11.09.2008
Long Overdue Zoo Pictures
I know these pictures are a bit overdue. A couple of weeks ago, Hazel went to the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston with her dad, Uncle Patrick and Cousin Oliver who is 18 months old.
Hazel and Oliver under the table at Uncle Pat and Aunt Nini's house.
Looking for something cool. See they both have the same hair color?
Pat and Oliver
Pat and Oliver
Jamie and Hazel
Hazel is more interested in her hands.
And Oliver is interested in Hazel.
The kiddos looking at some animal together.
Hazel and Oliver under the table at Uncle Pat and Aunt Nini's house.
Looking for something cool. See they both have the same hair color?Pat and Oliver
Pat and Oliver
Jamie and Hazel
Hazel is more interested in her hands.
And Oliver is interested in Hazel.
The kiddos looking at some animal together.11.07.2008
Dancing Together to The Cure
You're so gorgeous I'll do anything! I'll kiss you from your feet to where your head begins! You're so perfect! You're so right as rain! You make me make me hungry again! Everything you do is irresistible! Everything you do is simply kissable! Why can't I be you? I'll run around in circles 'til I run out of breath! I'll eat you all up or I'll just hug you to death! You're so wonderful, too good to be true! You make me make me hungry for you! Everything you do is simply delicate! Everything you do is quite angelicate! Why can't I be you? You turn my head when you turn around, you turn the whole world upside down! I'm smitten! I'm bitten, I'm hooked, I'm cooked, I'm stuck like glue! You make me make me hungry for you! Everything you do is simply dreamy! Everything you do is quite delicious! Why can't I be you? Why can't I be you? Why can't I be you? You're simply elegant!
Still Glowing
It's all we can talk about. There are a thousand angels singing in our heads. It is a very happy time! This picture says it all.
11.04.2008
Signed Sealed Delivered
Baby, I'm watching history and you are sleeping upstairs on your belly. In an amazing moment for our country, we have just elected the first black President of the United States, Barack Obama. He will be sworn in before your first birthday, and you will have already lived through a complete transformation in your country and in the world. We did this for you, baby. I have never been so proud of my fellow Americans before. I have hope again, and it feels amazing. Your generation will grow up in a different world. This is even better than when the Sox won the 2004 World Series, and you have no idea what that was like! This is a night of Thanksgiving, a beautiful evening full of promise and optimism. I love you.
11.03.2008
Crushing Anxiety
I will be taking a break from blogging until the presidential election is decided. This is an incredibly emotional election for me, my first as a mother. I feel as if more is at stake now than there ever has been before in my lifetime. I am scared, anxious and excited to see what the next couple of days have in store for my country. This is the end of a very long and trying struggle. As far as my family is concerned, there is only one choice for us. I know that Barack Obama is going to be the best president for me as a mother, as a social worker, as someone with a chronic illness, as a survivor of institutional child abuse. I have faith that my fellow Americans will make the right choice. I hope and pray that when I return to this blog, it will be to announce that my country has elected it's first black president, and that my daughter will grow up in a country in which truly anything is possible.
10.30.2008
10.29.2008
Ipswich Bonfire & Some Random Cuteness
So when we got our quarterly newsletter from The Trustees, Jamie noticed that a friend of his from college is an ecologist for the nonprofit, and lives in Ipswich. So we got in touch with one another, and he has two little kiddos. They invited us over to their place for a last-minute hot dog roast and bonfire in their back yard.
THIS is their backyard...
A large group of kiddos and parents raosting hot dogs on a chilly October evening.
The most amazing view.
Wow. The salt marshes at high tide and sunset.
I love it when she sits like this, with her stumpy little legs, and her belly hanging over her pants.
Jamie with Hazel and Magnolia.
Magnolia's silly "curious" face.
Best friends! (We like to think so.)
Caterpiller Cowgirl
Hard at work.
Sparkling.10.28.2008
Harvest Day at the Farm & and MS Update
OK, so now that I have the camera-computer thing all figured out, it's time that I started to catch up on picture posting. Despite the fact that I have not been posting regularly does not mean that life has come to a standstill here. We have, as usual, been busy with friends and family, taking Hazel out and showing her the world.
For those wanting an update on my MS, there isn't really much to say. I started my daily Copaxone injections a couple of weeks ago. I really don't enjoy them at all, as they burn badly for about half an hour after the injection, and they leave these welts and bruises. I have to rotate injection sites, so I'm covered with the welts and have to keep track of where my last injection was so that I don't inject to close to it. It's kind of a pain. But the reason I chose this drug instead of one of the other three is because Copaxone has no side effects other than the injection site stuff. That allows me to maintain a fairly normal life, other than sneaking off to inject every night after Hazel goes to bed and watching the evening news with an ice pack. Oh, and the big ugly bright red sharps container that now lives on my counter with the big orange BIOHAZARD sticker on it. It does not go with the decor.
I will have to do these injections for the rest of my life, or until a better treatment comes along. The drugs don't make me "feel" any better, or affect my symptoms, or cure the MS. What they do is modify my immune system in order to extend remission time. Remission in MS is not "true" remission because demylenation is still occurring, and I still experience symptoms and exacerbations of those symptoms, brought on by stress, heat, lack of sleep, viral illness, and other triggers. Right now, I still have some mild pins-and-needles tingling in my fingers, occasional moments of vertigo, some mild memory loss and other minor cognitive dysfunction, weird electric shock feelings in my lower back, muscle spacticity in my legs and cramping in my calves and general malaise. By far the most prominent symptom is the fatigue. It's a killer, and I wander through the day fantasizing about when and where I can take my next nap. My muscles are tired, and my batteries are drained all the time. There is no other way to describe it.
So, you might see me walking down the street or through the grocery store, or you may see me running out to catch the mail carrier, and say, "Oh, Amanda is doing fine!" While I really do not want any pity, I also don't want this illness to be minimized, a common complaint among so many of the folks with MS that I have spoken to lately. Most people's image of MS is an outdated one, an image of young people severely and obviously disabled, an image that was developed prior to the advent of disease modifying drugs like Copaxone. While it is not the norm for someone with MS to be in a wheelchair any longer, there are silent symptoms, like the ones I have described, that allow for a fairly invisible disease but one that is very real for the person experiencing it. So, I'm not doing fine, I have multiple sclerosis. But I am dealing with it the best I can and today I'm doing that pretty well.
So on with the pictures! We took Hazel down to the harvest celebration at our farm and she had a blast, mostly because there were people there with guitars! Playing bluegrass!! Guitars and bluegrass are two of her favorite things ever, and the pictures of her watching the band play are priceless.
For those wanting an update on my MS, there isn't really much to say. I started my daily Copaxone injections a couple of weeks ago. I really don't enjoy them at all, as they burn badly for about half an hour after the injection, and they leave these welts and bruises. I have to rotate injection sites, so I'm covered with the welts and have to keep track of where my last injection was so that I don't inject to close to it. It's kind of a pain. But the reason I chose this drug instead of one of the other three is because Copaxone has no side effects other than the injection site stuff. That allows me to maintain a fairly normal life, other than sneaking off to inject every night after Hazel goes to bed and watching the evening news with an ice pack. Oh, and the big ugly bright red sharps container that now lives on my counter with the big orange BIOHAZARD sticker on it. It does not go with the decor.
I will have to do these injections for the rest of my life, or until a better treatment comes along. The drugs don't make me "feel" any better, or affect my symptoms, or cure the MS. What they do is modify my immune system in order to extend remission time. Remission in MS is not "true" remission because demylenation is still occurring, and I still experience symptoms and exacerbations of those symptoms, brought on by stress, heat, lack of sleep, viral illness, and other triggers. Right now, I still have some mild pins-and-needles tingling in my fingers, occasional moments of vertigo, some mild memory loss and other minor cognitive dysfunction, weird electric shock feelings in my lower back, muscle spacticity in my legs and cramping in my calves and general malaise. By far the most prominent symptom is the fatigue. It's a killer, and I wander through the day fantasizing about when and where I can take my next nap. My muscles are tired, and my batteries are drained all the time. There is no other way to describe it.
So, you might see me walking down the street or through the grocery store, or you may see me running out to catch the mail carrier, and say, "Oh, Amanda is doing fine!" While I really do not want any pity, I also don't want this illness to be minimized, a common complaint among so many of the folks with MS that I have spoken to lately. Most people's image of MS is an outdated one, an image of young people severely and obviously disabled, an image that was developed prior to the advent of disease modifying drugs like Copaxone. While it is not the norm for someone with MS to be in a wheelchair any longer, there are silent symptoms, like the ones I have described, that allow for a fairly invisible disease but one that is very real for the person experiencing it. So, I'm not doing fine, I have multiple sclerosis. But I am dealing with it the best I can and today I'm doing that pretty well.
So on with the pictures! We took Hazel down to the harvest celebration at our farm and she had a blast, mostly because there were people there with guitars! Playing bluegrass!! Guitars and bluegrass are two of her favorite things ever, and the pictures of her watching the band play are priceless.
A perfect frittata for breakfast, made with eggs, potatos, garlic and arugula, all from the farm.
Getting psyched!
One of our laying hens. The poor things were forced to get chased by kids all afternoon. I couldn't make a fritatta without them.
Hanging with mama, waiting for the band to play.
"Mama, you're not funny anymore."
The band starts to play...
...and Hazel starts to shake it.
"Are those...GUITARS??"
"...and BLUEGRASS???"
"This is the best day of my life!!!"
Entranced.
The happiest girl in the world.
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