Good Things, Grand Finale

It's been a week chock full of good stuff...

Taylor's been doing really well drinking 60mL out of a bottle once a day. Last Monday we got adventurous, we doubled it! And whadya know...Supergirl downed it...all 120mL!!!!!!!! Shar was feeding her, I was there, and JoAnn from Pace was over for a home visit. Three witnesses all cheering like crazy with excitement. When Shar took the bottle out of her mouth, Taylor had a bit of a smirk on her face, kinda like she was sayin' "Ha! And you didn't think I could do it!" We were all cheering and praising her like crazy in high-pitched squealy voices and suddenly she busted out this gigantic full mouth smile! It was amazing. Like she was as proud of herself as we were. Absolutely precious. It was so fast I couldn't catch it with the camera, but it's etched in my mind, that's for sure.

The girls' cousin Jeff was over the other day playing with Marissa, they had her barbies lined up on blocks on the floor in the playroom. They were doing push-ups at the gym! Of course they were, what else do Barbies do?! Marissa loves it when Jeff comes over, he loves it too, they're special friends those two.

Apparently there's group of church ladies who make quilts for the Rotary Flames House. On our last visit they sent us home with one for Taylor. It has a patch on the corner, stitched by the lovely lady from Rotary South who made it. Wherever you are Doreen, we thank you!

It's really hard to find footed sleepers in toddler sizes, they're so much better on Taylor than the two-piece separates. I do have a bunch, but they all have zippers, and that poses a bit of a problem when it comes to the g-tube. When she's hooked up to a feed I have to have the sleeper halfway unzipped. So I thought I'd take them to an alteration place and have a button hole put in each one to create an access hole to the g-tube. Great idea right? Well, I took them in and they were going to charge $11 per sleeper. You've got to be kidding me, that's more than the price of the sleepers. So I brought them home, where they have been sitting on the railing ever since. Francis' parents were here for a visit last week and I was telling my mother-in-law the story. She told me I could do those by hand in no time. I'm like, yeah right! I'll just add that to the mile-long list of things in my procrastination pile! Grada insisted it was easy, asked me for a needle and thread and a scrap of fabric, and proceeded to showed me how to hand sew a buttonhole stitch. I think Francis was smirking under his breath 'cause he knew the likelihood of me following through was pretty slim! So I decided to buck up and off I went to the store, got me some embroidery thread and needles. On Thursday night I sat down in my comfy chair, cut a slit in each of the sleepers and started stitching. And I am proud to say I did it, and if I do say so myself, they look pretty damn good! Thank you Grada...Francis thanks you too 'cause you saved him $66!

My six masterpieces!

I had respite one afternoon, so off I went to tackle some errands and enjoy some alone time. Along my way I ended up at the Children's Place in the CrossIron Mills outlet mall. And I struck gold. Marissa is just about out of all of her shoes...the 10's are getting pretty tight, nearly ready for 11's. I got her four pairs of shoes for under $30! Followed by three pairs of sparkly flip-flops at Superstore for $12. Seriously...7 pairs of shoes for forty-two bucks?? Wish I could get myself 7 pairs of shoes for $42, chance of that happening is not bloody likely!

We got a Dakota chair for Taylor (like the ones at Rotary Flames House). It's a thing of beauty, and the ultimate in comfort and safety. It's a supportive bean bag chair, with a safety harness, made in Calgary to boot! It can be pushed right back allowing her to chill out and/or sleep all cradled in, or it can be brought all the way forward so that she is supported in an upright position. Or any angle in between, all without any pressure points. It's so nice to have another seating option in the house to get Taylor up off the floor.

Of course Marissa and I got to do some egg colouring as Easter was approaching. She coloured the eggs first with the magic crayon, dropped them into mugs of pretty coloured dye, then fetched them out once they reached the perfect shade. I drew some swirls on one of the eggs with the magic crayon and when Marissa scooped it out of the mug she complimented me on how beautiful my egg was. Why thank you dear!

You're never too old to do this!

Easter weekend was a busy one. We had respite on Friday night, so after a full day with the girls, Francis and I went out to see a movie...Limitless. It was good. Saturday morning Marissa had gymnastics, then it was off to her friend Sam's birthday party, and finally back home to make a nice supper. Mom joined us and showed up with arms full. A basket of sweets for Marissa, flowers for me, and an absolutely darling swarovski necklace that she made for Taylor (to match last year's bracelet)! Thank you so much Mom, you're too good to us. Before bed that night Francis and I were busy doing up the girls' Easter baskets and laid out the trail of carrot clues that Marissa would follow the next morning. Sunday morning was really fun, I loved watching Marissa's animated reaction to each clue that lead her closer and closer to the big basket waiting for her at the end of the hunt. And she was just as anxious to open Taylor's basket and show her each little treasure that was inside. We didn't do chocolate since Taylor can't have any and Marissa doesn't need any, instead opted for an array of little things they would each enjoy. Following the Easter bunny excitement, we left on an exciting errand (that you'll read about next), then we were off to dinner at Grandma & Grandpa's. Marny has made her signature rainboots for all the grandkids, and to my delight yesterday Taylor got her very own pair! She may not be able to puddle jump in them, but she'll sure rock the look while being pushed through the rain in her wheelchair, thank you Marny! Marissa always enjoys time with her cousins Megan & Jilli, the threesome were busy little girls whipping up no shortage of Easter crafts last night.

And now...for the grand finale...drumroll please...

We. Got. A. Puppy. She's the most adorable little Maltese/Yorkie cross ("Morkie") you have ever seen! Allow me introduce you to Koko...

You may or may not know that we used to have a dog. A beautiful yellow lab named Bailey. Bailey was a bundle of extreme energy and at a certain point in time we just couldn't seem to keep up with what he needed from us in time and intense exercise. As a result, he started to become destructive and very sad. We felt the best and kindest thing for Bailey would be to find him a new home where he could get what he needed. We did find him a great one, we met the lovely couple who lived directly across the street from an open field where they would be running him several times a day. We did go over a few months afterwards to visit and could see that we made the right choice for him. Every time I see a yellow lab though, I still feel a twinge of guilt for the commitment we failed to keep. We loved him so very much, and made sure he went to a good home, but at the end of the day...we did let him down.

We were certainly in no hurry for another pet after we let Bailey go. It's been a few years now. And this was not a decision we made lightly. I think we both knew there would eventually be a dog in our future, we just didn't know when that would be. We have talked about what the right circumstances would have to be in order for us to get a dog, because it is a commitment that we are absolutely 100% dedicated to honoring second time around. The dog would have to be small and not require alot of exercise. It would have to be non-shedding because of my allergies. It would have to be playful and non-aggressive. While we weren't actively looking for a dog, we knew very clearly what we wanted in one. So when the right dog happened to come along, we made the decision. She is a small dog indeed, will be only 6 or 7 pounds full grown! She's a very low shedding dog, frequently chosen by allergy sufferers. And she's playful indeed. We spent a good chunk of time in the bonding room with her on Friday. Marissa was totally taken with her, had her up and down over and over, gave her tonnes of little cuddles and squeezes, played with her...and she took it all in stride. No sign at all of even a hint of aggression. She could handle Marissa, no small feat! All our requirements were met, Taylor was okay with her, I was not a stuffed-up mess, and we were unanimously taken with her. So Easter Sunday found us back at the pet store picking up our sweet little Koko! I think this is going to make a really positive impact on Marissa too, she'll have a real loyal playmate in Koko.

Well that's the end of one big post! I'll wrap this up with an 'outtake' cause it's too silly not to include :-)