Well that New Years resolution to update the blog regularly worked out about as well as a fat girl making it to the gym after January 12th.
So needless to say there is a lot to update on!
I will start with what I remember and needless to say will be reminded by Traci later on that I forgot to mention 35 other things...it's just the way it goes.
Overall everyone is doing great, Piper's Celiac appears to be under control, and in the short months we have gone gluten free, she has grown almost 2 inches, gained weight, has more energy, her little beer belly (which was bloat from the gluten) is nearly gone, and her hair is even thicker. I know that I have been a naysayer about this gluten free stuff for a long time, and I stand by the fact that mostly it's just a tortuous health choice...I mean come on muffins and donuts are awesome! But there are some where gluten does in fact affect their health (damn is it effect, or affect?) and we happen to be one of those families where gluten is a legitimate no-no. I will continue to poke fun at gluten intolerant people simply because they seem to be the ones who want to piss and moan about their intolerance to everything. And also I just like poking fun at people...it lets me know I am still alive! I am kidding of course. In all actuality it seems to appear that we as a society eat way too much grain, especially refined grains, and a boatload too much of sugar. I stand by the fact that a diet high in veggies and lean meat is going to be your best bet, oh and get some exercise too.
Traci has done an amazing job of getting us gluten free, she makes sure none of our stuff has any hidden gluten in it, which I am realizing that alot of generic food items either are processed in facilties that process gluten and use gluten as some type of filler...so out of the house that stuff went! By the way I have been raving about Traci's garbanzo bean cookies she made the other day and I will continue to do so...does it sound strange...yes it does....does it taste like what I would imagine a unicorn sprinkling magic awesome dust into my mouth tastes like...absolutely. Ok...that was wierd. Moving on.
Maizy recently had a cardio check up and there were no changes, which is awesome...no news is good news! So needless to say she rocked her appointment, all smiles as usual. I must say I have never seen a baby as happy as Maizy, yes Piper was a happy kid, but you can just tell Maizy loves life...she's been through a lot so I guess she is just loving that she is here and treating everyday as a blessing...just like we all are!
Her appointment was in KC as Children's Mercy, and before we went Traci discovered that "Disney on Ice, Rockin' Ever After" was at the Sprint Center. Well of course we had to take Piper because she loves all the Disney Princesses...she also loves all their secondary characters as well...Mother Gothel, Bears, Flynn Ryder, Grand Duke...the list goes on. So after Maizy's appointment, Traci and I were able to eat at Korma Sutra in KC which is an awesome Indian restaurant that we frequented while we were living KC this last summer. We then headed back to Topeka to pick up Piper, who had spent the day wearing out Aunt Tanzey and Uncle Allen, we arrived at their house happy to see that it wasn't on fire, and everyone was in good health...minus the gash on Piper's head...which resulted in some kind of rendevous with the edge of the staircase. With Piper if everyone is still alive...it's a success. I see lots of pictures on Facebook about "living with boys" that picture should actually say "Living with boys..and Piper." I often tell Traci I don't need a boy...I have a Piper!
So we dropped off Maizy with Tanzey and Allen and we took Piper to Disney on Ice, she had no idea what was going on, and kept trying to guess what we were doing. Of course her ideas were amazing..."Are we going shopping with Ariel from the Little Mermaid?....Dad are we going to buy beer and lollipops?" We arrived at the Sprint Center and Piper realized that whatever she was doing it had to do with Disney Princesses and she was in awe. The cool thing was we had front row seats...the not cool part was we had front row seats. Those characters get really close...Piper liked the princesses, she did not appreciate Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, and Sebastian the crab from The Little Mermaid getting so close...at one point Sebastion stopped and waved at Piper...she tried to bail out like she stole something! "Daddy, he's too close!!" Piper yelled and she tried to crawl over me, and honestly I agree...he was creepy, stay away from my kid you underwater creepy uncle!
Another great thing about the Sprint Center was they had Gluten Free snacks, priced at a premium of course, and they had booze. So Piper had gluten free cookies, and mommy and daddy had margaritas.
Piper loved it though, she couldn't stop talking about it, as we left and walked back to the parking garage Piper looked at me and said "Sweet Baby Jesus that was fun!" Well first I need to explain that I said "Sweet Baby Jesus" once, and since then Piper loves saying it because she knows it gets daddy a glare from mommy. So I told Piper that we don't say that word anymore, she looked at me and said "Okay daddy I will only say it when Mommy isn't around..is that ok?" More glares from mommy...
Easter was a great time as well, the girls had their Easter egg hunt at Great Grandma Dodo's, and of course all the kids were spoiled! I need to get some pictures posted soon, I promise I will do it within the next 8 months.
Maizy has really taken off as well, she is waving at us, saying Mama and Dada..notably Mama...pretty much all the time. She loves mommy alot..so much that when mommy is 5 feet away from here...she completely loses her mind. She is holding herself up on things, and is really taking to eating real food, she is loving greek yogurt right now! She is growing up so fast it seems like so long ago she was that tiny little baby in the hospital waiting for heart surgery. She is a trooper and after all she has been through she is an inspiration. There have been days I have been at my wits end..ok most days I end up at my wits end...my wits end is pretty short, and all she does is smile at me and start furiously kicking her legs and arms, and I stop and remember that life really isn't that bad...in fact Life Is Good!
As I close this post, all of you are aware of the happenings in Boston at the Marathon on Monday. As a runner myself, (our whole family are runners actually) it hit me hard, because I know that very easily could have been my family there. It could happen anywhere, this world many times seems to be a horrible, angry place. And I pray with all I have that somehow my children...all of our children, can live in a world that is less hateful, angry, bigoted and violent. But I do know this, evildoers will not outshine the rest of us. If these cowards thought they would destroy the resolve of runners...they picked the wrong damn people.
Piper told me she was going to win the Boston Marathon some day...damn right she will.
Pray for Boston.
