Rainy Day

I have been really down lately. Unmotivated. Unhappy - which by the way I don't enjoy. I hate not being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. On the positive though it is a lovely dark, gray, raining today in Minnesota! Thunderstorms are a part of Spring but so is sunshine and we have been lacking in the vitamin D department and I really think it's effecting my mood

I am hoping for some better weather - emotional and meteorological.

Smile

Like every sane individual I do not enjoy going to the dentist. My dentist is nice and always thoughtful about pain and is willing to numb or give me the good pills before starting! But her gloves smell like cherry, that odd cough syrup smell. There are covers on the light that made them look like a cloudy sky. The TV is a nice bonus if for nothing more than an audio distraction from the drill or metal picks poking on my teeth, like nails on a chalk board. This morning I went in and they could only work on half my mouth today, which when finished made me look and sound like I'd had a stroke on the left side of my face. But I survived and get to relive the charms of the dentists office next week - because honestly it's really odd having half my mouth sparkly clean teeth and sore bloody gums(eventually will heal) while the other half is easily 5 shades darker and the gums are pink.... I'll just keep my mouth shut... And Floss more...

The real excitement will begin this summer when this beautiful smile gets to undergo her first formal cleaning. Yeah... I took her for the first time in January and they did a basic look over while I held her. The actual exam part was about 5 minutes of the dentist looking for cavities and any other noticeable issues that required immediate attention. I held her while she leaned back on the dentists lap - It was 5 minutes of pure screaming! Joy, just lovely joy. So you can imagine I'm looking forward to this summer's full cleaning. NOT - she gets to be put under because well she won't go willingly. This is a moment I get to look at my baby girl and say don't worry. Everything will be ok. I will see you soon. I love you. Your going to have an even more amazing smile when I see you soon! Go Sleep Sleep. And then as soon as she's out - I get to pray and hope I was being entirely honest with her. Why does everything have to be complicated?!?

Maggie Vs. The Ball

Another set of amusing Maggie exercise techniques... Wrestling with inanimate objects.

sorry super blurry she was moving so fast.

Your so funny baby girl

Fight

Mags Vs. The Monkey

When she gets going she takes no prisoners! Even adorable pink monkeys.

slightly distracted but then quickly back to business

So cute with his red heart. He was a birthday present

Body Slam!

Simple joy, in simple acts!

Trader Joe's

I love seeing my little girl act like a big girl! She is just so adorable! Trader Joe's has carts for children, like other grocery stores, and every time I have taken her she has shown absolutely no interest in pushing her own cart or helping. But today she wanted to! She was even excited about pulling food off shelf! Such a big helper and when we found the cereal - WOW! Happy girl!

Cereal and rice milk what more do you want in life?

She started signing cereal the rest of the way through the store and became less than amused as time passed and she did not get what she was asking for.

Super Cute!

SNAKES!

A couple weeks ago I took Maggie and her Uncles to a Reptile store, because of zoo has no snakes or that many reptiles. She makes a great 'Ssss' sound every time she sees a snake like her stuffed animal or if she she sees on TV or anything that looks like a snake, like an earth worm. And pet stores are always fun to go to with Maggie - but our local pet smart has maybe 10 snakes. This place add 1,000 - seriously they are a breeder store for the nation so they have stacks of containers, 10 high filled with baby Boa Constrictors. It could either be something out of a horror movie or really cool - still debating... I personally wasn't freaked out by the snakes that were confined behind glass in the store BUT more by the odd people coming in to buy food to take home which got me thinking who is my closest neighbor who owns a snake would could eat me....

She was in love!

Lots of 'WOW's

Cute right? In my home... :( Maggie you can have a dog

If they weren't behind glass I'm pretty sure Maggie would have tried to hug it.

This is hard to see (sorry all these photo's were taken from my phone) but this baby boa constrictor is eating his breakfast... crazy!

Dilemma

This is one of those times being a parent of a special needs child has no resemblance of being a typical parent. I used to wonder what types of sports my child would want to play or what hobbies they would like. What type of friends they would have, what I would do if I thought they had made poor choices in friends among a million other thoughts about the future.

That was long ago.

Now my thoughts range from point by point, step by step, entirely unsure about the dreaded future. Scheduling conflicts and reading food labels. Stress, anxiety and fear of how others will be unkind, even cruel to my baby. I hate that feeling. I know that for the most part Maggie has little to no desire to even tolerate children around her. The prospect of friends seems like a lost milestone and an undesirable achievement from her point of view. So you can imagine my feelings and mixed emotions when Mags received an invitation to a birthday party for a boy in her class.

Now among the Social issues there is the sensory dilemma. The party is being held at an indoor gym, a type of bounce house meets gymnastics meets pizza and overly caffeinated children. The plethora of concerns on my mind include...

• Pizza - well that's a gluten and dairy disaster I have to distract her from noticing ... I get the joy of telling her "No, sorry sweetheart BUT I have edamame, apple sauce and turkey :-)"
• Lights - often at large public places the lights are overwhelming and if they have special effects then they can be distracting if not annoying or even painful for her
• Bad Contact - Nice way of saying for when my child hits another child...
• Other Parents - this can either be encouraging or depressing.... usually the later
• Children not part of the group - running over, pushing, being rude, and overall unpleasant towards my child and her friends. Never fails going out to a public place means you will encounter some not so nice people!

Wish me luck

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from my family to yours, Easter would not be complete without a few traditions.

Homemade cards from Aunt Christa

(I may be Martha of the Kitchen but when it comes to cards and scrap booking it's all about Christa!)

And for Maggie an Easter Bunny!

I love Veggie Tales and lucky for me they recently released a new Easter DVD! It's really for Maggie... really I swear it's a kids show! Ok so the adults watch while the child plays with something else but who doesn't like Veggie Tales?!?

Flowers, are the essence of spring and nothing speaks to life, renew and rebirth like flowers!

School craft projects like soft bunny face mask - why not!

More flowers and crafty fun stuff!

EGGS! I have no idea where the tradition of coloring eggs started but It's fun and creative!

Baby chick - sure! At least it's not alive...

Someone is happy - and that is always nice to see!

(someone also lost another tooth!!! she does not have that many left)

Happy Easter from Myk n Mags

Easter Decor Part 1

I have to admit that I just took down a Christmas decoration... in April. Yeah. I had a picture Maggie created at school on the fridge door and I kept meaning to replace it with any of the dozens of pictures that come home but you know life happens and I forgot, So for Easter I took down the Christmas decor and replaced it with a cute bunny picture complete with Maggie feet. Adorable right? now lets see if I manage to take it down before July 4th... Who am I kidding it will be up till Christmas...

Pain Tolerance

Sometimes my baby gets hurt, doesn't react and minutes later I realize something's wrong. My stomach usually turns out of panic "What Happened?" This particular occasion a few days ago including getting excited and falling into her bed. Instead of screaming or crying or asking for a kiss she simply started rubbing her eye until I noticed it was bright red and puffy. I wasn't sure at first if she was having an allergy attach or if she had created the irritation... But I hate when this happens. Trying to get a straight answer out of child is difficult - from a nonverbal child yeah right! She started crying once I started to touch and try to put a cold pack on her beautiful eyes. Poor Baby - it's not easy being all legs and clumsy.

I get to take her to the neurologist to try and figure out what is going on with her - again :)

Cleopatra

It must be nice to be Princess Maggie, Empress, Queen of the Puffs. Every need and desire met. Someone taking care of your every need. Lounging for hours on end. No real care in the world. It's good to be the queen!

I have a theory that Mags is incapable of really eating, not just a bite and running away, if she is not lounging and in a horizontal position. She lays her very long and lean body gracefully on the bed or couch or floor and then proceeds to eat. She is quite messy either way :)

Pick me up Karmin

I need a little pick me up on this dragging month known as April. It's the 20th, Easter is this weekend and it is currently snowing! Snowing!!! I am not a fan of this Mother Nature - why do you hate Minnesota?!? Were Nice! Monday I drove to class only to find out it was cancelled - which seems to be another notch on my didn't go as planned list (which is growing in length every minute)

So I took to youtube! Because nothing makes me smile for a moment more than a funny video! You can't help but laugh! especially when it involves cute cats. But then I came across something Awesome! I am a huge fan of creative people who share their genius and I get to reap the rewards of fresh new and different. That top 40 stuff gets old quick!

The group is called KARMIN and if you wish to enjoy click here!

Prepared

Standards of my car go-to kit!

• Diapers (Nothing worse than needing one, and not having one.)
• Wipes ... Hello!
• Hand Lotion, especially during riding season her hands get really dry
• Sun screen
• Chapstick
• Hair ties and clips
• Extra clothes, including jeans in case I'm not prepared on horse riding days
• Chewy Tube (never can have enough of those babies!)
• Board books (always great for long car rides!)
• SNACKS! Juice boxes, cereal, dried cranberries, & banana's these rotate of course otherwise I would need more car airfresheners :(

And after everything is assembled and placed in the container I can put it in the car so I'm ready for almost anything! Um... sneaky hands trying to steal the chewy uh....
Oh Baby Girl - you are sneaky and clever but I saw that!!!!
I like to be prepared ... what can I say :) You could call me a bag lady! I have bags for the gym for school, for afternoon therapies, church, & horse therapy.