Happy Birthday Big Brother Ammon!

(Ammon loves the bus that picks him up everyday for school!)

Last Sunday (Feb. 27th) was Ammon's 6th birthday. It is so hard to believe how fast my kiddos are growing up! I can clearly remember the day sweet Ammon was born like it truly was yesterday. It was a surprisingly warm day for February and he came 3 1/2 weeks early bringing lots of extra sunshine into our lives! How does time fly by so quickly?

Our dear Ammon was born with his own set of challenges. He is developmentally and intellectually disabled. He has come a very long way through the help of early childhood intervention specialists, an amazing special ed preschool teacher and preschool therapists, and now this year he is in a great small group special ed kindergarten along with one on one therapy sessions. He is such a loving boy, although his non-stop energy definitely tests my patience. All I want for him is to feel loved back and to feel like he fits in with the other kids in his age group.

(This was a couple weeks before we left for Stanford last year.)

When Mason was born and I spent the first 7 weeks of his life at the hospital with him everyday, Ammon's world got turned upside down. Bless his sweet little heart, because he truly didn't understand why this new little baby was stealing all his Mommy's time. And it's been this way for 3 years now! But, he does so love Mason despite the natural jealousy that comes in a situation like ours. Ammon is such a happy child, and even though he has challenges that make him different than other kiddos, he loves and spreads sunshine to everyone!!

We took Ammon last Saturday to Monkey Island in Lehi for a little party. It is a newer indoor playground with lots of blow up slides and jump-houses. (The owner was kind enough to open up early for us so that we could take Mason and not worry about germy crowds!) It was the perfect place to let Ammon and our other kiddos burn off their bottled up winter energy.

Ammon is still Buzz Light Year's number one fan, so on his birthday we celebrated with a home-made Buzz cake. As long as it's any thing Buzz or Toy Story he likes it!

Dear Ammon,

I want you to know that you are a

beautiful blessing in my life. You

are a great example of Love and

Happiness to us all! I am so proud

of you for trying so hard in school &

for being so kind to those around

you. I hope you know how very

much you are loved by your family!

Happy Happy Birthday!!!

I Love You,

Mommy

ps. Always remember for Mason no news is good news! I'll update soon about Mason, but for now we are planning on going to Stanford the week of March 22 for his ONE YEAR post transplant heart cath.