Two weeks ago my cousin, Lindsey, who lives near Atlanta, texted and asked if I was available the following Wednesday (July 3rd). I had that day and the 4th off, so she came down to visit and meet Emma for the first time! We planned to go out to dinner with her, but Michael thought it was too hot outside, even just to get Emma in and out of the car, so Lindsey and I picked up food from Chipotle instead. We ate in the dining room with Michael while Emma took a late nap, and we had a really great time talking and laughing like the good ol' days. Since Lindsey was spending the night, she was able to watch us do treatments, trach care, and read a library book to Emma called "Carmela Full of Wishes".
Last summer we had planned to take Emma to see fireworks, but then last minute Michael worried about her getting too hot or there being mosquitoes, or people getting too close to her oxygen tank with sparklers, or her having a breathing problem and being too far from home, etc. However, this summer Emma's lungs are stronger and more developed and we have taken her out on wagon rides in the evening when it was about 88 degrees and she did fine. So Michael was fine with us taking her. The other problem we had to worry about was rain. About an hour before we left the forecast for that area in Clermont said 80% chance of rain, but luckily my friend Alana lives over there. She said it had already rained earlier that afternoon (as it also had at our house), but by 7:30pm, when we were doing Emma's breathing treatments early, it looked great and clear and the clouds had passed.
Her weather report was perfect!! There was no rain by the time we found a parking spot at 8:30 and Michael pulled Emma in the wagon down to the lake. Michael brought the beach chairs for us to sit in, and after we picked our spot in the grass, I walked down to the vendors and got us two Amish pretzels!
The pictures may be low quality, but the family fun was HIGH quality!! (Next time we'll have to bring the new Canon! I didn't even think about it this time.) Emma absolutely LOVED the fireworks show. She always loves looking at lights, whether it's a regular ceiling light or a light-up toy that changes colors. I say she's like a moth! So we figured she would love the fireworks and we were definitely right about that. She gazed in awe, smiled and laughed, flapping her arms, and kicking her legs. I got a couple great reaction videos. She never even flinched at the extra loud booms. Seeing her enjoy it so much totally made it worth the fact that I only got four hours of sleep that night (since my body woke up at 4:30, an hour early, for work the next morning).
^^ This last photo was the only one I got of me and Emma -only because I specifically asked Michael to take it- since I'm always the one taking the photos. So yesterday I asked Michael to take better pictures of me and Emma at the front of the neighborhood when I got home from work. They still had flag decorations up and I knew Emma and I both had red tank tops, so we could be twins! Michael got a lot of great shots and Emma laughed a lot when we waved the flag in front of her.
Emma's current favorite game- Grab & Throw! Usually she even laughs after because throwing things is super hilarious when you're 2 years old. :)
Instead of linking to an older blog post, here are pictures from Emma's two previous 4th of Julys, starting with last year when we went to over to our neighbors' (Ashley & Ryan) house for dinner. She slept a lot during the first one in 2017, which was fine as she was only a few weeks old. So teensy! :)
I tend to get really pumped about the 4th of July a few days later, seeing other blogger moms and their (non-medical) kids out enjoying picnics and participating in patriotic parades. I put a reminder on my calendar for the end of June 2020 to start researching fun stuff we can do around town, as well as coordinating cute red, white, and blue outfits for cliche matching photos. We definitely have to make the most of the day, especially if it's Emma's favorite holiday, which makes it our favorite holiday!!
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