2011 March

Perfect.

March 18, 2011 7 Comments

These days have been nothing short of perfect. These perfect days are running together creating one big memory of pure bliss.

Feeding the ducks at the lake. I think we are creating a friendship of sorts with the ducks. We bring them food and they bring laughter from the littles, which is my favorite part. They also bring first words. Harper pointed and said “Da Duck!” Yep. Her first two word phrase inspired by a duck. Thank you Mr. Duck!

This warm, perfect weather warrants the first pedicure of the year. Bye, bye winter wardrobe. Hello tank tops, shorts and sandals!

Harper had her first pedicure too.

Days like these begin with mornings in the sun.

And getting kisses from Harley, aka “Pup, Pup!”

Breaking the rules.

These days mark the first splashes in the pool. Cliff would totally get in NOW and I would let him except for the fact the water is still freezing and he would get hypothermia. And I want to stay outside, not in the hospital warming him back up.

Stopping at the Yogurt Bar for supper because we were outside all day and planning dinner was the last thing on our minds.

Days like these call for sprinkles. Lots and lots of sprinkles.

And who knew two plastic spoons could bring such joy?

Laughing at the faces he makes when trying to fit the huge spoon into his mouth. These are the moments I want to remember forever.

Sitting in the yard. No phone, no computer, no tv. Just us surrounded by the beauty that this time of year brings.

These days are nothing short of perfect.

Filed Under: Family, The Boy, The Girl

She Danced!

March 17, 2011 2 Comments

(Turn the music off at the bottom of the blog!)

Lately we have been dancing our way through our daily routine. Listening to music. Lots and lots of music. It makes us all happy, carefree and sometimes we get lost in a song for a few minutes and dance. I forget about all the things on the “to-do” list and we dance as if that’s all we have to get done.

I happened to have the camera out when Harper decided to actually dance for the first time. Usually she just stands still and waves her hands around, but this time she broke out into her own little groove. She got lost in the music for the first time.

And she danced, let go and just danced.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Uncategorized

Glass Ornament Mobile – The Tutorial!

March 16, 2011 15 Comments

Yippie Skippy!

Here is the tute for the Glass Ornament Mobile!

If you want to know what I put inside of the glass ornaments then go here. If yours are ready then here we go! Gather all of your glass ornaments:

You will need ribbon, two metal rings (I found mine at Hobby Lobby, of course and spray painted then green), scissors and your glass ornaments!

Cut the ribbon into four strips that are the same length.

Then use these ribbon strips to tie the two metal rings together. You can play with how far you want the smaller ring to hang from the larger ring.

See like this:

Then I began hanging the glass ornamets by tying knots around the rings. All different sizes and lengths. Some hanging from the top, larger ring, some hanging from the smaller ring.

Keep going and the more you add, the better it will look! Trust yourself!

Then I decided to add random ribbons without an ornament on the end and ric rac too! Just tie them onto the hoops. No measurements, easy peasy!

I used the ribbon garland from Harper’s first birthday party to hold the mobile up. All I did was tie both ends to the top, larger ring and hang it up!

And you will end up with a super cute mobile for your little one’s room!

Super quick and super easy!

Filed Under: Decorating, Tutorial

Shower…with your clothes on!

March 15, 2011 4 Comments

Every time I shower she stands on the other side of the door. She stares into the shower with her cute, innocent ”please let me in mommy” face.

And sometimes if I am in a hurry and don’t let her in she will do this to pass the time:

Yep. Unroll the ENTIRE roll of toilet paper! You should try it! According to Harper, it is a ton of fun!

And some days when that sweet little face gets to me, I open the shower door. She squeals with delight as she crawls right on in…

fully clothed.

It’s just more fun this way.

We splash and sing the hot water away.

Just to let go, break the rules, be spontaneous, live in the moment.

Filed Under: Family, Random, The Girl

Glass Ornament Mobile!

March 14, 2011 9 Comments

Remember the Pretty, Pretty Chandelier from Harper’s first birthday party?

Now the glass ornaments are used for a mobile that happily hangs in Harper’s room:

Whimsical.

Fun.

Happy.

Super duper cute.

Want to make one too?!

Ok then! I’ll show you sometime this week!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Uncategorized

Post Op Weeks 15 and 16!

March 13, 2011 2 Comments

It has been almost 4 months since Cliff’s surgery! My how the time flies. The past two weeks Cliff has been doing awesome! He seems to be getting better with keeping his balance, which is totally awesome! He is amazing!

We went to Cliff’s Special Needs Nutritionist last week and received wonderful news! Cliff weighs 29 pounds 4 ounces, is 35 inches tall and is now in the 10th percentile! The Dr said that he is doing so well that if he continues to gain weight and grow over the next eight weeks we can begin weaning him off of the Boost Kid’s Essentials! This is HUGE for us! Cliff has been on a pediatric protein formula since he was one! So it is hard for me to imagine Cliff’s life without it!

Cliff stood at Harper’s play kitchen and pretended to drink water! I totally freaked out over this because for him to stand up and only use one hand to hold himself up and then tip his head back to pretend he is drinking is huge for him! These little moments are considered milestones in our house. We celebrate what may seem like the tiniest things to most people because for Cliff, these moments are huge, life changing, another step on the path towards overcoming Cerebral Palsy.

And if the last picture was not enough, Cliff stood at our coffee table! Tall and only using his hands for extra balance. He is amazing. These moments make Ross and I burst with pride.

Cliff rode his bike around the lake, which he has totally taken off on, by the way!

He rode, rode and rode some more! We are going to take the handle off of it very soon, once he can learn to steer a little better!

Cliff is amazing. Our miracle. Everyday he is our reminder of how wonderful God is. We are so proud of him! Thank you all for your continued prayers and kind words. They keep us going!

Filed Under: Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy, The Boy

Friends, Real Friends.

March 12, 2011 2 Comments

This is Jill. I have mentioned her a few times and thought I should formerly introduce her!

She is one of my dearest, best friends. She is that friend who is there. She is that friend who listens to me. She knows me and I mean really knows me. She never judges and can find the funny in any situation. And let me tell you, I have a lot of “situations!” We met when Ross and I moved across the street from John and Jill. Jill and I were both going through very difficult times in our lives. Little did we know that we needed each other and that we would become great friends.

When we get the chance to talk, even if it’s a little longer than a second because we happened to catch each other at a “good time” (you know, like in between diaper changes, while folding a mountain of laundry or picking mashed peas out of Harper’s hair) the conversations are always meaningful. And we totally understand each other’s “Hey – yea that sounds great – let me call you right back” conversations because we are raising our children and living in the craziness that goes along with that (which I love by the way).

She is that friend that comforts me when I am feeling down and celebrates with me when I have a ”there is no way life can get any better than this” moment. Sometimes we sneak away and gab over food and a few too many glasses of wine.

Jill and I are on the same wave length. Like the fact that we go to all of the same Doctors (which was not planned), both of our first babies were born prematurely, and we even have the exact same blood clotting disorder (Jill – I hope you don’t mind me sharing your medical info with the world…). We are still discovering similarities that we have like the other day we found out that we both hate wet tile (like gag, gross, yuck)! And we always have little reminders that we are a lot alike - like when we wore the exact same shoes out the other day, no planning, just happened. And I am sure people thought “wow, those two women are wearing the same shoes… how cheesy” but we didn’t care. In fact, I like wearing the same shoes! – we must have awesome taste.

I get tickled when everywhere we go at least one person asks “are ya’ll sisters?!” and when we reply “no” they always say “wow! ya’ll look just alike!”

Jill is so gentle, kind, thoughtful and sweet. She is one of the best mothers I know. She mellows me out. Makes me feel zen. She is better for my O.C.D. than any medication out there.

I am so blessed to have her in my life.

And I can’t talk about my friends without introducing Kyle.

Kyle is my sidekick. We need each other. I couldn’t imagine my life without her in it. She has been there through the good times and the bad. We have laughed for hours and held each other as we cried. We were best friends before I became a mother. Back when we were naive, wild and free, back when the world was a warm, fuzzy place and our days were filled with laying out at the river, sneaking sips of alcohol, eating sushi for dinner every night and the hardest thing we had to do was a kickboxing class at the gym.

Kyle has been right there with me through the hardest times in my life. We have shed countless tears together. She has seen me at my lowest point and yet she is still right there, always right there. She sat in my empty hospital room right after Cliff was born for hours waiting for me to come out of the NICU just so she could see me for five seconds while I woofed down the Everything Bagel with cream cheese she bought me and return to Cliff’s side in the NICU. She just needed to see me. Make sure I was ok. She gets me.

Then there is the fact that we talk on the phone everyday… at least 5 times a day. And when we aren’t on the phone we are texting each other. We just can’t seem to get enough. We never run out of things to chat about. Hearing her voice is my comfort through out the day. I need her. I send her pictures like this one all the time:

Yep. She is my personal stylist. I trust Kyle and love her style. And let me tell you, she will definitely tell me if something doesn’t look quite right! And she loves high heels, I mean LOVES them. And while I would rather wear flats (…you can thank 2 pregnancies for that) Kyle encourages me to pull out the heels and switch it up every once in a while!

Kyle comes over and we sit in the middle of the playroom floor, sipping coffee, laughing at the kids and chatting the morning away. Time flies when I am with her. Sometimes we sit in silence and just her presence alone is all I need. Just for her to be there, by me. Kyle heals me because she is probably one of the only people in this world who saw me buckle over with pain, when Cliff got his diagnosis of CP her heart shattered with mine, she felt my pain, she was there. She cries happy tears with me when Cliff accomplishes a milestone he has never been able to do before. And she loves my children as much and Ross and I do. Kyle appreciates them. Celebrates them. Loves them as they are.

Kyle is real. She is there. We drive each other crazy sometimes, but that is what happens when you love someone, right? Kyle is comfortable. She is a fixer. And sometimes I need to be fixed. When I am broken, I call Kyle to fix me, mend my wounds, she makes everything better. She is good at that.

Kyle. She gets me.

I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends. This is what life is all about! God, family, friends, connecting to others, creating a bond.

Filed Under: Family, Friends, Life

The End of An Era

March 11, 2011 4 Comments

Harper’s days of nursing have come to an end.

This is her first time nursing. She was already a Pro just minutes after entering this world.

Not by my choosing, but by hers. She has been nursing less and less for a few months now and I knew this day was coming. For a whole year we tried very unsuccessfully to get Harper to take a bottle of breast milk just so Ross and I could go on a date without having to rush home so I could feed the baby. She refused and eventually we gave up. I nursed Harper for every meal for over a year (14 1/2 months to be exact) until one day she found a “ba-ba” in the pantry and acted interested. I put a little milk in it and she actually gulped it down. From that moment when she wanted to eat she was tottle over to me and say “ba-ba!” But nothing could have prepared me for the moment when the realization set in. I collapsed onto Ross’s lap and sobbed uncontrollably.

She is growing up. The moments of just us will be shared in a different way now. I will forever miss her cradled in my arms, skin to skin, looking down into her innocent eyes, no noise but the sweet sound of the occasional gulp, her crawling over to me and pulling up my shirt, closing my eyes and knowing that no one else has this moment, this moment is ours and ours only.

I will never forget her sweet milk-drunk expression. I can read the “thank you mama” in her eyes. Full, happy, content.

And even though I complained and wished she would just sleep through the night, I will miss our middle of the night “dates,” just us in the dark. The warmth of her tiny little body against mine. How she would be nestled between her daddy and I in our bed and nurse the night away. Those moments were so warm, so cozy, so special.

She did not care where we were or who was around. When she wanted to nurse, she would nurse. Even if she had just nursed 10 minutes ago. I joked and said I should write a book for expectant mothers called “Oh, The Places You’ll Nurse!” because I nursed Harper in countless restaurants, parking lots, beaches, on our boat, during the Church Service on Christmas Eve, in the shower, in every room of our house and any other house we have ever been in, in the yard, at many birthday parties… the list could go on forever. (yes, I used a nursing cover most of the time and was as discreet as possible)

I happened to snap photos the last time Harper nursed because I knew that the end was near. She is moving on, growing up fast, way too fast:

The nursing stare. Straight into my eyes. So calm, so still. Her tiny hand holding onto my shirt.

And just because I can’t get enough of her face and this moment:

While I am sad this chapter has come to an end, I am so thankful that we were able to experience these wonderful, special, beautiful moments. I will never forget them. I will cherish them. I will miss them.

Filed Under: The Girl

Four Under Four!

March 10, 2011 1 Comment

I had the pleasure of keeping Jill’s boys the other day. So that meant I had four under four! It was not nearly as hard as I thought, BUT I did not have to give baths, dress or do naps. And NO, Ross and I are NOT planning on trying this. To all of you mamas with four under four, you are my hero!

Does it get any cuter than this:

To my surprise, Harper and Evan were very sweet to each other! Usually they are duking it out but not this day, they actually played together!

Harper was very busy managing her “baaay baays”

I went to get lunch ready for the kids and I saw this when I walked back into the playroom. I couldn’t help but burst into tears. Such sweet friends!

Bryce and Cliff played together at the train table for most of the morning

Cliff also played Bryce’s guitar and sang us all songs! This boy needs to be on a stage!

Evan jumped on Cliff’s trampoline… with a basket on his head… for EVER, which I totally encouraged…hope he took a great nap for you that day Jill

Then the boys sat down and ate a great lunch!

We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends! We all had so much fun!

Filed Under: Friends, Random

Fishin’ Pants!

March 9, 2011 7 Comments

I finally had a second to sit down and make Cliff some “fishin’ pants” (as he calls them)!

Since the fabric is Sailfish fabric I used the trusty old Silhouette to cut out a sailfish and I appliqued it onto a polo shirt. Then I decided to add Cliff’s name under it!