Awareness

Today is the Day of Awareness for the Vascular Birthmark Foundation. This is a wonderful organization that provides support, advice, and a community for everyone affected by a vascular birthmark. Next year, I am hoping to get something organized to help raise awareness and money for the VBF. This year,  we are reading.

Around the world today, teachers and children are participating in the Buddy Booby's Birthmark Read-A-Long. "Buddy Booby's Birthmark" is a wonderful story written by  Donna and Evan Ducker, who has a port wine stain. It encourages tolerance and acceptance, and really struck a cord when we were given the book last year. Truthfully, it took a few times before I could get through it without crying, but now it has an honored place in our library. I've also been lucky enough to connect with Donna via Facebook, and hope to meet her and Evan one day soon.

Chloe read the story to Addy this morning, and took the book to school. We tried to organize Chloe reading it to one of the younger classes, but it fell through. Luckily it is another cold, rainy day in New England, so Chloe decided she would read the book during indoor recess. Please get this book, and add it to your library. The message is important for all children, and not just specific to birthmarks - be nice to others, embrace differences, love who you are.

Addy has almost fully healed from the last laser treatment. Even so, when we did errands this weekend, we were still asked if she had "fallen on her face". Sometimes I wish Addy's birthmark was more obviously a birthmark, and looked less like a bruise, because it does get exhausting to constantly feel like we're explaining it. I get so tempted to say something nasty when people ask - I know that they don't know that they are the hundredth person to exclaim, "Oh, no! Did you fall down?" But on this Day of Awareness, please be aware of how frustrating your comments can be - and realize how much warmly I'm going to respond if you say "wow, can you tell me about it?" (seriously, even if you don't care, really) other than the typical, "OH. I am SOO sorry" (to which I force myself to swallow my nasty oh yeah what are you sorry for? Sorry you asked? Sorry she has a birthmark? Because I'm not.  response.) And again, not just birthmarks - anything that may make a child different, makes them special. Be aware of, and embrace the differences that make us unique.

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We did get some sunshine, and we soaked it in. Every day on the forecast has a raindrop, so we'll probably be Vitamin D deficient when June rolls around. Please, let June bring sun. Daily sunshine.

Are You There, Spring? It's Me, Kelly.

I almost hate to create a new post because I love the pictures from the last post so much.

Dear Mother Nature,
It is May - it is actually halfway through May. And I know that we now live in Boston, but I don't think it is fair that we haven't seen the sun for more than a fleeting second this week, and that the thermometer has been stuck hovering around 60. I am so pale that I glow. I am tired of having to edit my pictures to get the yellow out from being taken inside, with all artificial light. The girls have closets full of cute spring outfits, that are getting dusty. In fact, in the 10-day forecast, the only "7"s come after "6"s - or even worse, "5"s. Let's step it up in June. Thanks.

The upside to the cold spring we're having is that we are really utilizing all of the different memberships we have. On a cold, drizzly yesterday, Sarah and I hit the Children's Museum.

Livvy is as close to crawling (forward) as Addy is to walking. Cue 2 moms urging, cheering, bribing... one baby crawling backwards and one baby standing and clapping.

Awesome bubbles this time around. We think they must have added some extra Dawn.

And a few shots from this morning:

I tried so hard to catch the "essence" of Addy - she just loves dancing so much (which is a hard thing to capture!), and spends lots of time standing at her Leap Frog table jamming out.

Three guesses who she's smiling at - I'll give you a hint, it starts with C and rhymes with Zoe.

Ah, sister love. It runs deep and strong in this house.

 Addy is such a lover. And gives the sweetest kisses that just melt your heart down to a puddle. Then leans in for another.

Sister love/sister worship. There's a lot of monkey see-monkey do in this house. Oh, and how about that mullet? You can take the girl out of Jersey, but can't take the (early 80s) Jersey out of the girl.

Re-Centering

I'm feeling a little off-kilter. Nothing's quite wrong, but nothing's quite right either. I don't know if it's the stress of traveling, or worrying about the upcoming (paying) photo shoot I have, but I haven't been impressed with my pictures lately. I've decided I might just be trying too hard, my confidence weakening. So I went back to "basics" - just me, Addy, and the back yard.

There. Feeling better already.

Painting

What a fun week it has been!
On Wednesday, we got together with "the crew" - my group of Mom friends and babies that have quickly become my best friends. We gathered at Kasandra's house and (brave soul that she is) let the babies finger paint.

 

Some babies were more dainty than others, and of course Addy had to sample each and every color. We kept the paint mostly on the paper (and the floor, and the babies themselves), and can't wait for consistently warm weather so we can do it again, only outside! We had a great time - and the pictures are priceless.

Then it was a mad dash down to New Jersey. We thought that we'd try traveling at night - harder on the driver, but easier on the baby. Or so we thought. Apparently, Thursday night is the perfect time for roadwork - we hit three different spots where 4 lanes funneled to one, and our speed fluctuated between dead stop and painful crawl. And that plan about it being easier on the baby? Not true when she only sleeps an hour. The whole time. And cries the rest. I don't think we were ever so happy to see Harvey Road at 1am after 6 hours of a fussy baby car ride.

 This girl eats everything. Including sheep feed. And was not to happy when those greedy sheep finished the grain she was eyeing up.

Less than a week after laser and we are healing, healing, healing!

 Baby Austin

Mother's Day was quiet; Chloe was at a horse show and we just bummed around the farm and mentally prepared for another long car ride back home. Luckily the return trip was a bit better (Addy was only up for a few hours of it), and without the construction, the ride was an hour shorter. We are really happy to have a weekend at home; back-to-back travel weekends really wear us out. We're trying to dig out from under the piles of mess that accumulate when you unpack the car; get the laundry sorted along with life.

We spent a few hours today meeting with a geneticist which has left me feeling worn out and weary of the medical system. The bottom line was all good news, but rehashing the whole last year was more trying that I realized it would be, and sometimes I feel like we're just spinning in circles. But we have a beautiful, happy, 13 month old who lights up the room, and Pete and I am figuring out the delicate balance of watching her development without worrying about her progress. She certainly is something special.

I'm shooting my pictures in RAW these days - so more editing on the back end, but I think it's worth it!