Hoppy Father's Day

     Happy Father's Day from Froggie to all you dads out there.
     It has been tradition for our family that Hubby goes golfing on Father's Day with his dad and uncles. Today wasn't any different, though I thought it was going to rain on them. So Hubby got to hang out and golf a few holes before he strained his wrist again.
     Aside from golfing and being gifted with the beautiful handprints the kids made today was a typical Sunday. We went grocery shopping and had dinner, made sure everyone was clean and prepared for the week and now it's time to relax.
     The one thing I wanted today was a picture of Hubby and the kids. We take a lot of pictures of the kids but not so many pictures of us with them. We make a conscious effort to have family pictures taken (professionally) once a year and we typically hand off our camera to a family member at holidays or special occasions to have a picture taken of all of us. These were the best two pictures that came out of my attempts to get some pictures of Hubby and the kids.

     I hope that everyone had a relaxing weekend and that everyone had a wonderful Father's Day. I'm trying to pack the mornings this week week with fun activities since I'll be working later in the evening than usual. 

Retail Therapy

     Today was pretty low key. Hubby had to work in the morning and after lunch Big Brother headed to nap while the rest of us fell asleep in the living room. After nap we slowly collected ourselves with the intention of going to do a little retail therapy then heading out to visit with some friends of ours.
     Shopping went well and we stocked up on some necessities for Froggie since she'll be working food into her routine in August (or later depending on when she starts acting ready for it).
     While we were at Babies R Us I found a clearanced out Thomas train (not Thomas but Emily for any of you who follow Thomas the Friends). This was an awesome find since they're pretty expensive and it was one of the wooden ones, which I tend like better than the die cast ones. Anyway, it was floating around the cart and Big Brother wasn't supposed to see it but Hubby picked him up and of course then he wanted it and of course we said not right now. Two year olds don't like to be told "no". This turned into a full on screaming, crying tantrum and it's probably a good thing neither Hubby or I embarrass easily because this may have been his worst tantrum to date. Typically they last a minute or two and then he gets distracted and completely forgets what he was upset about but today he was fixated on the train in the cart that he couldn't have.
     Needless to say we cancelled all of our plans of being out and headed back home. There were two more small tantrums at the grocery store when we stopped to pick up food to make for dinner and intermittent whining throughout the evening. The joys of having a two year old!
     Anyway, back to Froggie! She made out with some pretty cool stuff. A new hat and pair of shades.

     And she got her very own Wubbanub!

     I LOVE these things! When Big Brother was about 18 months old we ditched 99% of our binky stash and bought him a Wubbanub duck and told him that was the only one he could have. It was fairly easy to keep track of and it made my plan for weaning him from his binky a little easier. When he was about 22 months old he "lost" ducky before we had to walk out the door so we went cold turkey to get rid of the binky. When we got home we quickly found ducky, removed the binky, and sewed up his mouth. Then we carried around ducky for awhile without a binky attached to him and now ducky stays in his bed. Hopefully Froggie's new froggy will last her and she seems to like it so far.

Here Comes Another Weekend!

     The weekend has finally come! We packed up and went to school/work and had a fun filled day of playing with our friends and making extra special Father's Day crafts.

Froggie making her craft (painting).

     Both of my kids seem to love to make things. I wonder how much of that is due to the fact that starting at birth they are subjected to a billion photos and art making and how much is just hard wired into them.

     After school/work we headed home and after what seems like 2 weeks of gross weather the sun was finally out so we decided to take a walk. In preparation for our upcoming 5k's Froggie went in the jogging stroller and Big Brother walked with my hubby and I. It went surprisingly well and a few minutes into our walk Froggie was asleep. 

     Overall it was a great day and a low key kick off to the weekend.

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Clinical Check

     This morning was a clinical check for Froggie. This means we were just going in to make sure she was still tolerating the harness and that it was fitting the right way.

     We got there early and headed in quickly to avoid the rain. After a few minutes in the waiting room we were taken back and Froggie was weighed in at 13lb 2oz. We were then escorted to our typical exam room and waited for Froggie's doctor to review her files and come in. 

     I had mentioned to the nurses that I was concerned about a popping/snapping sound that occasionally came from Froggie's right leg. After she went to add it to Froggie's file Froggie and I returned to making faces at each other and playing with her blankie and frog. I also requested copies of Froggie's X-ray and Ultrasound to keep with all of her records (I walked out with them on CD at the end of our appointment!).

     Froggie's doctor adjusted her harness back to the looser original settings that he had tightened at our las appointment. We were once again reminded to keep up with tummy time and Froggie's doctor took a closer look at her hips to see if anything was causing the noise. He wiggled her legs all around and said that everything felt ok and it may be the ligaments in her knee. He mentioned that the harness isn't able to properly do its' job once Froggie starts to roll over and move more. What I took away from this is that Froggie would then be able to put herself in a position that would keep her hips from laying in the way the harness is supposed to keep them.

Froggie checking out her feet.

     When I explained to the doctor that Froggie is starting to roll from side to side and if her harness is off she can roll from her belly to her back he mentioned that he would like her to wear the harness for another month but at her next check we would do X-rays to check her progress. So July 11th we find out what the fate of the harness is!

Tummy time at school after her appointment.

     This evening Big Brother was showing his little sister the wonderful world of his cars. He even let her hold his brand new Mater!

Eating Mater!

Let 'Em Know 5k - Fragile X Syndrome

     I mentioned that I had registered for another 5k in July, this one is to raise awareness for Fragile X. It is a virtual 5k so I'll be walking/running it on my own during the month rather than en masse with everyone who is signed up to participate. 

     Much like Hip Dysplasia, I didn't know anything about Fragile X until recently. It was brought to my attention through social networking. A friend of mine from college has been posting about family members with Fragile X and was the one who alerted me to the 5k. I'm all about raising awareness; especially with the new understanding that without knowledge funding for early detection and treatment is almost impossible to find. 

     So the big question you're all asking is - What is Fragile X?

           "Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is a genetic condition that causes intellectual disability, behavioral and learning challenges and various physical characteristics. Though FXS occurs in both genders, males are more frequently affected than females, and generally with greater severity. (http://www.fragilex.org) The only way to identify Fragile X is to know what it is and push for testing. Without knowledge of the syndrome parents may not know to push for a better diagnosis than the one they may have been given instead.

     Please consider donating to our team and helping to raise awareness of something that affects people on a daily basis. Until you read this you probably had never heard of Fragile X Syndrome, but it is those causes that you knew little about that require the most help. If you want to check it out or donate you can do that here. http://www.crowdrise.com/Kathleen-NFXFLetEmKnow5k-kathl/fundraiser/michellemong

Feeling Froggie

     Greetings from a silly, sleepy Froggie.
    

     Froggie got her very own froggy from my mom this past weekend and she loves it. Well she loves to eat it, which is about the same thing as far as a 4 month old is concerned. 

     Lately Froggie has been very interested in playing with her harness. I'm not sure if she likes to hold on to it in an attempt to get it off or if it's just a convenient place to put her hands. I'm not really sure how effective her harness is if she sits around with her legs up in the air but she seems to have fun. I decided to take some pictures today while she was holding her straps and playing with the velcro.

     Tomorrow is another clinical check so we'll see if her harness needs adjusting at all. 

Upcoming Projects

     I got a package in the mail today that I've been obsessively checking the tracking of for the last week. In it was a new book "The Parents' Guide to Hip Dysplasia". It's a new edition that was updated by author Betsy Miller and published this year. My first upcoming project is to read my new book and learn more about Froggie and others with Hip Dysplasia.

     My second project is to develop a logo for Froggie and the fundraising I'd like to do for the International Hip Dysplasia Institute in the future. It's coming along nicely and I'll be sure to share it with you all when it's completed (or at least closer to completed than it is right now). 

     I've signed up for 2 (yes... 2!) 5k's this month. Both are in the month of July and as I mentioned before one is the Armed Forces 5k. The second is for Fragile X awareness. I'll post about it tomorrow, stay tuned.

     That's it for tonight. Froggie hopes you all had a good day! My car has a "boo boo" though so we're getting up EXTRA early to take hubby to work.