Missing

Missing Dog - Maize
Missing Since this weekend - From Toledo Hospital Area - Has tags on - we miss her

Thanks Daddy

With a little help from his family Tim has been able to put together some great things for the girls. The storage boxes for under the play table they also made are complete. Tim also made an adjustable bench for Lindsey. Her PT uses one with her and said they are beneficial especially when they start to pull up since she may not have the strength to pull her self all the way up to the couch or table initially. Some retail for almost $300!?! Slap the work therapy tool on any piece and bam, there you go, expensive. Not the best picture of the bench itself but what a great model posing with it. Right now we just have her practicing sitting up with her feet underneath it and toys to play with up on top. The kinesio tape really does seem to help her with sitting. It may be just the placebo effect where we are going to think everything is because of the tape but we have noticed a difference in 2 short weeks. Nothing much at PT this am. Her PT said she seems to be better trying to sit up and that she hopes that she will retain some of the strength with the tape off but that we may notice she is stronger with it on. She is also going to get Lindsey measured next week for this weird water suit looking vest thing to help with core strength.

In other news, Lindsey had another eye doctor appointment today. She is on her 3rd set of drops and this one seems to be helping. She did say that she will still most likely need to probe her tear ducts when Lindsey is about 10 months or so and possibly do a balloon dilation (balloon dacryoplasty?) at the same time if she finds that the ducts are tight. We are continuing the eye drops for another 2 weeks and back to see her after that.

Memorial Day pool fun

What a wonderful Memorial Day weekend we had. Sunday, Tim's Aunt had everyone over for a pool party and BBQ. Brooke is such a little fish in the pool. Tim said later that night she was all wrinkled like a raisin and just having a great ol' time. She swam and kicked around the pool like she had been doing it all summer. Jumping off the edge right into the float was another fun game for her.

It was Lindsey's fist time in the pool and she seemed to enjoy it. Julie's pool is heated so it felt great.

C'mon, Hurry up

C'mon, Hurry up is a phrase I utter too often. Many of you know Tim and I were never the most punctual but add in 2 kids and we don't know where the time goes. There are some days when I look at the clock and can't believe I am still trying to get everyone out the door.
This afternoon was no different. I am really trying to get myself back to the gym now that Lindsey is old enough to go to the kids club. You have to call ahead to make sure they have enough staff when they are that young. Planning, the first problem. Trying to plan around Lindsey's 2 naps, Brooke's afternoon nap, breakfast, lunch, bottles, you get the idea, gives me a very small window. I called to see if it would be of if we came in about 15-20 minutes. Plenty of time to get them both out in the car and on the road.
Why am I always late? Well, Lindsey puked up her peaches on me and herself AFTER the diaper change so it was back to the table for a full outfit change for her and a clean shirt for me. Brooke raises her arms at the top of the stairs, I carry both of them down the steps. I prepare to get Lindsey in her car seat and tell Brooke to get her shoes on. How long does it take to get a baby in a car seat? Um, maybe 30 seconds....

Long enough for Brooke to think that now everyday she needs to put sunscreen on to step outside and though she would hep me out. You know, the kind that one of the main ingredients is Zinc Oxide. That crap is thick and doesn't wash off well. Great for sunscreen, not so great for the carpet and a quick cleanup of her hands and arms along with the third outfit change in what was supposed to be 15 minutes to the gym. 40 minutes later we show up at the gym. The same girls are there everyday at the times we go so she just laughed when I apologized. She figured there was a blow out diaper change. Oh, if only that were it.

I should also add this is probably one of the reasons why when you pull up my driveway there is always the smell of fabric softner and the humm of a dryer vent. The laundry never ends around here.

Lake Erie Monster

AKA my mom's swimming pal and now Christa's nightmare tonight.

What a difference

What a difference a little over a year can make. We took Brooke to see my parents in Florida when she was a year. She hated, and I mean HATED the sand. That lasted all last summer. It took almost all summer to get her to even put in hands in her sand and water table.

Click on the picture to make it bigger to get a good look at her, "get me outta here" face.

This week we headed over to my parents house and took a trip to the playground and the beach. She wasn't real sure at first when her feet touch the sand. My mom convinced her to kick it off in the water. It clicked, WOW this IS fun. She had a great time playing in the sand and water. I didn't have my "big" camera with me so some of pictures are a little blurry.

Lots more fun in sun pictures to come later with Lindsey & Brooke.

Carrots

A sure sign

A sure sign Brooke is getting older, PJ dresses. So stinkin' cute. Perfect for the warm weather.

Sweet Potatoes

I'll show you

Ok fine, you want my Bumbo, I'll just take over your comfy pink chair.

Zoo

Even I have been slacking a little in the blog world. It has just been so nice outside the last thing I want to do is go down in the basement and mess around with the computer. Man, did I take lots of pictures over the last few days. Hmmm, lets start with some Zoo pictures. You can't beat being only minutes away from the Toledo Zoo. Brooke is really going to enjoy the animals this year. She is pointing at all the animals and excited to run up and see them play. The animals must have enjoyed the warm weather because they ALL seemed to be out. Never have I seen the hippos out of the water or the rhinosuarus up and moving. There were plenty of baby munkey's learning how to jump and climb. What was the first thing she wanted to see and wouldn't stop talking about? NEMO!!!!!!

She walked right up and posed in front of each butterfly.

Look mom, MONKEYS!!!

Zoo, what zoo? I didn't see any zoo. Lindsey woke up just at the end of the zoo day. Couldn't blame her, we did go right at nap time.

Playing outside

Painting is always better when you don't have to worry much about clean up. Brooke loves that she can paint and play with her play doe all she wants.

Pow, Pow, Power Wheels.

Hard at work washing my car. Brooke loves her "Elmo beach hat". She calls it this because there is an Elmo episode where he is trying to go to the beach and the bird keeps stealing Elmo's hat. Hmmm, if Elmo would only teach her to let me put sunscreen on. That is a fight. No sunscreen, no outside, plain and simple. If my kids have my pasty white skin they can't go without it. Grandma even tried to convince her on the phone, nope didn't work. Remember the clip of her stuck in the Bumbo? Haha, she couldn't get away. She was happy in the end to play outside.

Even eating outside

I can't take it

It is just too hot outside

7 Months

Can you believe it has already been 7 months!!!

Turtle

Relay for Life

We all braved the weather and impending rainstorms to participate in the Relay for Life at Bedford High School. The office I work at per diem had a tent set up which we did have to take shelter under at one point. It is always nice to see people outside of the treatment room recliner without needles or chemotherapy around. Brooke had a great time running around the track and Lindsey enjoyed the ride.

What is Relay for Life?

Relay For Life is a life-changing event that brings together more than 3.5 million people to:
• Celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer. The strength of survivors inspires others to continue to fight.• Remember loved ones lost to the disease. At Relay, people who have walked alongside people battling cancer can grieve and find healing. • Fight Back. We Relay because we have been touched by cancer and desperately want to put an end to the disease.

Good Grief

When Lindsey was born a nurse that works in the hospital came to visit me and told me so many wonderful things about her 18 year old son with Down syndrome. She was so happy to see Lindsey and her congratulations seemed so genuine.
One thing she told me was that it was ok to grieve. Grieve the birth of a "normal" baby. I skipped some of the steps and hung on to a few. I like to think most days are acceptance now. It is what it is so lets move on and make the best of it. So Lindsey may not do everything we dreamed for her. Does every child grow up and do what there parents envisioned for them? She may not be crawling or say mama or dada while kids her age are walking and learning all sorts of new words. High school graduation will be an accomplishment rather than expected. Marry, drive a car, bear her own children? Unlikely.
Today, Lindsey smiled and laughed out loud over and over again as I tickled her and held her up over my head giggling, "Lindsey is SOOOO big" right along with her. I teared up and hugged her close telling her how much I loved her.
Lindsey is who she is, a happy 6 month old girl and we are lucky to have her.

All taped up

Last week our PT talked about using Kinesio tape with Lindsey. It has many purposes and you may have seen athletes with it on. So what will it do for Lindsey? Since she has low muscle tone the idea is to promote muscle facilitation making her more aware of her body. Basically it is being used to help stimulate weak muscles in her case building core/trunk strength and stability.

She put a small piece on her abdomen last week to make sure her skin wasn't too sensitive and we were told to remove it after 3 days if there was no rash, etc. Lindsey had no problems so this week she is all taped up and ready to go. Kinesiotape is waterproof so we can bathe her just as we normally would and we just have to trim any pieces if it comes loose. It is hard to see since it is nude colored but there are 2 long strips that go down her back. We will remove it in 3 days and continue each week. I will let you know how everything goes.

mmmm, bananas

Lindsey is so funny when it comes to eating. She knows it is time to eat the second she spots the bouncy chair and a bib. Lindsey immediately gets a big smile on her face as her arms are flailing and her little legs are a kicking.

mmmm, ice cream

A nice day is never complete without a little Mr. Freeze. Brooke loves the "orange" ice cream.

I heart Jodi Picoult

I seriously haven't been this excited for a movie in a long time. When I read My Sister's Keeper awhile ago I couldn't put it down. Trailer looks good, please don't do me wrong Cameron Diaz. June 26, bring on the popcorn and twizzlers!




I have always enjoyed her books and the next on my list is Handle with Care

When Charlotte and Sean O’Keefe’s daughter, Willow, is born with severe osteogenesis imperfecta, they are devastated – she will suffer hundreds of broken bones as she grows, a lifetime of pain. As the family struggles to make ends meet to cover Willow’s medical expenses, Charlotte thinks she has found an answer. If she files a wrongful birth lawsuit against her ob/gyn for not telling her in advance that her child would be born severely disabled, the monetary payouts might ensure a lifetime of care for Willow. But it means that Charlotte has to get up in a court of law and say in public that she would have terminated the pregnancy if she’d known about the disability in advance – words that her husband can’t abide, that Willow will hear, and that Charlotte cannot reconcile. And the ob/gyn she’s suing isn’t just her physician – it’s her best friend.
Handle With Care explores the knotty tangle of medical ethics and personal morality. When faced with the reality of a fetus who will be disabled, at which point should an OB counsel termination? Should a parent have the right to make that choice? How disabled is TOO disabled? And as a parent, how far would you go to take care of someone you love? Would you alienate the rest of your family? Would you be willing to lie to your friends, to your spouse, to a court? And perhaps most difficult of all – would you admit to yourself that you might not actually be lying?

Looking better

We tried out the jumparoo again to see how she did. The picture below was our first attempt in March. We put in down in the basement for future use. Lindsey's feet still don't touch in the floor but with a box underneath she is good to go and can reach a few of the toys. I would say she looks pretty happy with it.

Brooke cracks me up

Brooke's personality is flourishing as you can see in these pictures.

She figured out how to use my ipod and that I have a playlist specifically for her in the car. Not so sure a 2 year old should know how to use an ipod or have headphones on.

She is talking to Elmo on the phone. This really comes in handy when he "tells" me that it is time to eat or go to the potty.

On the prowl for and ENT

First a picture of Lindsey practicing sitting.

Lindsey had her appointment with the opthamologist today. It was a followup from her 3 month visit to check and see how the drainage looked. It is still there and not improving so she wants her to see an ENT to check for any other blockages before she concludes that the tear ducts are blocked. She said there were 2 reasons: either the valve is closed which she could probe to open up or a blockage below that not allowing proper drainage which would be up to the ENT. SHe asked if LIndsey ever has any drainage from her nose. I never really connected it but once I thought about it, I don't think we have ever had to wipe her nose only her eyes. We were also sent home with erythromycin cream to apply to her eyelids. She cultured Lindsey's eyes to rule out a chronic infection. Lindsey did great and everyone in there just loved her. At one point we had 4 girl's including the Dr in there just playing around with her. She flashed her contagious grin and batted her eyes which made everyone happy.

Botanical Gardens in the spring

Spring has arrived and that meant it was time to get back out to the Botanical Gardens. We were about a week late to see most of the spring flowers bloom but it was still just as pretty. Brooke can't get enough of the wide open space to run. I can't enough of the pictures. I don't know what I would do if I had to go back to film, geez. I couldn't post all the pictures so here are a few and I will get the rest up on Shutterfly soon.

Lindsey was sleeping most of the time so it was hard to get pictures of her.

We all had so much fun and Brooke burned off tons of energy. We didn't hear a peep out of her when it was bedtime.