How To Get Started, How to Continue Once I Start

Every time I go to write an entry one of two things happen: 1- I start looking at pictures to add and I get distracted by looking through all the photos of my gorgeous girls or 2- I start to think about how it has been a hard couple of months but how I do not want to focus on that so how do I highlight the positive while giving an honest picture of what life has been like?  And so, months pass and I have not written anything.  So here goes:

First- lets get some of those cute pictures out of the way...

 We took the girls to a costume store for Halloween.  Ailsa knew from the start that she wanted to be a witch.  Zoe also had an idea what she wanted but it took a while for us to figure out what she was trying to say.  In the end, we knew it had something to do with Ailsa being a witch but "no" she did not want to be a witch.  We finally figured out that Zoe wanted to be a black cat!

 To add to the theme- we made Willow their pumpkin :)

 Here is a beautiful picture from Christmas morning.  We had a fantastic Christmas.  Zoe started an antibiotic on December 23rd for an infection so she was feeling much better by Christmas Day.  Everyone was feeling well and it was so nice to spend the day as a family.  

And a cute one of the girls playing together.

We have quite a few pictures like this- Zoe sleeping.  Sometimes she is sleeping on one of us, sometimes she is with her sisters, sometimes she is just passed out in middle of the floor.  Zoe had multiple infections in September through February.  Now, she is having chronic pain issues again.  Zoe has gone though periods where she struggled with this but had been doing well for the past year until the last few months.  Zoe is frequently tired but never wants to miss out on the action so she asks to still be part of things.  She wants to go places and be in the living room with the family even when she is so tired she can not stay awake.  So this is a picture of Zoe falling asleep during story time.  We joke that Zoe is one of those kids that always falls asleep first at the slumber party and ends up with goofy photos or the word "dork" written on their forehead.  So far we have not written anything on her, just lots of photos :)

Watching someone you love struggle with chronic pain is heartbreaking.  Zoe is such a strong person and has a high pain tolerance so when she cries, we know she is really hurting.  It is hard when she needs someone to just hold her but I am trying to get other things done like nursing the baby, making dinner, etc.  Thankfully we have some great people in our life that are willing to sit and snuggle with Zoe for a while.  And Zoe gets a lot of comfort from her two sisters.  

We have many more cute photos from all the amazing things we have done lately- a trip to the Aquarium, the Science Centre, ROM (Royal Ontario Museum), CN Tower and a hockey game.  We have been so lucky to get tickets for all sorts of cool outings from the Starlight Foundation- an organisation that "brings children with serious medical conditions smiles and helps their families cope."  In between Zoe's infections and pain, we have been able to do some amazing things as a family and it is great to see the girls having so much fun.  We even went on a trip for March break.  The girls LOVED swimming in the pool every day.  We realised that Zoe's life jacket is not working for her anymore.  She is not able to get the freedom she wants since she is unable to keep her face out of the water so we have ordered a new special needs life vest/ float.  Zoe loves swimming and we hope to bring her the freedom she gets in the water.