New Year's Eve

Tonight Andrew and Nathan went over to Gigi and PaPa's to ring in the new year. Steve and I were able to have a great dinner out by ourselves and then ring in the new year with some friends. It was nice to have a night to ourselves - thanks Mom & Dad for a much needed break!!

Bounce House at the Borello's

Tonight we headed over to the Borello's to see everyone in town over the holidays and for the kiddos to help Boston & Bella break in their new bounce house!! Everyone had a blast and it was great seeing everyone!! Thanks, Brad & Shannon for your hospitality and to Jill for capturing such great pics of everyone!!

The Vehige's

Andrew on the slide upside-down.

Nathan having fun :)

Nathan ready to go down the slide.

Another try at a family pic.


The boys and their kiddos...

Merry Christmas!!

Unfortunately, Steve and I were in a daze Christmas morning as we were up ALL night with Nathan and didn't sleep a wink :( When we finally climbed into bed for the first time around 6:15am, Andrew woke us up at 7:00am super excited that Santa had come!! We did our best to have a great Christmas morning with the boys...Nathan was back up for the day at 7:30am. Santa sure did leave the boys LOTS of presents!! Guess they made it on the nice list :)


Christmas morning.


Nathan on his V8 driver.

Andrew working his Lite Brite.

After breakfast, Steve and I took turns trying to get some sleep and keeping the boys occupied - not too hard with all of the new games and toys to play with :) We headed over to my parents' house that evening for dinner, but didn't stay too long because everyone was exhausted. We missed taking pictures too...oh well. All in all we did our best and had a good Christmas.

Merry Christmas Eve!!

This evening we headed over to Grandma and Pops' to celebrate Christmas with the Vehige side of the family. We were able to celebrate with ALL 34 0f us - it was a FULL house!! All of the kids and adults had a wonderful time hanging out, eating, singing Christmas carols and of course, opening presents :) Grandma and Pops remodeled some of their house and it looks great!! We were also serenaded by our niece, Caroline with Jingle Bells. It was just music to our ears and made our Christmas!!


Family Pic.


Andrew waiting patiently to open one of his presents.

In action!!

Daddy and Nathan opening one of Nathan's presents.

Another present!!

Nathan giving Mommy kisses - he loves smooching :)

Andrew racing his remote control Lighting McQueen!!

Andrew and Nathan made Pops a picture album for Christmas...looking at the pictures together.

Christmas Parties at the boys' preschools

This morning we tag-teamed to make it to both of the boys' Christmas programs and parties. We were running between Trinity and SJID - what a morning!! We had so much fun seeing the boys with their classmates :) AND, there was a special surprise visitor for the kiddos at SJID - Andrew was so excited!!

Andrew up on stage during his program.


Such decisions - what cookie should I choose?


Enjoying Christmas cookies and lemonade.

Once Andrew was finished with snack, we headed back to SJID to meet up with Nathan and SANTA!!


Nathan and Santa eye-to-eye :)


Andrew giving Santa his wish list.


The boys at snack time - Andrew couldn't believe he got another snack before lunch!!

Family pic with Santa :)

Lunch with Santa

We headed to have lunch with Santa this afternoon. We have been going to this lunch at JFK High School for the past several years to benefit Our Little Haven. It's just the perfect little set up with the most precious Santa and Mrs. Claus!! The boys had a great time and can't wait for Santa to visit in a week!!

Me with my boys and Santa & Mrs. Claus :)

Bruemer Family Christmas

Straight from lunch we headed over to my brother's house to celebrate Christmas a little early with my immediate family. Todd and his family will be in Pennsylvania for the holidays this year with his wife's side of the family. We had a wonderful time relaxing, eating and of course opening presents!!

Andrew and Daddy opening presents.


Nathan and Gigi.

Mommy and Andrew - Hungry, Hungry Hippos!!

Wow - look at that car ramp/garage!!

I don't know if you can tell by the pics or not, but Andrew wasn't feeling well at all - hence the sitting on our laps :( Let's hope he's better by Christmas!!

Masterpiece

Tonight Andrew was excited to build and decorate his Gingerbread Choo Choo Train. He loves putting things together and seeing the finished product!!

Andrew's masterpiece :)

Congratulations, Mike and Elle!!

Today Steve was in his friend from college, Mike's Wedding. We had a wonderful time celebrating with Mike and Elle - what a gorgeous couple!! Their reception was at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. It was all decorated for Christmas and what an absolute beautiful display. Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Mike Todd!!

Steve and I in one of the gardens.

Dreadful News

This afternoon Steve and I received some horrible news. After Andrew's 4 year check-up and over year of physical, occupational and speech therapies, we were sent for further testing regarding Andrew's overall physical delays. Testing included a neurological evaluation and a blood draw. From a cognitive perspective, Andrew is spot-on. He is a smart, intuitive and personable little boy. Unfortunately, based on his blood work, we found out a certain enzyme level of Andrew's is heightened and it's definite he has some kind of muscle disease.

This news has Steve and I just flabbergasted and at a loss for words. We already have so much on our plates and absolutely HATE that our children continue to get hit with such hardships. I know hate is such a strong word and I don't like using it, but in this situation I can't come up with anything better. Just once I wish Steve or I would be the ones to have to overcome these difficulties, not our children.

We have been referred to the Neuromuscular Clinic at Wash U. and are waiting for that appointment. Until then we will not know anything more. We hope and pray this is not a degenerative disease nor genetic. For now, we are left with just waiting...

Nathan's Evaluation with SSD

This morning Nathan and I headed to his evaluation with Special School District. This entailed a 2 plus hour hands-on assessment of Nathan by MANY therapists - a physical therapist, occupational therapist, teacher of the deaf, vision therapist, early childhood special education teacher, psychiatrist and developmental therapist. Plus, an in-depth interview about Nathan from birth on. To say the least, we were both very exhausted by lunchtime.

The assessment was very thorough, but it's a lot to ask of a two and a half year old. Nathan did everything asked of him and cooperated with ALL of the hands on him. He is such a strong and laid back little boy and just goes along with everything. I was so proud of him, but know there was more of Nathan that didn't come out during the evaluation. It's hard for them to capture a clear glimpse of Nathan, but I guess you have to start somewhere. This evaluation will then be what Nathan's IEP - Individualized Education Plan is based off along with reports from his current therapists and doctors. We will have his IEP meeting within 30 days of this evaluation...what a process!!

Nathan's LAST IFSP!!

We cannot believe we are having our LAST IFSP meeting with First Steps - WOW!! Since Nathan has been born, we have been meeting every six months with Nathan's First Steps coordinator to document Nathan's strengths, areas of concern, goals and outcomes and then what therapy is needed to support that plan. Nathan transitions out of First Steps the day before his third birthday - 2/9/12.

Nathan will then be a part of Special School District (SSD). We are anxious for this transition. Nathan will have all new teachers and therapists working with him. Change is good, but also difficult - we just want to make sure we are meeting Nathan's needs and he continues to make great progress.

Bike for Kids!!

Today is the big day - Nathan gets his BRAND NEW BIKE!! This morning we headed to UMSL for Bikes for Kids by Variety the Children's Charity of St. Louis. They provided hundreds of bicycles to children from multiple agencies who otherwise would not be able to afford bikes. AND, they provided 30 custom-made adaptive therapeutic bikes for children with special needs who are not physically able to ride typical bicycles. These special bikes come with a significant price tag and we are so thankful that Nathan gets to benefit from one of them!!

All of the volunteers were waiting to see who was the recipient of Nathan's bike because it was one of the smallest adaptive bikes out there on center stage :) We all lined up outside of the gym and paraded in where all of the bikes were set-up ready for the kids to ride them. It was such an amazing experience to see so many children's dreams coming true right before our eyes. We cannot thank Variety, Hal Honeyman (owner of Creative Mobility who made the bikes) and all of the sponsors and volunteers enough!! They have given Nathan the chance to feel independent and capable of riding his own bike!! We will be forever grateful!!

Nathan with his streamer to wave in the parade.

Nathan on his new bike!!

Riding around - all smiles!!

Nathan with two Rams cheerleaders :)

SO HAPPY!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends!! We are blessed and very THANKFUL for everyone in our lives!!


Nathan's "handy" artwork.


Andrew's "handy" artwork

The best Thanksgiving turkey!!

Andrew's Birthday Party

This evening we celebrated Andrew's birthday with our family. We enjoyed dinner, presents and ice cream cake :) Andrew especially loved spending time with his cousins and opening ALL of his birthday presents. Each present was more exciting than the last and the birthday boy was so excited for his new toys and games. Thanks to everyone for making this birthday so special for our little birthday boy!!

Happy 4th Birthday, Andrew!!

We can't believe another year as gone by and we are celebrating Andrew turning 4!! Andrew is such a sweet, helpful, loving and smart little boy. He keeps us on our toes and is constantly making us laugh. We can't get over Andrew's progress in the past year and are so proud of our little boy!! We are looking forward to another great year ahead.

It was a big day for the birthday boy. We started out with yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast before school. He was so excited to head to school on his birthday. Andrew got to bring in a special birthday snack - cookies and rainbow sherbet to share with his classmates. After school, we surprised Andrew with a day just with Mommy and Daddy. First, we headed to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and games, then went to get Andrew's 4 year pics taken, picked out a toy at the toy store and then finally came home for a yummy birthday dinner. A big thanks to Gigi and PaPa for watching Nathan for us so we could have some time with just the big birthday boy!!


Andrew flying a helicopter.


Having a personal conversation with Chuck himself.

Keeping the streets safe.

Andrew and Daddy driving an 18-wheeler.

Andrew hit the jack-pot getting the most tickets you could win!!

Andrew and Daddy on a roller-coaster simulator.

Mommy and Andrew running in a life-size hamster wheel.

Bowling for Bikes

Today, Steve and I along with some of our family headed to Tropicana Lanes to raise money for Bikes for Kids by Variety Club. Nathan will be receiving one of the thirty custom-made therapeutic bikes at this event in December. We are thrilled that Nathan is one of the lucky recipients and can't wait to get him riding and feel the independence that every child should feel by riding a bike.

A huge THANKS to Grandma, Pops, Uncle Ed, Aunt Marie, Uncle John, Uncle Todd and Aunt Laura for coming out for some bowling fun and to Gigi and PaPa for watching Andrew, Nathan and Mary while we were knocking some pins down :)

Miss Mary

Mary and I had another girls' night together while Mommy and Daddy headed to a party. We always have so much fun together :)

All comfy in her baby swing.

Halloween Party at St. Joseph's

Nathan had his Halloween party at school today. The kiddos all dressed up after snack and went trick-or-treating around the school for candy and goodies :)

Our serious little cow.

Carving Pumpkins

This afternoon we carved our pumpkins and turned them into Jack-o-lanterns!!


Andrew checking out all of the seeds.


All the pumpkins and gourds.

Mommy's carving attempt.

Daddy's creation.