My New Eyes

Well, they feel like new to me! Bub the hub took a photo of my new eyes to compare...

before

                                                             after

What do you think?? I think I've gotten behind on eyebrow plucking! But otherwise, they look the same on the outside :) I am feeling, however, like it's a whole new world. And that keeps reminding me of that really cheesy song from Disney's Aladdin (that I used to belt out in my bedroom when I was younger). I hope I just got it in your head! But really, it was incredible. I think it took all of ten minutes and it was totally painless. Parting with all that money ended up being the hardest part, but I decided you can't really put a price on sight. WORTH IT!!

And since I don't ever want to leave you without some pictures of lil'bub....

How funny are these? One of her teachers at school texted me these photos of her playing with peanut butter and LOVIN IT! They have been working with all kinds of textures lately, letting Avery know it's ok to get messy. Actually, at her our last teacher/parent conference, the teachers told me that Avery does not like to be messy. Compared to the other kids, she likes to keep things pretty neat, including herself...I wonder where she got that from??? absolutely no idea ;)

Belated Father's Day Post

Last week I enlisted one of Bub the hub's good friends (thanks Scott!) to help me set up a surprise golf outing to the The Falls with a group of his friends. It worked out really well--Bub was very surprised when lil'bub and I presented him with a new golf shirt and a tee time! Here are some of the boys enjoying the course.

Can't you tell how thrilled they are to take a photo? Anyway, I think they had fun, AND they didn't totally melt in the blazing, Texas sun, so I call that a success! Avery had also presented her daddy with a card that she "made" at school:

She's becoming professional with that finger-paint, don'tcha think?

While her daddy was out golfing, Avery and I had some good girl time. And we practiced some more in her walker...

She also wanted to play with mommy's glasses, but that wasn't as fun as she thought it would be. I don't blame her. I'm blind as a bat, so looking through those lenses must be pretty weird. Even I don't like them, and usually I only wear them at night. But I have had to wear them everyday, ALL day for the last two weeks. It's made me a very grumpy girl. I just hate'em, they give me such a headache. BUT, it's all for a very good cause because tomorrow I am getting LASIK!!!!!! I am SO excited. My sight started deteriorating in the second grade, so I can't even remember what it's like not to have to mess with glasses or contacts! My impatience these last two weeks has been terrible, and I do apologize to everyone that I was cranky to. I won't even get into the story about how the eye doctors told me a couple days ago that they didn't think I was a good candidate for the surgery anymore. I won't, because they changed their minds and it's going to happen and it's all going to be worth it! Stay tuned :)

Happy Birthday Blog!

It's officially been one whole year since I started this blog. One short year! A whole bunch of things have changed, as they tend to do. A year ago, lil'bub's hair was much shorter...

                                        then                                            now

and so were her legs!!

She was a big pacifier girl back then...

              now we can't keep those fingers out of her mouth!!

last year, she barely peeked out over the shopping cart,

                                                                 now she sits so tall!

back then, she was one cool (easily liftable) chica...

Now she's such a big girl! getting ready to venture out on her own...

ok, I think you get the picture. We can't wait to see what another year brings! Thanks for keeping up with the bubs :)

In These Arms

This past week has been quite a thrill for Bub the hub and I, as lil'bub has made great strides toward taking steps, both in and out of her walker!! And we are all very glad that Avery is back in school for the summer, getting even more intense therapy than before. That's because a little over a week ago she finally got the Botox injections that we had been working to get since January. Although it's most well-known for cosmetic reasons, Botox is also frequently used to relax muscle tension in children with conditions like Avery. She needs it in her right side because it's weaker and has a lot more tension (from less use) than her left side. Her right leg is actually a bit shorter than her left leg because the tension is such that she doesn't want to put it flat on the ground, and constantly lifts it up, causing her tendons to shorten. Our hope is that with the help of the Botox, we can stretch and encourage the use of her right hand and right leg more in order to correct these tendencies, which allows her to learn to walk!! It's a process, that's for sure.

I will take more photos of her in the walker soon, because I know (and have heard :) that it gives you all a thrill too! Meanwhile, today after our weekly trip to the pool, we gave lil'bub a much-needed bath (I should have taken a photo of the rats' nest that was her hair)...and I could not resist a shot of her in the hoodie towel.

I gotta say that post-bath is one of my very favorite times with lil'bub. I like to wrap her up really cozy and then we rock and snuggle together before she goes to bed. She usually looks up at me with her big blue eyes while we cuddle, and I always think: this is what I was meant to do. I sing to her, "Cause maybe I was born to hold you in these arms," because I absolutely love that chorus from In These Arms, one of my favorite songs. If you have never heard of The Swell Season, they are an amazing band. Here is the song I am talking about, from their album Strict Joy. Bub the hub took me to see them live last year for our wedding anniversary and it was the most incredible experience. Anyway, it's a sweet verse that reminds me what's important.

A New, Sweet Sight

Family Time

Before all the drama earlier in the week, we actually had a nice weekend, relaxing and visiting with family. We celebrated our nephew's birthday on Saturday with Bub the hub's family, and then we headed to the Barndominium in Chappell Hill to have some fun with my family. If you have not been a follower very long, and you are wondering what a Barndominium is, here is a photo.

Barn on the outside, very beautiful farm house on the inside! I'll have to take some photos inside to share sometime too because the decor is just amazing. We got to spend some time with our cute little (second)cousins, Katie and Mackenzie

ready for the pool!!

both the girls really wanted to "hold" Avery :)

we got to break out the watermelon outfit again!

a certain cute, fair-skinned cousin had to borrow our hat,

(I think it goes well with the shark)

here is Jack with his Aunt Kingslea

Both of the munchkins were tired post-swimming. Here they are relaxing, watching Mickey Mouse. These two were born only weeks apart. Lets rewind once again to one of my favorite old photos.

I could look at these old photos forever! Time just keeps whippin' by. I love watching all our family munchkins growing up. They are just so darn cute.

Dear Friends

****UPDATE: I have great news. No, it's actually amazing-fabulous-miraculous news! Avery stopped all her the freaky seizure-like behavior early this morning. Since 5:30am, we have not seen anything that looks remotely weird. And let me tell you, we have been watching very closely. Like a hawk. I'm sure you can imagine. We didn't even have to go through with the EEG. She just got a little check-up and had some blood work done and everything looks good. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the emails, texts and messages. Obviously, everyone's positive thoughts worked. Or else God accepted one of my wagers. I am hoping it was the former though, because I promised just about anything and everything. The thing is, it would still all be worth it.

This past week lil'bub started the first week of her pre-summer break from school. The adjustment away from school has been tough on both of us, but we seemed to be gettting the hang off it towards the end of last week. Although we had a very nice start to our Memorial Day holiday, yesterday morning lil'bub got sick. At first we though it was some kind of stomach bug, but now it looks very much more serious. We are trying to get an appointment at the hospital today for lil'bub to have an EEG to check for seizure acitivity. Would you mind taking a minute to send all your good, healing thoughts and prayers to lil'bub today?? Bub the hub and I are so terrified that the seizures might be back. She is only six days from her second year anniversary of her last brain surgery and being seizure free.  We desperately want to stay that way. I will post later today if we get any results. Thanks, friends.