Here’s the three of us: Charles, me (with boobs! thanks Lauren!) and Baby Laelia! 

Lauren, our artist friend, came over to do Laelia’s stretches today and gave me this! Sadly this is probably the best family portrait we have. I love it!

Grandma Lucy’s Banana Bread

3 Mashed Bananas

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cube Butter (melt it first)

1 Tsp Baking Soda

2 Cups Flour

(Add 1/4 cup or more chopped walnuts if NOT feeding this to a baby)

Mix all that together and bake in loaf pan for one and a half hours at 325 degrees.

I thought this might give people a better idea of why surgery is needed for her hips. This is the straightest she can “stand” right now. Her hips and tush are pulling on her lower back. Plus her legs are spread wide, and go up and out like she was meant to do nothing but sit. Hopefully if all goes well, and it will, the surgery will greatly improve her ability to straighten out!

So I don’t know, how  are  we doing? A lot of bad has happened in the last two weeks. My grandfather, the one who built my tree house and played video games with me and was there every single Thanksgiving, who was my next door neighbor my entire childhood, is gone.

I had a physical reminder last week that my body isn’t good at making babies. (And, no, I don’t want any either, ever again! And we’re not trying! But I hate that my body isn’t right.) 

I had to defend my choice to be a working Mom to a misinformed, Bible-spouting ignoramus.

My work is crazy since it’s our busy season.

Our cat got fleas. Okay that last thing sounds like nothing, except for the fact that I have this annoying small bugs phobia. I have been scrubbing and vacuuming everything in sight, and I’ve not been able to sleep at night for fear they’ll eat me.  Of course we have only seen a few fleas, and I nuked (with flea spray) everything in sight, and put Advantage on all three cats. It should be  me  who keeps  fleas  up at night.

But I think the worst are these panic attacks that come from thinking about Laelia’s surgery. I get scared and worried and start shaking and crying. But then I don’t think about it for a while, and I’m almost fine again. It can get bad at night, but I get little stabs of panic or grief at random times during the day too. I had one on my way to work yesterday morning. Had one when I had 9 minutes left on the treadmill. Had one when discussing my schedule for the next couple weeks. Had one fifteen minutes ago… 

I just can’t believe she starts school next Thursday. Then surgeries come six days after that. It’s too much. It’s too soon. I’m not ready.  

Other times I’m better. I have a lot of encouragement and support from friends and family. I know I haven’t gotten back to everyone who has emailed me, but I do appreciate it very much! I’ve gone out to Golden Spoon and talked with Lauren, I’ve gone to the gym and talked with Chelsea and I’ve gone out with Maria and had a couple drinks. I felt a lot better after talking about it, and then being able to talk about other random, girlie things too. It’s that bit of normalcy that feels good.  

We’ve also had some good distractions. Like when Lali throws a fit when she can’t have a “cack-er.” Or watching her play with her new Power Wheels. Or listening to her sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Okay I feel better after getting a bit out on the blog. I think I’ll go to bed now. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

Laelia knows all the animal sounds! This is the first time ever that she’s done them for me, not only correctly, but also perfectly clear! AND I GOT IT ON CAMERA! Booya!!!

Laelia knows which button to push to get music, and then which button to push to make the music super annoying! (Unless you like to hear, “Meow meow meow,” until your ears bleed.) She’s so smart!

I think she’s ready for school next week!

Yay, it came!!

Thank you Marla and Doug for this wonderful car! You are the best friends/co-workers ever!

We are calling it a therapy toy since it was recommended by our PT (physical therapist) to give Laelia an idea of moving forward under her own power. Also Laelia’s teacher (in Early Start) mentioned something about how moving forward (as opposed to rolling to the side) would open up new brain connections. So since it’s so difficult to crawl forward (and of course when we ordered this, she couldn’t crawl at all!), our PT mentioned that Laelia would benefit a lot by a really expensive electric wheel chair OR we could try Power Wheels. So of course we looked up Power Wheels and found a good car recommended by their customer service. It’s not on the website now, but I did find this one that’s similar. Marla approached me a few times to ask if I would mind if she got it for Laelia. And Laelia LOVES it! It was very appreciated! Thank you!

This is supposed to help Laelia’s brain make new connections, so I couldn’t wait to try it out. She has only discovered the button to make it move forward once, and it was a shock! So far she will only allow me to push her in it, but this weekend I’m hoping to take her out to the park and see what she can do!

Man, I wanted one of these things  so bad  as a kid. I think back then parents, or at least the ones I was around, were convinced that Power Wheels were one of the most decadent things you could get for a kid, and therefore marked you as some kind of bad parent who spoiled their children.  Now it’s therapy! I love it!

Although, I’ll admit I’ve never cussed so much assembling something! And I’ve been to Ikea!

At one point she was polishing the hood with that bib in her lap.

Charley was teaching her safety (how to put on the safety belt, etc) using Mr. Bear.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR THE FABULOUS GIFT!!!