Blog Archive 03/2009

Day of Diagnosis

March 31, 2009 by Victoria Strong

I told myself I never wanted to remember this day. I wanted to only commemorate positive dates in Gwendolyn's life. Yet, somehow, this day has managed to cement itself in my brain. This day last year forever changed my life -- FOREVER! I was actually making a video of Gwendolyn before I received...

March 31, 2008 - a day to forget…

March 30, 2009 by Bill Strong

March 31, 2008 - without a doubt, the worst day of my entire life. The day my cell phone rang at work and I heard Victoria's shaky voice mutter words that would confirm our worst nightmare. She didn't even need to say the words, I could sense what she had learned -- Gwendolyn's DNA test was...

Playing Dress Up

March 29, 2009 by Victoria Strong

Gwendolyn recently started to be curious about watching me apply make up. She studies the process intently and absolutely loves when I pretend to put it on her as well. So today we played Dress Up. We put hats, necklaces, and bracelets on and then applied lip gloss and faux powder. With each new...

Stacking blocks, knocking them down…

March 28, 2009 by Bill Strong

Gwendolyn loving playing with Gramma; stacking some generations old wooden blocks and knocking them down. She loves the knocking down part the most

Sleeeeeeeping beauty

March 27, 2009 by Bill Strong

This is Gwendolyn this morning after she completely passed out in her
stroller on our walk. She's NEVER done that before. No pacifier, no
music, no mini-blanket, slightly elevated and on her back -- she just
decided it was time for a nap and took one with Elmo. She's too much!!!

The marshmallow game

March 27, 2009 by Bill Strong

Gwendolyn loved the game Gramma brought with her this week. It was simple...stack a bunch of marshmallows and knock them down. The marshmallows were a great idea; small enough and light enough for Gwendolyn to hold on to. Although Gwendolyn loved the stacking and knocking down, her favorite was...

Story time with GrandPa

March 26, 2009 by Bill Strong

Victoria's dad has one of those voices. I'm not sure if it's the deep pitch or the British accent or both, but whenever he reads stories to any of his three grandchildren they listen intently to every word, intonation, and sound. GrandPa was in town last weekend and Gwendolyn loved every minute of...

How Can This Be?

March 25, 2009 by Victoria Strong

I can't believe this is happening. Some days it just catches me, as if I'm learning the news for the first time. How can this be? How can my time with my baby be so limited? How am I going to lose her?

When I watch her sleep at night and these thoughts creep in, I always think of the first moments I...

Shaving Cream Painting

March 24, 2009 by Victoria Strong

Gwendolyn gets to do all sorts of fun things with her awesome therapists. They bring so many new toys, books, and ideas. She absolutely loves her time with them and wants Mommy to shoo the second she sees her pals. The picture is from a day that they brought shaving cream and she got to try "Cloud...

InsuranceRxBlog.com - Help me help others!

March 22, 2009 by Bill Strong

My frustration and indignation with the health insurance industry is no secret. As most of you know, I've learned through my firsthand experience with Gwendolyn how to effectively navigate the muddy health insurance waters - at least with Health Net in California. I've also learned that there is...