Retouch

I have recently found a great feature in my photo program.
The RETOUCH.
Have an annoying pimple - no problem RETOUCH and it's gone.
That dirty face but beautiful smile - RETOUCH!

Sometimes I photoshop a couple of pictures together - especially when I have 2 kids that like to look and smile at the camera at different times.
I generally use the old fashioned paint program, but this retouch lets me smooth out some of the edges.

Or to put some open eyes on my sister!

But then when I was going through some of my favorite pictures I was retouching other things.
First it was one of my favorite new years pictures - a New Years kiss!

Here is the original picture. I love this picture, but the marker (even 3 weeks later) at the scar just takes away from the picture.

I was going through over 600 pictures on the computer - and these are just my favorites! To run through as a background or screen saver, so I was fixing up the colours and rotating them ect. And of course using RETOUCH to take away those pesky distractions.

That's when things took a wrong turn.
I got to this picture.
It is from last summer, look how happy they are!
(Actually Nick's shirt says my mommy is totally going to blog about this)

And I brought that little RETOUCH arrow down.

Down to that distraction. It's not a pimple, or bits of food.
That ugly, ugly belly scar. I hate it, the back one, I'm good with, but I don't like that belly scar...

And there is his beautiful tummy sans scar.
It felt wrong right away. And I immediately changed it back.

Food and pimples yes, but scars. A definite, definite no!
Scars are permanent, scars are part of who we are (the same with mole and birth marks - I don't want to retouch those).

Because I love this picture. This is my son, he is strong, he is whole, he is perfect.

I don't feel that this retouched picture is more perfect. Where is the scar?! I really don't like this following picture at all. It is flawed. It is just wrong.

I never, ever would have RETOUCHed a back picture, except for the purposes of this blog.

Pictures are supposed to show who we are, they are supposed to show joy, sorrow, laughter, boredom or just plain life. I don't need a RETOUCH button for my life (just maybe for some pimples)

Ready for a Sunny Summer!

The weather has been simply summer-ish!

So out comes all of the outside toys and our backyard looks like it belongs to a couple of kids!

First comes out the art supplies. What better place to paint than outside in the natural light.

And now that Nickolas realizes that he can actually walk around in the play house, it is his favorite place to be. Nick has full freedom inside that house. The two of them can actually play together outside! And not just sitting in the sandbox.

There is playing baseball!
We have a gazebo, and Katheryn likes to run around the bases. That is actually how we spent Mothers Day!

STRIKE ONE!

I had to buy a t-ball stand when I found out I am a horrible pitcher - if I didn't hit Katheryn with the ball, I was too high/too low/too wide!

 Nickolas really happy to hit the ball, I'm still teaching him the right side of the bat!

Nick was actually just really happy to stand at the T-ball thing in his walker.

He was significantly less happy when he realized I wanted him to walk on the grass with his walker!

This is his 'ha ha I'm getting down' face... "NO WALK"

The slide is another great toy that is perfect for the kids this summer too!
Katheryn has loved the slide right from the beginning, Nickolas was never that sure about it.

Now he climbs up himself, slides down, then crawls around and climbs back up.
I'm counting this as physiotherapy.

And what better way to end a nice spring/summer day than to pass out halfway up the couch!

Paying Forward!

This month has been a pay-it-forward month for me.

It started in the beginning of May when a friend of mine was looking for people to help her win a wedding. It was a pay it forward contest and she wanted to get 25 people to donate blood.

What a great idea! I jumped on that band wagon.

Only thing, (ok a couple of things) I hate needles, I have never donated blood before and I really wanted to do it. (Yes I know it is silly to be afraid of needles when I stick people with them every day)

I have thought about donating blood for a number of years, but couldn't actually get myself to make the appointment.

Well this contest got me off my butt and into a blood-donating chair!

I even got a cool sticker - and a donor card in the mail. And Canadian Blood Services personally called me to thank me for my donation! How cool is that?!
I haven't actually made my next appointment, but I'm going to - the end of June. I'm hoping I can get some friends and family to join me.

May is also Cystic Fibrosis month.
One of my best friends lost her cousin to CF last year and I have a co-worker who has a son with CF. My friend wanted to walk in this years Great Strides walk for cystic fibrosis, and so my sister Laura and I walked with her. We even fundraised a bit.

Here is Team Julia

It was a fun day

 

There was facepainting and crafts and a couple of extra events.

Katheryn LOVED the tall man with the sticks

This is the kids at the end of the day - walked out!

My feet ached all night!

Sometimes I feel that I want to donate to everything that I feel is important. Just to name a few:

Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Ontario - SWWR/Calenders

Grandview Children's Centre

Holland Blooview Kids Rehab

March of Dimes

Sick Kids Hospital

Canadian Cancer Society - Relay for Life

Weekend to End Women's Cancer

World Vision - my little girl's name is Geeta, she is 10 and lives in Nepal

Shelter from the Storm - ending violence against women

Children's Wish Foundation

Hope for Children - Adopt a Family (Children's Aid Society)

Rouge Valley Health System - Buy a Bed Campaign

Local food banks

Diabetes Association - Clothesline

Heart and Stroke Foundation

Reece's Rainbow



These are some organizations/causes ect that have affected our lives or people that I love and so I want to try to make some kind of difference.

I wish I had enough money to donate to everything!

But maybe by reading this blog - some of my 'readers' will think of a foundation or society that could really use some pay-it-forward.

And of course June is Spina Bifida Awareness month as well as our annual Spirit Wheel Walk Run (June 16 - Oshawa Lakeview Park). Our team is Nick's Cheering Squad and online donations can be made through the CanadaHelps website (very safe).

Of course I'll post more about our walk in June.

For now, it is Pay it Forward month!

**Authors note** I wasn't sure how to end this post. I have actually thought alot since posting this a couple of days ago that I come off wrong with this post. I hope you don't take it that way. I try to donate something to a number of different causes that I feel are important (and it is not always a donation of money, sometimes time or clothes). Try to to get my point across that there are a lot of places that have touched our lives and make me want to pay it forward I wanted to list who I dontate to, with links of course.

I do not mean for it to come off as bragging or saying that I'm a better person because I donate to alot of things. I don't feel that way.

What I'm hoping is that someone who has thought about doing something like this but keep putting it off (like my donating blood) will use this as an excuse to sponsor something that is important to them.

Kneeding some protection

I have a whole collection of knee pads that I bought last year.
I had always planned to make a blog post about Knees and Toes but it never happened. So this is the first of that imagined blog - I'll write about my sock search, and glove search too!

Here are some of the knee pads I have found in my searches.
Generally I can't find anything in the store, so EBAY is my friend. You have all of these products at your fingertips, and shipping isn't outrageous!
Amazon.com is also helpful, if you live in the US. Not so helpful in Canada.

Here are some of the ones that I have tried.

Baby Kneez
http://www.babykneez.ca/
$12.99

These are made out of soft cotton, almost like a tube sock.
It comes in a bunch of different colours, and it holds well in the water - doesn't dry that fast.
But nice and thick and comfortable. It stays in place and protects well.
It will stretch to go up over AFO's with some wiggling.

Snazzy Baby
ebay link 
$22.99
http://www.snazzybaby.com.au/kneepads - difficult to purchase from, but lists where you can buyy from

I didn't like these last year - I found that they left marks on the back on Nick's knees, I think because he was small and I had to tie them tighter? But they could be worn over pants.
This year they have been fitting perfectly. No marks and they have stayed in place and protects well.
Because they have straps they are easy to taken off and on over AFOs or when they aren't needed.

Baby Knees
ebay link 
$9.95

These ship from China, they desigs are kinda babyish.
They work and have breathability.
I can't find an actual site for them.


Wee Tee Baby Knees
ebay link 
It's a Canadian product
http://wee-knees.com/ - does not sell from this site, but lists stores
$14.49

These are spandex (a man-made product and so safe with latex allergies) with neoprene pads with little silicone dots for kids that could use some extra help. I really liked these last year because of the grip they helped with.
It was breathable. It comes in 2 sizes, we have been using the large - for kids over 20lbs. The site says it has different designs, but I haven't been able to find them.
These were my definate favorite last year.


Crawling Leg Warmer
ebay site
$0.55

If you want inexpensive!
Like mini leg warms. Protects, nothing special about them but the price. Like mini leg warmers, good for elbows as well.
We have the elephants ones, not very boy-ee but it works.


Krawlies
ebay site
$4.85

I can't find a non-ebay site.
The price is good - I just ordered them so I can't really review it yet.
Lightweight, bright colours. Would be hard to get over AFO's - really any of the tube ones would be. Has the silicone hears which would help with traction.


Here are some knee pads that I haven't tried, but are available.

Crawling Pads
ebay site
$7.95

Pretty basic. Other products that are similar with no bells/whistles and less expensive.
It looks like there is padding, but I don't know if it is non-slip or just padding.


Kneekers
amazon site 
www.ahgoobaby.com
does not ship to Canada, minimal purchase $75
$12.94

The legging parts seems to be long, compared to others. What is the point of this if it's summer and you wants the most leg exposed to be cool.

Lil' Melon baby knee pads
amazon site 
www.lilmelon.com
Does not ship to Canada
$14.95

I'm not that impressed with any site that refuses to ship to Canada.
These seemed to be one of the original knee pads and I probably would have bought these if they were available, but for some reason they aren't in Canada. Cute, fun designs though.

Instead of looking at actual knee pads sites sometimes I have had luck with general baby, safety stores online i.e. www.onestepahead.com

I hope this post has helped anyone searching for some knee protection for their kids.
I figured since a did a whole bunch of research into this - I might as well share!

It`s great being a MOM

Thanks to Tiffany from Growing from Obstacles for posting this! I recently found it again and wanted to share.


1. Because they never thought that "doing it all" would mean doing this much. But they do it all, and then some.

2. Because they've discovered patience they never knew they had.

3. Because they are willing to do something 10 times, 100 times, 1,000 times if that's what it takes for their kids to learn something new.

4. Because they have heard doctors tell them the worst, and they refuse to believe them.

5. Because they have bad days and breakdowns and bawl fests, then they pick themselves up and keep right on going.

6. Because they manage to get themselves together and out the door looking pretty darn good. Heck, they even make sweatpants look attractive.

7. Because they are strong. Who knew they could be this strong?

8. Because they aren't only moms, wives, cleaners, chauffeurs, cooks, and women who work. They are also physical therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, teachers, nurses, researchers, coaches, Respitory therpist and cheerlearders.

9. Because they understand their kids better than anyone else does - even if they can't talk or gesture or look them in the eye. They know - they just know.

10. Because just when it seems like things are going OK, then they're suddenly not - but they deal. They deal even when it seems like their heads or hearts might explode.

11.Because they cheer on their kids for the smallest things including just moving their legs and toes,run and play as hard as they can sing at the top of there lungs dance as fast as they can even though they are out of breath and need meds to help them breath.

12. Because when they look at their kids they just see great kids. Not kids with Spina Bifida/cerebral palsy/autism/Down syndrome/ADHD/developmental delay/Asthma or whatever it doesnt matter cause they are Just great kids.♥