Monkeying Around!

Owen had another wonderful birthday celebration! This past Sunday we celebrated in RI with a monkey-themed first birthday party! From monkey cupcakes to monkey picture frames to monkey cupcakes to frozen chocolate dipped bananas and chunky monkey drinks - we were just bananas about monkeys! Once again our family and friends spoiled Owen with love and presents - what a blessed little boy.

Today Owen had his one year checkup... at 22 pounds, 11 ounces and 32 inches, Owen is the 50th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height. Hmm... I wonder who he will take after? His dad of course! Hopefully he's as athletic as dad as well!

Great News!!!!

Owen's MRI went off without a hitch this morning at 8 a.m. It was a little longer than expected because Boston suggested we do an MRI of both the brain and spine. Owen was under anesthesia for about 2 hours, but he woke up ready to go. He ate and drank almost immediately and we were on our way home.

At about 3:30, Dr. McNamara called and gave us the great news. The tumor has NOT grown, there are no signs of tumor proteins in his spinal cord, and the fluid/swelling in his brain has decreased.

We anticipate another MRI in about three months, but we will see Dr. McNamara on Friday to confirm this. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers!

We've just arrived in RI... tomorrow we will be preparing for Owen's birthday on Sunday! We have so much to celebrate!

MRI Tomorrow

Tomorrow at 8 am is Owen's next scheduled MRI. We ask you to join us in praying for the best possible result, which is that the tumor has not grown. We're very hopeful that there have been no changes to the size of the tumor because Owen is doing so well!!

Last Friday Owen had an EEG because I thought he might of had an absence seizure but, luckily I was wrong. The reason for this test was because on Thurs. Owen became unresponsive while I was driving. He had his eyes open looking out the window but wouldn't respond when I called his name, touched him, etc. I got off the highway jumped in the back seat to talk to him and within a few seconds he was back to normal. We're not sure what caused this - perhaps he was just sleeping with his eyes open. It was pretty scary but luckily it was just a random, isolated incident. He's been fine since then. I have a few more gray hairs but he's fine!

I would also like to ask you to pray for my aunt Suzette who, on Tuesday, started a new (very intense) chemo treatment to shrink the tumor caused by her inflammatory breast cancer. She's been fighting this cancer for years.

Under the Sea Birthday Celebration

Family photo!

Enjoying the birthday cake!

Riley enjoying her new ride!

Go Mets!

Loving the puzzles.

Looks like Christmas! Thanks for all the fun toys!

What a face!

Owen helps to open presents.

Playing with Xavier - Owen's first friend from Kindercare.

Owen loves his Uncle Ken.

Xavier is too cute.

Stephanie & Dan with their new baby, AJ.

On Saturday Owen & his cousin Riley celebrated their first birthday at their "Under the Sea" birthday party. It was so much fun to celebrate with our families and friends. Owen is very lucky because it gets to have a second party on Sun., May 24th (his birthdate) in RI. Lots of fun photos - hard to choose which ones to share, so I put up several - enjoy!

Owie in Action

Celebrating Mom's 48th Birthday this past Saturday.
Family photo in the backyard.

Memere and Pepere visiting us in CT.

Playdate with Noah at the New Haven Children's Museum.

Owen has been doing well... he's crawling and pulling up on furniture. It's so fun to watch him explore. He gets so excited when he pulls up on the couch - smiling and clapping for himself. I must admit that we clap too - for just about everything he does!

Owen has had some stomach issues for about three months. We finally found out what's wrong. He has c-difficle, which was either from his hospital stay or the antibiotics he was on for the double ear infection. I will let you read about it if you care too - not much fun to talk about on his blog. Regardless, he's on an antibiotic and finally doing much better.

Tomorrow Owen starts a new daycare. Kim will be caring for him at her home daycare. She takes care of two boys (2 & 3 years old) while her own children (7 & 12 years old) are in school during the day. Kim was highly recommended by a mutual friend. We are thrilled that Owen will be going to Kim's home. She appears kind and caring, and was highly recommended by others as well. This situation is truly a blessing. I had looked at two other child care centers and was disheartened as Kindercare in Wallingford had set the bar so high. I then reached out to a wonderful friend from church (a mother of five) and she recommended Kim who is just one mile from our house. Our prayers were answered again. Thanks again to Memere and our family members who helped out since January - we're very blessed.

Thank you again to Kindercare!

We recently received a check from TGIFridays for the fundraiser that KinderCare held at the restaurant. Although there was a great turnout, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the event raised $735, bringing the fundraising total to just over $3400 - amazing!! The dedication of the teachers, staff, and families at KinderCare made their fundraising efforts a huge success. It's truly our hope that we can donate this money to a non-profit that supports pediatric brain tumor research or something similar. We will wait several years before considering donating the funds and will pray that we're led to donate to a worthy cause. Thank you again to all those you planned the events, donated, and prayed for Owen's well-being. We're forever grateful for your kindness.

Egg-cellent Easter

Owen ready for church.

Owen playing the drums with Pepere.

Owen's Easter egg hunt.

Owen loves his new buggy!

Owen had an egg-cellent first Easter! We attended church in the morning and then celebrated Easter dinner with family. Owen received lots of fun Easter treats, including a new buggy that he loves being pushed around in... he also had a fun Passover last Thursday. The best part of the holidays is spending time with family, which we all enjoy!