Monday, August 25, 2014

Eight Months with Mag-Pie (and Thirty Five weeks with Chicken Nugget)

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Maggie,

You have been my bright spot through one of the hardest months of my life. You have unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) started sleeping with us in bed at night. You fit right in the crook of my arm and your Dad says that we snore in rhythm together. Just a few nights ago though we started the transition to your crib in your room with Molly. So far the past three nights you have woken up around 1 a.m. and ended up back in our bed. Slow and steady wins the bed war, right?


Crawling and pulling up are your big motor skill this month. You are so fast now and can quickly crawl from the den to the kitchen for a taste of your new favorite food, cat food, in the blink of an eye. I really don't know the allure of the cat food but you giggle every time I pull you away from the dish and tell you, No.

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You continue to stalk Kato the cat and love petting him. You are learning what the word, Gentle means and poor Kato is enduring your learning process. 

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You are anxious to start walking and are a cruising everywhere. You have a route around one ottoman, past the sofa to the other ottoman. Each day you get stronger and more dare devilish! You also keep finding your way into the bathroom and once ended up in the bathtub before I knew what had happened. I'm guessing your sister had something to do with that big adventure. 

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You and your sister love playing together even though she is a bit rough with you. It's been fun watching the two of you form a relationship and I can not wait to watch it grow even more. You are a joy and the happiest baby I know. We are so lucky to have you in our lives and family. 

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I'm excited to see what your next grand adventures will be. Will you walk soon or finally get a tooth? Where are those darn teeth? Until they arrive, we'll continue loving your gummy smile!

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

The Wednesday Links from Around The Web 8.20.2014

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Life is slowly getting back to a new normal. We miss my Dad every day but as I cross things off the HUGE to do list, I'm finding a bit of time to explore the Web. Here are a few things I found interesting this week. 



How to find your perfect bra mind-blowing

Kid approved lunchbox ideas These look delicious!

Instagram VS Reality I'm so guilty of this.





Sunday, August 17, 2014

Thirty Four Weeks with Chicken Nugget

Maggie - 34 weeks

Maggles is the life of the party! She's full of smiles and joy. She's really been making these last few weeks so much easier. This week, Maggie has really started experimenting with standing and cruising. She likes to make a circuit round the ottomans in the Den. The little dare-devil likes to also take one hand off and try to balance. 

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We spent some time last week with friends who were in town from LA. We visited the Zoo and the Children's Museum with them. It was Maggie's first visit to the Children's Museum and I think she wanted to check everything out. It was too stressful for me though because Molly kept running off and disappearing. I was pretty certain I had lost her forever twice. That might need to be a two parent museum in the future. 

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Maggie has really moved into finger foods this week. She's so over purees even though I try to feed them to her (because I made a lot and they are taking up room in my freezer!). She tried sweet potato 'fries', watermelon spears, cantaloupe cubes, cooked apples, puffs and oatmeal blueberry muffins just this week. 

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We also found a new place for my Mom and Maggie was passed around to all the residents. The Marketing Director has a special love for her. I keep saying that I'll drop Maggie off for babysitting and I don't think the director knows how serious I am. I am excited about my Mom's new place. She moves in a few weeks but I think it is going to be great! The girls are excited about it so that is good. 
Sunday, August 10, 2014

Thirty Three Weeks with Chicken Nugget

Maggie - 33 Weeks

I took this week's photo a day late. We held my Father's Graveside and Church services over the weekend and the weekly photo was a wee bit late. We held a Hawaiian Celebration of Life for my Dad so Maggie is wearing her Hawaiian garb in honor of her Poppa and her monster is sporting a lei.

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This week, Maggie started cruising around the furniture which might mean early walking which also means batten down the hatches! Maggie also had a cold so the last few nights have been rooooooough. The poor thing is so congested and sad. Maggie attended her first Amazon picnic and quickly found some sand to eat.

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It was another busy week of driving around town, running errands and getting important tasks down but this week looks easier. I'm hoping the girls can spend more time playing and less time riding in the car. 



Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Thirty Two Weeks with Chicken Nugget

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Maggie was a champ with all the different people who watched her this last week. She stayed her usual happy self through the sadness that engulfed the rest of the family. Her giggles and smiles kept me sane.

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Maggie discovered cat food this week and has developed a love for it, just like her sister. I think there must be something about crawling and where the cat food is located that equals true love. Maggie has also been eating sweet potatoes and watermelon like crazy. She loves them so much.

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Maggie has been waking up a bit during the night and we don't know why! A friend suggested the 9 month sleep regression even though it would be early but it makes sense to me. Maggie's crawling has picked up speed and if you leave the room for a minute, she is sure to follow you while crying and crawling fast. Maggie has also started stealing her sister's toys which causes her sister to scream and yell.

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Friday, August 01, 2014

I'll Love You For Always. I'll Miss You Forever.

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On Tuesday afternoon, I lost the best Dad. You might think you have the best Dad but I'll fight you on that. I had the BEST Dad. He always made me feel safe, loved and wanted. He would do anything for me and for the rest of our family. He found his granddaughters to be the greatest delight. He LOVED being a Grandpa.

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At Easter Brunch this year, he said that he had some hard news to share. He had gone to the ER the Friday before with abdominal pain. He thought he had a gallstone but instead some masses were discovered on his liver, bladder and pancreas. He told us that he had an appointment with an oncology doctor that following week. I went with him that to appointment and the following one where they determined that he had Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer. I remember calling Scott on the way home after the appointment and wailing. Scott came immediately home from work and just sat with me. We moved forward as a family though. We like to look for the brighter side and we looked hard with this news. I had family portraits taken and we had a lot of family meals. But my Dad grew weaker with each week of chemo. His first session was as expected. His second session was pretty good but this last one was hard. He started to lose weight and stopped eating. He looked tired and weak. My Mom and him planned a trip to Hawaii though. He wanted to go one last time. Then last week he went in for his weekly round of chemo where he collapsed and was admitted to the hospital with an infection. I visited him on Thursday night and got his car. He looked ok. I honestly thought he'd be in the hospital for a night or two before coming home. On Saturday, he asked me to bring the girls by so he could see them. I did. On Sunday, he seemed to have given up the fight and on Monday, he told me he wanted to enter hospice care. On Tuesday, surrounded by his family, he passed on. I am grateful that we all got the chance to say goodbye and let him know that he could go but that we would miss him with all our hearts.

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My Dad was the kindest, most wonderful hard-working man I've ever known. If you needed something fixed, he could fix it for you. He knew everything too. I used to tease him and say that he was pretending to know everything but honestly he seemed to know it all. He would do anything for his family even if it meant putting himself last.

Day 358 (358/366): Happy Birthday Pops!

After my Mom's heart attack, he took on caring for her with all the love in the world. She was his light, his true love. My parents taught me what true love looked like. I think it took me a while to find Scott because I was looking a love like theirs for myself.  I feel lucky to have found it. I also feel blessed that Scott was able to develop a deep relationship with my Dad. They bonded right away and my Dad tucked Scott under his wing. I'll never forget the first trip my parents and I took with Scott. My parents decided it would be a fun adventure to drive up to Victoria Island in Canada to have lunch at a pub. Scott and I arrived at their house at 5 a.m. to begin our trek north. We arrived at the truck stop border so early that the gate wasn't open yet! We took the Tawassen Ferry over to Victoria Island and drove for what felt like hours before arriving at the pub. We shared a few pints and had a lovely lunch before heading home to Seattle. While driving through Bellingham, my parents started bickering. That nothing fight spurred a private joke that still gets Scott and I giggling to this day. My Mom had seen a sign for a restaurant but would only say, "I saw a sign" to which my Father would answer, "What did the sign say?" My Mom would respond, "I saw a sign". At the time I wanted to strangle them but in hindsight, it had all the makings of a hilarious skit. This was the first trip of many we would take with my parents.

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My Dad was so excited when Molly was born and in the short time they had together, they really bonded. He would chase her up and down the halls of my house and up and down the stairs at his house. In the past year, she spent many a weekend at my parent's house. They would take her out for pizza, let her swim in their hot tub and go to church. She thought all of it was so much fun especially because it meant spending time with her Poppa. Whenever he left my house, she would stand at the window, waving goodbye to him while shouting, BYE POPPA! On Monday, I took her to visit my Dad in the hospital. He insisted on a hug and a kiss from her even though she was feeling very two. I rarely insist that she hug or kiss anyone but I made her give him the biggest hug and kiss. I had a feeling it would be their last one.

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As a child, whenever my Dad came home from work, I would get a ride on his shoes. He would act like I was sooooo heavy and stomp around while I rode on his leg. I used to giggle so much. My Mom said that I would sit at the front door and wait for him to come home from work.

New - I met my new niece tonight along with my parents. My Dad is recovering from a cold which is why he's wearing a mask. My niece's parents are not crazy germaphobes. This little girl is a cutie! #fmsphotoaday

Dad, I'll Love You For Always. I'll Miss You Forever. I'm so glad I got you as my Dad and that Molly got you as her Poppa. I'll keep your memory alive with so many stories about you that I'll make sure to tell the girls every chance I get. Because you were the BEST Poppa out there and I miss you so much.

Family #fmsphotoaday Molly and Grandpa
 
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