Aaron the "chick magnet" is 5 weeks old today!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a BUSY 4th of July with lots of friends and family! We started with Aaron's 1st fourth of July picture with his sisters. Then we partied on the Guadalupe at Gregg and Rebecca's river house. We finished with fireworks at Aunt Noel's and had some VERY sleepy kiddos!

Aaron's first experience with "tubing" the Guadalupe! It was quite entertaining to watch the tubers get through the chutes!!! The girls were able to get in the water and fish with Daddy.

Shayne - enjoying a break from all of that River excitement! The boys did an Awesome Fish fry for about 50 people and I think he needed to cool off!

Allie, Ashlyn, Hannah, Aaron, Drew and Luke waiting patiently for the fireworks. Once they started we found out that you could actually NOT see the Landa Park fireworks from Aunt Noel's. They were completely blocked by a tree so the kiddos (with the exception of Aaron) hopped in the back of Shayne's truck to move closer to the action. I am not sure if they were more excited about seeing the fireworks or getting to ride in the back of a pick up!

One last wagon ride before heading home!

Grammy (Shayne's grandmother) meeting Aaron at our house.

Papa (my grandfather) was also able to meet Aaron over the Holiday at Mom's house!

We can count our blessings!

Tuesday June 30th we had a one month check up for Aaron. The goal was to make sure he is still growing and feeding well and to have a Q&A with our pediatrician now that the shock has subsided a bit. Dr. Rieger was kind enough to invite our family to attend so the Andersons, Griesings, Noel, Shayne and I crowded in the room to ask questions and feel better about Aaron's diagnoses.

Here are our blessings:

1)Aaron gained 1 pound in two weeks and 1/2 inch! Yea!! Feeding can be a big issue in Children with Down Syndrome and he is eating well.
2)Aaron's thyroid levels are normal
3)His platelet counts are normal
4)His digestive system seems to be working A-OK
5)We had previously learned that his heart is fantastic!
6)Aaron is lifting his head and focusing his eyes - everything a one month old should be doing.

I will be registering him with Early Childhood Intervention this week so we can get him started in therapy in the coming months. (thank you Rebecca G for your help and expertise!) We will begin testing his vision in the next few months and we will test his hearing and thyroid levels again at six months.

So far so good - please keep the prayers coming for this little guy. We are so VERY BLESSED to have such a large and wonderful group of friends and family. Everyone has been quick to offer support and to share experiences, tears and laughter. Together we will jump over this hurdle and give Aaron the best possible life that he can live!