Random highlights of the summer

*Our neighbors house caught on fire.  My girls and some of the neighborhood girls wanted to help so they set up a lemonade stand. They raised over a $100.  These girls rock and have a huge heart.

 

 

*The girls found a snake.  Chloe was dared to pick it up.  Gross!  But look at that face. She loved that she took the dare and did it.  That's when I know she is her fathers daughter. Cause I would NEVER do that.
 

*Chloe was in a parade for girl scouts.

 

These guys waved as she rode by.

 

*We went to the beach.
 

 

Sadie had school this day so she didn't get to go, but I'm pretty sure she was ok with this.  She is still not a fan of the heat and gets a little a crazy when over heated.  Plus, with the fact that she doesn't feel her eyes and blink appropriately, I would hate for sand to get in there.  We already have enough eye issues going on this summer as it is.

 

 

*I jammed my finger and ripped the tendon off the bone. Really? Ain't nobody got time for this!  I have to keep this splint on 24/7 for 6-8 wks.  If I accidentally bend it while changing it to the other splint, I have to start the 6-8 weeks over again.  I originally wasn't going to do anything, as I thought it was just jammed, it couldn't be that bad.  Well, guess I was wrong.  The swelling got bad and I had to take my wedding ring off cause my finger was turning blue. 

 

 

 

*Slinkey got hit by a car.

 

 

What a day that was.  Aubrie accidentally let him out of the back yard and since he is a basset hound, his nose took over and off he ran.... right in front of a car.  The girls witnessed the whole thing.  I hear this blood curdling scream from Chloe as she runs in my house and screams that Slinkey got hit by a car and is dead.  My heart stopped, I ran outside. Slinkey was not dead, but he was hobbling pretty darn bad over to the side of the road.  I went over to him (along with a bazillion other people and 6 little girls that witnessed the accident). Slinkey was holding up his leg and blood was dripping from it. I sent the girls all over to a friends house and Slinkey, Sadie and I went to the vet.  Sure enough he had an open ulna fracture and lots of lacerations. He earned himself a night in the hospital, lots of stitches, and the "cone of shame".  He's a lucky dog that he didn't get hurt more.

 

 

Waterpark

  We went on an impromptu weekend vacation.  Nothing to fancy. Just wanted to spend time as a family.  Just somewhere out of town to get our minds off of the dramatic life that sometimes surrounds us.  Sometimes I think I get so wrapped up in the everyday bump and grind of life and work, and the electronics, and the drama of other individuals and all the medical research, Dr appts and therapies, that I sometimes forget one of my most important jobs... my kids and husband.
  Friday night I told my husband we were pretending we were rich for the weekend and we were just going to go and have fun and not think about the money.  That's what we did.  At first it took a little bit to figure out what everyone would enjoy and we had to make the most out of our time restraint, and even though we were going to pretend to be rich we still had to be a little realistic.  We took the girls to Soaring Eagle indoor waterpark and hotel.  Somewhat close, somewhat cheap, easy access for wheelchairs, no extreme heat, activities for all ages and sizes.  It was fun.  All of us had a good time.  It was a much needed breath of fresh air.

 

We didn't tell the girls where we were going. After I checked in and gave them the brochure there was so much excitement and happiness. It was so worth waiting to tell them (even though there was a lot of complaining in the car on the way up "Are we there yet?, I'm hungry, I have to pee, I'm bored."  You now the usual stuff kids say that drive parents nuts).

 

Here they wait so patiently for mom and dad to get ready and for their crazy mom to stop taking pictures. 

 

 

 

   The first day we immediately put Sadie in the lazy river.  We thought floating down a river would be relaxing to her.  We were WRONG! She hated every minute of it.  She screamed the entire time and then we put her on the lounge chair where she screamed the rest of the time we were at the park that night.  She did her regular "frog pose temper tantrum".  In hind sight, it was not the lazy river that she hated, it was the life vest that she had to wear.  The lifeguards wouldn't let her in without one on.  You would have thought it was a torture device for her.  The pic below was taken in between screams when it appeared that she was calm.  Looks can be deceiving!

 

 

Many fun things for the girls to do. 

Waterslides!!

 

 

This was the big waterslide.  The one that twirls around outside and then dumps you in the lazy river.  Aubrie was scared to death of this slide from the minute we got there.  We'd ask if she wanted to go on it and she would say "NO WAY"! All of a sudden she grabbed this two person inner tube  and said "lets go Chloe".  And she and Chloe drug this huge tube up 4 stories of stairs and down they came!  I was so proud of her for conquering that fear.  Even though she said she hated it, she went on it a couple more times. ;)  I asked Chloe later when we were alone, if Aubrie freaked out at the top before they came down, she said "yes, but I told there was only one way down and she HAD to go down." Sisterly pressure and love!

 

 

Aubrie wanted to try to include Sadie "all by herself".  We wouldn't let Aubrie do to much with Sadie cause we didn't want any drowning accidents.  But this was one thing that Sadie liked and couldn't drown. 

 

Rocking climbing wall. You climb up and then fall in.  Chloe never made it very far up, but she tried and that's all that counts.  It took her a long time to build up her nerve to do it.

 

 

The big bucket of water would fill and then spill over.  Not sure how much the girls liked that, but at least they participated... once.  Lol

 

Day 2 we started Sadie off by just letting her chillax in the lounge chair.  This was much more her style.  Much more happier then she was on day 1.

 

 

She chilled for a while and then daddy took her in the water sprinklers.

 

 

Wasn't her favorite, but she tolerated it.

 

 

Finally, Sadie's favorite activity. The hot tub!  I think she was suppose to have a life vest on but they either didn't see us or choose not to say anything.  Either way Sadie just relaxed, kicked back and put her legs up.  She cracks me up!

 

 

 

Daddy worked in a very short therapy session where she practiced standing.  Look at that form: straight legs, back and chin up, no arching.  She is working so hard at therapy these days.

 

After the hot tub and "therapy session", it was time for her to eat.  She ate and fell sound asleep.

 

 

Then the ride home.  I'd say it was a pretty successful, fun weekend.

 

 

One Year Ago

  It's hard to believe that one year ago Sadie had her sweet little heart fixed.  I feel like it was just yesterday.  I remember every detail of that day; being an hour late to check in (not my fault for once, it was the Dr's), the look in Sadie's eyes as I kissed her good bye, spilling a smoothie down my sleeve, watching the clock and wondering why it was taking so much longer then they said, the small talk conversations that I was making to attempt to take my mind off of the surgery.  What I remember more then anything is the way I felt. I am generally not a nervous or anxious person, but that day... that day brought it all out of me.  I don't show much on the outside, but my heart was beating so hard and so fast that day. I was trembling, not the trembling that you can see but the kind that can only be felt.  My palms were cold and clammy. I didn't touch anyone for these reasons, except for my husband.  As soon as I grabbed his hand and squeezed it, he looked in my tear filled eyes and he knew.  My strength was weak that morning. He's not used to that side of me, he didn't know what to do or say. So he hugged me, and hugged me tight, not saying a word, but he said all that I needed to hear.  Off and on that morning he would touch my hands to check my nerves, either giving me a gross look if they were really sweaty, or just a squeeze and a smile.  It became a joke after a while, then finally the laughter came.  I started to chill out and my strength slowly was returning.  Finally the nurse and Dr came out and said all went perfect.  My trembling stopped, my clamminess went away, my nerves calmed down, and I felt strong again.  All was well inside my body, and I had all my strength back which was what my baby needed; a strong mama.

  One year later I have a 3 1/2 year old little girl with a very strong heart.  And a strength all of her own.  Her warrior scar may be fading, but her strength is stronger then ever.  She is happy and accomplishing things that we didn't know if she would ever accomplish.  She is a role model for us all.

 

 

"Scars are badges of strength and courage. They tell the story of what we have endured. Only survivors wear them"  -Kaki Warner

 

July 4th

Happy 4th of July

 

I had to work the 4th of July so my family decided that we would celebrate on the 3rd.  We grilled, laughed, played cards, played on the slip and slide, had a bon fire and roasted marsh mellows, and then topped it off with sparklers and fireworks.  It was a nice relaxing time.  Thank you to our military men and woman who keep us free so that we can do all these fun and wonderful things and are able to look at the smiling faces of our children.