TARC Christmas Party

Tonight we all ate an early supper and ventured over to the TARC Christmas Party!

 

Make no mistake -- the place was hoppin'!

 

When we arrived, we were given a number for when we could see Santa, and we were directed to both the "arts & crafts room" and the "cookies and play room." To our surprise, both places were full of eager families, but the packed house simply meant all the hard work from the TARC staff was well worth it. The entire time we were there, the TARC staff were busy bustling and greeting everyone with smiles and information, refilling cookies, answering questions and ensuring all had a good time.

 

There were way too many people in the cookie room for us to fit in there with Jocelyn's wheelchair {Of course that'd be the most favorite room right?! Who doesn't want a cookie?} and all the tables in the craft room were taken, so we just made ourselves at home in front of the TARC's big, beautiful Christmas tree, played games and sang Boogie's favorite songs!

{This makes my heart melt!}

 

And of course we got to see Santa!!! This was hands down, without a doubt, THE BEST SANTA that Justin and I have seen to date. He was fun, flexible, goofy, creative with his poses and comfortable with kids of all abilities ... talk about refreshing!

 

 

My camera doesn't snap pictures real fast, but the TARC staff took free pictures with their fancy camera, and I'll get a copy here in a few days.

 

Excited to see what cuteness they captured!!

 

I love evenings like tonight were we can go some place as a family, have fun and walk away with good memories and a keepsake.

Niceness at Every Turn

Outings have been SO NICE lately for Jocelyn and I!!!

I don't know if its the "Christmas Spirit" in the air, if we are willing the good mojo to find us or what; but I am loving every minute of it.

Last week when her and I ventured out to Hobby Lobby {this place is dangerous for most women I think} we had numerous people inside the store that were helpful, friendly and genuinely caring. Not only did the staff help me to find the things I was looking for quickly and easily, but so many people were talking to Jocelyn instead of doing that staring thing that we get so often.

When we left the store {I had an overflowing buggy because of all the gift baskets I bought} and as we were crossing the parking lot {you know that part of the parking lot that is just right outside the automatic doors that's loaded with inattentive drivers?} well right there, the wind caught one of my bags and it flew out of the cart and down the street. 

Of course I was doing our normal routine of pushing Jocie in her wheelchair and pulling the cart so I didn't want to stop in the middle of the road to retrieve the bag because sure as shit one of us was going to get hit. Well, I did this awkward little dance jig trying to figure out what I was going to do first but to my surprise, one lady threw her car in park, jumped out and as she was on her way to grabbing my bag, so did this other guy. I was like "Wow! You both are so kind ... thank you so much!!!" Their simple act of kindness was so helpful and put that extra bounce in my step all day!!

On Saturday, during the early afternoon, Jocelyn and I went to the YWCA in Topeka to go swimming. Sometimes its a toss-up to the experience there with other people, but that won't stop us from having fun and doing some therapy by any means. Luckily, there were only a handful of people there, and again to my surprise, the ladies were nice!! The lifeguards on duty wanted to know all about Jocelyn's neck ring and my thoughts on using it. Then later, a gal that was probably about my age with a boy a little younger than Jocelyn {I overheard her say his 3rd birthday was in October}, started talking to us. She did the normal "How old is your daughter" which led to "I see she has a wheelchair. Is she able to walk short distances or does she require the wheelchair majority of the time?"

From everything that we're accustomed to in regards to the public, that was the best "getting your foot in the door" that I've experienced. She progressed her questions with inquiring to what happened in order for Jocelyn to require a wheelchair, was curious about cerebral palsy in general and what the prognosis would be for a child with this type of disability.

It would be easy to go "Geez lady, do you really want, or NEED, to know our whole life story?" But at the same time, she was a stay-at-home-mom who was also 31 weeks pregnant, probably in need of some adult conversation which I'm always game for and perhaps honestly was just curious. We ended up getting to chat for about 15 minutes. Her name was Roseanne {which coincidentally is the name of my fav old school show} and her son's name was the ever so popular Wyatt. They use to live in Iowa, her husband owned a construction company but the declining economy caused him and many others to go under with their business' so they moved to Kansas. Her husband started school again and is graduating this week with his degree in law with an emphasis in construction law. I'm not sure why I'm telling you all this except for she was easy to talk too and I learned quite a bit about her and her family as well. She ended the conversation with "If you ever need a lawyer ..." haha ... can't blame a woman for advertising for her man! :)

Then Saturday evening, while we eating at the Mad Greek {loooooove this place!}, we ran into another sweet gal named Trish. As Justin and I were enjoying our supper, and Jocie totally engrossed in her Elmo, a lady that was seated right behind me leaned over and touched my arm. Of course she caught me off guard, and as I turned around, she greeted me with a warm smile and the statement "I just have to know what type of wheelchair your daughter has!" It took me a second to realize what the lady wanted and I informed her that Jocie's wheelchair was called the X:Panda {this truly is the easiest pediatric wheelchair we've tried/seen ... and we've seen a lot! The actual seat part can easily and quickly slip into either a wheelchair base, hi/lo base or even a powered base when/if Jocelyn is able to use that feature!}. We visited a little bit about the wheelchair, I told her how much we loved it and the fact that it is pretty user friendly {meaning, it doesn't take an act of God to make a simple adjustment without having to take it in to the distrubtor}.

Trish shared with us that she adopted a 2 year-old boy, named Ethan, that sustained a traumatic brain injury from being shaken. My heart literally broke right there for two reasons: 1) because this little boy's future will forever be changed, more difficult, dramatically different; and 2) because this woman opened her heart and said "Give him to me ... I'll take him when someone else didn't want him ... I'll love him ... nurture him ... teach him ... give him my all even with all the "needs" he has ... I'm up for the task ... he can call me MOMMY!"

Trish expressed how involved Ethan was physically and how thrilled she was to meet another mom as eager as her to make a difference. Which now in hindsight, is such a profound compliment to receive, but she was so excited to share ideas and make that unique bond with another special needs mama. In the end we exchanged information and I'm looking forward to picking each others brains! :)

Then Sunday we went to Wal-Mart of all places, we ran into the sweetest ... and I mean SWEETEST ... elderly woman. We were in the craft section looking for glass glue and of course finding anything that would get Jocie excited to play with {when we go out, I try to make it an exploration opportunity for Boogie. Sometimes she loves it, and other times she makes it clear that shopping is for the birds!}.

This elderly woman was an employee of Wal-Mart and busy doing her thing when she saw Jocelyn and I. When she turned around to make sure she wasn't in our way, without any hesitation, she had this overly excited expression on her face, got to Jocie's level and started talking to her. Jocie instantly thought she was a hoot and gave lots of smiles as the ladies reward for being so nice and sincere. I was quite surprised by this ladies energy and eagerness. She freely started to talk about how she has a great-nephew in the family that is severely disable. She expressed that he was unable to eat or talk, had severe muscle weakness, at the cognitive level of a 6 month-old, etc but that he was "so awesome" and that "he was excellent at communicating even if he was nonverbal."

Trust me when I say that I have yet to come across someone of this lady's age that talked and understood disabilities in this manner. I was blown away in the best of ways! She proceeded to tell me how sometimes "Those who cannot express themselves verbally, are the best at expressing" and how "It would do us all some good to learn how to 'communicate' as well as these little guys."

Does this lady not totally rock?

Wow!!!

I'm thankful for these people that have fallen into my path lately. Perhaps they were actually angels that were carefully placed there at the right moments. Aaaaahhhhh ... I like the thought of that.

Share some niceness today! And like my friend Tina blogged a few weeks ago, you might be an "angel in disguise" to someone in need.

O' Christmas Tree

We finally got our Christmas tree up!!

{There is NO WAY a real tree could hold some of these ornaments!}

The wonders of a Christmas tree!!!

When all the lights are turned off, there is nothing prettier than the glow from a Christmas tree. So after all that hard work, Boogie and I decided to play underneath it.

I absolutely love putting up a Christmas tree, always have, and normally ours is up right away but it wasn't at the top of the list year.

When we were kids, putting up the tree was a fun, all night event. It was an evening filled with hot chocolate, Christmas music, snacky foods that we didn't normally get, being silly, adding to our family "Christmas chain" and of course decorating the tree.

We had a tradition in our family where we would take tinfoil, which was cut into squares by my mom, and we would roll or twist really them tight to form it into a link. I don't remember how many links we each would make every year, but it seemed like a lot (everything seems like "a lot" or "bigger" or "longer" when your a kid though), but each link we made was then attached to the chain from the previous years. Our chain was unique, incredibly long and wrapped around our tree easily! It was simple, looked really pretty as it reflected the lights on the tree and was a fun idea for all of us to do together as a family. The days that followed our chain-making endeavor were filled with comparing who's fingers hurt the worst because we would almost get blisters from trying to roll the foil super tight!

Recently, my parents decided to break the chain apart and divide it amongst us kids to continue the tradition.

My mom and dad use to have each of us (there were 5 of us kids) sit on the couch and take turns picking an ornament and then hang it wherever we wanted. I think they were trying to teach us patience. I don't know whether it was the fact that I was the youngest, or wanted to hang them all myself (I'm thinking it was both! Ha!), but it was a challenge to watch each sibling pick an ornament, decide where they wanted it (you had to pick the "perfect spot") and then hang it. I remember on the inside I was always thinking "Don't pick that one, don't pick that one ... I want to hang that one!!" Funny the things you remember and now it brings such a big smile to my face.

Below is a picture of our house back on Matthew Road when we lived in Flordia. I was at the age where I remember this house so clearly and all the memories that were made with my family. 

***Sigh***

I really loved living there!

Also, here is a picture of the BEST Christmas year that I can remember as a kid. All five of us kids got race cars and we were beyond stoked. In fact, my sister Cindy and I were having so much fun with our race cars, that my mom thought they were too "boyish" and made us exchange them from some creepy 4ft dolls that we thought would turn into Chucky when we closed our eyes!

My husband and I are not doing my family's "chain tradition" but we do have our own tradition of getting one ornament every year that signifies something special or important that occurred that year. We have been doing this since our first year of marriage back in 2005. We now have eight ornaments that each hold a special meaning, and this year, our ornament is extra special to us.

Here are our ornaments from 2005-2008.

{2005 - for our 1st year of marriage; 2006 - a simple picture of us crazy in love; 2007 - a Blackhawk to represent Justin's year tour in Iraq; 2008 - a Christmas nurse to represent me graduating from nursing school ... the nurse is round for those extra "lbs" I put on!}

 

Here are our ornaments from 2009-2011.

{2009 - for when we found out our ego was prego; 2010 - we had two contenders: Boogies picture in a "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament ... it was a cow because Justin's granddad raises cattle ... & the "3 Snowketeers";  2011 - a picture of all of us 3 together from when Justin was home on R&R from touring in Kuwait}

 

And our ornament for 2012??

 

Boogie's reindeer with Christmas lights!!!!! I love her sweet, little hand and finger prints. Of course I love it!!! Her hand will never be this size again! Something to be treasured for sure!!!!!!

 

Did this not turn out the cutest?

 

We even used puff paint to give the reindeer some texture. I love everything about it ... except ... they are EXTREMELY fragile. :s

 

I treasure the memories my hubby and daughter make together -- nothing is better!

Having a Baby

No, no, no --- don't put the cart before the horse. Justin and I are NOT pregnant, but I wanted to talk about a little sliver of what a "having a baby" conversation entails.

Today Jocelyn and I got to see a friend that we haven't seen in a few weeks {I won't say her name because she's kind of a private person}, but when I saw her I finally had to ask ...

How far along are you?

Simultaneously as those words were being uttered from my mouth I was silently hoping and praying to the pregnancy Gods that she was indeed pregnant!!!

Oh I know what your thinking -- "You're a woman ... you know better than to ask a woman that!"  -- and yes, I am and I do, but what my brain thought and what came out of my mouth were two totally different things.

I had my suspicions that she was possibly pregnant way back in the being of November as she looked "different," but I thought better to not ask at that point because lets face it, putting on a few "lbs" during the holidays is about as natural as breathing.

No need to hold your breath.
Her ego is definitely prego!

She explained how she hasn't really told anyone {I'm guessing its more her clients/patients that she hasn't been telling} because she felt like some might not really want to know or care {what person would that be? NOT THIS GIRL! ;D}. She also expressed that she feels defensive or more sensitive towards people because everyone {including me} asks "Are you gonna find out what your having?" and then there are always the statements that follow:

... "Oh, your having another girl? I bet your husband really wishes you were having a boy"

or

... "Oh, your finally having a boy!! You don't need another girl do ya? You know how they can be come teenage years!"

or

... "It doesn't matter what your having as long as he/she is healthy!!!"

Do any of these seemingly innocent remarks/comments sound familiar? I think we are all guilty of saying, or thinking, them at some point or another. When these types of comments are made, I believe most people are saying them with a kind, unknowing heart.

My friend explained how if/when she hears these kinds of comments, that it gets under her skin and since she realizes her sensitivity this pregnancy, that she may choose to not find out beforehand what they are having.

I found myself lingering on the last statement of how "It doesn't matter ... as long as he/she is healthy."

I know for a fact that if Justin and I decided to have another child, that so many people unknowingly would say "Lets make this one a healthy one" or "Do all you can to prevent the complications you had last time," or "The sex of the baby doesn't matter ... we just want him or her healthy."

Are those "horrible" comments for a person to make?
No.

But what a comment like that does do, is make parents like us feel like we "messed-up" with our first child, that our first one is "defective" or like we need to try again so we can have a "normal one."

Often times special needs children are "healthy" but require a lot more care in the form of therapy, doctors, medications, etc and obviously some more than others. Yes, Jocelyn has cerebral palsy, but we see her as healthy!! And if we got pregnant again and that baby wasn't seen as "healthy" by society standards, what would that mean? That's right, nothing! We would, just as I think any other parent would, love that child just like we do Jocelyn!!

With this friend being pregnant and my friend Vanessa just giving birth to her precious, chunky son ... I honestly felt a little bit of baby fever this afternoon.

I knoooooooooooooooooooooooooow! Can you believe I just said that?? I'm sure between them two and Justin's granddad pulling me aside and having a little pep-talk with me about how "I know its a personal choice, and you can tell me to go to hell, but I wanted to encourage you guys to at least think about it" ... that the baby thought entered, and was slightly entertained, in my head today.

So all the way on our drive home I kept thinking perhaps ... PERHAPS ... it would be nice to have another child, and my mind wondered to baby la-la land. Then after about 10 minutes of baby dreaming, my mind snapped back into reality, back to our real world, and the answer was no, no, NO!

I am surprised that my mind even wondered there and maybe that's a sign that we are starting to find more and more balance in our lives {even if its chaotic, but isn't everyones?}, but at least that tells me that I am starting to grow in this journey of ours and see beyond our immediate circumstances.

I'd say that's a positive thing!

But we still won't be doing the baby thing ... at least not for a LONG while!

Why yes, I do smell delicious!

... My face that is!!

Yesterday while Jocelyn was napping, I looked at my "To Do List" and thought ...

"I have a million things to do around here and I only have an hour!!"

 

And then my second thought was "No worries, I'll not only knock off some items on my list, but I'll do it while getting beautified with a scrumptious homemade face mask!"

 

One of my newest sites to visit is DIYconfessions. On this site, this crafty little gal had a quick face mask recipe that only had 3 ingredients. THREE!! And wouldn't you know it, I had all of them in my cupboard ... SCORE!

 

The Ingredients:

1. Honey (2T)
2. Cinnamon (1 teaspoon)
3. Nutmeg (1 teaspoon)

 

Yep, that's it!

 

In case your wondering, honey and nutmeg are great for soothing acne scars, preventing infection and are natural anti-inflammatory agents that can reduce swelling and redness of the skin. Awesome for me because I'm always a little extra "rosy" it seems. The extra bonus to using cinnamon and nutmeg is that they both gently exfoliate your skin when you wash the mask off and smell terrific!

 

You may have never heard of Manuka Honey {it's kind of pricey ... hence why I have the off-brand of spices Ha!}. Not only does this type of honey have a uniquely fantastic taste and texture, but it also has "magical powers." What kind of magical powers you ask? Well, its been proven to assist with the following:

1. Has a higher quantity of methylglyoxal (MG) component because the nectar of the manuka flowers have a higher concentration. What does this mean? Just like with other honey, it has antibacterial powers but like on steroids! So, stronger (natural) antibiotic effect.
2. Certain manuka honey, like the one above, has Unique Manuka Factor (UMF) which is potent enough to be therapeutic at ratings of 10 UMF or above.
3. Fabulous for treating minor wounds &/or burns.
4. Reduces high cholesterol & systemic inflammation.
5. Treating gastrointestinal problems {once of "safe" age, we started giving this Boogie to help her reflux ... it works!}

Okay, so enough of the history lesson! Once all the ingredients have been mixed together {I found that it makes enough for 2 masks so maybe a friend would want to do it with you, or better yet, the hubs?}, use clean fingers and apply over face. Let the mask work its magic for 30 minutes and then rinse off. I applied a moisturizer afterwards because my face is always dry, but you wouldn't have too.

 

Want to see what it looks like on?

{I told you it tastes good! Seriously, I got it pretty close to my lips and without even

thinking about it, I kept "tasting" my mask while I was cleaning!! Ha!}

 

I only used water and a washcloth to rinse the mask off. There was no left over residue on my face, and it felt smooth and refreshed. What was left behind, was a pleasantly faint scent of honey and spices. Everytime I moved around I could smell my face!! How often does that happen?? haha

 

Go ahead - try it - you know you wanna!!!

 

Oh, and if you do, I so want a picture! :)

It's a plane...It's a bird...

NOPE!

IT'S THE INCREDIBLE BOOGIE!!!

{Some little girl was feeling strong last night! When I hoisted her up on my feet, she was arching that back, lifting that head and legs like a champ! She was so wiggly and strong that I almost was afraid to play "airplane" because I didn't want to drop her! Nice surprise!! On a side note, this is an AWESOME inner-thigh workout ... whew!}

{She is the SWEETEST little thing ever!}

All three of us were having so much fun last night playing together, being silly and dancing around the livingroom to some old school tunes like Baby Got Back, Bust-A-Move, This is How We Do It and Can't Touch This! Oh and we definitely had to jam out to some Gangnam Style!!!

 

Jocie loves to dance with us and watch us if we get really crazy! Its quite the show that I'm sure would involve lots of laughter if you were observing. :)

 

Listen below so you can have a theme song for the day and pep you up!

 

Happy Hump Day -- Let's all "fly" through this day!

 

Good Stuff

Got good news in the mail yesterday!

The mammogram, lipid profile and my AG 1-25 {a blood test to check for ovarian cancer} each came back normal!!!

Amen!

Feeling grateful!!!

After my yearly, womanly check-up, my physician decided she wanted both of these tests done because of some "abnormal" physical findings; so I am beyond pleased that everything came back proving that I'm a healthy chica!

I find it eerie that for nearly 3 weeks I continually saw the numbers 1234 on my watch, clocks in the house, cell phone, while driving in the car, etc. I saw these numbers virtually every.single.day!

When I was little, my sister would always say "Quick! The clock says 12:34 ... make a wish!!" Never thought anything of it, but definitely always made a wish. She was my sister, older than me and very convincing that if I was "lucky enough" to see 12:34 on the clock, that my wish would come true.

I'm sure that it's my internal clock knows what time it is, or that my brain is simply registering that particular time when I see it because there is also an associated memory with those numbers. Either way, it is super strange to see it each day. However, when looking at numerology, I did find some say this could be a sign of a guardian angel or spirit that is trying to let their present known. I found this rationale interesting as I was awaiting my test results ... food for thought I guess?

I'm weird ... I already know this!

In other news, Jocelyn's unwavering love affair with diaper wipes continues. I had to snap a few shots because she is so infatuated with them!!! In all fairness, I am the one that gave her the container. I can't help it, I like to see her "make a mess" of something. :)

Also, I am finally finished with Jocelyn's therapy room {well, mostly anyways}.

(We put hooks in the ceiling so we can use/change out any of Boogie's 4 swings to use indoors, she now has a therapy mat to help cushion all that hard work, the bright round thing is her Tubmobile and we even have Boogies portrait from Laycee Originals hanging on the wall!)

(We have all her toys organized & coordinated with their pictures so she can make choices, communicate, etc ... and I even got her therapy mirror hung! Yes, I'm a goof-ball!)

(These pictures show more of her equipment like Kaye Benches, a hippotherapy seat with tray and another swing that is called a Joki Hammock Swing. The one picture with the clear bookshelf & bench with posture system is where we perform some of our preschool stuff . I have most of her therapy & art supplies organized hanging on the closet door, and inside the closet houses her lightbox, more therapy balls, her WaterWayBabies neck ring, E-Stim supplies and so much more. Makes it easier to find, and more importantly, USE this stuff!)

Despite a cruddy day yesterday, I'm feeling good about the positive mojo coming my way lately. Today is beyond beautiful and as soon as little miss sunshine wakes from her nap, we are going for a jog out at the lake!!! Pretty excited to enjoy more of this fabulous weather -- what a blessing!