Happy Birthday, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wow we cannot believe that Drew is already 1 year old! Last month on November 16th, we celebrated Drew's first Birthday. It was an awesome day, but also a little emotional for us. With the busy days that we have had since Drew came home in March, we had not really had a chance to truly reflect and talk about the day that our son was born. On his birthday we read some of the things that we wrote when Drew was born and looked at the first pictures that we took of him. The emotions of that day filled our hearts and it was an experience that is difficult to describe. We were extremely happy, and grateful yet there was a solemn feeling. One of our good friends told us this past week that nobody is immune to adversity and that it is a part of this life to strengthen us and at the same time humble us. We hope that the feelings and emotions of Drew's birth will never fade and will continue to carry us. Here are a few words from something Eric wrote on the day that Drew was born, "today I became a Father. today I came closer to Jenn than ever & together we took a giant step closer to our Heavenly Father. Weighing only one pound four ounces and measuring almost 13 inches, Drew James Towner has touched so many hearts & forever changed our lives. Drew is a very powerful and sweet boy, we love our son." Drew now weighs around 19 pounds and he is doing really well. His laughter seems to make time stand still and we couldn't imagine life without him. As you can tell from his pictures, Drew insists on NOT wearing his glasses:) We are trying to keep them on more, but he is very determined to win the battle. Thanksgiving was another kind of emotional day, as we could remember exactly what was going on during the hard stages of Drew's life a little after he was born. It is really weird to think that this time last year Drew was in the isolette (incubator) and on a ventilator. We will always be thankful for our little miracle. Time flew in December and Drew enjoyed every minute of the Christmas season. He crawled all over the house pulling down decorations and tried to eat the pine needles off of the tree:) He is at a very fun stage right now and it is a lot of fun to teach him new things, such as turning on and off the light switch. It was fun to watch Drew play the "baby Jesus" part in our traditional Nativity Scene. Eric was one of the sheep! Drew went sledding for the first time and of course Eric wanted to take him down the hill and over a little jump. So they went down and instead of ramping off of the jump they plowed through it and snow flew up all over Eric and Drew:) Drew got a little scared and started to cry but he got over it quickly. We all joked about how Drew looked like the little brother from the movie "The Christmas Story" all bundled up in three snow coats! On Christmas day Drew was spoiled by his Grandparents and Aunts & Uncles with more toys and clothes than he knows what to do with. We had a wonderful Christmas with our little guy, he can always put a smile on our face. This was an extraordinary year filled with a lot adversity, tears, laughter and joy. Every time we see our little Drew boy we are reminded to put things into a grander perspective. He reminds us to think of what really matters in this life. He inspires us to strive to be a little better.