Moving on up...

Joey passed his first hockey class and was moved up to the next level! He was super excited! Jill continues to love dance class and is willing to put her hair up, loves getting her dance gear on, and with the cooler weather we pulled out the leg warmers Auntie Miya made Jill when she was a baby. Back then the leg warmers barely fit over her chunky legs, now they are perfect for dance class!

Science Experiements

Last week in a weak moment at Walgreens I got Jill her first makeup kit. She had the option of Barbie, Tinkerbell or Princesses and I thought she'd pick one of the latter two, but she chose the Barbie kit. It had nail polish (which I was trying already to get her to like the .99 one over the $4.99 one that was the same exact color, but when she saw the whole kit for nearly same price as the good nail polish I figured why not? Well, because she loves putting makeup on everyone else and Joey was more than happy to be her victim! Last Friday we also had a science experiment when Daddy went to the store to buy dry ice. So here are all the fun things they did experimenting with the clouds in our kitchen!

Congrats Auntie Trish and Uncle Alex, and a pretty flower girl named Jill!

Super exciting weekend! Jillian was a flower girl in her Godmother and Aunt's wedding. Auntie Trisha and Uncle Alex had a most beautiful wedding and Jillian was more than ecstatic to be a part of it. We did the teaser pics of her trying on her dress at the wedding shop, but it really couldn't compare to how pretty Jill looked and pictures can't capture how awestruck she was to be a part of something so big and be a princess! For starters the rehearsal was Friday night and Jill learned her part in using the basket of leaves to walk down the aisle with her cousin Andrew. The two were a cute couple and both personality plus. Jill received a basket full of goodies from Auntie Trish and Uncle Alex, which was filled to the brim, some of the bigger highlights were stick-on earrings, a very cute frame about her being a flower girl that is already on her vanity table in her room, books, and a string of pearls! Auntie Trish, Auntie Pam, and Auntie Tiff as well as the rest of the bridesmaids were so wonderful at including Jillian on every step of the wedding day. She went with them to get her hair done (which she had a few moments from being burned by the curling iron but recovered well) and was ecstatic to have her nails professionally done! She loved watching the other ladies get ready too. She had her fair share of snacks, ask any of the girls, but she didn't have a real lunch or nap and did awesome the whole day. After getting her dress and pearls on she was ready for action. Auntie Trish made a most beautiful bride and all of her bridesmaids were sure to take good care of her. We headed to the 19 Century Club for the wedding... then across the street for some pictures... and back to the 19C Club for a fun reception... The kids loved dancing, were dancing during cocktail hour, and Jillian was whisked up in the dancing with many friends, bridesmaids, and even the bride and groom took her for a few spins on the floor. Jill has her mom's blood running through her; while Joey fell asleep in Daddy's arms, Jill and I were still on the dance floor. Jill has decided she loves Kiddie Cocktails and given the chance would have closed the place down with the rest of the wedding party. Joey was quite out though so we got Jill to leave the dance floor only to have her first tearful moment of the night when we were saying goodbye to Grandma and she kept asking me for another Kiddie Cocktail, wanting to go back up and keep dancing! Once we hit the car and put pj's on, she was out within 3 blocks. As I mentioned earlier, Auntie Trish is Jillian's Godmother, but she is also Joshua's Godmother too. Never forgotten and I am always taken off guard, Trish walked down the aisle with the rosary that was made for her from the flower from Josh's casket. And if that wasn't enough to make me cry finding out, seeing the rosary, and then watching the beautiful bride walk down the aisle knowing she had that, the song that they exited to from the ceremony as husband and wife was Viva La Vida by Coldplay (done by the quartet), but that song has been a "Josh" song between Phil and I since we first heard it shortly after he passed. So once again, tears down my cheeks and knowing he is letting the sun shine down along with his sweet smile. Alex and Trish looked so happy and so in love. They had a great first dance--so fitting for them, and such a wonderful day. I do have a lot more pictures Auntie Trish, a few keepers from the park for sure, but didn't post here. ;) Congrats to the happy couple!

NICU reunion party 2012

Each year, usually in October, we are invited to the NICU reunion party. It is the best celebration of life you can think about; seeing so many kids that spent days, weeks (Joey), and for some (like Josh)months in the NICU now they are getting bigger, thriving, and showing how capable a preemie is of overcoming any obstacle. We were able to catch up with our favorite NICU nurses which we just recently saw some at the CHARGE run, and some that we hadn't seen since last year. There as usual was great kid food, lots of crafts, bubbles, games, haunted house jumpies, and the band! Even though it was earlier this year the kids were still allowed to dress up so here is also a preview of their Halloween costumes. We stopped by Assumption to thank Josh as well as Joey for allowing us to be invited and included on such a great day.

Clearing the Camera...

We have a very busy and exciting weekend coming up as Auntie Trish and Uncle Alex tie the knot and Jillian gets to be princess for a day as flower girl. She is very excited and I am sure I will have plenty of pics of that, but for now here are some of what Phil says are the same pics. Yes, the Arboretum! I love it, and at this time of year breathtaking with the leaves changing. Luckily I have my nature boy Joey who seems to love going there as much as I do, so we went last week but only were able to go for a very short time because we had to pick Jill up from school. This past Tuesday Jillian stayed for the enrichment program because she absolutely loves her teachers, socializing, and being at school! So Joey and I were able to spend a few hours and a nice lunch on a nice fall day at the Arboretum. October had hit so the scarecrows were out lining the lake which we walked first, caught some grasshoppers, played in the Children's Garden, and had our lunch al fresco before getting Jill at 1.

3 years FAC

The other day I walked into our Family Advisory Council meeting and noticed a cake. Thought, hmmmm someone's birthday? In fact it has been 3 years since Phil and I, and a few other parents have been a part of the FAC at our hospital. We were picked to be on this council to help the hospital staff see what it is like to have a child going through so much, to be able to advocate for those parents, children, siblings and voice the compassion that needs to be in a hospital. We have seen so many changes, have voiced opinions and shared ideas on many projects including the construction of the pediatric ER and peds units, materials that are important for admission, discharge, and the many procedures that our kids have gone through, and of course my personal baby was bringing Open Heart Magic to the hospital. Driving over, I had thought what can I bring to the FAC anymore? Joey is 4, Josh has been with the Lord for 3 years, I feel like it is all slipping away. We take summers off of these meetings and maybe that was why I felt like I was so out of touch with things. In our meeting there was a discussion about pain managements and it is amazing how a topic can just be stated and memories flood back like it was yesterday, things you thought you had forgotten, not the memory as a whole but the nitty gritty details, oh how those are engrained in my head and heart forever. It is like a word association game: you say apple, I say banana. You say pain management I say call IV Therapy immediately. You say suction: I say don't go past 5. All it takes is one word and you are back in time, holding Josh (man was he fiesty, he didn't get his nickname of "manimal" for nothing!), watching his "popeye face", holding a pacifier in his mouth as he sucked feverishly, watching his tongue move side to side in his mouth as his eyes go side to side in wonder of when it will be done, the initially scariness of not breathing, the need to be suctioned, the kicking of feet ("straight kickin' boo" was another term of endearment), putting so many bean bags of pressure on him that he couldn't move. Oh I could really go on and on, you say pain management and I am there with Joshua reliving it all. And that is why these meetings are so important. We have lived through it all good, bad, indifferent, it has been hospital life, home life, and all that can be in between. We are still advocating for Josh, for any other child that might have a stay long term or short, heck it doesn't have to be a kid with a chronic illness or syndrome it could be any kid going to the ER that has the flu or broke an arm. It my chance to make the stay shorter, the anxiety lessened, and the hospital not so scary. As I told the FAC as the bottom line of pain management. All I wanted to do was be mom, to be the one to comfort to be at the head of his bed, to show that I wasn't scared so that he wouldn't be, and to know that my opinions were taken into his plan of care because I am his mom. Thank you Josh for allowing me to always be your mom.

13th Marathon!

Yes, it was my unlucky 13th marathon this year. Given the fact that I felt it was an unlucky number I still finished with a fair time, not my best (3rd best time), but not my worst either. With the hot summer it was hard training, but the support from my personal curb crew pushes me to the finish every time, thank you Mom, Phil, Christy, Mom, Dad, Joey, Jillian, Andrew, and Emma for chasing around St. Charles to Aurora and back to watch me run, it really means the world to me even if its for a quick wave or hi-five! Not sure why these pics spread out into 3 batches, but here they are, the kids seem to enjoy the mayhem of the marathon, and Joey was my perfect coach handing off some chapstick when I needed it most!