the two seated Farmall. I had asked the guy if could get in the wagon and he told Ben to come up next to him!

Alex says, "Mommy! Stop making dinner. Feed me!!!"

Ben can finally ride his John Deere bike.

Ben with a Lindeman Crawler Tractor - just like his Halloween costume!

The super excited face was a common site during the Two Cylinder Expo...

Alex tries some stunt man moves.

Ben Imitates a Brit...

If you go to youtube there's a video you'll find with the search "Charlie bit my finger." It's a little British boy, probably not far from Ben's age, whose little brother (Charlie) bites his finger. The older child (Harry) then sticks his finger in his brother's mouth again and commences to complain about it. It's sincerely funny. A co-worker (Sarah!) had told me about it and I completely cracked up, so then I came home and showed it to Andy. Ben also watched... The following ensued...

Big Helper Ben

Ben recently asked if he could help feed Alex, so I said sure. The following video is the result. :) Ben did a really nice job, and Alex was perfectly eager to eat (as evidenced by the little shout in the middle while he impatiently waits for Ben to get the spoon reloaded).

Alex is finally crawling!!! (sort of)

After weeks of doing a whole lot of rolling and pivoting, but never getting up on his knees, Alex has his own version of crawling. He will get up on both knees, then let himself sort of fall forward, then do the whole thing again. It's a start!!

A Fantastic Visit to the Menichino Homestead!

Recently we had the honor of visiting with the Menichinos. It was a gorgeous day in Andover, and Ben was beyond excited. To be honest, so was Joe. He got all his tractors out and ready for Ben. Well, actually, he got 4 of them out. There was one in the barn (the "tiny tractor," per Ben) and one in the pasture with a spreader on the back (the "poop tractor," per Ben). Ben, of course, sat on all the tractors. He even drove one!! It was a wonderful visit and a great chance to catch up with some people I adore!!!

Ben sits on his first tractor of the day.

Ben and Joe. Not sure what they're doing. Undoubtedly talking about tractors.

Another tractor. Ben is operating the bucket.

Liz gets in an Alex cuddle (one of many!).

Mariah's turn!!

Tractors in the lawn!! Ben had a blast with them. Then, he and Joe washed them up...

This is moments after Ben had his fists balled up by his cheeks in his typical "I'm so excited I can't stand it!" expression.

Love this photo. I even took it myself.

Totally dirty Ben butt!!!

Driving the tractor. Ben helped take care of things.

More caretaking...

This is Ben driving. Himself. Dad isn't touching a thing!!

Parking the tractor in the barn. Life is good.

This was one of my favorite parts of the night. After dinner, Ben pulled his chair right over next to Joe, climbed up, and had a very grown up conversation about tractors. And inquired about Joe's beer. He did NOT drink any. But he did check the bottle out.

Liz fed Alex his peas!

Alex works on some yoga.

Yummy ice cream time!!

A parting shot. Who knew we would be so well coordinated?!?!

Prayers and Well Wishes for Baby Beckham

We have been anxiously watching as Beckham, Jake's heart donor, has been through quite a rollercoaster the past couple of months. He has been in and out of the hospital with extremely low platelet counts and bruising/bleeding very easily (however, he has remained a cheerful happy kid through most of it. Leukemia was ruled out amidst countless tests, all giving very little info, until just the other day. I will copy a portion of the Scadlock's blog:

"After weeks, waiting for tests results from Milwaukee, the results came back showing that Beckham defiantly has an antibody in his body attacking his platelets.

Because of all the above, a new plan of action has been decided between his various doctors. It looks like Beck and I (I being Kim) will check into the PICU (yup, we just couldn't stay away from the ICU) on Tuesday for a treatment called Plasmapheresis. This treatment is similar to dialysis, in the sense that ALL of his blood will be filtered outside of his body, but in Plasmapheresi, plasma (which contains the antibodies attacking his platelets), is removed from blood cells by a device known as a cell separator. The separator works either by spinning the blood at a high speed to separate the cells from the fluid or by passing the blood through a membrane with pores so small that only the fluid part of the blood can pass through (crazy stuff right?). The doctors do not know if they will do this process for 5 days or 7 days, but the hard part is that it will take hours each day, and during those hours Beckham will have to lay still... For this new treatment, Beckham, will need a central line (to carry his blood outside of his body). Because of his huge risk of bleeding, his cath lab cardiologist wants him completely out for this procedure so that there is no risk of him moving, causing excess bleeding. Beckham will keep his central line through out the entire process, as well as his current PICC line. After the Plasmapheresis treatment is done, Beckham, will receive IVIG again and Rituxin. These will hopefully rid his body of any remaining, or newly formed anti-bodies."

Although we are so relieved that Beckham has a diagnosis and a course of action, Andy and I are extremely worried about Beckham. This process sounds simply terrifiying to us. We want nothing more than to see this little boy, who carries with him a part of our son, be the happy, healthy child he deserves to be. Only about 100 people in a million is infected by this condition every year. The odds have so rarely been in Beckham's favor, but he has fought back over and over and over again. He is a simply remarkable little boy, and although we have never met him, we love him as though he were our own. I guess, in a small way, he is.

Here's what I'm really after: please, please keep your thoughts and prayers with this little boy as he undergoes this procedure. Kim tells me that he should begin on Wednesday of this week, so we are anxiously waiting news on how the little guy does. Everyone needs to send lots and lots of positive energy to Iowa!!