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!!