Things I Forgot To Say: Becca's Garden

While I can remember freakishly minute details of things that happened years ago, I am horrible at remembering practical things.  You may say I'm much too young, but I, with startling regularity, will walk into a room and not remember why I am in there.  Lately, I've even been forgetting a thought mid-sentence.  I chalk it up to mommy brain, but feel free to diagnose me otherwise.  


But the point is that this forgetfulness has affected my blogging.  There is so much that I meant to tell you about in 2010 that I simply forgot to mention.  I mean, I definitely remembered these things a lot, even writing posts in my head, but I never remembered then at a time when I could actually sit down at the computer and write.  Oops.  Some of these thoughts and stories will fall by the wayside, but there are some that I'd like to document - like, say, Becca's 2nd birthday!  (Yep, never got to that one...got caught up in the hospital drama, then traveling, etc.) So for the next few weeks, I'll be running an oh-so-creatively-named series called "Things I Forgot To Say."  Might as well call it like it is.  :)  So first up:  Becca's new bedroom.


When we moved to Spring Hill in June, we bought a house, which meant that, unlike living in a parsonage, we could do whatever the heck we wanted to it.  And what I wanted was for Becca to have a cozy, magical room for her pre-school years.  Lucky for me, our friend Jeannie has the talent and kindness to make my dream come true!  For Becca's birthday present, Jeannie painted a mural in her room - on all four walls!  John and I painted the walls "twilight purple" and Jeannie transformed it into a gorgeous garden at dusk.  


It is so beautiful.  It's cheerful and calming at the same time.  I love it so much that when Becca isn't home, I sneak in there to sit in the rocking chair and read.  When I was rearranging Becca's furniture last week, I took the open-walled opportunity to snap some photos of it.  It's a small room (and I'm not a great photographer), so I wasn't able to get pictures of entire walls, so you'll have to use your imagination to picture how it all comes together.  But trust me, it's awesome.  


First, let me tell you about the decorations.  Since the walls themselves are so beautiful, we choose not to hang many of the pictures that were in Becca's room in Bethpage, but we kept a couple of things.  Here are the BECCA letters that Aunt Robyn made for her (and Becca can name each of the letters now!):  

And this next piece of artwork makes me cry a little (in a good way).  You've heard me say before that we had the BEST primary nurses when Becca was in the NICU.  One of these five amazing nurses, Stacy, is also amazingly crafty.  Since she worked nights, when the NICU is calmer, she had a little more time to "play" with the babies.  Every month, she took footprints of Becca's tiny feet, heels touching to make a heart shape.  She matted and laminated them and left them for us to take home.  I saved everyone of the them and had them matted and framed, along with her crib card that I count as a badge of honor, bearing Becca's tiny statistics at birth.  I love how it turned out, and I will be forever grateful to Stacy for taking the time to make such a special keepsake for us!  Here's a picture of the entire piece:

And one of the crib card:

And one of her first footprints next to my thumb for size reference:

And then the last footprints taken shortly before we brought Becca home:

Okay, without further ado, here is Becca's garden!  (The pictures go around the room clockwise.)

(I'm posting this one mostly so you can see the funky cut-out over her closet.  What do you call that?  When I get my act together, I'm planning on draping some flower garland off of it.)

(Note the gorgeous curtains that were passed on to us by my friend Scottie - so perfect!)

Becca's crib now sits right under this tree.  

I think it will be especially cozy when she moves to a big girl bed!

 See the handprints at the bottom of that bush?  Here they are up close.  Jeannie and Nana Dana surprised me with this detail, which is SO precious!  Becca loves to put her hands on them and give herself five.

 I mean, seriously, you want to move into her room, too, don't you?  Stacy, Robyn, Scottie and, most of all, Jeannie, thank you SO much for making Becca's space special!

Ummmm...

Have you noticed the LilyPie ticker in the sidebar?

Yeah, Becca is turning 2. TWO. TWO!

Wow.

In addition to our move (on her birthday!) and the upcoming Elmo-palooza, we have a string of 2-year appointments coming.

This week we've got final :( appointments with Jane (PT), Karla (OT), and Roxanna (SLP) at Sumner Station and will see Dr. Collins for the last time (at least in an official capacity) for Becca's 2-year-well CHILD appointment. (I think at 2, you're not a baby by anyone's definition. That's a little sad.)

Next week we move on Monday (EEK!).

Then see Dr. Dailey, the developmental physician in the NICU clinic, for a 2-hour appointment including a full physical workup and an in-depth developmental assessment. I'm really excited about this appointment. I'm a sucker for "objective" test scores - always loved getting those ACT and SAT and TCAP results in the mail as a kid! - so I'm really anxious to see how she scores. A few notes about such assessments, though: a) They tend not to be truly objective. If you work with kids a lot, you probably already know that child development is pretty fluid. Do you check something off the list if they do it once? Or twice? When they fully master it? b) Not all assessments are created equal. Even really goods ones can come up with different scores. For example, Becca's speech has been been evaluated recently through 3 different assessments. (I don't remember what they were called, but two were through Early Intervention and one was through her speech therapist, so it's not like I just downloaded random ones.) Her scores fell between 11 months and 26 months. Hmmm. So you can't put too much stock in them. c) Still, developmental assessments can be helpful tools, and as a mom, it's helpful to get outside professional opinions regarding the areas on which we need to focus and, frankly, to be able to give yourself an occasional pat on the back when we can see on paper that our efforts have paid off.

Okay, moving on. We'll also have a 2-hour physical therapy evaluation at the Vandy pediatric rehab clinic. After she's evaluated, we'll find out how long we have to wait until we can get in a slot (that is, if they decides she needs its...you know, if the 2-year-old who isn't walking needs PT). Hopefully it won't take too long, but we are exploring other options just in case.

On Thursday the 24th, John and I will be speaking at a conference on prematurity and infant mortality at Vanderbilt. Needless to say, I was quite surprised last week when I got a call from an acquaintance at the hospital who said, "Well, the governor was going to speak, but he had to bail, so I thought of you guys." What? Add that to the list of things I never thought I'd hear! :) I think she knew that since we are pastors, we wouldn't be too scared about speaking publicly on short notice. John and I will basically be telling our story and talking about how Becca's prematurity continues to affect our lives. The conference is open to the public, so if you are interested, check out their website. I'd love to see a couple familiar faces!

Also sometime next week we are supposed do a weight check at the GI's office and schedule our follow-up with them for two weeks from now, but I still can't get an appointment scheduled. Ugh.

Phew. Do you see why I'm so glad that Nana Dana and then G-Diddy will be here to help out?

At at the end of it, my baby will be two years old. Wow.

Packing

Becca is packed and ready to go! She packed the essentials - pink leggings and blue bloomers. What more could she need?

Hey!

I really am still here. Promise. But I'm buried under boxes and to-do lists and great expectations and itty bitty clothes and big toys and books and books and books.

BUT - Becca has officially taken some first steps. Wohoo!! She's definitely not "walking," per se, but now we know she's got it in her, and it's just a matter of time.

And no, I don't have video of it, silly. I'm too busy begging and pleading and cajoling and encouraging and stretching and clapping and reveling to take pictures. Besides, it hasn't happened very often.

But it's happened! She's going to be a walker! (I was seriously starting to wonder.) Perhaps by her birthday...??

S.W.A.M.P.E.D...for Good Reasons

No, it doesn't stand for anything, but I just wanted to make the word longer.

Sorry to me MIA. We have been swamped around here.

Silly me scheduled a book fair the week of the March for Babies, so I was running around like a crazy women last week getting ready for and, um, executing both events. We had a great time at the March for Babies! We had 18 people on Itty Bitty Becca's Team come out for at least part of the festivities, and as a team, we raised over $1500! I haven't gotten final word on what the entire event raised, but I feel like we did our part, thanks to all of you guys who donated, bought t-shirts, and walked with us! (If you bought a t-shirt, by the way, I'm hoping to mail them out this week. Sorry I'm a bit tardy with them. If you haven't heard, we've been swamped around here.) I'll give the March for Babies its own post at some point, complete with pictures. I also need to post some pictures of Becca in her Easter finery, too - don't think I've forgotten! Anyhow, the book fair and the march (and the awful sinus infection that resulted from the combination of little sleep and lots of pollen) have kept this SuperMom pretty busy, but so has something else...

We're moving!

This summer, John will become the associate pastor at Christ United Methodist Church in Franklin, Tennessee. We are really excited about this move. We will definitely miss folks in Bethpage (and if you are reading this blog, you can be assured that you are one of folks we will miss most - I know who you Becca fans are!), not to mention the spacious parsonage and the vast and gorgeous yard, but we Methodist ministers do tend to stay on the move. I, for one, am beyond thrilled that we get to stay in Tennessee (there was some question about moving back to Kentucky for a while there), though I know that John will continue to miss his beloved commonwealth. I'm just thankful that even though we're from different states (and, more importantly as Methodist ministers, annual conferences), Kentucky and Tennessee border each other, so we'll easily be able to get back to the Bluegrass to visit friends and family. But enough caveats. Let me tell you some of why we/I am thrilled about this move:

• The staff at the new church - The lead pastor is Carol Cavin-Dillon. Um, to say that I'm a fan of Carol would be quite an understatement. Carol was my pastor in my late teens and early 20's, in a time of much emotional turbulence and general confusion. Carol then became my employer (and the best boss ever) when her son was born and she returned to work, boldly leaving sweet Tate in my care. Carol pointed me towards Candler and the most amazing graduate school experience I could imagine (complete with a husband by the end of it). In fact, Carol secured said husband for me by marrying us...and by dolling up her son to be our ring bearer...and delivering the best wedding homily ever. So, yeah, I'm a fan. A fan +, perhaps. I'm really excited to see John and her working together because I think their "gifts and graces" (as we say in preacher-talk) will really pair well together. AND the rest of the staff is fabulous as well. I went to high school with the youth minister, Paul Bonner, and he and his family are incredible...not to mention a lot of fun. We grew up in the same youth group as well - I think he actually graduated high school the year that Carol came to our church. (His mom, incidentally, was my friend in faith for Confirmation, and one of her paintings hangs in our bedroom.) And the mother of another friend of mine from high school is on the administrative staff. Crazy connections. I'm really excited about meeting the rest of the staff as well. The music minister literally helped write one of the UM worship books.
• The church itself - is one that I'm very excited about attending. When you don't get to pick the church that your family attends (assuming that you'd like your family to attend the same church), it's kind of a crapshoot regarding whether or not you are serving at a church you would choose to attend. This one (like Bethpage), I'm really excited to be a part of, and now that the doctors have given us the green light to mingle with the world, I'm looking forward to getting involved...and to signing Becca up for the Mustard Seed Choir when she turns 3. How cute is that name? Perfect for our tiny girl.
• The area - Franklin is much closer to Nashville than Bethpage. That means, of course, that it's closer to Vanderbilt, to family, and to women I've been friends with since I was 10 years old. That's exciting. The church itself is just a few miles away from my parents' old house. (They have since retired to East Tennessee.) I used to drive by the church all the time to get to my high school boyfriend's house. I worked at the Target 1.3 miles away. (Yes, I have been a fan of the big red store for quite some time.) Really, it's like going home for me.
• However, we can't afford to buy a house around there, so we've found another great area in which we are hoping to buy a home. Spring Hill is south of Franklin and actually straddles the county line. It's full of young professionals with young kids and has not only a Target, but a SuperTarget. I can just hear Kristen Wiig proclaiming, "Heaven has a TARGET!" (Wow...they really should pay me for these endorsements.) We're looking for houses on the Williamson County side of town, since they have the best public schools. This is particularly important to us because a) we value education; b) we're public school kids; and c) Becca rolls to the public school system for her special ed services when she turns 3 - which, unbelievably, happens next summer! Whoa! (Services for kids 0-3 are provided through Tennesse's Early Intervention System; once kiddos turn 3, it's the local school system that provides services, like special education pre-k's for which Becca is likely to qualify.)

That's the highlights. (Funny how my highlight reel is always at least as long as regular posts, huh?) Of course, the difficult bits will be the actual moving process (though it's always amusing to hear what the movers have to say about our, um, extensive book collection), switching therapists (sad!) and dealing with the inevitable insurance issues that come with switching providers (and since Becca's therapy costs somewhere around $4300 a month, we've got to make sure we've got the kinks worked out), finding her a new inclusive preschool to start a few days a week this summer (we had one lined up in Gallatin), saying goodbyes to dear friends up here (but we won't be far away, remember!), and, oh yeah, finding a house, which is where most of our "free time" has been going lately. We've made 4 trips down to Spring Hill (1 hour and 15 minutes away) with Becca in tow, scoping out the area and looking at houses, and we're really hoping to get something going soon. (And just in case you are curious, we don't qualify for any of the tax credits because we have been out of our house for only 2 years - you have to have not owned a house in 3 years in order to qualify for the first-time buyer credit (which, oddly, has nothing to do with actually being a first-time buyer), and we obviously haven't lived in our own house for 5 years to qualify for the step-up credit. This scenario is very difficult for my discount-oriented mind to swallow.) So if you see of any houses for sale (for cheap!) in Williamson County, give us a shout! We've got a wonderful realtor, but things like houses for sale by owner aren't really publicized in the usual way, so if you are down that way, be our eyes for us!

I'll keep you posted, and I promise more Becca cuteness very soon! Here's a little dose for you...further evidence that we take early literacy skills seriously in the Hill house:

p.s. All this busyness has served as a wonderful distraction from the emptiness of my womb. Trying a new medicine -- no, an old one -- Metformin. We'll see how it goes!