In 2004 Hollywood and Andrew Lloyd Webber came out with a fantastic rendition of the classic hit show Phantom of the Opera. In case you have not seen it before, it comes with a very handsome all-star cast that includes, Gerard Butler, Patrick Wilson, Minnie Driver and Emmy Rossum. I went and bought the DVD right after it came out. It was expensive (I think almost $30) and to be honest I really couldn't afford it, so for almost a whole month after that, when I wasn't working, I was at home watching my most favorite indulgence.
In 2004 Rhiannon was a whopping 4 years old.
I'm pretty sure her favorite movie was some sort of Strawberry Shortcake, Finding Nemo or Barbie's Swan Lake. However after watching this one time with me she was HOOKED. It made my heart so happy to know that she loved a part of musical theatre, even if it came as a big box Hollywood sensation.
You gotta start somewhere, right? And who was I to judge? I loved it too!
That year the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis had The Phantom of the Opera come through. I bought the best tickets I could afford and made a Mama/Daughter date out of it.
(Babies, I tell you!)
I have to be completely honest, I was worried.
Rhiannon was only four years old. I didn't want her to
A.Hate it and ruin any chance of her going with me to see theatre again, or...
B. Have a meltdown and have us ruin the experience for the other patrons.
I'm happy to report that she did beautifully!
She was so attentive and into the storyline the entire time.
She gasped, jumped and grabbed my hand when the chandelier fell.
And, (one of my most precious memories of Rhiannon) at the very end, when Christine Daae is being rowed away from the Phantom, I looked down to find my sweet little baby silently crying.
When the lights came up she looked at me and said, "I know I'm supposed to be very quiet and I'm not supposed to cry, but the Phantom was just so sad."
What do you say to that? All I could do was hug her tight as my heart melted.
After that day it had became her favorite movie. She burned through 3 DVD's before she moved on to her next phase.
Fast Forward to 2012. The Mister and I have Amazon Prime. A few days ago I was browsing through the free movies, desperately trying to find something else besides Diego and Dora the Explorer for Clara to get into, and wouldn’t you know it? There was The Phantom of the Opera!
I took a chance and told Clara that we were going to watch Mama's singing movie instead (with hopeful fingers crossed.)
Today we watched/had it on in the background for the fifth time in three days. When she asks to watch it she says, can I watch mama's singing opera show? Once again, this Mama's heart is happy. (Even though I am shushed by a two year old when I try and sing along.)
(Clara's favorite part.)
Snow, Mama! It's snowing!
(Seriously, I think it might be mine too. That cape is FANTASTIC!!!!!)
I know that most people who actually read this blog know me or my family personally, however there are a few who don't. Sorry to be a bit redundant for those of you who have heard this all before.
When I started this blog it was a way for me to get my thoughts together, however silly they may be. Since then it has grown into a documentation of our girl's lives. A place where they can look back and remember how loved they are and all of our stumbles along the way. I would be remiss to not add todays events here.
When the Mister, my sister, Rhiannon and I went in for my 20 month check up, excited to see what kind of baby we were going to have, we were instead told that our daughter had a very serious birth defect called Gastroschisis. (If you want to learn more, click the link.) It is a horrible terrible defect where the babies are born with their insides out. It causes many problems with the pregnancy. The children born with this are often hospitalized for months and endure many surgeries and life changing complications. When Clara was born she was only 4 lbs. She was so beautiful and SO tiny she didn't look like a real baby.
Right after Clara was born I was able to glimpse her from across the room before she was whisked away to be prepped for her first surgery, which took place a mere 2 hours after she was born.
I've always been very protective of her first pictures we took of her, as they are quite graphic. Children who were born with this condition 20 years ago pretty much just died. It is so amazing how far doctors have come when it comes to gastroschisis. I'm actually writing this post now for the women in the support groups I joined that were my lifeline when we were in the thick of all of this.
After our diagnosis, I immediately googled the condition, read all the horror stories, and wept my eyes out. The pictures were horrific. The outcomes were bleak. There were babies that were dying left and right. We met with our amazing doctor, Dr. Erin Rowell from Childrens Memorial Chicago, and I told them of all the horrible terrible things I had learned from Mr. Google. I was very firmly told to STOP GOOGLING! Every case is different. Stay positive and be the best you can for your baby. If you are going through this now, please take heed from this advice.
Clara's Gastroschisis
This is how Clara looked th first time I was allowed to touch her.
Clara had two surgeries and was in the NICU for 82 days. This next picture is on Easter Sunday of 2010. She had her second surgery the day before.
She was in so much pain. Everyone around me kept telling me how great she was doing. All I could see was how bleak it looked through a mothers eyes.
But you know what?
They were right.
(This picture was taken on April 2. We went home on April 23.)
Today we went in for our yearly visit. Clara is supposed to have these visits until she is 5 years old.
However, today Clara was officially released from the care of the Pediatric Surgery Team.
We are done.
She is healed.
I am so happy from the inside out.
If you are dealing with a pregnancy/child who has been diagnosed with Gastroschisis and would like to talk to someone who has gone through it as well, please don't hesitate to contact me whether it be through my email or comment section on here, or even Facebook. I would be happy to give my personal insight to you.
Also, Congratulations Clara! You are one tough cookie. Love, Mom & Dad.
Where my sweet little baby stole my one and only set of car keys and we couldn't find them for weeks?
Well guess what I did since noon today? As I was attempting to go to the post office to send off some birthday presents for my sweet little niece, I realized I couldn't find the car keys anywhere. So I started looking around.
Three hours later my looking became very frantic. Our car was in a spot that becomes a tow away zone during rush hour. I had exactly one hour to find our keys and there wasn't a hint of them anywhere!
I tore the house apart.
I put the house together.
I tore the house apart.
The Mister came home.
We put the house together.
We tore the house apart.
(Break for supper. Okay time to get at it again.)
We noticed the flashlight he was using before supper mysteriously disappeared as well....
Then, the Mister found Clara hiding the ipod behind the couch.
Our suspicions grew....
We emptyied out Clara's toy-box and started going through her toys one by one.
We found the missing flashlight.
We found a rock we brought back from death valley that was sitting by the keys earlier in the day... but no keys.
Then, as we were talking about how hopeless the case of the missing keys were, (at this point it was 8:30 pm) I saw a glimmer out of the corner of my eye.
Do you see them?
How about now?
We called Clara in to her room to have a serious talk about how it is never okay to take things that don't belong to you as well as how the keys are never to be touched.
She responded and apologized in a normal two yr old way.
By asking for candy.
At least we got a hug.
You win, Clara Marie. You win. However that awesome pricey ticket? Its coming out of Santa's pocket.
I haven't posted in quite some time. This is mainly because we haven't done anything interesting or out of the ordinary lately. Most days look a lot like this.....
(Not sure whats going on in this picture? Clara's pretending to be a puppy. When Clara is a puppy she kicks Buehrle out of his bed.)
Or this happens a lot too.....
(Look past the two cuties and look at the tornado that has destroyed the house!)
However this weekend was exceptionally fun. My Folks, little sister and nephew came to visit us! This was Laynes first time in the city. The way that he and Clara play together warmed my heart! I told him he has to come back to the city when it is warm so we can go to a Cubs game and the beach. He agreed, but only if his mom could come too. (Fair enough.)
This weekend was also Rhainnon's first dance recital. It was originally going to be a flash mob, but due to the astronomical price it was going to cost the dance studio to perform in the park they decided to instead have it on their property. It was COLD outside this Saturday but all the kids performed really well! I only wish we could see Rhiannon better! She was in the back and since she is a wee bit short she was covered up most of the time.
She was, however, the cutest one out there!
Here is the video the dance studio shot. She is in the back row, three right from the very center. You can see her about 1/2 of the time...
Regardless if you can see her the whole time or not she did fantastic and I am so proud of her!
The girls and I went for a quick trip down south this weekend. This means we spent the majority of our time in the car. Here are some tidbits of our conversation that I need to share. Feel free to try and figure out who said what.
"Do you know who Tina Turner is?"
"Yeah, she is a singer who has an abusive boyfriend and great legs. And she's 60."
"Mama! Buy me a pony! Now!"
"OMG! You have SUCH TERRIBLE taste in music! How can you NOT LIKE 3 Doors Down AND Nickleback? They're SOOOO good!"
(After that last little bit I immediately put in my Man Man CD. One of my children couldn't get enough. The other was pretty unimpressed and embarrassed.)
Although it was a short visit I was able to see some good friends and a few family members.....
Clara got a few play-dates in with some "baby-friends"...
And my very talented Mama made me a beautiful blanket!
It was a fantastic weekend! However I must say I am very happy to be back home with my boys.
