Just us - there’s a little of the before, but mostly it’s the after...: July 2014

A Sense of Humor

Having a sense of humor is priceless.

I have a rather odd sense of humor.

...and, I think I've passed that on to my Baby Boy.

Occasionally, I get to use that to my advantage.

Case in point - recreating one of my favorite pictures of him - 14 years later.

We still had the pillow, blanket and Alley cat.

We had to improvise on the walkie talkie, Mickey Mouse shirt...and couch.

He couldn't look at me without laughing, so we had to agree to let that little detail go, but I love that he allowed me to do this.
and
Alley was a good sport as well.

Thanks Pelham...

for turning 50.

That gave us a great excuse for Addie and Jaycob to spend the afternoon together.

Although Addie and Jaycob loved playing together, it is July - in Alabama - and so incredibly hot.

The trip to the bouncy house was more like an effort to retreat from the melting asphalt.

Despite Julien's best efforts, Addie joined Jaycob on stage for the hula hoop contest.
Julien, being the very protective big brother, didn't want Addie up on stage and was worried about her falling.
I assured him she would be fine and once she had her hula hoop in hand, I went back to my seat and let Jaycob watch over her.

Jaycob and Addie had the best time!

Nothing like a little improvisation, and they never missed a beat!

They had fun eating ice cream, keeping Julien alert and on his toes, having their hands painted, getting balloon hats, and refusing the offer of taking home their very own turtle, lizard or tarantula.

The afternoon was fun - and entertaining.

SOMC

Single Orange Male Cat in search of loving home.

A home free of judgement and breakables.

A home where I am free to explore tops of cabinets, knock a variety of glass fixtures off the top and snicker when they shatter on the floor below.

Preferably a home with an Olympic size swimming pool, multiple feather beds and two to three catnip filled mice per room.

The home must provide humans who will act as my own personal massage therapists and shall not prohibit me from joining them in the shower or tub, and who will allow me to freely play in the potty as I see fit.

I am a strapping 16 pounds of lovable fluff who will hiss at anyone who tries to enter the home.

I also have a knack for intimidating unsuspecting strangers with my clawless paws and ear splitting meows.

My current owners call me, "D**n't Rudy", although sometimes they just call me, "Rudy".

It has been five years....

since this moment in our lives.
The moment Addie took her first steps without her walker.
Even today, I watch her walk or run and still feel the same amount of pride I did at this first moment.
It truly was a cumulation of 30 months of prayers, heartache, pain and tears.

Five years later, I am still so thankful for you all - for your continued prayers and support.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Original Post - http://babyhenderson.blogspot.com/2009/07/he-performs-wonders-that-cannot-be.html

He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
Job 9:10

Today is a day of miracles:
There are no words that I can say to even begin to explain this.
This is a miracle!
This is 30 months of our prayers - your prayers.
30 months of heartache, pain and tears.
30 months of prayers brought us to today.
Addie's heaven sent teachers, Jessica, Shon and Kristen had this ready for me when we picked her up today.
They are three dedicated, loving women who opted not to take the easy way out.
They have pushed Addie and made her work each and every day.
They love her and are so proud of her.

Please join with me in our joy and our prayers of gratitude.

There's no stopping the tears on this one!

Please take 2 minutes and 20 seconds out of your day to witness our miracle from God.

Please continue your prayers for our family.
This milestone that we were told would never happen, did indeed happen.
We will not be able to make the next milestone without your continued prayers and support.
Thank you for not giving up on us!

I am ever so grateful to you all!

My Little Helper

One of the daily challenges around our house is finding things that Addie can help with, while giving her a feeling of independence.

It is one of the most difficult tasks.

She absolutely adores being a helper and when she can do something all by herself, she is happy to tell everyone within a five mile radius - for days.

She enjoys helping me wash fruits and vegetables, but 99.9982% of the time, I end up with a small water park running through my kitchen.

So for now, I demoted her to fruit and vegetable rinser.

However, she also has the big job of plucking the grapes from the vine and depositing them in baggies.

We usually end up with about 72% of the partially mutilated grapes in baggies, while 11% of the grapes end up in the dark depths of the garbage disposal, and the remaining 17% in her tummy.

I am still working on her learning to remove each little stem from the grapes.

She is aware of what the stems are and that she is supposed to remove them, but sometimes it's too tough for her to be able to grasp each stem and remove it from the grape.

She tries!

It's all a work in progress!

I just love that she is happy and enjoys being my little helper, so I will continue to resist the urge to step in and do things myself in order to speed up the process and I will make sure I always keep extra towels on hand, because I'm going to need them.

She is such a sweetheart and her determination melts my heart!

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

I attempted a trip to the nail salon with Addie - by myself.
She was fantastic!
She never got upset and once I got her settled in the chair, she was content to stay there until we were both done.
It helped tremendously that the place was packed and she constantly had new people to watch.

I was SO PROUD of her!

...and she never travels light - ever.

The biggest challenge was making it to the car unscathed.

Her piggies left the salon in less than perfect shape, but she was still so proud of them and had to look at her reflection in the windows as we - ever so slowly - made our way to the car - in the 205 degree temperatures.

Yep. She was walking alright - and bringing me pure joy just watching her.

Summer Months...

As many of you are aware from my previous years of whining;

it's summer, it's Alabama, schedules are anything but consistent...and it's Alabama.

This is my least favorite time of year.

Julien started football practice today - 2 a days.

A working parents nightmare.

He came home happy and worn out, so the benefits outweigh the scheduling chaos.

and, it will pass before I even know it.

Addie is enjoying summer camp, the activities and the other children.

Us, not so much.

Her lack of nighttime sleeping has me exhausted

and I really need someone to design a summer camp meal plan for the next four weeks.

I despise having to be creative and come up with new things to pack for breakfast, snack, lunch and snack.

My creativity is limited to whatever I can find on any blog or website from other creative PlanetBox people.

I don't have mini cookie cutters to enable the multitude of fancy and child friendly designs that adorn other children's lunches, so as long as the options maintain a square or round shape, I can usually follow along.

Despite my petty complaining, summer has been good to us.

Unlike summers past, we have avoided stitches, multiple trips to various physician's offices, and my favorite - late night ER visits when I am makeup-less with wet hair.

We all have had our - more than fair share - of bumps and bruises, but what's summer without a few minor injuries along the way?

Life is good, I am beyond blessed for all that we have and the daily miracles I see in my Little Monkey.

Although I have lots of road bumps in my daily life right now, nothing makes me happier than knowing at the end of the day, I have three sweet - and often crazed - people to come home to.

Independence Day!

While remembering the true reason for this long and very beautiful weekend, we managed a good bit of downtime.

My brother and sister in law was gracious enough to host a July 4 party at their house, and then brought us back again today for round two.
That meant that Addie enjoyed two full days of pool time.

She was a crazed Monkey and refused to be extracted from the water.
I think she was daring me to try it.

She hoarded every flotation device within a five mile radius

and

even learned to kick her feet hard enough to splash everyone in sight.

She loved it.

In the midst of pool toy/flotation device hoarding, she also learned to pull the trigger on a water gun.

Occupational Therapy even on a major holiday - check.

Something so small makes me so very happy!

We had a fantastic weekend and a ton of fun!

Phase I of Summer 2014 - that's a wrap.

Nashville

Since Addie is having a tough time and missing "her" Julien, we decided to head up to Nashville to see him for the weekend.

Our first stop of the weekend was at Dave and Busters.

It was our first experience at a Dave and Busters and the kids had a blast!

It was crazy busy, dark and super loud and total sensory overload, but Addie followed Julien around like a little puppy and she enjoyed virtually every second.

In the process of trying to climb onto the motorcycle, she fell and got a nasty bruise on her entire shin.

She started to cry when Julien picked her up, but as soon as he gave her a hug, then held her at arms length to ask if she was OK, the tears dissipated as quickly as they had come.