Happy Birthday Sweetie Pie!
1.22.2011
1.21.2011
Give Kids the World
We were so fortunate to stay at Give Kids the World Village on Mollie's wish trip. It was absolutely the best part about the trip!
If you haven't heard of GKTW, it is a resort only available to families through wish-granting organizations (like Make-a-Wish). All of the families staying there have at least one medically-fragile child. Because of this, GKTW caters to the needs of all children- even the merry-go-round and train accommodate wheelchairs easily. It was truly amazing.
A volunteer from GKTW met us at the airport, carried all of our luggage, and assisted us in picking up our rental car. We learned that for every employee at GKTW there are 30 volunteers! They are such kind people who are so eager to see the kids smile (and the parents too!).
All of the amenities at GKTW are completely free of charge- the food, rides, and activities. Lucy and Mollie (and even Liam) loved the carousel! It was open before breakfast until long past dinner. We started every day with a few carousel rides on our way to breakfast! They also had a train, arcade, theatre, garden and playhouse, ice cream parlor (open for breakfast!), miniature golf course, life-size Candyland playground, water park, and magic castle with a spa for kids!
There were activities in the village every morning and evening. There were some exchange students there for a few days; they taught the kids how to play with some traditional Japanese toys and wrote their names in Japanese. They spoke very little English, but they were so sweet and friendly! Every Thursday night, every week of the year, they have a big Christmas celebration at the Village. The kids loved the carriage ride, fake snow, cookie decorating, Christmas parade, and visit with Santa Claus.
As if all that weren't enough, the also decorated our villa for Christmas, with a tree and other decorations inside and lights outside. And the volunteers brought gifts for the kids EVERY DAY!
We could have stayed on the grounds of GKTW the whole week and still had a great time! More on the rest of our trip coming...
Mollie had clinic this week. In the words of Dr. J, "She looks great!" She has lost about 10 pounds since September, all steroid/water weight. Her counts are great-
WBC 4.2
ANC 1800
Hgb 13.3
Plt 219
She didn't have her echo this week; clinic was closed last week (due to snow) so they rescheduled her appointment. I thought they rescheduled the procedure, but they didn't. So we will wait until next month.
If you haven't heard of GKTW, it is a resort only available to families through wish-granting organizations (like Make-a-Wish). All of the families staying there have at least one medically-fragile child. Because of this, GKTW caters to the needs of all children- even the merry-go-round and train accommodate wheelchairs easily. It was truly amazing.
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| Our villa in storybook village |
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| Enjoying the garden |
A volunteer from GKTW met us at the airport, carried all of our luggage, and assisted us in picking up our rental car. We learned that for every employee at GKTW there are 30 volunteers! They are such kind people who are so eager to see the kids smile (and the parents too!).
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| Mayor Clayton gave the girls a personal tuck-in! |
All of the amenities at GKTW are completely free of charge- the food, rides, and activities. Lucy and Mollie (and even Liam) loved the carousel! It was open before breakfast until long past dinner. We started every day with a few carousel rides on our way to breakfast! They also had a train, arcade, theatre, garden and playhouse, ice cream parlor (open for breakfast!), miniature golf course, life-size Candyland playground, water park, and magic castle with a spa for kids!
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| Ice cream! |
There were activities in the village every morning and evening. There were some exchange students there for a few days; they taught the kids how to play with some traditional Japanese toys and wrote their names in Japanese. They spoke very little English, but they were so sweet and friendly! Every Thursday night, every week of the year, they have a big Christmas celebration at the Village. The kids loved the carriage ride, fake snow, cookie decorating, Christmas parade, and visit with Santa Claus.
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| Princess Mollie of Cornelius |
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| Carriage ride- thanks to the horses, Tom and Dan |
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| Visit with Santa Claus |
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| Prince Liam |
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| Mollie and Lucy walking up to the toadstool carousel |
We could have stayed on the grounds of GKTW the whole week and still had a great time! More on the rest of our trip coming...
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| Mayor Clayton's house |
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| Lucy rode the carousel at least 5 times every day! |
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| Even Liam enjoyed the merry-go-round |
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| Lucy got her nails done in blue at the spa |
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| Mollie and Lucy with Ms. Merry, the Mayor's wife |
WBC 4.2
ANC 1800
Hgb 13.3
Plt 219
She didn't have her echo this week; clinic was closed last week (due to snow) so they rescheduled her appointment. I thought they rescheduled the procedure, but they didn't. So we will wait until next month.
1.12.2011
Snow Days
We had a lovely little birthday party for Liam on Sunday! He cried at his first piece of cake because he wanted his bottle, but once he started on the cake, there was no stopping him!
Later that night, it began to snow. And it snowed all day Monday. Then it turned to freezing rain. Schools have been closed all week, so we have been having some fun around the house: sledding, crafting, fort-building, reading, and sitting by the fire. Tomorrow is back to school for Mollie. Unfortunately, they have to make up the missed days over President's day and the MLK holiday. Boo!
The clinics have been closed this week too, so Mollie's appointment will be rescheduled. Ever since Christmas she has been plagued with a cough/cold. We ended up taking her to urgent care (at our family doc) on Jan. 6 because she was looking and feeling puny (as they say in Augusta). She was feverish, coughing a lot, and extremely lethargic. They did a flu swab and chest x-ray and said told us they both came back negative, but that they would call when the radiologist reviewed the chest films. No antibiotics, just control the fever. The next evening we got a call from the doc that her x-rays showed a little "pneumonitis" or early pneumonia. So she started her favorite medicine, Zithromax. What a difference an antibiotic makes. She finished her last dose yesterday and feels much better!
I am still working on organizing our Disney pictures (too many!). Hopefully I'll have a couple of picture posts this weekend.
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| Liam is wearing the vest I knit for him! |
Later that night, it began to snow. And it snowed all day Monday. Then it turned to freezing rain. Schools have been closed all week, so we have been having some fun around the house: sledding, crafting, fort-building, reading, and sitting by the fire. Tomorrow is back to school for Mollie. Unfortunately, they have to make up the missed days over President's day and the MLK holiday. Boo!
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| Snow fun in the common area behind our house |
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| In case you can't tell, they are sledding on my (really old) snowboard! |
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| Not only do we not have a sled, but we don't have any snow clothes either! Lucy is wearing swim trunks over pants! |
The clinics have been closed this week too, so Mollie's appointment will be rescheduled. Ever since Christmas she has been plagued with a cough/cold. We ended up taking her to urgent care (at our family doc) on Jan. 6 because she was looking and feeling puny (as they say in Augusta). She was feverish, coughing a lot, and extremely lethargic. They did a flu swab and chest x-ray and said told us they both came back negative, but that they would call when the radiologist reviewed the chest films. No antibiotics, just control the fever. The next evening we got a call from the doc that her x-rays showed a little "pneumonitis" or early pneumonia. So she started her favorite medicine, Zithromax. What a difference an antibiotic makes. She finished her last dose yesterday and feels much better!
I am still working on organizing our Disney pictures (too many!). Hopefully I'll have a couple of picture posts this weekend.
1.09.2011
1.03.2011
Happy New Year!
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| The limo is here! We're going to Disney! |
The Orlando trip was a blast! More details about the trip later, but we had a great, great time. The resort, Give Kids the World Village was amazing, and probably the best part of the trip. Our kids had never seen anything like DisneyWorld before, so it was a lot to take in and discover. I am still digesting it all!
Mollie spent a few days under the weather. She was sick for a day in Orlando and following Christmas she just seemed extremely tired and pale. I took her in to our pediatrician for counts. Matt and I both were worried; we thought the other shoe was about to drop. Fortunately, her counts were fine!
Christmas Eve was a little chaotic as we were all so tired and had little time to prepare (and Liam threw up on the flight home from Orlando). But Christmas day was lovely. Matt's parents and brother were staying with us and we spent a leisurely morning opening gifts. Then we spent the afternoon trying to find a restaurant for Christmas dinner (the search was much harder than anticipated). We ended up at a small farm-to-table restaurant in a historic hotel in uptown and it was fantastic! We had the entire place to ourselves and the real treat was that it started snowing!
The week after Christmas is always a favorite of mine- probably the most calm, relaxing days of the whole year. And of course, my birthday falls during that week. So maybe that's why I like it so much. We spent time around our house and then Matt's parents took Mollie and Lucy to Snow Hill (his grandparents' farm in South Carolina) and that gave us a little respite. Unfortunately, I got the stomach bug so instead of crossing items off my "to do" list, I was worshiping the porcelain goddess.
We joined them is South Carolina to ring in the new year. Now we are all recovering... and Liam took his first steps today!
I hope everyone had a lovely holiday!
12.17.2010
Signing off for Christmas
With Christmas and Mollie's Wish trip on the agenda, I am going to take a short blog break. I promise I'll be back after Christmas with some photos of all the festivities.
We got some bad news today about our house in Augusta- a pipe burst and there is major water damage. I really struggled to get through today, wondering if this was my straw (the straw that broke the camel's back). In my mind, I know things could be a lot worse (I'm thinking of families getting a devastating diagnosis or losing a precious child). This doesn't compare, but this still feels pretty bad. Thanks to my awesome husband for driving down there to see the damage in person and talking me through a big cry fest (you too, mom).
The kids are bouncing off the walls with excitement, so for now, I won't worry about money or insurance, and I vow to just be present and enjoy them.
We hope everyone enjoys the winter holidays, however you celebrate!
12.12.2010
Full Weekend
Mollie stayed home from school on Friday. She just seemed worn out and in need of some extra rest. So she slept in and spent some time watching movies and just being indoors and quiet. She still almost fell asleep at the dinner table.
Fortunately, she perked up Saturday morning and we went downtown to see Matt finish his first ever marathon! It was a beautiful (cold) day. We had a delicious lunch afterward and I got my last bit of Christmas shopping done while Matt took the girls home.
We ended the day by watching the DVD that Camp Rainbow sent from this year's camp. It was fun trying to spot Mollie and see some of the activities she did at camp (like catching huge fish with Dr. Vega).
Today we attended a Christmas party for CampCARE (similar to Camp Rainbow but here in NC). Mollie and Lucy got to confer with Santa and get their photos taken (I will post when I get it). And then Lisa, our Make-a-wish volunteer, came by with a light-up princess cake and all of our info for the DisneyWorld trip! So we had cake for dinner and pasta and salad for dessert!
We ended the day by watching the DVD that Camp Rainbow sent from this year's camp. It was fun trying to spot Mollie and see some of the activities she did at camp (like catching huge fish with Dr. Vega).
Today we attended a Christmas party for CampCARE (similar to Camp Rainbow but here in NC). Mollie and Lucy got to confer with Santa and get their photos taken (I will post when I get it). And then Lisa, our Make-a-wish volunteer, came by with a light-up princess cake and all of our info for the DisneyWorld trip! So we had cake for dinner and pasta and salad for dessert!
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