Little Mother Hen

When Georgia was born Maya jumped right into the role of being 'big sister'. She was always fascinated by babies and loved to help out as much as she could. She gave up her naps immediately following Georgia's arrival because she was so afraid that she was going to miss something. She loved to help change her diapers and give her a bath. She even loved to carry around her baby dolls and loved all of the accessories that came with them, from bouncy chairs to bottles. Calla has always loved being a big sister too, but she has never been quite as interested in babies. She loves to interact with them for a while but then she is off to play.

Maya was our Little Mother Hen from the time that she could walk. Still a baby, she wanted to hold babies almost as big as her. She was also always concerned about their well being, running to tell an adult if she thought something bad was about to happen. Then...Georgia died. Looking back now I didn't even realize all of the changes that my girls exhibited. While Calla would often ask about why others had babies and we didn't, Maya just simply shut down when she was around them. Both of the girls ignored any babies for the most part acting almost like they didn't exist.

Times have changed. Last Sunday my cousin came into town with her twins (9 months). Little Mother Hen was back in full force. Maya was concerned when they were crying, fascinated when they were being changed and fed, worried when they crawled a little bit too far, and thrilled when I placed one of them in her arms. She talked about them on the way home and the next day. She has asked when she will see them next and continues to refer to them. When I took her out the other morning she was fascinated by a baby in a stroller, trying to get a better look and wondering if if was a girl or a boy.

Both of the girls now think that it's hilarious when they feel the baby move or even funnier if they see her move. They both like to cuddle up to my big belly and wait for her to kick them in the hand or the face. : ) Maya looked at me the other day and said, "Mom, when is that baby ever going to come out of you? " Soon Maya.

I had been worried that a new baby might throw our Maya for yet another loop. I have been worried that if she doesn't get enough of my attention she is going turn into herself again and lose that spunk. Every once in a while I have asked myself if we should have waited just a little bit longer. Now, I see that Maya will continue to thrive and grow and learn just like she did when we had Georgie with us. We now await our fourth gift with nothing but excitement. Life truly is filled with abundance.

Thank you for sharing Jonathan and Sydney with us Kylie. You'll never know how a few hours has changed our Maya yet again.

Love to you all,

Kirsten

Updates

As many of you know a while back I joined Facebook. While I find the world of Facebook to be somewhat overwhelming it has allowed me to connect with people that I haven't seen in years, join and support causes (most of which are SMA related) and laugh at all of the amusing antics of everyday lives of so many people. I find it a lot harder to keep up with all that is going on with Facebook compared to my quiet life of blogging but I do keep trying and have to admit that I am often inspired by all of the wonderful things that are going on in the world of SMA.

If you want to feel inspired check out the link on the right hand side, under my blog list and read about Stephen Taylor. He is going to run 100 miles in honor of his friend Owen who passed away from SMA at the age of 23 months. 100 miles - Amazing! Thanks for helping to raise awareness Stephen. We look forward to seeing you reach your goal.

Remember the charm bracelet that my friend Tanya made for me. It has beautiful pictures of Georgia and the girls as well as many other personal touches. Well, she has now teamed up with The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation and you can purchase your very own personal bracelet and help SMA in the process. With your purchase you would get one charm about SMA and the rest would be your choice. All of the details can be found under the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation on the Strong's website.

The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation also has a few other ways that you can help support by shopping! Through Beb-e-ssentials you can order very cute and affordable butterfly hair clips or you can purchase one of their very cute hats. Just click on the Gwendolyn's site and then scroll down categories until you find the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation. All of the information is there. We are looking forward to some clips and a baby hat for our new arrival.

Lastly, for those of you following on Facebook you may remember that through the Pepsi Refresh project we all voted and won $250 000 for GSF. There are two other SMA related charities up this month and you can help by simply clicking once, well make that twice a day now through the end of the month. Remember, that the research claims that SMA will be cured in 5-10 years if enough money is granted. Check out my Facebook page if you're unsure about how to make this happen.

We've had to put the lemonade stand on hold for a while. Anybody living here in Winnipeg knows why. It has been raining since last Thursday and the weather is really quite cool, almost cold. If it keeps up for much longer Aria may be hanging out at the stand too! : )

That's it for now. Thank you to all of you that continue to support us through reading, sharing, voting etc. We would not have survived this last year without all of you.

Love to you all,

Kristen