Halloween Fun with a Little Hand

Well as always Halloween was a great time.  Haylee has always loved Halloween because of the candy.   But she also loves it because it is the one time of the year where she can dress up and be anyone she wants to be.

This year she dressed up as a blood vampiress..  She was super cute and brought home a ton of candy.

Haylee has also adapted very well to carrying her trick or treat basket on her little hand so that she can get candy with her big hand.   The only little problem we had this year was her little hand got a little cold.

How was your Halloween?

Zhu Zhu For Me Zhu Zhu For You

I remember when Zhu Zhu’s first came out and Haylee begged me for a Zhu Zhu pet.  I will admit I did not give in at first.  But since that day the Zhu-niverse has expanded, I finally gave in and now have many Zhu Zhu’s in my house.

Many years and Zhu Zhu’s later we now have a whole Zhu-niverse in my daughters room.  We have pets, puppies, hamsters, kung Zhu’s and so many different things to play with that on a good day I can’t even count how many there are and don’t think we could ever get bored playing with Zhu Zhu’s.

One of my favorite things about Zhu Zhu’s is that you can’t out grow them.  My 9 year old daughter has them, my 5 year old nephew has them, and my 10 year old niece even collects them.  Recently, we have added a new Zhu Zhu Puppy, Zhu Zhu Puppy outfit and Fun Time Laundry Room to my daughters never ending Zhu-niverse.   And I have to be the first to admit that both my daughter and myself have had an amazing time playing, dressing, and washing her Zhu Zhu puppies cloths.  I think that thing that made me really smile about the Laundry Room was the fact that even Zhu Zhu Puppies need to wash their cloths and take care of themselves.

We have had so much fun with our Zhu Zhu puppy and outfit that we have the opportunity to share a Zhu Zhu puppy and outfit with you.  All you need to do is leave us a comment telling us who in your house or family would like to adopt a Zhu Zhu Puppy and why you think they would like to Adopt one.  We will choose the winners on September 12th.

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Why We Love Crocs

So as many of you know we are madly in love with crocs.  But not because of the same reasons that average person is.  Have you ever gone into a croc store and really looked around?  First if you have not you have to go do it and plan to send half they day there madly in love with everything you see.  But it is not because of all the pretty colors and different styles.

It is because Crocs slip on.  And for us that is awesome.  Because with one hand, tying your shoes is very hard.  With crocs they have so many different styles of shoes that we can find slip on shoes for just about all seasons.

Crocs not only had 10 fingered kids in mind when they created crocs but they also had our kids with special needs in mind.  They make it so easy for our kids to still be stylish but also be able to slip on these shoes and go.

Haylee loves this because she does not have to ask her teachers or friends at school to help her lace her shoes up.

So the next time you go to buy a awesome pair of shoes.. remember who makes buying shoes super easy.. CROCS…..

Thank you to Crocs for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Crocs’ new Back to School line. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Our Critter Friends Looking For New Homes

Sometimes missing fingers cause hurt feelings

Ok so our child was born different.  Ok so our child was born with a limb difference due to Amniotic Band Syndrome or whatever other reason might of caused our children to be different.  But does that give your children any right to be mean to my child?  We did not choose for our children to be born with a missing hand, or fingers, or arm, or leg, or nubs.  We did not choose for everyone to stare out our children and make them feel different.  But would we change anything about our children.. NEVER!

This weekend something happen that really pulled my heart strings.  It was a very hard situation but we made it through it.  We went camping like we do most weekends.  And Haylee decided to go play on the playground.  She was gone for about 10 minutes when she came back trying so hard not to cry.  Of course first look and I could tell something was wrong.  I asked her what was wrong and she said nothing.  I asked her again and she began to cry.

She said Mom they said I was scary and creepy.

THEY SAID WHAT???

WHO SAID THAT????

She said mom don’t go over there making a big deal out of it.  I told her that I will always stick up for her and have her back. She smiled.  She said they all gathered around her looking at her hand and then one child said something and it went from there.  She said it hurt her feelings and they would not play with her.

I explained to her that as much as we want to blame the children for what they say that often times it is not their fault because it is the parents that don’t explain to their children that every one is different one way or another and that just because someone is different does not make them scary or creepy…

I don’t understand how one child could say to another child you are scary and creepy.  How would they like it or react if my daughter told them the same thing.  They would be mad or hurt also… They would want to go have some words with my child if she said something like that to their child…. NO!

But I have to remember.  Haylee has been loaned to me from God because he has huge plans for her and I need to go the direction he points me.

SO I am sure you are wondering how things ended.  Well I told Haylee come on I am sure they just don’t understand.  Let’s go teach them.

So I went back with Haylee and when the first boy started to stare I said.  You know it really is not polite to stare but if you have a question we would be more than happy to answer your questions.  And let me tell you the questions started coming.  We answered all of them and by the time we were done playing Haylee had tons of new friends that were educated on how to react next time they see something different.

So as much as we want to over react and freak out sometimes we have to take a step back and look at the big picture first..

 

First Day of 5th Grade

I still look back to the day Haylee was born and all the worries I had with her having a upper limb deformity due to Amniotic Band Syndrome.  I worried about the kids teasing her because she had small nubbs on her little hand.  I worried about what she would not be able to do with only one hand.  Let’s just face it.  I worried about everything.

And here we are 10 years later and Haylee’s first day of 5th grade.  And Haylee is doing everything all the other kids in her class were doing.   Everything except Monkey Bars.  That one really still bothers her.  She wants to bad to be a monkey like all the other kids but with only five fingers to hold on it just is not happening.

Fifth grade is just the be beginning for us.  She is about to be a tween and that is when the fun begins.  But you know the awesome thing about her becoming a tween.  She is going to be an amazing tween that does anything the other kids do but with one hand instead of two.

Fifth grade is when we start worrying more about our hair and outfit.  Firth grade is the year before we get into middle school.  Fifth grade is someone what of a mile stone.  It is when you little princess turns into a tween and begins to really shed her wings and grow into something amazing.

So here is to our first day of 5th grade.

 

All Wrapped Up Wordless Wednesday

Standing out in the crowd with Amniotic Band Syndrome

Amniotic band syndrome makes our kids stand out in a crowd.  Even if they have been effected so very little that no one even notices they still stand out in a crowd from all the other kids. ABS effects each child differently.  Physically and emotionally.

As most of you probably know we moved to a new town about 7 months ago and although Haylee did to go to school here for half a year she still has not made tons of friends and to be honest Jim and I have not made too many friends either.

So today I noticed as we were standing in line at a buffet Haylee began to hid her hand and cover it up.  This confused me and puzzled me for a minute until we were able to get to the table and talk about it.  I asked Haylee why are you hiding your hand?  She said everyone was staring at me.  I said no sweetie.  This is a small town and our whole family is new.  They were staring at Mom and Dad way more than you trying to figure out who we were and what we were doing there.   You know how small towns are.  She smiled right away and said oh yah I forget and the little hand came back out.

But I have to also remember that Haylee is going to be 10 years old soon and has become more worried about her appearance and what people think of her and also has become worried about fitting in and making friends.  She is worried about standing out in the crowd since she has a little hand and no one else around here does.

I often times sort of forget about Haylee’s hand because it is so normal to me and I have to remember that she is different and she needs those extra special hugs and kisses to reassure her that everything is ok and that she is going to have the most amazing life imaginable.

So as our children grow older we have to continue to talk to them.  Tell them how special and important they are.  Tell the that standing out in a crowd is not always a bad thing but also a good thing too.  Remind them that they are beautifully made and that God has huge plans for them.

Haylee Speaks Out About ABS

Haylee has a message to all ABS children and their parents. Something you want to watch. This is Haylee’s first video of many to come.  Haylee did the recording, script and editing all by herself… Hope you love it.

Haylee tells ABS parents

So I asked Haylee if there was one thing that Haylee could tell parents of kids that have little hands or children born without hands or fingers due to Amniotic Band Syndrome what would it be?

“They can do everything everyone else can do… Except Monkey Bars!”