When friends become family...

My sister is in the hospital right now fighting to keep her daughter inside.  Her water broke last night--she's 21 weeks.  I haven't allowed myself to cry for her.  Every now and then a couple tears fall, but I refuse to cry...because that baby girl is my niece and she WILL make it.  Currently, she's not in labor.  Currently, there's still plenty of fluid.  There's a heartbeat.  I refuse to cry for a baby that is still, for all intents and purposes, thriving.  There are plenty of stories of women who are put on bedrest and make it to 'viable' stage--including up to 33 weeks!

But my post isn't really about her...it's about online communities.  It's about friends and when your friends are suddenly your family.  I have never seen a rallying around a person like I am right now.  This extremely disparate group of 30 women, some of whom have never met, are doing their damnedest to uplift a mother in need of support.

We 'met' when we were all pregnant with our now-toddlers.  They're turning 3 this month and next.  It started out as an online message board for women due in April 2010.  There were close to 3,000 members the last time I looked at it.  Somebody started a daily "chat" thread to get us through the day.  It became a necessity--and a it soon became apparent that there were the same few women commenting on it day after day.  There are 31 of us that found ourselves in a facebook group.  Some we hunted down (I'm looking at you, Abby and Ivet), but most of us joined on our own.  We thought it would be nice.  We were young (20) and old (43).  First time moms, and moms who had been there and back again.  Moms of special needs children.  Single, married, engaged.  Some college educated, some not. Christian, atheist, agnostic.  Some working, some not.  Military moms, civilian moms.  I think we are pretty much as different as you can get, sometimes.  But we stuck together.  Through divorces, weddings, and separations.  More babies.  But something we've all come to realize is that we're more than just friends.

We're sisters.  We visit each other if and when we can--sometimes schlepping the kids off to grandma's for a long weekend to make it happen--often dragging them with.  We speak often of our fantasy commune--where the ones who want will take care of kids and cook--the ones who don't will work or do something else.  Where we will have in physical what we have, now, in the spiritual and virtual.  Many of us spend less than a day between communication--often less than a few hours.  The first people we tell about pregnancies (besides the husband if he's lucky enough to be near when we POAS) are right there--spread across the country.

I think it took me a lot longer to realize that we are sisters than it did some of the others.  I grew up with sisters.  They suck, sometimes, and other times they're pretty awesome.  But sometimes, just sometimes, you get to pick your family.  You get to pick the women you call sister.  And I NEVER would have thought that I would be holding back tears, fighting in my heart for the baby of a woman I have never met.  For a woman who has been there to support me through my PPD/PTSD.  A woman who never wavered in her faith in me--even as I was unsure of myself.

I don't believe in a higher being, but I do believe in the power of positive thought.  So if anybody reads this...please.  For my sister.  Will that baby to stay inside just a few more weeks...and will her to have the strength to not give up.

What a week!

We spent part of every day this week at Wholeheart House. Guin has so much fun playing with the other kids...and I have so much fun having real conversations!

Today was a big day! Guin can almost draw stars. She practices a lot. Most of her papers are covered in scratches that look kind of like stars. She did actually draw ONE today. I didn't get a picture of it, though, and I think she drew over top of it. She's so proud of herself. Sits back and says "I DID IT!" and looks around grinning.

She also started counting! She was pointing at reams of paper and every time she touched the second one, she would say "TWO!". I got her to say "one" and "three" a few times, but she's rather fixated on 2. If I asked her which one was "one", she would point to the first one and say "TWO!"...then the same thing would happen for two and three! I'm shocked at how much has happened in the past two days.

I'm starting to get a cold/sick, so hopefully it's just light and passing, because I know Guin will be sad if we can't go play tomorrow.

Wow...I suck...But Guin is awesome!

I didn't realize it's been almost 3 months since my last post. I never got the year in review posted either. *sigh*. Oh well. I'm going to really make an effort. I love reading about my friends' kids and want to share Guin's accomplishments, too!

This week, Guin got sick for the first time ever! She had croup and was miserable for a few days, but is pretty much over it, minus a congested cough. She loves her "el-pun" humidifier we got to help her at night.

She has also started trying to jump. She gets one foot off the floor and up on her tiptoes on the other foot. It's pretty funny and cute, but i'm not looking forward to all the jumping that will soon follow.

This week we went over to the Whole Heart House and played with some other kids. My friend runs it. It's a wellness center/daycare that she is just starting. I offered to cook for the daycare a couple days a week in exchange for some adult conversation. At least one of the children in the center has some pretty severe allergies, but I'm really looking forward to the challenge.

Guin LOVES it there. She even brought her binky to me because she didn't need it while playing. This is something that has been happening more and more. Sometimes at night, she hands it off to me while she's laying in bed. I have decided that since she seems to be preparing to get rid of it on her own, I'm not going to press the issue right now.

We've had some issues going to sleep this week, but i'm hoping it was just the illness and soon we can get back on track.

Playing in the fountain

Guin and I have had a great opportunity this weekend to spend time with a friend from Pennsylvania! It's been great fun! Her daughter was born a couple weeks before Guin and it's been great for her to get a chance to spend time with another little girl her age. Yesterday they played at the mall play area. Both girls were determined to get the little red balls out of the wall toy!

Cordelia was amazed by all Guin's teeth and had to check them out for herself!

Today, we went down to Iowa City and let the girls play in the fountain. They were unsure of the water, and it was cold...but overall they had a good time!



Afterwards, we went to Thai Flavors. The girls both LOVED the noodles and luckily, the place was fairly empty, so we were able to let them down to run around a bit. We are planning on getting back together one more time before she heads back to Pennsylvania.

We also got news that Evie and Sara are going to be moving farther away. I'm happy for Jason and Sara, but sad that I haven't been able to make it down to St. Louis to visit them before they move. Good luck, guys!

I think I might be back

We've been in the process of moving for weeks, now. I'm so sick of moving...but Guin is loving all the space we have...I'll post new pictures soon!

Recap fail...but here's some Birthday fun!

Sooo...I never got the first year recapped...oh well...moving forward.

Guin's birthday was Wednesday, the 20th. She had a sort of drawn out birthday. We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa over the weekend, then had a small birthday thing at home. We're living in boxes and trying to save money, so nothing big. Probably a good thing, because she was a diva all day long. here's some pictures, though!

Grandma got her a new dress...she's not sure about it, but knows she hates the headband!

Then, on Tuesday, her present from Aunt Mariah came!

And then came cake day! We did it on Thursday so Daddy didn't have to go to bed right away afterwards.

A Year in Review

I'm starting this blog just shy of Guin's first birthday. Hopefully by time that day rolls around, I will have recapped the entire year. I plan on making a post for each month. After that, I'm going to just try to update the blog with pictures and what is going on with Guin's life. :)