BJM’s Photos

Recently Ally has really gotten into ‘reading’ books by herself.  She turns the pages and has her favorite books that she prefers.  The book that she is looking at here was one that Nicholas enjoyed 11 years ago!  – The Wibbly Pig series –

Ally went in for her final head measurements so we could find out how much improvement she made during her 15 weeks in the DOC band.

Anything below 5 mm is within ‘normal’ range. . .

In March, her measurements were as follows. .

Oblique         12 mm         NOW 3 mm
Cranial vault    7 mm        NOW 3 mm
Cranial base     6 mm        NOW 2 mm
Facial assymetry 7 mm    NOW 3 mm

We got her ‘graduation’ certificate today and we’re totally done!   We are thrilled with how her head looks.   In the beginning, we were so concerned with how she would adjust and how awful it would be to see her in a helmet.  It turned out that it was no big deal and it took us all a while to get used to NOT  seeing her in it.  (PLUS, she looked really stinkin’ CUTE in it!)  I even miss decorating it!  We’re hoping to finish our appeal in the next couple of weeks to try and get our insurance to cover it, but even if they don’t, it was worth every penny! 

It hit us recently that this is the first time in Ally’s 14 months that she doesn’t have anything extra that she has to wear.  First it was oxygen and monitor, then the cast for 11 weeks, then the orthotic shoes, then the DOC band.  We’re so happy to have JUST Ally!     

We went to the 149th Hartford Independent Fair today.  Though it rained all the way there, we had a wonderful afternoon and evening with grandma and grandpa and never got rained on at all! 

Mmmm. . .fair fries!  Ally also got to try out an elephant ear and stromboli-

   Ally even shared some fries with Grandma!

Nicholas tried out some Elephant TOES and thoroughly enjoyed them.  Nicholas also had a huge corn dog for dinner while I had a delish gyro.  In traditional fair fashion, we all had ice cream BEFORE dinner.  

Here are a couple of pictures of the new dress I made Ally out of another thrift store shirt, some scraps of material and some cute pink edging.  She wasn’t particularly in the mood to model it, but I did get her to stand up for a minute.   🙂

This one is made out of a patriotic polo that Bryan had in the Salvation Army pile. 
Bryan reminded me that I need to take a picture of the garment BEFORE I start hacking it up. 
I’ll try to remember for future ones. 
For this one, the waist band of the dress was the collar of the polo and the trim at the neckline was the cuffs of the polo that I cut off and re-applied to where I wanted it.  
In the last one, besides being a cute picture, if you look closely, you can see her teeth.  
One of the bottom ones has poked through and her top ones are JUST barely visible.   

Yesterday at 0830, my Dad called me to let me know that my Grandfather had passed away. My grandfather was a great man and he will be missed by many.

Some random memories:

“Watch out for the deer” My Grandfather always, without fail, reminded me to watch out for the deer, every time I left. For a while it bothered me, like I get it Grandpa, then I realized he was just saying “I love you” I love you too grandpa, and I promise, I won’t hit a deer.

Mowing the grass. My Grandpa always complained because when we cut the grass, we went too fast, which cut the grass uneven. I always tried to slow down but it was never quite slow enough. Sorry Grandpa, next time I will cut it even for you.

The Mechanic – My grandpa spent countless hours in the garage fixing and restoring cars. He was an incredible mechanic and could fix anything. Of course, some times the project wasn’t over until a tool went flying, but hey, it was always faster in the end.

“Everybody is leaving at once” – Every Sunday we visit my Grandparents, at some point in the day all the kids and grandkids would arrive. Most times there would be overlap and everyone would be there talking, laughing, and poking fun. My Grandfather would normally sit quietly and not say a whole lot, just watch everyone. When we would get ready to leave he would always say “every body is leaving at once” It would not matter now long we were there, he never wanted us to leave, and if there was even one person who was missing, that is what he focused on, he always wanted us ALL to be there, every single member of the family.

Right Guard – My Grandpa was convinced that Right Guard was the answer to mosquito bites. Try it it works. He was smart !

“I love that baby” Those were the last words, that I heard him say to me. I took Ally over to see him, he had been asleep and woke up for just long enough to see her and utter those words. He loved his grandkids very much and when they were around, he was truly happiest.

“25 inch inseam” – I am not joking. His inseam was 25″ he was not a tall man, but he was a great man. He has set the bar high for what a father and grandfather should he and he always reminded me “take care of those kids” I will Grandpa, I will take care of them.

He was such a good man, he served his country, he served his family, he worked very hard all his life and I will miss him very much.

I love you Grandpa, I will watch out for the deer.

Obituary: http://www.legacy.com/Dispatch/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=91614448

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Click above to see Ally with Grandma playing Peek-a-boo.

Perfect weather, and plenty of time for kisses on this Sunday afternoon stroll.