In memory of Trek

Last June I wrote a post where I talked about a blog that I had started reading when Elliott was so sick.  I wrote that post the day after their baby, Trek, passed away.  He had Niemann Pick Type A and was only 14 months old when he died. You can read that post HERE. 

 

I have continued to read that blog to this day.  I have not missed a single post.  The Ingram family amazes me every single day and I love following their adventures in Thailand.  Jarrett, Trek's dad, wrote a book last year called Following After Trek and I was part of the Kickstarter project to get it published.  It is a beautiful, inspiring book and you should go to amazon right now and buy a copy. 

 

Today would have been Trek's 2nd birthday.  Chelsea, his mom, asked that her readers do something special for their own children as a way to celebrate Trek's life.  You can read her post HERE.

 

I thought the best thing we could do to honor Trek, his life and his memory was to spend time together as a family.  We eat dinner together every night, but I don't always make food that the kids love.  So, I made whole wheat pasta with alfredo sauce and carrots with honey and coconut oil.  I didn't hear a single complaint from anyone.

 

Spencer got penne.  And ate in his undies.

 

Elliott got spaghetti.   And made a mess.

.

Spencer told a funny story about a commercial with the Pillsbury Dough Boy.  I blew all of their minds when I told them that his real name is Poppin' Fresh.

 

Ginger waited for some scraps.

 

And Elliott continued making a mess.

Then we told Spencer that we needed to run some errands, but instead we took them out for frozen yogurt.  I let him get as many flavors and as many toppings as he wanted. 

  

 

Elliott got vanilla and berries. 

 

He also got a cookie.  I'm pretty sure it's his first cookie. 

 

Spencer wanted to show off his Ironman shirt.  Aunt Kendra got it for him when she did her 2nd Ironman.

We spend just about every evening together as a family, but we don't go out for frozen yogurt that often, so I do feel like it was special.  It also made me think that I need to find small things to do all the time to celebrate my kids because I am lucky to have them every single day.

Excited

Just a random assortment of things that I'm excited about right this very second:

 

Disney on Ice- Treasure Trove

 

Spencer and I are going to go see it this weekend.

Cathy

 

My friend Cathy will be here for a visit in less than two weeks.  I love planning things to do for out of town company.

 

She came to visit in June, 2010.

And then we just happened to see her in New Hampshire (where she lives) a week later in July, 2010. 

Home improvement projects

 

Several home improvement projects, that don't actually involve knocking a wall down, are close to being done.  That means more home tour blog posts.

Elliott

 

Elliott has turned into a book lover.  It gives us something else to do during the day which is always nice.

 

Pointing

 

He's also pointing to pictures in books.   

Father-Daughter love

 

Michael and Ginger had a moment tonight.

 

(Full disclosure: it looks like Michael is smiling lovingly at Ginger.  He's actually laughing at Elliott who was bouncing on his legs.)

More reading

 

We're almost at the point where there is a break between regular season TV and summer TV.  I plan on filling it with a lot of reading.  I am going to insanely try to read 5 books in a month. 

This kid

 

He starts kindergarten in exactly 3 months and 2 weeks.

(The outfit has nothing to do with that.  It's just a bonus.)

Tooth Fairy

One week later and I feel like I have finally recovered from our two day Easter trip to Tucson.  There was something just very off all of last week.  I couldn't seem to catch up with anything.  Work, kids, cooking, house, blogging....all of it was overwhelming.  I'm better now.  We finally finished unpacking yesterday.  All of the laundry is done AND put away.  Some important home projects were completed today.  Best of all we have an easy week ahead, thank goodness. 

 

Spencer spent the whole week before Easter in Tucson.  He was with my parents Sunday through Wednesday and Michael's parents Wednesday through Saturday.  He called me on Thursday to report that his tooth was loose.  He was so excited about it.  His friend Bethany lost a tooth almost a year ago and he's been anticipating his first lost tooth ever since.

 

We tried to get him to bite into an apple all weekend but he was too scared.  Finally on Tuesday he bit into some sliced apples and it came out!  I checked his baby book and it was his very first tooth.  When I told him he said that it made sense because it was his oldest tooth.  Smarty pants.

 

There is a website that will let you upload a picture of your sleeping kid and then you can add a picture of a tooth fairy.  For this service they charge you $9.99. 

 

No thank you.

 

Instead I emailed a picture of a tooth fairy from google images and the sleeping Spencer picture to my friend Megan in Massachusetts.  She has photo shop and is always willing to lend an editing hand.

 

Check out this (free) masterpiece.

I told Spencer that the tooth fairy emailed it to me.  He got all whispery when he saw it, which means that he was really, really excited.

 

Spencer was 5 years-7 months on Saturday.  It's his first monthly photo with a missing tooth.  Well, unless you count all of his photos before he had any teeth.  I actually looked for a picture that shows him with just the one tooth.  I thought it would make an awesome comparison photo to this picture.  He got his first tooth at 11 months and his second tooth at 12 months.  In that month though I can't find a single picture that shows his 1 tooth.  It was a cool idea that was not meant to be.

 

Unless someone invents time travel.

Easter happenings

We went to Tucson for Easter weekend.  We were there for two nights and it just wiped me out.  I'm not sure if that makes me like a toddler or like a 90 year old, but jeez, I should be better able to handle a weekend away.  We've been back since Sunday evening and it took until Wednesday night for me to find the energy to blog.  So, sorry about my week long, unexpected hiatus.

 

We had a lovely Easter.  I can remember last year Spencer woke up early on Easter morning and when he came to get us I was so tired that I was literally paralyzed.  I begged him to wait 1 more hour. Can you believe we made that poor kid wait to get his basket and treats?  I had probably been up with Elliott like 3-4 times.  Thank goodness those days are behind us.

 

This is our Easter:

 

Ginger was an Easter Beagle.

 

The boys got a 2nd Christmas in the form of Easter Baskets.

 

 

Spencer was all about finding eggs and candy.

 

Elliott hated the hunt, wanted nothing to do with it and had to be forced to participate.

 

 

These were the best pictures we got all day.

 

Elliott did like his goldfish crackers.

We went to church.  It was a disaster.  Elliott was cranky, Spencer was cranky and we were cranky because of their crankies. 

 

We took family pictures at church, 

 

and at home.

 

This was last year:

I wasn't even trying for a recreation this year, so I was impressed.

 

Spencer cooperated for an individual picture.

 

Elliott did not. 

 

He did eat a lot of bread and ham though. 

 

Spencer and my mom made a bunny cake together.

 

 

 Spencer hung out with the boys.

And every person at our Easter gathering was wearing blue without it being discussed or planned or anything.

Yay.  I did it.  I deserve a ticker tape parade for finishing this post.  I do actually have more fun things to blog about (Spencer lost his first tooth!) so I will be better about my timeliness.