Our little boy

Our little boy
Our Little Miracle

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Mason has got some awesome friends!

A good amount of people that knew me before the last few years probably would never have thought I would leave the golf business for another industry. I went into the golf business at age 18 and spent over 15 years there. I met a bunch of good people and the business took me to a variety of places both professionally and personally. When Julie and I decided that it was okay for me to change professions at age 34, it was a scary thing.

Mason arrived and the people at Costco, my employer, went above and beyond to make sure that Julie, Mason, and I knew that we were cared for and that they would do all they could to help us during that trying time. In fact, one of the first "non-family" I spent time crying with was a great person I met at Costco.

8 months later, you would think that people have forgotten. After all, Mason is doing great and it has become very easy for us all to forget what happened and look at him like he is just a little boy........and he is.....and I am not saying that I want anyone to handle him with ginger hands or anything. Anyway I am rambling.....

So I went to work a couple days ago and Costco is in the middle of their yearly fundraiser for the Children's Miracle Network. This is a wonderful organization and the best fundraiser that Costco participates in (I am a tad bias ha ha). This is the only fundraiser where 100% of the funds raised stay in the local community that they were donated in. It is also the same organization that helps thousands of "Masons" every year across the US.

So I go to work and one of my friends at work asks if I have "seen the balloon?" Every donation gets a balloon that we put up behind the registers to display the amount of donations we are getting. Donations of $100 or more (quite rare) get big balloons that are strung up over the register bank and have photos or names that are easy to read. The people that have big balloons are guys like the acting CEO of the company, the team of supervisors, the founder of the company, other corporate big wigs, etc.

Add to that list this guy..........




It was quite a touching moment to have friends put together a donation in Mason's name. In fact, I was brought to tears over it and looked like a blubbering mess right there in the middle of the warehouse. It just amazes me how God has moved our family into a place of such support and strength. 8 months later these people are still affected by Mason and his progress. They still remember even though they did not go through it, themselves. They were there every step of the way though....kind words, questions on his progress, hugs and smiles for him when he visits, and even some encouraging words for us ha ha. Friends like these, Mason, are very hard to come by and should NOT be taken for granted.

So a great big THANK YOU and GOD BLESS to Molly, Jesse, Kamella, Eileen, Adria, Katelyn, Jared, Christine, the whole Front End team, and a number of others that wished to remain anonymous. You all are wonderful and I will never be able to put into words, properly, how special you have all made our family feel. This post can not possibly do justice to the size of your hearts!

We love you all!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

3 is a trend?

For about 7 months now I have had the same conversation with everyone from my family, to complete strangers at work. The conversation has always made me wonder what the deal was and why we were so "lucky." You see, while others that have children right around the same age as ours come to work with bags under their eyes, or have complaints of children that won't sleep, or even have 6 and 7 month old children that are waking up 3 times a night, Mason has slept for 10+ hours per night for quite a while.........

Until now!

The last 2 days he has been up at 4:00 am and 3:00 am respectively. Is 3 a trend? We are going to find out.

Either way, things are going well and Mason is getting so big. He is officially up to 14 pounds now and it looks like everything is going great. His head is still huge, but that could be my fault for filling it with vapid information and the useless skill of naming rock songs in the first 3 chords.

God is blessing us every day with new stories and new laughs. It is amazing to see a child so happy and so willing to laugh. I still laugh at our moments and absolutely LOVE the morning look when we go in to get him and greet him with a high pitched "good morning!" At that moment his eyes light up and his face seems to say "Ohhhhhhh boy! You guys are still here?! This is going to be awesome!" It is one of my favorite things ever!

Now on to the photos and good stuff!

This might have been during a viewing of A River Runs Through It. Or it could have been nursery rhymes and singing on TV? You be the judge.

He won the game of Peek-a-boo!

Rice cereal and Prunes.........apparently better tasting from the fingers than from a spoon

Bound and determined to get that whole hand in there someday.


Coy little boy!




Headed toward a nap on his new sheets!

This is one of the best examples of the "Peter Pan legs" that he gets when I play with him up in the air. Please excuse the new nickname I have for him and the spittle. He really loves this game and so does his Dad.



There was a problem with another video that we wanted to place here. We will get it figured out in the next few days and post it. It is a great one!

Take care everyone and God Bless. We will be back again soon!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Little man workout program

Today was a physical therapy follow up appointment. Nana and Papa were in town so we all hitched it down to the University for our appointment. It felt strange being back there again but no matter, Mason Stone had to be checked out to make sure everything was going according to plan.

The physical therapist was the same that we had while in the NICU and her assistant so it was kind of cool to see her reaction to how large he has become. He weighed in at 13 pounds 10 ounces today but that was not why we were there. They were going to put little man through the ringer!!!

They started with him seated in Julie's lap and they did some visual and reactive tests. They rolled a ball across the table to see if he could track it with his eye and head movement. They put blocks on the table to see if he would reach and pick them up. He did not do so well with the reaching and picking up part, which I attribute to him being respectful of other people's property as opposed to him NOT being able to do it ha ha.

Then she put a small pill sized purple thing on the table to see if he could see it and if he would reach for it. He saw that just fine which blew her mind. She said that was something that very few children his age could do so he is, of course, awesome.

Then they put him on his back and they ran his body through tests for muscle development and movement. He did very well with these exercises and we learned that we were not focussing enough on moving his hands together and downward toward his knees. He goes up and out (like a hugging motion, go figure ha ha) very well, but down is not his forte at the moment.

His legs are doing very well and the doctors loved the way he is moving his lower body. He is still not rolling from his back to his belly very well, but they were not that concerned about that too much as they liked the way his lower body was moving so they believe he will be fine.

He also moved well in "space" while he was being held and not grounded. I attribute that to the number of "flights" he and I take together. I hold him under the shoulders and lift him up in the air so he is parallel to the ground. He holds his head up very well in that position and kicks his legs so he looks like Peter Pan.......so cute. We will get a proper photo at some point for posting.

In all, he was "average" on most tests for his adjusted age of 4 months. He was above average on one test and that was head circumfrence. In short, he's got a big head. I attribute that to our teaching him advanced geometric equations and such. He has a brain the size of a baby in the 90th percentile of a child at his adjusted age. Truth be told, he is in the 90th percentile, but it is not a measure of his brain or his functions, he is just a premature baby and has a big head ha ha.

The doctors say that everything is alright and that eventually his body will catch up and he will have a better time keeping his head stationary and rolling over, sitting up, standing, etc. will all follow in proper timing.
We have a few new exercises to try with him and we will be getting a regular physical therapist to help us along with his development.

After the exercises, Mason was bushed and crashed out. He slept for a while and we took him home and all was right in the world. Good job little man! We are so proud of you and love you a ton! Thanks to the physical therapists and everyone that has helped get our little miracle in line. Your dedication to your craft is not unnoticed!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Images from a wet spring

Looks tasty!

Cutie pie!

Planning his next move





This is one of his newest joys.........thre laughter sometimes is so hearty and loud!