Thursday, June 5, 2014

T-shirt fundraiser

We have been blessed with the most amazing family! They're all doing what they can do to help with Easton! We recently found out Easton will need extensive genetic testing to find a diagnosis for his cone and rod dystrophy. We need his diagnosis so we can properly plan for his future! Insurance has denied our attempt to file a claim because they deemed it unnecessary to help his health. Since Easton's eye disease is  a rare thing he'll need the maximum possible genetic testing done. Along with Easton, Ronnie and. I also must also receive testing. This will also be out of our pocket and is crucial to his diagnosis.  Testing is extremely expensive because it's such a long process.We've already spent hundreds of dollars on surgeries and numerous hospital stays. We also have to travel out of state because we don't have the resources needed in Louisiana to treat Easton. This has caused bills to pile up and has stretched us thin. Ronnie works out of town as much as possible and has sacrificed going to a lot of visits to work so we have money to make things work! Easton usually has about 4 doctors appointments a week which doesn't leave me much time to work. We've been fortunate to have made it this far own our on. Easton's Aunt and Uncle have designed and set up a t-shirt fundraiser with the option to donate! This will help cover genetic testing. We appreciate all the overwhelming love ad support we've experienced! It gives me hope!! Below is a link to the site if you're interested in helping!

https://www.bonfirefunds.com/eastons-medical-fund


Monday, June 2, 2014

How sweet it is to be loved by you!

Usually my blog posts aren't the exactly happiest of posts and usually only pertain to Easton's medical problems! I thought I would share something, sweet and happy to lighten the mood up a little. I am sharing my experience of being pregnant and what I expected to come out of the delivery with!
No one can explain the amount of love and compassion you're sure to experience from having a child! Not many people share exactly how much fun being a parent is. Yes, you're told it's a love like no other, but those thoughts are soon clouded from all the horror stories you're told. You'll never sleep again, having a baby means no more freedom, and get ready to spend every waking minute consoling a crying baby, were all something I was told when I was pregnant. What no one told me was exactly how much fun being a mom would be and a mom to a boy at that!! As a mom to a baby that his fair share of problems, trust me when I say you'll find time to sleep and crying won't be the only noise that you'll hear for the first year of their life. But what you can expect is to find just how exciting and fun life now becomes. My life never really began until I had Easton.
I always thought I'd be a mom to a frilly baby girl, with big bows, and pink everything. I always said I'd be happy with either gender, as long as I had a healthy baby. Being happy with either gender is awesome, but come on we all know, mentally we decide which gender we'd rather have the instant we find out we were expecting!
It became almost like a war. Ronnie was so set on having a baby boy a hunting partner, fishing buddy, and mini monster. I on the other hand who enjoys all of the things Ronnie wanted from a boy.
I still couldn't help but to think of how fun it would be to have a mini shopping diva, girly girl who also knew how to fish and hunt all while being cute as a button with her monogrammed fishing shirts, matching bow, and cowgirl boots.  I constantly rubbed the Chinese Calendar who swore I was having a baby girl in Ronnie's face. I had wayyy too many hormones flowing not to have a diva inside me. I just knew I was having a girl! I would run to the frilly things any time we entered a store and Ronnie would shake his head, knowing he would be in for it with two of me. Just when I thought I had Ronnie convinced of how fun it would be to have a baby girl, we found out we were having a baby boy!! My roommate at the time worked at an OBGYN office and was so awesome as to sneak us in so we could reveal the gender earlier than expected!
I was just happy that our child looked perfectly healthy and chunky! In fact I didn't even have time to be upset about not having a baby girl, because the moment I saw Ronnie's face when we found out we were having a boy, that all changed. I decided I was ecstatic to give my best friend something he had always wanted. A rifle carrying, fishing pole havin', muddy rain boot wearin', baby boy!
What I didn't expect was to fall so deeply in love with the life of having a baby boy!! Easton is 100% all boy, even at 10 months old there is no doubt in my mind that he was created to be a boy. Everything about him is completely rough and wild. He loves to beat on his chest in dominance after he destroys everything in his sight. When I walk into his room and say hey to him, he doesn't just smile at me, he full forced jumps up and down and screams out like a cave man. I've traded in hugs for head-butts, and kisses in for scratches. He greets me with a fist full of my hair and laughs in victory when he realizes he's nearly made me bald. This probably doesn't sound that appealing to the average woman, but what I didn't realize is how much I'd enjoy getting attacked and jumped on and how blessed I am to be the mother of a baby boy! No one could express the amount of joy that comes with shopping for matching cowboy boots for Ronnie and his mini me and finding out they do in fact have rain boots that fit your 10 month old! My dreams of glitz and glitter have now been traded in for antlers and mud and I couldn't be more excited. I look forward to the days of baiting hooks and running through mud puddles! When I first heard the words "Momma's boy" I could never fully appreciate what it would mean to me. There is nothing sweeter in the world, than a "Momma's boy". So all you momma's out there that are expecting a baby boy, or even those who aren't pregnant yet, but will one day be the momma's to a sweet baby boy, get ready for it. You'll soon be melting like a popsicle in the palm of your little monster's hand. I am sure having a girl is equally as much fun, but I'm just sharing my perspective on having a boy!