My baby is 2! / Goodbye!!

Tuesday was an exciting day in our home.....Ethan turned 2!

Birthdays are always an exciting time but this particular one held a little more importance.

Exactly 7 months earlier Ethan was severely burned over nearly 30% of his body with 3rd degree burns and we didn't know whether he would make it through the night or next week.

We prayed hard in those first few days.

We so badly wanted more time with our precious baby boy.

The days were long, exhausting, and emotionally draining, but as each day passed, Ethan fought hard and miraculously improved.

Ethan fought for his life and continued to fight with each surgery and trial that came his way.

The road to recovery was long and painful for him, yet he was strong and brave.

Ethan has shown us that we each have the potential to overcome whatever challenges come our way. He has strengthened our faith in our Heavenly Father and has taught us to always remind the ones you love how much you care for them ... Life is short!

Ethan brings so much happiness to our family.

Here are a few of the things we absolutely love about our boy:

- his deep little man voice

- his sweet hugs and kisses that he periodically gives without asking. he just snuggles in and kisses your whole face.

- when he gets mad at his sisters lately he will yell at them with this very low deep voice. Don't think for one minute that he gets away with it, but it is kinda funny

- he is a big tease

- when his dad gets home Ethan will pester him until he finally puts down what he is doing and wrestles him to the ground!

- he always uses the kitchen chairs to climb up on everything to get whatever he needs

- he is such a big help. He cleans up whenever I ask him to.

- he is just a delightful, fun, cute boy to be around!
- he says hello to everybody lately and blows kisses to elderly people.
- he has the best wiggle dance ever!
- he adores his sisters and gives them big hugs when we pick them up from school
- he talks and talks and talks

Here are some pictures of his big day!

Best family photo we could get

I think we could have bought him just smarties and he would have been happy!

On our last appointment to Calgary our medical photographer gave us a copy of Ethan's surgery pictures. We were anxious to see them because it had been a while since we first saw them in his charts. We eagerly put the pictures into the computer and waited patiently for the pictures to upload. We were shocked! Emotions of that dreadful time came flooding back as we saw our boy helpless on the surgery table, tubes and all. It is so hard to see your child in so much pain and hurt, you just feel completely useless. We continued to view the slides and found ourselves feeling extra grateful for Ethan in our lives, he is such a joy to us. I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to show these but was told by several people it was probably ok. I will warn you that they are pretty graphic and you may not want to view them or let your children see. Use your discretion! Here are a handful of the pictures of ethan's recovery:

February 24, 2011

February 28, 2011

March 16, 2011

Skin grafting

After some discussion we have decided it is time to bring Ethan's Recovery blog to a close.  We really have appreciated all of your encouragement, love and support throughout Ethan's journey.  Thank you for having so much love and concern for Ethan and our family as well.  We do believe that all of your prayers offered on our behalf is what helped us make it through this difficult time.  Although Ethan's well on the road to recovery, his will be a life long adventure full of struggle and success.  We have decided to incorporate him along with the rest of us in a private family blog. If you would like to view our blog, please message me you email so we can add you to our list of viewers.
Thankyou and we love you!!!!