Ryder's Kinda Famous!

I am so very proud to announce that the Cleft Palate Foundation has done a little spotlight on Ryder and his first birthday celebration! Below is what the Cleft Palate Foundation sent me. Thank you to ALL who donated in Ryder's honor. We are so blessed! 

Hi Serina,

I just posted your family’s feature on our website here and on Facebook here.  Please feel free to share these links with all the awesome donors who made Ryder’s party such a success!

If anyone is interested in making a donation in Ryder’s honor, you can do so online here or mail a donation to the Cleft Palate Foundation - their address can be found on the link above. 

In addition to the Cleft Palate Foundation features, a couple of months back Ryder's story was also included on a fabulous website called Cleftopedia. Cleftopedia is a website designed to help cleft affected families further understand their journeys ahead and what options might be available to them. The following is the link to Ryder's feature:

http://www.cleftopedia.com/pre-surgical-techniques/no-presurgical/

We are SO very proud of our Ryder Jeremiah! Only a year old and already making some headlines ;)

On the Verge....

He's almost there....walking is a few short days away. I'll be honest, I haven't necessarily encouraged Ryder Jeremiah's walking. I know it will come one day too soon so I'm trying to savor every last baby bit of him before he becomes all the more independent. 

He's a kiss machine! 

Palate Surgery - September 12

This week I confirmed with Ryder's plastic surgeon that his palate surgery will be on Friday, September 12 at 7:30am at CHOC. I was a bit of an emotional wreck after hanging up the phone. I knew this day was coming but something about setting a surgery date brought this wave of emotions that I didn't really know was in me. After I hung up the phone I walked over to Ryder, held him and just cried. I told him how sorry I was that mommy couldn't fix him and that he'd have to endure yet another hospital stay with more pokes, prods and pain. It's heart wrenching to see your baby undergo surgeries, to wake up in pain, bruised and bleeding. To watch them suffer, struggling to eat and drink. Ugh! We ask for prayers as we prepare for Ryder's palate surgery. 

As of now we are anticipating a 2-3 night hospital stay and a 6-8 week recovery. We'll have to syringe feed Ryder for the first couple of weeks and he won't get to drink out of his bottle post-surgery so we can officially start saying goodbye to the haberman (haberman = the type of bottle Ryder uses). My hubby and I also need to give blood in the event that Ryder needs it during his hospital stay. We have yet to schedule our pre-op with Ryder's plastic surgeon but will blog update with surgery particulars after our appointment. Good news is that Ryder will be able to start eating "regular" food post surgery and this is HUGE for us! The older Ryder gets the more he wants to explore and taste table food and I hate having to limit his food intake so bring on the In-N-Out and ice cream cones! Ryder is ready!! Oh and veggies and healthy foods too :) 

Don't mind the lack of makeup in the following pics - this was post phone call and Ryder was giving me kisses to cheer me up - mission accomplished!!! 

Overwhelmed by Love & Generosity!

In honor of our precious Ryder Jeremiah friends, family and practical strangers (who are now considered friends) have donated over $1,000 to the Cleft Palate Foundation which will provide over 100 teddy bears to cleft-affected children. As I gathered up today's checks I was overcome with emotion as I counted each and every dollar generously given in Ryder's name. Thank you to everyone, near and far, who celebrated Ryder's birthday by donating in his honor! We are in constant awe of all of the love and support we have received as we continue on our cleft journey.  Your thoughts and prayers are felt and we are so blessed by the outpouring of love for our Ryder Jeremiah!

The birthday boy helped mail out today's checks as mommy was a ball of sobs as she watched her baby gently push the envelope, full of donations, into the mail box - all tears of joy!

We pray every bear brings hope, encouragement and joy to each child it reaches and may it serve as a reminder of just how very special they are for we are all fearfully and wonderfully made!

Psalms 139:14

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

PS - don't mind Ryder's soaking wet onesie and teary red eyes, someone had their 1st year shots today :( 

Some background information on our cleftline teddy bear, Chester, and why he means so much to us! 

A 20-week ultrasound confirmed that our baby would be born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate.  The weeks following that ultrasound were filled with fear, anxiousness and tears as we prepared for the birth of our baby boy.  I had conducted several internet searches on cleft lip and palates when I came across cleftline bears through the Cleft Palate Foundation.  I immediately ordered a bear and remember tears streaming down my face as I opened up the delivered package which revealed a teddy bear and its stitched lip.  That was Ryder Jeremiah’s very first teddy bear and it was so much more than a stuffed animal to us.  We named the bear Chester and he soon became an integral part of our family as he accompanied Ryder to every doctor’s appointment, surgery and even participated in Ryder’s monthly photo shoot.  As Ryder’s first birthday was approaching we wanted to do something special to celebrate such a milestone so in lieu of gifts, we asked for donations to afford another cleft-affected child a bear and we were overwhelmed by everyone's love and generosity! Yes! Our Ryder Jeremiah is fearfully and wonderfully made! 

With each month Ryder turned we included Chester in on the photo-shoot. Here are months 1, 6 & 12 and I promise to post the rest very soon! 

Our First Weekend Away

This past weekend we visited Temecula for a post-birthday celebration (my birthday is the day before Ryder Jeremiah's - yes, he's the best birthday present ever!). It was not only our first night away from Ryder Jeremiah but it was really our first weekend out (alone) since Ryder J was born. It's amazing how much life changes when a mini-me enters your world. We were asleep by 9pm the first night and think we made it to 11pm the second night. We slept, watched videos of Ryder, called Ryder (a million times), slept some more, and looked at more photos of Ryder. We missed him so much but based off some pictures my parents had sent me, he was in good hands and probably hadn't even noticed we'd left. 

Meanwhile mommy and daddy were doing this all weekend....