Proud Mama!

Sorry folks, but I have to brag for a minute. My little Nellie can tie her shoes! She has been working on this in OT and after a lot of practice she can do it! These little milestones are not little for her, they are huge! She is so proud of herself, she even ties my shoes when we are going out. We had a "Shoe tie celebration" and went to Denny's to celebrate. Go Nellie! I am so proud of you. Can a little girl be your hero? Yes, I would say so. This little girl works so incredibly hard to achieve the tasks. Of course I am so grateful for these wonderful people who work with Nellie, she is very blessed.
Several years ago (about 7) we went to a Cri-du-chat conference. One of the sessions was on how to adapt items for our children. I learned about putting velcro on pants instead of snaps, you can even take the buttons off a shirt and put velcro on so the children can get themselves changed. I was so worried about all these types of things and I worried for nothing, she is learning to do it all! Wow! I'm amazed again.

I've decided I have taken on too much and it's time that I start saying no. I really enjoy helping others but I can only do so much. The older the kids get the busier we get, I just can't take on so much. The hard part is deciding what to give up. I wouldn't mind giving up my troop organizer position but who would do it? It is a lot of work. Fundraising for Tri-city is a lot of work, but we really need it. I feel like I have to be Nellie's GS leader so I can help her. I also like being on the board of ECEC, they were great for Nellie and I like paying them back a little bit. Box Tops for the PTO is a easy way I can help but it doesn't take too much time. I gave up my lia sophia and this is my last year as a delegate (I'm glad). What else can I give up? I see that the 5P- society really needs people to do some fundraising and I did enjoy doing my crop in the past, I would love to help them but when? I have to admit part of me probably likes feeling needed, but something has to give! Just writing it all is making me feel a little overwhelmed. No, is such a small little word but it is not always easy to say it. I think I just need to practice sating it.

what a nice day today. It was about 50 degrees and it felt so nice! Colin was going to go over to the shelter to do some skateboarding but it was so nice he wanted to play outside instead. We did a little picking up around the yard, but it was so wet we couldn't do too much. Our yard is a muddy mess but at least it was warm. All the kids in the neighborhood came out to play. We had 11 on the trampoline. (we usually only allow 5 at time but the kids haven't been on is so long) The kids were all riding bikes and hitting the jumps. It is nice to live in a neighborhood where we have so many kids and they all like to play outside. It is so hard to believe how grown up these kids are. I remember the boys with training wheels on and now most of them are in middle school. They used to spend hours climbing trees. Now they love to play hide and seek and manhunt, just like me and my friends at that age. I hope they all stay good kids. Jay and the girls to a long bike ride up to Tiffany & Jim's house. I love spring, it is so nice to be able to just get outside. Our yard looks so ugly I can't wait until everything turns green. I hope it stays nice.

I have a friend that is having her second child, her first child had cri-du-chat. She has had some difficult moments and I have been giving it some thought. I remember after having Nellie I wasn't sure if we'd have anymore children, I always said it would have to depend on the progress that Nellie made. I didn't know how I could carry Nellie around along with a new baby. I was at a meeting one day and a woman came up to me and said I should definitely have another child. She said her husband has a disabled sister and they have no siblings so everything falls on his shoulders. I'm thinking is that a good reason to have another child? The worrying that takes place when you become a parent is insane. I would worry about so many things. When Braelyn came along Nellie was 4 1/2 and she had started walking. I remember how scared we were that Braelyn might have cri-du-chat also. We knew that we love & adore Nellie but we sure didn't want this baby to have any disabilities. We were so relieved when the tests all came back normal. I spent a lot of time worrying about Colin. Nellie had therapists coming into the house several times a day to "play" with her, she spent time in the hospital, she got a lot of attention. I wanted to make sure Colin got enough of my attention. I also worried about how it would be for him growing up with a sister with special needs. It is kind of funny how things turn out. Nellie has been great for Colin. He is such a loving & thoughtful person because of her. I have honestly never in my life seen a brother that is as loving as he is. Of course Nellie has learned so much from Colin. Nellie is 9 now and Braelyn is 5. Braelyn has passed Nellie in most aspects at this point. Braelyn even calls Nellie her little sister. LOL. Nellie has learned SO MUCH from Braelyn, it has truly pushed Nellie to new heights, they have learned together over the past few years.

I'm a believer of things happening for a reason and I know my family happened this way for a reason.

Shriners Hospital

I realized I never gave a Shriners update. I took Nellie over to Shriner's hospital about a week ago. Nellie was diagnosed with scoliosis about 5 years ago. Her scoliosis has progressed aggressively over the last 3-4 years. She is now considered to have severe scoliosis and has a 54 degree curve. Nellie definitely needs to have spine surgery, the problem is she is still small and has a lot of growing to do. They would need to put growing rods in her back, but every time she grows they would have to go back in and extend the rods. This could potentially mean 2 surgery's each year until she is about 14 or so. We are now trying to hold off doing the surgery until she gets a little bigger. This will be a major surgery, they will go in through the front as well as her back. Her brace is helping her curve to stay at 54 degrees, she hasn't had change in a year. Last week they said she is the same an we couldn't ask for more. If we can keep her the same until she is about 14 they will do a fusion and we won't have to deal with the growing rods.

It has been terribly hard dealing with Nel's scoliosis. The brace is uncomfortable and it is hard to fit her clothes with it. She already had problems with her balance and a big plastic brace doesn't make it any easier. The other issue we have is her strength, Nellie is very weak and when she is wearing her brace she isn't using any trunk muscles so she actually gets weaker from wearing her brace. I know she will be fine, she'll get through this, we all will. It makes me sad as her Mom, life can be hard for Nellie. We just have to remember how blessed we are, there are millions of families that trade problems with us.

Time

Wow! It's March first. I have said this so many times since Colin was born that I am sick of hearing myself, but I just can't get over how fast the time goes when you have kids. It really makes me sad. Their little stages go by so fast, I hardly feel like I get a chance to enjoy each one. I remember when Colin was little I thought I would remember every detail, I mean how could I possibly forget the first time he ate cereal? I even thought I would remember what kind of cereal it was. WRONG! I seem to be forgetting everything. Jay has always picked on and said our kids wouldn't recognize me without a camera in front of my face, well it's a darn good thing I've always had that camera. Colin had a project due for school and he needed pictures so I was going through old pictures in my closet. It really made sad, the time has gone by so fast! I have the wonderful memories but we can never get those times back. You can only bring your first child home for the first time once, you can only go to Disney for the first time once, they take their first steps once. Colin is 11 and that means his time at home before college is more than half over, I could cry. These 11 years have flown by, I wish I could slow these next 11 down to a crawl. Why can't something be done about this? With all the technology they can't keep kids little for ever? Well, at least longer? I could go on and on about the changes Nellie has made over the past few years and Braelyn don't get me started! I don't know how I'll ever get through her going to kindergarten, I will miss the hell out of her. So I guess for today I will just enjoy each moment, take lots of pictures and make wonderful memories with my family!