End of Seven, Start of Eight

Eight years ago I experienced the perfect delivery. My sweet, accommodating, baby showed up at the perfect time, in a clam setting full of love and support. Megan has since grown into an amazing girl full of beauty and generosity. Megan has an easiness about her and has a profound concern for others. I get so used to her easiness that sometimes it surprises me when she asserts her opinions with determination. I want her to know that I value her opinions, that she is special, and worth-while and each year her birthday is a great opportunity to make sure she knows this. 

Megan choose a Hollywood Movie theme so we sent her friends ticket invitations. We found clap-board plates and movie night napkins. We would have 3 hours to entertain, so Megan, the sisters and I talked over some party games and project ideas. Megan was excited about some of the ideas and had distinct thoughts on how to make them happen. Megs helped me make the cake and was happy to have Bridget participate as well. Then on Saturday she and the sisters helped add the decorations to the cake. I couldn't make it exactly like she wanted but I think she was happy with the end result.

When Meg's friends arrived each made a star for our walk of fame and imprinted their hands, we then had "Chinese food at Mann's Chinese Theater".  Megan got to lead the group in a game of charades. I messed this up though because, ahead of time I had Megan cut up the ideas so she knew them all. She had an unfair guessing advantage. Everyone went and then the the girls wanted to go again. At one point I forgot I told Megan she could go and gave the charade slip to her friend. Megan got really angry with me and wound up in her room in tears.  I got mad that she was angry. Not very mature of me and not productive in getting Megan to come back and enjoy her party. But she did come back out and we switched to a Concession Candy tasting game that Rachael led. We all got back on a happy footing while tasting candy. Then we had them all do a perler bead project (melty beads). We shared cake and ice cream and ended by watching Megan open her presents. Her friends went home happy and we switched to clean up. 

I had really hoped to make Megan feel special but I'm afraid that the party didn't quite accomplish this. There were too many times when either I or Rachael or Emma overrode her idea with a more practical one. We planned all of these things with her but we didn't let her lead. As we said our good nights even though she enjoyed herself at the party I realized that she didn't come away with the special feeling she was looking for. I held my seven year old's hand for one last evening and prayed to do better tomorrow. 

That tomorrow was her 8th Birthday. We made her breakfast in bed, where she was presented with homemade cards and smiling family. Megan wasn't feeling very well so we let her decide if we stayed for donuts after Mass. We didn't and no one complained. There were lots of little birthday comments and wishes as the day went on. We went to the B&O railroad museum for the Brink's birthdays and let Megan decide if we would go on the train ride or head out so she could get to another of her friend's party. We let her pick when to open her gifts and whether or not she wanted to go out to eat. It was little things all day but it expressed to her that we cared what she wanted. I held my 8 year old's hand tonight at bedtime and I could feel her happy grin in the darkness. I hope she has that smile again soon. Sometimes the big plans don't quite accomplish what I hope but I am thankful for the tiny moments in a day that can convey my love.  Happy Birthday Megan! I love you!

 

End of the Football Season

I used to love football. I'd watch multiple games each week and know who was who, then I had multiple children. Now I catch parts of games if Jim is watching or I don't even bother. This year our favorite family teams were all in the playoff hunt. Denver, Green Bay and Baltimore all had hopse for the playoffs. Since Jim was eagerly watching the Broncos this season the girls and I drifted into the living room and got pulled into the games. Each week Em and Rae picked up more and more of the rules and gained understanding of the game. Megan asked constant questions in her desire to understand. Bridget just liked hanging out and cheering for anyone Daddy was cheering for.

 Our whole family gathered around to watch Tebow and the Denver Bronco's get a wild card win in overtime. That was a good football weekend for all of our teams, and the girls pulled out team gear to wear to school. Emma wore her Bronco's scarf and had fun telling people that she has born in Colorado. And then things started to fall apart. As I was making cakes for our double birthday party day I heard groaning and disappointment as the Bronco's struggled. Then during the parties the Packer's season came to an end. The Ravens were the only ones to make it through.



We were invited to a friend's house for the AFC Championship Game, so we pulled out the Raven's jerseys and everyone put on their purple to go cheer them on. Butt first we had do our nails. Jim bought me Raven's nail polish for Christmas so I did a quick round of fingers before we climbed into the van. It was a great game. Em and Rae followed the play throughout, while Meg ans Bridge checked in from playing every so often. We all stood open mouthed staring at the screen in disbelief of the missed field goal.

The season ended in disappointment but I look forward to spending more seasons watching games with Jim and the girls.

Lyme- missed symptoms

Some blood sucking tick bit my little Rachael. When? We don't know.. maybe back in September. She had a few random low grade fevers in early fall. A random headache would bother her occasionally. In October we brought her in for her headaches, but nothing came out of it. A sore joint would bother her for a few days, one week a sore elbow, 2 weeks later a sore knee. She is so active that these "injuries" didn't really alarm me, except that she couldn't remember an injury. By November Rachael was more sensitive to touch and occasionally limped. Most days she would be bounding around in her loud way.  But then I'd hear her complain that someone hurt her, frequently me. A nudge on a shoulder or pressure on her arm could cause her to pull away, and then the next day it would be fine. Then she got a rash. At the same time her ankle started hurting and it got to the point that she couldn't walk on it. She stayed home from school the days before Thanksgiving because she was hobbling around. She made use of Jim's crutches but wasn't happy to have her body put the brakes on. We brought her into our pediatrician and he gave her a thorough exam. He checked the rash and even had another Doctor come look at her rash. They concurred that it looked like simple contact dermatitis. As for the ankle, they diagnosed it as a sprain. Our doctor mentioned maybe doing blood tests but Rachael hated the idea and he wasn't really expecting to find any thing so he decided not to order them. The pain went away after a few days of not walking and on we went into December.

In December she couldn't use her arm for a day because her shoulder hurt. I talked with the school nurse after Rachael showed up there with ankle pain. She mentioned Lyme but disregarded the idea. Rachael was her normal self most days but then the day after Christmas her knee and arm were hurting again. I brought her in to our Pediatrician. Rachael was adamant that she didn't want a needle but it was determined that something had to be going on, and we needed to find out what. She got through her blood draws and we soon found out that she had Lyme Disease.

She started a 3 week course of strong antibiotics and the pains went away. Until this week. She was limping again and complaining of pain. She was struggling in the evenings and was very fatigued. So today I brought her back in. She checked out fine, and wasn't having any pain at the time but Rae will continue with antibiotics just to be safe.  I hope this is the last she has to deal with Lyme.

Party 5 Party 11

 We went out during Christmas break and bought party supplies for all 3 of our winter babies. This year would be Bridget's first birthday party with friends, so she was extra excited. We checked our calendar and picked a date to celebrate, and because of our busy schedule we decided to host both Bridget's and Rachael's birthdays on the same day. First in the day it would be Bridget's party so we got her princess invitations written and mailed. And then she had to wait. Sooo hard.   She tracked it on the calendar and disagreed with the left to right tracking of days. Snaking back and forth or going down was how she wanted to count but in the end we did get to party day.

After Mass we came home and put out the pink decorations and put out her princess cake. Bridget had requested a princess castle cake similar to the one I made for Megan. The day before the party Meg and Bridge helped me mix the cake and then add decorations after I iced it.

Her friends all came over in princess gowns. It was a first friend party for a number of the girls so it took a little while to get the fun going but they played dress up, did a pinata, made wands and enjoyed snacks. Rachael and Megan made themselves available to help Bridget's friends with our craft and food. Jim made it a point to acknowledge their help and thank them. The little girls were all such wonderful guests and happily watched Bridget open gifts. At the end of the 2 hours they all went home grinning.

We then had a few hours to clean and redecorate for Rachael's tropical getaway party. Rachael loves to party plan and has some fun ideas for themes. Her 11th birthday was no exception. She requested a tropical island cake complete with a volcano so we did that the day before. Her party was from 6-9 and Rachael was literally bouncing with excitement as the guests arrived.

She invited 10 girls from school and our house immediately buzzed with energy. Rae had supplies out for each girl to make their own tropical flower hair clip so they worked on that first. All of the girls were amped up and flew through the project, they moved onto pizza and make your own fruit skewers, and then to smoothie tasting. Rachael enjoyed all of the people and activities and attention. She had made an arrangement of tropical fruit that decorated the center of the table and surprised me by wearing an orange and red dress that had palm trees on it. It was a tiny dress that we have had for years and even though it is completely outside of her normal attire she put on red shorts and embraced her theme.

I have to admit I had a splitting headache by the halfway point of the party, but Rachael's seasoned hostess skills and Emma's backup covered my lapses. It was a struggle for me to allow Megan space to be around and participate on the edges because there was no spare space, but Megs craved out space and found the opportunities to enjoy her sister's party as well. We finished out the evening with sand art pictures, gifts and cake. We were all exhausted by nights end, especially my little Bridget Rose. The 2 birthday girls got a chance to revel in the goodness of being alive and the joy of having friends to celebrate it with. They are so worth celebrating!

Rachael's New Year

My little bundle with the big alert eyes and tiny beautiful head has embarked on another year. Rachael has a way of engaging the world that is fun to watch and share and I told her many times on her eleventh birthday that I am so glad she was born. Each child has a uniqueness but it is Rachael's obvious complexity that sets her apart. Right on the surface are her intelligence and inquisitiveness. Her exuberance jumps out at you, but so does her sensitivity. She is daring but also a worrier. Rachael seems to bundle frustration and joy in every part of her day.

Rachael has an emotional self awareness that pours out in quiet moments after lights out. It is these moments where I realize that God made an amazing soul and I know without a doubt that there is a plan for her that only she was made for.


Rachael has a very strong sense of what she likes and what she does not. She is aware of the trends that flow through the 5th grade but disregards most of them. Her taste in fashion, tv shows, and music are not dictated by her friends. Fashion is all about comfort for Rachael, right now she has 5 pairs of the same pants and 10 of the same style shirts in various solid colors and these are the only things she wears. She did pick up the technology bug though. She didn't really care what tech she had but she wanted a new gadget. We wound up getting her the Nook Color. It has games and music and of course books, but we can disable the wifi connection so it isn't too much. So far she is loving it.

My fascinating girl is growing up at a pace all her own. Happy 11th Birthday Boo Rae! I love you!