thelongwells.com

We had a really great time together in California.  It's not that often that we get daddy to ourselves for that long!  It was so nice to escape to the beach for a few days to relax together.  We could have definately done without the long car ride... probably won't be doing that for awhile...

I know there are some special MOMS that will relate to this ever so true story about raising a child with a disability..... Hope it encourages you as much as it did for me!

'Welcome to Holland' by Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel.  It's like this....

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy.  You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans.  The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David.  The gondolas in Venice.  You may learn some handy phrases in Italian.  It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go.  Several hours later, the plane lands.  The stewardess comes in and says, ''Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say, "What do you mean Holland???? I signed up for Italy!!!  I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy!"

But there's been a change in the flight plan.  They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease.  Its just a different place. 

So you must go and buy new guide books.  And you must learn a whole new language.  And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. 

It's just a different place.  Its slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy.  But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....Holland has tulips.  Holland even has Rembrandts. 

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're bragging about what a wonderful time they had there.  And for the rest of your life, you will say, "Yes that's where I was supposed to go.  That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever go away....because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.

But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things... about Holland!

This is bad quality taken with Brians phone... but I love it!

This picture melts me... It so captures my Halle. She loves to go go go! Shes sporting her new skates and being ever so safe with her knee and elbow pads...both had to be turned forward (defeating the purpose of the elbow pads) because she wanted to be able to see dora at all times :)

We have had such beautiful sunshine here for Christmas weekend!  I'm sorry that some of you East of us have had such crazy weather!  Though its cold, the sunshine is still so enjoyable!  We got to go for a nice walk on Christmas Day.  As you can see, Halle is so in love with doggies.

Hungry Hungry Hippos was a hit :)

On Christmas morning, Halle had to use her new scissors to cut all of the ribbons off before she would tear into the presents. Pretty Cute. 

We went to The Princess and The Frog on Wednesday for a playdate with her friend Hannah (who also has a trach).  I wasn't sure how she would do, but they were SO adorable and sat through the whole movie.  It was amazing to see my baby acting like such a big girl!  She and Hannah were holding hands and giving kisses each other... both thrilled with the others company.  It was great to see Halle relating and feeling such a bond with another little girl, kind of like the way a brother/sister would.  She just kept looking up at me with the biggest smile on... like I can't believe we get to watch a movie on such a GIANT screen without any other interuptions and with Hannah!  It was a great moment for me as a mom :)

Sometimes its easier to focus on the failing economy or the sickness and pain in the world... but today brings us back to what really matters.  We live in a country where we are free to worship and we can be what we want to be.  We can have families and friends and good jobs.  So today we give thanks for those things and so much more.  Thank you God for my amazing husband, my sassy baby girl, my family, my friends, for Bubba, for good medical care, for the men who give up their lives to fight for our country, for my little cozy house, for the fact that we have enough money to eat a big fancy dinner tonight, and for ALWAYS providing for us.

I hope you find so many things to be thankful for!

I love that my baby girl loves to play outside with her buba as much as she can, that she loves to wrestle, jump off the counter, that she smiles and wants to be silly even when she is hurting.  It is so fun to see who these fabulous kids are growing up to be.