Days like this.

When everything falls into place and it all works as planned... I'm pretty sure I'll be dead. I was awoken prematurely by an adorable yet morning sunshine of a child. Needless to say I am still tired. I turned on Curious George on netflix for her while I showered and got dressed. Then I decided to get her dressed and venture on to church.

Any time I take her out it can be hit or miss. But recently there have been so many hits!

Yes Mags did not care to be quiet or sit still but I came prepared with books, chewy and juice. It wasn't Mags that made the morning difficult, but seeing everyone else. Seeing all the husbands and wives hold hands and smile at each other. It also didn't help that so much of the talks were about marriage and strengthening families. I watched as the older siblings entertain younger siblings. There was so much excitement, tears and laughs today because of the graduates leaving for college, end of school year awards, and Eagle Scout awards. A ton of great achievements but I sat there slightly sorry for myself about Mags and how different her life is.

She was very grumpy and I brought her to class with me where she calmed down and played with her chewy. One woman walked by the door and saw us, she turned around, came in and invited Mags to join the other children. Mags was hesitant and it took some encouraging but she left and I heard no screams or crying. Good sign in my book.

Afterwards one of her teachers came to find me and was so positive in how Mags pointed to her favorite color and knew the different colors! How she liked the pictures and found the fish! How she has a sweet and angelic demeanor.

It reminded in a very humane way to appreciate the 'still small voice' of those in my life who encourage Mags. Remind me to not be pessimistic and value the person Mags IS, and not who she is not.

I know that is some crazy positivity coming from me but I just felt uplifted.

Smile!

Past few months in 1 post

It's been a wild, exciting, friends and food filled few months! I apologize for being a terribly forgetful and lazy blogger. I really should improve and make it a goal to blog at least once a month. Although in my defense I have been a FULL time student and pretty good at it. (bragging slightly but who has a 4.0... yeah Myk does) But in other news I have a ton of pictures to recap moments of the past few months. 

Maxwell is one of Mags classmates who is obsessed with trains and his personal space. He and Mags are perfect playmates for these two reasons! He doesn't mind when she mouths his toys and she likes that he doesn't want to touch her and they only have to half interact. 

This delightful beverage is both refreshing and the bubbles make for a fun sensation while the bubbles travel through you. TMI I know but seriously it's fun to drink.

Maggie loves movies! She is obsessed with Cars and Finding Nemo but I love when she watches something different. She liked Rango for about 10 minutes. We'll take it!

Weather is completely out of my control and it has been insane. Hot and humid one day. Freezing and dark. Pouring rain and grey. Sunny and perfect. Take the good with the bad so to speak. But recently it's been a lot of rain. I mean Biblical flood kind of raining.

In between apocalyptic raining Maxwell and Maggie played with the hose for about 3 hours in pure happiness and only minor sunburns.

Water = cheap entertainment!

My younger brother David went with a friend to the Black Keys concert and I was really jealous but excited for him too. It was his first concert and he had a great time. And I will probably 'borrow' his shirt...

Maggie is growing taller and taller! I am 5'9 and her father is 6'4 so she has a strong genetic probability of being quite tall. She is a string bean! All legs and so cute.

Mags is nothing if not opinionated and when it comes to music she makes it clear what she likes and what she does not. Currently she is in love with Adele, Gotye, Kaskade, & Fun. She has great taste in music and I love listening to new and different stuff but sometimes She just wants her mix.

Maggie's Techno Dance Party - Kaskade

I love summer! I like the sun and the heat and food! My mind, unfortunately, revolves around food. And summer foods are some of my favorite like this delight. Delicious. 

I have to kiss a frog to meet a prince, so what happens if I kiss a turtle... Guy with good job and interesting personality?!?

I love my baby girl! She is the absolute delight of my life. Challenging, yes! My world, my love, Yes!

I am currently rocking dark brown hair but I want to mix it up and do something different....

This little lady loves her 'Dee' aka giant bear we named Kanye.

It's amazing the relationship we have because it's just the two of us. I wouldn't change anything.

But aside from momma, Mags has awesome uncles! David who reads to her and carries her when she's tired and will go to a vikings rally because he could care less about football but his beloved niece adores football. Thank you David.

A girl and her iPad = true love!

Little chef! She will do anything for Gluten/dairy free pancakes including helping me make them.

I still think the best purchase the family has ever made was our giant trampoline that Mags spend hours jumping on. She has no fear and laughs and laughs and cant get high enough!

One of Mags therapist invited us over to her house where her parents have 2 chickens. I won't say which neighborhood but it's in minneapolis. Mags of course had to hug them and give them kisses and thought it was the coolest thing ever! We will visit them again but I'm not owning chickens.

Of all the foods my child eats she still has the P trifecta of Puffs, Pancakes and Pellegrino!
Sparkling water because my italian supermodel doesn't care for regular water.

Campfire!

Motorcycle? Sure if it's not running, why not. You can sit on it, but your not taking a ride with anyone anytime soon.

Just a few wonderful learning moments and memories from our life to share with you!

New Level of Tired

You know when you are so tired you can't fall asleep?

Exhausted to the point where your eyes are bloodshot.

Your body aches and you are sore from tossing and turning.

You realize your eyes have been closed for the last Um... 5 minutes.

(you hope not anymore than that)

You start getting annoyed by almost everything.

You start to list everything in your head you need to do

and then have no energy to do any of them...

You forgot what you did 30 minutes ago

I am There!

Girls Night

Last girls night was epic. Too much food, fun and showing off Liz's wedding dress! One of the mom's in the group is engaged to a wonderful guy and she found a wonderful dress for us to admire and critic. But most of the evening was enjoying a healthy escape from, normalcy! All of the mom's excluding Liz, have children with disabilities and that's how we became friends. Liz is gracious enough to have us at her place and she is the hostess with the mostess!

And she looks beautiful as a bride.

Melissa has two sons, Zach(6) and Owen(2). Zach is Autistic but transitioned to public school this spring so we haven't seen them as regularly.
Jenny's son Cohen(6) is quiet the force of energy and behaviors but his speech is phenomenal!
Chris, is a single mom and has two profoundly autistic children. Channing(14) & Chayenne(12). I don't know how she does it...
Amy is a behavorial therapist at autism matters! She is Maggie's favorite and has become a good friend of mine.
Oy camera phones... sorry it's blurry but can't you tell how much fun we have?!?
I am excited to play 'Wedding Planner' to Liz I think it will be a wonderful celebration of a couple I really admire and love!
Liz and I joke that I am her long lost daughter - we are very similar and love each other dearly! She has done so much for me and Maggie!

Maggie is 6

Maggie is 6. Maggie has 3 words. Two dozen signs. A beautiful smile and an infectious laugh. She loves Adele and doesn't care for Coldplay. She loves Thomas the train & cars. Pixar movies! Panda puff cereal is her favorite food no question! She is the best sleeper, she loves her sleep and quiet time. Life revolves around football games, especially the vikings! She's smart and clever. Creative in communication and how she puts two and two together!

(I am about 2 weeks late her actual birthday is february 3rd)

She has a wonderful family of grandparents and the best Uncles in the world who adore her. And a Mom who's life, truly revolves around her! It's good to be Maggie :)

Auntie Karen

Like every recipient of "Aunt of the Year Award" - Aunt Karen knows her niece! She had a friend in Arizona who makes hair accessories created Viking Football decor for Maggie! I just love them - you can put them on your shoes too! Creative don't you think?

All four of them at once is a bit much but you know the saying 'Go big or go home!'

too cute if you ask me.

Dinner and the Value of Q-Tips

I used to think my sister was a picky eater... WOW Maggie puts her to shame! Now on the up side she makes Madonna look like a fats food junkie so it could be worse. But all this healthy eating in tiny portion does not a make a girl gain some meat on her bones! She is a skinny mini so when she will actually eat something I try to give her as much as possible! She was requesting cupcakes so I made gluten free cupcakes and let her have 2, that's right I give me child TWO cupcakes! Although when a song on the dinner mix came on she wasn't thrilled about she proceeded to stick her fingers in as far as she could probably poking her brain through her ear canal. Oh funny lady!

Tired Maggie.

The prodigal son returns

First of all, My beloved dog, Jack is ALIVE! 9 days after being hit by a car and presumed dead I was awoken in the middle of the night by a familiar cry. I assumed it was Maggie and kept checking on her only to find her completely asleep so my gut told me to check the front door. At first I thought I was crazy or dreaming but it was my puppy on the front porch! I was unbelievably happy! He is on antibiotics and pain medication. He has a bandage and for the sack of those who are squeemish I won't post pictures of his actual wounds. He is going to have some scars to show off to the ladies!

Rest and time. Soon he will be back to his growing puppy self!

Perfect

I Love This...

It speaks to the hopeless romantic in me :)

RIP Jack

It's never easy to lose a pet, especially when he was only 7 months old, just a puppy. On Friday January 27, I came home to find my dog was not in the backyard like he should be. I immediately was annoyed knowing he jumped the fence to chase a dog or squirrel. He had done this before but he came back or our nice neighbor brought him home. We searched for him and asked our neighbors but they hadn't seen him. The thought that came to mind was animal control picked him up and now I am going to have to pay to bail him out! But then a very sweet police officer called me and came to the house to talk with me. He informed me that Jack had been hit by a car in front of our house by an incredibly broken up distant neighbor who did the right thing and called the police department. I just lost it. Broke down in tears blaming myself for thinking about petty fees and that I was annoyed with his energy of jumping the fence and felt terrible that my puppy, all energy and sometimes annoying habits but incredibly sweet puppy, was now gone.

I took this picture last week.

Heart of the Matter

Update on the lil' Mags heart condition.

Maggie has finally broke the 40 lbs mark! That's right I'm excited about my child gaining weight... this is excellent for a variety of reasons. One being that the procedure which would go through the blood vein through her leg is an option versus opening her chest up.

Pro's of Leg Procedure:

Small scar - on her upper thigh, no one will ever see it!

only a couple stitches - compared to many more on her chest :(

less pain - morphine still required absolutely and will be completely sedated.

It looks like they can schedule the procedure to occur in June which is perfect with my school schedule and hopefully by then she will have gained another pound. One can hope right?!?

Lana Del Awesome

Disclaimer : I listened to everything I could find of hers and fell in love with it. Then I watched SNL and although I will never pay to see her live, Kuddos to the unbelievable engineers and producers who created these fantastic tracks!

I like music that sounds different from the same old top 40 you hear on the radio or in Target. I search iTunes and read music blogs and try to keep my music eclectic. I came upon this woman, Lana Del Rey.

Mixture of electronic, blues music. With dark and haunting lyrics. Beautifully different.