there was an old woman

I live in a rather small house. It's a cape cod with a finished basement, and if all of the square footage were on one floor, it could, theoretically, have a lot of space But it's an old house, and it's choppy. So sometimes with the number of people living here, we're busting at the seams. You've heard the old nursery rhyme:

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do;
She gave them some broth without any bread;
Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

Now, obviously I won't be feeding anyone broth or handing out many whippings - as much as I'd like to sometimes :) I do feel a bit like the old woman in the shoe today, though. Today I am watching my nephew, Hunter. Normally my mom keeps him, but she and my dad are on vacation, so I told my sister he could come hang with me today. When you've already got 3, what's one more?! Honestly, he's a very good baby and I am glad to have him.

So if you drive by my house today, and it looks similar to the picture at left - don't be alarmed ;)

images from the weekend

Bella tried on my headband for size...

...and enjoyed a cookie with Sophie.

A bunch of ducks invaded the parking lot by Dooley's Bagels.

hydrocephalus

It's been almost a year since Bella was diagnosed with hydrocephalus. It seems crazy to think that almost an entire year has passed since she had surgery. Since then, she's had her first Halloween, first Thanksgiving, first Christmas, first birthday, started crawling, talking, walking, etc. I look back then and remember feeling like my world was crumbling around me. She's doing so well now, it's hard to imagine sometimes that it even happened, that she actually has a shunt in her brain that's doing this amazing, important thing that her body can't do on its own.

I remember seeing her right after she came out of recovery. It was so sad. She was so lifeless and helpless and I couldn't even hold her. A friend of mine had come to visit and she told me about a friend of hers named Jennifer - who I had actually met on a few occasions - who had a daughter that was born with hydrocephalus and had already had several surgeries. It was good to know at that moment that someone else understood what I was going through.

The next day, I got a phone call in the hospital room. It was Jennifer's mom. She said she just wanted to tell me that they were praying for us, that they understood what we were going through, that she didn't want us to feel like we were alone in our experience and if we ever needed anything or just needed someone to talk to about it, all I had to do was call. I don't think she knows to this day how much that phone call meant to me. I don't think I knew, until this day, how much that phone call meant to me.

Saturday, Jennifer participated in a Hydrocephalus walk in Iroquois Park and her story was featured on Fox 41. The link is below if you'd like to read it.

Jennifer's Story

My sweet little Bella, post-surgery and now.

max

Since March or April, Bella has been "cruising." It's a term used when babies start "walking" but still hold onto stuff, like walls or furniture. It's another one of those bittersweet milestones - you're so glad to see them learning and developing, and yet you realize that once again your life is changed forever. We'd been trying to coax her into walking to us, even letting us hold her hand, but she'd have no part of it. About 3 weeks ago, we were at the park and she saw a little girl close to her age walking around. I put her down on the ground and off she went. Since then, she's been wanting to walk everywhere, but she still holds on to our fingers while she does it. She's made some short strides on her own, but still a little unsure of herself.

Yesterday, me and the kids went to a friend's house. They have two older boys who Zeke and Yana are friends with, and my friend, Michele, also keeps her cousin's little boy who is 21 months old. When Max woke up from his nap, her walked over and gave Bella a hug. Apparently, that was all the coaxing she needed! She decided to strut her stuff and show him what she was made of, and off she went. (Should I be worried?)

Since yesterday, I can't get her to sit down. She's walking everywhere! And pretty well at that!

Ignore the nut hollering in the background. ;)

monday confession

I hate my neighbors.

Okay...I won't say hate. It's a strong word and we shouldn't hate anyone. But they drive me crazy. Everything from parking cars in the front yard, a chicken coop in the back yard, a week of fireworks after the fourth was over, building a cover over their back porch so they can party late into the evening - even when it's raining, trash all over their backyard (and mine), letting their kids use our basketball goal without permission when we were not home...I could go on.

Yesterday a pile of branches with leaves appeared in the backyard. Tonight when we left they were working on some type of framing. When we got home, this is what we found:

I'm not sure I want to know what it's going to be used for. I'll keep you posted.