the big reveal!

Tate has been doing FANTASTIC. Like better than I would have ever imagined. I can't say thank you enough to those who have been praying for us, supporting us, encouraging us, and feeding us. :) And thank you especially to our great God, who is healing my boy so quickly, and who has given us all the strength we need!


I've been dreading the moment that Tate asks to see his eye (or lack thereof). I kept picturing him looking in the mirror, then screaming in horror at the realization that the doctor really did take it out. Well, let me tell you, I have one fantastic kid. (Ok, I actually have 3 fantastic kids, but we'll just talk about this one for now.) 


We were in the mall today for a quick shopping trip and lunch. I usually speed past all those kiosks in the aisle, but today, we found one with some super cute knit animal hats. I'm pretty sure Tate spent about 3 hours trying them ALL on, trying to find the perfect one. I thought the alien with one eye would win out (he has a soft spot for all things with one eye), but he settled on a puppy hat. Since they had a special (buy one get one 50% off), I picked out a second hat, and it looked just as adorable on him, so we bought it too. As a photographer, I'm always keeping my eye out for cute props and accessories, and these fit the bill well. So after we picked up the big kids from school, I asked Tate if I could take some photos of him in his new puppy hat (you know, since he hadn't taken it off since we left the cash register at the kiosk). We snapped a few quick photos outside. 




My happy boy...

Ok, so this photo is a little heavy on the "cheese". :) But it gives you a good view of how his eye looks now. 

A few minutes ago, Tate was washing his hands, and that was the first time he'd been near a mirror without his eye bandage on. I was waiting for him to finish, then heard him say "Mommy, I see the pink stuff in my eye socket now." I braced myself for the screaming-in-terror to begin, but it never did. When I looked over, he had his left eye closed. I told him he could look at it again if he wanted, and he did. I asked him what he thought of it. He said "I think it's a cool eye, Mommy!" Wow, that's what I wanted needed to hear! I said, "Me too, buddy!" then I asked him if he'd like to see the photos I just took, he said sure. So we looked at the photos, he sort of nodded in approval, and off he went to play his Wii game. I'm SO incredibly proud of my big boy.