May 8, 2010

Feelin' Sad

I feel sad.
There have been a few events over the last couple of days that have made me feel sad.
Why would I feel sad when I have this?

Because, I feel sad for the rest of the world. The people who will never have the opportunity to have somebody like Carter be a part of their family. In my opinion, his chromosomes being shuffled around differently only makes him perfect.

He is perfect.

That perfection emits a perfect love.

The love is so much greater than I can describe with words, and it reaches out beyond just our immediate family. It has touched grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, distant cousins, and beyond. If only I would have known during those first few weeks when we were mourning who we thought Carter was going to be. I had no idea that his differences were something to be celebrated.

We are the lucky ones.

We are so blessed.

Not only do we have Carter, but we have an amazing family who accepts him and loves him just the way he is. We couldn't ask for more. Carter is so lucky to have such a wonderful group of people to rally around him.

We went to my niece's birthday party tonight. Emily just turned 10 years old, and is simply sweet. . During the party, she showed us a book that she had written as a project for school. I want to share the book with you, because it brought tears to our eyes. The pictures truly don't do this justice. It is simply beautiful.,....and perfect.


The book is titled "All About Carter" and was written and illustrated by Emily.

Check out the adorable Oxygen Cannula across his face.
My cousin Carter was born March 27, 2009. Carter has a lot of problems like he has one ear, has a feeding tube, has Oxygen, and has a cleft lip. But under all of those things he's just a unique baby.
My cousing Carter warms my heart every time I see him. He's the cutest baby in the whole wide world.
I think Carter is very special because he he's very unique and has problems. But just because he has problems, doesn't mean he won't be able to do things that other can babies do.
My cousin Carter was in the NICU for a long time because he needed special care before he could come home. A NICU is where babies stay if they need special care or are very sick.
Carter has a special bottle to get fed out of. Some of his feedings are from a feeding tube. (for the record, I LOVE the little G tube too!)
Carter is home now and sleeps in his crib.
It was flu season, so we couldn't go and see him at his house because we didn't want to take any chances of getting him sick.
Now flu season is over and we can go see Carter.
Carter is 11 months old. Just about one year old. He's getting big.


Now, isn't it just so sweet?! To think that she could write about anything in the world, and she chose Carter. Thank you Emily! You made my day, and I KNOW that it warms Carter's heart to see you too!

Emily's older sister, Samantha, showed her love for Carter in a different way. On Friday, she participated in a 5K race with some of our family (more pics of this to come later). She wanted to show her support for Carter by making her very own Team Carter shirt.

It reads: "Sam and Bam (her BFF) are with Team Carter". It has a picture of her and her friend on the top, our logo in the middle, and a picture of Carter on the bottom. As you can see, this shirt took a lot of work, and it was AWESOME! Just like the book, the pictures don't do it justice.
Thank you girls for loving Carter. He loves you too!! I can't wait to see what kind of trouble you all get into as you grow older.

11 comments:

Heather said...

Carter has some pretty awesome cousins, but he's pretty awesome as well!

I'm sorry that you are sad. Just think though, how many people you are blessing by sharing your sweet guy with us. I love each and every blog post you share!

I read another blog, that I was just thinking to myself tonight-I'm so glad that this mommy is sharing her sweet girls. Again I feel blessed.

You may already read this blog, if not check it out. Just like Carter, there's a whole lot of awesome at this blog too!

http://www.kellehampton.com/

Happy Mother's Day to you!

Colleen said...

Oh my goodness, how incredibly sweet! The book brought tears to my eyes. What a lucky guy Carter is!

Happy Mothers Day!!

ANewKindOfPerfect said...

Oh my gosh, those girls are both so sweet! Carter is an incredibly lucky boy to be so loved. :)

Lacey said...

Mondo last year drew the cutest picture of Jax, complete with all tubes and even scars! That is what our Jaxson comes with and what makes him so special!
Happy Mothers day!

Sherry C said...

I love the book that is so special. I would have been in tears too. My family and even the community feels the same way about Ashley, it means so much to me that she is loved and accepted. I'm sure the same will be true for Carter when he is big enough to venture off to preschool.

Kelli said...

I have tears in my eyes and goosebumps on my skin. What truly wonderful girls they are to honor Carter in such an amazing way. I too feel the way you feel and reading this I just understand. Thank you for such an amazing post!

Alan Anderson said...

What a cute book! Made me get tears in my eyes. Carter is indeed special and I can't tell you how many times I have thought the same thing - that we are the lucky family - for having a child with an extra chromosome!

Phyllis said...

I was sick as a baby and cherish a card that one of my boy cousins made. That is such a sweet book! You and her parents must be so proud of her and Carter is one lucky boy!

blcmec1 said...

This post touches my heart! I know exactly how you are feeling. I have tried to explain to others how wonderful it is to have Mark and to just be near someone so perfect - so close to God, but they don't get it! Carter is perfect - more perfect than any of us can hope to be! By the way - he and Mark(my son with ds) share the same birthday - just one year apart. Mark also has a g-tube. - Maureen Claypool

Becky Kankelfritz said...

I love this and I love your family!

Jhari said...

I was browsing again some of your old post Heather, and again I cried for the Nth time. Hugging you back and I hope you update us soon. Carter is happy where he is right now. Lots of love.