Beckett, the Four Month Old

'Tis true...Beckett is 4 months old already!

We don't have his check-up at the pediatrician's office until Nov. 9, so I'll save the other updates till then.

I LOVE when Beckett smiles, he smiles with his whole body!

I LOVE that Beckett is happy most all the time!

I LOVE Beckett's piercing blue eyes and how expressive he is becoming.

I LOVE that Beckett doesn't hate it when his sister does silly things.

I LOVE that Paisley loves Beckett and for now he loves her too! ;)

I LOVE that Beckett likes to eat cereal!

We started this about 2 weeks ago (I know, no cereal until 4 months) because he started waking up about 4 a.m. instead of the usual 6:30 a.m. We are only giving it to him at night, but he absolutely loves it and does so great eating! Ready to increase this after his check-up visit in a couple of weeks.

I LOVE that Beckett things he is such a big boy.

Loving Tigger. He reached out for him during PT on Friday. Friday night we were playing with Tigger again and Beckett thought it would be cool to sit by himself for a few seconds. Daddy's hands are ready to catch! Lay him on his back or belly...content for a few minutes. Sit him up on the couch, in the bumbo seat, on the floor, in a stroller...content much longer! Downfall is that he has NO interest in rolling over. Hmmmm...we're working on it!

PT update...so he doesn't really need it. Our PT, Ellen is fabulous and she thinks Beckett only needs therapy once a month instead of once a week. This once a month visit will be to check in on how he is doing developmentally and to see if we have any concerns. She is really not doing anything with him right now that we aren't already doing at home. Woohoo for developing normally so far!!!!!!!

Daddy's Post

Up until this point all of the blogging has been handled by my wife, Meghan, who has done an outstanding job! With it being October and Spina Bifida awareness month, I felt compelled to share some of my own feelings about our life and our beautiful children. Let me start by introducing myself, my name is Rodney and my son has Spina Bifida. I have a beautiful daughter, and a loving wife who has blessed me in more ways than I will ever know.

Tuesday, March 9^th, 2010, was the first time I heard the words “spina bifida”. I didn’t know what it meant for my son or what it would mean for our family. We sat in our car afterwards and cried as we called our families for support. The next couple of days were confusing and scary; I wondered if I would ever see my son walk, play sports, drive a car, on and on it went. I never felt victimized, I never blamed “anyone” this simply was the way it was and we needed to figure out how to deal with it. We kept getting encouraging updates from all of the doctors, which eased the pain, but never made it go away. One night a few weeks after we got the news I had a very powerful dream, a dream that I haven’t told anyone about to this day. In my dream I saw our son as a young man, he was riding a bicycle in a race, he sped past Meghan and I, in the dream we were holding each other and crying. The image was so powerful I woke up crying, but I also felt as ease as if someone was telling me everything was going to be ok. From that day on I had a renewed strength and at that point truly began to look forward to meeting my son! The next several months were very typical of anyone expecting a child, decorating his room, picking out a name (that took awhile) and stocking up on bottles and diapers. We were excited and anxious to meet this baby and begin a new phase in our family.

Wednesday, June 30^th, 2010, Beckett Josiah Crosier arrives; here was this beautiful baby boy, with kicking legs and a loud cry, who looked perfect to me. We didn’t get to hold this blessing just yet, but we sure took a lot of pictures and squeezed those little hands. Beckett’s defect was small and low, both good news in the world of spinal defects. He had surgery the very next day, closing the defect and installing the temporary drain. Kissing him good-bye as he was taken into surgery was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do. Knowing he was in the best hands possible was a major relief for us, Dr. Moriarty did an amazing job and we are so blessed to be so near this amazing surgeon. Beckett took his time waking up from this surgery and was starting to worry his daddy. I went to the waiting room to rest; I was almost at a breaking point. My mother-in-law woke me up and said that I needed to go see my little boy, I jumped up scrubbed in and made my way back. As I rounded the corner into the NICU I could see his mommy feeding him a bottle! Tears of joy followed and I will never forget that moment in my life.

Thursday, July 15^th, 2010, “flip day” or the first day we were able to hold our son! I took the morning off from work and Meghan and I arrived early, as we couldn’t wait to hold our precious baby. I think Beckett enjoyed this day just as much as his mommy and daddy did. From this point on everything happened quickly, he passed all of his tests and we were ready to take him home. In all Beckett spent 20 days in the NICU as Kosair Children’s Hospital.

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010, we finally took our son home and our new family was together at last! It was so nice to not have to ask permission to see our baby, or wait in a crowded waiting room while others visited. We were home, Beckett, Paisley, Mommy, and Daddy and it felt great! Doctor’s appointments would follow and follow up scans have been performed. This little miracle, our son Beckett, continues to do amazing.

As I watch my son grow and develop and change, I can’t help but think how truly blessed we are to have him as our own. He is smiling and laughing and talking (baby talk that is) and when his blue eyes lock on mine, I know he knows that I am his daddy! This is a feeling I cannot describe, the joy, the pride and the LOVE are so powerful. To imagine not having him is impossible for me to do. This is my son, no matter what; he is a miracle and a blessing. All I really know is this, Beckett is my son, he has Spina Bifida and my life and our families are stronger and better because of it.

Meghan's back...I can't post without a picture or two!!!

My sweet little not-so-little-girl-anymore after her shower.

Daddy and Beckett

The Halloween dressed kiddos ready for the Halloween parade!

PRAY!

I've invited people on FB, posted about it on BabyCenter, sent emails, told people in person, continually thought about it all. day. long! I cannot wait to feel the amazing power of prayer on Wednesday. Please visit here to see the event, Spina Bifida Worldwide Day of Prayer, in its entirety. 

There have been many days when we needed to feel peace the most that it simply came. My only explanation is the power of prayer. Our church family has been amazing and I cannot imagine receiving news like we did without that support. We are so blessed to have an amazing support system of family and friends. 

The friendships I have formed with my fellow SB mommas is unlike anything I have ever experienced. Knowing that we all have experienced the same feelings, doctor's appointments, surgeries, fears, and joys is such a comforting experience. 

I want to share some of my favorite cutie pie kiddos... 

Jet   Charlie   Kingsley   Madison   

Caleb   Nickolas   Alex   Grey    

Annabelle   Davis   Nate   Jacob   Nate  

Please remember to pray on

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

 (and every day please)

 

Check back in a couple of days for a guest post from Daddy...one you will for sure want to read!

Rewind

With all this "awareness" talk this month, I have been rather emotional. When our SB journey began we, like all other families who have traveled our road, felt like our world was crashing down around us. However, just a few hours after the news, I felt an overwhelming need to keep our family, friends, and new found blogger friends updated. I didn't want to answer all the questions. I didn't want the sad looks. I wanted everyone I came in contact with to be as educated as we were becoming about Spina Bifida. I hated repeating myself over and over. 

Now I love to answer the question, "So how is Beckett doing?" I still see the looks on people's faces like they are scared to ask. 

He's doing wonderful!

He's great!

He's adorable!

He's fabulous! 

Beckett is our son who was born with Spina Bifida.

We love that little boy so much, it is indescribable!!!!

I cried (no surprise!) as I looked back at our 20 day stay in the NICU as I made this collage. Although it has only been 3 1/2 months since he was born, it seems like a lifetime ago.

We are so unbelievably blessed and I can't imagine our life without our precious Beckett!

We're Back!!!

Wow...back to work for 2 full weeks and blog posts go by the wayside. :( I should be doing many other things right now, but you all need to see my beautiful kiddos and I need a little break!

Beckett is doing awesome! He loves sitting in the Bumbo seat. He is eating 5 ounces every 2-3 hours during the day and sleeping from between 8 and 9 at night until around 6 in the morning (we LOVE your schedule darling). Beckett is starting to hold on to toys, but doesn't really realize it yet. He does not really like tummy time, but will tolerate it for up to 5 minutes at a time. He loves being at the babysitters house to watch the kids. He is adjusting very well to this change. Beckett is smiling all the time and has even laughed out loud a few times. SO adorable! Beckett is receiving physical therapy once a week. His therapist, Ellen, has been unable to come for the past 3 weeks, but started back up again yesterday. It is great because she is coming to Lori's (babysitter) house each Friday. She is happy with how well he is sitting up and maintaining his head control, but of course would like to see him doing a little better on his belly. We can't make him like it! We are working on it though.

Paisley is of course wild as ever! She loves to sing and dance and would be perfectly happy doing just that all the time. She is obsessed with iCarly. She loves to kiss and hug Beckett and tell him he is so cute, whenever there is an audience. At home, she really doesn't pay much attention to him, unless we tell her not to for some reason. That little stinker! Paisley is adjusting very well to being at Lori's also and seems to be benefiting from the routine. Lori is very structured and we love her for this!! Miss Paisley likes to rule, so having some other kiddos (just 2 others every day, 3 one day) is good for her. 

Lots of pictures. Take a deep breath and hold on tight!

Paisley wanted to help with Beckett's bathtime.

What a snuggler! However, Beckett no longer likes to be held to go to sleep. He wants to lay on his side with his puppy blanket right up close to his face to hold his paci in. He holds on to it tight and is asleep in no time. Here's a picture of his sleeping position when he's in his carseat.

I went to several yard sales with my best friend last weekend and I got Paisley this scooter for $2.00!!! She loves it!

So sweet and cuddly before bedtime. Poor Beckett!

This picture of Paisley some of you may have already saw on Facebook, but I love, love, love it! I am experimenting with picnik.com in all of my spare time (ha!) and love my creations! Unfortunately none of the other pictures have gotten the picnik treatment yet.

Being silly with Daddy. So much more fun to pick up blocks when Beckett is in the container!

Oh, hi Mom! Gorgeous blue eyes---enough already!

Loves that Bumbo seat!

Beckett says Go Cards! Daddy has season tickets, and we are proud supporters from home. Aunt Ha-U knew he would look oh-so-cute in this onesie! Thanks Holly!

He looks so happy to have Paisley laying on him, huh?!?! Hilarious!

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!

I LOVE pajama pictures!

Promise the next post won't take as long to view! I've got to keep this up!

In honor of Spina Bifida Awareness Month, here is my FB profile picture.