Little Miss Maggie

I could've tacked this on to the zoo post, but I think this deserves its very own. On our way home from the zoo, Will fell asleep pretty quickly, but Maggie stayed awake until just before we got to the house. Then she woke up as I opened her door. I still ran her inside and up to her bed as quickly as possible. Very often she'll fall right back asleep and nap for awhile. But sometimes- yesterday and today included- she decides sleepy time is over and she just wants to play. Both days I went up to her room and found her standing in her crib! That's how she was this morning as well. I know I've posted recently about her pulling up so I don't have to tell you what a big deal this is for a child with CP. The first time a couple weeks back I found her pulled up on her knees, but these last couple days she's been all the way standing and her feet have been flat - no tippy toes. It's so exciting to find her doing this. Anyway, to make a short story long, I found her like this, but not just standing. She was looking out her window.

 Then I ran outside to see how visible she was, and sure

enough I could see her through the blinds... I was laughing

so hard and she got excited when she saw me

 then wondered where I went

I love you Maggie Moo! You are such a sweet, smily girl and I'm so proud of all your hard work and determination. You are so much fun!!

A day at the zoo

Yesterday while taking Will to school, I asked him if he wanted to go to the zoo today. Our membership expires tomorrow and I'm not sure I'll renew, so it's nearly our last chance to go 'free'. Anyway, I forgot all about it until Will asked me this morning if we were going right after breakfast. Ah, riiiight, I promised to take him to the zoo. On a Friday. Not smart. I tried to convince myself the overcast skies would keep people away but I was wrong. Dead Wrong. We pulled into the parking lot with at least a dozen school buses and a bunch of cars on top of that....do people not work on Fridays? Sheesh, I wish that were an option back when I worked outside the home. Aside from the numerous children (and adults) cutting me off every few seconds-- I was pushing a stroller afterall, which is like the 18-wheeler trucks of the interstate, everyone thinks it's ok to cut you off because you're a nuisance anyway-- we had a good time.

looking at the elephants

 we broke for an early lunch so we could beat the rush

I don't know what the schools' plans were but I didn't

 want to wait and find out

My mom's surgery

Many of you know my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer a short time back. I haven't blogged about it because she didn't even blog about it herself until recently and it wasn't my place to write about it first. At least that's how I look at things. Her lumpectomy was scheduled for this Tuesday - the 27th and I wanted to be in town. Fortunately, Daniel felt the same way and he took off work to be in town as well. She had to arrive at the hospital very early and wanted her kids (if possible) to be there before she went back and when she awoke. That meant I needed to be there around 6am. Since Daniel is not exactly what I call a morning person, I thought it would be best if he stayed home with the kids for that part and we went back together when surgery was over. I decided to wait at the hospital the whole time- that way I could keep dad company and be there for any updates that came along. Daniel was fine with this, especially since the kids slept late anyway. But that story is for another post along the lines of "what really grinds my gears" lol.
Since I was there when the surgery finished, I was able to be in the room when the doctor explained what happened. Everything went very well and the doctor was very thorough- they got the whole tumor, which was completely round (a much better indication the cancer hasn't spread than one with tenticles or fingers) and they removed 3 lymph nodes for testing. Generally, if/when breast cancer spreads, it goes through the lymph nodes- or well, I think they're called guard nodes. They did preliminary testing on 2 of the 3- which were negative, praise God!- and all 3 will be sent off for further in depth study. The doctor said 4 out of 5 times, if the first 2 are negative, the 3rd one will be as well. Again, praise God! We should have those results early next week. Mom was groggy and tired when she first came out and most of the remaining day, but that's to be expected. I really think she was a trooper! I'll keep praying and am confident that God's healing is taking place.

before surgery

We decided to leave Wednesday instead of Tuesday night and before we left, mom asked us to take a walk. Will requested the greenway-- I'm sure because Daniel took him there the day before with a fishing stick-- so we did that once everyone got ready (I told you she's a trooper).

collecting rocks to throw in the water - the ones

that make a big splash!

Daniel loading Will's fishing stick with bread, Maggie

very interested

Then we decided to walk up the greenway a little further and what do you know? We ran into Daniel's brother, Edward! He works for the city and they happened to be on the greenway doing maintenance. So Will go to climb the big truck and boy did this top off his little day!

 After the crew broke for lunch, we walked back toward the car and stopped to cool off in the creek.

 Maggie loved it! We may have two water babies on our hands :)

Then we grabbed lunch and headed home. I'm so glad I could be there for my mom, to see and hear her afterward and know she's ok!

Our Spring Break

 I've mentioned that Will is on spring break this week, as were his cousins, who visited a few days. I've blogged about St. Patrick's Day and the crafts we worked on, but we did lots of other stuff! We went to the park a lot...at least once a day, sometimes twice. We rode bikes, played on the swing set, took walks, went to the library, colored, played "house" at the play kitchen, ate popcorn while watching movies and went out to eat a couple times. Plus Will shared his room with the girls while they were here-- sleepovers are always fun! We've had a great time. :)

Taryn just LOVES Maggie. She held her as much as

possible, probably more than Maggie wanted :)

 big girl!

 Will and Olivia found hats in his room and both came

out sporting them...they each had a ball too, it was cute

 Maggie feeling the grass between her toes

 I cannot get enough pictures of her doing this!!

Lots of pictures, I know, but I was choosy! I could've added many more. I hope you enjoyed your spring break as much as we did!

Keep 'em comin', Will

Do I really need an introductions to these little conversations and/or statements Will makes anymore? I doubt my rambling makes him any more or less funny, so let's just get to the good stuff!

2/20
While playing memory:
-You gotta think in your brain
-Don't lose or you will never win again!

2/25
W: You want me to be scared?!! You want me to run away from you guys?!! 'Cause you keep showing me scary things forever! You want one of those scary guys comin' to my house?
D: Mommy dressed up as one of those once
W: She just did that 'cause she didn't think anyone else was scared of them
-- we're talking about clowns here --

You shaved your beard off?!! Oh no! I don't like that. You look weird! (starts crying) That makes me sad and I don't wanna be sad. When grandma sees that she's gonna freak out! Nobody is going to like it. Why did you do that?!?!!
-- who knew he'd be so upset 'cause Daniel shaved his face?--

2/28
I will do what God wants me to do, I will just do it! I will always do what God tells me.
-- little man knows how to melt a mama's heart :) --

3/4
While on their way to McDonald's (seriously):
D: We're not going to eat. You aren't getting a happy meal
W: What am I getting, a mad meal? I gotta eat something!
-- he was just going with my brother and nephew to play on the playground--

3/9
M: Will, feed Keenan
W: He's not hungry right now
M: How do you know?
W: 'Cause sometimes I knew when he's hungry and sometimes I don't know. That's just how I am.

3/19
To his cousin, Olivia:
W: You ruin my stuff so I don't want you to play with my stuff anymore!
O: I didn't ruin anything
W: You broke my flower I got at school so you ruined me! That's what you did. And you can't play with my stuff anymore!

Kids Crafts

Since my nieces were down visiting over the weekend and first part of the week, I decided having some crafts to keep the kids occupied was in order. I thought of several different ideas, but in the end, bought a puppet kit from WalMart and ingredients for a bird feeder. All three kids loved them!
On Saturday we made the puppets- everyone made one of each animal (monkey, lion & elephant)- then the kids just had to put on a puppet show! Good times.

 At first Will didn't understand he had to hide and only show the puppets

 Then Thor's hammer attacked and he had to defend the animals!

 And then they all chased down a zebra

Last night we decided to do the bird feeders. It's the same thing Will did for Valentines' Day. I promised Will we could make one again so I thought his cousins being down was a good time for it. The girls loved the idea and Will was excited too, of course. This is a really inexpensive craft - bird seed and bagels are each only a couple bucks and I always have peanut butter on hand. The bag of seed can make at least 30 of these....maybe one day I'll brave it and try to make a feeder house! Anyway, I filled a little bowl with peanut butter and gave each kid a cheese knife-- very kid friendly-- and away they went! After I tied on the string, we hung them outside.

Maggie just eats a bagel :)

Will & Olivia

Taryn

Then this morning I was able to catch some of the birds on camera! Last time Will made one, we woke up the following morning and string was all that remained so I figured either a squirrel or a really big bird got it. These fellas were just nibbling.