Test Results and Power Tools

First and foremost. I got the test results from Morgan's EEG and MRI tests she had last week. Both tests came back completely normal and she is scheduled for a followup with her doctor in two months. This is great news and is 100% proof that she doesn't have any brain damage from NICU and no cerebral palsy. We are so excited!!!

Morgan is up and walking more and more now and Maddy is running from room to room like a wild woman. Both of the girls are ahead of schedule on their fine motor skills even if you don't correct thier age, and they are right on target for their gross motor. Our OT is talking about reevaluating them to see if they are ready for discharge soon. Our PT is going to hold off on putting Morgan in leg braces to see if she corrects her funny foot positioning as she gains more control over her balance with walking. This is all such good news for our family. With all the preemie stuff we deal with every day it is nice to finally be heading in the right direction. It is wonderful to hear positive news.

Today Melissa came over and I told her about how I want to put my big Christmas tree up this year. Last year I just put up a tiny tree on a table. It was all I could muster with the girls being so little and demanding and I was so happy when it came time to put it away because all I had to do was fold up the branches and stuff it in a box. The problem I had with the little tree was that it didn't do anything to bring in the spirit of Christmas. I missed my fancy tree and all my decorations. I missed putting the presents under it (last year I just kept them piled up in the closet till time to take them to parties). I really am looking forward to doing a big Christmas this year ... but ... I have been very worried about the stress of keeping two very curious toddlers away from the tree and safe. So I devised this plan to build a box in the corner of my living room and behind it I could put the tree. It really is more of a L. Two long boards screwed together with "L" brackets and then I wanted to cover it with batting and Christmas fabric so if the girls touched it they wouldn't get a splinter or hurt themselves. In my mind this idea made perfect sense.

When Melissa got here I got out the tape measure and we figured out the dimensions we would need and headed to Lowes to buy some wood. Two babies in the cart and two women walking around Lowes must have been more than some of the employees and shoppers could handle. Every turn and every question was answered with condescension like we couldn't possible have a clue what we were going to do. Just a simple request for help with lumber was met with a "You don't know what you're doing" stare. When we got to the station where they cut the wood for you, the cutter guy was friendly but kept asking us the dimensions again like we must have them wrong. At one point he even got out his tape measure and started pretending he was building what we were describing just to see if it was logical. Of course in the end he just cut the wood to the size we needed. He had to ask us like four times the measurements (which were very simple) because he kept forgetting. When he finally passed off the cut wood to us he said something like "Good luck with your project" in a way that sounded like "You can't do it" We walked away sqwaking about it. We had asked the wood cutter what aisle the screws were on and he told us two. So off to aisle two we went. On aisle two we looked up and down for the "L" brackets and screws but weren't finding them. Another employee walked up and we asked him where to find the brackets. He scoffed and told us we were looking in the wrong place and then took us over a couple of aisles. It just seemed like every row we went to people were acting like we were trying to build a house with no instructions. Like we couldn't possibly know what we were doing. I found it humorous. Melissa was aggravated.

We got our wood loaded in the car, packed in the kids, and off we went to Walmart fabric department, where we were treated like we knew EXACTLY what we were doing and then we headed home. While it was quite humorous and times putting together the wall. It was overall very fun and in the end I am so proud of what we did. It is really pretty. It works and fits perfectly in the room. The girls think it is cool and best of all they can't reach over it. It comes up to about their armpit level (18") and it has this pretty fabric with a snowman scene across the bottom. I can't wait to show you pictures but my camera batteries are dead, figures :). I guess I will have to wait till I get my tree all up and then take a picture of the whole thing at one time. I usually put it up Thanksgiving weekend.

Hope everyone is having a great week. I will talk to you all soon :)