Raising a Sensitive Soul

I have been thinking a lot lately about my little darling, Ashlynn. She is my sensitive soul. She cries when her friends have to leave. She likes her Disney/Fairy tale characters at a safe, 100 yard distance. She sleeps on the couch to be closer to my bedroom. And she is TERRIFIED of the idea of having ANY kind of holiday character under the same roof as her!

This has been making holiday "merriment" a challenge for me, and quite honestly, I've been getting mighty frustrated. The last Santa picture I have of Ash is from when she was 6 months old. We have told her Santa leaves her gifts in the garage, NOT under the tree, so he isn't anywhere near her bed. More recently, I have explained to her that the Easter bunny is in fact a tiny rabbit, NOT the big dude in the suit at the mall. Whose afraid of a tiny bunny rabbit, right? We shall see....

Lets just say holiday "folk lore" isn't as easy in my house as it is in others. But, upon further reflection, I've decided to take it as a challenge. I certainly don't want to take any of the excitement away from the younger kids, but I am DYING to hang onto that magic for Ashy. And If I have to bend over backwards to do it, so be it :-)

Let's see how this year goes ;-)

The Future Ballerina...

Clearly, she is a natural... and cant wait to go back next week!

(like mother, like daughter! Ill find some of my old dance pictures, too. Memories...)

My Babies Are Perfect

Its been a day.

I took Gracie for her 12 month check up. 19 lbs 8 oz. 28 1/2 inches long. Right on track for her growth chart (her ALTERED growth chart. If you will remember, her last check up, she'd dropped from the 80th percentile to the 25th and there was a little alarmism goin' on via her Dr. so we did some blood work, and she was fine. Just like I thought. Babies don't grow as fat when they are on the move!!) She is lookin' good, healthy ears, eyes, nose, mouth (I think she actually enjoyed the tongue depressor. She said "numa numa numa" when he put it in her mouth. That's what she calls food. LOL!) Then I asked about her murmur. She was born with VSD, (a small hole in the heart) but I was assured most babies grow out of that in the first year. Well, the Dr thinks he can still hear a murmur. So, next month, we will be going back to the cardiologist for an EKG.

Heavy Sigh.

It's not rare. And its very treatable. But still. SIGH. So that shoots to the top of my personal prayer list.

Anyway, to add insult to injury, she got 5 (FIVE??!! SHEESH!) shots, and a screening for anemia. You guessed it. We get to go back tomorrow to draw more blood to test for anemia. Wouldn't it be easier to just do the ACTUAL test in the first place? Or check the blood tests from 2 months ago? Of course not.

So, this wasn't my happiest well baby visit.

But

We got home, and settled in.

I brought home milk shakes for everyone (well, if Gracie can't have a shake after all that, shouldn't we at least get a treat??)

And I began watching that little monkey crawl after her sister, playing tag, giggling, laughing, snorting (as all of us Piper girls do when we laugh real hard) and it put my heart at ease.

My babies are perfect.

My Favorite Pics of 2009

I had originally thought of posting a "Year in Review" blog, but that is mentally and physically exhausting, so here are my favorite pictures of the year!

More to come later this weekend! :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Enjoying a day of puttering and cooking with my little girls, eating and being surrounded by wonderful family. Ill add some photos later :-)

I am thankful for each and every one of you!!

Happy "Wis"giving, as Ashlynn says. Its time to cook up that turkey and start simmering the "gib-a-lips" ( I dont know what I would do if she could talk right! I really dont!!)

Dont forget to check out the HUGE Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales in the store this weekend, too!

http://www.tinybellesboutique.etsy.com