They Make Me Laugh

My sweet Giggles suprised me with this arrangment during nap/quiet time yesterday.  I laughed when I saw her arrangment of dolls sitting at desks, but was amazed when I realized she had set it up so each doll had created her own Valentine's Day picture!  She sure is imaginative. 

 I asked her about the doll in the far back left corner, and her answer was "She fell asleep in class".  :)

This girl has made me laugh a little bit lately by her particular habit.  She's the first of our children at barely two years old who has to straighten her blankies when we tuck her in.  She crawls all over the white blanket with flowers on it to make it completely flat, pulling on the corners and sides.  (I'm not sure how it got rumply again in this picture.)  Then we cover her with her green blankie and wrap her like a papoose.  It's her thing, and I love her for it!

Happy Birthday Calico!

Our precious baby has turned two and I want to record a little of what she has been up to for her birthday.

It's traditional for Ethan's parents to take our kiddos to Build-A-Bear on their birthdays.  This was her first time.  She chose the penguin from Happy Feet and named it "Flop". 

This morning she had an entire fake conversation with Grandma (my mom) on her cell phone.  It ended with "I luff you too.  See ya 'morrow!"  For the record, we could probably get rid of all her toys as long as we let her keep her cell phones.  She has four.

She wanted to brush my hair before her naptime.  This was a first.  She complemented me on my barrette, saying how "pity" it was.  While brushing my hair, she kept leaning over my shoulder and asking "Are you byoo-fow, Mommy?  Are you byoo-fow?"

Why do they have to grow up so fast?!

My Smile of the Day

We made rice crispy treats last week.  These two goofies got it in their heads that the only suitable place to eat the snacks was inside the dog's kennel.  Not sure why, but they had a blast doing it! 

In The Last Month . . .

* We adopted a puppy.  His name is Archer.

Baby boxers have funny shaped heads.  His is already starting to look more normal.  I've forgotten what having a puppy means.  It's like having another child, only this time we can keep him in a kennel when we need a break.

* The girls went to their first slumber party.  I love how my friend planned it out.  They were tired the next day, but not excessively so.  They watched "Soul Surfer" and really liked it.

* Read the book "1001 Ideas for Teaching and Raising Your Child with Autism".  One thing that stood out to me was about respect.  Even though Bubba doesn't talk much, he does understand us.  It's important for me to remember that and not always talk about him like he's not there.  (Harder than you might think.)

* Had a harvest party with some friends.  Highlight of the night, in my opinion, was the dance contest.  All the kids and several adults participated.  We had two judges.  There really was no contest.  The winner was a four-year-old boy that could get down!  He was hilarious to watch.

* Started thinking about the next semester in co-op.  I will be teaching a dance class for grades 2-5.  Really looking forward to it!

* Preparing for the hubby to go to Dallas next week.  So thankful that my parents are going to take the girls part of the time so it will just be Bubba and I.  We have one morning that his aide will be here and I am going to CLEAN.  (I feel the word must be in all caps to show how serious I am.)  I may even skip meals or eat as I go to make the most of the time.  I'm more excited to get some deep-cleaning done than I would be if I won a trip to Europe.  (Well, maybe.)

* Calico has gotten into reading, big-time.  She'll be seven in a couple weeks and has been devouring chapter books.  It's kind of like a dream come true for me, because I adore reading and know that it has helped me to learn so much.  She's reminding me of myself when I was a little girl. 

Happy Birthday Calico!

Our sweet girl turned one last week and we had a little get-together for her last night. I decided to make the theme "The Birds and the Bees," totally as a joke, but you should have seen the look my mother-in-law gave me. It was too funny. (Good thing I know she likes me!)

I didn't have a cake stand, hence the lovely homemade one. Think cardboard, tinfoil, scrapbook paper, baby formula containers, and feathers. Oh yes.

Stitched up some little birdies for decoration.

Pictures of our sweet girl on display; from newborn to 12 months. We posed her next to the same doll to measure her growth.

And the dessert table. The bird in the middle wouldn't cooperate.

Hooray for our one-year-old!

Something To Be Thankful For

While I could fill several pages with what I feel God has blessed us with, the topic that is on my heart today has to do with our baby girl. We didn't share what was going on with many friends or family members because after the drama of the hospital stay on the heels of Bubba's diagnosis, it just seemed like too much. Too much to even talk about.

Calico was born with heart problems. We didn't know anything about it until she was about a week old and had her first pediatric appointment outside of the hospital. The doctor detected a heart murmer and sent us to a pediatric cardiologist. We decided to just assume the best; that it would be an innocent murmer. It turned out that she had two holes in her heart and a constricted valve. The doctor explained that the holes would most likely heal on their own but the constricted valve could possibly mean heart surgery. There was nothing we could do but wait. She assured us that we didn't need to treat our baby any differently.

We had an appointment at three months and six months. At these appointments there wasn't much progress in either direction. Throughout this whole time, I had just felt peace from God. I know that He holds all of my children in His hands. We continued to watch our sweetheart grow big and strong.

Friday was her nine-month appointment. We went through the process that I've gotten accustomed to; taking all of her clothes off, forcing her to lay down while the ultrasound tech took pictures of her heart. This time was particularly hard. She's hit the "stranger danger" stage, so she bawled the entire time. We waited for what seemed like forever in the waiting room, and then the doctor came in and examined her some more. After the exam, she leaned back and told us that Calico's heart is getting better! We don't have to come back to have her checked for two more years!

Thank you, God, for an early Thanksgiving gift.