Imagine

It is time to take 5-minutes and just write. Off the top of my head, no editing, so second-guessing....ready set go

Imagine

Imagine life without Boo. I cannot.

Imagine life with a "normal" Boo. I cannot.

Imagine life without Allie, I cannot do that either.

Truthfully I can imagine a life without either of my girls. The life we had before. With my guy, my dog and my tent. It was easy. It was fun.

We would put the tent and dog in the car on Friday afternoon and have no idea where we would end up. We just knew we had to be back by midnight on Sunday.

Too much has changed since then. We don't travel as much. We don't have our 'couple' time. When Allie arrived things changed. As they do with the first born. We had five years adapting to this new life, just got our rhythm never imagining another child.

Then Boo came and life changed again. Sometimes it changed in ways so overwhelming I want to put my head down and just cry.

But then Boo gives me her belly laugh or and all the difficulties imagined.

Because this is our life and I wouldn't want to imagine it any other way.

END.

My favorite movie of all time...

I have many favorite movies of all time, it just depends on the time period you are referencing.

For example in the 1970's my favorite movie of all time was Star Wars. I wanted to be Princess Leia so badly. A girl who could not only rock donut hair but save herself from the Evil Empire.

In the 1980's my favorite movie all time was The Breakfast Club. Tia and I memorized every word. We even formed a 'breakfast club' of our own. Thought we were so cool. Oh and let me tell you I had the BIGGEST crush on Judd Nelson. I was always falling for those rebels.

In the 1990's, well they were lean movie years. Looking back I would have to settle for Toy Story. It is simple really, who couldn't love this tail of friendship? The fact that the movie is timeless is a bonus. Who doesn't want to have a friend sing to them, "You've got a friend in me"?

In the 2000's it would have to be the Perfect Storm. Hello Clooney with a side of Wahlberg!

The 2010's would have to be the Avenger's. Who knew Ducky would go from this in Pretty in Pink...

To this hunk of, well, hunk...

However if I had to pick one movie, the ONE movie of all time that is my favorite. The one movie I will watch every time is on, the movie that this family can most probably quote line for line...

You guessed it, The Princess Bride. It is literally my favorite movie of all time.

 Now if you are a faithful reader you saw the ending coming....

This post was brought to you from the lovely ladies at Finish that Sentence Friday. What is your favorite movie of all time?

 

 

Brought to you by the lovely ladies of hook-ups:

Finding Ninee (Twitter, Facebook)

Mommy, for Real (Twitter, Facebook)

Dawn's Disaster (Twitter, Facebook)

Janine's Confessions of a Mommyaholic (Twitter, Facebook)

Kate from Can I get a Bottle of Whine with my Morning Quiet Time (Twitter, Facebook)

Now it's your turn, what is you favorite movie of all time?

 



Driving Ms. Crazy

I apparently have a face. A face that anyone from friends to loved ones to perfect strangers can say anything they want to me, without repercussion.

For example, just this week I was in the Supermarket. My cart was loaded down with the $1 Friendly Sundae cups. Now I realized I looked kind of ridiculous. I had plenty of salad fixings but then about 10 of the Sundae cups.

Anyway this woman in front of me says: Oh my, you must really enjoy those!

I wanted to reply: Look lady, I don't even EAT ice cream. These are for the older child and her father. The one who will take a WHOLE gallon of ice cream to the fire station. This way they each get their ice cream at night. Oh and the older child can get her own serving. This leaves me more time to play Words With Friends. But I held my tongue.

Another example? Once day during Mass, during the moments when you give Peace to the individuals in the pew behind you a man replied: Peace be with you, with that one you will probably need it.

But the one comment, the one that really frosts me? The comment that makes me crazier than crazy warrior mom?

"Boo will be fine, she will grow out of it"

Excuse me... She will "grow out of it"? Let's get this straight, people. Boo will continue to make gains. Boo will continue to astound us. But Boo will never be "normal". Boo works very hard to be an almost-2YO in an almost-5YO body.

I am not trying to be Downer Debbie. I applaud everything Boo does. But I also am privy to the hard work it takes to get her there. Boo works harder at being Boo than a Harvard grad trying to get a minimum wage job in this economy.

I wish I could believe that Boo will "grow out of it". But I cannot. The past two nights I listened to her cry herself to sleep because she doesn't understand we are not in a hotel and Allie cannot sleep with her. I have watched her bang her head when she cannot have one more cupcake. I have witnessed her meltdowns, her laughter and her tears.

I have watched her hug Allie in one moment and swipe at her face the next.

Yes, Boo has come a long way. Such a freaking long way. She still needs a translator half the time to those who do not know her language. Boo still brings home art work that we know her aide did (trust me, her aides are much craftier than I am!).

And that, that one thing, is what really drives me crazy. That the people who love her the most thinks this is something Boo will outgrow. I know they mean well. These friends, family and strangers.

But Boo is never going to 'catch up'. Boo will be all that she can be. Quite frankly that is enough for me.


This post has been brought to you from Theme Thursday. Hosted by hosted by Something Clever 2.0, The Next Step, The Insomniac's Dream, and Mom With Her Running Shoes On. Please visit the hosts below!

So let me know, what really drives you crazy?

PS--oh, one quick catch-up. Boo unfortunately will not be attending the birthday party. It is being held the same day as the NSTAR Walk for Children's Hospital. Since Boo is our Team Captain she has to attend! But she was invited and that still counts.

You start with this fun idea...

Last week, we took a family vacation, seven fun-filled days of togetherness in a car. We started in Niagara Falls. Well first the saga journey started with a trip to the US Passport office.

Since Hubs and I are planners (yeah right) we decided at the last minute that the girls needed Passports just in case we wanted to go to Canada. On day one of the trip, we would be in the car for over 10 hours, who knew where we could end up ?

Did you know that it is not possible to get a passport on the same day you apply? Us, well, we are idiots. We did know that both girls needed to be there with both parents. Boo had an appointment at CHB  (imagine that) so we thought, two birds one stone.

Except we were wrong. You can pay a huge amount of money to receive the passport the next day. We forked over the money, because it is entirely possible we will get lost and somehow cross the border. While we joke that it might be a nice to have the Canadian government babysit the children so we can have some couple time, we are afraid Allie may stage a coup.

Imagine, Allie the PM of Canada. Heck, this kid would probably crown herself Queen.  Yup, better get the passports.

We told Boo's program that she would be out for a week to visit Niagara Falls. They asked, kindly, if we remember that Boo has sensory issues and really HATES loud noises.

Oops, kind of forgotten about that part of her personality. We were just looking at the pictures online and thought how cool would this be?


 

We were not getting parents of the year, I guess. Because we decided to go for it anyway. Putting the girls in the car at the butt crack of dawn, we took off for Upstate New York for two days of fun or torture. We arrived 11 hours later and after a quick hotel check-in we were off to the US side of Niagara Falls.

Let the adventure begin!

The US side of the Falls is so pretty. A nice State Park with lots of paved trails and views of above the falls.

But we dared to go further, into the falls, into the Cave of the Winds. This was a lot of fun for Allie...

Boo, on the other hand? Well she decided to keep much more difference between the Cave and her chair (notice she is facing the Cave to make sure they don't sneak up on her)...

The nice Park Ranger took a family photo that we can pass off as Boo entering the Cave. But Allie noticed Boo's hair wasn't wet and fears that might give away her secret.

After being up since 4AM and then the excitement of the Falls we headed back to the hotel for some hydro-relaxation-therapy at the pool. Sorry no pics of us in bathing suits. Trust me your eyes will thank me.

Day 2 we went to the Canada side of the Falls. Because we are ignorant Americans we were kind of afraid to drive over the Border. Where would we park? Would the Canadians speak English (after all, I don't speak French when they come here)? How would we pay (do they accept dollars, what is the exchange rate)? So we decided to walk over the Bridge/Border. Except we ran into one small problem. It seems that Canada isn't really handicap accessible...

There was no way to get Boo's chair through! Hubs had to go through and ask the nice Border guard to open the door for us. No photo because, well I am afraid of Border guards. Once we got through the gate we were off to explore Allie, Boo's and Hub's first foreign country (hey, I went to Spain at 16 and that totally counts).

And not to judge the whole of Canada on our short 15 mile walk through Niagara, but seriously, would it hurt them to put at least one handicap ramp along our route? Thankfully Boo is small so we could lift her chair up and down the stairs. Allie, well she had to walk. Again, not judging a whole country....

Thankfully the views were spectacular.

After getting our fill of the Falls we headed to higher ground (think a mile up hill, straight up hill). We found an Oasis....Margarita Ville, Canada!

I warned you we were ignorant American's!! After rocking it out with Jimmy Buffet we headed back out to the Sky Wheel, I think that was the name. I blame the frozen margarita. Where the girls (and us) had a great time seeing the Falls from above.

this was a miniature golf course under the ride

 



Why did both Hubs and Allie take pictures of the dinosaur? I have no freaking idea. I think it was the 90 degree weather...after the Sky Wheel the adults were in need of refreshment, Allie needed ice cream. And apparently Boo needed a frog fix so we headed to the Rain Forest Café (yes, I know Boo has sensory issues...think of it as waterboarding I mean therapy).

After refreshing ourselves we headed back to America...

 Where the girls got some much needed rest...

Before we woke their lazy butts up at the butt crack of dawn to head to Chicago for our nephew's graduation. Why did I wake Allie? She said the best part of the trip was the pool. Hello, ungrateful child????

But this is what we learned on our excursion...foreign countries are not scary. In fact the residents of Niagara Canada spoke better English than those at home. Also, they do take American cash and credit. However we never did learn where that handicap ramp was located. In the end, Boo rocked her new chair, Allie had ice cream and the Hubs and I enjoyed our Buffet drinks.

 

A good time was had by all. And that my friends is the story of our Niagara Adventure.

Oh and one last note...if you do walk to Canada, the way back is much more accessible however it does cost 50 cents per person to come back to America. In quarters. So make sure you are prepared. Otherwise you might have to leave someone behind.

 Kidding! We did not leave Allie to take over Canada. However we did let her borrow the two quarters to come home with us.

And I am back into the rat race

Last week our family took a vacation from all that is work, school, therapy and the Internet. This is what I realized on my week away:

• You can live without the Internet (I only checked e-mail twice)
• You can go into Words With Friends withdrawals (I managed to play a couple of times)
• You can survive 20-plus hours in the car with a husband, a 9YO and a 4YO. Just bring books, snacks and an IPAD/Kindle/IPOD touch.
• Your 9YO can manage to kill batteries in all 3 of the above BEFORE you reach your destination to recharge
• I only managed to live without the internet because everytime I tried to go on my Kindle Boo would steal it to watch Austin and Allie videos
• My husband has a strange addiction to Bass Pro/Cabelas
• You can go into blog withdrawal. I found myself wondering how everyone was surviving without my comments on their blog!

 
Okay, back to the vacation story. We took the Allie and Boo out of school for a week to celebrate our nephew was graduating Navy basic training (proud Auntie moment)...

Holy crap, when did he get so tall?

Since it is a long drive to Great Lakes, IL we figured we would make the most of the adventure. We put the girls in the car at 4 am (or as I like to say, the butt crack of dawn) and headed to Niagara Falls (or as Allie pronounces it...Viagra Falls).

Why Niagara Falls, you ask? Well, more on that adventure tomorrow.

After spending almost two days in Niagara Falls, we again put the girls in the car at the butt crack of dawn and headed to Chicago, Il. Roughly 11 hours later we met up with my nephew's family, along with his brother's girlfriend. Or as I like to call her, my future niece-in-law. (future as in a long time from now, a VERY long time from now)

On Friday I was one of my nephew's four guests to witness his transition from Seaman Recruit to Sailor. It made the 23 hour drive more than worth it. To watch this young man I have known since he was a terrible two-year old transform into a confident young gentleman. There are no words to describe how proud we are of him.

I also am in awe how the 890 graduates stood so still in formation for the two hour ceremony!

We were supposed to leave Saturday morning, but decided to take just one more day to spend with my husband's family. We went to a place called Bob Chinn's. I highly recommend the experience. Just bring your credit card ($60 crab legs, but hey it was graduation!). 

The best part of the weekend? Being able to watch the Bruins game in Chicago with our  nephews and their parents. Something we never get to do. Oh and Allie thinks the best part of the vacation was the pool.  Hubs votes for the crab legs.

On Sunday we again left at 4am and headed to home. Since there was no way any of the girls in the car (including myself) were going to survive 25+ hours in the car we stayed one more night on the road. Finally we made it home on Monday evening in time to rescue the crazy puppy's babysitter.

It was very difficult to go to work/school today. But we managed. Of course, I kind of forgot to get lunch stuff for the girls on the way home and the bread was well...inedible. But balonga on Ritz crackers is always a good combination, right?

Check back tomorrow to find out how Boo survived Niagara!

Workshops...not the end of the world!

When Boo began her new program in preschool it included monthly workshops. The workshop is once a month for 2 hours where a parent observes the ABA/discrete trials that our child undergoes every day.

The first workshop was very difficult for me to observe. I am happy to report that every month since then has been easier. At first I was just so unprepared. I didn't know what ABA was or the whole 'compliance' issues.

Eight months later, I love the workshops. I get to know Boo's therapists/aides better. I learn that Boo is not saving her stubborness for home. I realize why Boo is so disjointed on the weekends without the routine of her school day. Not that this knowledge will help me with devising a weekend routine.

But if you are honest with the team and allow them to be honest with you (in other words, don't think your daughter is a princess) both "teams" end up serving Boo in the best way possible. I relayed some issues we are facing this summer (we live near a beach and Boo is afraid of the sand) and they will invent a program to make the beach easier. 

The other bonus of the workshop is I can fill the team in on Boo's medical updates. I can tell them face-to-face what programs neurology and/or developmental medicine want to add and Boo's team is usually one step ahead of the game.

We are never leaving this town. I still haven't figured out why Boo's program isn't available everywhere. But I think we should make it our mission to find funding for your town.