Willow's Wishes

Last night Willow asked me to sing to her, her 'night time lullaby's' (yes those are her words to me).  So I asked what songs would we sing tonight (we always sing 4), and they were: Frosty the snowman, Rock a bye Willow (rock a bye baby, but with Willow instead of baby), Dora the Explorer theme song and then we got stuck on the fourth.  So I pulled out Bruno Mars!  Yup, Bruno Mars, Just the way you are to be exact.  You see, when we got her diagnosis of hydrocephalus at the age of 2 1/2 months through her first surgery at 4 months old, this song was huge on the radio.  And well, it talks about how beautiful and amazing this girl that he loves is.  Well, guess what? I felt that my girl was beautiful and amazing just the way she was as well, and so I began to sing it to her.  Yeah I know, I can't sing as well as Jonathan, and Jon thinks I am tone deaf... But does a baby care?? NOPE!!  LOL Anyway, I played it last night for her, and it was as we w...

Willow LOVES head start, she really does. I am still getting used to this idea, that 4 days a week she is gone for a LONG time.  One would think that my house would be kept in this immaculate state, or that maybe I would turn into Betty Crocker and feed my family the best home cooked meals ever... Yeah, lets face it, I am neither of those types of people (except at holiday's and then Betty Crocker I become)!  I have the time, I just don't have the gumption to do such endeavors.  Maybe that will change one day, but for now it is winter and it sucks. She talks up a storm now though, so the social interaction she is getting from going is great. She also loves to come home and pretend she is writing letters either to her name, or yesterday she tried to spell mommy (she did get very close and I think it was sheer luck), but she doesn't really get the writing thing just yet. It is still a lot of scribble with an occasional line or circle.  I will say that sadly, I am a h...

Well, it has been a year for the West family.  Yesterday Jon asked me what I am most thankful for in the year 2013, and I said I wasn't sure.  Not because I didn't have anything to be thankful/appreciative for, but because I could not put a MOST in front of the things I was thankful/appreciative of.  Here is my list of things that took place in 2013 that I am quite proud of (and they appear in no particular order): ** Willow being a whole calendar year surgery free ** Orion's birth ** My family's health (mine included) ** Another year that Jon and I get to celebrate being together (14 year anniversary is in 6 more days)! ** Willow is an incredible big sister ** Willow is doing so freakin' well, that she is only behind in speech articulation (this from a girl who was told she had no brain) ** My work with the Pediatric Hydrocephalus Foundation (PHF) ** My kids, and how great they are doing. Not only in school, but in life as well. Sure they have their bad da...

I am having a hard time lately with my Facebook feed, not technical difficulties, but the kind where the status' that are popping up either have given me much to think about, or have frustrated me to no end.  So I have been left to think a lot before I just post and speak.  Which is honestly a huge change for me, (just ask my husband he will tell you I have eaten my foot more times than I can count)! Also a major thought provoking thing in my life is that I am part of a book club for the first time ever! I am both excited and nervous about this.  Excited because I get to read a book FOR me, not because I am being told over and over to 'read' (by my many children), but a book FOR me to help make a better me.  But I am about to digress here, so back to good ol' Facebook and its difficulties that I am facing. I have seen a LOT of posts lately about how to help parents with chronically ill children either during the holidays, or while they are in the hospital (such as...

Oh the joy of the holiday season! I am totally kicking myself in the rear for not putting up our lights and decorations this past weekend when it was 60 outside! Oh well, what fun is the holiday season if you can't put things up in the cold?!  Thanksgiving is only a week away and it seems crazy that it is already time to think about that, and of course Christmas, and birthdays!  I love this time of year as I love to bake the cookies and decorate candies and trim the tree... I just wish my family loved it as much as I do!  So, it's been a few months since my last post, and I am sure you can all agree that we have been quite busy.  Orion has been adjusting to our home quite well, he is the perfectly chill 5th child our family needed.  He does not sleep through the night (though I really didn't expect him too), but loves to sleep most of the day!  He is holding his head quite well, and does not seem to mind tummy time as much as the others did.  He has...

Willow is a big sister!  Well, she has been now for a bit over 2 weeks, but it has been a rough recovery for me so writing blogs has not been on the top of my priority list! LOL   So, Orion Joseph was born on Sept. 19th at 4:37 pm, weighing in at 8 lbs 3 oz (the second biggest baby in our family) and 20 inches long with a very tiny round head! I will spare the birth story details here, but will share that when he finally decided to make his appearance it was quick!   Willow loves him to pieces there is no doubt about that, she has called him 'my baby' since she understood there was a baby growing in mommy's belly, and it is still her baby.  Because I am usually  holding him, when she wants to give him oh so much loving attention I don't have too many pictures of the two of them, but I am hoping as he grows and I can trust to put him down around her, I will be getting a lot of them soon. :)   Other news in Willow's life is that she has a new speec...

We all have stuff on our plates, be it a health issue, job stress, family or financial stress - there is always something to fill our plates on a daily basis.  Sometimes, it is helpful to clear those plates and get a fresh start.  It is not always possible, but today I am going to clear my plate - hand it over and honestly just let go. Willow was in the hospital last week, she suffered headaches every day that even alternating Tylenol and Motrin would not touch.  So Thursday she was playing outside in the evening with her siblings and fell down and hit her head.  It of course resulted in a goose egg on the forehead.  No big deal for a child without head injury, but for Willow it was better to just take her in to ER especially since she was already suffering.  So they admitted her.  Friday morning, her neurosurgeon shows up and says the CT and shunt series look good.  :)  But  her ventricles are tiny, very tiny and that truly isn't good...