7 Years

It was seven years ago today that we met Sadie for the first time.  

I could come up with just about every cliche saying to describe how quickly the past seven years have flown, but instead I thought I'd share the past seven years in seven pictures, with one picture from each year.

Happy Birthday to my sweet, generous, amazing girl!  I'm so proud of you!  

7 Quick Takes Friday

-1-

The last few days have been up and down.  The first day after I burned my feet was the worst, but it seemed like things were slowly improving after that.  And then about three days ago (a week after the burns happened) the pain started to get worse.  Then it started to look, without going into details, pretty horrible.  

An amazing group of ladies made sure that I went to the doctor today.

I fully expected the doctor to tell me that nothing was wrong and that when burns heal it hurts and that's that.

I did not expect the PA at the clinic (who told me she specializes in emergency medicine) to gasp, ask repeatedly if I was sure that they didn't give me anything to put on it or for the pain, tell me that she usually only sees wounds like these on soldiers and bring the other medical people in the building in to look at the burns while repeating "and this is ten days in."

It actually made me feel a little better since I've been feeling like a big wimp every time I'd start to limp in the afternoon these last few days.  

After realizing I'm allergic to Silverdine (becaue I'm super allergic to Sulfa) she prescribed an ointment that is used on patients with MRSA and staff infections and sent me on my way.

And as I lay here next to James I'm feeling somewhat less wimpy... and I'm hoping the Mupirocin helps everything heal!

-2-

When I got home Maggie was furious with me.  

Well, actually I didn't immediately know that she was furious with me.  First I thought she was in pain or having a major moment of sensory overload.

I got her dressed for bed and picked her up and carried her upstairs, but she was still in full meltdown mode. 

As she sobbed and screamed I suddenly realized that there was a certain cadence to the sounds and as I lay next to her the words became clear:  "Why go Ma?  Why go Ma?  Why go Ma?"

"I had to go to the doctor, baby."  I said and I saw her eyes widen for a moment and she fell silent.  Then she started to cry again.

"Baby, I had to go.  I went to see the doctor.  My feet are hurt.  The doctor said that I need medicine.  So I went to the doctor and they sent me to get medicine so that my feet would get better."  She stopped crying and looked at me with a very serious expression. "I'm sorry you were worried.  I'll always come back for you when I'm gone.  I always come back.  I just had to see the doctor and get medicine."  

And with that the meltdown was over and she rolled over and went to bed, while I just about burst with excitement over the fact that she used the word "why" in a sentence.

Abstract question words are huge!  

-3-

I've realized, because I wear a Fitbit I got for my birthday, that "staying off my feet" (which I felt like I'd been doing a pretty good job of) apparently means taking between three and four thousand steps a day.

Which, I guess, doesn't really count as "staying off my feet."  

Then again, I'm not sure how realistic those instructions were when I spend my days surrounded by these little bunnies.  

-4-

I also came across Maggie singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider.  It was pretty great:

-5-

Tomorrow is Sadie's last day as a six year old.

That fact keeps surprising me.

But not nearly as much as the fact that Maggie is going to be five in two weeks.  

I'm not even sure how that happened.

-6-

I've realized that all I need to do to get Maggie to wear a new dress now is have matching tights.

She loves matching her tights to her dresses.

I'm not sure if matching tights trump matching shoes (of course the shoes have to compliment the dress and the tights too) but it's pretty close.

Actually I'm pretty sure the tights win everything, because if she could she'd probably wear just tights half the time because tights are just about her favorite thing in the world right now.  

-7-

I'm pretty sure that Patch's two favorite things about California are the tractors and the frogs.

And I think the tractors are winning since he's not particularly good at actually catching frogs.  

For more Quick Takes head over to This Ain't the Lyceum.  

{phfr}

Our lives have been revolving around the blow up kiddy pools on the porch quite a bit these days, as the temperature insists on lingering right around 100 every afternoon.  The kids don't seem to mind though.  

{pretty}

She won't be seven until Sunday, but she's suddenly looking so much older!  How did that happen?  And where did the last seven years get to so quickly?

{happy}

Why yes, she does dress herself.  

And boy did these Christmas tights save the day when she was very, very sad that her pink tights had to be washed and were still very wet in the dryer, and I was frantically looking for any other tights that she might wear, and happened upon these emergency back up tights (you might think I'm kidding when I say "emergency" but I'm not).

But then we had an issue because she wasn't about to wear them with a pink dress, because obviously they don't match, so it was a very good thing that I brought her Captain America dress or I don't know what we would have done, but I'm pretty sure it would have seemed like the end of the world. 

As it was she was one happy girl.  

{funny}

He's obsessed with frogs, only when he says "frog," it sounds a lot like he's saying a very bad word.  

He talks about frogs just about all day.  He hasn't managed to catch one yet but be he's come super, super close.  

His second favorite thing are tractors, which he calls trucks.  Unfortunately his pronunciation of frog and truck are basically identical.

Hopefully he masters that R sound soon.  

{real}

I discovered what will really motivate James into working on his large motor skills.  

I just have to put him under one of Nani's wicker chairs.  Then he uses all his strength to roll over and push himself up as much as he can so he can reach up with one arm and grab the pieces of "wicker" (which I suspect is actually plastic after seeing it in his hands) on the bottom of the chair and pull them off the chair, so he can play with them on the ground.  

So if I really want him to work on those gross motor skills at least I know where to put him.

For more {phfr} head over to Like Mother, Like Daughter!  

My Letter to the Editor

This week I've had a few different projects going (and if I'm going to be totally honest I also finished reading Kristin Lavransdatter, which also ate up a large portion of time since I couldn't stop reading it...), which kept me from spending much time blogging, and one of those projects was trying to find the words to thank the people who helped find Maggie, in the form of a letter to the editor of our local paper (fun fact: before I had Sadie I used to work as the sports writer for this paper).  

After a couple of people who saw the photo I posted of the paper on Facebook asked what I'd written I decided to make it it's own little post, although if you've read the post that I wrote the day she ran away you already know more details than I shared here.  

So here's my little thank you to those who came out to help us find out little mermaid (with a couple edited names):

I snapped this but it's not very clear...
so here's the text.

Dear Editor,

I’m writing today to thank the many people who came together last week to save our four year old, Maggie, when she was lost.

Maggie is on the autism spectrum and has no concept of danger.  She loves to run.  If she sees a wide open space she’ll sprint off without ever turning back to see if anyone is following her.  She also loves bodies of water big and small and thinks that she’s a mermaid who can swim, when she really can’t at all. 

Maggie was born in Redding and we lived in T.C. until just after her first birthday when we moved away when my husband went to law school.  We’ve been back every summer since, and each summer, as she’s become more and more of an escape artist, I’ve been more and more nervous about our stays with my family in J.C. and spending so much time so close to the river.  With multiple locks on each door I knew that we would still have to be vigilant, but I thought that we could keep her safe. 

Last Tuesday I was in the living room with my other children while she played in the kitchen, a few feet away.  I got up to check on her when I noticed that it had been quiet in the kitchen for about five minutes.  And that’s when I saw that the latch on the door going out of the kitchen hadn’t quite clicked. She’d made it through three doors to make it out of the house. 

I felt like my worst nightmare had come true.  I sprinted towards the river, afraid that I would already be too late, my heart in my throat when she was nowhere in sight.

Many people came to help us that day.  The response after we called 911 was immediate.  By the time my Dad made it down the driveway and up onto the road the Forest Service already had her safely in one of their trucks. 

We learned that Maggie had skipped down the long dirt driveway up to the road, where a passing motorist had seen her and stopped to follow her to make sure she way okay.  She was barefoot, wearing tights and one of her favorite pink dresses as she went along down the road, past a large gully and into the forest, where I’m told she tried to go right on past the Forest Service trucks that had arrived to save her.  They scooped her up and put her in the truck and kept her safe until my Dad got there. 

Seeing him come down the driveway, yelling out the window that he had her with him was an amazing moment of relief.  She was alive and safe. 

I didn’t get a chance to thank all the first responders that were there that day.  I wish I could say thank you in person to the motorist that stopped and followed her and made sure she didn’t get into trouble and to the Forest Service and Sheriff’s deputies and Junction City volunteers that were there when she was found and also to everyone who was in route to look for her.

I’d like to thank our neighbors Jan and Linda and all our neighbors again for coming out to help when I was running around screaming her name hysterically and for beginning the search down towards the river.

Words cannot describe how grateful I am to everyone who helped us that day. 

We’ve installed alarms on all the doors now and a personal GPS is also in route for Maggie, although I pray we never have to use it. 

Thank you again to everyone who came out to help save my little girl’s life.  I am so incredibly thankful for all of you.

Sincerely,

Cammie Wollner

Name That Baby!

James is eight months old and is growing like a weed.  He's decided he loves to eat and bananas are his food of choice.  In fact I've learned not to come between him and his bananas, even if he can't possibly still be hungry because he can always eat more bananas.  

This month I actually realized that it was the 13th (on the 13th) and realized how old James was in months without having to count on my fingers (victory!).  

So here's my monthly baby match up!  I keep changing my mind about who he looks like!

{phfr} The Incredible Climbing Girl and Other Summer Time Adventures

Since I sat down to write this post there's been a whirlwind of activity in the house.  Actually I hadn't even opened the window to this post when things got wild.  What I had done was sit down and order Maggie an Angel Sense GPS.

In the time it took me to order the GPS Maggie climbed up six feet to the top of a linen closet where she had apparently spied the device we use to open locked doors in the house.

You see, Maggie can't be trusted in bathrooms by herself.  She'll eat an entire tube of toothpaste and paint her hair with Vaseline and send her two toy whales swimming in the toilet.

It's just a bad situation.  So my parents' bedroom, which leads to the master bath (and where the cats take refuge), and the guest bathroom are both locked, with the push button door locks.

To unlock them my dad put together a "key" that's basically a thin four inch piece of metal on a wooden handle that you can insert into the little pin hole opening to unlock the doors.  It's not super easy to do, but it's not all that difficult either.

The key was hidden in the top of the linen closet.

I came upstairs to get ready for the day, to order the GPS and to maybe write a quick post when I heard my mom yell for help.  And help was sorely needed, since she was holding James and had discovered that Maggie had not only climbed up into the linen closet but had used the key she'd retrieved to unlock the master bedroom door so that she could go through my suitcase (which we stashed in the bedroom to fend off her clothes sorting little hands), terrorize the cats and turn on every facet that her little hands could reach when she got to the bathroom (that would be all of them).

James was screaming, Patch had taken the opportunity to run across the bedroom, steal the remote and sit in Grumpa's chair... and chaos reigned.

Now that things are back under control I'll do what I actually planned on doing this morning and show you a few of the more relaxing moments of our summer trip to California so far.  I'm hoping that our adventures (at least of the eloping sort) are at an end, while the fun is just beginning:

{pretty}

This is our home for the summer.

For those of you who haven't been around since the blog started, we lived in a little cabin on this property when we first got married and when we had Sadie and we moved to town a month before Maggie was born.

 {happy}

I love the country summer we're having!

That's Maggie driving the tractor with Grumpa!

{funny}

Maggie is missing Daddy, but this picture that she drew made everyone smile!

{real}

James has been working really hard but he still can't quite push up off of his stomach or sit up by himself.

He is a voracious eater, and I've finally mastered feeding a baby that can't sit up in a high chair just yet by holding him in a sitting position with my left arm while I feed him.  

He's as happy as can be though and he has mastered rolling like a little log to get to the toys that he wants.  

 

Also I can walk with a cane now (and can limp around without one too, but with is much easier) which is much better than I even imagined was possible at this point when I woke up two days ago!  

 For more pretty, happy, funny, real head over to Like Mother, Like Daughter!