We still don't have internet, which is why my blog is suffering. I so miss my daily blogging! In 9 days I get to go on my girls' trip to Boston-can't wait!! Will have so much to blog about after the trip, (hopefully will have internet by then!!).
The weekend we got Annie's wheelchair, Paul and I checked out the Dallas zoo without Annie. Here are some (camera) pics from when I fed the giraffes. :)
She's loving gymnastics! I got to watch on Wednesday, and here she is on the balance beam.
She amazes me-NOTHING holds her back!
A week into having a wheelchair, Annie can do donuts and pop wheelies! Just posted a video showing her poppin' wheelies and just wheeling around, (Mommy looks atrocious, but it's too good not to share!)
Watch "3 year old popping wheelies in her wheelchair!" on YouTube
We've been planning a trip to Boston since December (well even earlier than that!), just the 3 of us, for mother's day weekend.
I'm the one who really wanted to go, Paul was more just along for the ride. From time to time he'd half joke about not going.
Well, one of my dearest friends suffered a terrible loss of her baby 6 weeks ago. I was telling her how she just needs to go somewhere, anywhere.
So when Paul made one of his half jokes again, I threw it out there to just let Brooke take his place.
He loved the idea! I was half joking, but when he gave the ok I was ecstatic! So now we're going to Boston as a girl's weekend! Ah! How often do you get a girl's weekend?
I can't wait to go to Boston!! So so so excited!
Also, please keep Brooke in your prayers as she suffers through this grief! It's easy to feel alone/forgotten in grief, so help carry her through this grief with your prayers, and if you're blessed enough to know her personally, make it a point to show her some love. :) If you'd like to leave a comment of sympathy on this post, I'm sure she'd love to read it, (even if y'all don't know each other!)
Boston, here we come!!
(the week prior to the trip we'll be in Houston-I want to see y'all! As many as possible! Seating is limited, book your visit time soon!) ;)
Let's all try to forget that that movie came out over 16 years ago! Time flies!
Anywho... Annie is loving her wheelchair!
Annie took off immediately at the hospital like she'd been in the wheelchair her whole life. Nothing holds her back, let me tell ya!
Late that evening we took her to her first trip to Walmart in her wheelchair-aka first trip to Walmart with independence! She was a handful! A 3 year old abusing their independence-does that surprise anyone? Lol Everyone stopped to stare, smile or say.how cute she was. :) Who can blame them-it's the littlest wheelchair ever with the cutest driver. :)
She was so proud and was extra outgoing because of it. 2 men walked past her and said hi, and I thought she'd be shy/scared for sure.
men: hi
Annie: hi
Men: how are you
Annie: I'm good!
She would wheel down an aisle and say, "bye Mommy!" Miss Independent!
Wednesday I took her to the mall to give her a place to wheel around.
Annie was being a brat...I mean independent ;)...on her maiden voyage to the mall. She kept wheeling backward to get away from me, so I told her to go look at the cookies just to give her something to focus on. The guy at the cookie place asked what favorite cookie was-chocolate chip. Well he gave her a chocolate chip cookie and their new birthday cake cookie! For free! Being adorable in a wheelchair has its perks!
Later that day I let her wheel around the house and and she loved it! She loved it so much that she didn't want to get out to watch a movie. :)
I'm so happy she loves it so much!
We were driving home from Dallas yesterday, (5 hour drive). Annie and I fell asleep so Paul put on talk radio. That's when the news first broke. Paul woke me up to tell me about the explosion. Of course I couldn't go back to sleep and we spent the next few hours listening intently.
I love Boston. We went 3 years ago and I fell in love, hard! We're actually returning very soon, (won't say when on here). Something I loved about Boston was that while it is a largely populated city, it felt like a small town. Everyone you met was very nice and it certainly had a magical quality to it. I've said it for years, but I was glad to hear the radio acknowledge it as well. There is something very special about Boston.
That's why this attack was shocking. Of all the largely populated cities, Boston seemed immune, (so said the Bostonians on the radio and I felt the same!).
I'm so in love with Boston that I know the city, even though I've only been there once. They mentioned where the explosion occurred and I knew exactly where it was. I've had a Boston map in my car over a year, (our bedroom is decorated with Boston maps and pics and I had picked this one up for the decor...just forgot to bring it in). Paul asked me to pull it out to show him where it was, which of course showed me I was correct in my memory.
We're native Texans, and in case you didn't know, Texans are very proud of their state. We love Texas for sure, and my love for Boston is almost blasphemous to my fellow Texans. Sorry Texas, but I left part of my heart in Boston- I'm a Bostonian at heart!
Everyday Annie asks about going on an airplane to Boston. :) Can't wait to return soon and introduce her to the greatest city and of course the Red Sox. :)
Boston, you are loved!
In true Annie fashion, she jumped right in and started wheeling around like she was an expert! Independent angel in a hot pink wheelchair!
More pics later-still don't have internet!! :(
Annie gets her wheelchair Monday! I'm excited for her but sad for me...
Most kids become independent gradually and early in life: crawling 6-8 months, waking 8-12 months. That's why it's hard for me now because I've had her as basically an infant (physically speaking), for 2.5 years! Yes she can crawl and can take take steps, but it's more of a "trick" than a means of mobility.
When she gets her wheelchair our entire lives will change! Yes, it's exciting to start a new chapter with my mobile/independent child, but I'll miss our "baby"days. Tears have been shed this weekend. I'm grieving the loss of my "baby." So bittersweet- I'm so excited to get her wheelchair, but not ready for her to "grow up." *sigh*
Pics Monday! :)
Whenever we think of the Make a Wish foundation, we think of children that are terminal and getting one last wish. Well, it's actually for any child with a life threatening condition. Annie has 3 life threatening conditions: Spina Bifida, hydrocephalus, and the darn cyst on her brain.
Since we've had her she's had 5 brain surgeries, been hospitalized 7 times, spent over 9 weeks in the hospital, has therapy 3 times a week, and has spent more time in and out of drs offices than Paul and I have in our lifetime, combined!
And that's not including her time before she came to us: premature birth, closing of her SB, first shunt placement, said shunt gets infected, battles infection for 2 months in the hospital alone until another surgery is performed, enters foster care where a loving therapist accidentally breaks both of her legs and her Achilles is cut at one point to try to help with her clubbed feet.
We see no end in sight for her surgeries...her cyst is still there but is communicating with her shunts. :) But we can't breath any sigh of relief until it is gone (and once it's gone, we'll still have to worry about shunt issues because of her hydrocephalus).
(not to mention her mobility and bathroom issues)
I will be contacting M.A.W.F. soon to set up her wish. We are taking her to Disney World for her 5th birthday, (a little more than a year and a half from now). For her Wish, I'll be asking for them to make her a princess for a day on her birthday-complete royal treatment. I'm thinking a special photo shoot before the park opens with her favorite princesses around the park/in front of the castle, maybe ride in the parade, have a dinner with her favorite characters alone (from the crowd), stay the night in Cinderella's castle, a shopping spree at the gift shop, not having to wait in any lines, prime seating at all shows, etc. We'll be paying for the trip, I just want M.A.W.F. to be able to provide for her wishes (my ideas will be impossible without their help-for instance, no amount of money can get you to stay in Cinderella's castle!).
My point to this post: what are some things that seem impossible that I could ask...like riding in Dumbo with Mickey, riding the Tea Cups with Fairy Godmother...do you have any good ideas? :)
7 years ago yesterday Paul and I found each other online. :) 7 years ago yesterday I knew I found my husband. :)
6 years ago today, I married the man who exceeded my dreams!
3 years ago today Annie went to live with her foster mom.
Date coincidence? Nope! The Keierlebers were created 4.7.07 and God started creating our forever family 4.7.10, (behind the scenes, without our knowledge). :)
Pics from early April 2010 and late November 2010. :)
Annie had her first gymnastics class Monday. She listened to her teacher, did what she was asked, and even socialized a bit with another class. :) She freaked out when she was on the swing, (more like a roller coaster ride than the swings at the park). She was screaming at her instructor, "miss heather! You're my best friend! I love you!" (she has never called anyone other than me her best friend so you know she was laying it on thick trying to get out of it! Lol). After she wouldn't stop talking about gymnastics and she couldn't wait till Wednesday for her second class. :)
Today I heard her screaming from the swing again. But afterwards Miss Heather told me that she completed the WHOLE OBSTACLE COURSE! The reason we wanted to do this was to get her to listen, and she sure is! And she's having a blast! She cried when we left, (she never cries, so you know she loves it!). I'm one proud mommy today!
