Life as a Leach

Abby goes to a Friday program at our church called Mom's Morning Out.  We just call it school, and she loves it!  Her teachers are wonderful and have really helped her to blossom this year.  The main teacher sends an awesome email each week explaining in detail what their activities were for the day.  This is really helpful for a mom whose daughter doesn't share too much with me!  They even have a Snapfish album where they upload pictures so that we can see what they do each week. I've so enjoyed seeing the pictures of Abby at school interacting with her friends.  I picked out a "few" of my favorites and thought you might enjoy them too! I love the way she's reaching here.  We try to encourage standing on her tiptoes to strengthen calves, gluts, etc. Amy and I love dressing the girls as twins when we can.  They are the only girls in the class, so it's pretty cute.  :) Making applesauce ornaments Halloween twins! ...

Abby has decided that her purse needs to hang with mine.  Never mind that she has a lower hook for her backpack that would also hold her purse.  Apparently, purses belong together.  Now she just needs a Vera !

Abby got a new hair cut!

Remember last week how I said that when we first brought Abby home, I doubted whether I would be able to handle a true emergency?  Well, it didn't take long to face that concern head-on...just one week, as a matter of fact.  Today marks two years since we almost lost Abby. You can read all about what happened in this post .  Turns out, she had RSV.  I'm not going to retell the story, but I will say that the image of Abby lying there, blue, will stick with me forever.  I really thought I was losing my daughter in that moment, and I still tear up when I think about it. During our hospital stay, this situation, and in many other situations we've had with Abby, many well-meaning people quote the old saying that God won't give you anymore than you can handle.   I  used to say it too! But now, after having a front-row seat in Abby's life, I truly believe that God will give you the strength to handle anything that you face. There's a difference there....

When there's tons of hype, we get no snow.  When we are told that there's not going to be anymore than a dusting, we get a day off of school!! Today didn't start out so fabulously.  A snow day meant Caleb had to come with Abby and me to the genetics appointment.  I got an early start to allow for slow travel this morning.  It was a good thing, because it took me twice as long to get out of the county as normal.  (Am I the only one who has landmarks to check my time?  Ie:  out of the county within 30 minutes, get to rt 665 an hour before my scheduled appointment, enter Baltimore City within 20 minutes, etc.  Is that weird?!)  The roads in the southern end of the county were really not so good.  It got significantly better the farther north I got, so I was able to drive closer to the speed limit by the time I got to the county border. We had just left the county when I heard Caleb yell, "Uh oh!  Uh oh!"  I pulled over, but no...

Abby has a genetics appointment tomorrow. I am so not excited about this. We saw a geneticist at UMMC many times when Abby was a baby, and I just started feeling like it was pointless.  Countless genetic tests showed absolutely no abnormalities.   We even did testing that isn't approved in the U.S. and had to be sent to Canada!  (I really am not sure how our insurance paid for that one, but we never got a bill!)  Her genetic make-up isn't going to change, and we can't find any issues.  So why keep going? Plus, I am not a huge fan of someone whose job it is to point out every single imperfection in my daughter.  When Abby was a newborn in the NICU, I had to endure a lengthy examination by two geneticists where they oohed and ahhed over all of her abnormalities.  The last thing a stressed-out mom wants to hear is a laundry list of the things that aren't "right" with her daughter--and there's something downright wrong about hearing almost exciteme...

I get asked a lot how people should pack for their child's hospital stay.  Apparently, we're pros at it.  Everybody's got to be good at something, I guess... This is by no means the end-all to be-all for hospital how-to's, but these are some thoughts I had based on our vast experience. 1.  Pick out a few of your child's favorite toys about a week ahead of time and stash them away.  When you bring them out at the hospital, it will be a grand reunion!  Plus, she will be so thankful that you didn't take them to the thrift store after all.  :) 2.  Pack a LOT of toys.  This will vary according to age, but we bring an entire suitcase full of toys.  Abby gets bored much quicker when she is confined to a hospital bed, so I just go to my bag of tricks and pull something else out. Toy suggestions for preschoolers:  play dough, mess-free finger paint , stickers, movies on a portable DVD player, coloring books with crayons, Color Wonde...

If you've ever bought finger paint, you know how expensive it is.  Plus, someone inevitably squirts a large amount out on the paper and wastes it!  Abby doesn't like the consistency of store-bought finger paints , but will use the Color Wonders finger paint.   I found this easy recipe on Pinterest and used some of our many baby food jars to store them!  The "cooking" process only took about 10 minutes, and then it became the consistency of the Color Wonders finger paint.  Guess what?!  She LOVED it!!!  Abby painted for over half an hour and really liked the different colors.  She mixed them a bit after getting colors on her fingers and then dipping them in other colors, but that's ok.  Bonus:  This didn't cost me anything!  I already had the salt, sugar, corn starch, and food coloring! What a cheap alternative to store-bought finger paint!

If you are local, please consider visiting Chesapeake Grille this week, starting Sunday, 1/20, to next Sunday, 1/27.  Any tip that you leave will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House. The Grille has wonderful food and is run by wonderful people!  Support a local business and make a donation to RMH! Note:   Only tips will be donated to RMH, so please make sure you put a donation in the container before you leave!

Please watch this video.  You won't regret it.  Get your tissues ready--especially if you are a special needs parent! "When those eyes are looking up at mine,  every trial,  every fear,  in that moment disappears.   And you realize  that it's all worthwhile  when it's your child." This is just about as true of a song as anyone could write.  This woman is a special needs mom, and she wrote from her heart. I'm often asked how I do it all. My first answer is that God will give you strength to handle any situation. This is my second answer.

...we brought our Abby Joy home for the very first time at just shy of three months old.  What an emotional day that was!! It started out frustrating because bad weather (that wasn't very bad at all!) was going to keep the nursing agency representative from being able to do our intake.  The hospital wouldn't let Abby go home without nursing care, so this would have made us stay at least another day.  Several phone calls from a very angry husband later, she agreed that she would "try" to get down there.  (The weather was fine!!  Kids didn't even go in late!!) Once we realized that this was actually happening, it became surreal.  We hugged and cried tears of joy because we were finally doing something that most of the doctors didn't think would happen.  As we walked out of the hospital, I almost felt like we were stealing her and someone was going to take us down the moment we stepped out of the door! Thankfulness overtook us as we pulled out of th...

Well, our "snow" was nothing but one big disappointment.  We got a whole lot of nuttin', but Caleb did get to come home from school two hours early because of the threat of snow.  I dug out the snow suits, waterproofed the boots, and anxiously awaited the "storm" to begin....it never did.  :( So, I guess Abby's first real snow won't be until next year.  Sadness.

This month's Parents Magazine  features, Emily, a 3 year old with Spina Bifida.  She uses a walker (a snazzy gold one, at that!) and has a beautiful smile!  People in the "know" seem to be in agreement that this is the first time that a special needs child has been on the cover of a major magazine.  Go Emily! You can go here to read the article about Emily written by one of my favorite bloggers.  Then go here to read the interview she did with Emily's mom and watch a video of some advice Emily's mom gives to others regarding children with special needs. I think society has a long way to go in truly accepting those with special needs, but this is a huge breakthrough!!  Congrats, Emily!  You're gorgeous!

SNOW!!!!!!!! I am sooooooooo excited for the snow in the forecast!!!  We had none to speak of last year, and I'm really looking forward to seeing Abby's reaction to the white stuff.  This will be her first experience!  Caleb has never really cared for it, but I'm hoping maybe I have one snow lover who will build a snowman with me!  :) If we get what they say we're going to, then pictures of our snow activities will be coming!!

This is Caleb's sweet friend, E.  He has really enjoyed getting to know her this year and they spend a lot of time together.  Apparently, she is the queen when they play Star Wars on the playground at recess.  :)  She is a really nice girl.  I'm glad he has such good taste! Unfortunately, Caleb is not bending down and the camera isn't at a weird angle.  E is pretty tall and Caleb is pretty short.  But they still make a cute pair!

I recently found a video that was being shared on Facebook about Connor and Caden Long.  Caden has Cerebral Palsy, but he is perfect in his brother's eyes.  For Connor, he believes that Caden can do anything he wants to do--including running triathlons    Over the last year or so, Connor and Caden have participated in multiple triathlons together in a very special way--Connor pulls or pushes Caden in all three events.  He rides in a bike trailer during the riding portion, he is in a jogging stroller during the running, and he floats in a raft during the swimming. This video bring tears to my eyes because of the love and the bond that these two boys have.  Just look at the smiles on Caden's face during the race!  He would probably never get to participate in something like that without Connor's help! These inspiring boys earned the Sports Illustrated Kids of the Year award, and I couldn't agree more.  I'm so glad that SI chose to...

Just as our Jedi Master was saying goodbye, the Darth Vader music starts (compliments of Matt!) and Darth Vader himself enters the party room.  Someone yelled, "Get 'Em!" (I'm still not sure who!) and then all you-know-what broke loose! I know he's the bad guy and all, but I kind of felt bad for poor Darth.  He was totally outnumbered! He challenged Caleb to a duel.  Caleb had SUCH a serious look on his face when he agreed!  I couldn't keep a straight face about it! Darth made a few good shots, but then his light saber flew out of his hand!  Caleb snatched it up and began battling double-fisted.  Poor Darth didn't stand a chance! He fell to the floor and was promptly tackled by many young children with pool noodle light sabers. And I stood by and took pictures.  :)

We finish disinfecting the house from one sick kid (We never did figure out what it was, by the way!  All of the tests came back clear, so we're going with Salmonella) and then had to do it again for another. Caleb got an unwanted birthday present--Scarlet Fever.  He started feeling badly at dinner on his birthday.  I knew it couldn't be good when he didn't even eat his special birthday dessert!  By the time we got home, the poor kid had a fever and lots of pitiful tears.  He couldn't really tell me what hurt, but we'd already decided that the fever alone would keep him home from school. The next morning, he told me his throat really hurt.  One look into his mouth showed a throat full of red bumps.  Strep!  Matt was already home that day, so he took Caleb to the doctor while I went to a meeting for work.  (I feel the need to mention once again how much I love our pediatrician's office!  "Our" nurse saw that Caleb was sick on Facebook...

As I said, the Jedi training was the main focus of the party.  We did this for the second hour and the kids had an absolute blast.  Just look at their faces in these pictures! We had a wonderful friend from our church come and be our Jedi master.  Bill is pretty funny in real life, so I knew he would be perfect for this.  He did not disappoint!! The kids started out doing stretches to get them ready for the strenuous training.  They all took this so seriously!! He then had my nephew, who was his "Young Paduan," to demonstrate push-ups for strengthening exercises.  For some reason, the Jedi master didn't want to demonstrate them himself... I have to say, it's pretty funny watching these kids, who are mostly 6 and under, trying to do push-ups! Next came the team-building activities, which went over the kids' heads a little.  Bill realized this and simplified things a bit, but the kids were hysterical to watch! ...