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.