Charlotte's First Set of Wheels

We had every intention of encouraging Charlotte to save her own money to purchase her first car, but seeing as she's been so good lately, and we're still celebrating the fact that she's sitting up by herself, we decided to fork over the 5 bucks and buy her first used car. So, there you have it, Charlotte, mommy and daddy bought you your first car. You want anymore and you're on your own, kid!

Charlotte the Globe-Trotter ... Well, Maybe Continent-Trotter

Are my posts too few and far between? Well it just may get worse!! I may have finally stretched myself too thin. My Anatomy & Physiology class is SO MUCH MORE than I thought it would be. True, it's all memorization, but finding the time to commit all of that info to memory is proving to be very difficult. Thank god some of Charlotte's therapies are more peer-oriented now and I don't have to be in the room. That gives me a couple mornings a week to cram. So, I apologize now if you don't hear from me in awhile. But first let me tell you all about the end of our summer!

Charlotte got to do some major travelling in August. First we all spent a week in Wisconsin with tons of friends and were able to partake in some much needed R&R (especially Brian, I think he really needed some lazy beach-and-beer time). During our stay Charlotte amazed us with a new 1st .... she pushed herself up to a sitting position all by herself!! Granted it was followed by an immediate fall back and a head-slam to the floor, BUT she pulled herself together and did it AGAIN!! I was such a proud mama.

Basically our entire week consisted of eating, sleeping, golfing, hanging out on the beach, drinking beer and wine, and then some more sleeping. I've been going up to White Lake Beach Resort in Montello, Wisc. with my friend Patty's family since I was 13, and we've made lots of life-long friendships with the other families that go during the same week. It's so cool to see that now we've all grown up and we're bringing our own families up there. It may not be the most posh place to stay, but it's got lots of charm and really good happy-hour specials. Here are some great pics taken by my friend Linda.

Did you see the beer can in each pic? It's just like Where's Waldo.

Charlotte's next trip took her down to Tampa Bay, Florida, for a visit with my Grandma Teeling (my father's mother). My grandmother recently moved into an assisted living facility and I thought it was a good time for Charlotte and I to take a trip down to see her and for the two of them to meet. I wasn't about to drive down to Florida with a toddler, so Charlotte got to take her first flight!! Thank god grandpa and yia-yia (my mom) came with us and helped keep Charlotte occupied on the flight, cuz I would have probably gone crazy trying to take care of all of the logistics by myself. I can't believe how good she was. She was actually a better companion on the plane than some adults I've sat next to. I'm happy to report that both Charlotte and grandpa were very well behaved and took naps on both legs of the trip.

We only spent one night in Tampa, but during that time we were able to spend lots of time with my grandma, see where's she's living, and even frequent her favorite restaurant. And, of course, all the ladies at my grandma's new home were doting over Charlotte. And now that I know that Charlotte is better at flying then I am (I'm one of those people that will scream that the plane is going down) then we just may take another trip down there soon. I'd like to place a shout out to my Aunt Joan, who hauled us to and from the airport and took great care of us while we were down there. It was great to visit with her as well and we really appreciated all of her hospitality!

There's more to tell .... saying good-bye to some therapists, meeting some new ones, therapy buildings burning down, Brian and I run the Great Urban Race all around Chicago .... but, I gotta go to bed. I'll write more soon. I swear.

Miles to go in 2008: 122.5

Days in Office for Bush: 124

I gotta go with ..... Obama for Prez! Don't get me started on Sarah Palin!

Does This Tub Make My Butt Look Big?

The other day Brian found Charlotte's first bathtub that we used back when she was in the hospital and a few months after she first came home (See 2/16/07 post for old bathtub pic).

Now Char has graduated to the bigger Duck tub. Not too long, and I think she'll be ready to take the full-on-big-bath-plunge!! I wonder if Ozzie is willing to take that plunge with her?

Cheap Laughs

Summertime in Chi-town

Ok, so maybe three months is too long to go without posting on the blog. I thought I had outgrown procrastination, but I guess I was wrong. There's a bunch of stuff to catch up on .... so let's get to it!!

First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who sponsored Team Hellyer in the March of Dimes March for Babies. Even though we all didn't get to walk (I'll get to that shortly), we raised over $1200!! That was really exciting for me and it was fantastic to see how many people out there were supporting us. Unfortunately, Charlotte was unable to attend her first fundraising walk. That weekend she came down with the stomach flu and spent the night before the walk in the ER because we were a bit worried that she was dehydrated. She was fine in the end, but it was an easy decision to have her stay at home and skip out on the walk. Brian, being the martyr that he is, graciously offered to stay home with Charlotte and let me walk the 6.1 miles (convenient timing, eh? Makes you wonder if they didn't plan this whole thing out). But lucky for me Patty and Olive came along and we met up with our friends Anne, Bob and Tommy. We all had a good time and we're looking forward to next year's walk. Although, I gotta say, next year I'm getting to the front of the pack. I can't get over how SLOW people walk. I know it's not a race, but there were points where I didn't know if we were going to be finished that same day or not.

May brought a nice Mother's Day for our little clan (see pic above of the women-folk in the family). It also meant the end of my Organic Chem and Human Growth and Dev. classes, which I both aced, by the way! They were two classes that I enjoyed very much, but since I decided to take Microbiology during summer school I didn't get much of a break in between semesters. Microbiology took up most of my June, but now it's OVER and yep, you guessed it, I got an A! Wooohoooo! For the month of July I've been school-free, but in a few weeks I start Anatomy and Physiology I and Intro to Computers (nope, I can't test out of it - I guess running a software helpdesk doesn't count for computer knowledge). A&P scares me a bit - lots of memorization and we actually have to work on cadavers. I just might need a little liquid courage before class the first time we cut into one. Uggghhh!

Charlotte finally got her AFO's May and the difference in her standing and walking (supported, of course) is amazing. So much that we now refer to them as her Super Shoes. It's almost as if she's a little super-hero when she has them on. And she doesn't seem to mind them at all. Char also started her summer camp classes at the Center for Independence. There were 7 kids in her class, all with varying degrees of cp, but they all had a blast (well, maybe not the youngest one who cried the whole 5 wks, but she'll catch on eventually). The summer camp met 3 mornings a week for 2 hours each time and no matter what every morning all of the kids would walk into the classroom with either their walkers or gait trainers and they would leave the classroom walking. I love the symbolism behind that. It's great that they put such a strong focus on the goal of getting these kids to walk independently. Actually, the whole program is based on teaching kids with cp to do things on their own. Char got to experience and learn so many new things and they even taught her how to take off her own shoes and Super Shoes. This new found skill can be a bit annoying when she takes them off in the back seat of the car all the time, but it's exciting nonetheless that she can do it by herself. Summer camp ended last week with a field trip to the Shedd Aquarium downtown, complete with front row seats to the dolphin show (there definitely are some perks out there for these kids). Classes will start up again in early September and then she'll be going two mornings a week, alternating with two mornings a week at Child's Voice. I feel like I'm going to have a kindergartner on my hands here, but she's not even 2 yet!!

Feeding time hasn't really gotten much better as of late. Char's still only taking puréed foods, but I got her to put a couple Rice Krispies (Rice Bubbles) in her mouth yesterday, so maybe we're nearing a turning point. I'm currently trying to get her into a "feeding clinic" where speech therapists, nutritionists, OTs and GI doctors work together with kids in a group environment. I'm hoping that the peer pressure of seeing other kids eating might help her a bit. However, I still run into the problem that she's NEVER HUNGRY. That's so hard for me to wrap my head around. I think about eating food even after I've just finished stuffing my face at an all-you-can-eat salad bar. Charlotte is still gaining weight, albeit very slowly. She's up to a whole 19 pounds now! The good part is that she doesn't grow out of her clothes too fast and she gets good use out of them.

So, maybe eating is not her strong point, but that kid is hitting milestones like crazy! Charlotte is now a professional army crawler and can get all over the house, much to the dismay of Bart and Amy. It's wonderful to see her finally getting the chance to explore things on her own. From what I've gathered from other parents, children with c.p. tend to have delayed speech due to the low muscle tone in their faces, trunks, etc. In fact, at summer camp I didn't hear any of the other kids say anything. But not our Char. She's talking up a storm and just yesterday she said her first two-word sentence, "Bart outside". When I heard my little girl say that I got a little verklempt and said to myself, "She's gonna be just fine"!!!

Now with all that crawling comes the occasional bump and bruise. Here's a pic of Charlotte's first boo-boo (under her nose), a result of a small yoga accident. Don't let those yoga instructors fool you into thinking it's perfectly safe (just kidding)!

Luckily our lives haven't been all therapy and school lately. Over Memorial Day weekend (late-May for those who don't reside in the U.S.) we drove out to Syracuse, NY to see our friends Kari, Teddy and Isabella. Yes, you read that correctly, we drove. We took the northern route through Canada on our way there and stopped at Niagara Falls for a quick peek. It was 6 a.m. when we got there and the only other people out were the joggers. It was Brian's first time seeing the Falls and we were both impressed with it's power. What we were not impressed with was the absolute insanity that is all the commercialism surrounding the Falls. And I literally mean SURROUNDING - on one side there's a Hard Rock Café, then there's a big resort with an indoor water park facing the Falls, and on the other side you've got plenty of casinos to choose from. Way to ruin one of the wonders of the world, Western Culture!! So, thank god, we were there super early and we were able to enjoy the experience without all of the chaos that probably erupts somewhere around 8 a.m. when the first bus arrives. Our visit with the Avramovs in Syracuse was fantastic - good food, good wine, good company, and Isabella and Char got along great. Unfortunately, Char and I came down with some nasty colds and we ended up having to leave early. We took the southern route back home through Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. And while it was not quite as exciting as getting our passports stamped and venturing through international lands, I gotta say that Char was quite the trooper during the 14 hour drives there and back. If she cried once, then I don't even remember it. I think Brian and I complained more than she did. "Are we there yet??????" Kari, we'll definitely be back, but next time we're flying!

In June I got together with some of my gal pals from college for a long weekend of R&R in Lake Geneva, WI. Having that time away with no house to clean, no kid to watch after and no books to study was AWESOME!!! Thanks to Brian and Char for letting mommy have that time away. This was our group's 4th annual weekend getaway and each year we've gone somewhere different - Seattle, St. Louis, KC and now WI. I can't wait to see where we're going to go next year!

Around home we've been taking some trips to the zoo, hanging out in the pool and seeing some local parades. At the LaGrange Pet Parade we got to meet Hogan, a Great Dane who is just shy of being the world's tallest dog. He was sooooo sweet! Brian, can I have a Great Dane?

The answer is probably no ..... but Brian did let us get a kitten!!!! Meet, Ozzie, the newest member of our family. Ozzie was living in the neighbor's shed for a few days and after it was determined that he was either abandoned or lost we caught him and brought him over to our house of horrors. Within a week this cat managed to completely take over the place. He has absolutely no fear, the dogs stand at attention when he walks by, and Charlotte and Ozzie are now best buddies.

Brian has been keeping himself busy with his new motorcycle. A few months back he sold his motorcross bike and then just recently he bought a road bike. He finally got his motorcycle license yesterday, so I have a feeling that every spare moment Brian has will be spent on that bike. Which is fine by me - it gets good gas mileage and it keeps him out of the pubs.

I don't think I ever got around to addressing the results of the poll I had on my blog a few months back. I can't believe that "Mr. or Mrs." won as the best way for children to address adults?! I'm wishing I had a bit of demographics on the pollsters, cuz that just blows my mind away. After careful consideration I think I'm just going to have Charlotte address everyone as, "Hey, you!"

Miles left to run in 2008: 196.5

Days left in office for Bush: 181

Hillary for Veep!!!!!!

March Came In Like a Lion and Just Kept on Roaring!

Yes, it's been awhile. We've had quite a few wrenches thrown in our lives lately, so it's been a bit difficult for me to find the energy and sit down to type everything out. Plus, I wanted to give myself time to digest some things.

In my last post I mentioned that we were scheduled to see a physiatrist (remember? the physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist). We went to see her in mid-March and I'm still not 100% sure I understand what she does, but she (and her team of what seemed like at least a dozen med students, interns and residents) asked us every question you could possibly think of and watched Charlotte do a variety of movements and tasks. And yes, paper crumbling was again a desired skill. I hope that one's on my Chemistry final, cuz then I've got that one in the bag! Even though the doctor was impressed at how far Charlotte had come considering how premature she was she gave us the diagnosis that I was not expecting ... cerebral palsy (c.p. from here on out). I had had my suspicions, but I kept telling myself that we'd dodged that bullet. So, it turns out that Charlotte has c.p., which affects her legs, trunk and possibly her arm. We've been told that it's a mild case and that she has a very good prognosis. Eventually she should be able to walk unassisted and there's even a chance that she will "outgrow it". Now, when I say "outgrow" I don't mean go away, because c.p. doesn't ever go away. But she may be able to find ways to compensate for it where it doesn't have a huge impact on her day-to-day life.

For those who may not know much about c.p. (that included myself up until last month) it is basically brain damage that affects someone's ability to control movement and to maintain posture and balance. This is why it's been so difficult for Charlotte to sit upright on her own. She actually has the strength to do it, but there's a communication breakdown between her brain and her muscles. And similar to the autism spectrum the range of severity of c.p. is vast. Someone could actually have c.p. and never know it because they've just learned to compensate for whatever part of the brain has been affected, while another person might be in a wheel-chair for life. We'll probably never know exactly what was the actual cause of Charlotte's brain damage, but it was something that resulted from her prematurity. The damage occurs either in utero or at some point during or shortly after the birth, and it is quite common in premature babies, especially micro-preemies like Charlotte. There is SO MUCH information I could share with everyone, but I'll do it a little bit at a time. It makes my head spin, too. But if anyone wants to look a little further United Cerebral Palsy has a good overview.

Since the diagnosis I've been going through different emotions - sadness, denial, a little guilt - in some ways it's a bit like mourning. Perhaps mourning the loss of what I thought our life with Charlotte was going to be like. As selfish as it is, as soon as I had children I had a certain picture in my mind of what I thought the rest of our lives were going to be like. But life decided to teach me a lesson - my daughter is her own person and I can't expect her to fit inside the image I've created for her. She needs to do and be what she wants. I've definitely reached a point of acceptance with Charlotte's c.p., and now I'm back to focusing on raising a happy, stong, independent girl. The part I can't quite get over, though, is knowing that whatever it is she wants to do in life is going to be that much harder to achieve. And don't we all just want things to be easy for our kids? I've said it before and I'll say it again ... I'm a mom and I can't help but stress.

While the diagnosis has brought mixed emotions, as well as some clarity, it has also opened new doors for Charlotte. A couple of weeks ago we started pool therapy, which we will attend once a month. Brian and I are planning to take what we learn there and then apply those techniques at the local YMCA pool. Although, that therapy pool we went to was NICE!!! If I ever win the lottery, first thing I'm doing is putting one of those in my house.

It's also been a bit easier for us to order some equipment for Charlotte. Next week she's going to be fitted for some orthotics (AFOs) that will help her to stabilize while standing and to keep her fleet flat. We also got ourselves a pair of these cute little biker-type shorts (see pic below) that help keep her legs together when standing. I think they're hysterical on, but they seem to do the trick!

In July we are also going to start an intensive physical/occupational/developmental-therapy-all-rolled-into-one regiment at a local place called Center for Independence. This place offers group sessions where all of the children do their therapy together and they sing songs, stretch, work on different positions and even play with play-doh. We watched a session a few weeks ago and we were very impressed. We spoke to some parents and they had all gave us glowing reports. Basically, the program aims to create new neural pathways in the brain to facilitate control of movements through many repetitions of the same movement. Their main goal is to make sure that kids with physical disabilities can do as much independently as possible. I definitely think it's worth a try.

Brian went home to New Zealand for 10 days at the end of March. His grandfather passed away after battling cancer, but Brian was able to make it back for the funeral. While I'm sure he would have preferred to be home under different pretenses, he was finally able to meet his 8-month old niece, Abby, and fit in a much needed visit with family and friends. I can't wait until we can bring Charlotte over to meet everyone in NZ, but I'm definitely not looking forward to that flight! Ugh!

This coming Sunday Charlotte is going to partake in her first fundraiser walk for the March of Dimes. She thought it was fitting that her first walk help raise money to educate about and prevent prematurity. We'd like to thank everyone who has already donated to the cause and helped us reach our goal!! If anyone else would like to make a donation you can do so through our Team Hellyer March for Babies site. We'll let you know how Charlotte does. I don't know if she's going to be able to army crawl all 6 miles. I'll keep the stroller on stand-by.

Let me brag for moment and tell you about all the cool things that Charlotte does ..... she says lots of animal sounds, she can hi to Bart, Amy, her dad, and her ya-ya (grandma). I'm hoping mama is just around the corner. Maybe for Mother's Day?? Hint, hint! She's becoming a pro at army crawling and is even starting to push herself up into the crawling position. She know where most of her body-parts are and she recently learned to drink from a straw, blow kisses and she gives fantastic hugs. Isn't she awesome?! Who ever thought this kind of stuff would excite me??

Now, I'm estatic about the fact that Charlotte has finally broken the 18-pound mark, but check out this picture. This is Tommy, our friends Annie and Bob's son. Guess how old he is? 6 months!! He's almost bigger than Charlotte! Start eating more, kid!

My chemistry class is actually coming along pretty well. I had an A at midterm ... YES, an A in ORGANIC CHEMISTRY! And I don't want anyone saying under their breath, "Oh, it's just a community college," ... It's hard, man! And, unless I really mess something up over the next few weeks, I just might get an A overall. At the end of May I'm going to start a 5-week intensive Microbiology course that meets M-F from 6-9pm. I may just regret that choice.

Sorry if this post was a bit on the serious side, but that's just the way it goes sometimes. I'll post again soon, cuz I still need to address the poll results and figure out who all the old people are reading my blog .... how could "Mr. and Mrs." win?

Miles left to run for 2008: 328.5

Days left in office for Bush: 370

And Hillary's still in the running! Yeah, Baby!!

Happy Day Before Leap Day!

First of all, many thanks to everyone who offered up their food processor(s) for the cause! I was very lucky that my friend Kathy didn't need her mini-processor, so now Charlotte is enjoying the wonderful world of purees! Thanks, Kathy! Or should I say "Miss Kathy"?

Which brings me to what I think is an interesting question .... given the way society is today, what should we expect from our children when they address other adults? And I'm mainly talking about family friends or other caretakers here, not the elderly couple down the block. Obviously, Mr. and Mrs. We Remember When the Titanic Went Down deserve to be called by their last name. I feel like I'm having a little dilemma here. Let's take my food processor friend, Kathy, for example (Kathy has many more wonderful qualities, but I'm trying to simplify here). I feel like having Charlotte call her "Mrs. Carr" is too formal, but "Kathy" seems disrespectful to the age difference between them. But I feel kinda geeky when I say "Say hello to Miss Kathy". I don't know, something about it just kind of wigs me out. And I'm torn between the fact that I understand the world is different now then when I grew up, yet I don't want to lose the concept of respect for elders that I grew up with. I'm curious what you folks out there think. Please feel free to vote over to the right as to how you think kids should address adults. And if your answer isn't there then I welcome comments, too!

The past month has been kind of boring. We've had lots of snow in the midwest, and in fact tonight we're scheduled to have our 35th measurable snow of the season. I love snow, so it hasn't bothered me one bit. We pulled Charlotte around the backyard a couple times in a sled, but since she's still not sitting up so well it looked more like a rescue mission. I think she'll enjoy it much more next year.

Last week we had our first Early Intervention annual meeting where all of Charlotte's therapists get together and discuss her progress and what they want to focus on during the next year. She had glowing reports from everyone. In the weeks prior to the mtg, each therapist did an official evaluation to see where her skills are in comparison to other children her age. And, even to my surprise, she tested pretty much on track for her age bracket for everything except gross motor skills (crawling, walking, etc.). Now, did you know that taking a piece of paper and crumbling it up is a skill? Apparently so! Just a little something to add to your resume. No, seriously, she was doing things during the evaluations that I didn't even know she could do. For example, they took a spoon and pretended like they were stirring something in a bowl, then handed her to spoon to see what she would do. I thought she was going to eat it, or stick it in her ear, but she pretended like she was stirring! We have all totally underestimated this girl! So, the gist here is that she's got it going on up in her noggin, but the physical side is holding her back a bit at the moment. Because of that we decided to increase her PT to twice a week to challenge her a bit more and we're scheduled to see a physiatrist in a few weeks. A physiatrist is someone who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation. I knew you were going to ask that. I'll let y'all know what the verdict is after that visit.

To continue my Charlotte update, I'm going back to the food processor for a second. Another thing that's keeping Charlotte behind a bit is her eating. She definitely has some oral sensory issues when it comes to food with texture. Hence the food processor. But she also doesn't seem to be interested in food very much. This has become the issue that keeps me up at night. I can understand that she'll crawl and walk when she's ready, or that eventually the time will come when she'll say "mama" instead of "dada" and realise that at that point I will make sure that all of her dreams come true, but I'm really having a hard time with her not eating and not gaining weight. We do have a wonderful nutritionist and speech-language therapist helping us out with her feeding issues, but I just can't help but focus on the fact that if she's not getting the nutrition she needs then it's going to be hard for everything else to fall in line. But I guess that's what moms do ... we worry. She has been doing better over the past few weeks, and with some oral stimulation and some other methods we have been able to increase her food intake, just not the consistency. Fingers crossed that at the next weigh-in she's gained some weight!

But even stuff like feeding problems don't come without a little comic relief. Check out this chair that her PT brought over for Charlotte to use while feeding! Now, anyone who is involved in rehabilitation will probably have seen something like this, but for simple folk like us, it looks like our little girl is strapped to an electric chair! Luckily, I was able to find something else at Babies R Us that not only keeps her in an upright position, but is more comfortable. I just couldn't take her seriously in that thing!

In late-January I started my new classes for the spring semester - Organic Chemistry and Human Growth and Development. Believe it or not, I am actually enjoying Organic Chemistry. So far it's been kind of fun. I remember in college everyone would groan whenever anyone mentioned that class, but so far I haven't been able to determine why. Maybe that's next chapter. Human Growth and Development has also proven to be very informative, but it's a bit different because this is my first online class. Yes, it's easier but there's still work that has to be done in a certain timeframe. Every week I have to read the text, answer discussion questions and take an online test. The hardest thing to get used to is the fact that when you're "discussing" something online with your peers you have to make sure that what you're saying is valid and that you can back it up. It's not the same as being in a classroom where the chances are no one is listening or no one cares if you speak up. Here, all my responses are written in stone as soon as I hit "SEND" and anyone can call me out on it.

Pretty soon I'm going to have to start looking into what nursing program(s) I want to apply to. I'm just starting to get into taking these classes, so I'm kind of procratinating getting out of my new-found comfort zone and looking at new different schools.

That's it for us. I'm thinking the next post should be a bit more interesting. Hopefully we will have been able to get outside and do some CRAZY stuff. PLUS, the little Peanut has recently started trying to pull herself forward, so hopefully soon I'll have some video of Charlotte crawling around the house driving me nuts! I welcome the insanity! :-)

Miles Left To Run for 2008: 421.5

Days Left In Office For Bush: 327

Go .... Hillary???

Calling All Food Processors!

Does anyone in the greater Chicago area have a food processor or handheld blender that they could let me borrow that is very good at pureeing food? We're (and by "we", I mean "the little one") are having some issues with any food that is any thicker than applesauce. I've been researching reviews on different baby food makers and food processors and the ones that are really good at pureeing are pretty darn pricey. So, I thought I'd try you good folks first. And I wouldn't be using it for a long time, because if I try it and I think, "Man, this is a great food processor", then I'll return it and go and by my own. Please email me at teamhellyer@gmail.com if you can help. Thanks!!!!
I'll be posting more very soon about the latest with Charlotte. Can I just say, she's a rock star!!!!

350 Days Until Bush is Out of Office
Go Hillary!

Good Times, Good Times

Happy 2008 to you and yours! Last year was just CRAZY! I'm hoping that 2008 turns out to be a laid-back, yet prosperous year. Here's a picture of my family together on Christmas Eve. Aunt Lynn, Uncle Gary, Cousin Alex, Grandma and Grandpa all came over for the traditional Christmas Eve chop suey. My grandmother used to make chop suey every year and we've kept that tradition alive. Christmas Day took us out to Valparaiso to my parent's house where we hung out with the Keanes (family friends), ate a lot and put back a few glasses of wine. It was a fun, relaxing Christmas.

Our New Year's Eve was a bit more of the same. Due to an icky snowstorm that night our plans fell through with some friends of ours, so Brian and I were left to fend for ourselves armed with nothing but some wine and a Scrabble board. Now, keep in mind that our Scrabble board is personally signed by the 2001 World Scrabble Champion (jealous?). So, of course, I won. Unfortunately my good luck quickly ran out and I fell asleep at 11:44pm, missing the chance to celebrate the New Year with my husband and partake in the pots-and-pans parade with our neighbors. There's always next year.

I should probably back-track a bit and give you a quick synopsis of December's happenings. One of the highlights of the month was when I got an A in Chemistry! Whoop! Whoop! It turns out that going to class, doing the homework, studying, not going to the bars 5 nights a week, and actually CARING really does make a difference. I wish I could go back in time and talk to 20 yr-old Mandi and tell her that the rumors are indeed true. Truthfully, I'm just glad that I proved to myself that I can actually grasp something related to science. Next semester I'm taking Organic Chemistry and Human Growth and Development. The 2nd class is online, so it will be nice to be able to do the classwork when I have "extra" time, however years of perfecting the art of procrastination might be a detriment (in fact right now I should be working on a health insurance appeal, but this is more important, right?). Classes start on the 22nd of Jan., so I gotta start living up the last days of my Winter Break. Maybe I'll stay up late and read an extra article out of Newsweek tonight. I'm crazy!

For the past few years Brian and I have been driving out to The Christmas Tree Farm in Belvidere, IL to kill a real Christmas tree, and this year we were able to share that tradition with Charlotte. It was a fantastic family day, complete with snow on one of the windiest and coldest days of the month. We all went out for breakfast, drove out to the farm, went on the hay ride, cut down our tree, picked up some great bargains at the local Farm and Fleet, and made it home in time for an afternoon nap. I'm already looking forward to next year!

Charlotte's helmet came off for good on December 23rd. I'm so happy that it's over. In the end she only had to wear it for 12 weeks, but I really missed kissing her head, smelling her hair, and snuggling up to a helmet-free head. We see a huge difference between the before and after shots and we're very glad we decided to go through with the whole process. If you ever run into anyone who thinks their child might need one, or is contemplating getting one please feel free to give them my info and I'll be happy to talk to them. The window of opportunity for correcting any head shape abnormalities is pretty small, so waiting it out really isn't an option.



The best part of the whole helmet experience (besides the obvious fact that Charlotte's head shape has changed) is that we got to keep her "Head on a Stick". This is what the facility made from the initial mold that was taken (see "Peanut Piñata" 9/22/07 post), and each time we went back they would compare her real head to the head on the stick to see how the changes were progressing. And each time I would ask, "I get to keep that at the end, right"? I haven't decided what to do with it yet. Any ideas?

This holiday season really felt like it was Charlotte's first Christmas. Technically, it's her 2nd, but it was her first one out in the real world. It was so great to see her staring at the Christmas lights, playing with the wrapping paper, and wearing a cheesy Christmas outfit with uncomfortable tights. I loved being able to include her in our holiday traditions and coming up with new ones for just for the three of us. I remember last year I kept telling myself, "Next year it will be better". This year, all I thought about was how great it was to be exactly where I was. Life is good.


For some people New Years brings resolutions, but not for me. I don't believe in making any resolutions because they're too easy to break. Instead I make tangible goals that I set for myself for the year. Last year my goal was to run a 1/2 marathon. Unfortunately, I hurt my knee back in July and my road to recovery was a bit long, so the 1/2 marathon turned into a 1/4 marathon. On December 30th (with 36 hrs to spare) I ran 6.5 miles. I know it's not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but for someone who was on bedrest for most of 2006, I'm happy with that. So, for 2008 here are my goals:

1. Run 500 miles (that's 10 miles/wk with 2 wks off ..... very do-able)

2. Run a sub-7:30 mile

3. Get into nursing school

4. Charlotte walks

I'll keep you updated .....


Before we had Charlotte I used to hug one of the dogs and ask Brian. "Does he/she look like me?" Brian would always answer, "No". So, now it's even more fun for me to hug Charlotte close and say, "Does she look like me?". Unfortunately the answer is still, "No". But she's pretty darn cute anyways!

Go Hillary!

The Ms. El Cheapo 2007 Results Are In

Now, as I'm sure everyone knows, I'm pretty darn cheap. One of my slogans is "If it's fo' FREE, is fo' ME" (courteousy of the Morris clan). So when it came time to take Charlotte's Christmas picture this year I thought, "Why would I pay someone to do what I can do myself at NO COST"? Well, now I know why. What did people do before digital cameras? I must have taken 100+ photos before I even had one that was relatively decent. The picture up above was the 2007 Team Hellyer Xmas Photo Finalist, however I'd like to share some of the runners up with you.

This first picture was just plain rude.
This next one was Brian's favorite, but the judges felt that it exuded too much fear and not enough cheer.

Safety soon became a concern when one of the contestants could not refrain from eating the lights.

This last one lost because of pure cheesiness.

Welcome to the 21st Century, Mandi!

This is my first post with a video. This one is entitled, "Charlotte and Grandpa Share Their First Drink". It was taken at Olive's 1st Bday party.



More to follow. Hope you enjoy it!

Birthdays and Helmets and Tests .... Oh My!!

Our little Peanut turned the big "1" year old on October 23rd!! It's hard for me to grasp the fact that a year has passed since we had our triplets. Some days it feels like time is flying and others I feel like I've aged 20 years. This is kind of a bittersweet time of year for us. We were able to celebrate how far Charlotte has come over the past year and how much joy she's brought to us and to so many other people, but at the same time we were missing our boys. Brian and I recently decided to name a star after our boys. So the next time you're looking at the Big Dipper, know that one of the stars up there is called "JakeGus2006". I believe that that light shining down on us is them letting us know that they're happy and that they're watching over all of us. I think eventually that will be a good way for us to introduce Charlotte to her brothers.

For Charlotte's birthday party we had a gorgeous, hot, sunny day filled with family, friends, and lots of food. Thanks to everyone who brought or sent us a donation for the NICU!! We were able to bring them so much stuff - preemie clothes, crib toys, lotions and soaps for the staff, a soothing motions glider, books, CDs and portable CD players with speakers. They were very excited to receive everything and I'm glad that we could give something back to the people that did so much for our family.

For Charlotte's birthday weekend we were very lucky to have Aunt Kari come to town for a visit! We started our weekend off with a pumpkin carving contest, seeing as it was right before Halloween. Brian, Kari and I each carved our own pumpkin and at Charlotte's party we let the guests decide who's was the best. It would appear that our guests didn't know good pumpkin carving when they saw it, cuz Brian's "Witch Holding the Pumpkin" won. He used a stencil, People! How about some points for originality?? Anyways, let just put it this way .... mine was the cool one.

Not only was it Charlotte's birthday in October, but there were many 1st birthdays to celebrate ..... my best friend Patty's daughter, Olive, my college buddy Julie's son, Spencer, and my friend Jen's daughter, Abigail. AND there's been quite a few births lately .... my friend Kathy from high school gave birth to little Terry Jr. a few days ago, and my friend Stefanie in Connecticut had little Mia in mid-October. And remember me mentioning the other triplet mom from the NICU before? We've become good friends over the past year, and while her three angels will never be forgotten, I'm very happy to report that a few weeks ago she gave birth to a healthy, 9 lb 2 oz baby boy. Little Tommy has brought a lot of much deserved joy into his parent's lives!

In late October we went to a Halloween-themed NICU reunion at Loyola Hospital. Charlotte went as a doctor, decked out in her scrubs and stethescope. Here is a pic of Charlotte and Dr. Muraskas, the co-director of the NICU at Loyola. We were very lucky to have Dr. Muraskas taking care of Charlotte while she was in the NICU, and it was great to see him again. Btw, in this pic you can also see what Charlotte's helmet looks like. She's definitely grown to accept it and to be honest, I think she feels weird when she doesn't have it on. As soon as we take it off she's looking for it, as if to say, "Hey! I'm naked!". We still don't know how much longer she'll have to wear it, but I'm hoping that it will be off by the end of the year. We've already noticed a huge difference in the shape of her head. It's amazing how quickly they work. It's also amazing how smelly her head gets! Whew!!! It's like someone opened up a gym locker when she takes it off. I'll be very glad when she's done wearing it.

Not only did October bring a plethora of birthdays, but it also brought Charlotte's first real Halloween (I'm not counting the one in the NICU). On the actual day of Halloween Charlotte was a pumpkin. I didn't take her trick-or-treating because 1. She had no idea what was going on, and 2. we didn't need that extra candy sitting around the house. So, instead of going out, we let all the kids come to us! Brian and I set up some lawn chairs in the front driveway and had a great time seeing all the kids come by in their costumes. We have a lot of kids in our neighborhood, so we had a really good turn-out this year.

Lots of people ask me, "What's Charlotte doing these days?" She's still working on being able to sit up on her own. She's getting stronger everyday, but she still has a ways to go. She now has the strength to sit up, but she hasn't quite caught on to the concept of catching herself when she starts to fall over, so she still needs some assistance. She's also starting to be able to hold herself up on all fours, so maybe by the time she has her "adjusted age first birthday" she'll be crawling. She's still getting therapy in the house three times a week and twice a month we go out to Child's Voice. Charlotte manages to keep a pretty full social calendar. At her last doctor visit she was just shy of 16 pounds and at this point we can consider her lung disease to have healed. Yay!! Although, I'm still going to be careful with her in the winter months when it comes to being around people with colds, etc. Sixteen pounds doesn't offer you alot of reserves if you get sick.

Brian and Charlotte are still going to swimming on Tuesdays while I'm in class. According to Brian all he has to do is hold her head with one hand and she'll float along all calm and just look around. I gotta see this!

TOOT! TOOT! Did ya hear that? That's the sound of me tooting my own horn. My Chemistry class is going MUCH better than I thought it would. I'm probably jinxing myself here, but I got 105% on my first test and 99% on my second one. I don't know if I'll be able to keep that up, but at least I know that at one point in my life, I understood something about Chemistry. I have another month left until class is over and then I can take advantage of the winter break and catch up on my Harry Potter reading.

I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for all my family and friends for helping me though a long year. Thanks for hanging with me through the rough times, and for cheering along side us during the good times!

Recall Info Directly to Your Email

If you're like me, you just can't keep up with all the toy recalls lately (I'll refrain from getting on my soapbox about outsourcing and manufacturing overseas), so I wanted to share with everyone that you can go to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission website and sign up to receive emails whenever there is a recall.

Not everything is always mentioned in the news, so it doesn't hurt to be overinformed.

Child's Voice in the Trib

Charlotte's school, Child's Voice, made the front page of the Chicago Tribune the other day. It's an interesting read. Thought I'd share it with ya.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/friday/chi-deafed_21sep21,0,5514522.story?page=1

Peanut Piñata! Olé!

We thought it would be a good idea for Peanut's 1st birthday party to make a piñata in the shape of her head. What do you think?

Just Kidding! While I hope that they eventually let us keep this cast, it's intention was not to be filled with goodies and smacked with a bat. Instead, Charlotte was casted last week for a helmut that she will have to wear for possibly 3-4 months. As a result of being on her back so much in the NICU, and then add the whole "Back to Sleep" SIDS campaign, you have yourself a case of a slightly misshapen head. We had noticed awhile ago that the back of her head was growing in a slightly off-center, oblong way, but I figured that eventually her hair would just cover everything and she'd be fine. But just in case, I took her to a place where they specialize in these helmuts because I don't want her coming back to me at 16 screaming, "If you had just gotten the helmut then now I wouldn't look like this [slam]!!". Turns out that it's not just the back of her head that's affected, but her facial features as well. So, we didn't hesitate to sign on the dotted line and looks like next week Peanut will have a helmut that she has to wear 23 hours a day for at least 3 months. The total length of time will depend on how quickly she grows. The faster she grows, the less time with the helmut. Basically the helmut stops growth in some areas, while allowing for the other areas to catch up. So, there you have it .... hearing aids and a helmut. Wish me luck. Thank god the eye doctor said she doesn't need glasses!!

But don't worry about Peanut, while she didn't particularly enjoy having the cast made, she was fine once they took it off. I asked the doctor at the place how the babies are with the helmuts and he said, "Oh, they don't like it for about 10 minutes and then they're fine". Yeah, cuz then they go HOME WITHOUT YOU!

Speaking of Peanut's 1st birthday (I mentioned it in the beginning), we're going to be having an open house celebration of how far Charlotte's come in the last year on October 21st from 2-6pm (put in your calendar "free food"). I've sent out an evite to some people, but if I didn't have your email address or you live out of town then I want you to know that you're welcome to stop by, too! This is an open house and everyone is welcome to stop by, eat, drink and be merry! And if you do decide to come over then please no gifts. However, we will be accepting donations (books, CDs, preemie clothes) to bring to the NICU at the hospital where Charlotte was born.

Here are some random tidbits of what's been going on around here lately:

• Brian and Charlotte starting taking swim classes together. Charlotte didn't exactly like the first two sessions (i.e. she cried the whole time), but by the third one she actually got dipped under the water and tried to catch a rubber ducky. We do not accept quitters on this team (especially after mom's paid for it)!


• I'm hanging on by a string in my Chemistry class. The scariest part is that people are actually come up to ME asking questions in our lab section. Either I've perfected the art of looking like I know what is going on, or the intelligence level in my class is REALLY LOW. I'm leaning towards it's a combination of both. I have my first test next week. Eek!


• Charlotte's OT (Occupational Therapy) sessions have been really neat. She started in July and the OT is focusing on the senses in the order that they develop in utero. So the first thing we've been working on is the vestibular sense (motion). Lots of spinning and swinging. The way her OT described the therapy is that since Charlotte missed out on so much time in the womb, we have to go back and make sure that everything that would normally develop in utero is okay now. Charlotte's been loving the spinning and swinging, so we've been having a great time with it!


• We found out Peanut's final results from the ABR in August. Her right ear has a moderate hearing loss and the left ear is mild-to-moderate. Basically, according to her DTH, she's at the lowest level that the state will allow for treatment. I think that's great news!

***Final note***VERY IMPORTANT!!! Davy Jones is playing in Hinsdale on Fri, Sept. 28th for only $5. Will anyone please go with me??!!