Life as a Leach

Today, I'm thankful for my sweet little boy, who doesn't mind at all that I am over 2 months late loading his birthday party pictures!  But at least I took them...right?? Here are a few of the highlights from his laser tag party.  I'll be sharing more over the next few posts.  :) Friends! He loves having people sing "Happy Birthday" to him! Pizza and cupcakes! At the end of the party, one of the employees shoots a roll of toilet paper out at the group using a rigged up leaf blower.  The kids LOVED it!  I was a little sad at the wastefulness, but that's just me!  (and no, I did NOT go pick it up to use it again...)  :)

On Monday, Matt and I met with Abby's preschool teacher for a conference.  She meets with all of the parents to discuss strengths and weaknesses before kindergarten (Abby has another year, but she's in a class with older students).   I couldn't stop the tears from falling when she said, "If I didn't know that Abby had concerns, I would never suspect anything."  This woman has known our family for so long and she is well aware of how far Abby has come.  Her words meant SO much to me.   When you have a child who you were told would be little more than a vegetable, you learn to be thankful for every milestone.  You try not to compare to other kids and just celebrate as she gains skills, but you constantly Google age-appropriate skills to see where she falls.  You pray from the beginning that she will have a natural love of learning and are so thankful when she does.  You incorporate learning into everyday play and live a therapy lifestyle.  ...

I've been really slow to write this because I wanted to make sure I could do it justice.  I didn't want to write a cursory post in the hospital when I knew I couldn't devote the time to it that I wanted. When I woke up on the morning of August 3rd, I felt so alone and anxious.  We were leaving that afternoon to begin our VEPTR journey with our little girl, and we really had no idea what was going to happen.  I was beaten down and just plain sad. Little did I know what had been in the works for months.  My amazing sister had planned a HUGE send-off for us that involved lots of lies and avoidances of truth along the way!  Matt staged that he had to go pick up his laptop from the church (he knew just a tiny bit--enough to get us to the church).  When we made the turn onto the road the church was on and I looked up into the parking lot...I saw cars. TONS of cars. And a huge line of people dressed in purple. Some were in tutus. Everybody had signs, b...

This sweet niece of mine is so darn cute!  I am so thankful for her.  She loves her Aunt Julie too!!

 I'm so thankful for this hysterical little girl! Miss Anna is the spunkiest, craziest three year old I know...and she's Abby's best friend!  While she might be described as mischievous, she's always good for a laugh and is a constant sort of entertainment.  It's never a dull moment when Anna is around...and if it's quiet, you should be worried. (To be fair, Abby gets into her own share of trouble!) Anna and Abby are inseparable, and Anna often declares that they are "Best Friends Forever!"  The shrieks and hearty embraces they give each other whenever they are together probably makes people think they haven't seen each other in a very long time...instead of just a day before! Thank you, Anna Banana, for bringing so much laughter, and friendship, and sometimes mess, into our home.  Abby loves her BFF!