Good Read

I read things that are not classics because I drudge through that all day long, mostly. I love Jodi Picoult. Love her. Most of her books rock; there have been a few strange ones that I have had to stop reading: The Songs of The Humpback Whale and Second Glance. I just couldn't get into them.

I recently finished Nineteen Minutes and My Sister's Keeper. Loved them. I am now onto Handle With Care. This is a hard book for me to read because of the subject matter.

Here is the synopsis: When Charlotte and Sean O’Keefe’s daughter, Willow, is born with severe osteogenesis imperfecta, they are devastated – she will suffer hundreds of broken bones as she grows, a lifetime of pain. As the family struggles to make ends meet to cover Willow’s medical expenses, Charlotte thinks she has found an answer. If she files a wrongful birth lawsuit against her ob/gyn for not telling her in advance that her child would be born severely disabled, the monetary payouts might ensure a lifetime of care for Willow. But it means that Charlotte has to get up in a court of law and say in public that she would have terminated the pregnancy if she’d known about the disability in advance – words that her husband can’t abide, that Willow will hear, and that Charlotte cannot reconcile. And the ob/gyn she’s suing isn’t just her physician – it’s her best friend.

There is a scene in which they discover, in utereo, that something is wrong with their unborn daughter. I almost cried while reading it.

Here are the rest of her books and I suggest you read the ones I have read (marked):
Handle With Care - currently reading
Change of Heart
Nineteen Minutes - suggest
The Tenth Circle
Vanishing Acts
My Sisters Keeper - suggest
Second Glance - not great
Perfect Match
Salem Falls - suggest
Plain Truth - suggest
Keeping Faith
The Pact
Mercy - suggest
Picture Pefect
Harvesting the Heart - suggest
Songs of the Humpback Whale - not great

My Top Ten Fav's

I am notorious for things making me happy. Here are the top ten things unrelated to family, etc.

1. When my kids say funny things that no teacher should laugh at and then I have to laugh because I can't hold it in
2. The movie "Juno"
3. Lime Beer
4. Stickers
5. The Cute Overload blog
6. Ridiculously over priced pet wear
7. Pictures from high school
8. Stupid forwards you get via Facebook or email
9. The "F" word
10. Cool sheets on a summer night after a hot shower

She's a wavin' fool

She has mastered waving. Both sides too. I will admit, it is damn cute when she waves with her baby arm. With her right hand, she actually uses her hand, but the baby hand is flailing arm waving.

And, she knows what bye-bye means because she waved bye-bye to Grammy today when she left.

I love her. She is effin' fabulous!

Houston, we have a rocker.

Miss Gracyn Paige is rocking now. Hands and knees rocking. I am so excited! Now if she could only figure out how to move her knees to crawl!

I just don't get it.

Last night Dave and I were watching Big Love and Rock of Love. Our Sunday night ritual. At any rate, we were watching it and in both shows the women were talking about drama finding them. I seconded that motion. I swear, I could stay in my house and not talk to a soul for thirty days and STILL have some frickin' drama. I am not going to act like I am an easy person to love and all, but I swear to you that drama seeks me out and my name is always brought up some how.

Case in point: Today at work, I had a great day. The kids were good and I taught my hide off. A good day. I ended my day with a confusing conversation with another adult that left me feeling like I am surrounded by lame people who search out things to be pissed off about. That got me thinking...I know A LOT of those people. I mean in the grand scheme of things are PANTS really more important than academics? Cell phones more important that AYP? Departmental feuding more important than curriculum that actually engages the kids? No I say, no dammit!

So, what I just don't get is (drum roll please!) why people cannot focus on what really matters in situations instead of petty crap. And what really irks me is that the kids honestly believe it'll get better when they get older and it won't. In fact, it is more difficult to understand and deal with because at damn near thirty years old, and some times older dependent on the other party involved, people have not found purpose, a focus, or figured out what it is that is really important in the grand scheme of things.

Okay. Idiot induced vent over :)

My new mantra for our life...

"Sometimes what we thought it would be isn’t nearly as great as what it will be."

Brahahahaha....!

Is it just me or does she look sinister in this picture? Like she is plotting to take over the world or something? Nonetheless, it cracks me up.

Seven months of the reflection and an update from the hand doctor

Where do I begin...July. In July, Gracyn made her grand entrance to our little world and I was left both star struck and scared shitless. I had all of the normal fears of any new mother. Normal, yes.

In August, I went back to work. It was nice to be around adults again because I been by myself with a fresh, newborn for a month because Dave had to go back to work. I missed her like crazy though.

September came and went. I started to spend a ridiculous amount of my income on clothes for the baby. That is a personal obsession of mine. Still is. We went to the local Labor Day Festival and she rode happily in her stroller.

Fall came in with October. We had our first set of official family pictures. First trip for Gracyn to the Pumpkin Show. She was a mermaid for her first Halloween. There is nothing cuter than a baby in jeans. As for me, things got easier. She grew more independent and with her new found independence, I saw her do things that I always hoped she would...like using her left hand for things like holding, pulling, etc.

Thanks was given at Thanksgiving in November. That was an emotional month. A year prior, was when I went to the doctor hysterical because I wasn't pregnant...then I was...then I was spotting...ug. This year though, I celebrated my blessings with the biggest blessing of all...my daughter.

Snow, Hanukkah and X-Mas was a blast. She laid under the tree and I spend countless hours picking out the perfect presents for my child to play with the wrapping paper. Like in November, I was never more grateful. We spent almost all of winter break together, just the two of us. That's when I started calling us Thelma and Louise (I am Louise, Gracyn is Thelma). We really bonded and going back to school was so hard.

Last month was January. Half of a year has passed and it seems like only yesterday we were at Zoombezi Bay (four days prior to delivering) and I was beached in the wave pool praying to give birth so that I'd be able to see my ankles again. Like it was only yesterday that I was holding her for the first time, bringing her home and watching her sleep in the pack and play. Things are SO much easier now. I am pretty confident that I am a good mom. I, at points, contemplated whether or not we could afford for me to be a SAHM. Me, a SAHM...never thought I'd say it. Again, I find myself so grateful for her in my life. At that time last year, I was praying to carry to term and here she is...so beautiful.

Month seven, February. This month is half over. She turned seven months on Valentine's Day. We celebrated a Valentine's Day party last weekend and she made some friends. We have located another little girl, Leah, in Ohio who has a hand just like Gracyn's. She is a little bit older than Gracyn by a couple of months. Seeing her do things makes me so happy. She uses her hand non-stop and there are times when I just sit and smile as she is doing things and then it dawns on me that I am smiling.

Update from the hand doctor: Dr. Popp is holding strong to the symbrachydactyly diagnosis. He wants to see us in a year. No action plan. That is actually a good thing. No surgery. He wants us to wait on prosthetics until she is cognisant of what it means. He'll x-ray her in a year so that her bones are more defined. We met with an OT at that appointment as well. She said to leave her be for now and let her develop her own way of doing things. We'll consult with her again at 2.5 - 3 years old. That is also when the special ed elementary coordinator in the district suggested we start her in mixed preschool as to get her a 504/IEP.

In all, things have never been better. I am so grateful for her and am so happy to have her in my life. All of that time I spent worrying and praying was worth it because every time I look at those huge hazel eyes all I see is possibility.

Gracyn makes a friend.

It is only fitting that Gracyn and Danica should be friends seeing as I have known Danielle since the tenth grade. She was MOH in my first wedding, I was in her's to Dan, etc. etc. etc.

Here they are playing together tonight after the Valentine's Day party.

Gracyn's First Valentine's Day Bash

Here are pics of Gracyn as she waited for her little friends to arrive. Erin took pictures too, I'll post a link to those later. She is wearing the shirt that Jada made her. It has a"G" on it.