The Adventures of a Pitiful Princess.....

Our poor Princess J had a horrible night last night......of course she did, because mommy had some scrapping plans on Friday! Anyway, Princess J spiked a fever at about 7pm of 101. again. We gaver her some tylenol and she ate and drank her bottle and fell asleep. This poor little girl was up every 45 minutes to an hour all night! She was just miserable. Her fever came down and hovered in the 99 to 100.3 range until morning, but nothing would console this wee little one. I felt so bad for her, all she wanted to do was get comfortable and sleep, but it was just not happening. When she finally gave up trying to sleep and decided she might as well watch cartoons, she just looked miserable. Her poor little eyes were all watery, her nose was just drenched in snot and she's got bags packed under her eyes that could hold every outfit she owns (and that's a lot, if you hadn't guessed). You might think looking at this photo that she's smiling, but she's not. That is here melodramatic look for....."Look Lady, that's not whatI want, you don't have what I want, so until you have what I want, leave me the freak alone (as she uses her hand to shove whatever item or person is in it's wake out of the way)!

We took her to the pediatrician, this morning and there is no ear infection, no strep throat....and no magic pill to make her all better! She finally slept for an 1 1/2 hours this morning, but has been grumpy (I would be too) all day long. I got everything set to go to my scrap night, set Daddy up with all the kids food put together and ready to go, Little J's medications and suppliments and headed out to have a little girl time. About 2 hours in, G calls me, and Princess J is not happy and had spit out part of her motrin. I felt so bad, that he was having a rough time, and that Princess J was so unhappy, that I just had to come home. When I got home, G had just changed her and we let her walk around in her walker for about 15 minutes. She drank her milk (and then in a perfect world, this is where she would fall asleep) and she wanted to go in her play pen. She has this routine in her play pen, that if she's thinking about being tired and napping, she will start getting all the toys out by throwing them out of the play pen. Tonight, she decided she didn't want the toys in there and started handing them to me to put away. One by one, all of the toys were removed in this manner. Poor thing kept laying down trying to get comfortable, but it was not working. Mommy walking around holding her was not working, mommy rocking her was not working, laying her in our bed propped up (so the snot wouldn't block her nose) was not working, daddy trying to cuddle her was not working..............so, I resorted to the one thing I never thought I would do.......I loaded this kid up in her car seat and drove her around. When I first put her in the seat, she was screaming like a banshee, but once we got moving I think she was asleep before we hit the stop sign that exits our neighborhood. I drove about 5 miles in a perfect square through town and (knocking on wood right now) Princess J has been asleep for 2 1/2 hours in her carseat! She's squeeked a few times, but gotten right back to sleep. Let's hope this keeps up and she sleeps through for a few more hours at least. Sleep is, what I think she needs most to feel better.

On another note: I really want to thank everyone for their wonderful support of our family after the letter I posted about Little J the other day. So many people have generously donated to support him in the walk-a-thon. To each and every one of you, I am so grateful! If you didn't get a chance to read the letter, you can find it HERE.

If you would like to make a donation to support Little J in the walk-a-thon you can do so at Firstgiving-Team Punkypants. I guess I'll have to tell you how the nickname Punkypants came along someday too........

Okay, time for this tired mommy to try and get some rest.....

A Small Step Forward....

Little J has moved into 9th place on the Top Ten Badge Board! Yay!!! To all of you who have donated thank you!!! I am so grateful for all of your support! I am so happy, that we are raising a little awareness for Angelman Syndrome and a little money for the Angelman Syndrome Foundation. In order for Little J to get the matching donation from Hanes, he needs to get to the top 6 badges. Right now, he is 24 donations away from taking over 6th place. Obviously that changes daily based on donations being made to the other charities. So keep spreading the word for Little J!!

In other news, Princess J is doing well! She had her 4 month checkup today. It seems like she's been here forever, yet only arrived yesterday....if that makes any sense! She is doing so well with her milestones! She's even accomplished a few things that are generally achieved around the 6 month mark. With everything that has gone on with Little J, I am so anxious at every doctor visit following Princess J's progress. I know she's fine, but just need that reassurance. She's on track to be a tall girl, right now her height is in the 85th percentile! Grow baby!!! Yay!! Her rash seems to be clearing up, she's been on the hypoalergenic formula for a week now and we are continuing it for another week. If all goes well, we'll be introducing her to a soy formula and then on to rice ceral! Wow! Solid food already! I just can't believe how fast she's growing and how much she changes everyday!

Hopefully I'll get to do a little scrapping in the next few days...or at least get a few new pictures of the kiddos. I'll definately be scrapping on Sunday! Can't wait to get together with my homies and just hang out for some good times!

Accomplishments?

Not so much.

Who knew you could do this at Hallmark? So cute! Found this in my email box on Mother's day!

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

At first I was afraid....

I was petrified! Today was G's first day back at work and I survived! Wahoo! I'm so happy, the morning went like clockwork! I was even more productive than I thought I would be. I know G was suprised when he came home for his break. I know he thought that the kids and I would still be in our jammies....at NOON! That was not the case. Everyone was dressed and presentable! Wahooo! So excited, that I even got the dishwasher emptied and reloaded, bottle washed and the bed made! All in time to sit down for my daily dose of the Young and the Restless! Didn't get much else done, besides feeding kids and changing diapers. Since Little J had a therapy appointment this afternoon, that kind of stopped all other productivity for the afternoon. Thank goodness that G was such a sweetheart and brought me my Venti peppermint mocha frappacino with a double add shot blended. I knew (and apparently he knew too) that I would need an infusion of caffeine! Alas, that was only day 1, we'll see if day two goes as well.

I've got some things on my "I want to get this done" list. The bathrooms are really in need of that deep cleaning. They are clean, but you know the cleaning where you really get into the nitty gritty. I'm hoping to get that done tomorrow. If I can get that deep cleaning done on one room at a time over the next couple of weeks, then I can get down to hiring a bi-weekly cleaning service. I've got to do this, because I just can't seem to keep up with the mopping, dusting and bathrooms. I really also want to get into my scraproom and really get organized. Ultimately I want to get some serious scrapping done. I'm feeling the mojo lately. Hopefully, I can get in there and organize before the mojo floats away.

Reality TV...where to start! I'm sad that the CHA CHA's did not win the Amazing Race, I'm sad that Yau did not win Survivor, I'm sad that Dancing with the Stars is almost over this season (rooting for Ian and Cheryl), I'm disappointed in this season of American Idol...really, there is no one left that I think I would buy an album from. Waiting anxiously for Big Brother to come back!

This past weekend, I got addicted to a few shows that I happened to catch in rerun mode. America's Next Top Model: Cycle 8, caught this on VH-1..now I have to watch the final show on Wednesday. Hopefully Jaslene will pull off the win. For some reason, Renee and Natasha both bug me. I also caught the reality show Tori & Dean Inn Love, I don't know why I couldn't tear myself away from the television. So, do I watch season 2 when it starts?

Just received an email today, the the 2nd season of Big Love on HBO starts on June 11th! Yay!!! I think I'm going to have to get season 1 on DVD now. I was starting to get worried, that it wasn't really going to come back and they were just going to leave you wondering what happend. If that was the case, I didn't see the point in buying the 1st season of DVD's, but now that I know season 2 is coming.....

Something More

Today is kind of a sad day. It was exactly 1 year ago today, that we got Little J's diagnosis. While we are saddened by his diagnosis, we are also very blessed to have him and he is a beautiful, wonderful, amazing joy! He is the most awesome little boy ever! We have also been fortunate enough to be blessed with Princess J as well. While today does hold some significant sadness, we also realize just how lucky we are and we are thankful to God for all of his blessings. I also want to thank all our family and friends for all of their love and support over the last year. We couldn't have gotten through those tough times without you. We also thank you in advance for your future support. We are thankful that we know you are there for us. I found this on a message board I belong to and wanted to share it.


Some Mothers Get Babies With Something More
Written By: Lori Borgman
Columnist and Speaker

My friend is expecting her first child. People keep asking what she wants.
She smiles demurely, shakes her head and gives the answer mothers have given throughout the pages of time. She says it doesn't matter whether it's a boy or a girl. She just wants it to have ten fingers and ten toes.

Of course, that's what she says. That's what mothers have always said.

Mothers lie.

Truth be told, every mother wants a whole lot more.

Every mother wants a perfectly healthy baby with a round head, rosebud lips, button nose, beautiful eyes and satin skin. Every mother wants a baby so gorgeous that people will pity the Gerber baby for being flat-out ugly. Every mother wants a baby that will roll over, sit up and take those first steps right on schedule (according to the baby development chart on page 57, column two). Every mother wants a baby that can see, hear, run, jump and fire neurons by the billions. She wants a kid that can smack the ball out of the park and do toe points that are the envy of the entire ballet class.

Call it greed if you want, but we mothers want what we want.

Some mothers get babies with something more.

Some mothers get babies with conditions they can't pronounce, a spine that didn't fuse, a missing chromosome or a palette that didn't close. Most of those mothers can remember the time, the place, the shoes they were wearing and the color of the walls in the small, suffocating room where the doctor uttered the words that took their breath away. It felt like recess in the fourth grade when you didn't see the kick ball coming and it knocked the wind clean out of you.

Some mothers leave the hospital with a healthy bundle, then, months, even years later, take him in for a routine visit, or schedule her for a well check, and crash head first into a brick wall as they bear the brunt of devastating news. It can't be possible! That doesn't run in our family. Can this really be happening in our lifetime?

I am a woman who watches the Olympics for the sheer thrill of seeing finely sculpted bodies. It's not a lust thing; it's a wondrous thing. The athletes appear as specimens without flaw - rippling muscles with nary an ounce of flab or fat, virtual powerhouses of strength with lungs and limbs working in perfect harmony. Then the athlete walks over to a tote bag, rustles through the contents and pulls out an inhaler.

As I've told my own kids, be it on the way to physical therapy after a third knee surgery, or on a trip home from an echo cardiogram, there's no such thing as a perfect body.

Everybody will bear something at some time or another. Maybe the affliction will be apparent to curious eyes, or maybe it will be unseen, quietly treated with trips to the doctor, medication or surgery. The health problems our children have experienced have been minimal and manageable, so I watch with keen interest and great admiration the mothers of children with serious disabilities, and wonder how they do it.

Frankly, sometimes you mothers scare me. How you lift that child in and out of a wheelchair 20 times a day. How you monitor tests, track medications, regulate diet and serve as the gatekeeper to a hundred specialists yammering in your ear.

I wonder how you endure the clichés and the platitudes, well-intentioned souls explaining how God is at work when you've occasionally questioned if God is on strike. I even wonder how you endure schmaltzy pieces like this one -- saluting you, painting you as hero and saint, when you know you're ordinary.

You snap, you bark, you bite. You didn't volunteer for this. You didn't jump up and down in the motherhood line yelling, "Choose me, God! Choose me! I've got what it takes." You're a woman who doesn't have time to step back and put things in perspective, so, please, let me do it for you.

From where I sit, you're way ahead of the pack. You've developed the strength of a draft horse while holding onto the delicacy of a daffodil. You have a heart that melts like chocolate in a glove box in July, carefully counter-balanced against the stubbornness of an Ozark mule.

You can be warm and tender one minute, and when circumstances require intense and aggressive the next. You are the mother, advocate and protector of a child with a disability. You're a neighbor, a friend, a stranger I pass at the mall. You're the woman I sit next to at church, my cousin and my sister-in-law.

You're a woman who wanted ten fingers and ten toes, and got something more.

You're a wonder!

After you dry your eyes from reading this....if you haven't already, watch the video in my previous post and do some smiling and laughing!

A Negative into a Positive...

This really was going to be a negative post. It was going to be one of your some people really suck posts. The worst part of this post was that it involved people that I thought were friends. It's very possible that I'm overreacting with all these end of the preggo hormones, but I don't think it is. Anyway, many of you who are my friends know that Little J has a diagnosis and that he is developmentally delayed. It is a heartwrenching thing to have happen. You always want the best for your children and have so many hopes and dreams for them, you never imagine that this could happen to your child.

I want everyone to know, that I am so blessed to have been trusted by God to care for this amazing little boy. I see more love and have more pride than anyone could ever hope for. This little boy is one of the best things that has ever come into my life. To those people who shy away from me since our diagnosis, all I can say is your loss. I also hope and pray, that if this does happen to you or someone in your family, that you will step up to the plate and be a support for them. It can happen to anyone. Unfortunately, even with the greatest technology, reproduction is not a perfect science. Many, many things can and do go wrong. This is not something that we passed on to our child, it was just a random occurence. So, for those of you who question our choice to have another child, maybe you should find out the facts before you jump to conclusions. Your words, while they are meaningless to me now after the fact. They do hurt when they are first said.

Here is the bright side of things....when something as serious as this happens to your family, you really do find out who your friends are. I have been blessed with some of the most amazing friends and I want to thank them all, for all their support, and friendship. I love spending time with all of you and I know that Little J loves you all too. You all know who you are! Thank you, because if it were not for you, I don't think I would be able to overlook the negative in some people. It's the power of all your positivity (is that a word) that inspires me, makes me have a positive outlook on our situation, and not feel like a pariah.

Where did the last nine months go???

Wow! As of today, we have 16 days until the arrival of our new little one! I think we've almost got everything done that needs to be done. I can't believe it is coming up so quick! Little J is doing so well too, I really feel blessed! I will say though, that the more pregnant I get, the more Little J seems like a mack truck coming through. I really miss being able to sit on the floor and just play with him. He's just way to strong now and it is way too hard to get off the floor now. As a matter of fact, just a week ago, I thought it would be fun to play with Little J in the ball pit he has, so I climbed in. We played for a little bit, and then he got tired of it and crawled away. He kept coming back, because I was still in there, but he'd just come back and laugh.....that's because mommy couldn't get out! I had to call for G to come down and help me out. Way too funny!

The days are flying by, but thankfully, I've spent some days busy with appointments, others taking naps and others with great friends! This last Friday, I went to the scrapbook expo and met up with Vanessa, Jenn and Erin. Jenn and I walked around for a few hours, and then sat outside for the million dollar lunch. Check this out. $15 for a Grilled Italian Garlic Chicken Sandwich, Garlic Fries and a bottle of water. Talk about sticker shock! It was yummy though. Then it was time to head home to take over Little J duties from G. G had to go to court on his day off for some crazies that wanted to fight their tickets. I guess they were just hoping that he wouldn't show up so they could get out of it. No such luck! Anyway, then later, I went to Suzy's store Picture Me Perfect for the very first crop! I got to hang out some more with Erin and Jen, and then Michelle came to scrap with me too. I tell you, these three ladies are full of creativity and inspiration. Me, I'm so preggo, that I just sat there and enjoyed their company. I didn't have any energy left in me to scrap, but I was so happy to be hanging out with the girls!

Oh, and thanks to Jenn, I am no officially addicted to the Andes Mint Milk Shake at Jack in the Box. Unfortunately the Jack in the Box near my house sucks big time. Their Shake machine is down all the freakin' time. First, I tried to go on Friday on my way to Suzy's, I ordered at the drive through, and they told me their machine was down. This really sucked, because of course there were two cars in front of me and several behind me. So I had to wait in the lousy drive through line for nothing! What was even worse, is the lady in front of me gets her food, and then pulls up just enough so I can get to the window to retrieve the nothing I ordered and decides that's a good time to hand out the food to all her kiddos. I honked at her, but she still took for freaking ever! Then I went in on Saturday (did not trust the drive-thru), but again, no shake. Thankfully, G went out to Baskin and Robbins after dinner and got me my favorite Mint Chip Ice Cream! All was well!

Another thing I've been really wanting lately is Linguine and Clams! Ugh! It really sucks when you can't have the thing you really want! Soon...very soon though!