2013- a year of changes and reflection

I can't believe we're closing in on the end of 2013! It's been a wild ride for the Giosas- we have had our  fair share of challenges this year- some expected and some not.

We had a wonderful holiday season filled with lots of celebration. Mid December- Alison's brother and sister in law came to visit and celebrate and the kids loved spending times with their Aunt and Uncle from the south.

 Aiden got to be a part of the story of Christmas through his preschool play. He was Joseph while his cousin was the donkey during their school pageant.

On Christmas Eve we got enjoy time with Keith's parents, brother and sister in law and our niece and nephews. Aiden loved celebrating and giving gifts to his cousins, and Mommy still likes the excitement of watching Natalie and Marc and now Matthew open their gifts! And we always enjoy surprising Nonni and Poppi.

On Christmas Day, we got to enjoy joy the gifts of Santa- Aiden ripped though all his gifts in 5 mins, but JP (who had a nasty cold) took his time and preserved each gift. After Santa's gifts, we had a nice family breakfast before celebrating with Grammy and Pop and Aunt Stacey and her new fiancée Bob.

For dinner we went to Alison's Aunt Debbie and Uncle Bills and celebrated with the rest of our cousins! Always a good time and a bit hectic with so many boys.  And then later that week, we got to celebrate with the entire Giosa family which was so fun even with so many (13) cousins and then their kids!

2013 has been an interesting year- we faced many challenges, some we were prepared for and some we weren't. It was the first major surgery JP went thru and while it was a struggle, we now see what an amazing blessing  it was and the beginnings of the possibilities for Jonathan. Surgery hasn't slowed him down and has showed us nothing will stop him. While there are a handful of surgeries to come, getting through the first one seems like a major milestone.

We also watched loved ones pass away and other love ones struggle with major health complications.

Going in 2014, we have mixed emotions. We hope our friends and family heal- heal from death of losing someone special, heal from major illness, heal from pain, etc. For us- we get to enjoy the amazing advancement that science has given to our son. While we are faced with the question- do we move forward with the next (major) surgery or take a year off, we know no matter what our decision is we will give JP a wonderful life on his own two feet.

No matter what, we hope 2014 brings a  lot of happiness, love, and healing to all our love ones and proves to be the best year ever!

Happy Thanksgiving…the birthday that never ends

We hope everyone had a great thanksgiving weekend- celebrating all the blessings in their lives and sharing it with their loved ones!

The Giosas' had a great Thanksgiving. As always (or at least in the last 9 yrs) Keith and I hosted his family and my parents. This year we also had the added gift of celebrating with our neighbors/Alison's cousins- Amanda and Henry, who welcomed their first baby, Logan, the Monday before, as well as Alison's Aunt and Uncle who always have been an amazing positive force in her life. (We missed you Maffei Family, but loved hanging out at Bounce U!)

Happy Birth Day Logan- 11/25/13

As always, Thanksgiving is crazy, but a fun day. Aiden loves spending the time with his cousins and we noticed this year Marc (who's 3 yrs older) and him are connecting and playing closer then before. JP and Matthew, who are 8 weeks apart, are a work in progress. Then again JP isn't good sharing…he rather growl at kids-LOL. Matty did love all the new toys and had so much fun at Aunt Ali & Uncle Keith's that he didn't even want to eat. Aunt Ali loved seeing him play with all the "new" toys.

After dinner, as we have done in the last 5 years, we switch to Aiden's Birthday Celebration. He got to open some more gifts from his grandparents, but also gifts from his aunts, uncles and cousins (Aunt Stacey and Bob showed up for dessert to help celebrate) as well. At the end of the present opening, I felt like we could cancel Christmas- lol. I was so excited to see how happy my Aiden was for all his gifts and feel all the love from his family for him and they were all  happy to celebrate him.

And as is my tradition- I barricade myself in the house on Black Friday and decorated for Christmas. This year the decorating seemed to go quickly (maybe because my kids are a little older??). JP is enamored with the tree, to the point he's driving me a little crazy and now Aiden, who never bothered with the tree as a toddler, is touching all the time too. I hope the tree, Mommy & Daddy, and the boys all survive to Christmas- lol

Lastly, a quick JP update. He is now in his 4th week of Physical Therapy and doing well. He is starting to get a hang of what will happen/what to expect. Some of the PTs have learned to adjust to what JP wants to do and make it therapeutic, which makes it so much easier. He's good for about 30 mins and then we have to "try" really hard to keep him engaged and on task. 

 I'm so impressed on how well he has done with the stairs…so well he attempts them at home, which makes Mommy nervous. The PTs are so impressed with his range of motion and progress which makes us so happy. Mommy only has a few concerns, which could be just common to his condition for FH. But I hope he'll walk barefoot (AFO free) again soon and that his leg (the FH/effected leg) will turn in more. But all in all, I'm so happy how well he's progressing and slowly building up my courage for the next surgery- lengthening, which could be in another year or so.

My baby is now 5!

Aiden turned 5 yesterday- November 20, 2013. It was an amazing day….and a hard day for this Mommy to digest. Really 5? Already? Didn't we just celebrate his 1st birthday? I can't believe how fast Motherhood is going!

Newborn Aiden- Nov 20, 2008

Mommy and Daddy are still trying to grasp the idea that we have a 5 year old…but this kid is smart and funny and amazing. He surprises us each day on what he knows and learns and, says. I love it!

5 yr Aiden - Nov 20, 2013

Aiden had a great birthday! He went to school and celebrating there with his friends. He got to wear a crown and a stick that said it was his birthday. Aiden brought in "Cookie Brownies" (aka blondes) for snack and Mommy came in and read a story too, which was his favorite part.

After school we did our tradition since Aiden was one and that was to go see Santa. This was Aiden's decision. This was mainly because he knew he wasn't getting drums for his birthday, so Santa must know ASAP for Christmas- LOL (don't worry much to Mommy and Daddy's dismay- Santa is bring him a drum set). Both boys did amazing with Santa! I wasn't worried about Aiden. He has always done well, but at 5, I figured it would be a piece of cake, but JP I wasn't sure about this year. Jonathan is very friendly and not shy, but if I move one ounce, he's always afraid I'm leaving for good. So  I was't sure how he would act when I put him on Santa's lap and move, but he did amazing. He walked right up said "Hi Samba (aka Santa)" and sat right on his lap. He just kept looking at him and saying his name….and we got an amazing pic!!

After Santa- Aiden got some Mommy and Daddy time and we got to play his new angry bird "game". It was a K'NEX game were we had to build lego like blogs and Aiden got to shoot the birds at the piggies. He loved every minute of it (of course this was one of his gifts). We also got to play Mickey Bingo. He loved every  minute of it!

Later that afternoon Aiden's grandparents (Grammie & Pop and Nonnie & Poppi) stopped over for dinner and a mini celebration. We also invited our favorite neighbor (aka- Mommy's cousin Amanda over as she's now on bed rest till baby logan is ready to show his face :) Can't wait!)

Of course we had Aiden's favorite dinner- Pizza!!  And then a baked (more) brownies, which he had brought to school too for that night. His grandparents brought a few presents to help celebrate his day! Although we'll also celebrate on Christmas with his Aunts and Uncles and cousins! Aiden tends to have the birthday that does end to Christmas- LOL

Aiden also got to celebrate with some of his favorite November birthdays with his- Uncle Frank and Uncle Kevin who's birthdays are right before his this past weekend! Plus Danielle- Mommy and Daddy's friends other friends too!

All in all Aiden had an amazing birthday, just like Mommy and Daddy wanted him to have and he still has thanksgiving to continue the celebration. We just still can't believe it's been 5 years of parenthood and wouldn't change a minute of it!

Busy life when taking steps

I can't believe we're already a week past Halloween and heading into mid Nov. We had a good Halloween and the kids got the most out of their costume. We did trick or treating at Aiden's school on the Friday night before, Aiden had his Halloween parade and party the day before Halloween, and then there was Halloween. It was a mild night this year and we stuck to trick or  treating in our association, but we got to meet some pretty cool neighbors.

The kids had a great time- Aiden is very into Trick or Treating now and would get mad if we stop to talk. He also is learning what candy he can't have due to his allergies. We got to one house and they were giving out Hersey bars, he said "yes, Hershey's!" LOL. Jonathan also enjoyed the night after we had to bribe him to wear the costume with lollipops. Then he quickly caught on to the whole if I say trick or treat…they give me candy.

After the Halloween fun- we went back to life as normal for us- Aiden went back to school and soccer. He had his class pictures on Nov 4th and I can't wait to see how they turn out and soccer ends Nov 16th and truthfully I'm happy about that as it's getting a little too cold for soccer- lol

We also took the opportunity of the last few minutes of warm weather and day late to do family portraits which we have never done. In fact minus a few vacation pictures we haven't had a family picture since JP was born. Our very talented friend Tracy Perillo volunteered to take the pictures and I think she did amazing with the subjects she and to deal with

Lastly, JP update- he went for his Physical Therapy Evaluation on Friday. He will be going to Physical Therapy twice a week to strengthen his hip, work on his range of motion for his ankle and gait training.  The PT was impressed with JPs range of motion in his ankle- she said it was close to neutral (aka normal). He'll be going 2 days per week for the 12 next weeks. He also got his new AFO. It's called a foot on foot. He's already doing well and getting use to it- taking steps here and there indoors and outdoors. We're working on balance now. The PT wants to get him walking at least with AFO, but her hope is also bare foot. She also wants to have him walking down and up steps. So  I can't wait to see this happen!

Recently I feel like some days it's one step forward, two steps back with JP. He starts getting comfortable with something and then we change it. So now that we have his "final" recovery phase- aka his AFO, I'm hoping he'll start taking off and be like this is easy. Plus I can't wait to see what PT brings!