A new favorite

Little moments like this can't exactly be expressed by a picture. Cloey and Emma were laying on the couch the other day just talking and snuggling with each other. I snapped a picture because it was just perfect to see them spending such quality time together. Emma loves her big sissy so much and misses her while she is gone and moments like these are so special to us. Hoping to get some great pictures of them this weekend.

This is one of my new favorite pictures of Miss Emma. She is so happy and has that loving smile on her face that melts our hearts. People comment that she looks like Jason, my brother, me, and I swear she looks A LOT like my Aunt Sandy. While everyone thinks she looks like someone else I am glad to see she has a little bit of everyone in her looks and personality

Graduation

Sunday morning Jason graduate with his Bachelor's degree. We are so proud that he made it to this point factoring in all the hurdles he has had to make it over to get to this point. It was a nice ceremony and we then celebrate with family at my parent's house for a cookout. Now he is on the hunt for a job.

Our little graduate. Emma wearing Pop Pop's hat(it has some fancy name I can't remember) with her future dreams of getting her doctorate degree just like him.

My Dad actually teaches at the college Jason attended and he was a part of the ceremony as well.

Cloey wasn't able to attend Jason's graduation so we are having a special celebration with her this weekend to celebrate.

The graduate - we are so proud of him!!!

Emma asleep at Daddy's graduation. She decided to stay up till 11pm on Saturday night and we had to be up early on Sunday and she just couldn't handle it.

Our Weekend

*Friday - I busily tried to prepare the Yard Sale with the help of my MIL with Emma under my feet before Jason got back from NC with Cloey. Once home Emma showed Sissy her big surprise that she can walk now. Cloey was excited to see her walk and Emma was over the moon to see her big sister. At the last minute like 9:30 Cloey decided she wanted to sell cookies with her lemonade stand at the Yard Sale. So in the car we got and headed to Food Lion to buy cookies. We then headed home and I made cookies until nearly 11pm. The cookies were finished, I burnt my arm, and was ready to hit the hay.
*Saturday - We got up bright and early to get the final touches of the Yard Sale set up. Cloey sold her cookies, lemonade, and toys and made $18 and was pleased with the money she earned for Disney. I ended up doing very well and got rid of a lot of Cloey and Emma's old clothes. Mom and Dad came down and Mom made us a yummy pizza lunch followed by a yummy stuffed baked potato dinner. We are very lucky to have Mom and Dad live so close now because we eat real well once if not twice a week. After they headed back home Cloey and I ran to rent a movie. We got home and had a family movie party and watched The Dolphin. Jason and I didn't care for the movie, but Cloey was happy and that is all that matters. We all then headed to bed because everyone was pooped from the early morning.
*Today- We woke up and spent a Cloey Sunday morning like we usually do. Jason and I laying in bed with both the girls cuddling and talking to start of the morning. Emma was so cute about cuddling up to Cloey and giving her kisses this morning. We then got moving and had our usual Sunday morning breakfast. Then the girls played with Littlest Pet Shops while I switched out their Fall/Winter clothes and put out all their new Spring/Summer clothes. Daddy and Cloey spent some quality time playing Wii. It was then time for lunch and Daddy and Cloey headed out shortly after that.
We have a big week ahead of us. Jason defends his 30 page paper tomorrow and then he graduates on Sunday. Cloey will be coming again this Friday so she can be at Jason's graduation. After his graduation we will have a small cookout with family at my Mom and Dad's house. We are excited to celebrate his big day. Thankfully I only have 2 meetings this week and after-school is over. I am hoping to get in quite a few walks with Ms. Emma this week.

Peds Surgery Check-Up

Emma went for her Peds Surgery check up on Thursday at UVA. Our first stop was x-ray and they had to take a couple chest x-rays and then an x-ray of her spine. Scoliosis is a common problem for kiddos with CDH so we want to keep a close eye on her spine. She was NOT a fan of getting the x-rays. The tears started when we walked back to the room and then intensified as Jason and I had to hold her down so they could get them taken.
Next we headed up to the Peds Surgery floor where we waited, waited, and waited some more. Apparently Dr. Rogers started his day in surgery so he was running behind on his appointments. We checked in to x-ray at 10:02 and didn't leave the parking garage till 1:00. During the check up we were told that her chest x-rays looked GREAT. Her little lung is as expanded as it will be able to expand and that is a good sign that it is working and functioning to the best of its ability. Her spine only has a slight curvature, but nothing so drastic that we need to meet with the Orthopedic doctor. All is all Dr. Rogers said she looked amazing and we were given the clear to only have to come back yearly for check ups. No more every 3 or 6 months peds surgery check ups. He did say he will follow her once a year until she is in her twenties. We have to continue to watch her bottom left rib and spine and he did warn us that CDH kiddos are more apt to get respitory infections.
We feel so incredibly blessed that Emma is making such wonderful progress. Our baby girl is a fighter and we are thankful for the fight that she has put up in the last year.

What is in a name?

Emma was originally an Addisyn, but right before we had our ultrasound to see if we were having a boy or girl we decided to look at the baby name books one more time. Daddy and I both made a list of names that we liked - if I remember correctly we both had 3 we like - Piper, Addisyn, and Hadley. We ranked them and we both ranked them the same and Addisyn came out on top. We flipped through the pages one more time and for some reason Emma caught our attention. We decided right then and there that if the baby was a girl her name would be Emma.
Now for her middle name it was set in stone. Emma would carry the middle name of Sidney after her Great Grandfather(my Mom's father) Harry Sidney Swersky. Sadly Grandpa never met Emma, but we know he watched over her in the NICU and that he continues to watch over her each day. Since Grandpa passed away from cancer we found it fitting for Emma to honor her namesake at the local Relay for Life. My school had a team and we went out to the track and had lots of fun. We stopped to get a picture of Emma with her namesakes luminary and right when I snapped the picture it was like she was looking up to Heaven and letting Grandpa Swersky know that she knows right where he is at.

Walking

Emma has been taking TONS of steps this morning. It is like she woke up and decided to day would be the day to start walking without help. It is hard to believe how fast she is growing up. I think we might be in trouble now that she is starting to get the walking thing down. Before we know it we will be chasing her around because I have a feeling there won't be much walking in her agenda, more like her running.

School Visit

The Thursday before Easter we made a trip to Fayetteville to see Cloey at her school. Daddy, Emma, and myself loaded up in the car for the ride and Emma did very well. She was excited to get out to have lunch at Chick-Fil-A at about the halfway point. Once we arrived we checked in to our room and let Emma crawl around. Then we headed to Cloey's school because she was having a Spring Musical. I took pictures but they didn't turn out well. It was nice to watch her performance and then visit with her for a bit after the show was over. Then Jason, Emma, and I met up with one of his Army buddies for dinner. After dinner we went to visit another Army buddy of Jason's who has a lot in common with Emma. He was injured overseas and only has a small portion of his left lung as well. He joked that in the years to come they would have a lot to talk about. He has such a positive attitude on life after all he went through and it was an inspiration to us that Emma can be whatever she puts her mind to in the future.
On Friday we woke up and headed back to Cloey's school to have lunch with her. Since it was an early release make-up day she ate lunch at 9:40am in her classroom instead of the cafeteria. It was nice to check out her classroom and see her desk and everything. After she finished her lunch, well at least what she could eat that early in the morning she checked out and we got in the car to head back to Virginia for Easter weekend. Emma didn't do as well, but again enjoyed stopping at Taco Bell for lunch about halfway through the drive.
The visit with Cloey at her school was WONDERFUL and we try and make the visit to her school at least once a year.
Cloey and Daddy in front of her classroom.

Cloey in front of her school.

Not Much to Blog About

Well things have been pretty low key around the Mazingo household for the most part over the past week or so.
*I have been busy with work during the day and SOL(our state wide testing) Academy after school program 3 days a week. So Tuesday-Thursday I am at school from 7:15am to 5 pm. As of today we only have 27 days of school left with the kiddos and one work day and I can't wait for summer vacation with my hubby and the girls. I have been reading The Help a little each night(my "ME" time) and I am really enjoying it.
*Jason has been SUPER busy with his Senior Thesis paper. If you don't remember it is a 30 page paper with lots of primary and secondary sources that are required. He has been slaving away and we are all so proud of him. It is hard to believe that May 22nd he will finish his schooling journey(at least until he returns for a Master's Degree). It has been a long road with lots of bumps along the way, but he hasn't given up.
*Cloey finished up her Spring Break and we be back to see us on Friday May 13th. With Spring Break it allowed us to have he two weekends in a row, then off two weekends, so it is a bit longer than normal. We have a Yard Sale lined up for the 14th in which she will be having a Lemonade Stand to earn Disney spending money.
*Oh Emma our super adventurous one!!!! She is climbing everything - the dishwasher, Cloey's ladder to her loft bed, the play mailbox, baskets, anything that she can get her feet up on. She will take a step here or there, but can get around quicker crawling so that is what she chooses to do. She started saying egg this week and it is pretty cute. She turned 13 months old a few days ago and it is still hard to believe.