Sixty years of mom

This past Monday, my mom turned 60 years old. For a brief moment, my three siblings and I talked about surprising her in Utah that weekend. With one child in Utah, one in California, one in Arizona and myself in Iowa, she doesn't see us all together very often. I may have been the child who ruined the whole let's-all-get-together plan, but with nearly $500 plane tickets, unpredictable weather and some already planned trips right before and after, it just wasn't feasible for a quick weekend. 

I was feeling really horrible about it all - I wanted to celebrate my mom and show her how much I love her! So, I got an idea to try and contact friends, co-workers and family members from all stages of her life and have them all send me a message for or memory of her so I could compile it all in a book. 

What an incredible experience it was to receive email after email, facebook message after facebook message, even some snail mail letters, all honoring an incredible 60 years of someone I love more than words can say. Some messages had me in tears while others made me laugh out loud (sometimes in inappropriate places!). And the pictures! Oh, the pictures!

I am, obviously, not the only one who thinks my mom is awesome sauce. And the time I spent creating the book was absolutely worth it. I had it in my possession for one brief afternoon before I had to ship it right off to her to make it in time for her big day. 

She says she loves it and feels it is a treasure for her to have. More than anything, I just hope she knows that she has been a treasure to me and many others during her sixty years. 

Happy 60 mom. Here's to 60 more!

february in an instant

February has never been my favorite month. Growing up in Utah, it was always cold (though I will now admit, humid cold is a whole different monster that I simply did not meet until I left Utah). And it wasn't pretty cold - it was a crusted-filthy-snow-on-the-side-of-the-road kind of cold. A 'when-is-this-winter-ever-going-to-end?' kind of cold. 

Then I married Ryan and we celebrate him in February, so that gave the month a bonus point. 

Then we moved to California where February was all about refreshing rain and blossoms and the beginning of spring (gasp!). So February got some thumbs up for that. 

Then Leah was born. In February. And she's awesome, making February a little more awesome. 

So, though February (especially THIS February in Iowa) is still cold, a crusted-filthy-snow-on-the-side-of-the-road kind of cold and a 'when-is-this-winter-ever-going-to-end?' kind of cold, and a 'let's-see-how-many-more-days-we-can-cancel-school?' kind of cold, I've found things to celebrate in the meantime. 

Inside, of course. 

(And visiting that rainy, blossoming California in the midst of the ridiculous cold this year didn't hurt.)

So, here's to February while it lasted...

Seven

And just like that, my baby girl turned seven years old. SEVEN. It's unbelievable. I'd say it needs to stop, but she's just so darn cute and so, so incredible, I kind of want the awesomeness to continue. 

We had a whirlwind weekend celebrating the commencement of her newfound seven-ness. Since her birthday was on Saturday, we took a pan full of "7" sugar cookies for her kindergarten class to enjoy on Friday. Kate was thoroughly pleased to be a school guest and wear the lanyard that said so. She also loved the leftover cookies at home.

After Kate and I went home, I put her down for a nap and then got a call from Leah's school saying Leah was just not being herself. She was crying and responding in the affirmative when asked if she didn't feel well/something hurt. Since we all know Leah doesn't shy away from the spotlight, I knew she had to really not be feeling well to be talked into going home early on her big day. So, I woke Kate up and we went to pick up Leah. Sure enough, she was weepy and all-around kind of pathetic looking. Which is so strange because she was fine a few hours earlier! 

I was worried because we were leaving at 4pm for a weekend retreat with some special needs families in the area and I really didn't want to have to bail. So, we set up her sick bed on the couch and she fell right asleep. She slept for a few hours and when she woke up, she seemed so much better. I asked her if she still wanted to go to the retreat and she said yes! 

Her actual birthday was spent at the retreat with games, toys, movies, bowling, a magician, a ball pit, swimming, balloons, presents and more. It was basically a seven year old's dream come true. We took a few presents to open up in the hotel room, but saved most for home. 

We went straight to church from the retreat on Sunday morning where Leah got to BE a cupcake. 

When we got home, she opened the rest of her presents (um, SPOILED! from family and friends!). This is how Kate felt about me taking pictures of only Leah. 

After presents we had a combined cake and ice cream celebration for Leah and our good friend Haley. Please don't judge her cake. We had lofty Magic Treehouse plans, but not being home all weekend changed that idea pretty quickly.

And the celebration didn't stop there! A few people stopped by on Monday with gifts, including cute Mr. M who brought her GREEN flowers. He knows the way to Leah's heart...the color green! 

And at her school, the PTA has a fun program where a child can get a name plate in a book for their birthday each year. The child picks a book from a list and then the birthday child gets to be the first one in the whole school to check it out. It's really fun and Leah loved it. 

But the very best gift came the following day at her annual well-check appointment. As of February 24 at 4pm, Leah is officially ON THE CHARTS. This is serious, people. Leah hasn't been on the charts since her first year of life. We're talking first percentile here with a BMI that will not include talks of a g-tube. Hooray for Leah! 

Looks like #7, in true #7 form, is off to a lucky start. Which is perfect because we sure feel lucky to have this incredible 7 year old in our lives.

Up With Families

Our little family spent the weekend at a nearby hotel for a special needs retreat called Up With Families. The organization exists solely to put on this one event each year. Any family in the area who has a child with special needs (of ANY kind) can apply for a spot of up to about 30 families to come to their annual retreat. But each family can only come once and their child has to be seven or younger.  

At first I was a little unsure. The retreat happened to fall on the weekend of Leah's 7th birthday and the last thing I wanted was for her to be somewhere she didn't want to be with people she didn't even know. For a good portion of the time, Ryan and I would be in seminars and meetings for parents only! But, I really felt it would be a good thing for our family to do together since we were new to the area...and this was the last year we were eligible based on Leah's age. 

Turns out, there was no better place we could have been to celebrate her big No. 7. Leah spent the weekend swimming, bowling, playing games, watching movies and just having some serious fun. We opened a few presents in our hotel room during a mid-day break on Saturday and then she went on her way again! 

They had activities specific to special needs kids (or ways to adapt everything), sensory rooms, and more. And they also gave equal attention to the typical siblings, which was so wonderful. These siblings are amazing and often get put on the back burner, so it was fun to see them being celebrated too!

They had a photographer there to take photos of each family and they even offered a 30 minute chair massage. Um, yes please!

Saturday night there was a nice dinner and program for the parents that went past the girls' bedtimes. The volunteers were prepared to put the kids to sleep if needed. So, when Ryan and I went back to the hotel room we weren't surprised to find two volunteers, chatting quietly in the dark, while Leah slept soundly on the bed. She was wiped out! We were, however, shocked to find that Kate wasn't in the room. We ventured back out to the kid's room and sure enough, Kate was running around like a crazy person. At 10:00 at night! 

We learned some valuable information about special needs in our area and met some wonderful people who I know we will continue to keep in contact with. I hope to continue to be a part of this great organization for a long time! 

When we got home Sunday afternoon, Leah was wiped out. This is the sign of a fulfilling, feel-good, fun and UPlifting weekend. 

valentine's day

Valentine's Day this year was simple and perfect. Leah didn't have school, but I attended her class party the day before. She was glowing. And she was actually able to participate in the class game - they sucked up marshmallows with a straw and dumped them into a cup. She was really good at using the straw! 

The following day, we colored our valentines, got some of them delivered and took some glorious naps. All while wearing hearts, of course. 

It was a simple holiday this year. 

And, quite simply, I loved it.

Ryan's 33rd

I flew home from California just in time to bake and frost a "pink cake" and celebrate Ryan's 33rd birthday. His parents were still in town, so it was fun to celebrate with a few more people! We ordered in some Texas Roadhouse, opened presents (Kate was the official present-opening helper) and ate some pink cake! It was a perfect evening at home, avoiding all the Valentine's Day eater-outers. Win, win. 

(My favorite part of this picture is Ryan holding Leah's hand so she doesn't smash the cake!)