Happy Easter!

This Easter was literally right on the heels of losing our beloved Great Grandma Shwartz--after a very brave battle with cancer, she passed away at the end of March.  Easter was always an awesome holiday with her--she made an amazing ham, always remembered the lamb-shaped butter, and was the only one who ate the hard-boiled eggs.  When my sister, cousin and I were little, she had an amazing egg hunt for us, and always bought the coolest egg dye kits for us--glitter, swirly, tye-dye--so much more fun the the homemade vinegar and food coloring that my mom did! :)  We missed her so much this year, and it definitely wasn't the same without her.

Easter was also a strong memory day for me and my Dad....this is going to sound weird, but when Jessica and I were in our teen and pre-teen years, every year, he delivered our Easter Baskets with a variation of this story: He'd awaken to some noise, a bustle, if you will, out in the kitchen. He armed himself, and a scuffle ensued--well, it was a flurry of Easter grass and fur, and he shot that intruding bastard. He dragged his bleeding carcass to the roadside, and bagged the evidence deep into the garbage cans.  All that remained was this basket of goodies--covered in "blood".  Every year, he shot the Easter Bunny, and surrendered his blood-covered treats to us--the only remaining "evidence".  I loved that story every year.  He was quite dramatic about it too....God I miss him.

Even with the looming sadness, I was able to enjoy Easter--again, like Christmas, it's hard to be sad with toddlers in your life!  We kicked off the festivities and invited our buddies over on Friday for a pre-Easter brunch, egg hunt and trip to the park.  Finally something went my way and we had more than 70 degree weather that day!!

We rounded out the weekend with some egg-dyeing, basket-finding, ham-eating fun.  We spent Easter afternoon with the Schwartz family, and though it was rimmed with a little sadness, we enjoyed time together and being thankful for the true reason for the seaon--He is Risen indeed! Halelujah!

Lions & Tigers & SIT IN YOUR CHAIR Oh My!

We braved the Tripoli Shrine Circus this past weekend!! It was a surprisingly good time.  However, I learned that a big box of popcorn truly only does last so long. I also learned that intermissions must be expertly timed--it came at the approximate moment Jeff was starting to sweat through his shirt.  The first half Will was thrilled--popcorn tightly in his grip, only realeased so he could participate in a HUGE round of applause. "Yay! Yay!"  "Yoook Mama YOOOOOOK!!! Yook at daaat!!!"  

We overspent on consessions, of course.  We managed to dodge the $10 light saber, somehow. And we snuck out at intermission, which worked out perfectly!  I would have enjoyed the second half, but we figured Will wasn't about to allow it.  He was more interested in climbing the ramps and rails of the ol' Mecca Arena once the lights came on, so we knew hopes for staying in our seats were slim to none.

The money went quickly, but the excitement on his face for that first 30 minutes was worth every penny.

BAM!-Chef Will

We ended up with a pretty fair amount of Valentine M&Ms leftover, so I decided to bust out our super-cool birthday gift from Miss Molly: a lil' mini chef set, which included real, usable kitchen tools, an apron AND a chef's hat (does she know me or what?? :)) and Will and I mixed up some yummy M&M cookies.

Ok, ok, I whipped up the cookies, Will used his measuring spoons to eat brown sugar out his bowl and sprinkle some on his fruit.  Either way, we had fun.

Be Mine!

Will was so excited to host a Valentine Party for his friends today! He usually loves having lots of little boy buddies to hang with, although, we're very excited that the newest round of babies is mostly little girls, because amongst allll the boys today, the only chick at this party was Will's COUSIN Nevaeh!  She really glammed it up too--she knew she had her pick!

We had a lot of fun taking EVERY toy out of the toy box, exchanging Valentines, enjoying some sweet treats and making a fun craft to take home for moms & dads to treasure :)  It was so much fun I definitely hope to make this a tradition!

Ready to Party

Valentine "Mailboxes" Ready to Go!

Lots of Treats!!

Eating, Playing & Having FUN!

Didn't our craft turn out cuuuute???

Not my most popular appetizer, but in my opinion, the cutest :)

Some more shots of our buddies....

 

We are so lucky to have such good friends, and be so surrounded with LOVE!

March for Babies

We will again be hosting a team, Will's Wobbly Walkers, for the  March for Babies walk to raise money for the March of Dimes. This organization champions the needs of moms and babies in our community and across the nation. The money we raise for March for Babies will help:


- support all-important research offering preventions and solutions for babies born too soon or with birth defects
- educate women on things they can do to increase their chances of having a healthy baby
- provide comfort and information to families with a newborn in intensive care
- push for newborn screening and health insurance for all pregnant women and children

This year, we will walk in honor of Will's awesome strength and miraculous health and also this year in memory of his Papa, who passed away just 2 months ago. Will was the absolute light of my dad's life.  He gave him so much joy, he softened his heart, and he would have done anything for Will.  Last year my dad joined us for the March for Babies, and  he'd be walking right along side us if he were here today.  I know with him watching over us, our hope for sunshine is better than ever this year!

We hope you'll support Will's Wobbly Walkers this year!! We'd love to have you walk with us on April 24th in Milwaukee, or donate to our team.

Join our team or donate by clicking here!!!
http://www.marchforbabies.org/team/t1305116

Will--a baby born too soon, fighting to survive...

A Happy, Healthy toddler with the Papa who loved him so...

On That Note...

The most recent pics I have of Will, he seems...NOT so well-adjusted?? LOL!

Well "Adjusted"

Yesterday was our now-annual NICU Follow Up clinic.  This is an appointment where Will meets primarily with an Occupational Therapist to be tested on his developmental progress.  This is how they calculate how he's doing based on his "adjusted" and "actual" ages.  Again, for preemies, thier "acutal" age is the number of months they physically are.  Will is physically almost 27 months old. His "adjusted" age is only 24 months--the age he would be if he were born on his due date (which, conincidentally is today--isn't that crazy??). This "gap" makes less and less difference as he ages, but when you're looking at infants, there's a huge difference between a 3 and 6 month old or even a 10 or 13 month old.

So, ANYway.  It's a two-hour appointment that is supposed to kind of be "playing" but it's in a closet-sized room with "developmental" toys from the 1970's.  Supercool.  I can't even tell you how proud I am of that boy--he was so well behaved and cooperated for the FULL two hours, I couldn't beleive it.  They had him do all kinds of crazy things--can he stack blocks, put pennies in a piggy bank, put pegs in a peg board, pretend to feed a baby doll with a spoon, hold a crayon, stand on one leg, walk backwards.  Does he know where his hair is, his shoes are, his bellybutton.  They also show him pictures and ask questions to determine if he comprehends things like "him" and "her".  If he uses "ing" words (i.e. there was a picture of kids at a picnic table with fruit and when they ask him "What are those kids doing" does he say "eating" or "eat")  The list goes on and on.

I'm thrilled to report that Will is again testing at or above his actual age for all areas of development (AGAIN, with one exception--gross motor--which is no surprise.  Did you know he should be able to walk up and down stairs just holding on to the railing?  I'd never even let that druken sailor try to find out if he can do it!  He's testing at only 19 months for gross motor!!). I'm particularly proud that his receptive and expressive communication (language) are testing between 32-39 months.  He cracked me up too--when Pam (the OT) would ask him a question he didn't know the answer to, he'd try, try, try again then put his hands up and simply say "I don't KNOW!"

It was an all around awesome visit.  We stopped at the NICU and saw some of our old angels--some of our favorites were there...it actually brought me to tears to see that room.  We've visited the NICU many times since we left all those tubes, beeps and buzzers behind, but this is the first time Will ran down the hallway to see them, and TALKED to those nurses who rocked him and fed him and, simply said, saved him.  It was surreal to look at him, and how much he's changed, and look at those beautiful women who looked just the same...

I am a lucky, lucky, lucky mama, and I think that maybe, finally, I too, am well adjusted....