Taylor update to come

I'm feeling guilty that I haven't added a Taylor post yet. There is so much to say that I need a good, long moment to summarize. She continues to be precious and largely a happy gal - we're seeing strong progress in some areas and continued need for faith in others. In general, the road continues to be at times inspiring, joyful, challenging, testing, and long. Always, we love her deeply and we're so grateful for her sweet smiles. More to come soon....

Dancing Shoes

Sunday was a special night. It was the annual mother/son dance at our country club. These years are precious for many reasons, but one of the things I love right now is that Jake is excited to go on a date with his momma. And, I'm lucky that he can learn from the best - David has taken this opportunity to ensure Jake knows how to treat a lady down the road. Growing up in the south, I love good manners, so it's fun to see him put these skills in action.

Jake wanted to look handsome for our big night, so he got a long over-due haircut and had David take him shopping at the Gap for a new shirt. They went on an oh-so-secret outing and then returned. That night, Lauren helped me get ready. I chose a dress and she didn't think it was fancy enough, so she picked out what she deemed appropriately fancy attire. After I culled down the piles of jewelry that she picked out, I went downstairs to meet my date.

While later on I was definitely the only mom in the room in a gold sequined mini skirt, it was worth it to see his face when I walked down the stairs. He told me how pretty I looked and he looked incredibly handsome. Best of all, he took great pride in giving me a beautiful white rose corsage. It was very sweet and really cute how fun it was for him.

Then, off we went to the big night. He was careful to walk slowly with me in my heels and once we got to dinner, he happily posed for pictures with me. Then, we saw many of his friends and their mom's and needed to choose a seat. Most of the boys were sitting together for dinner with the mom's at a nearby table. Jake wanted to sit with me - my heart melted. He said, "It's our date, Mom. I want to sit with you." For being my wild and crazy boy at times, he has such a heart of gold. We loaded up on food at the buffet (Jake had three plates) and I could tell Jake had been coached to let me go first in line, etc. We had a nice conversation over dinner.

Then, the dancing began. Jake was a bit shy at first, but quickly wanted to organize a congo line. We had a great time dancing for hours. He had many friends there and it was so cute to see all his buddies cutting a rug. I know these years will go quickly and with each year, I'm so grateful that I had such a happy and willing date. And a dad who will help him grow into a good man.

Happy 2012! And here's to snow!

Happy 2012! Unfortunately 2011 was not the year of the blog, but here's to another year of not just good intentions, but also commitment. I've so much to share and catch up on that it is overwhelming, so rather than do it all at once, I'm just going to start writing. Updates will come and slowly our lives will be documented again. I love the idea of our family having a record of our milestones - big and small, serious and silly. I also hope this blog will serve as a good update to family and friends afar - leave me comments if you read a post and enjoy it.

Today was our first snow of the season and for some reason, it feels like the new year started today. We had a terrible round of illness/stomach flu over the holiday, and it finally feels like we're recovered and caught up on life. You really can't match the joy on kid's faces when it snows. The excitement of building a snowman, the delight of an unexpected snowball fight, the pleasure of a perfect snow angel on a perfectly untouched patch of snow - there really is nothing like it.

In addition to my first blog post of 2012 - I also embraced another resolution - being present. The kids were so anxious to go outside and David had just returned from a golf week-end. I was ready for a break in the action - ideally in the form of a good work-out and a moment to myself. As I helped the kids find gloves, hats and snow boots - they asked "who is coming outside with us?" In truth, I really don't like the snow. It is cold, it is wet, and invariably my feet end up freezing. My fingers are still partially numb as I type this.

But...I want my kids to have the memory of me playing with them in the snow, being present, and enjoying their laughter. So, I threw on my snow gear, packed a bag of carrots (for noses), cherry tomatoes (for smiles), and small oranges (for eyes? - who has coal anyway?), and headed outside. David brought Taylor and even though it was a wet snow - we made a memory. The kids were building snowmen and then Jake was dive tackling them, we had a snowball fight, snow angels were made, and our yard/driveway/street is littered with footprints, balls of snow, and angel prints. A successful day in the snow.

I read something the other day by Kristin Armstrong, my new favorite author. She said one of her goals as a parent is to ask "how are you?" as much as she says "hurry up", "get your shoes on", etc. This resonated with me - amidst the hussle bussle of school, sports, work, therapies, and life - taking time for fun and conversation is really the most important thing.

So it was timely yesterday when Jake paid me a huge compliment. I had just said "Jake, you are really good at art." And he replied "Mom, you are really good at...uh...making lunches. Oh, and making people happy." I've never had a greater compliment.

Here's to many more blogs this year!

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Merry belated Christmas

There are so many updates to provide, but in the spirit of kicking off the blog I'll share a few updates from Christmas. I love, love, love the holidays - we embrace many special traditions to make Christmas special for our family. This year, we went on our annual Christmas tree hunt - in search of the perfect tree, which David cuts down. We do this every Thanksgiving week-end and the kids love to decorate the tree. We have a million other decorations and the big kids think it is great fun to unwrap the decorations and place them at random through-out the house. I usually leave it for a few days and slowly morph the house into more of the design I had in mind. They also love the arrival of the Elf on the Shelf, who appears and watches their behavior - switching positions in the house overnight. This year, the elf was lazy, as I forgot to move him a few times after the kids went to bed. Jake, of course, was the first to ask why the elf hadn't moved - my favorite reasons were "he must really like that spot" or "he must be very tired." So much pressure to protect the magic of Christmas. The big kids also love to go downtown and see the teddy bear suite at the Four Seasons, gingerbread houses, ride the carousel, and see the lights. This year, Uncle Jon, Monica and Kyla were in town from Alaska so the whole Seattle family made the downtown tour together.

Of course we have to visit Santa - typcially at our country club's special dinner - where the kids can join a lot of their friends. Taylor tolerated this Santa visit pretty well - the big group Santa outing downtown - not so much. Jake had quite the list - an ipod, itouch, DS game, and silly bands. Lauren only asked for an ipod - I don't think she was taking any chances in Santa getting confused. And for Taylor, we asked for a new baby doll and Sesame Street toys.

We always have Christmas Eve with David's family and this year was extra special because Jon and family were here. The kids loved playing with Kyla. Christmas morning is our special time at home - the big kids of course go crazy and have so much fun - oh the delights of Christmas morning. Taylor enjoyed it too this year, and was healthy - such a gift.

The best part for me is still going home to Missouri to see my family - which we do every Christmas day. We leave in the afternoon and get to Missouri around midnight. The kids are always very excited to go and can't wait to get there. It's always interesting to see which new things they will try to stuff in our suitcases at the last minute - this year, Lauren had big stuffed animals and Jake chose his new bathrobe (?). They are troopers and good little travelers typically. We were worried that Taylor might get too wiped out on the long journey, but she watched Barney movies for most of the drive and was laughing hysterically. At my parent's house, we had a special time with my whole family, including my sister's and nephews. As the years go by, I'm more and more aware of how precious each year is and how much we should cherish these moments.

We flew back to Seattle on New Year's Day and the kids are still adjusting from the break and the trip. Taylor is still on Missouri time - arising at 4:45 the last few days. David and I have been taking turns getting up and we're really ready for her clock to re-set. The big kids were excited to see their friends and get back to school - which was such a relief since our beginning of school was a bit rocky.

Here are a few pictures of the kiddos in their Christmas best.

New year, new blog

Hello....Happy 2011 and welcome to the new Gurry blog. When I started Taylor's original blog, we had just found out about her ACC, and I wanted a good way to communicate updates to our family and close friends. As time went by, I let the blog slide for a number of reasons.

1. I didn't have regular updates on her condition - as we have found out over the last 2.5 years, her condition is not an urgent medical condition, but instead, a condition that she will manage her entire life. It really is a marathon, not a sprint, and most days, there aren't major updates to report. Progress is very slow and steady.
2. Over time, I felt guilty that Taylor had her own blog and Lauren and Jake did not - although they were frequently featured. And, it also became increasingly clear that ACC affects our whole family and this is a journey we will take together.
3. Mostly, our lives are so much more than ACC, or any health condition, can define us. So, this blog will highlight the breadth of our experiences - the good, the bad, the funny, the frustrating.....this approach will be more enjoyable for me, and hopefully for you.

So, new year, new blog - I hope you enjoy it.