Emma turned 6!

Every year I make a birthday video for the girls using photos taken over the year.  It's my solution to no scrapbooking time and the girls LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their videos.  They watch them over and over and over during the year.  I'm so glad I started this tradition because it always reminds me of how much life we pack into a year.

Today I'm ready to share Emma's 6th Birthday video.  Enjoy!

Time

I just read my last blog post and am amazed at how little time has gone by since I last posted and yet so much has happened.

We celebrated Emma's birthday with an at-home party on October 12th and mostly everyone invited came.  Emma loves to be surrounded by people so we planned for a large party this year and were happy that the weather cooperated.  My Dad hadn't been out in about a month since he was recovering from a hospital stay and we were so happy that he was finally turning the corner and feeling good enough to come out.

I compiled the annual birthday video and once it was turned on all the children piled into the living room to watch and were thrilled to find that many of them were in at least one photo in the video.  They then went on to watch every annual video I've made for each of the girls and several other home movies including one of Finnegan when she was a puppy.  Who knew home videos would be such a draw?  Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time and the birthday girl loved all the extra attention.  Her favorite part of her birthday - or any birthday for that matter - is singing and the cake.  I love watching the joy in her face when everyone sings the Happy Birthday song.  It never gets old for me to see her so happy.

It's seems hard to believe that less than a week after Emma's birthday party my Dad fell and wound up in the hospital.  We thought it would be a few days in to heal and then he would head home, but that was not to be.  He was in the hospital for two weeks and during that time he contracted pneumonia and a staph infection and wound up in the ICU.  He fought so, so hard to beat it and I've never been more in awe of my Dad's strength than in those two weeks.  But in the end it was just too much and we said our final goodbye to Dad on November 2nd - All Souls Day - and the priest that came to bless him commented that if he had to go it was a blessed day to pick.

It's still hard to believe that we said goodbye to the first man I've ever loved.  It's hard to believe he won't be sitting in his recliner and ready for a chat when I go home to visit.  It's hard to believe Mom won't have her constant companion by her side for all the adventures they had.  I'm sure it will sink in eventually but it hasn't yet.

Dad had a wonderful, full life.  We had sunny day for his beautiful service and luncheon.  He would have LOVED it!  I think he was looking down from above and smiling.

Here is my favorite photo of me and Dad from my wedding.  I can't help but smile every time I look at it:

Thank you to everyone who came to Dad's service and shared in the celebration of his life and to those who were not there but showed their love and support in other ways.  It has certainly made this sad time a bit easier.

Emma's Birthday Video!

Emma just celebrated her birthday.  She did it in style with a pajama party with a few of her friends.  She smiled the entire party and enjoyed every minute of it.  Julia proclaimed that it was so much fun she wants a party just like Emma's.  Now, that's a party!

I try and do a birthday video each year for the girls made up of photos from the year.  They love looking at them all year and I do, too.  It's a great way to capture what happened that year and I hope will be a treasured keepsake for them as they grow older.  This year I was late getting Emma's video completed.  I've been busy ;-)  Between all Emma's days off from school and trying to fit in a bit of work I didn't have extra time to create her video until this weekend.

I always love when the videos come together.  Each year I'm amazed at how much the girls grow and all the wonderful experiences they enjoy.  Having the videos really make me feel good and not just because the girls LOVE to watch them over and over and over again.  They make me feel like our girls are living a wonderful life.  Like their lives are full of love, joy and real life experiences - which is exactly the way I want them to experience childhood.

I'm especially proud that for Emma's videos I don't see disability.  I see ability.  I see life.  I see vitality.  I see joy.  It is not designed like this for her annual video - I am not editing out the *disability* experiences.  You'll see the many pieces of equipment Emma uses to participate more fully in life.  I take photos all year long and when I look at them I don't see Emma as disabled.  I see a typical little girl that just happens to need a bit of help to get around.  I see a child who gets out and about more than a lot of other children.  I see a little girl who draws people to her.  I see a little girl who lives life with wild abandon.  And it makes me want to be more like Emma.  To enjoy each day more fully.

Emma, you inspire me everyday.  Thank you for giving me the honor of being your Mommy.  Happy Birthday!

Cut

While looking at Emma at church last week the idea that she needed a new look popped into my head.  Haircuts aren't usually the inspiration I take away from Mass but from that day on I kept thinking about a new haircut for Emma that would let her wear her hair down instead of always in a ponytail.  Not that she didn't look ridiculously adorable with the ponytail on her head.  Oh, no, it's just that with her about to turn 5 years old it was time to check out a new hairdo.  Plus, she has only ever had about 1/2" of hair cut from her head.  Makes me wonder what is going on with her hair???  Is her body so focused on trying to move that it decided to completely forgo hair growing?  Hmm....

For the new "do" I knew it would have to be easy to maintain (Emma HATES having her hair fussed with) and out of her face.  It also had to have enough substance to clip her CI barrette onto because losing them would cost us pretty much the equivalent of a down payment on a big house!  I also wanted to be able to go back to a bit of a pony on the head if I started getting nostalgic ;-)  A haircut like this should be easy peasy, right?

After thinking about it for a while the sun came out and the weather is picture perfect and I decided TODAY, I have to cut her hair today!  So I took out my hairdresser scissors and brushed Emma's hair and gave her a mirror to look into all the while holding my breath because I'm really not all that good with hair.  I mean, I don't even own any hairspray and my most used hair product is an elastic ponytail (it only just now, as I'm typing this, occurred to me that this could this be the reason Emma sported a ponytail for the past 4 years!).  

I started snipping all the while telling myself I could cut her hair as good as anyone since Emma refuses to keep her head still - and besides, if I messed up a bit it wouldn't matter since her cute smile and sunny disposition could easily detract from a bad haircut.  Emma thought the whole process was hysterical and laughed and laughed and laughed and then laughed some more.  She moved her head back and forth and all around and tried her best to make her haircut as uneven as possible.  Seriously - her sense of humor is a off center like that.  And when I started cutting her hair she burst out into hysterics and caused the dog to come over and add a bit more action to the head banging.  Which was exactly what I didn't need.  But I couldn't be swayed off course and I'm happy to say that I prevailed.  Emma laughed continuously and when we were done and she looked in the mirror she was all giggles and smiles.  I tried to see if the top would still go into a ponytail but she would have none of it.  It seems my girl was ready to let her hair down and ditch the ponytail.  Who knew?

And before you ask - yes, it looks just as adorable with a cute little clip holding her hair off her eyes as it does leaving it down.  

And we're off to a good start!

Our life has been filled with hustle and bustle since the New Year began and I just want to take a moment to update on a few things going on so far this year.

• Julia's swim birthday party was "THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER" according to her.  That's just what this Mommy needed to hear ;-)  Note to self - always bring double the amount of drinks and order double the amount of pizza you think you will need so you don't run out!  Whew - those little children were HUNGRY!
• Emma's secondary insurance approved for her "toileting" system after it was denied by her primary insurance.  That is just a fancy word for an adapted potty.  The one we are ordering is the Rifton Blue Wave in size small and is the same one she uses at school.  Or, I should say sits on at school but must have performance anxiety there.  Hoping to get the toilet training under control and well on our way to pull ups this year.  She is already doing great at home, just not so good outside of our house so that is where we have to make the most progress.  I'm very hopeful that the Rifton seat will help us get her going in the actual bathroom and avoid using the potty chamber all together because Emma is a big girl and eats like a big girl and using an actual toilet would be something great for my big girl (and her Mom).  Estimated time of arrival is 2 weeks, which gives me a bit of time to figure out where we can find room in the house for yet another piece of equipment.
• In a move that almost made me faint, Emma's primary insurance approved her new wheelchair!  I think it is the first approval letter we have ever seen from them and Chris suggested we frame it - and I don't think he was joking, either.  That's how excited we were to get it!  Still likely to take a couple/few more months before we receive delivery of the chair because it - like many things Emma - is a custom chair with a custom seating system with a custom headrest with a customer seatbelt, etc. and so that takes a while to get it all together and ready for Emma.  Still, I'm super excited that (while it took 3 months to get the approval) it is one less fight ahead with me on insurance.  God is good!

Let's hope the rest of this year continues as good as it started!

Birthday Circle

Today we celebrated Julia's birthday at her school.  Birthdays are a big thing in Kindergarten and are celebrated by the whole class with a Birthday Circle.  This is a new tradition to us and I just love it!

During the Birthday Circle, the birthday child sits on the special cat chair (Julia couldn't wait to sit on that chair!) that is usually used by the teachers to read books during circle time.  The teachers and the students in the class sit on the carpet in a circle and each person is asked to pause and reflect for a minute on why they like the birthday child.  Then, each person in the circle says something that is special or fascinating or wonderful about the birthday child.  Afterwards we sing Happy Birthday and move the name/age card from the one row to the new, older age row.  Family is encouraged to join in the birthday circle and so Chris and I attended it for Julia today.

It was so wonderful to hear what the children and teachers had to say about Julia!  There were a lot of comments on how kind Julia is, how she always plays with the other children and never tells them no when they ask to join in, how she shares so readily, how she is always ready to help her friends out.  My absolute favorite remark, though, was when one of her classmates burst out that he likes Julia because she has a GREAT heart.  I think that totally captures Julia!  It actually made my eyes well up a bit.  Julia sitting in the middle of the circle looking so proud and at the same time checking on me with her eyes to make sure I was listening to what everyone said and when she could tell I did she gave me this little smile.  Both teachers also commented on what they like about Julia and her one teacher mentioned that her classmate who said she has a Great heart really summed up what Julia is all about while the other teacher said that there is nothing that she doesn't like about Julia - she loves everything about her and mentioned some specifics and said she and the class are so wonderfully lucky to have her as a friend.  Then the offered to let Chris and me comment and we added what we love about Julia and I mentioned her silly side, her great laugh that always keeps me smiling and how she is the best big sister I have ever seen.

The Birthday Circle was such a positive experience and so unique!  I just loved everything about it.  After the circle and the song, it was time for lunch so Chris and I stayed and ate with the class.  Chris acted very goofy and the children just loved it!  I stayed for the treat while Chris went back to work.  Julia made the pretzel turtles with M&M candies on top for her classmates and they were a big hit.  After distributing them to the class she was able to pick a classmate to join her in going around to others in the school to give out her treat.  It was so funny to watch all the children start to lobby to have Julia pick them to take with her, but the teacher quickly dispelled the children to allow Julia to pick without pressure.  Her friend and I went along with her and I loved meeting the different teachers she liked so much she had to share her birthday treat with them.  They made such a big fuss over her and the treat and Julia was really shining throughout the whole adventure!

Julia's teacher asked me to come back again and visit with the the classroom and to bring Emma along next time.  She didn't join us today because it was her first day back to school after the break and her schedule didn't match up with the time of Julia's event.  I'm thankful to my father-in-law who came to the house to collect Emma off her bus and hang out with her until I returned home - thanks Michael!

It seems that we are having a bit of a weeklong celebration for Julia's birthday.  We went to Build-a-Bear on her actual birthday since it was still holiday break, then today was her Birthday Circle and on Saturday is her party with her friends.  It sure is a fun week for Julia and I'm so happy to have a whole week to focus on my special little girl!