DIANA - TWO YEAR OLD DOCTOR VISIT

The two year old visit was pretty simple - no shots, no tasks/tests to complete - just your basic check-up. Diana was so excited to go with just Mommy & Daddy. Davis stayed home with Aunt Karen. Anytime Diana has her Dad all to herself she is so happy. Diana was 34 inches tall (50%) and 28.1 pounds (60%). She was so proud to walk out on her own carefully holding her stickers.

BIG GIRL AT BIG BACKYARD

Diana is growing up. She loved going on the "big kid slides" and was so proud of herself. We had lots of fun at The Big Backyard and she got to play basketball with Charlene and Makai too.

GIRLFRIENDS...

I have come to the conclusion that Davis likes to "meet new girls" at The Big Backyard (an indoor playground). Usually, he will play with other boys, but when we go to The Big Backyard there are so many kids he chooses to play with all the girls. At one point I caught him sitting on the floor with his face in his hands. I asked what was wrong and he said "Mom, my girl left!". I am dreading the teenage years - let me tell you. Two little ones is a lot of work but I really don't mind. He does look sad in some of the photos as his "favorite" girl had to go home.

I'M SORRY MOMMY!

Davis was having a rough day last week and we decided that he needed to take a timeout and Mommy would take a timeout too. I put the timer on for 3 minutes and we went in separate rooms to take our breaks (Diana was napping). I love you Davis but Mommy really needed a timeout from Davis too! After timeout with Davis was over, he came walking into my room with a homemade playdoh birthday cake complete with crayon candles. He carried it in proudly singing happy birthday to me and said he was sorry. Of course I melted - Davis you are a challenge and a sweetie all at the same time :-)

LAYLA GRACE

We have been praying for this litte girl for a few weeks now. Sadly, she lost her battle with cancer (neuroblastoma) early this morning.



I am in awe of the impact she has had in her 2 years here on earth - her family had nearly 60,000 prayer warriors on facebook and almost another 40,000 on twitter. She has brought many people closer to their children and closer to God. We will never forget you Layla Grace.

You can visit her Mom's website: www.laylagrace.org

Click here for a video of Layla's life.....Layla Grace


This is a post by Layla's mother that really touched me a few weeks ago.

Sleep, Valentines Day and Regrets
February
16
Towards the end of a pregnancy, a mother will wake up to go to the bathroom every few hours. I think this is the body’s way of preparing you for a newborn and the sleepless nights that come along with it. Layla now spends most of her days sleeping. 30-45 minutes after she wakes up, she is ready to lay down and sleep again. Is this God’s way of preparing me for all the quiet time that is coming soon? The house is quiet. I am able to go through the motions of laundry, dishes, cooking and picking up without interruptions. But I WANT interruptions. I WANT Layla to be under my feet asking for cookies. I WANT to hear her playing with her toys. I WANT to take 45 minutes to unload the dishwasher because she keeps trying to help. For every time I uttered the words “I just can’t get anything done with these kids under my feet all day” I am eternally regretful. The days that I looked forward to naptime so I could get a grocery list made, or finally fold all the piles of laundry…I regret those days too. If I could do it all again, I’d enjoy EVERY SINGLE WAKING MOMENT I had with her. I would never wish for her to sit still or take a nap or go to bed early. I would never look forward to the days when she could sit through an entire episode of Dora silently. I would treasure every second with her.

So I’ve spent the last few days in a quiet house, able to do whatever my heart desires. But all I want to do is wake her up and hold her. She doesn’t really want to be held much anymore. She prefers to be rocked in her dark bedroom for a little while, then laid down in her bed. She gets easily overstimulated by the noise of the other children downstairs. She wants dark, silence, peace and sleep. So we give those things to her. As much as it breaks my heart to not be able to hold her all day, I know her little body needs peace and sleep.

We have tried to put her in our bed with us but she screams. I’ve tried to rock her in my room, but she just cries. She wants familiarity. Her own bed. Hospice told us that when the time comes that we shouldn’t leave her side (i.e, she only has a few hours or days), she won’t know where she is and won’t put up a fight about sleeping with us. She’ll only open her eyes for a few minutes at a time.

We had plans to visit family in Oklahoma this week, to go to the zoo, the beach, the rodeo…outside to play. That will not happen. We had family pictures taken last week and I’m so happy we did. We can hardly get Layla to say a word, let alone give us a smile or lift her head up long enough for pictures. Family has come over to visit her the past few days without success. She doesn’t want to leave her room and they have come and gone without being able to hold her, talk to her, and some instances even see her. Our Pastor came by yesterday and we started making some funeral arrangements. At the end of his visit, he asked if we would like to have her baptized. We said YES and he baptized her right there in our kitchen. She was very peaceful and didn’t cry or make any noise during it. I truly feel like God was holding her in his hands and comforting her.

She is hooked up to a morphine pump and had a dose of Dexamethasone on Saturday. Sunday morning she ate 4 bowls of cereal and was in a fairly good mood. She sat up in my lap long enough to open her Valentine’s present and watch some tv. Since then, it has been a steady decline.

Please pray for her comfort; both physically and spiritually. Please pray that she knows how much God loves her and she isn’t scared about what she is feeling and what is happening. Please pray for minimal pain and suffering. Please pray for Claire and Jenna. They are so confused and uncertain about what is happening. They cannot fully grasp the finality of her impending death. I can hardly grasp the finality of what is happening.

HEATHER'S "FIESTA" BABY SHOWER

I hosted a baby shower with several other ladies for my dear friend Heather last weekend. We opted for a Mexican restaurant as that is Heather's favorite food. I remember being with Heather at this particular restaurant about a year ago and was so impressed when she was able to speak perfect Spanish with the Mariachi Band. When it came time to plan her baby shower, I thought this would be the perfect venue. Heather was so thankful and sweet during the shower. You could really tell that she was touched by all the gifts she received. Now we are all counting the days to find out if she is having a boy or girl!!!


Heather's cute invites, handmade by my neighbor Charlene..


Diaper cake & washcloth bouquet, again made by Charlene - she is so creative...


Thought we were going to run out of room for all Heather's gifts...


This is the cutest little rocking chair - it plays "Yes Jesus love me" when you rock. My personal favorite of the day...


Jay's mom did all the centerpieces, they were very cute....

DAVIS LOVES LAILA

We stopped to see our neighbors Laila & Makai last Friday night. Davis is all about Miss Laila. He is continually asking me what Laila is doing - is she at school? is she eating? is she doing homework? is she outside? These are just some cute pics of them together. Davis is modeling Makai's bunny ears - very nice Davis.

NICE WEATHER!!!

We went on a wagon ride today - loving the nice weather. I stopped to take a photo and this was the pose I got - these two were so excited to spend some time outside!!

PARTNERS IN CRIME....

Need I say more??

CREATE YOUR OWN STORY

Michael spoke to a group of about 25 kids this past Friday evening at The Lighthouse Youth Center in Milwaukee. They invited Michael to speak about his challenges growing up so these children would be inspired to overcome any challenges they may be having. I was able to make it at the last minute (thanks to my brother for taking the kids) and was so happy to see Michael speak. Michael titled his speech - "Create Your Own Story". He talked about losing both his birth mom and adopted mom and how he was still able to make a good life for himself. Some of the kids wanted their picture with Michael following the speech - the photo is priceless. Again, I'm so happy I was there to capture the moment.

THE CIRCUS

Michelle & Brooklyn weren't able to make it to Diana's birthday party so they bought circus tickets for all of us to go. My kids were in awe of everything. The elephants were the main event that they wanted to see. Diana sang the elephant song all the way home in the car.


Davis was a big boy and held the girls' hands while we were waiting in line to get in....




Note the man flying mid-air into the net...

DEAR GRAMMY....

Thank you so much for leaving your night moisturizing cream here over Diana's birthday. Mommy didn't even realize it was in my bathroom until I showed her that I had found it and attempted to use it myself. Don't I look great??

Love,
Davis

FAMILY FUNLAND AND THE LEVINE FAMILY

We met up with the LeVine Family so the kids could meet eachother for a playdate. This was the first time Davis & Diana were able to meet Benny and Jules. It was fun to see the big brothers/little sisters together. Davis wasted no time making friends with Jules - he was quick to hold her hand and lead her over to the motorcycles.

MORE FAMILY FUNLAND....

Diana climbed in the jungle gym for the first time WITHOUT Davis. She usually won't go in without big brother but she got tired of waiting for him and ventured out on her own.

Diana climbed to the top, turned around and said "Mommy, I did it!". Glad I caught the moment. I am mom paparazzi at this point.

Little lady also conquered her fear of the giant monkey. Typically, she points at the monkey from the ground and runs away. Diana worked up the courage to actually climb inside the monkey all by herself. See her little face in the eye??

The last thing she had to do was go down the slide alone. I watched her let a few kids go in front of her. She played it off like she was being polite but I knew she was scared. Eventually, she went down and the rest is history - she went down another million times and didn't need any help from Davis.

Of course, she eventually had to go find big brother and play some Guitar Hero. Note Davis' facial expression - he is our budding musician lately.

BOWLING!

We went bowling Saturday night and had so much fun. The girls danced and tried to bowl together. Davis was able to bowl once on his own without the ramp by the time we left. Daddy was very proud of him. And yes, Diana is wearing a dress with jeans. She and Davis call that "fashion".

DOMINOES FOR MADISON

Davis grabbed the wrapping paper and his dinosaur dominoes the other day (one of his favorite games) and started to wrap them up. I asked what he was doing and was informed that he wanted to wrap them up and give them to his friend Madison. Diana thought it was a great idea so she eventually joined in. When we found out later that we would actually be seeing Madison that day, Davis unwrapped the dominoes and changed his mind. I believe the comment was "Mommy, I think it's a good idea for me to keep these." Needless to say, we still have our dinosaur dominoes

QUESTION OF THE DAY...

If you are going to be stranded on a boat in a very bad storm and could only take two thing with you what would you choose? Barbie laptop and headphones of course!!! These were the most important items to Davis & Diana. Thanks to Kathy and Cameron for the great birthday present. Diana loves her "Barbie e-mail". Did I mention the dress she has on was a gift from Colleen and Alaina? She has been wearing it daily since her b-day. Mommy has had to make sure to have it clean for her as there will be some point during the day that she asks for it. Thanks Colleen - you made a good choice!