Shoes in Holland

Since it's summer everyone is wearing flip flops or going barefoot. Well... when you have a son who is missing toes on one foot you start to realize how important or not important shoes are. If you ask my husband he will tell you that I absolutely love baby shoes! When I was pregnant that's all I wanted to buy, shoes. I guess its the girl in me ;) Anyway, its hard seeing all these cute little babies and toddlers in flip flops knowing that my son will never be able to wear normal flip flops. But! The fun and positive part of it all is that I then get to go look for other types of sandals that his adorable little feet will fit in and lets me honest, he looks cute in anything!

An update on my little guppy is that he is now crawling everywhere and pulling up on anything and everything! I am chasing him around all day everyday and when it comes to naps! Forget it! Unless he falls asleep while he is being fed and rocked there is no way that he will lay down and nap. He gets up and plays all the time, nap time is a joke now... Hoping that's just a phase!

I have a fun story for you guys since it seems to have been a while since the last post. All about being positive!

So since Jude is up and crawling everywhere we put him on the floor while we get ready so he can crawl and play rather than be strapped into a toy. Well the other day we were in his room and he has a floor fan and when we change him it gets moved off the changing table onto the floor. If you don't remember to put it back up, little man will get into it for sure! So we caught him crawling towards the fan and told him no, that he doesn't have any fingers to spare if they got caught in the fan! He also did this with the door while he was playing with it the other night. Now he's never gotten hurt and the positive (I always try to see the positive, even when my natural instinct is to be negative) is that if a door slams in his fingers, it probably wont matter because they are shorter! (and cuter ;) ) He is going to be lucky whenever he has a sibling come along who tries to close his fingers in the door, he can giggle and laugh at them because it wont happen as often if at all :)


Something else that has been on my mind is a story that I read in my bible study this past week. It was about a mom who had a child with a disability and was asked to describe what it was like to raise a child like that. Now, I don't know about any of you but I have never been asked that, maybe it happens when they are older but it has never happened so far. Anyway, she goes on to say that it is like a vacation. You have this plan that you are going to Italy, a fun, fast paced environment, you've had friends go there and it's all the craze, so you decide to go. You get on the plan and endure the long flight there only to find out you're in Holland! Yes. Holland, not Italy like you planned. You now have to vacation in an unexpected, unplanned place but you make the best of it and enjoy your time there.

Now, I read this and cried because it was the perfect explanation on what it is like! I went through my pregnancy with a few friends and their children were all born with fingers and toes and no problems and yet here I was in Holland with a newborn missing fingers and toes and I was devastated. I now can't even imagine my life in "Italy" with everyone. It's like a breath of fresh air and I am so grateful for my son and his lucky little fins. They are truly amazing and it's even more amazing to see him use his hands and feet for anything and everything. Not only that but he is keeping up with all the other kids and is having no issues what-so-ever. I am beyond blessed to have him as my child and consider it great joy to go through life with him. He has taught me so much already that I can't even think about what the future brings!

Here is a link to the story if anyone wants to read it :)

http://www.our-kids.org/archives/Holland.html

Have a Blessed Day!