A Big Boy Bed

Peter has outgrown his crib.



I found the bed at a consignment sale, it was very reasonably priced and I knew my little guy would LOVE it. We had talked about transitioning his crib into a toddler bed a couple of weekends ago but decided to hold off for a little bit longer. I'm so glad we waited! Peter has transitioned into his new big boy bed beautifully!

Here he is after his first night in his big boy bed. The flash was a little bright.



And here he is waking up after nap.



Peter loves his new bed and can't wait to get in it when its time to rest. I wonder how long that will last......

Wheels

Yesterday I picked out a wheelchair for my 4 year old little girl. I thought the process would be a lot more emotional but really I feel like I'm in a good place with this decision. Of course it surreal that I actually picked out a wheelchair for my daughter but the process itself went well. I'm excited about what the wheelchair will bring to our family and I'm looking forward to it's arrival.




This all started several weeks ago when we were at a routine visit with Olivia's orthopedic surgeon. We continued the conversation with our developmental pediatrician and physical therapist. Olivia has outgrown most regular size strollers, she's too tall and too heavy. While she does enjoy walking with us she is starting to fall more often and you have to maintain hand contact with her at all times or she will run off. We've been making do by just carrying her but she's getting pretty heavy. And when it's just me with the kids I have a difficult time managing both kids at the same time (I'm obviously referring to more difficulty than the average person might experience with an almost 5 year old and a 2 1/2 year old). Olivia likes to be held but she also likes to bend over or reach for things and when you're carrying someone who is almost 50 lbs and they decide to reach for something it throws off your entire center of gravity (and does a number on your back). We all decided it was time for a special needs stroller or push chair of some sort.

Yesterday the medical equipment rep met me at Olivia's physical therapy appointment. We discussed what we were looking for and the medical equipment rep brought 7 different examples of different types of push-chairs/wheelchairs but really to me they are all wheelchairs. I learned that there really is no such thing as a special needs stroller, it's basically a wheelchair but it just looks more like a stroller. After much discussion we settled on the Convaid EZ Rider (pictured above) but in light purple. It seems very durable and Olivia climbed right in and enjoyed sitting in it. She was quite pleased with herself and looked very comfortable. It folds up nicely and once folded is similar in size to a larger umbrella type stroller. There are several options for attachments and accessories and we will be getting a tray attachment and a few other little things. The medical equipment rep was very nice and was quite taken with Olivia. When he walked in she politely shook his hand then climbed right up into one of the chair samples. She even gave him a few hugs. It was also nice to have Olivia's physical therapist there to help. She has been working with Olivia for almost 18 months and she knows Olivia very well. Even though we already have the script for the wheelchair the process takes a long time. The medical equipment rep told me we could expect it to take 3-4 months!

Mommy-Olivia Day

Someone didn't have school today and I really enjoyed spending time with her today! Peter was here with us but he is pretty good at keeping himself occupied so it really felt like it was just me and Livey. And she's growing up, I call this her slightly-shy-big-girl smile. The one that says yeah mom, I'll indulge you for one picture but then I've got things to do and people to see.

Click...

take a pic! If the words to the camera song from Go Diego Go are running through your head then you know you have a house full of toddlers.

Years ago my friend Elena introduced me to MckMama. MckMama is a Christian mom of 5 who is also a photographer. She has a hugely popular blog here: http://mycharmingkids.net/. Anyway I've read Mckmama's blog for years, I feel like I know her. I'm constantly suprised at how many other friends of mine read MckMama's blog. I've even mentioned her before on my blog here: Seriously!.

I am so excited to share that we will have a photo session with MckMama herself in just a few weeks! I love her pictures, I really like the unique perspective, I love that kids look like kids in her pictures, not staged models. I am cautiously optimistic that we might get a few good photos from our session. As the reality of Sanfilippo syndrome becomes more a part of our lives we're realizing the increased importance of capturing these memories. Here's a link to her photography website: http://www.jennifermckinneyphotography.com/

Now enough links....I am starting to worry about what we're all going to wear. I think we might do jeans and a solid color top for the family shot but I want to get a few of the kids by themselves and together. I prefer the pictures to be in color so I'm okay with the kids wearing colors that coordinate with each other. Our photo shoot will be outside. I feel like I want something really bright and cheerful, I haven't seen anything I really love at any of the usual places I shop--Gymboree, Land's End, Gap, Old Navy. Does anybody have any suggestions? It doesn't have to be fancy, I tried looking on Etsy but got a little overwhelmed. I also need it relatively quickly as our photo shoot is in under 2 weeks!