Care Walk 2011

One thing I have never blogged about before is that when Demi was an infant she was diagnosed with Thalassemia. I have never really posted anything on the blog regarding Thalassemia as we are lucky and it really doesn't affect Demi so it is not really on the forefront of my thoughts, but I think I should at mention it for the benefit of raising awareness in the few people that may read this blog regarding the more severe patients with this blood disease.

Thalassemia is a blood disease that originated in the Mediterranean Region which is where 50% of my family originated. There are two types of Thalassemia: Minor and Major and fortunately Demi only possesses the Minor type. This will virtually have no effect on her life whatsoever except for she will require some genetic counseling when she is old enough to think about having children on her own as 2 Thalassemic Minors make up a Major. Thalassemia is a genetic defect in which their is a reduced rate or no rate of synthesis in the globin chains that make up the hemoglobin, thus causing her to test anemic. Some symptoms of anemia include fatigue and we have taken into consideration that this may be why she is so sleepy.

Demi is a powerhouse sleeper. Most nights she goes to bed around 7 p.m. and I have to wake her up for school in the morning, otherwise on weekends she sleeps until 8:30 or 9 a.m. In talking with a lot of my "mommy friends" I realize that I am lucky as both of my children are that way. I can understand Daley's sleeping in since she is a night owl much like her Dad, but Demi goes to bed so early. There are a host of other symptoms though of which to our knowledge she has never experienced. Surely not pale skin....she appears to be dark like her Mommy. Surely no decrease in appetite....Demi is a little chubber and LOVES to eat, often times I am in awe of her ability!

May 1, 2011 was the 1st Annual Care Walk sponsored by the Cooley's Anemia Foundation and the Thalassemia Action Group.  The closest one in our area was in Georgia, but there were several across the country. There is not much awareness regarding Thalassemia because it affects so few people in our region, but this is the greatest form of awareness we have come across so far and unfortunately I didn't know about it on May 1, 2011, but next year it will be April 29, 2012 and I may be calling on you to walk with me and help raise money to raise awareness as well as fund seeking treatment.

I have posted a few links below to reference that I found helpful and that you can go to if you are curious about learning more.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalassemia

http://www.thalassemia.org/

http://www.everydayhealth.com/health-center/thalassemia-symptoms.aspx

Daley is 4!

Last weekend we had Daley's 4 yr old birthday party at Pump it Up and let me just tell you how much fun we had!  Destination birthday parties are definitely the best, and they are the fondest memory I have of my birthdays as a kid, but there is a reason that you only get one or two of them, because they are EXPENSIVE!  It was totally worth it though to see how much fun she had and the smile on her face.  We had a small hang up with a carpet burned elbow, but other than that she was having a ball.  I didn't get a whole lot of pictures as Pump it Up parties are my favorite too, but I did post the few that I got below.

Love,

Lindsey

Demi even got in on some of the fun!

Daley and her sweet friend James from Church ;)

Daley and her sweet friends ;)

The Best Day of a 4yr Old's Life

There are Birthdays and then there are BIRTHDAYS and when Aubie pays you a visit and you are a 4 yr old little girl.......it is THE BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ANOTHER beautiful weekend!

With another beautiful weekend came fun in the sun!  This weekend we had Will Baker's Birthday party. Will is a friend of Demi's that is about one month younger than her.  As you can see below he had a great time and so did all the big kids "helping" him open all of his gifts. It was also really pretty outside and a great opportunity for me to attempt to get a photo of Daley and Demi  in a matching outfit.  The photos are okay....I only wish I could get Demi to cooperate!  I don't remember this being a huge deal with Daley, but with Demi it is next to IMPOSSIBLE to make her look at the camera!

After Will's Birthday Demi was exhausted so we took her home and Zach stayed with her and I took Daley to the Carnival in Trussville to meet her Cousin JB, Uncle Philip, Aunt Tiffany, Yia Yia and Berts.  She had a great time.  She was able to ride most of the rides. I should get some type of award though for keeping her out of the bounce house as there were boys in there that looked to be 12 years old or better that would have flattened her like a pancake! 

I am glad that we got another weekend to play outside and enjoy our friends.  I also would like to wish John Vakakes (a dear friend from Church) and Laura Brantley (a dear friend for the better portion of my life who also turned 30) Happy Birthdays this week!

Love,

Lindsey

 

          Birthday Boy Will Baker

 

                                                                     
               Best photo I got

            Easy Rider                               Alligator Roller Coaster

              Carousel with JB

Spring Fever?

Spring is here!  And poor Demi had a fever!

Demi is doing good now. Zach was able to leave work early Thursday when they called from school and asked us to come and get her. I called and immediately got her an appointment and they said it was her ears.  She has been on antibiotics and has been at home. I stayed home from work with her on Friday and since then she has been doing and feeling great.  Friday was only when the great weather merely started to make an appearance though, so it wasn't like we were stuck in doors the whole weekend at all.  Saturday and Sunday we were able to get out and do a couple of fun things.  Saturday night we cooked out with friends and Sunday after Church we went to the park for a sweet baby friend Alexa's first Birthday Party!  The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the girls had a blast. I am so excited for many weekends to come like this one.  I will never get sick of great weather!

I really just love this time of year!  I love everything about spring except for maybe the pollen which is not in full force yet. What's not to like other than that though? Cute clothes for the girls!  Outdoor activities........ swimming, beaching, parks or heck.....just hanging out in the backyard!  Daylight savings time ensued this weekend and this makes me oh, so happy!  I will never understand why it needs to be dark at 5 p.m..  It is just silly!  There is so much we can do after work and school now and it makes my house run much more smoothly. I can cook while at least Daley is playing in the backyard.  Zach and I have actually committed to start running together too!  We did our first 5-K together last weekend.  I thought he would not be interested in this at all and now that he has run one he is totally set on improving his time and wants to do another race! All child illnesses pending I think we will be running in Crestline this weekend.

I love taking pictures of the girls in the Spring because the colors are bright and the scenery is beautiful!  I have posted a few of our racing pics below and some pics from Alexa's birthday party.  I think my camera will be making more appearances with me in weeks to come so stay tuned!

Demi's Birthday Party

Demi's 1st Birthday Party was at Yankee Pizzeria.  We had a great time!  There was another party going on at the exact same time and he was also celebrating his first birthday, so it was a little hard to keep our parties seperated.  We even had a sweet little boy from our party climb up on the table of the other party and start eating their cup cakes.  I think that is the best part of these brithdays though.  Stories like that!  These kids are just precious at this age!  We are so happy that so many of our family and friends were able to come and we enjoyed celebrating this milestone so much with our sweet Demi!

Demi is turning 1!

This week our baby will be 1!  And my "our baby"  I mean mine, Zach's and Daley's!  Daley is very quick to correct you and tell you that Demi is her baby too and in so many ways she is!  It is so hard to believe that a year has gone by since our sweet Demi came into this world!  One year and 9 months actually because that is how long we have known about and been planning for her.  I can remember right before we had Demi, sitting on my bed and crying because having Demi meant Daley was not the baby anymore.  Oh how it was going to change Daley's life!  Daley has gotten to be such a big girl as a result of becoming a big sister and I am so proud of her for it!  I would never change their age difference for anything in the world!  Daley was able to help us feed Demi her bottles when we were in a rush in the mornings for work.  She loved to feed her jars of baby food, even though sometimes the mess was not worth the help.  She plays with her and was eager to teach her to crawl and has been right behind her nudging (sometimes pushing)  her along all the way to this special day.  The way I talk you would think she raised her all by herself and while that is definitely not the case I also don't know how we would have made it with out her.  Of course we would have made it, but I can't imagine how different things would be. 

Demi was the perfect addition to our set up.  She is like our family mascot!  OUR AUBIE!  No matter if we are winning or losing, good day or bad, she has a smile and a way about her that can cheer you up just by being in her presence.  Her gruff and raspy little laugh!  I wouldn't trade it for anything!  When the alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m. we are exhausted and then we get to wake up Daley and have a royal throw down about what she is going to wear and what she is going to eat (see....Daley and her Dad share the same morning attitude)  and then Demi gets up and she is grinning from ear to ear.  No matter if you wake her or she wakes on her own she is so happy!  Zach was obsessed with her saying Da-da before she said Ma-ma since he lost that battle with Daley, and it is so funny because she has been saying in now for like 4 or 5 months and just now every so often musters up a Ma-ma.  While I long for the day that she says my name and actually knows what it means it has been a true pleasure to watch him hop-to her every command because he is so excited she "chose" to say his name first.

Someone once said that having a child is to forever have your heart go walking around outside your body.  That is the truest thing and the best description I could ever put into words regarding what it feels like to be a mother. It is a huge risk to think that your heart is outside your body walking around, but for it to take a life form and to watch "her"  little characteristics that you can tell our yours and your husbands is the most joyous experience.  It is such a responsibility, but one that can produce so much joy!  Don't get me wrong, I definitely can see our bad characteristics walking around out there too.  Having Daley is like having my heart and my sassy mouth out there except I have less control over her mouth than I do my own, and I know there is more to come of that!

In so many words, we all are so honored that God picked Demi to join our family and while not a whole lot is definable about her personality yet we definitely look forward to all the rest of her years in our life and discovering her personality as it grows!

Happy Birthday Demster!