Forever and a Day; Brain Dump

It's official, I've signed up for my first 5k. I can't even run to my mailbox!  I'm pretty sure that makes me insane!

My mom gave Hannah a monkey tent for her 3rd birthday.  Her friend Terri, who happens to be raising her 3 year old granddaughter- Jordan, has one at their house.  When Hannah attended Jordan's birthday party last summer, she fell in love with Jordan's monkey tent.   Well, what does a doting grandmother do?   Yup, you guessed it! My mom set out on a mission to find that exact tent, and Hannah received it at her 3rd birthday party.   That evening, after the kids were in bed, Ben and I were cleaning up the aftermath.  I was tackling all the presents and seeing as it was occupying the better portion of our living room, I decided to fold up the monkey tent.  Twenty minutes later I found myself sobbing into the directions of said tent.  I iMessgage'd my mom...

Me: "No wonder Terry didn't have the monkey tent closed up for Jordan's party. This thing is a pain in the ass to figure out!" 

Mom: "she never closes the tent"  

Me: "Gee, I wonder why. It has 13- yes, you read that correctly- THIRTEEN steps to close it up!". 





This week i took the girls on a supermarket sweep through Bj's and by the time we arrived home and put away groceries it was past lunchtime and I needed to act fast in hopes of avoiding meltdowns due to hunger.  I heated up my pizza that was leftover from the other night.  I sat down with the girls at the kitchen table and handed out the pizza.  Natalie would only take a bite of the pizza if I took a bite from the slice first.  I continued to offer her small pieces ripped off the slice I was eating. When she finished her little bite,  I ripped off a new piece for her and she proceeds to snatch the slice of pizza from my hand and leaves me with the little torn off piece!  Growth spurt perhaps? 


The other day, possibly the warmest day of the week, Hannah was running around the house singing Jingle Bells in a highly energetic fashion. She reminded me of Molly Shannon's character from Santa clause 2...


I never understood when my friends said to me "I'm not allowed to drive my husbands car" or they have 'his' and 'her' cars and they don't share. We don't have 'my car' and 'Ben's car'. It's 'our cars'. They are both in our names and we share. Back when we were DINKS (Double Income No Kids), we were fortunate enough to have 3 cars between the two of us. It was my first car, an accord, and his truck.  They were the vehicles we came into our relationship with, so they were sort of "mine" and "his", but we still drove each others vehicle.  On my 26th birthday we purchased our luxury vehicle, an Acura TL.  I loved that car (I even cried when we traded it in)!  We typically only drove the TL on the weekends or on date nights and occasionally we took turns taking it to work.  I remember one time Ben took it to work and he and his co-workers  went out for lunch.  I have no idea why, but i flipped my shit...i was super upset.  When I look back I realize how ridiculous my behavior was; I guess I was upset that he had people in the car and I would now have to vacuum and wipe it down.  Fast forward to present day,  we refer to our cars as "the expo" and "the van".  The other day the girls and I were taking the expo to CleanPRO for a bath. I informed and reminded Hannah all morning that "daddy is taking the van to work today". Apparently it never sunk in b/c every time we were in the truck, Hannah kept repeating "daddy took mommy's van to work. When we getting van back?  This is daddy's truck but mommy is driving it". It cracked me up that it was beyond her comprehension that I was driving "daddy's car" and daddy was driving "mommy's car".   Quite frankly the best part of this day was when the girls and I were headed out to the Expedition.  Hannah walked up to the passenger side back door, knocked on it and said "open please"...nothing happened. Hannah: "MOMMY!!  Daddy's doors are NOT magic like yours!". 

Hannah Turns the BIG Oh-3!!

Sign Aunt Kelly painted for Hannah.

                               

Hannah’s 3^rd birthday came and went.  It was an amazing day!  It started off with Ben, myself and the dogs (balloons tied around their waists) piling into her room singing “Happy Birthday”…which was immediately followed up by Hannah saying “ok, great.  Can we have cake now?”

The dogs were less than
thrilled about their duties
 as balloon weights!

                                Hannah got to see the decorations Aunt Kelly put up. 

Hannah's holding a special tiara
Aunt Kelly gave her to wear.

Auntie Kelly forgot how to spell;) 

 After Hannah inspected her decorations, she received a phone call from Mickey- her face LIT UP!  I think she even blushed. 

   Next up, A.I. duPont Hospital.  Don't let that alarm you!  It was just for Natalie's weekly PT session!!  See, last year Natalie had been in the hospital for four weeks straight and we ended up celebrating Hannah’s 2nd birthday IN the hospital…as in, a celebration IN Natalie’s hospital room.  Memories that will last a lifetime. 

April 10, 2011

April 10, 2011

April 10, 2011

                                                   

Today we were fortunate enough to visit AI, for Natalie’s therapy.  I gave Natalie's Physical Therapist a heads up that Hannah would be attending today's session, so we steered clear of the gym and opted for a private room to complete the 1 hour therapy session.  Hannah enjoyed climbing in and out of the ball pit and sifting through the closet for every puzzle. 

                                                                            

    With all the excitement from ball pit therapy, it was time to head home and put the girls down for a nap.  Hannah requested I sing "Happy Birthday" to her instead of "Hush Little Baby".  I made the best of nap-time...I decorated cupcakes!!

                                             


  That evening, we celebrated with family that wouldn’t be able to attend her party on Saturday.  Hannah truly enjoyed herself.  She was showered with love and LOTS of gifts. 

                                                     
Now it came time for cake and ice cream...it's what Hannah waited all day to have!!

                                                     
I lit Hannah's candles and we sang "Happy Birthday".  Before she had a chance to make a wish and blow out her candles, Cousin Kyle yelled "FIRE!!", hopped off the sofa and blew out the candles.  

H-I--L-A-R-I-O-U-S!!

                                           

        We relit so Hannah could blow out her candles on her own...

                                                  
In the end, we had relit the candles 4 times so Hannah & Kyle could take turns blowing out the candles and ended with a joint effort...

                                              

                                             FINALLY!!!

                         

We wrapped up the evening with a video from Hannah’s favorite mouse, Mickey.

                                                   

Feeling Blah

Just recently I was feeling blah about my blog. I know I have followers but I kept wondering, "Who really reads it?  Am I really making an impact?  I would love to know that my words are inspiring." And with that thought a message popped up in my inbox.

       A friend recently reached out to me, her son has been diagnosed with Autism. I commended her for even discussing it through email.  It had only been one week since his diagnosis and she had already found support groups and other moms to talk too. My first thought was "already?!?" I mean, seriously, she has to be one strong woman to have already reached out to other moms and found a support group.

      She offered kind words saying “I draw strength from you when reading your blog and seeing all the love and support you give your amazing kids.” and with that, my blah feeling disappeared.  My friend who reached out for help and support ended up helping and supporting me.  She inspired me to work on posts that have been sitting the draft department. And she didn’t even know it…until now.  J

So stay tuned, I’m hoping to have a few new blog posts out in the near future!!

Brain Dump...Lots of pictures!

For the first time in the 10 years we have lived in our home, our lawn will be virtually dandelion free. Hannah loves the yellow weed and refers to it as a "beautiful flower". Many people spend thousands on lawn care to have their lawn weed-free.  We just put our thousands of dollars into an alternative method of having a weed-free lawn:)  Thanks to this cutie:   

Monday morning Hannah allowed Natalie to hang out in her crib while I picked out their outfits for the day.  Here’s photo and video of this rare opportunity:

She LOVES her sister!

Such a cutie

They are this close to each other
 and still smiling!

Kisses for Hannah

  

While Natalie and I were waiting patiently to pick up Hannah from school, we did an impromptu photo shoot with the iPhone…

      This morning the girls and I packed up early and hit the road.  I was on a mission to hit up the drive-thru ATM by our house.  Hannah was staying after school for a pizza party lunch and I needed $5 cash, naturally I didn’t have it because I scrounged up five bucks (from around the house and my emergency coffee fund) the last time she stayed for lunch!  Little did I know, before they open, the bank typically services and restocks the ATM’s between 8:30-9am.  This just happened to coincide while I was trying to access the ATM.  I drove over to the Wawa in the same shopping center and as I pulled into a spot, the entire scenario played out in my head.  It was very similar to If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.  ~I would have to take both kids out of their car seats and lug them into Wawa.  If I lug them into Wawa, then I would smell the coffee and if I smell the coffee, than I would want a cup.  If I get a cup of coffee, we'd inevitably walk passed the giant well-lit donut display and if we walk passed the donut display; then Hannah would have to have one.  And if Hannah wants a donut and I want a cup of coffee, than I just spent the $5 that I needed to pay for her lunch. Oh, and I'd be doing all of this sans a stroller. I changed my mind and decided that we would do a PNC tour…I finally found one that had a functioning ATM!!

Check out this Race Car Study through the University of Delaware.  A week ago Monday a PT student who’s participating with this study came out to trial Natalie in some of the race cars; to get a feel for which style will meet her needs. 

Natalie has been approved to participate in the study!!  We are still in the baseline phase, but we've already completed the home visit and the developmental tests.  I'm very excited and can't wait for her to receive and start using her race car!!

Brain Dump...late again

Sorry, I'm averaging a new Brain Dump post every other week instead of every week as I originally intended.  Life has been crazy hectic...attending several conferences, dinners, parties, therapy, and sprinkle it with some mommy guilt...that's the extent of my past two weeks!  Without further ado...

I know I complain that I am tired, often.  But this week I literally thought about going to the basement and putting the whites from the washer to the dryer.  When I got to the basement, I started the dryer and walked away.  As I was about to head up the steps I realized that nothing was clinking (buttons & zippers up against the metal door- I don’t want you thinking that I have some issue with my dryer).  I walked back into the laundry room to discover that I had not even taken the clothes from the washer!  At that point do you just call it a day?  Go back to bed and try again the next day?

I snatched up an opportunity of a lifetime!  Our sitter was in town a week and a half ago for spring break.  I was so grateful that she took the time to email me and ask if I needed her.  I responded with “ HA!!  HECK YEAH I need you!!”  With the unseasonably warm weather we’ve recently been blessed with, I let Elizabeth come over and entertain the girls.  I needed uninterrupted time so I could see what Hannah might still fit into from last summer and sifting through Hannah’s baby clothes to see what will work for Natalie.  It’s a double edge sword…it’s amazing diligently I can work when I’m not constantly interrupted, yet it’s amazing how fast I can burn through 2hours alone!  I highly recommend this for all moms.  Hire a sitter and give yourself two or three hours, it was one the best gifts I could give myself….aside from a day at the spa, but then I would have just felt guiltyJ

 What better way to celebrate World Down syndrome Day than with your very own Down syndrome delight?  I mean, seriously, who wouldn’t want to spend a day with this little cutie? 

Hannah was excited to celebrate.  She had no clue what we were celebrating or why, all she knew was that she was wearing an over sized t-shirt with ribbon tying up the sleeves…and she felt like a princess.

  We were so grateful to have so many supporters.  Their participation varied from thinking of us to shout-outs to wearing blue & gold or various shirts supporting Natalie!  Every year we reach more and more people, touch more lives and increase the awareness!   Even though our own personal celebration wasn’t a huge production, we still made an impact and had a fun time doing it!

Two weeks worth of Brain Dump!!

Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I know I missed last week’s Brain Dump.  We were busy: visited the grandparents, attended Kellen’s 2^nd Birthday Party and attended Adrianna’s 8^th Birthday Party.  Come Sunday night, we were exhausted!!   Just look at it this way, you get DOUBLE the storiesJ

~I decided that I needed a pedicure.  To save the money, I’ve been doing them myself.  It’s my biweekly treat to myself when the girls are napping.  I get to prep my feet and put a new shiny coat of polish on my nails.  Hannah didn’t really nap this particular day so my pedicure was a quick process and I did as much as I could before I rescued her from her crib.  We went into the living room so she could read books quietly while I finished pampering my feet; before I started her pedicure (ah, the life of my almost three year old!).  I was rubbing lotion on my foot, Hannah looks over at me and says “Mommy, you have toe jam?”  She is obsessed with the lint that socks leave in between toes and refers to it at “toe jam”.

~~I have the worst Mommy Guilt.  I preach to other mom’s about not feeling guilty and typing out excuses as to why they should not let it get to them or how to “let it go”, yet I can’t do that for myself.  GAH!

~~~I have a bumper magnet that I proudly display on the back of my mommy van (yes, I’m one of THOSE moms), but it’s for a really good cause….cause it’s for Natalie.  It’s a hot pink rectangle with the words “My Daughter Has More Chromosomes Than Yours” in white.   I often think how many moms read it and snicker to themselves and say “no she doesn’t”.   A few Saturdays ago Ben, Hannah, Natalie and I attended the DE Down Syndrome Association Valentine’s Dance.  We had an amazing time!  Natalie was so social and she loved meeting new friends and dancing with mommy, Hannah & daddy.  She spent most of her time in the Ergo baby carrier, but she is quite content in there, plus it deterred people from touching her (did I mention I have a severe phobia of germs?  Two hospitalizations in a 4weeks span will do that to a mom!).  Hannah had an absolute B-L-A-S-T!  She wore her heart tutu that she sported for Natalie’s birthday party and her Valentine’s Day party at school and she thought she was all that and a bag of chips!!  We practically closed the party!  We even happily obliged when Hannah was chosen to take home one of the decorative heart balloons …just what we needed, more balloons.  As if we didn’t already have 6 cornered in the living room, left over from Natalie’s birthday party and hospital stay!  Sorry, now I’m just getting off topic!  The point of the story, as we left the Middletown Moose Lodge with full hearts and grins from ear-to-ear, I busted out with laughter when I looked at the back of my van and read my bumper magnet.  Oh the irony of that magnet at a Down Syndrome gathering. 

~~~~~During the first weekend of March we had an addition to our home.  A bunny has set up camp behind the barberry bush that is in our front landscaping.  You can see him/her as you stand on our front steps.  Hannah is beyond excited to have a new animal to call her own.  I’m fairly certain she will be a veterinarian when she grows up…she inherited her love for animals from her Uncle RayJ Anywho, as Hannah was walking up our steps and she saw the bunny she immediately gave him a name; Henry.   That name came out of the clear blue….then it dawned on me, the day before we attended a playgroup sponsored by the DE Down Syndrome Association.   Hannah had made friends by sharing her apples with a boy named Henry.    Obviously he made quite an impression, she named a bunny after him!! 

~~~~~~I am in love with unseasonably warm weather we are experiencing.  We've had temps in the mid 60's to mid 70's for almost two weeks now.  I’m also worried that come summer, it will be 120 degrees!  The Rohe family had a spectacular weekend and it ended this evening with an impromptu bbq with my parents & sister.  After Hannah had finished her meal, she was let down from the table and asked to use Auntie Kelly’s phone; Hannah loves watching videos of herself on everyone's phone!  Hannah found the camera feature and went to town!!!  She walked around our house snapping pictures of Pops, Natalie, Ben, my arm, my face, her eyebrows and the hallway.  The best part…after every photo she took she would say “ohhhh, that was a good one!”  This kid is too much!!

Brain Dump...Mostly Hannah

On Wednesday, I was feeding Natalie a bottle before her afternoon nap.  She grabs her burp rag that was draped over my shoulder and proceeds to play peek-a-boo by covering and rapidly uncovering my eyes, then giggling.  I was trying so hard not to laugh at her, as naptime is a very serious matter to this mommy!!  The following day, instead of playing peek-a-boo, she decided to laugh hysterically at me…she was deliriously tired!

We use Burt's Bee All Better Balm (we refer to it as “boo-boo balm”) on scrapes, cuts, bruises and chapped cheeks/noses.  We ended up having to hide them from Hannah…you see, it’s in a tube similar to chap stick and we all know what happens when we wind up the chap stick with the lid still on.  Yeah, well Hannah did this to all our tubes of boo-boo balm so when I purchased all new tubes, I hid them from her.  On Monday she found Natalie’s tube and popped of the cap, “mommy, you have boo-boo’s?” as she pulled up my pant leg.  She proceeded to put the balm on a bruise.  A moment later I realized that she was still touching up my leg with the balm, I looked down to see her rubbing it on my freckles too…hahaha.

I am so grateful for my video monitor!  Hannah has recently (well, over the past 2 to 3 weeks) declined her afternoon nap.  I continue on with our routine of rocking, reading and singing before placing her in her crib. Every. Single. Day.  In hopes that she will fall back into her old routine of actually taking a nap.  On this particular afternoon my gut was telling me to ‘check in on her’.   As I flipped on her monitor, I was so relieved I did.  I forgot to move her changing station basket out of arms reach and I caught her JUST in time before she spread lotion all over the wall and her crib, again.  I miss the days of her taking the wipes out of the warmer (also located next to her crib) and wiping down her crib!

On Tuesday, Natalie had what can only be described as a PHENOMENAL Physical Therapy session.  She was amazingly happy and super cooperative.  Typically she only lasts 45mins at best, but this particular day she did so well that her therapist and I lost track of time.  Following her PT session I still had to change her diaper, get her dressed, jacket and shoes on and last but not least…feed her a bottle.  Natalie is a slow bottle eater, very slow.  She often falls asleep sucking on a bottle because it’s that tiring for her.  Well after an hour-long intense PT session the bottle basically had to drip into her mouth and then she’d swallow what had built up.  Suffice it to say we were running late to pick up Hannah; and we hadn’t even started our trek from the ground floor of the hospital to the parking lot.  Natalie and I hightailed it out of there and hopped on 141.  I know this highway is frequently monitored for speed and I make it a point to drive the speed limit….except this particular day.  THANKFULLY a white Pathfinder on the other side of the road flashed his high beams a few times, literally seconds before I was to round the bend to a State Trooper with his radar gun pointed right at me.  Whew!!  Mr. Pathfinder, if I ever find you, I promise to give you a big kiss!!  To pay it forward, later that morning I forewarned people on Kirkwood highway about a cop up aheadJ

 Every year I snap a picture of Hannah
 posing with her daff-o-deals

The front of our house faces south so we are drenched with sun all day long.  My mom planted daffodil bulbs in our front landscaping for Hannah when she was a baby.  Her thought was that they would bloom right around Hannah’s April birthday.  Well with the mild winter we’ve had the Daffodils sprouted several weeks ago and Hannah has been watching them intently.  When the first batch had a bud, she was beyond thrilled. She would stop, every time we walked to/from the garage, to say hello and kiss the “daff-o-deals” (as she calls them).  

The 1st two to bloom~ 2012 season

On Monday evening I took Hannah to her first Toddler Tales at our local library.   It Our first session couldn’t have been any better, the books, snacks and craft were all birthday themed…Hannah’s favorite holiday!  When storytime came to an end, Hannah and I went to pick out new books for her to take home.  The reality: She played with the other children while I chose books for her.  When storytime came to an end, Hannah and I went to pick out new books for her to take home.  Now, excuse me while I backtrack...on our drive to the library I had chugged a travel mug of coffee and drank a tall bottle of Smartwater. (yeah, you know where this is going).  By the time we wrapped up Storytime and book selection/playtime, I had to pee!!!   The main bathroom was out of order so we had to walk through the main part of the library…you know, the quiet part.  We are smack in the middle of the library and Hannah stops dead in her tracks:

Hannah~ “MOMMY, WHERE ARE WE GOING!?!”

Me~ “To use the restroom.”

Hannah~ “MOMMY, YOU HAVE TO GO POOPY??”

Hahahahahahahahaha….

Enjoying a snack & a story