Well 14 months is here! We are so thrilled about his “rainbow and sunshine” party. Hayden has monthly celebrations. Sometimes the celebrations are just family. Sometimes it is just friends. Every so often it is a group of close friends and family. This month was perfect. Hayden had a devastating doctor’s appointment in July. So what better than a rainbow party to make a wish for our angel?  Of course, The Sweetery Bake Shop would make the most perfect and delicious cake. The friends and family would love sneaking sleeping baby kisses from Hayden. All in all it was a wonderful and exciting night to celebrate the life of an earth angel.

We started planning for his get together the week before. Hayden wanted to make a special Happy for all of his buddies that attended his party. He decided to make them a thank you card for attending. He used his ink bad to stamp his feet onto cardstock. We decorated the cards to match the theme of the party. We then decided that we would place his picture on the card. I am sure these are hanging on many refrigerators around town. We wrote, “Thank You for 14 months of faithful and hopeful prayers.” Love Hayden

We had a large turnout. Friends and family filled each room throughout mom and dad’s house. We ate great food and talked about next month. Hayden has impacted so many lives in his precious 14 months. I can promise you this much. He has touched more lives in 14 months than I have in 26 years. He is a true Earth Angel. I know he has changed mine and Brent’s attitude about life. I will now consider each day a blessing thanks to him. He is such a reminder of true joys and blessings.

My mom, mother in law, and grandmother helped prepare all of the yummy foods. We had food left over for days. This was great though because it meant that we did not have to cook for awhile. Hayden shared his cake with all of the neighborhood friends. It was delicious. If you need a perfect cake, Contact The Sweetery. They are amazing people!

Family, Family, Family! Hayden definitely has a lot of love and support. This is only a small portion of the family members that attended. Hayden  is loved by each and every one of them. The one thing about our family is that they love to check on Hayden. They all call each day. They will do my grocery shopping. They will do our cooking. They will do our runs to the pharmacy. Anything that helps make our day easier! Family has been a huge part of support. Brent and I are faced with this daily. We can not just “pretend” that Hayden is “okay”. Family has been there to talk with us about our future. We are thankful for the MANY listening ears.

KIDS! KIDS! KIDS! The children love Hayden. Hayden has taught many of his buddies about love. Hayden has taught the Oakes girls how to pray. They are always encouraging their parents to pray for Hayden and Ava Grace. It is awesome that 3 and 2 year olds are reminding their parents to pray for Hayden. I mean WOW! Usually it is the other way around. These children love Hayden. The bond is amazing. They know that Hayden is mighty special. See, that’s why these children are here to help him! They helped us sing Happy Birthday to their sweet little buddy. I am so thankful for all of the kids that love Hayden so much. My nephew is always asking for Hay Hay and recently started saying My Hayden. He relates all babies to Hayden. He knows to be soft and gentle with him. He loves his HayHay. The Warrington girls have made Hayden welcome home cards, sent him cards from camp, and gone over and beyond. They rock! Hunter and Hayden are good buddies. The "plan" was that these neighbors would play on a dirt pile together. Instead, they are totally different types of kids. Thankfully, we still allow them to love each other. They still have a good time together. We can not wait for Hunter's One YEar old Birthday bash!

Kids from all over the state of Mississippi love Hayden. I taught with the sweetest lady in the world. She moved to Columbus two years ago. I am so thankful that Dana and I have kept in touch. Her little boys made Hayden a Pinterest activity using their own baseball. We now have it hanging in Hayden's room.

Our Earth Angel! Hayden has made us grow up into people that I never imagined. I loved hanging out with my friends. I loved doing for myself. Now I care about NOTHING or NOBODY unless Hayden is involved. I understand that this is very dangerous to my well being. Unfortunately, for the moment I am still focusing on giving Hayden my all. My friends that truly care about us don’t mind hanging out with Hayden on the weekends. In fact, they LOVE having him around. Our friends understand why Hayden is always with us. In fact, they would not want any other way. Brent and I LOVE taking Hayden everywhere. We are not the least bit embarrassed or ashamed. We are probably the proudest parents in Washington / Bolivar County. We LOVE our Earth ANGEL. We LOVE every SECOND that we get to spend as a family!

P.S. Hayden slept peacefully through his whole birthday party. I guess this was our sign that it was going to be a pretty "darn" good month!Sleeping Peaceful Equals warm Hearts for Mommy and Daddy!

Thank You God for this special night of memories that are etched into our hearts forever.