birthday party pictures

Elijah LOVES vintage 1940s Donald Duck cartoons. He loves watching the old Donald Duck cartoons in youtube, so that was our theme :)


The birthday cake was from Icing Smiles and Bleeding Heart Bakery made the cake for Elijah. It was gluten free, delicious and so BIG. All 3 tiers were edible.

It was vintage Donald Duck :)





We are happy that you had a great time at your party big boy. We can't wait to celebrate many many more. We love you

a very special day :)

Elijah woke up very happy. He loved all the birthday songs and greetings. We went out early and got him his birthday treats, donuts and cupcakes from a gluten free bakery. It was our first time to go there and we were not disappointed. A weekly visit to the bakery is in the future :)


enjoying his birthday breakfast

I love where we live, it is very near Chicago downtown but we still get to enjoy the quaint "little town" feel.
After our breakfast we went to the Church to pray.

We then run some errands for the party tomorrow. It is our tradition to eat noodles on birthdays for long and healthy life. Olive garden makes gluten free entrees so that is where we had our lunch.



A funny thing happened during our lunch,there was a birthday celebrant sitting in the booth behind us andwhen the servers came out to sing, Elijah kept on turning his head, he was clearly waiting for them to sing him a song also. He kept on saying "mine" and "cake"


It was a very fun and special day, it even snowed. We are having a very mild winter so seeing the snow on Elijah's special daw was a very welcome change.We like to believe it means more blessings for our little braveheart. Happy birthday Elijah, we love you

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Dear Elijah,

Today you are three years old. Happy happy birthday. How is it possible that you are already 3 ?!?! You are becoming a big boy, soon you will attend school, you will meet new people and have new adventures. There will be challenges, you may have a hard time with the adjustments but we are sure that you will be fine. While papa and mama are sad that we won't be with you every second of the day, we are excited and happy to see you start a new chapter in your life.
We are thankful and humbled that God chose us to be the ones to care for you and to love you. You are our everything.We treasure every moment with you and today we celebrate even more the amazing blessing that you are.
We love you baby to the moon and back.

with all our love
mama and papa

CHD Awareness week

February 7-14 is Congenital Heart Defect Awareness week. It is also the birth week of my little braveheart, so I am a bit more emotional these days.Elijah's story is really a miracle. We are blessed to have him and every second with him is truly a gift.


ELIJAH - born with HLHS , now living with an angel heart :)

I am very passionate about raising CHD awareness. 1 in 100 babies are born with a heart defect/s and while most are diagnosed in utero some are not. Some babies get to go home with their heart defects undiagnosed and for the unfortunate ones, by the time they get to go to hospital it could be too late.

Elijah's condition was only diagnosed 5 hours after birth. Our nurse followed her gut feel. She told us, while most newborns have heart murmurs, she wanted to be sure with Elijah even though he was not in distress, thats why she called in the neonatologist. I dont know what would be the outcome if we were able to take Elijah home with us.

If you know someone who will be having a baby, tell them to ask for a pulse oximetry test( placing a sensor on the baby's hand/finger or foot/toe to check the oxygen level). It's very easy, painless and should not cost anything before they take their baby home with them. This should be SOP and we in the heart community are doing our best to make this a law.

RAISE AWARENESS AND SPREAD HOPE

sick

Elijah is sick :( for the past 2 days, he has been coughing and having on and off low grade fever. We are off to the pediatrician this afternoon. We are hoping that this is not something serious because little man will be have his birthday this weekend.

gluten free diet

Elijah is still not eating much, at most he eats 2 full meals a day plus 2-3 bottles of pediasure. We found some gluten free waffles and donuts that he likes, so he is not missing his favorite "bread-y" stuff anymore :)

In the last weigh in, we learned that he gained 1 pound-- a whole pound in 1 month!!! that is very encouraging. We are still on the waiting list for Dr. F's feeding clinic. We have heard good and positive reviews, we can't wait for Elijah to get in the program.

Overall things are getting better, we are still having some issues with the inflammation on both cheeks(inside), it is much better than before and we finally have the dentists, and ENT on board and they are monitoring big boy closely.
We are off to a good start this year, praying that it will continue.

These amazing women are Elijah's therapists from Early Intervention. For 2 years now, they come every week to help our big boy catch up developmentally. They are like family to us. Next month, the weekly visits will stop as Elijah age out of Early Intervention. We will miss all them. Thank you ladies for all your help. For teaching Elijah the skills he needs. Sometimes, (okay fine, all the time :p ) in our desire to "protect him" we fail to teach him to be more independent. Thank you for encouraging Elijah to reach his capabilities, for knowing when to push and when enough is enough and mostly for loving our boy and advocating for him. Because of all your help, I know Elijah will be okay once he starts school. (although, I can't say the same for my husband and I )


Physical Therapy with Ms. S