Happy Birthday Virginia!

3 years ago our lives forever changed..  all for the better.

This really says it all....

approaching three

Virginia will be three on Wednesday.  THREE.  let me say that again, T.H.R.E.E. years old.  How in the world did that happen?! 

She is old enough to understand that it is her birthday and she is so so so excited about it.  That alone makes this time, which used to be tinged by much bitterness and pain, so joyous and exciting.  

Her celebrations started on Saturday the 18th with a party that included 12 of her 2-3 year old friends and their parents and continued last night with a trip to the NICU to visit her night nurse and deliver some gifts for the babies currently fighting their battle.  We continued today with a little celebration at preschool and we will finish up on Wednesday with just the 3 of us.. just as it all started.  

What was not lost on me was irony that we started this string of celebrations exactly 3 years from the time that I went from "stable bedrest" on maternal special care to "imminent delivery" on labor and delivery.  Those days are a complete blur thanks to 5 days of magnesium but with brief moments of such clarity.  Moments that I will never forget.  

Those 5 days were physically very difficult, but that paled in comparison to the mental anguish.  In those moments I knew that every hour made a difference but I also knew that realistically we were in an unbelievably precarious position. There was a cloud of nervous anticipation so very thick in that labor and delivery room that week- it was veiled by hope and positivity but was honestly heavy and exhausting for everyone.  

I thank god every day that Virginia and I had the strength to make it those "extra" days, but always wish it could have lasted longer.  always.  

That pain is part of her story and those 5 extra days are part of the celebration.  So we celebrate.  We also hug a little tighter these days, sing a little louder, and laugh a whole lot more.  I wish that 3 years ago I could have known how joyous these 5 days of celebrating would be.  

Virginia's first friends - October 2011 Yale NICU babies

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night nurse Amy and those famous NICU doors

 We also celebrated by buying a new house ;) 

perception and memories

We are in the throes of potty training.  It is a delicate balance teetering toward a power struggle with my very feisty and stubborn girl.  The tactic changes almost daily.  There are stickers, praise, bribery, and yes sometimes ultimatums.  One day last week as I was trying to get Virginia to focus on going number two, I agreed to play music for her on my iphone while she sat on the potty.  Pharell's 'Happy' didnt get it done, neither did Katy Perry's 'California Girl.'  The next song up was Phillip Phillip's 'home' which is our anthem of sorts, mostly because we have made several slideshows to that song.  She immediately recognized the song and had a big smile on her face.  Then she kept repeating a long phrase which initially I couldn't make out.  After her expression became more serious I finally realized that she recognized the song as the one that is set to her slideshow.  What she remembered though was "baby getting boo boo fixed at doctor."  Mind you these are never words we have used while watching that video with her.  The few times we have watched it we have always told her that the tiny baby in the pictures was her, that she was very small and sick, and that we loved her.

Clearly those images and that song stuck with her, but not in the same way that it has stuck with Heath and I.  She clearly knows that the baby in the photos in the first half of that video was sick but she has no idea that it was her.  She also clearly does not remember the 2nd half of the video where she is able to recognize more recent photos of herself.

It is a huge relief to me that at nearly 3 years old her memory is only that of sympathy and concern for the baby in the video.  That she does not consciously or subconsciously remember anything from that time.  We will always be open with her and we hope that she only ever looks at those photos and feels powerful for how far she has come and thankful for the medical care and prayers that saved her.   I know those photos will always foster mixed emotions for Heath and I, but also believe that the same photos will empower her to be the mightiest and best person that she can be.

The same goes for this blog.  I have always been cognizant that one day Virginia may read her story here.  It has been a fine line to straddle and the older she gets the more aware I am of how she may feel about her story being 'out there.'  I can only hope that she views these words in the same way that she views those earliest photos.  I can only hope that she is proud of how resilient and blessed she is.  I can only hope that she continues to do amazing things and changes peoples lives for the better.

And....She never pooped on the potty that afternoon.

When breastfeeding can't come naturally - World Breastfeeding Week

Like many mothers of premature babies I had the odds stacked against me.  Producing breastmilk would be no easy task but I was told it was of critical importance to the health of my baby who weighed about as much as a bottle of coke.

I was only 25 weeks into my pregnancy. My daughter was not ready to be born and my body was not ready to produce breastmilk. 

My body was in shock.  4+ weeks of bedrest, a traumatic C-section delivery, and some serious internal hemorrhaging meant that my body had other things to tend to.

I had to establish a supply with a pump.  Every 2-3 hours, 24 hours a day.  

Odds meant nothing to me though.  We had already defied some odds and succumb to others.  When I realized that providing breastmilk to Virginia was literally the only thing I could do for her for the foreseeable future, it became my most important job.   An immensely tiring and painful job.

The monotony of assembling the cups, tubes, and plugs, followed by pumping a few drops, labeling bottles with time and date, cleaning said parts, and putting everything away was a far cry from the natural and instinctual experience that I had expected through the breastfeeding process.  Nothing about pregnancy and motherhood at that point was what I expected, but the difference was that by providing breastmilk for Virginia I was providing her with the only natural thing left.  

There were many moments where I doubted my ability to continue to pump.  Clogged ducts, low supply, and stress all made me doubt whether I could continue the 7-8 time a day ritual.  Thankfully I had a wonderfully supportive husband, some amazing nurses and lactation consultants, and a beautiful growing girl to keep me going.  

Then we got lucky.  Virginia turned out to be terrible at handling a bottle.  Like, really really bad. And scary.  She choked, she desated, she turned blue, and she passed out.  But she did none of that when we tried nursing.  It was sort of shocking to everyone, including me and was just what I needed to keep going.  And just what she needed in order to learn how to eat orally.  

For a full year both Virginia and I got to experience the most natural thing for us as mother and baby.  It healed us and allowed us to bond.  Breastfeeding ultimately went beyond the essential nutrition and antibodies that were so essential to her health while she was so very tiny and sick.  She gave back to me just what I gave to her in those early days ... hope and healing.

the results of several months of hard work.

Mom Confessions

I trick Virginia into getting out of the house by telling her that I see our neighbors cat.  

Sometimes I just smile and nod when I can't hear/understand Virginia. 

I have zero desire to potty train her.  And she needs to be potty trained for preschool in September.

Breakfast is still painfully slow.  If I am in a rush or just can't handle the morning torture we go to dunkin donuts.  Somehow a donut get eaten without 4893572 distractions and I make it to work on time. 

God bless ipads and elmos world.  

God bless Daniel Tiger too.

God please spare us of Caillou.

Virginia can count to 10 in spanish and I cant.  

She now knows when I skip pages in books.  And calls me out on it. 

Virginia still sleeps in a sleepsack.  Yes she is too big for them.  Yes I panicked when I realized that she could unzipper them herself.  My plan for keeping her in her crib until she is 14 is foiled.   

Now that Virginia is forward facing in her car seat she joyfully calls out things that she sees.  Sadly her most common notations are Dunkin Donuts, the pizza place, shake shack and chipotle.  She also panics if I drive in the direction of daycare on a "home" day.  

I had Ginny "help" me garden a few weeks ago.  In a span of minutes she was climbing the rose lattice and then brought me some dog poop.  lovely.  

Virginia - Kure Beach, July 2014

back at it and life lately

I used to wonder what happened to all the preemie blogs, as many seem to disappear when the kids become toddlers. 

..that kid must have "caught up"

..they had another baby

..they've moved on

Truth is, we are here at preemie toddlerhood and none of that is true for us.  We have just settled into our normal and writing is no longer such an essential part of the healing process.  It truly once was and selfishly that is why I wrote so consistently on this blog for so long.  We are not necessarily busier and prematurity is no less significant in our lives, but I have began to prioritize other things.  

I miss this though.  I miss sharing our amazing little lady.  I miss thinking and worrying outloud.  I miss this community.  

For now, I am just going to share some photos and anecdotes about life lately, but Ill be back soon with some new thoughts and a few projects :)

We are off on an airplane tomorrow for some much needed beach time.

newest virginia-isms:

"beep beep, ssscuse me cars"- anytime we are at a red light

"where my sunglasses?"

"gimeee that" & "I hold it"

latest favorites:

chipotle

the beach

Daddy

water table & the hose

helping cook

ipad

Happy Father's Day

Wow, what an amazing journey (cliché’s much?).  I’m not sure I would have believed on my 1^st Father’s Day that my 3^rd would be as cranky and tiring as it was for both of us. It started with a 3 hour nap (that I wished I partook in) at 11:30 and ended at the beach and coming home letting her get as wet as possible before dinner.  Alyssa also had her saying “Happy Father’s Day” all day, that sometimes would break her into signing a “Happy Birthday” rendition of “Happy Father’s Day.”

I remember people saying it the first time and being like, you don’t know.  Now, I’m realizing that I do know and understand why people always say this.  It’s a badge but really a way to connect with other men knowing how little they have to do with the parenting and how their loving wife ‘guides’ (I know there are more female readers than males, so I’ll stay away from any other verb) them through the process.  While I was exhausted (and seriously that doesn't hold a candle to what Alyssa does every week), knowing where we've been, I just started laughing when she went to bed.

At this point, Virginia is best outside or at the ‘beeech.’  She boxes us out of any useful activity (cleaning, cooking, etc) with the skill of Charles Barkley and a sensible, ‘exxxcusse me.’   Her tastes are all over the map, cheerios from Stew Leonard’s are now her favorite for breakfast, just hold on for an hour long session.  She does eat as long as it’s Dunkin Donuts.  I’m not sure if eats fast because we take her to the Bridgeport location (because the coffee and donuts are cheaper) or the crack they put in them so kids love them.

I do appreciate that she calls our room, Daddy’s room.  I did not find funny when I was in the car the other day and she said she wanted to go back to Mommy’s house (don’t worry we didn't get a divorce).  When asked were Mommy sleeps, its Daddy’s room, in Mommy’s house.  I swear she’s already caught on.

She’s unfortunately obsessed with her iPad.  It’s her go to when she’s ‘bored,’ we've set ourselves up for this failure.  We've had a busy few months travelling and it’s the go to distraction in the car, I guess we asked for it.  Tuesday we get our cable back, so maybe this is the right approach so I don’t have to share my huge 32” screen living room TV with Caillou.

Also, it’s finally hitting me that I’m not going back to school any time soon, thank god.  It’s great realizing some of the little things that I've missed, especially those trips to Chipotle.  You would think Virginia was going to the Four Seasons, if she only knew.  I also can no longer get away with, I have homework and I won’t be able to get to painting the porch.

So this fulfills my yearly post, no worries to regular readers, I won’t be taking over the blog and talking to you about the nuances of the 3-4 defense and why the Redskins really need to go back to the 4-3.

This would have been more appropriate yesterday but too bad.

To all the father’s out there, BobBob, Shawn, Pete, Damian and all of my friends from college that now have kids, Happy Father’s Day, a day late. 

To my father, Happy Father’s Day, you've been an amazing inspiration and I hope I can do half the job you were able to for our family.

Lastly, thanks to Alyssa, it’s always been trying and fun; I wouldn't be able to do it without you.  Really Father’s day isn't so much for me but for the whole family, although I do love the fact that anything stupid I do can just be chalked up to Father’s Day.

P.S. I have no clue how I remembered the password for the account but remember this Virginia when you don’t think your Dad is snooping at your e-mail, Facebook or whatever other weird social media platform that will be available to you.

March For Babies Wrap Up

Spoiler Alert.... It was another hugely successful year!!

In total we raised just over $12,000 which put us up and over $30,000 since 2012.  We are so incredibly thankful for all of our supporters.  Whether you shared our story, or donated, or walked with us, or simply cheered us on.  We are grateful for each and everyone of you.  Please know that you are making a difference in the fight against prematurity and birth defects.

We do what we do because another family raised these funds and raised awareness for us.  We are keenly aware that our outcome could have been very different and most definitely would have been different without the research and treatments that were funded by the March of Dimes long before we got involved.

This year:

We had over 70 walkers at 3 different walks.Our youngest "walkers" were 4 weeks old and our oldest was 80.
We had 12 two year old walkers.
We had hundreds and hundreds of donations ranging from $2 to $250.

We had 50 entries in our March Madness bracket challenge. 

We collected nearly $1000 at shake shack (and ate a few burgers too!)

We will be back in 2015 and hope that you will join us!  

from the tiniest acorn grows the mighty oak

Last year there was an incredible video that went viral in the prematurity community and beyond.  Nearly 7 minutes of the beautiful and painful story of little Ward Miles captured the essence of the world of the NICU.  Perhaps the most poignant is the first 2 minutes.  There are no words and no music, simply the gentle hum of oxygen that percolates through all NICUs and the beautiful choreography of a mother getting to hold her precious tiny son for the first time.  It is a moment perfectly captured and a moment that all of us that have spent time in the NICU can relate to.  Whether it took a few hours to hold your baby for the first time or many weeks, the moment that you are able to embrace and reconnect with your ill child is one of immense emotions.  The raw emotions of that moment are typically at a time where outcomes, good or bad, are completely unknown.  The 'realness' of these moments in the Miles' video are why it was shared over and over again.  It is why I shared it with my family and friends- for the first time I was able to convey the reality of the journey despite it not being my own.  

The video goes on to capture those unexplainable moments, those moments that previously you would only understand if you stepped behind the sacred doors of the NICU.  The twitchiness of a premature baby due to their immature immune system, the bags of TPN, The cheekiness of a baby who has finally hit 2.5ish pounds, the look of a mom peeking through the plastic walls of the isolette, and finally the ritual of Lindsay tucking in a more alert baby Ward before saying goodnight.  Another night for her to head home without her baby.  

If you haven't watched it, you need to.  If you are struggling with  helping friends and family understand what you are going or have gone through, share this with them.  http://vimeo.com/78393869

The Miles family is now using their reach to support Graham's Foundation, an organization that has touched and guided so many of us from the prematurity community.  Click here to see an update from the them and learn all about the amazing tshirt/sweatshirt campaign that they have launched. 

Please consider supporting Graham's Foundation by purchasing an awesome tshirt or sweatshirt at  http://www.iheartgarments.com/campaign/benjamin-miller-graham-foundation .  

"from the tiniest acorn grows the mighty oak"  Ain't that the truth!  

This Club - Parents of Preemies Day Post

This Club

So you are a member too?

I know you never wanted to join.  You were probably devastated when you joined us.  You had no choice, no opt out for membership, no unsubscribe. 

There are no member cards or secret hand shakes, only our own language and abbreviations that immediately bind us as members.  PDA, PIP, PEEP, CPAP, NEC, BPD, TPN, and ROP all roll off your tongue. Just saying the letters may trigger PTSD.  You can count in cc's and can easily convert grams to ounces.  You have willfully pleaded for O sats to go up, heart pressures to go down and blood gases to stabilize.  

You have had a crash course in neonatology and semesters in cardiology, pulmonology, nephrology, gastroenterology and early intervention.  This is knowledge that you never knew you would need, but have embraced it in order to be a better advocate for your child. 

You know simultaneous joy and heartbreak.  You have felt bitter and angry.  You know that unique torture of leaving your child each night.  You know the immense core shaking fear of watching your child straddle the line between life and death.  

Your child may have "caught up."  Your child may never "catch up." Or you may still be waiting for the other shoe to drop.  

Like it or not you are a member of this club.  

As a member you are strong, you are mighty, you are resilient, you are your child's voice, you are their best advocate.  You are forever changed.  

For one day relinquish the fear and guilt.  For (at least) one day celebrate you.  Celebrate the tremendous person that you have become and the tremendous person that has made you who you have become.  Be proud of yourself -  the caregiver, the pseudo MD, the advocate, the home nurse, the expert, the short order cook, and most of all the parent to an amazing preemie.  

Please celebrate your membership in this club that you never wanted to join.

Wishing you a Happy Parents of Preemies Day on May 4th and every day.  

Please support Parents of Preemies Day, a worldwide day of awareness produced by Graham's Foundation. Parents of Preemies Day recognizes the courage and commitment it takes to stay strong and resilient when premature birth turns a family's world upside down. Each year, 13 million babies are born prematurely across the globe and though medical breakthroughs continue to improve outcomes for preemies, experts are only now beginning to understand the intense psychological effects that premature birth has on moms and dads.Here are just some of the ways you can celebrate Parents of Preemie's Day, whether you're a preemie parent or someone who cares about a family with a preemie: 

• Check  http://parentsofpreemiesday.org/events.html to find out if there is an event happening in your area and if so, register. May 4th is going to be a great time!

• Share your family's story on the 

Parents of Preemies Day Facebook page.

• Connect with other parents of preemies at the next #ParentsofPreemiesDay Twitter chat! Jump into the conversation using hashtag #ParentsofPreemiesDay to talk about how moms and dads can celebrate being parents of preemies.

• Bloggers, visit the 

Parents of Preemies Day website and grab a badge for your sidebar – then create a Parents of Preemies Day post to tell the world why you're proud to be a preemie mom or dad. Email a link to your post to christa @ grahamsfoundation.org and we'll post it on the website!

• Visit the 

Parents of Preemies Day website for ideas about what you can do to support moms and dads of preemies.

Life after Early Intervention

Early Intervention came to a bit of an abrupt halt for us last month.  It had been on our minds for a bit to switch to private therapies, but we were far from making a decision or coordinating a transition.  It became clear to us that Virginia was not going to qualify for an IEP through our school system at 3 (which is only 6 months away!), so it was the push we needed to switch over to community enrichment activities and private therapies.  It does make me a little nervous to not be in the "system" anymore.  I worry about whether or not she will need an IEP at kindergarden or beyond and how hard it will be to get that now that we are no longer on the train, so to speak.   Virginia's needs right now mostly fall under physical therapy, but are not severe enough that they would impact her educational or classroom needs so thusly in our district she would not qualify for an IEP or services at this point.

So where does this put us?  A little bit in limbo.  A really great, but a bit overwhelming limbo.  I'm fearful to miss something, but we are all very happy to be navigating things on our own.  For now, and possibly for all spring and summer we are focusing on community activities that challenge Virginia physically.  Naturally I think we will see a lot of progress again this spring and summer just because there are so many opportunities for her to blossom in her physical development in this nice weather.  Playing on the sandy beach, climbing on the playground, and navigating our yard are all some of the best PT around!

We also go to weekly "my gym" class where Virginia is really challenged physically.  She intently watches and imitates the other kids in class and really challenges herself.  As her Mom, it can be tough to not compare in this environment though.  Her coordination, cautiousness, shyness, and sensory quirks all become very obvious in these classes.  Similarly, her determination, wit, ability to follow direction, and silliness also become obvious.  These weekly classes have been a good starting point for us.  We hope to try out swimming (or a more formal aquatherapy), a music/dance class, and hippotherapy at some point too.

The question now is when to add back in regular PT.  Should she go weekly?  Should she get OT too? Where is it going to fit into the schedule?  Should we just take the summer off and see what happens?  It will all get sorted out but we are not in a rush.  The break has been really nice and to be honest I think it has been great for all of us.

So there is life after Early Intervention.  It doesn't mean that everything is "all better." There is still work to do, but also a point for us to look back and see all that Virginia (and we) accomplished.  Another transition of pride, progress and fear.  A chance for us to regain more control.  

2 amazing micropreemies at my gym together!

Swinging, Walking in the sand, and egg hunting all were our PT last week ;)

March for Babies Update

Our first March for Babies event is just 4 weeks away!  Once again we continue to be so amazed and grateful for all of the support of Team Go Ginny Go!!  We have raised nearly $4500 so far this year but still have a ways to got to surpass our total of $13,000 last year.  We are well on our way though, and will soon add our contributions from our March Madness brackets, and our upcoming shake shack and garden catering fundraisers!   

For those of you that are able to join us on April 26th at Watkins Park or May 4th at Jennings Beach in Fairfield please sign up this week!   We will be ordering shirts next week and want to be sure that we have one for each person that walks with us!!  Please comment below or email me with sizes for any kiddos that will be joining us as well :) 

You can register at www.marchforbabies.org/virginiakkent by clicking the "walk with me" button.  Please let us know if you have any problems registering.  And please consider sharing your fundraising link with your friends, family, coworkers etc :)  

Front of the 2014 Shirts

Back of the 2014 Shirts

update

Things have been a little nutty around here lately (Heath has shingles, work is cray-cray, winter won't go away), so here is a good old fashioned Virginia update.

Virginia had her first haircut.  Literally on a whim I decided that her mullet had to go and drove to the chuck e cheese children's haircut place on the way home from a playdate.  In true Virginia fashion she screamed the entire time, including when the prize machine pelted her with a capsule containing a temporary tattoo.  It looks great though and we even came home with a certificate with a very slightly creepy bag of hair attached.  

We had our first real respiratory scare this week.  She weathered her first 2 colds really well, but this one hit her quite a bit harder.   It sorta came out of nowhere and escalated quickly.  Had I been in a clearer state of mind we probably would have gone to the ER, but our middle of the night hazy state locked us into survival mode. After 5+ hours of coughing, a high respiratory rate and a tumble off of the bed, she finally settled down and we all got a little shut eye.  By the time we got to the doctors she was still breathing pretty rapidly and retracting, but responded nicely to the nebulizer that they gave her in the office.  So it has been a week full of lots of snuggles and inhalers. She is doing much better now despite having a pretty gunky cough.  Is it spring yet?!

Today we met to review Virginia's most recent evaluations and presumably write her IFSP.  During her testing last week, I was truly pleasantly surprised at how well she did.  She was matching shapes, sorta naming colors, and appropriately identifying and verbalizing pictures.  I fear that I spend so much time focusing on the worry of the week that I am missing out on all that she is able to do (that is a post for another day, though).  Needless to say, I wasn't surprised when her report showed that at this time there are no longer any cognitive, speech or fine motor concerns!!!  They did note that there were still some gross motor delays (also something that we already know).  This was all wonderful news, but left us with some decisions to make.  Ultimately we decided to discontinue Birth to Three (EI) services in and go completely to private therapies and community programs (mygym, music class etc).  

I'm nervous but excited for this change.  EI in our state is not free and is on a pretty costly sliding scale.  Even if we choose all out of network therapists our monthly costs will still probably fall under what we were paying for our family fee in EI.  Moreso, I really feel that Virginia will benefit from therapy outside of the home.  Aquatherapy, hippo therapy, and big vestibular swings are just not possible in our home (although a pool and some horses would be nice!).  

So, Im not sure where it is all headed but I am thrilled that she is in a place that allows us to make these decisions.  Anyone else transition to different therapies? 

Lastly, we are trying something new this year!  We are having a March Madness Bracket Tournament for our March of Dimes team.  $20 per bracket and money will be split between Team Go Ginny Go and the 1st &2nd place winners.  See below for more info and join us!  

limbo

Tomorrow we have Virginia's annual testing for birth to three (Connecticut's early intervention program).  Im excited to see how she scores in the various developmental categories but am also realistic that they are just scores.  They are nothing more and nothing less, simply a tool for us and her therapists to use to decide whats next.  I am confident that it will show that she has made some tremendous progress in closing the gap, but I also fear that it may not pick up on the subtleties that impact or may impact her development.

This time of transition feels much like the end of our NICU journey.  We know that there is still alot of hard work to be done.  We straddle the line of being comfortable and happy with the support (nurses then, therapists now) and wanting some freedom, normalcy  and privacy.  And we are embarking on a new phase of parenthood where the responsibility of her care and development is more firmly placed on our shoulders.

Much like this same time 2 years ago, things are far better than what we could have imagined, but we remain weary of potential consequences of Virginia's traumatic and early birth looming at the next step.  

Say it with me.  Stay in the moment!  Focus on the now!  There will be no ground breaking discoveries tomorrow, hopefully just affirmation that we continue to head in the right direction.

One skill I am confident that she has mastered... watercolors ;)

Happy Happy (Homecoming) Day

2 years ago   today our little 6 pound 10 ounce 4 month old came home from the hospital.   That day was quite possibly the most normal part of our journey.   Well maybe not normal, afterall it had been 4 months since delivery and I was wearing skinny jeans.  We had stopped for coffee on the way to the hospital and we had a restful night of sleep the night before (it was my first time not setting the alarm for 1am and 5am to pump). Im pretty sure that is not how most people bring their babies home from the hospital, but it seemed normal to us and it is definitely a contender for the happiest day EVER.  

2 years later February 22nd is still such a happy day. The mixed emotions, sadness and guilt that surrounds many other anniversaries is nowhere to be found today.  Its a day to celebrate being whole and together and it is a day of immense gratitude.  

Today the sun was shining bright much like her homecoming day.  We left the house early to go to the children's museum for some fun and time in the much loved water room.  I kid you not, as we got on the highway "Home" by philip phillips came on the radio.  Immediately Virginia called out from the backseat "Ginny song!!" Sometimes you just can't make this stuff up!  It set the tone (pun intended) for a beautiful day of enjoying our best girl.  

We celebrated today with an elmo balloon, a cupcake decorating party, lots of snuggling, and our annual porch photo :) 

And because Virginia couldn't quite get "homecoming" to roll off her tongue this morning the rest of the day was known as and will probably forever be known as "Happy Happy Day."

ALSO, we have hit our goal and will be providing 31 meals for families at Yale's NNICU.  Thank you to everyone who has supported our efforts.  We know that the support to team Go Ginny Go will make an immediate impact for the families at YNHH and a lasting impact through the research and support of the March of Dimes.  Click here  if you are interested in supporting or walking with Go Ginny Go.  We have just over 2 months until we will be walking for healthier babies.  

 cooking at the childrens museum

winter blues and valentine fun

I usually hate to complain about things as mundane as the weather but I'm sure as many of you can relate, we are SO over winter.  OVER it! We are doing our best to make the most of it, but are struggling to balance work, snow days, avoiding the sickies, and staying sane. Please come soon spring!  

Life has been busy, fun, stressful and confusing lately. It seems like lots of good news and good things have been equally paired with tough news and stressful things. All is good though, there is lots of laughter in this house! That sums up the lack of blogging lately too... life has just gotten in the way.  I hope that changes soon!  

In the meantime, some of our good news!

Virginia passed her developmental eye exam with flying colors!

Heath has just 3 months left until he has his MBA diploma in hand!

My project appears that it will finally be entering the construction phase this month.

Virginia has been showing some interest in potty training (in her own time and in her own way I'm sure)

Our March of Dimes team has already raised over $1200 (but we could use more help.  wink. wink. http://www.marchforbabies.org/virginiakkent )

This little girl had an awesome valentines day!  Once again she wore her little felt heart.

yup.  That is the same one as in this photo! 

And she had her very 1st valentine exchange with her fun bunch of friends.  

mom confessions

they'reeeeee  back!

some Mom confessions!

Before we start, look at this face! I die. She is lucky she is so darn cute.  

I am so sick of sharing my food.  I can't even eat my hard boiled egg in the morning without giving my little pants pulling, whining girl a bite.  It is a hard.boiled.egg not a brownie.  

Im convinced that Virginia is still going to be having crocodile tear temper tantrums at 7th grade drop off.  I totally dread drop off every morning :( 

Sometimes I wish I could have a tantrum a la Virginia when things aren't going my way.  

My new hairstylist confirmed that I have a "few" grey hairs. I wonder how that happened?!

Speaking of hair, it is taking all my power not to cut Ginny's baby mullet.  

I could only laugh when Virginia chanted "Mooooore Coffee, MY coffee" over and over while lunging for Heath's coffee cup through the grocery store yesterday.

There is really nothing better than a tea party with Elmo, Abby and Baby Stella.

We need a bigger house driveway, playroom and 2nd bath.  Less confession, more desperate statement. 

I was dumb enough to fall into the "sure, Ill let you out of the stroller as long as you hold my hand" trap.  It ended like this: