Sunday, September 27, 2009

Grandparents

I knew Gillian had a great time with her grandparents....she didn't even bother to wake up when they brought her home.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Shopping Trip

Gillian goes grocery shopping with us every week. She loves to help get all the items on the list. Sometimes I take her on other shopping trips. Gillian has been sick but after 12 hours of sleep seemed much better this morning. I had planned on taking her on a shopping trip but wasn’t sure how she would hold up. I want to decorate her bathroom in a princess theme. Right now it is frogs which it has been for the past 4 years. Right now she feels our half bath downstairs is hers and I want her to feel like the bathroom upstairs is hers so I’m hoping by making it more hers will help Gillian realize that. First stop was Bed Bath & Beyond which I was surprised that they didn’t really have a good selection of kid’s bathroom supplies. From there we headed to Kmart which unless I wanted to get her Sponge Bob they didn’t have much to choose from either but I did get Gillian a apron and hat to bake in. We went to Sam’s Club to pick up some odds and ends with Grammie and Grampie Brooks. Then we went to Target and we found everything princess and I had to explain to Gillian about costs and budgets and why we weren’t purchasing it all today. There were no melt downs which I was impressed by especially since at this point I could tell she was exhausted and sick of shopping. Some pictures from our shopping adventure.


Friday, September 25, 2009

Sickness Continued...

Last night was not good...her fever got up to 101 degrees, coughing, sneezing, she couldn't get comfortable. It was a long night for both of us. I couldn't bring myself to wake her up from the recliner so she stayed there and I laid on the couch. At about midnight Gillian woke up super upset because she just didn't feel good. So she wanted to cuddle with me on the couch. I woke up constantly because Gillian was coughing on me or hitting me while she tossed and turned. At 3 am this morning I moved her to the chair and a half and I went back to the couch. She continued to wake up every 45 minutes to an hour...haven't had a long night like that in a long time. It breaks my heart to hear her coughing and struggled to breathe with her stuffed nose.

Tonight when I got her from daycare she seemed a bit better. Her fever was 100. She actually played this evening, her appetite was still gone and she is still very whiny. I'm hoping she gets a good night sleep tonight to help the cold move on. My fingers are crossed!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Sickness is here...

I knew Gillian was coming down with something...all week she just hasn't been herself. Tonight I picked her up from daycare and she fell asleep before we got home. I knew it wasn't going to be a good night. She wasn't hungry when she woke, she laid on the recliner watching shows. This was not a good sign. Below is what she looked like when I came downstairs after my shower...


Wish us luck...we will need it tonight!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Baby Pumpkin

A preemie pumpkin for my preemie:)


Sunday, September 20, 2009

Goofing around

I don’t know what I would do without my daughter. Craig went back on the afternoon shift so if Gillian wasn’t here I would be alone 5 nights a week. She definitely keeps me busy. And we have tons of fun along the way. These are a couple pictures of Gillian goofing around:)




Halloween Decorating

We have already started getting ready for Halloween. Yes, I know it is early but I want to have all the decorating done by the end of this month so we have it up for a month to enjoy it. Also, it isn’t quite as cold out right now to be decorating. Last Sunday we did the inside of the house and today we started the outside. Gillian’s favorite part was cutting the string, she loves cutting with scissors. We also got a baby pumpkin which Gillian thinks is her baby and would carry it everywhere with her. I don’t care for dressing up for Halloween but we get around 200 trick-or-treaters so I like to decorate. We normally get some pretty polite kids that tell us how nice our decorations are so I feel like I do it for them and for Gillian’s enjoyment. We still have a bit more to do but here are some pictures of the decorating so far and Gillian and Craig.





Saturday, September 19, 2009

Big day...

Okay the pictures are backwards and I can't be bothered to upload them one at a time because that would take longer.

The first picture is of Gillian with her newly pierced ears. I could have had them done when she was a baby but I chose to wait until she asked to have them done. She started asking on Wednesday. I was honest and told her that it would hurt and was like getting a shot. So immediately she didn't want it done anymore. We talked about it Thursday and Friday and about all the ladies in Gillian's life, Mommy, Grammies, Auntie Jody and Emma all have their ears done. So last night she made the decision to have it done today. We took her to Walmart and let her pick out ear rings. They didn't have purple so she got pink...her reasoning is because pink makes the boys wink. The women that were piercing Gillian were extremely nervous which made all of us nervous. Craig held Gillian and I was suppose to take pictures but I was honestly worried I would pass out or something stupid so I held the mirror. She cried which was expected and eventually came around to look in the mirror, said thank you to the women and said good bye. Now she is thrilled it is done. Won't be long and just like all her other accessories we will be changing her ear rings daily.


Gillian's pierced ear.

A picture of Gillian after we got back from recycling, her favorite thing to do on Saturday mornings.


Gillian was very excited to wear her warm PJs to bed. Fall is definitely here with the cold nights.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Things that make me laugh....

On Monday, Craig, Gillian and I played Candy Land. About half way through the game Craig took Gillian to the bathroom. After they returned I took the lead in the game and I ended up winning. My daughter called me a cheater when I won…She is 3.

On Tuesday, I started to take the band aid off my stitches at night so that the air could get to it and so it was more comfortable for me. Gillian loves to look at booboos, I’m hoping for a doctor (lol). So I squatted down so she could take a look. Her only response, “WOW” like it was the most amazing thing she had ever seen.

On Wednesday again I took the band aid off my stitches. Gillian didn’t really say much at first then like she was insulting me and scared to say anything she came out with, “Mom, your booboo looks like a bug.” My response, “Kind-a like a spider huh?” Gillian replied, “Yup.” She seemed very relieved that she didn’t hurt my feels.

Today like everyday that I pick up Gillian at daycare she did not want to leave. I like that she enjoys being there but it can be frustrating that she doesn’t want to leave. I have to bribe her. Sometimes going home to see Daddy works (couldn’t use it today he was working), brought up the mermaid she got shopping yesterday and how she was going to be able to play in the water with it today (still nothing) so I had to pull out the last resort, I offered to let her take rocks from Ms. Mary’s drive way (to her feet and off running for the drive way). Why do we buy her toys, rocks, leaves and sticks work so well?

Sunday, September 13, 2009

March for Babies 2010

So on August 12th I met with the local March of Dimes committee regarding the 2010 March for Babies walk. I was extremely nervous about going and didn’t know what to expect or how many people would be there. I already knew 2 committee members – 1 through friends and was the Ambassador Mom for 2007 and 1 I met while his twins were in the NICU with Gillian and he was the Ambassador Father 2008. It is different to be around other parents that know my pain. Every child’s story is different but in some ways they over lap and pretty much all of us have been through some form of hell. So we met for almost 2 hours and threw out ideas and names to start getting the ball rolling and at least once a week I think about the upcoming walk and the fact that I need to start preparing for it but I also think about the speech I will write and give to the 400-500 people that will attend the event. Yes, I will be speaking. Sometimes I wonder why I’m torturing myself by giving a speech because I know I will be a stressed out about it but I have some pretty good reasons:

1 – It’s an amazing cause. Without the March of Dimes Gillian would probably not be here.

2 – I think Gillian’s story is truly inspirational. To be delivered at 26 weeks gestation and 3 years later have no developmental delays or a handicap is phenomenal.

3 – I feel that if Gillian survived all her hardships, I can survive the speech to help others.

I had applied last April to be the Ambassador Mom for 2010 and because I’m crazy about numbers I feel like it is the perfect year to do it. I found out in May that I had been picked after I shared Gillian’s story with the March of Dimes but until it was announced at the committee meeting I feel like it just wasn’t concrete. January through the end of April are the hardest months of the year for me. That is when I was sick and Gillian was born and Gillian was on a vent until the end of April. Although it will be 4 years I have a thing for dates and as I pass each date I remember 4 years before what was going on. The focus that I put on the walk gets me through these months. So I am determined to have a fabulous 4 months in the start of 2010 and I will proudly stand before a crowd of people probably in the freezing cold and share Gillian’s story. I hope to see everyone there!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Good Time At Grammies!

This is how I know Gillian had a good time at Grammies. Can't even make it home:)

Friday, September 11, 2009

Ferry Trips

Today I had to make a last minute trip to Burlington, VT for a dermatologist appointment. Sometimes I look forward to a trip alone; this was one of those days. I was looking forward to my trip across the lake on the ferry and the 30 minute drive down to Burlington and parking in the parking garage at the hospital and sadly I feel like I can find my way around the hospital quite well now. So I managed to make it to my appointment right on time.

The time alone gave me time to think about all the trips that I made across on that ferry. My daughter was at Fletcher Allen for 93 days, 6 days of that I was in Fletcher Allen; out of the 86 remaining days only 1 day did I not make the trip to see her and sent her father to visit with her so I made the trip to Burlington via Ferry 172 times in those 3 months. Most of those trips I spent reading about preemies, preparing for my visit on the way to Burlington, dealing with my visit on the way home depending on the day and sometimes changing in my vehicle to go to work. I didn’t just relax and look out the window. I actually saw the Ferry as somewhat of an inconvenience because my daughter was that much farther away. Looking back it was probably a savior for giving me more time to just take everything in so I didn’t explode. I grew up with the Ferry so it is never really been that exciting. Although I can see how people would enjoy it. I enjoyed it today. The way there I thought about the past trips across and on the way back I looked out the window and wondered about future trips.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Mommy's Girl

Sometimes Gillian seriously cracks me up. Obviously she has gotten her fathers sense of humor because he is the one that normally everyone is laughing around. Tonight Gillian and Craig were playing which entailed Gillian running around her the house and Craig chasing her. When she was finally tired out (and her Dad could not take anymore) she wanted a drink and a banana. So Craig got her both of these and she decided she wanted to share half her banana with me which is normal because Craig doesn't like bananas. So we split it and Gillian says,"I want to sit here." Which she was referring to my spot in the recliner. So I asked her if she wanted to share the recliner with me and her response was,"No Mama I need to sit in this chair because I can't sit on the couch and make a mess." Oh, I laughed. As much as I think she is her Daddy's girl, she is my girl too. Our recliner is close to leaving our home, it is 6 years old and is pretty ratty. It survived Gillian's reflux being thrown up on every feeding when she was bottle feeding and we didn't see the point in replacing it while Gillian was potty training. So now this has become Gillian's spot because it is the only place that she can eat besides the table. Although I would love to see it go, I don't think it will be leaving anytime soon.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Busy Saturday

Today Gillian and I had a busy day. We had our slumber party last night and it must have wiped her out because she slept until 9am which is not normal for her. She is normally up by 8am at the latest. Once she was up, I told her the plans for the day which got her excited to be busy. Had breakfast and we were out the door.
First stop was to recycle which Gillian calls “cycling”. I want her to understand the importance of recycling so I started bringing her a couple months ago and recently started letting her get out with me and actually put the items in the correct areas.


Second stop was to buy Fall flowers a.k.a Mums. Our summer flowers died a couple weeks ago and I got rid of them and Gillian constantly brings it up when we come in the house so I’ve been telling her we needed to get Mums but she never would call them Mums so I called them Fall flowers and that stuck with her. I had told her that we would go this weekend so when we got there we had to inspect tons of flowers and finally settled on purple and yellow ones. Once we got back home we put the flowers on the front porch which is where the summer flowers had been previously which made Gillian happy.

Next Gillian and I were making Peanut Butter Blondes for a family gathering that we were going to for dinner. Gillian did her normal helping; I separate all the ingredients into separate bowls so she can pour them in. While the blondes were baking Gillian and I did a project which entailed making cards out of construction paper and gluing leaves. Gillian has discovered the joys of playing with scissors which she only has access to under adult supervision. She was thrilled and I enjoyed watching/helping her be creative. I also learned that Gillian can write the letter “i” which surprised me. Yet another thing she has learned at her wonderful daycare.

We went to the family gathering with my family tonight. Gillian and I had a lot of fun visiting everyone. I think Gillian and my niece Emma enjoyed playing on the swing set the most. Gillian enjoyed swinging and sliding down the slide doing choo choo with Emma. I’m happy that they get along so well, Gillian being an only child I’m glad that she has other kids almost her age to relate to. I know she picks up a lot being around adults so much but I want her to be able to be a kid too. I want her to have kids she can relate to.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Slumber Parties


Gillian loves having slumber parties. Sometimes we do them every Friday or Saturday night and sometimes it is once in a while. It depends what is going on. It consists of sleeping in the living room and Gillian gets to stay up past her bedtime. We watch TV shows that Gillian likes or Disney movies. Gillian finds this to be a huge treat and gets excited the minute the idea is suggested. I'm pretty sure that I enjoy them as much as she does:)

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Accessories...

I’m not sure where the obsession with accessories started or came from but Gillian loves them. Sunglasses, barrettes, necklaces and bracelets are something she cannot leave home without. It isn’t something that we decide to dress her in, she asks for all these things. She wants to grow her bangs out (I know what 3 year old normally makes these decisions) but she said she wanted hair like Mommy and even now when I ask her she tells me the same thing so we have been growing them out since the spring. So every morning I put a fountain on top of her head to keep the bangs out of her eyes (which I plan to do until she can tuck them behind her ear) but the fountain is not enough, we have to have barrettes too. And she has 4 pairs of sunglasses (I know excessive but if my sunglasses only cost $5 I would have tons too), which are on a table by the door for her to grab on the way out. If it is raining then we can’t leave without her Little Mermaid umbrella. I love that she makes these decisions. I’m sure one day her enjoyment of accessories is going to cost us some money but she is worth every penny…