Everett's First Haircut

After we all attended music therapy this morning Greg and I decided to take Jackson and Everett for haircuts. The pictures tell it all. I was so proud of Jackson as this was his first haircut in 2 years that did not involve lots of tears. He sat by himself and smiled the whole time. He was probably just being a good role model for his brother.

Everett Turns ONE

It's been an exciting month around the Stoner household. There has been much to celebrate! Everett's first birthday was such an incredible milestone. Although his birth was completely normal and quite easy - the days and weeks to follow would change the direction of our lives forever. So here we are one year later - stronger, smarter, closer to the Lord and more blessed than we could have ever imagined.

Everett's birthday marked a joyous time to stop and celebrate! This year has been a rollercoaster, but I truly believe Greg and I have learned to live in the moment and enjoy each and everyday with our boys. (OK, for those of you who know Greg quite well he is still a planner and is our long-range thinker but when he comes home from work each day he completely focuses on his family and spending "QUALITY" time with his boys. He's such a great Dad and has a bond with his sons that is remarkable.)

Back to Everett turning ONE! We celebrated a few times, which means lots of cake was consumed, tons of photos were taken and lots of love was shared. Jackson even began learning to sing "Happy Birthday" by the end of the week. Here are some of the moments that were captured:

Then there was more cake (ice cream cake from cold stone - YUM):

Big brother helped blow out the candle.

Have I mentioned that Everett really likes to explore with his feet?

It was a great week! What made it so special is that only days before his 1'st birthday, Everett began to show so much progress. At one year old he is now smiling, rolling from his back to stomach, sucking his thumb, lifting his head, kicking his legs, and singing some very Everett tunes. All great signs and a HUGE leap in the right direction.

Happy Birthday Pumpkin - We Love you!

An Answer to Prayer...

For months I've struggled with just how to pray for Everett. There have been my daily prayers for stength and wisdom, but when he was diagnosed with infintile spasms I knew what my prayer had to be. Knowing that God will never give Greg and I more than we can handle at any given moment, I asked the Lord to please just let me see my son smile again.

I know he listened to my prayer because this is what I captured on Sunday night:

But Everett did not stop there. I got his pj's on and he decided to really show off some skills:

This is the Everett we have not seen since December! It appears that he is indeed regaining the skills that have regressed over the past 6 months and we could not be more elated. As his physical therapist commented yesterday, "Everett is Back". Everett worked so hard for her yesterday that it just made her week. I hope these pictures also bring a little joy to your week. It sure is bringing joy and praise to ours.