September & October have been spent getting organized...
enjoying Fall festivities...
and feeling settled...
can it be?!
I think I speak for my whole crew when I say being back in Arkansas, finally moved into a home that is accessible for Maggie Lou, is good for the soul. I can feel our family unit starting to come down off the high of our crazy summer, relax, and our over morale improving;)...
Miss Harper is off to a GREAT start with school!!
She enjoys her class, loves her teacher, and seems MUCH more comfortable in her own skin this year. We started some new routines and feel like we are better able to grasp her ADHD... she is back to my smiley, happy, sweet, and confident girl- and I LOVE seeing it;)....
...rainy afternoons ALWAYS call for some muddy puddle running- right?!
{Picture Day 2017}
Harper was all about her cowgirl boots and big bows for picture day- we are back in the south for SURE!!!
...and Evelyn HAD to cheese it up with big sis for one pic- no pants and all- lol!
Ms. Maggie was MORE than ready for botox injections to help loosen up her tense muscles! We switched doctors when we moved back and things just got a bit backed up... poor baby was having so much trouble sleeping and getting comfortable, so we leapt into Dr. Gupta's arms when the time came for her injections!!! She did SO well and had no heart rate drops during the procedure- BIG DEAL for little miss!!!
...but the next morning she scared us quite a bit with her very first noticeable seizure. We knew kiddos with CP are susceptible to seizures, but we had not noticed anything prior that led us to believe she was having any harmful seizure activity. Well, it looks like we will add seizure to Maggie's repertoire now. Thank GOODNESS Pete was in town and there to help, calm me down, and soak in all the info from her doctors. I think we are armed and ready if it were to happen again...
...but feeling her calm self fall asleep in my arms after her body came out of that seizure was Heaven.
Stop scaring Mommy and Daddy, Mags!!!!
Whenever Maggie has a scary episode with us, she ALWAYS follows it up with an amazing-mommy-cries-happy-tears moment. Well, less than a week after her seizure she did just that.
She stood up... pushed up (with prompting from her therapist Ms. Lori;)) and STOOD!
Over and over and over again.
What the what?!?!
I was snapping pictures so fast and cheering her on the whole time!!
GO MAGGIE GO!!!
Since then she started sitting up like a CHAMP without support!!!
Evelyn LOVES that big sis can ride in the wagon with her!!
...playing and eating without support....
...and enjoying her gait trainer MUCH more (especially when sisters will play with her;))
Maggie will FOREVER keep Pete and I on our toes- no doubt about it. Some moments are so scary, but we always come away stronger, having learned from it, and more confident in Ms. Maggie. Watching HER be so proud of herself as she says Hi to someone, sits up and plays, walks to us, gives us hugs... it just is AMAZING and makes the worry and frustrations melt away.
Thank you God for making me her mama.
Someone else is loving Maggie's hippo therapy time each week! HA!
Ms. Codi and her husband run an INCREDIBLE program at Hoofin' It!!! Maggie LOVES Victor, the pony, and Evelyn sure does reap the benefits as well! She gets one lap around the arena every lesson on Mr. Victor...
...and has found her furry soul mate in Stella the yellow lab. Stella comes right up to the van every time we pull up and the two just walk off together for the duration of Maggie's lesson. HA!
Pretty cute, huh?! ;)
Evelyn is ALWAYS making sure her Mommy and Daddy keep their eyes open;)... never a dull moment with this one! She makes me laugh just as much as she makes me crazy! LOL!
Let me back up...
I love my time I get with her. She's only going to be 2 once;). She is in school 2 days a week right now, which means the other 3 days it's ON. She loves organizing, testing me on colors, singing at the top of her lungs, "reading" to me, and playing on her iPad and MY phone. She says some of the SWEETEST things, always wants to make sure she has about 7 hugs, 8 kisses, 9 high fives, and 10 fist bumps before she closes those big brown eyes for the night...
but she ALSO makes sure I never go without a caffeinated drink, rarely get a shower in the daytime, and keep my running shoes on at ALL times...
...especially on those mornings when she looks at me and says "No school me?". "Yes baby, no school for you today"... let Mommy finish her coffee before the chaos of a home day begins;)...
My sweet baby is growing up... soaking up the cuteness and holding my breath, and my frustration during the chaos... at least she LOOKS cute when she's tearing up a book or coloring herself in with marker- right?!
Moments like this for example...
"Mommy I push Maggie. I do it!!"
Chats with her big sister the whole way to the car, and parks the wheelchair WITH the brake, on the wheelchair accessible loading area. THE SWEETEST!!!
...or this!
Picture day 2017
Cow girl boots and sister cuteness for the win!!!
The hubs and I are enjoying finally unpacking the boxes, setting up our home, and feeling like we can finally take a deep breath and enjoy our family moments!!
Did I mention how good it feels to be settled?!
Half Marathon training continues...
these days it's involving more water, more miles, more frozen peas on my aging knees, and more Advil for my aching body!! I am grateful for the Fall temps, and great friends and family who continue to motivate me as I work toward checking off this 'Amy Bucket List' item;)....
Like this girl, right here!!
We did a 5k together last month and I LOVED IT!!! Beautiful trail (minus the shenanigans of those volunteers entertaining us throughout the race;)), cool temps, and running with this lady was AWESOME!!!
We have GOT to do it again, Jen;). Thank you for inviting me and for being so fun that morning!!
...and thank you to my crew for coming out to support me;)!!
Hubs and I got in a date night too!!!! Fish City. Couple cocktails. Amazing dinner (as usual:)). And a WHOLE TWO HOUR CONVERSATION with my husband without interruptions... it felt nice, babe;)!
Nashville.
Ed Sheehan.
My mom.
My sister and her sweet husband.
SOLD!
I was a stand-in for my Dad who was unable to make the show, and although I felt badly he couldn't be there, I had a BLAST soaking in family, a new city, and the wildly-entertaining Ed Sheehan.
The sweetest moment: my mom videoing a couple minutes of each song, Ed did. She sent them all to my dad who was away on business. THE SWEETEST!!! I wanna be like them when I grow up;). Love.
An ice-cream-indoor-picnic is ALWAYS a good idea;)
October has been spent with friend dinner dates....
...and gearing up for Halloween.
This is for sure my crew, at Home Depot, on our wild and crazy Friday, looking through all their Halloween decor- lol. Literally, all they wanted to do was look at all of it... didn't buy a thing... then loaded back in the van to head home. Oh MY how our night life has changed;)!
Bony Tail.
Harper spotted him in Walmart and HAD to have him.
No way. What in God's green earth would we do with a 5ft skeleton?!?!
I had a weak moment.
Mom fail/win?? Depends on how you look at it;).
5ft. skeleton ended up in my cart and I surprised Harper and had him waiting for her outside when she got off the school bus.
And since that moment of sheer excitement whent she saw him waiting for her, she has proved me wrong...
there are MANY things you can do with a 5ft skeleton.
Nap with him. Dress him up. Set up scenes around the house with him. Scare the daylights out of your sisters. Have MANY conversations... he IS a good listener.
I mean, the activities are endless... oh dear.
Boo Bags!!
One of Harper's fav traditions. The ding-dong-ditch activity turned somehow ok, because you leave a basket of goodies at their door. She LOVES doing it... I do the stocking of the bags, and she and Daddy go ding-dong-ditch the neighbors... because I STILL feel wrong doing such things;). This year, Evelyn even got to be a part... she LOVED it!!
Sneak peak of our trio's costumes this year....
I lost...
No princesses this year...
I mean she doesn't even look like a girl...
But I HAVE to admit, seeing how excited the girls got for their Star Wars costumes this year was pretty sweet...
...seeing how excited their Daddy was to see his girls sharing his passion for Star Wars
...ya pretty special;).
Halloween 2017, here we come...
The Lees are unpacked, settled, and grateful for Fall moments back in Arkansas;).
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