Date Stamped.

I seem to forget a lot of things these days...where I've laid my keys, why I'm now standing in front of the pantry (what in the world did I come over here for?)...But in my life there have been stand out moments that I've shared with fellow Americans and private ones shared with just a few loved ones. Do you remember where you were when the Space Shuttle exploded? How about when you saw the Twin Towers fall? These are events that bring very specific memories to me in time and space (8th grade in the hall outside my social studies classroom and Ballantyne Country Club while on a tour). I can remember them so clearly, yet often wish I couldn't.

I'm having some trouble sleeping. That's not really anything new, though. But for now I can at least point to why. Today marks the one year anniversary, if you will, that an ultrasound tech walked out of a room for 7 minutes while Brian and I reveled in the fact that we were having another girl before the doctor came back in, silently studied the images before him and declared..."Your baby has Spina Bifida, I'm sorry."

The whirlwind that began at those very words, is a moment in time frozen in my memory. I can hear his voice, I can feel my guts being ripped apart, and see what the doc keeps pointing at on the video screen as he relays to us what CeCe's future will be. The picture he painted that day was dim.

Now, ENOUGH OF THAT! CeCe is 7 MONTHS OLD, PEOPLE! She is the sweetest little joy you have ever seen and brings smiles and assurance to everyone that meets her. She loves people and feels compelled to put them at ease with her by offering an easy going personality and a bright and sunny outlook. She continues to get cautious kudos from her doctors at each visit and maybe, just maybe, remind them that it's not all about what they learned in a book.

As you know, she has had her struggles these past 7 months-4 surgeries, bowel issues, and she is in need of a helmet to correct some issues related to those surgeries. But, you know what...she is just about sitting independently, rolls all over the place, eats like a horse, I even saw her scoot backwards a little bit yesterday. I don't say all of this in a bragging way, I say it to emphasize a point. She IS NOT what they said she would be one year ago....She IS who she is...without asterisks or footnotes.

I'm lucky to be her mom...to get to see her everyday and dream of her future. She is surrounded by amazing people who have lifted her up when she needed it most and skillfully and gently brought her back down to embrace her every success.

Today is going to be a good day.

The video

As participants in the MOMs study, we were asked in March to send in a video of CeCe with a sign in the video that said "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" or "What a Wonderful World". It was shown to the staff and doctors at a recent meeting. These kids are just so inspirational...bring a box of tissues.

Here it is...cut and paste the link and enter the password.
http://vimeo.com/24723653
password is: cfdt