National Believe Day

Today is National Believe Day. Makes you want to sit down with some cocoa and watch "Miracle on 34th Street", doesn't it?  Or maybe you'd rather celebrate a different way by helping children like the Dancing Queen have a wish come true.

Every year, Macy's puts out giant Christmas mailboxes in their store. If you drop a stamped letter to Santa in the mailbox, Macy's will get it to the post office, but more importantly, Macy's will also donate $1.00 to Make A Wish.  For National Believe Day, Macy's gives $2.00 for every letter!  Just think of all the wishes Macy's can grant if we all dropped off our letters to Santa!

Not sure Make A Wish is worthy of braving the department stores on a Friday two weeks before Christmas?  Take one look at these smiles, courtesy of Make A Wish just yesterday:

 

 

 

Still not sure? The Dancing Queen will be starting her first infusion of Hizentra this weekend (immunoglobulin therapy otherwise known as a borrowed army that fights yucky bugs/germs).  She has been dreading it because she will need a shot in her belly.  No amount of telling her the needles are small has helped.  But last night, after she received the package from Make A Wish and was reminded of her upcoming big wish coming true, she took the discussion of the Hizentra two hour infusion much better. Make A Wish gives kids a reason to smile. And even though my girl manages to usually smile despite the hell that is her life, Make A Wish, has made those smiles bigger.  I can't imagine how big the smiles will be when her wish is actually granted.

So, on National Believe Day, won't you drop your letter to Santa at Macy's?


(This post is from the heart. No money was given to me for posting.)

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PS
You can find more of the Dancing Queen at Jodifur's Shoe Friday! 

Scary Noises

Saturday night, around 10:00 pm, we heard it--the sound that has the ability to stop both the Mad Scientist and I dead in our tracks. I looked at him and I could see the fear quickly envelop his entire being. The tension and stress in the air could be cut with a knife.

Are you wondering what noise could cause such a reaction? Was it the sound of breaking glass or a crackling fire? Was it the sound of sirens blaring or an animal knocking something over outside?

No, the noise was a simple cough, heard over the baby monitor.

We are not overly protective parents by any means. We do not chase after our children with clorox wipes. And, as any regular readers know, both kids attend school and day care, chock full of germy kids with questionable hygiene practices (they are kids after all).


Yet, we totally freak out when we hear the Dancing Queen cough.

We didn't start out this way.  If she coughed, she coughed. We treated it like we treat TRex's coughs--a simple cold that would lead to runny noses, but would go away in a couple of days. No big whoop. But, we've become jaded over time. Or are we more realistic?

Either way, we know that all too quickly a cough can turn into something more. We've seen a fever take her from a normal kid to almost intubated in a matter of hours. And 10 day stints at the hospital usually start with just a cough.  Even without hospitalization, with each bug, DQ takes one more antibiotic and inches herself closer to the day none of them work any longer.  (I counted, since this day last year, DQ has had 27 courses of antibiotics, well over 200 days.)

I'm happy to say that Sunday, she was fine, save some blood in her ear (normal for her).

This morning, she did wake up coughing and complaining of chest pains, so she stayed home from school and saw the doc. It "appears" as though we caught the bug quickly. Hopefully, course 28 of antibiotics for the year will take care of it.  Until the bug is gone though, the Mad Scientist sit here waiting for the other shoe to drop. We try not to worry, but we've been burnt too many times before.