Mary's 23 Month Brithday!

Here are a few fun pictures from Mary's 23 month birthday celebration. Mommy made an awesome Elmo cake!

Jackson playing with Mary's balloon:


The amazing cake that Kate made:


Mary getting ready to blow out the candle:


Blowing out the candle:


Opening some books from Grandma and Grandpa N:


Sam and Jackson playing:


Mary concentrating on playing her video game:


Another shot of Mary playing "Whack-a-Gopher" using the camera mouse:


Hope you all enjoyed the pictures! We are all looking forward to Mary's big celebration next month!

Mary's Special Friend

Over a year ago, when we got Mary's SMA diagnosis, Connor was the first child with SMA (other than Mary) that we met. Connor is an amazing inspiration, and his parents really inspired Kate and I to take an active role in Mary's treatment and development. When you ask Connor what he wants to be when he grows up, he'll instantly tell you, an astronaut. I don't have any doubt that he will be one. Just like we have no doubt that Mary will do whatever she puts her mind to.

Here is a link to an awesome video about Mary's special little friend Connor.

Connor has SMA, Type 1, like Mary, although he is able to sit upright, thanks to a steel rod in his spine. Hope you enjoyed the video and the amazing story.

Ice Skating

Mary got to go Ice Skating this morning at the Charlottesville Ice Park and she had a great time! Special thanks to Lindsay from the Ice Park for allowing us to do this. Mary had a great time racing against her. Here are some pictures:

Vacation to Virginia Beach

I had the day off of school on Monday so we took the family for a little mini-vacation to Virginia Beach. Yes, it was the coldest weekend so far this year, so probably not the best time for going to the beach. But, the price on the beach house was right, and we had our friends, Robert, Wendy, Jadon and Emma visiting from Tennessee, so we figured why not. Anyway, we had a great relaxing and wonderful weekend. Mary really enjoyed seeing the ocean and loved the beach. By Sunday she was asking to go back down to the beach, even though it was below freezing when we went the day before. Mary really loved the aquarium! She absolutely loved seeing the huge sea turtles and she liked the sharks. Here are several pictures from the long weekend, enjoy!

Elmo Mania and the Park

Hey Everyone, we hope you are all staying warm!! It seems like the whole US got a cold-snap this week. It is supposed to get down in the single digits here tonight! That is kind of rare for around here from what I understand.

I just wanted to share some pictures of the last few weeks . . .

First we had a nice surprise visit from our friend Kathryn from Tennessee. Kathryn used to babysit Mary when she was a little baby, so Mary enjoyed seeing her again!

Just a cute picture of Mary pretending to be Darby from "My Friends Tigger and Pooh" and "slapping her cap"!!!

We also went to Darden Towe Park in Charlottesville. . .


Mary really enjoyed the slide. . . .


And we've done lots of playing with Elmo lately (not to mention reading Elmo books)


How many Elmo's do you see here??? (I count six!)


Mary seeing double!


Elmo and Jackson having a stare down.

Jackson all ready for bed. . . .

Jackson out for the count. . . .

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!!

Mary saying the Alphabet!

We final got an OK video of Mary saying the Alphabet. She usually doesn't skip letters, but I think she was a little nervous being on camera!

. . . and now presenting Mary on the Harmonica!!

Here is a cute little video of Mary playing the harmonica, with mommy accompanying her. . .



Mary would play a note and then Kate would copy it, Mary absolutely loved it! We have been working a lot with Mary blowing whistles and playing harmonica to give her little lungs and diaphragm a workout. It is great for increasing her breath support and even her vocal volume.

P.S. and of course she is STILL wearing her Tutu!!

Mary's New Tutu!!!

Mary had a visit for her birthday from her Aunt Angie, who just returned from Iraq about 3 weeks ago and her Uncle Jason. They gave Mary a Ballerina Tutu and Crown and magic wand for her birthday. Well, it just so happens that Mary's absolute favorite book that her mommy reads to her every night before she goes to bed is the book "Just the Way You Are" with Elmo and Zoe.



Mary calls it her "Tutu Book". So needless to say, she LOVED getting her Tutu. She hasn't taken it off since she got it. You can see this in the pictures below:

Mary's 22 Month Birthday

For Mary's 22 Month Birthday Party we had lots of family from both Michigan and the D.C. area come and visit. It was nice to see family that we hadn't seen in so long and some that Mary and Jackson had never met. Ryan made a North Pole cake, complete with marshmallow snowmen sporting Christmas scarves and little frosting black-hats and Santa's workshop made out of graham crackers. Here are some pictures of the festivus!

Christmas Day Pictures

Ok, continuing to catch up on Mary's Blog, here are some Christmas Day pictures. Everyone really had a good time and WAY too many presents!!!!



Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve Pictures

Hi Everyone!
My apologies for not posting these sooner, I'm playing a little catch up.

Here are some pictures from Christmas Eve:


As you can see, Jackson learned to sit on his own, with help from his cube that he got from Uncle David. Mary had a great time with her cousin Billy and loved seeing Santa Claus.

I'll post some pictures from Christmas Day a little later today. Busy Busy!

Pre Christmas Pictures

Merry Christmas Eve Everyone! I know we'll have tons of photos to post after Christmas so I figured I would catch up on these before the big day. We've had grandparents and cousins visiting so lots of excitement. Here goes!

Well a few days ago, Mary's friend Anna had her second Birthday. She came over to open the present that Mary gave her. Mary was very excited to see Anna open it.


Jackson is learning to sit up on his own now and doing quite well, but I think he will stand before he sits and walk before he crawls!

Jackson, like Mary, absolutely loves Sam! (I think the feeling is mutual!)

A picture of Jackson sitting. . .

Jackson with Grandpa Bill. . . do you think they look alike?? hmmm. . ...

Mary made Christmas cookies and took them to the rescue squad with Grandma and Grandpa!


Mary absolutely loved playing with her cousin Billy! They were SO cute together. Here Mary is showing Billy how to use the gear toy.

Here Mary and Billy are playing with Puzzles. . .


Billy is reading Mary a Tigger story!


Now Mary is telling Billy about Trucks!!!

Just a cute picture of Mary telling daddy something. . .


Have a great Christmas!!