Happy Hallowepn!

(Check our last post for the spelling)

JAWA


Emporer from Mulan


Halloween Princess Fairy--that's what Brynn has been singing

Ammon turns 5!

Can you believe our little Ammon is 5! The most exciting part about him is that he is not so little anymore. He is weighing in at 31 1/2lbs now! Our goal was to have him hit 30lbs by his birthday and he did it! The feeding tube has been a life saver. He has been a little more stable with his seizures. He still has them everyday, but they don't wipe him out as much and he hasn't had a convulsing one for about a month. He seems a lot happier and trying to do more things again. My newest nickname for him-which he laughs or smiles at- is Mr. Rolly Polly Pants. He does not want to lay still on his back. Usually within a few seconds of laying him down he rolls over. This is good, however he still has a lot of reflux, so we have to deal with that when he is on his stomach. But I am so glad he is trying to move around more.



He is going to pre-school Mon-Thurs in the afternoon. I was hoping he would be more active in the afternoon and limit having to take him out early in the cold for the bus. He has two very active girls that sit next too him which just love to give him hugs and kisses. The teachers usually have to make sure they don't smother him. There are two other boys in Ammon's class who don't just take it like Ammon does. I think it's good for him to have more interaction. He can always tell when someone is talking to him and paying attention to him. Brynn and I brought bubbles for everyone on his birthday. All the kids liked it and Brynn was so cute walking around blowing them. Ammon was doing a lot of shout outs. I could imagine him saying, "Hey everyone, my mom is here for my birthday!" Out of everything, he loves to walk around. Today at Primary I was kneeling behind him so he could stand up and stretch (after sitting in his wheelchair for over an hour) and he just wanted to take off. He was smiling and the other kids in his class noticed him smiling so much and were whispering to each other -look how happy Ammon is-. It made my day! Most of the time we go anywhere he is so quiet, or tired and I just wish more people could see him when he is at home, when it is quiet, he yells and laughs and rolls around.



Ammon laughing so hard he fell over.

So after school we threw a giant neighborhood play date/party for Ammon and a girl in our ward who has the same birthday. She was born without a leg, but that does not stop her at all from being a typical now 5 year old. She is so cute and just amazingly strong with her arms.


The weather has been very nice, so everyone just rode around and played in their cul-de-sac. Ammon walked around in his walker and enjoyed watching all the wonderful chaos. It was like a BBQ block party, but for kids. We invited about 10 5 year olds and their siblings. We had 5 dozen cupcakes, 50 cups, and tons of popcorn. We ran out. It was fun!



On Friday we had Ammon's Halloween family party. Actually it was a Happy Hallowepn party (if you can read the sign). I had planned to make a cute scrapbook paper banner, but then came across this cute one and thought it would save me a lot of time. Well that's what happens when you buy cheap stuff at walmart-no, it was not even from the dollar store. We played some traditional games like eating donuts off a string and bobbing for apples.



We then went to our city's pumpkin walk where Coleson and I entered pumpkins. However, after waiting an hour in line Ammon and Brynn fell asleep, so I came home. The rest of the guests endured the wait and saw the spectacular pumpkins after another hour.


Coleson's Tie-Fighter

Happy Birthday Ammon!

Coleson's Gift...

Today is Ammon’s birthday and he turned 5-years old. There will be a whole separate blog post on this wonderful milestone, but we wanted to share with you one special gift that Ammon received today. It’s probably best to give you a little preface on why this gift is so unique and special. Coleson is a great older brother that will be turning 8 years old in the next month. Coleson is like most other ‘almost 8-year olds’ in that he loves to play soccer and runs crazy fast doing it, he loves to read and read, he loves to run around outside with friends playing all kinds of made-up games, he loves to play video games or semi-quietly watch a movie, he loves to play tag or ride his bike, and he loves to wrestle and do bucking bronco. Coleson’s even currently involved in the choir at school and goes to school early a couple days a week to practice “Do you hear what I hear” and other songs for the Christmas concert.

Ammon loves doing several of the things that Coleson does, but just in different ways. Ammon loves to play tag, but he’s only as fast as Mom or Dad can help him along. Ammon loves to be read to and turn the pages, but generally not the same books that Coleson is currently reading. Ammon loves to play ball, but it frequently requires a lot of patience and encouragement. Ammon loves to be sung to, but you might not get a traditional reaction in the form of a smile or hands clapping along. I guess in general, from the perspective of an 8-year old boy, Ammon isn’t the fastest partner when playing cops and robbers, he might not show any interest in your most favorite game, or he might accidentally ‘puke’ all over your latest Lego creation while simultaneously breaking it apart. But the truth of the matter is that Ammon loves and adores his older brother, and almost every time Coleson takes notice of him and plays with him there is an instant reaction and happy change in Ammon’s demeanor.

In the reality of everyday life, some days it’s a very real possibility that a wonderful 7-year old boy might consider playing with Ammon as ‘chore time,’ a time when you’re not able to do all the crazy fast things you normally do, a time when you're simply counting down the minutes and seconds before you’re able to go do something else. For an ever more active almost 8-year old boy, play time with his younger not as active brother has gradually become less frequent over the years, and some days it’s not even there. Sometimes as a parent you’re left to wonder if the promises of love and care two brothers made to each other a long time ago will really grow stronger and last throughout a lifetime.

Then come the gentle and unexpected reminders from an almost 8-year old boy that though there are so many things going on in his constantly changing and active life, he hasn’t forgotten these promises, he hasn’t forgotten his little brother.

Last night Summer and Coleson were carving pumpkins together. Ammon and Brynn were already in bed, and Daddy was out with the young men. Coleson was carving an awesome Star Wars ‘Tie-Fighter’ and Summer was carving a series of haunted houses on a hill. While carving they had been talking about various things. During a lull in the conversation and carving Coleson made an unexpected request, “Mom, since we're saving my money, how about you bring Ammon to choir practice and I will sing for him on his birthday. That’s my gift to him.” A surprised and emotional Mom instantly responded that Ammon would be there, and this morning he was. Ammon got up early this morning, got food in his belly and dressed for the day. Then with his Mom and little sister, he went to his big brother’s school, took a seat on his Mom’s lap, and listened to dozens of kids sing to him on his birthday. Among all the singing kids was Coleson with a big smile, singing out his unique present to his special little brother.

Happy Birthday Ammon! Coleson loves you!

Buddy Walk Success!!

Thank you for another wonderful Buddy Walk!



This year my sister-in-law, Jill, helped me come up with our logo: "Hoo Loves Ammon." I saw these cute stuffed owls at our farmers market and I thought I could make those. So I made a lot of them to sell at our little lemonade stand (Lil'tweets) that we do every year to get the word out to our neighbors about the Buddy Walk.




Coleson loved manning the table and Brynn liked unlimited popcorn. Thank you again to all that were able to stop by and say Hi to Ammon!

Brian and I started the day of the Buddy Walk running the Buddy 5K. We pushed the kids in the jogger, and it wanted to consistently go right (the wheels were messed up). Brian and I took turns pushing. Yes, my dear husband was right by my side the whole race. It was so nice! He has been running with the young men in our neighborhood to get ready for our neighborhood 5K this coming week, so we were able to keep pace with each other and it was wonderful.



Our primary goal for the Buddy Walk is to always have someone new join us, and we've always been blessed with new friends joining us each year. We really just want everyone to experience this uplifting event. Several of our friends that were new participants this year won their categories in the 5K, and ended up walking home with some pretty interesting prizes: a sleeping bag and a desk lamp. Brian's brother did extremely well in his category again this year! One of the families at the Buddy Walk was sponsored by Living the Dream Foundation. We had the opportunity to talk with Scotty, the founder, who has Cystic Fibrosis. His vision is to share the positive in life, despite having a serious disease. He now travels around the country raising money on behalf of children who have life threatening illnesses. What an inspirational group of people! We all ended up hugging each other at the end of the day, with promises to see each other again next year. He lives in Southern California and is backed by Hurley. It's so nice to meet wonderful people who choose to spend their time and money doing good in the world and have such a positive impact.


It was a beautiful day and the kids wore themselves out! The Bee came to the Buddy Walk and it reminded us of another picture we have of Ammon and the Bee from several years ago.







Thank you again to all the family and friends who came and supported our sweet Ammon. Some days you might not hear too much out of Ammon, but through some special moments and alot of experience being with him, we've come to learn that every little hello is noticed and welcomed by Ammon. You might not get a physical wave of the hand, a hearty hello, or a smile every time you stop to touch his hand or bend down to say hello, but please know every little touch and acknowledgment means so much. None of them go unnoticed by Ammon, or by us. I guess you never know until after you do something, but maybe on a particular day it will be your kind gesture and your warm hello towards Ammon that elicits a happy uncontainable shout out, an enormous smile, and hands simply waving everywhere. The translation of which is Ammon's special way of saying, "I love you too!"

Thank you all for showing so well and in so many ways "Hoo loves Ammon!" We are reminded every day that life doesn't need to be perfect to be wonderful.

Buddy Walk Time

Online registration closes tomorrow(Wed). If you decide last minute to come, you can register at the park 8am for the 5K and 10am for the walk. We're excited to see you all there!