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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Strawberry picking

   We have never picked strawberries before.  I thought it would be something fun and different to do.  The girls really enjoyed it.  My idea was to learn how to make jelly and can it.  However, that didn't happen.  I made some strawberry pies and the girls ate the rest.  Maybe we will try again next year?

 Chloe really enjoyed picking strawberries.  You would have thought it was gold that she found every time she found a big one.  Loved seeing her excitement!


  As you can tell Sadie was thrilled with picking. 

I made Sadie pose with a stash of strawberries anyways!

Every time I turned around Aubrie was eating another one.  She ate over half the strawberries that she picked.  Needless to say, she loved picking cause she got to eat all the "snacks" that she wanted. 

Daddy thought that Sadie wanted to try a strawberry.  She was not a fan... at all!

Aubrie turns 6

Happy Birthday 6th Birthday Aubrie!

Even though this is a birthday crown, it represents her angel halo, just a little tipped to show her sassy side.  LOL

Pure trouble!

 She was to nervous to go into the ticket blaster, so she asked her cousin to go into it for her and get the tickets for her.

He was so funny and loved every minute of it, however, he dropped all the tickets before he walked out of the ticket blaster.  Hahaha, at least he had fun in there. (By the way our waitress gave us some tickets for the blaster anyway, she rocked!)

Sadie had an extremely hard time.  Not sure if it was sensory overload, or if she was too hot (the air conditioning was broken), or overly tired, or what, but she screamed for over an hour.  Nothing was making her happy.  We tried all of our normal tricks.  After everyone was done eating we cleared the table, laid her on it, got a bag of ice and started to put it on her for short period of times.  Finally, she passed out and slept the rest of the time.  OMG!  She exhausted me and my husband, trying to figure out what was wrong with her without taking our attention away from Aubrie since this was her day was HARD! I'm thankful for family who can step in and give her the attention she needs when we have to care for Sadie, but it's hard to not feel guilty for being distracted during her special times. 

Before Sadie went into meltdown mode, Aubrie wanted to ride the carousel with Sadie.  Sadie did such a good job with holding her upper body up.   She gets stronger and stronger every day.

Last day of school 2014/15

Chloe's last day of 2nd grade.

 "I want to be a teacher when I grow up"

She earned the presidential physical fitness award. 

Aubrie's last day of Kindergarten

 "I want to be a nurse when I grow up" 

Love these two beautiful, sassy girls!  They are so different, yet so much alike.

Last day of 3 yr old preschool

Sadie was not in the mood to take pics on her last day of school. But we took them anyway. No smiles though.  :(

Maybe she knew it was the last day of school and didn't want it to be?  I feel like she has grown to love school.  Sadie has accomplished so much this year.  School has been good for her.  :)

Sitting again

Since little Miss Sadie is uping her own game and practicing sitting so pretty, her teacher sent home a new chair for her to use this summer.  It is "just her size".  Perfect for her short little legs, arm rests just in case she decides to tumble to the side, and a pummel so she can't scootch her booty forward. She is sitting so tall and perfect with her feet on the ground.

Huge milestone for her right here. 1. just the sitting so nicely, 2. using her hands to put pressure on her legs to help with balance.  HUGE for her!

She was sitting tall even without her hands pushing on her legs.

She started laughing at who even knows what.  Was so full of giggles and so happy.  She does this a lot when she accomplishes thing.  It's like her way of being proud of herself.  Love that smile and giggle.

But don't worry, she got all serious again when she brought her arms down and accidentally touched that pummel with her hand. Heaven forbid!  She touched something and then quickly held her arm so she wouldn't touch anything again. LOL  Will she ever get over this fear or sensory issue or whatever you want to call it?!

But ya know what? It's OK!  One milestone at a time.  That's the way she rolls!