The many faces of Emily.

Now with 80% less binky!

A new record?

Yeah, I know. I promised to be more bloggy this month. What can I say? You get what you pay for around here.

So, in an unprecedented move (read: sucking up to the readers who haven't given up on me yet) I will be going for a record five posts tonight. I've been hydrating all day, I stretched out and even ramped up my workouts lately. I think I'm both physically and mentally prepared for just such a grueling event. Now, if only Emily will cooperate. She's currently in the other room. And it's quiet. That's never good.

Ok. Wish me luck.

PS-this counts as one post.

Remember us?

I know...I know. Believe me, my absence from the blogosphere has not gone unnoticed. However, my lack of posting should be seen as a positive in regards to young Emily. If you review my early posts they were dark and troublesome and full of doubt and I just don't find myself in that place all too often anymore (check that...I still hang out there...just not because of her...never forget I'm a disturbed individual.) But mostly, I don't have time to brood when I spend my time trying to keep up with this kid. She's all over the place! Granted, it's often because she's clinging tightly to her mom (you do NOT want to be around when Mommy leaves...it gets a little loud.) But the simple fact is Ems is a machine. Walking, talking, playing, coloring, swinging, sliding...you name it, she's into it. She loves her new crab sandbox (thanks, Oppy!) and is certainly discovering a love of the outdoors this spring.

While I keep a close eye on the school calendar (just seven weeks left!) every passing moment puts us closer to her Superhip surgery in August. In three and a half months, we'll be hitting the dusty road to West Palm Beach. Perhaps I'm only kidding myself and am actually filled with the false confidence of someone who hasn't fully owned the gravity of the situation. Or maybe I'm done worrying because I trust our plan. I trust our guy. And I know...I KNOW...it's going to work. Remember...we got this.

So why worry? Enjoy the pictures and I'll try to be a little more blog-minded in May.

Already a shopper. Guh.

Relaxing after a hard day.

Bubbles...is there anything they can't do?

The statement after seeing this family shot..."God, we're old."

Happy birthday to my guys.

11 years.

I really can't believe it's been that long.

My dad has been gone for 11 years. Diagnosed with cancer on his 60th birthday and gone two years later to the day. After three tumors, multiple surgeries, countless chemo sessions and eight months of gradual deterioration at home, he needed to go. We were begging for him to go. When it was over, the house was lighter. A weight had been lifted. It was finally over. He was free.

I was just 23 at the time. I felt like I was just starting to figure things out.

Since then, I've gone back to school, found the job I was made for, met my wife, bought a house, and had a little girl that would have turned my dad inside out. He'd be 73 today and I have no doubt he'd be rolling on the floor laughing and playing with her like a man half his age.

That's the part that hurts.

As much as I would enjoy sitting next to him at Wrigley Field, playing golf together or just talking hoops, I would give everything I own to see him play with Emily for one day. She would have him wrapped around her finger within seconds. That's kinda her thing.

And as I think of him this week, it's amazing how he still plays a role in our daughter's future. The other day, Kate casually mentions to me, "hey, you know who shares your dad's birthday? Dr. Paley."

If that's not a sign, I don't know what is.

We got this.

I wish I liked anything as much as she likes this.

Just because.

Do I have to say anything?

Ems loves Gram.

I think the feeling is mutual.

I love Saturday mornings.

Emily is in the playroom getting acquainted with classic cartoons (Hong Kong Phooey! Nice!) which means I finally have a moment to put a couple posts together. Nothing grand, just a few recent pictures. I promise to sit down very soon in an effort to hack through something moderately informative/entertaining regarding our beloved Ems, Easter and, of course, March Madness. In the meantime, all the best to those of you who keep checking in.

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

We don't like to talk about it a lot around here, but our Director of Photography had a birthday yesterday (I won't mention her age, but it rhymes with "flirty".) While the staff tried to keep the day as low key as possible, it did involve a shiny new lens for her camera. What does it do? Hell if I know. It's some superzoom, autofocus, kinda fisheye, type...or something. The point is, she was pleased and that means a whole bunch of new pictures. And two days in a row with new posts. Sweet!

A long, slow exhale.

Think back to 1994 and the movie Forrest Gump. Jenny just took off on Forrest in the middle of the night. Upset and unsure, our hero takes off running, going back and forth across the country, gaining followers, helping the citizenry with their various issues and perhaps inadvertently inventing the grunge look. There's that great scene in the middle of the desert where it's revealed he's been running for three years, two months, 14 days and sixteen hours. He stops...turns...his followers chatter excitedly "quiet...quiet...he's gonna say something!" And he just says, "I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home now."

What's my point? Why does there have to be a point? Can't you just enjoy the flashback to a great movie? God, you're greedy.

(quick sidenote...I never tire of this film. I would watch it ten times just for the scenes with the drill sergeant. I'm laughing just thinking about it. But I digress.)

Ok, so there's a point; when there's this much time between blog posts, I feel like I need to come up with something for my followers that's really clever and poignant and inspirational...and I don't always have it. So I apologize in advance for a lack of, uh, whatever it is you're looking for that I'm not delivering.

A quick update. Basketball season has ended. Wins were tough to come by (we finished 5-15) but the kids never stopped working hard, they improved exponentially and I think we've set ourselves up for a strong run next season. Emily was a big hit with the team and they were genuinely annoyed when hearing their mascot would not be in attendance at games. Kate and Gram were troopers about trying to get her there, but it's tough chasing after an active 16 to 18 month old when you're trying to watch the action. Plus, as soon as Ems would get in the gym and see me, she would just point at me, call out "Daddy!" and try to run across the floor. LOVE her.

But now that the season is over, my schedule has opened up tremendously. I'll actually be home and awake for more than 90 minutes a night (I definitely saw my team FAR more than my own family this season...it's helpful that the girls on my team are really nice.) Throw in the fact that it's February break, and I've been able to spend more time with my two favorite ladies in the last three days than I have in the last three months. You know what I've found? I kinda like 'em.

I know, I know...you want to hear about the kid. Well, I don't blame you. Because she's awesome. Non-stop. Constantly going and playing and talking and everything you'd expect out of an 18-month old with the whole world in front of her. She's on her second pair of lifted New Balance (not stolen shoes, mind you...her second pair of shoes with one three-inch lift) and she wears them all the time. If she doesn't wear them, no biggie, because she's strolling around regardless. It's hard to describe...she just does so well. And I get it, every parent has a kid who is the smartest, cutest, most coordinated, blahblahblah. Johnny's vocabulary is so advanced! Sally's walking at 10 months! Susie's been invited to compete in the Future Tramps Pageant! But when you've got a kid with a significant disability, that forces you to adjust expectations a bit. The thing is, she won't let us. She just won't stop. You get the feeling she doesn't have it in her to stop. Add to it the fact that she actually might be the smartest, cutest, blahblahblah...and we're getting a daily lesson in how to handle adversity. Emily's method? Plow through it. Laughing.

I suppose that's one of the reasons why I haven't been posting as often (aside from the 13-hour work days for the last three months.) Initially this was my therapy session. By putting my thoughts out into the blogosphere and hearing back from all of you made this somehow manageable. Maybe it will work out. It did for some people! We'll get this leg thing taken care of. Or, maybe we won't. But either way, she'll be fine. Right? Won't she? Sure, she will. Why not.

It's been a year since we first met with Dr. Paley. A year since we finally turned the corner from constant doubt to that first flicker of confidence. I don't have those doubts anymore, or at least not as often. I'm not looking for the same reassurance. As I watch her grow and mature and develop into the dynamo that she is, I know she'll be fine. I know she can fight through it. And I've got a world-renowned doctor who's going to do his part to make sure it happens.

But there's more. I recently heard from a young lady named Aeryn who is a student at University of Michigan. Much like Emily, Aeryn was born with unilateral PFFD which affected her right leg. Through four separate lengthenings at the hands of Dr. Herzenberg in Maryland, Aeryn was able to make up an astounding 14 inch discrepancy between her right and left leg. (Even as I write that, it seems beyond the realm of possibility. 14 inches. Stunning.) When she graduates next December, she'll make that walk with two equal legs. While she admits the process isn't for everyone, she says that it's "ABSOLUTELY worth it."

We got this.