August simultaneously felt like the longest month ever and the shortest. At the beginning of the month we were in the swing of Camp “Nana and Pop” with my nieces visiting. Every day I would get off work then go out to my parent’s house to eat dinner and help get the girls ready for bed before going back to a nice quiet house. While my nieces were visiting my brother was diagnosed with Guillian Barre syndrome (GBS), a rare syndrome (less than 20,000 cases in the US per year) which causes the body’s nervous system to attack itself. He had a very rare variant of GBS called Miller-Fisher Syndrome that makes up 1-5% of all GBS cases per year in the western world. He looked like he was getting better and was moved to rehab and then one night he stopped breathing and the bottom fell out of the world as my family knew it. After almost a week sitting in the hospital waiting room, sometimes with 20+ other friends and family members, Ross was declared brain dead and he was determined to be a good candidate for organ donation. He was given an honor walk at the hospital and his heart went to Florida, his liver and lungs went to North Carolina and his kidneys went to Alabama. We are so fortunate to have loved Ross and been loved by him.
Lily August Update:
Lily is sad since her cousins few back home yesterday. They were able to spend SO much time together in the past month I feel like it made up for not seeing them at all last year. Lily started the 2nd grade at the beginning of August. She likes her teacher and is adjusting to school but still tells me she doesn’t want to go every morning. We were given the great privilege of keeping her class guinea pig named Sage. CJ went to stay at my parent’s house for the weekend but Sage didn’t know that. He could still smell the CJ and refused to come out of the cage. Sage would let us pet him but attempted to bite anyone who tried to pick him up (I don’t think Lily wants a guinea pig anymore). Lily also started a hip-hop dance class with one of her friends from the after-school program and went on a school fieldtrip to “safety city”. The night before her field trip she was crying because she was so nervous and Clara was crying because she wanted to go on a field trip.
Lily Loves:
-Dancing
-Harry potter Legos
-sleeping in
-reading aloud to me
Lily Hates:
-that her cousins had to go home
-homework
Clara August Update:
Clara was able to start back at gymnastics this month and loves it. I have to constantly remind her that “nothing in the house is for gymnastics” because she is always hanging from the bunkbeds and doing flips on the couches. We have a playset ready to be put together in the garage. I’m hoping she will get some of her energy out on that. This month Clara started school as well a few days after Lily. She loves her teacher and TA. Every night when I ask her about her favorite/ not favorite parts of the day she says “everything was good mommy”. We’re currently working on how to do a quick exit from the car at drop off. Right now, Clara gets out of the car with all the speed of a snail moving through peanut butter. I need to put a sign on the back of the car that says “Sorry for the hold up....my Kindergartener doesn’t listen to me when I ask her to unbuckle, put on her mask and get her lunch box and backpack.
Clara Loves:
-Gymnastics
-homework
-watching the gymnasts in the Olympics
Clara Hates:
-that she hasn’t gone on a field trip yet
