The Weekend of Lola

At midnight on April 28, 2012, we five (including Cal's BFF, Cam) sang Happy Birthday to our big six year old.  (Do I always sound that dorky?!?!?  Scott says YES... :)  Despite Claire being in rare form (sibling rivalry!) and Cal's "West Side" fake gang signs at the end (HA!), we properly rang in Lola's new year.  Still in complete awe she is SIX.

(Hit PAUSE on my Playlist below to be completely blown away by some high quality musical entertainment...)

The night continued with a few games of pool on the new table (Thanks SO MUCH, Jon & Peggy! WE LOVE IT!!!)...

During my complete annihilation of Cal, Cam & Scott, the girls watched each other on with utter horror delight!

"Are you REALLY 6???"  ~  "You bet your sweet ass I am."

The official Birthday day started off with a bath...

...and it continued with flowers, a gift and more singing from her Gran & Papa!

The day's festivities continued with a parade in Lola's honor... (actually it was our town's annual parade, but we told Lola it was all for HER!  And she tooooootally believed us!  :)

These gypsy/Oriental band dodes dudes ROCK!  Scott was all bummed because the guy who normally wears NO SHIRT but just a sparkly vest was missing this year.  And once again this year he asked if they made those curly, pointy-toed shoes in a size 15.  AND made some super inappropriate gong comments.  What's new?!??!  Cannot take him ANYWHERE!!!

Our friends were rockin' the "Lonesome Duck" car... Lola's favorite part of the parade, I'm pretty sure!  

"Nice ass," said Scott.  HA!
And then later, the donkey cart drivers were trying to walk them in a circle for some added parade flare, and one was refusing to turn, so Scott turned to Cal & blurts out, "What a dumb ass!"  Love that man.

Our evening was topped off with PF Chang's take-out (Thanks, Jim & Cheryl... we love that place!!!) and some family time with Scott's family & his cousin who was in town from Texas...

Cousins  ~  Brett, Carl & Scott

Our weekend ended with some fun-in-the-sun with our next-door neighbors.  The boys swam in our icy, 69 degree pool... yep, earliest swim EVER  ~  4.30.12!

Hal  ~  AKA Mini-Cal!

Sid  ~  Both boys are like the little brothers Cal never had!

Cal  ~ 13.5 years old

Happy 6th Birthday, Lolita!  You are SO LOVED!!!!!

"To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven."  ~Karen Sunde

xo

Six

"The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all."  ~Walt Disney Company, Mulan

Today you are SIX, my sweet Lola.  6!  How is that possible?

I was completely overjoyed last year when you turned five.  I remember feeling ELATED, like I'd nearly explode with happiness because you beat the odds and you were healthy and thriving and life was STILL perfect, just as I'd hoped it would be when I dreamt of having you sooooo many years prior.

But this year I feel different.  It is almost hard to put into words. (And y'all KNOW that is rare for me because I am WINDY!  I still remember Mrs. J, my high school English teacher, writing one word across the top of damn near every one of my school papers... "WORDY."  Suffice it to say, I am *still* working on this apparent writing flaw.  I APOLOGIZE!  HA!)

I think I feel SADDER this year, and I'm not sure exactly why that is. You are still healthy (despite a rough month or so), you are still feisty (like your Mama!), your personality is showing more and more each day, you are growing (SHOCKING, I KNOW!  You finally hit 2'1.5" tall!!!!!), and you are eating like a horse (which for some odd reason brings me more comfort than you could ever know).  You continue to make us smile many times a day, even though you have become nocturnal the past few months.  You are so beautiful and inspiring and amazing and your very life itself can bring me to tears in a matter of seconds because of this... and I think that's just it right there.  I have SO much emotion and time and energy and research and love -- SO MUCH F*CKING LOVE!!! -- wrapped up and invested in your little big, important life.  It means so much more to me now than ever before.  We are even more interconnected than a year ago.  We have been through more, we know each other better, and the bottom line is that you are one of the most precious gifts I've *EVER* been given in this life, along with your Daddy, Cal & Claire.  God, I love you.  So much that it hurts sometimes.  So much that I can cry out of the blue -- sometimes just telling a total stranger about you -- because it reminds me how far we've come and how much I never, ever in a million years want to lose you.  I cannot go there... and I won't.  Because you so clearly want and need to be HERE.  And I'll be damned if I am gonna waste one second worrying about that when I could be loving and enjoying you instead.

These eyes see to my soul...

Overtaking the display couches at Sam's Club
You sat there for a good 10 minutes as Daddy checked out.  I had to laugh as the entire store did double and triple takes to glimpse how freakin' ADORABLE you were in that very moment.

Rockin' the braids... I love your tiny, little head SO MUCH.

Still besties... Romeo absolutely LOVES to lay near/with/on you, Lola!  You are part of his pack (though pretty sure you're only alpha when you blow chunks).

I could've written this book for you, my darlin'... and I thank the heavens that you are non-verbal, because I intend to read it to you every f*cking night!!!  (PS -- Don't fight sleep; sleep will win!!!)  (PS #2 -- We sleep AT NIGHT!!!!!)

"What I do you cannot do; but what you do, I cannot do.  The needs are great, and none of us, including me, ever do great things.  But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful."
~ Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Happy 6th Birthday, my love.  Never forget how meaningful your life is to us and all who know you.

xo

Quickie

I am popping in today for a quickie (I wish... HA!) to share an article that was recently written for SheKnows.com about parenting a child with a disability.  This article just so happens to feature our family, among others.  Click HERE to read the article.  Happy weekend, all!

"At bottom every man knows well enough that he is a unique being, only once on this earth; and by no extraordinary chance will such a marvelously picturesque piece of diversity in unity as he is, ever be put together a second time." ~Friedrich Nietzsche

xo

One-uppin' my Atari

Last weekend we celebrated my niece's & brother-in-law's birthdays at their house.  We always have fun hanging out there, and one added benefit of spending time at their house is that they have "Just Dance" on the Wii.  Oh yes... I am reconsidering my anti-video-game stance just so I can possibly get this groovy little gem for my own crib.

Observe our dialogue shortly before leaving our house to go to my sister's pad:

Gwen -- I'm totally taking yoga pants and my running shoes so I can dominate in "Just Dance" later.

Cal -- (laughing) Are you serious?!?!  You're just a dode.

Gwen -- I am just gonna destroy your ass in that will.i.am jam.  And did you really think I would be able to give my best effort in these Silver jeans?!  If you're not first, you're last, jackknob.

Cal -- We didn't dance off to a will.i.am song!!!  You mean "Hey Ya?"

Gwen -- Yeah.  That's it.  I rocked your world on that last time.  I sure as shit didn't mean Rasputin.  That's your Dad's specialty.

Cal -- WHATEVER!  I beat you in Hey Ya!!!! 

Gwen -- Negatory.

For proof of Scott's skillz, I present to you Scott "dancing" to Rasputin with our 6-year old friend Hayden a few months ago:  (scroll down & hit PAUSE on my Playlist first!)

A special thanks to our great friends, Max & Jill, for providing us with this fabulous video!!!

For fear of getting paid back the Hubs pissed off, I will quote HIM:  "Anyone over 6 feet tall should NEVER be on a dance floor."  Discuss amongst yourselves... true?  Not true?  Do you guys know any tall people who can truly/properly/successfully bust a move (that sounded soooo late 80's!!!)???

And for the record, Scott somehow managed to beat Hayden in the above clusterf*ck dance number.  I'm thinking it must be due to some freaky long arm/legs flailing phenomenon which skewed the camera, because I'm SURE Hayden owned his ass...

On a brighter note (HA!), which is better (should I cave for selfish reasons) -- Wii? XBOX 360? Playstation with Kinect??? I'm such a rookie. The last gaming system I had was an Atari!!! (Where I/it truly WAS on like Donkey Kong, yo.)

Soul sisters... still.  <3

Kina gave us matching piggies!

"We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance." ~ Japanese Proverb

xo