Saturday, November 17, 2012

World Prematurity Day

 Today marks the 2nd World Prematurity Day.  Ever since our precious Callie was born 16 weeks early, prematurity awareness has been something very near to our hearts.
 We look at our miracle every day in amazement.  She has defied all odds, endured 6 surgeries, spent 6 weeks on a ventilator, and had to be resuscitated more times than Mommy can bare to remember.  We thank God and her amazing Doctors and Nurses every day for the blessings and care she received.
After Callie came home from the hospital, we decided we needed to do more to help other families and babies in need and decided to become active with the March of Dimes.
Mommy has been actively involved as a Mission Mom with the March of Dimes, which is the worlds leading organization in raising money and awareness for Mother's and babies. Without their research, we know our amazing little girl wouldn't be here today.

The Mission is working! For the 5th consecutive year, the premature birth rate has dropped in the United States, but we still rank 131st in the world with 1 in 8 babies born too early-this is WAY too high!
 So, today we wear purple in honor of our Miracle and so many of her preemie friends and in memory of those that are no longer with us-we carry your memory in our heart every day.
For our blog post today, I decided to post pictures of Callie in purple through the last three years. I still choke up looking at these pictures. But as you can see, even from the first picture of Callie in purple when she was 6 weeks old...she is a fighter!
So please join us in wearing purple today and sharing Callie's story and the story of too many babies that have to suffer every day to simply survive.



Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Summer is Over


It is hard to believe that fall is here!  (And I haven't updated the blog at all)  Callie had a busy summer and had lots of fun!
 We had a great visit to Canton in June, visiting family and friends.  Callie just loves being surrounded by family and I think the feeling is mutual!!
 Cal had the chance to ride her first horse this summer! 
 Visit an Irish festival!
 Spend a lot of fun time in Ocean City!
 She managed to get a great tan, despite Mommy putting on sunscreen every hour!!  (that happens for a sun baby that loves to be in the pool at every chance she gets)
 We attended the 2012 Johns Hopkins NICU reunion and saw some of our favorite nurses and the brand new NICU that just opened!  The new NICU is beautiful and has private rooms for each baby.  I couldn't help but think how I never would have left her side if that had been available when she was in the NICU.  I dreaded every night that I had to leave her, it is an awful feeling to leave your sick baby and I am so glad that these parents have the opportunities to stay with their babies!
Callie got to go to fairs and amusement parks and had NO fear of the rides!!  She was upset when she wasn't tall enough to ride one! 
 Callie still loves gymnastics and has started swimming lessons again.  She also started ballet a few weeks ago...so sweet!!
 Mommy started taking Cal to the library and she loves it!  We are so happy that Callie loves to read!  She loves to have stories read to her and then she likes to tell the story back to you!  She has developed a great imagination.  She loves playing with dolls and any sort of make believe!
Callie moved up a room at school in August and is officially in pre-school.  Her room is even out of the baby hall-such a big girl!!  We love her teachers and the fact that she is learning so much! She is really doing well with her letters, with both recognition and sounds.  It's so cute to have conversations with her, she will tell us all about different things that start with A...all things we never knew would be possible.  We can't wait for all that is to come!!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Florida 2012....and DISNEY!!!

During June, Callie had an exciting vacation to Florida.  Not only did she get to see lots of family members, but she got to go to Disney World!!

 If you know Callie, you know that this represents most of Callie's favorite things: family, pool, beach and Minnie and Mickey!!
 She spent almost every day at the pool or the beach!
 She first got to spend a couple of days on the east coast with Grandpa in Cocoa Beach!!

 Then got to visit the Magic Kingdom!!!
 Ride rollercoasters!!
 When it came time to meet Mickey and Minnie, we weren't sure if she would be shy at first (her typical behavior).  She wasnt!!  She ran right up to them and gave them big hugs!!  There were lots of tears from Mommy at Disney world---watching the wonder in Callie's eyes was amazing!!
 Then Callie got to head to the west coast for some time with Oma and her Great Grandparents!

 Giggles with Jenny and Aunt Janet!
 Reading with Oma!!
And lots of smiles with Aunt Cateese and Uncle Bob!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Catch Up Time



So...I know that we have been very behind in updates...but that is a good thing!  Callie has had an amazing spring!!

Callie has spent a lot of time with family.  She loves every second with family-whether it was at Grammi's wedding, the beach, or just lounging around in Maryland.
Since the weather has been beautiful lately, Callie has been wanting to spend a lot of time outside, and especially in the pool!  She would stay in the pool all day if we let her!  She even got to spend some quality pool time with her friends Carter and Travis!!
This spring, Callie also started gymnastics.  We were hoping it might give her a little more balance and it may be working.  Regardless, she loves her Tumblebee's class and is doing it again next session!!
The bigggest news this Spring is that Callie was officially released from Infants & Toddlers.  This was a very difficult tranisiton for us, as they have taken such great care of Callie over the last three years.  We know that she is doing well, but it was nice to have an extra set of eyes on her a couple of times each month!  But they insisted that since she was meeting all of her 3 year old milestones and most of her 3 1/2 milestones, they couldn't continue to support her. 

 This was from her final report, "I understand your apprehension about Callie's services ending because of everything she has been through, but since her skills are age appropriate and she has no delays at this point, I am going to have to end her special education service. We have to look at her ability to manage her educational environment and right now she is doing very well in the classroom setting. Callie is using her words to express her wants and needs, as well as to protest and ask questions. Some of her cognitive skills are even above her age level. When I observe her in the classroom now, she fits right in with the other children. She is following the rules and routines of the new classroom well and she is not afraid to speak up if something has upset her." 

As you can imagine, this brought me to tears!  This is the amazing little lady we were told would never walk or function normally!  Take that prematurity!!!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Thank You!!!

 A BIG thank you for all of you that supported Team Callie May in the March for Babies this year!
 
As you know, the March of Dimes holds a very special place in our hearts. If it wasn't for the research that they have done, there is a very good chance, our miracle wouldn't be the thiving three year old that she is today.



 Everytime that we look at Callie, we are reminded how very blessed we are and want to do anything that we can to help other babies thrive!
                                     
 We hope that you will continue to support our Team in years to come and help us spread the word to bring awareness to this great cause!
 And a very special thanks to our family and friends that came out on such a cold and rainy day to walk with us!  Especially the girls from Kids First Swim School and Miss Amanda!!  We love you all!!