Jack turns 5

Sweet Jack turned 5. We opted not to do a party this year - we decided to take him to the mall to do his absolute favorite thing instead. We have to purchase a new stroller for him and since insurance already paid for a wheelchair they will not pay for a stroller. Since they run around $1,000 we decided to save our money and put it towards the stroller. 

pure joy :)

the grandparent paparazzi 

After jumping we headed to the food court to have cupcakes.

Jack does not like sweets - he definitely did not get that from his Momma!

My grandmother, GG, and Jack share a birthday. Here are the two birthday kids with Emi Joy ;)

After cupcakes we headed down to Build A Bear where Emi pouted and stood in the doorway refusing to come inside because she couldn't get a bear. It's not like she has never done it before, the lady helping us recognized Emi because she has been in there so many times. She is SO mistreated and we had to hear about it for the rest of the night - sheesh!

Jack picking out his bear. He didn't go for the camo one - he IS my child after all!! ;)

picking out a sound. he picked a dog barking. he now has a black bear that barks :)

washing his bear - he could have cared less about this part. It makes a loud noise that Jack was not found of.

picking out the outfit. Dad was trying hard to get him to pick the Star Wars set but he went with the Spiderman PJ's instead. Still not a bad choice!

This year was not as emotional as years past. I was expecting it to be very hard - if he were typical he would be starting kindergarten in the fall but he won't. In fact he will never go to kindergarten, we were told a few months ago that he will start the Life Skills class in the fall. It was very sad when they first told us but after the news settled and we thought about it, the Life Skills class is the best place for Jack. We are just trying to navigate down a different road that we haven't traveled before. It is scary and sad at times but it's not always like that - thank goodness!! We are very blessed to have a great support system in our family and friends. 

Happy Birthday my precious boy!