Ice Cream and a Bikini

Catchy title, huh?

So today was another rough day but in a very different way.
Owen's having a tough time. Since Todd's out of town, I'll just use the blog to vent. It is hard for me to describe my frustrations. I hurt for my baby. He's come a long way in the past few months and just when I thought we were turning the corner, this week has been very rough. In the grand scheme of things, I'm sure it is a small step backwards, but I don't want any more backwards steps. I want huge gigantic leaps forward.

We stayed home this morning and did some crying.
Then, I went for a run and put my "we can do this" attitude back on and decided we all needed to get out of our pj's and out of the house.

So after naps, we loaded up.
The sky was stormy, so I needed somewhere we wouldn't get soaked.
I also needed somewhere that would tolerate a screaming toddler.
Aha - the mall with a parking deck.
That will do.

I brought the camera because I promised the kids ice cream, and last time they had ice cream, I really wished I had a picture of Isaac's face covered in ice cream, so the camera came along for the ice cream. By the time we got to the ice cream, Owen was screaming again, so there are no pictures of the ice cream and I'm wondering how many times I can type the words ice cream before they truly become annoying.

Anyway - before dinner and ice cream, we had some time to kill.
So, we shopped for bathing suits.
For me.
Not fun.
Didn't find one.
Emma Grace wanted me to buy this one. She said I would look fabulous in it.
Me: "I'm flattered, but I'm not sure our neighborhood would agree."

I tried on this shirt because the kids liked it. All the beading was real and we couldn't believe it was only $30.
HA! Upon closer inspection...
The pink tank top underneath it was $30. The shirt with all the neat, real beading on it was $138. Maybe I can go back and get it when it's discounted to 90% off.
We were oohing and aaahing over the shirt.
Hence the very weird face I'm making.

Isaac and Chewbacca jumped off of houses.
You know, because that's what jedis do.

And yes, I know this picture is blurry.
But I had to get this shot and I had to post this shot.
This smile has been missing for the past few days.
It's a beautiful smile and I was so very glad to see it.

What made Owen smile in such a way?
His brother goofing off, of course.
Because evidently that's another thing jedi knights do -
they make their siblings feel better.

We all four came home in high spirits with high levels of energy (from said ice cream).

We'll be back at UNC on Friday, seeing specialists and tinkering with meds, and hopefully my littlest guy will be feeling much better soon.

But until then, I'm going to try to keep on my "we can do this" attitude.
Because you know what?
We totally can.