Chance: "Can you pick up Ashlyn and be at my office by 5?"
Me: "Um, probably. Why?"
Chance: "The trophy is here and we can take our picture with it!"
Me: "We will be there!"
Hence, the scrubs! Oh well. I mean, it's not like we won't have another opportunity to take our family picture with The Larry O'Brien trophy :) At least they were (kinda) Mav's colors! That sucker is heavier than it looks!
Sometimes you have to pick your battles! Brushing teeth last night wasn't one I cared to enter. So this is what resulted! Oh well...they lose those teeth anyway :)
We started out the weekend in Emory. We drove in Friday night after work and had a pretty relaxing evening. A big dinner full of homegrown veggies straight from the garden...can't be beat! Saturday morning we were kinda lazy. Had breakfast, took a walk, snuck in a nap, ran some errands and then just hung out with the family. Another wonderful dinner chocked full of fresh veggies. We laughed and enjoyed our time together. Sunday morning it was Father's Day breakfast with homemade pancakes! Chance and PaJ went out for a little while and did some target shooting, one of Chance's favorite things to do! Mimi got to spend lots of time with Ashlyn! We loaded up the car and headed back to big D to get ready for round 2 of Father's Day. We had Gpa, Gma and Aunt Sarah over for dinner. The only thing that would have made it better was if we would have had to time make it to Abilene to see Papa Ron! It was a wonderful day celebrating some very special men! We love you guys!
As we were leaving school today, I saw this mom carrying a TINY baby out! I smiled, of course, and said, "Wow, that's a little guy!". She said, "Yeah, he is 10 weeks old, but he was a preemie". We shared preemie stories and come to find out he and Ashlyn have a lot in common. They were both 6 weeks early, born at Medical City and spent some time in the NICU before going home. As we started talking (and Ashlyn is hanging on me, blowing kisses, waving bye-bye, saying momma, trying to get down and crawl...all the normal things babies do) I could see a little relief come over her face. It is so reassuring to see babies who came from similar situations doing what normal babies should be doing! This far along, I have always been on the other side...the one looking for reassurance. It was nice to be able to return the favor and give another mother a little more hope that her sweet baby boy is going to be just fine. He may not sit, or crawl or walk exactly when the books say he is supposed to, and he may be a little smaller than some, but there is something special about preemie babies. They are tough and they are fighters. And they will be just fine!
No wait...that's barnyard animals. Hand, foot & mouth (and crotch) disease...that's what humans get. And that's what she got from school on Wednesday! I guess it actually started Tuesday. I went to put in her in her kiddie pool when we got home from school for a little dip and I noticed a diaper rash. I am proud to say that in 13 months she has never had a diaper rash! So I kept her dry, put on some cream and didn't really think anything else about it. Fast forward 24 hours and I get a call from her school. That is the scariest call to receive...my heart pounds as I wait to hear what they have to tell me. "Mrs. Wimberly, you need to pick Ashlyn up from school and take her to the doctor. She is breaking out in blisters on her hands and in her mouth and diaper area. Hand, foot and mouth disease is going around the school and we think she has it." The ONLY reason I even knew what it was is because our sweet niece Jules had it about a month or so ago. Jules has 2 brothers and between the 3 of them, they have had their fair share of "bugs". Kristin said HFM was by far the worst thing her kids have had!! GREAT! I am kinda freaking out as I pick her up from school and take her to the doctor...fearing what is ahead of us. 4 days of high fevers, unable to eat or use her hands or feet (if it is similar to what Jules had). I picked her up and she was standing up in her crib, unfazed! We took her to the doctor and he confirmed that she definitely had HFM but said usually the kids are pretty sick a couple of days before the blisters break out. I had been saying that Ashlyn hadn't been herself the past couple of days, but I attributed it to teething. He thought we were in the middle of it and the worse was probably over. Thank goodness! But, it meant staying home nonetheless as it is highly contagious (to other children. Adults usually don't catch it...whew!) So we did end up playing hooky from work/school on Thursday...but we didn't quite make it to the parade. She was covered head to toe with a rash and I thought the heat might make it worse. So we had a fun day just playing at home and getting some things done around the house. Daddy stayed home on Friday and by today, she was back at school. I guess we can check that one off the list!
This was the only picture I could get. This is the rash when it started. By bedtime it covered her whole body with blisters on her hands, in her mouth, diaper area and on her knees! Poor baby!
From the moment I was born I knew you would always take good care of me. You were right there, the first person I saw. You were by my side when they wheeled me down to the NICU. That first night, you barely left my side. Those 3 long weeks I was in the NICU, you held me every moment you could. You bathed me, fed me, changed me and loved me...all without hesitation. You were a natural. When you brought me home, you worried day and night about my health and well being. You searched high and low to make sure I had the best possible care. You spent almost 3 months at home with me...juggling work, coordinating my care with family members, never missing a dose of my very important medicine, taking me to doctors appointments...you were a rock! When it was time to go to school, only the best would do. I love our mornings we get to spend together. Waking up, to have you snuggle me, feed me, sing silly songs, do silly dances just to make me smile. I know it isn't easy, but you don't miss a beat. We have spent many, many nights cuddling in the chair when I was sick or just having trouble falling asleep. Everyone says I look just like you, we even tricked a few people with our baby pictures! I am proud to have you as my daddy and I look forward to celebrating many more Father's Days with you. I LOVE YOU!
Love & Laughter,
Your peanut-Ashlyn Mae
PS...Here is a little something I put together of you and me! Hope you like it :)
Ashlyn was supposed to be taking a nap while she was home sick with Daddy. He was watching her on the monitor and she was sitting up with her blanket over her head, waving her arms up & down. I got this picture while I was at work!
On Monday, I picked Ashlyn up and her teacher says, "I wish you would have been here 5 minutes ago. Ashlyn just pulled Tommy down by the back of his shirt. Tommy started crying and I told Ashlyn that wasn't nice and she leaned over and kissed him!"
Today I picked her up and she was sitting in Ms. Tomika's lap. She is NEVER in her lap...always on the floor playing. She said she was clingy today and didn't want to be put down. Anytime Sailee would pull up on Ms. Tomika while she was sitting and holding her, Ashlyn would start crying and try to push Sailee away!
Ashlyn's new favorite past time...cooking! Well, maybe not cooking. More like emptying everything out of her kitchen and banging things together. She is loving it!
I guess I shouldn't have told Ashlyn that the Mavs won last night. She was so excited, she was up all night! Or maybe it was that new tooth? Anyway, we are very proud of our Dallas Mavericks. Ashlyn was so proud, she wore her Mavs hat to school.
And to the bank and the grocery store after school! We got stopped no less than 10 times with high fives and "let's go mavs" and thumbs up. She was a hit!
But it is really exhausting being a MFFL!
We are hoping we can play hooky on Thursday and make it to the parade...shhh!!!
