Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Two years wiser with two perfect gifts

    I think we are all two years wiser with Evey's second birthday.  April and May were filled with highs and lows.  A few of Evey's lows caught me off guard because we've had a pretty steady last few months, but it was a good reminder never to be too surprised.  We sorted out her hearing and had some polyps removed in her ears and her third set of tubes placed and since her surgery she has been so much happier, hooray!  Hopefully she can start to wear her hearing aids again and get some speech back.   We will address the heart stuff with the cardio next month.
     In amazing news, today, for the first time, Evey ate purely by mouth from sun up to sun down.  We are blending all her meals and she is taking some liquid through a straw cup.  It is major work, but I finally decided to take the plunge since she seems ready.  We are going to make up any calories she doesn't get during the day on the pump at night.  It is such a big deal for us and her, a huge deal that she's ready and is taking bites and drinking through a straw, I'm so proud of her.
    But I digress back to the 2 best gifts we could have got for her birthday.  I heard about a non-profit called Icing Smiles a while back.  They make amazing cakes for sick kids and other kids with life-long illnesses.  They contacted a local baking company to make Evey's 2nd birthday cake for us.  The woman, Turia, with Sugar Kisses Cakes donated the most amazing Mickey Mouse cake for Evey for her birthday.   The cake was amazing and so delicious.  I'm still so blown away by kind and generous people that take the time out of their busy lives to pay it forward.  Turia was amazing and we will never forget her kindness and I'll never forget how happy Evey was when she saw her Mickey cake.
    The second birthday miracle occurred the night before Evey's birthday.  Evey had surgery the day before her birthday and it was a long day with a late night.  I headed over to Walmart late at night to pick up some balloons, because we cannot not have birthday balloons at our house.  When I got there,   I noticed another woman also waiting in the back for balloons.  It became clear that they didn't have anyone on staff late at night that knew how to work the helium tank.  We both waited 20 minutes and we casually started to talk about all the special needs employees we saw working that night.  I then told her a little about Evey and how we wonder what her future will look like, and if she will ever have a job.  We talked about family, and our celebrations that required balloons, and finally, 45 minutes later, the woman got and paid for her balloons, and went on her way, and it was my turn to wait to get my balloons.  After an hour fiasco of waiting for balloons, I finally got mine and went to the register to pay.  The employee working then told me that the woman had already paid for my balloons.  I was blown away and immediately started to cry when I heard of her random act of kindness.  A  stranger turned friend - buying Evey's birthday balloons for her - whom we will never forget.
    We are so blessed because of Evey.  I think of all the people we would have never known if it weren't for her.  I think of all the amazing doctors, therapists, and medical team that support us and her and make our lives so much easier.  We have so many different friends that are parents of other "special" kiddos that have enriched our lives and made us all the better just by having known them.  The random strangers that are in and out of our lives, but leave lasting impressions.  We are surrounded by beautiful people that always remind us that Heavenly Father loves us and that he especially loves Evey.  These last 2 years have been the greatest gift to our family and I wouldn't trade them, not even during the lowest lows, for anything in the world.  Thank you Evey lady, for being the perfect example, and for infinitely blessing our lives.  And thank you to our loving Heavenly Father, for letting us watch over this most precious spirit for these last 2 years and the many more to come.  We are blessed.

         Turia from sugar kisses cakes


          Evey's magical bday balloons