Two months ago Noah turned 1! I can’t believe how fast the time flies by. So fast that I am always writing my blog posts so far behind the fact J
There were definitely lots of mixed emotions celebrating the 1st Milestone.
There’s the “A Year Ago Today club” which included things like “AYAT we had our perfect natural birth plan and had never heard of such things as HIE or hypothermia cooling protocol and were eagerly awaiting the arrival of our first child” then “AYAT Noah was on life support just hanging on” and “AYAT Noah started breathing on his own and we had so much hope” followed by “AYAT Noah had his MRI scan and it showed extensive brain damage” also “AYAT we were told that Noah would most likely not make it to his 1st birthday” – it is a really tough thing not to think back at what was happening 1 year ago. That’s what birthdays are for, right? To look back and celebrate the person’s life and the memories and the milestones made along the way. Oh boy is it tough to see all the babies around me growing up and starting to crawl, eat, walk, talk and so on. But you know what? It is getting easier J
But also (as I mentioned in my previous Blog post) at this Milestone I am looking back and seeing just how much I have learnt. About Myself, my Husband, Our Amazing Family and Friends and about what it means to have a child with a severe disability. Now don’t get me wrong I am far from being in a state of serenity, but I feel I have really had my beliefs and personal strengths put to the test, and I’d like to think, that so far, I’m making the grade.
One of the things that has really helped me (which I have spoke of often) is to try to focus on the HERE and NOW and just take the next step. Now of course from time to time things are going to put my mind into worry mode about what happened in the past and what the future will bring. But the key is to try to bring my mind back to NOW. It doesn’t mean to just not confront the situation or pretend everything is fine. Obviously there is a time and a place to address these issues and get it all out. I came across this quote and it spells it out nicely. “Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles, It empties today of its strengths”.
But now I have gotten off track.....
The day of Noah’s 1st birthday party was a great day. We went with a Noah’s Ark/Jungle Animal Theme. I dressed Noah up in his "big boy" shirt and he had a Birthday Boy badge, so cute. Noah was even lucky enough to have a visit from Nanny Dot for his birthday too!
The day of Noah’s 1st birthday party was a great day. We went with a Noah’s Ark/Jungle Animal Theme. I dressed Noah up in his "big boy" shirt and he had a Birthday Boy badge, so cute. Noah was even lucky enough to have a visit from Nanny Dot for his birthday too!
I searched for ages to find either a Noah's Ark cake (too expensive) or a cake topper I could put on the top of whatever we went with. I found a lovely lady in the US who custom makes cake toppers. There are so many themes, and they are so bright and colourful and very well made. I was so happy with the topper. I will definitely be using and recommending her services. Her website is: http://www.kharygoart.com/
We had some yummy food (thanks to our awesome friends who helped out), played pass the parcel and Noah got lots of great gifts and money to go towards his iPad. Noah even got to "cut" (smack a donut off) his cake :)
Thanks to all you wonderful people for making Noah's 1st Birthday Party a special day xx
