Imagination...

I cannot tell you how many times a week I stop and think, "I need to blog about this..." and it just doesn't happen. Life happens and blogging often doesn't. I'm not going to promise to do better, I will promise to try to do better! Last weekend Jimmy and I took Landon to Hershey, PA. We left Friday afternoon and returned home Sunday afternoon. It was a quick trip but honestly, it was nice not to be gone very long. It's been a wonderful, exciting summer but I am beginning to feel the effects of being on the run a lot. Baby #2 raises pokes at me from time to time and says, "Mommy slow down. Remember, you have to take care of me too!" I will mention, by the way, that my sonogram is on Monday and we hope to learn that we have a healthy baby who is developing just perfectly and whether we have a he or she growing baking in there! When I say healthy, I mean that all of the organs are the right size and look just right. We won't know until the baby is about 2 months old whether he/she has Cystinosis or not.. I was asked recently but someone in the Cystinosis community why we are not doing prenatal testing and why I would take that chance.. It's a fair question and one that I imagine other people, who know us personally and who just know us in the cyber world wonder. My answer is, because it's right for our family. Landon is an incredible blessing... He is not damaged. Many of us throughout our lives will have to take medicine for lots of different reasons. We can't predict what our health will be like or what life changing events will occur... Landon and this child are no different. Is life a little more complicated sometimes? Yep. Do I feel sad about what he goes through? At times. Do I know what the future will look like for Landon? No, I have hopes and dreams though. Do other parents know what the future holds for their children? No, but I bet they have hopes and dreams too. I know that my boy is the most special, the sweetest, the cutest, funniest, most entertaining little boy on this planet. If you're a parent, I bet you know that too (about your girl or boy). So why not bring another beautiful, wonderful child in this world? Today I took Landon to a Gymboree class... they are, by the way, wonderful classes! The instructors encourage learning and fun and using your imagination. At the end of the class, as usual, the instructor gave me a piece of paper that included the lessons that we were learned and what skills they touched on along with suggestions for activities to do at home. The instructor pointed one out specifically and told me that it's lots of fun and kids learn a lot from it. When we got home I looked at the lesson. It was very cute and encouraged using the imagination, counting, critical thinking, listening etc.. Suddenly I felt like I am missing the boat a bit. I looked at our calendar for next week... therapy 3 days a week, visit relatives, business meeting for my MOMS group, try to fit in another activity for MOMS group since we've been invisible lately, one day of Gymboree class since school starts soon and our membership will expire.. Add in grocery shopping and the other errands that pop up as the week goes on.. Whew! What about Mommy and Landon activities that involve more than shooting cars across the floor, throwing and catching ball and playing in bed under the covers? Are those things important? Absolutely. But what happened to my imagination? I have wonderful activities at my finger tips thanks to the classes we've attended, child development websites and Pinterest. They are in a virtual folder in Pinterest labeled "Kid Stuff." I have yet to try one of them. Now I know some of you reading this will respond by saying, "you have so much going on. You're doing a great job!" It just makes me re-evaluate things. Would Landon learn a lot of the skills that we are working on in therapy through these kinds of activities? Would making the time to do activities be just as, or more, advantageous then weekly therapy? I never want to look back on the time that we spent when he is this age and have regret. I want to set him up for success.. Decisions, decisions...