Busy Busy Bee

This week has just been incredibly busy.
If you ask me why or what I was doing...
I can't tell you exact, but I know I've been constantly doing "something"
and I never feel like I get anything done.

Needless to say my "To Do" list is just as long as it was 7 days ago!
So many things to update on that I won't begin now as it is too late and I need to sleep.
Of course tomorrow when I don't have time again I'll be saying...."I shoulda done it yesterday!"

Here is the newest crown design...
I had fun with this one! This is just one example. You can have Black- Eyed Susan flowers instead of the white daisies...possibilities are endless. Why shouldn't mom feel special on her favorite day!! Queen for the Day!

Then I just have to show you how cute Piper is in her crown.
Is she not the cutest!?! Her mom is having a Blogoversary Giveaway on her blog also...go check it out"Fraase Family". This is a really cool Giveaway and she's helping other in the process. Can't get any better than that!

Crazy Eights

Alrighty - it has been a whopper of a week and my first post back is this little meme. I got tagged by Keri over at "Life of Logan"

Rules, because there are always rules:
- Mention the person that tagged you.
- Complete the lists of 8's.
- Tag 8 of your wonderful bloggy friends.
- Go tell them you tagged them!

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO(not in any specific order):
* Sleeping
* Daniel standing unsupported by himself
* School being out so Daniel can sleep in (and me too!)
* Getting Daniel Eco 14 set up completely how we want
* Getting Daniel's IEP this Friday over with!!
* Brittany to come home from school for the summer
* Caitlin & Alexandra to get married to their significant others
* Tori to have a successful softball season

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY: (sheesh I don't know that I can remember)
*Went to Daniel's speech therapy
*Cleaned the house
*Sewed an eagle beak for a play
*Made some more custom crowns
*Made phone calls for insurance issues (oh joy)
*Went to bed right after Daniel went to bed! nice!
*Got 2 bikes from my sister in hopes that I will ride and be skinny
*Paid bills

8 THINGS I WISH I COULD DO:
* Find about 10 extra hours in a day.
* Help Daniel to become stronger so he can be like every other little boy
* Give Daniel his voice
* Be more talented.
* Have more than one of me so I can be everywhere and not miss out on anything
* Get my parents back but healthy
* Not be so stressed all the time
* Be wiser, so I knew I was making the right decisions instead of guessing and hoping I'm doing things right.

8 SHOWS I WATCH:
* American Idol
* Anything on Food Network
* Sponge Bob (not by choice)
* Max & Ruby (has anyone ever noticed that there is NEVER a parent around?!)
* Medical Mysteries
* Any cartoon that will make Daniel and Lonnie :) happy.

8 BLOGGERS TAGGED
I don't like tagging, as I can never get anyone to do it!! So if you read this and you'd like to be tagged and have a little fun....I now tag YOU!!

Birthday Party Giveaway!

WIN IT!!! AN $80.00 VALUE!!

One of you lucky readers is going to win their own "Better Than Normal" birthday party set! This includes one special customized & personalized crown for your child and 5 additional basic crowns for party favors/hats for the guests! No two crowns will be alike!

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE A BLOGGER ACCOUNT, JUST LEAVE A COMMENT OR ENTER YOUR BLOG IN ON MR. LINKY!!

YOU ONLY HAVE TO DO ONE OF THE WAYS TO ENTER OR YOU CAN DO ALL TO GET EXTRA ENTRIES!!!

Ways To Enter:

1. Take either of our cute buttons (Daniel's or Better Than Normal Bee) and put it on your blog.
   (Or, if you want me to love you forever, take both!)
   
   
   
   
   <a href="http://betterthannormal.org/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="photobucket"src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh12XvbeX_fX42RAjP8qbYnBa4CSK-f4z0VBeidWLwm7vLE3MU5GAqBnxcQGL4o3fFDZAzrBlEjG79J9ExXQKRQNNZdJ3HTIyLZoCMGqeMKCc_3-ZeRoEDboBYSgeGJzlihhIJt_ShFnyM/"/></a>
   
   
   
   
   <a href="http://danielspranger.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://i732.photobucket.com/albums/ww323/vidasista/daniel.png"/></a>
   
2. Visit BetterThanNormal.org and tell me which special crown you would want if you won!
3. Become a follower if you aren't already on either this blog or my other blog. ( Be SURE to do this! Lots of people have missed out by skipping this step! Do it on both you get 5 extra entries!!)
4. MUST DO: Post a comment on this post telling me which of the above or below you did!. If you don't have a blogger account remember to add your email address so I can contact you!
   

If you'd like EXTRA Entries:

1. Post about this giveaway specifically on your blog and link back to here for 10 extra entries.
2. For FIVE extra entries, purchase anything from Better Than Normal before the end of this giveaway. If you win your original purchase will be refunded plus the shipping.
3. Follow me on twitter - 2 extra entries
4. Tweet about this giveaway. Please leave the link to your "tweet" in a comment. - 1 extra entry
   

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on April 30th when I will draw a winner at random. PLEASE leave your email address if it is not visible on your profile. I will notify the winner and they will have 36 hours to respond before I will choose a new winner!

Obviously, if you already have my button and are already a follower, all you have to do to enter a comment on the giveaway post and you could easily win!

Isn't that simple?!?! Just enter your name into Mr. Linky below and then leave a comment telling me if you did any of the extras!!

Contest open to US & Canada...Spread the word!!

Cerebral Palsy Awareness Winner

Well I hope that everyone had an enjoyable Easter weekend.

We kind of laid low and took it easy. We're a little hesitant having Daniel out and about since this is the first week in a long long time that he hasn't been sick!

That being said, it gave me time to work on things that desperately needed to be worked on around the house. Got curtains made for two rooms, got a few rooms cleaned, put together Daniel's BlueWave Potty Chair (and got peed on...what more could I ask for?!)
While I did these types of things that were much needed, Lonnie and Daniel worked on colors, shapes and playing trains.

I also got to work on making a few new crafts. Crafts are my "release". I can just relax and do them at my own pace. I have an "Ahhh moment" and just chill.

So if you can remember, last month was Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month.
Our "blogger friend" and mom to Logan & Levi had a little contest to raise awareness.

One of my crowns was to be a prize. Melanie from the Fraase Family Blog got to pick a crown for her daughter. Melanie was very cool (must be something with the name?!) and gave me some ideas of what her daughter liked and I got to get a little creative. I love when people let me come up with things! Of course after I'm done I'm nervous they won't like it either! LOL
So if you'd like to check out what the new "reversible customized" crown looks like, check out my other blog! Hopefully Melanie and her daughter Piper will enjoy it.....I enjoyed making it :)

What Happened?

I remember when everyone at the company I worked for use to say I was a neat freak.
--My house is a frickin' pig sty
Someone would walk by my office and I knew where everything was.
--Don't even think I could tell you where the car keys are half the time
I could tell you what was said during what meeting and who attended.
--Not a clue to what happened last week, let alone who was around me!
I could tell you almost word for word a conversation that happened months prior. They use to say I had the memory of an elephant.
--What did you just say?
I was so organized that everything was color coded in my files so if anyone had to come step in they could figure it out easily. I worked for a Japanese company, when you left work your desk was to be completely cleared of any papers. I would always get the compliments from the management on how organized I was and now my office looked.
--If someone from that company came into my house now they would have a heart attack. Drop right on the spot. I kid you not.
I was the trouble shooter, I took care of the emergencies, the line down situations with the Big 3. I was the one who got those "oh crap we're in trouble calls" and I took charge.
--Now I get phone calls and I am clueless, it takes me the better part of the conversation to finally figure out what issue the person is talking to me about and which child. I now usually end up getting off the phone in tears of frustration
I was the person that people came to for help because they were lost in an argument with a supplier and needy my "b*tchy" problem solving side to come out, and I would "win" because I wouldn't back down, I knew I was right and if I wasn't I was going to convince them I was.
--Why am I not winning anymore?

What the heck happened to me?!?
Somewhere along the line in the past few years that person up and took off!
I used to come home from work proud of what I had accomplished. I might have complained about it some, but then again who doesn't?

I miss that person. I miss not feeling that I am accomplishing something important. Sometimes my hubby will come home from work and tell me about an issue at work and how he is frustrated with it. I just look at him with envy. I would love to be that person I use to be, that person who felt important, that person that people looked too for guidance, the answer person. I always knew what was going on with the company and I was always the first to know things from management. I was someone.

Why does being a SAHM make me feel like I don't do anything? I do tons of things I know. I try to manage our lives, schedule things, keep bills paid with money my husband brings home. I am a care giver, a teacher of sorts, a part time pretend doctor, cook...whatever.

The question I ask myself is WHY can't I feel important as the SAHM and feel like I am contributing to our lives in a worthy, important way?
Somewhere along the line, I lost pride in myself. Lost the self esteem that I once had in myself.

Did it happen because I am not in the "working world" anymore?
Did it happen because I feel like I failed my child(ren)/husband?
Did it happen because with everything that is going on in our lives that we don't have time for maintaining a relationship?

None of this probably makes sense to a lot of people.
All I know is some how the Melanie from 2001 does not exist and is not the Melanie in 2009.
And at times that makes me very sad.

What Is More Important?

Which is more important to Lonnie; Opening Day at Tigers Stadium or Good Friday?
C'mon take a wild guess?!

One Of Those WOW Posts

There are times when I go to certain blogs to get a laugh.
Then there are time where I visit others because I know that they walk in the same shoes I do.
Some times I cruise the blogs to see if I can find information on things to help Daniel.
Then there are the times where I read something and it just gets me choked up, feels like a kick in the stomach, and I know what they are feeling.

Here is an excerpt from Rachel's Blog of a post she recently wrote:

These words almost became my mantra… “Thank you, no. This is my life. I need to be able to do this with or without help.”

Then, one day… I crashed and burned.
It’s true.
I couldn’t be strong, not for another minute.
I was curled up, in the fetal position, on the floor of our apartment and I could not stop crying… no it was more like wailing… I couldn’t stop wailing. I called Aaron at work and told him, “You have to come home. I can NOT do this!”

I broke.

I snapped.

I couldn’t imagine one more day, let alone many more years, of being strong AND brave AND responsible AND managing it all. It was just too much.

But I learned something that day, yes, the day that I was completely leveled by the thought of cracking open a can of soup and making a grilled cheese sandwich for Leah, I learned that sometimes you don’t have to be brave or pull up your boots and tromp through the waist deep mud. I learned that sometimes you’ve got to retreat.

Go to a safe place.

Lick your wounds.

Gather your strength.

Not only is there nothing wrong with retreating… it is necessary at times......

I’m not Wonder Woman or Supermom.

I am just me.

And I am sitting here pondering how sweet
sad
fragile
short
and exquisite life is.

Sometimes, I need to be reminded to take my own advice… and retreat.

Check out more of the post over at Rachel's Blog. She is a mom of two very special children, who are very lucky to have her as their mom.
My heart ached for her when I read her post.

But she is so right, how many of us Special Needs Parents brush off the help from others because we feel we need to stand strong and be the "Super Hero" parent?

Sometimes, its ok to be sad, upset, scared of what is coming, of what is happening right now, of the loss of the life you thought you were going to have. So RETREAT! like Rachel says, have your mini-melt down, get your thoughts together and start the next day. But know this, you are NOT alone, and you are NOT a bad person for feelings/thoughts that you have!