More Maddy.....

Maddy mugging for the camera! (Sorry it is a little blurry,)

For her birthday, I got her a puzzle that is putting together shapes that fit together to make cupcakes. She is still figuring it out, but we had lots of fun playing with them.


The group family gift for Maddy's birthday was a wagon so she and her daddy can go for longer walks together than her short legs would usually be able to go on. This is the first time we tried it out and we went to the park to swing. (You can see a picture of her on the swing in the previous post.)

A week of Maddy....

(Doing stickers with Maddy.
We made lots of posters that Maddy put up around the house.)

Okay, over the next week I am going to put up some of my favorite pictures of Maddy from my recent visit with her. It was great to see her, and just get to spend time hanging out, playing with puzzles, swinging on swings and singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider."

(Maddy loved to swing at the park by her house.
We tried swinging together and Maddy also was brave
and tried swinging by herself.)

Maddy is a happy, wonderful little two year-old!! I am so glad to get to be her momma!

A look back and forward

I wrote this poem a while ago, during a migraine that happened during one of the hardest times of my life. Today was a difficult day, and I went back and edited this poem. I am sharing it more as an anthem for others who may be struggling right now, and who need to know that they are not alone. We all have times when we feel that there is little we can do but survive. After a long winter, when the flowers start to bloom, sometimes surviving is enough. In looking back at that time, and forward to seeing Maddy in less than two weeks, I offer this poem.

Constant blinding pain

Flowing through your veins

Building up in the capillaries

Flowing through the synapses

Stopping for a while to pressurize

Creating blockages of the mind and heart

Cascading views bring the colors of agony

Flooding along the energy lines

Meridians of darting, slamming, drudging pain

And none of it is mine; it all is simply my legacy

To the children I love more than life

And to whom I leave nothing but the slaughter of their nerves and minds.

I love you, and hope that my pain will somehow shield you,

Or at least teach you how to survive it.

Uneven ground

Daisies side-by-side,
Triplet flowers of darkest blue.
No one would mistake them for nature's work,
And yet they are natural in this dream world
Where daisies turn navy, to make matches
Red hair and brown mingle in whispered secrets.

Twin nymphs smile their excitement,
Hoping to catch a glimpse of fairy dust,
Wondering if the fog hides pixies, magic and butterflies,
Winking at the solemn guards
Who hide nervous dreams of their own.


Hiking boots tromping along a trail,
Longer than the lives of those living.
Connected to generations of those who have walked the uneven ground,
Following dreams that were mere wisps when they started,
Solidifying into lives of earnest endeavor,
That create impossible flowers against brown hair;
So four more wood sprites can find their way out of the woods
On this morning's hike.