Superhero Princess

 Audrey loved her mom. There is good reason for that.  Amanda is a great mom.  Audrey wanted to cuddle and spend lots of time with mom.  For Amanda, I know that yesterday was tough.  I hope that these pictures (some of my favorites of Audrey's smile) remind you of Audrey's fierce love for you. Cantigny Mount Rushmore Batting Practice Wisconsin Ducks On Mother's Day and everyday, remember what Audrey said. "Mama Wou" (Mama, Love you)                                

  Two years ago on May 15, my family surprised me with a trip to a Sox game for my birthday.  It was a family Sunday.  It was Hannah and Audrey's first White Sox game. I was all excited to be with my girls at their first Sox game.   My first ever Sox game was a spring training game in Bradenton, Florida. Steve Lyons hit a foul ball, and Ron Kittle threw me the ball.  My dad, grandpa and great uncle took me to that game. Long story short, I was wearing his jersey at a Sox game 20 years later and he tapped me on the back and said he always buys the first guy he sees wearing his jersey a drink.  Now it was time for me to make memories with my girls and my dad.  We took some cool pictures. We made our way up to first base side upper deck.  We got concessions and went to our seats.  Audrey sat down for like 2 pitches, then she was ready to move on. Mandy and my mom took Hannah and Audrey to the FUNdamentals section.  The Sox started stro...

 No, I did not spell egg wrong.  The last one up is a rotten EEG. An electroencephalogram (EEG) is the test that measures brain activity that can tell information about seizures.  Audrey had many EEGs in last 4 years. Some were at Central DuPage Hospital, some were at Mercy, some were at UW Children's, some were at Children's Wisconsin, and some were at home. I'm not sure if this accurate, but I counted 23 EEGs from 1 hour to 72 hours in length. EEG became a part of our family vocabulary.  Instead of "last one up is a rotten egg, it was last one up is a rotten EEG" Her first EEG was June 8/2018.  I will be honest, I didn't know what an EEG was.  But really quickly, Audrey knew what they were.  Audrey was in pretty good spirits during that visit, but she remembered that the women in the dark blue scrubs put all those cords on her head.  She would only get bigger and stronger over the next 4 years. This is a weird memory to post because EEGs were ...

This post would more accurately be called dropping off and picking up Dree, but the D alliteration sounds much better. For those who do not know, Audrey attended Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) for a year and a half. The best part of my day over the last 2 years was picking up Dree from her ABA therapist.  Audrey was often so full of joy coming home.  Audrey started off ABA at home in June of 2022.  Her ABA center that became her home away from home was not yet finished.  I worked summer school that year.  When I would get home, she was working with her therapist.  She loved "Tay Tay" so much.  It was awesome getting to see her therapists do therapy with her at home These two above pictures were of Hannah in September of 2022.  We wanted her to have a "back to school photo" too, so even though she had been attending the new center for about a month, she was so happy to be there. She finally started ABA in the center in August of 2022.  ...

So today, I am remembering bed time with Dree. Bed time consisted of getting in jammies, brushing teeth, brushing hair. Mandy and I would usually alternate putting Audrey to bed.  Hannah loved putting her to bed, but it was only so effective as Audrey could be very  Then we sat in the chair, or bed.    That was Audrey's choice.  When it was me putting her to bed, it was "Bed or Chair?"  Audrey would reply back "BE or CHA."  With me, it was probably 75% "BE", 25% "CHA."  Once we got to BE or CHA, she would sometimes switch her mind, just to mess with me.  But once in BE or CHA, we would usually read Audrey a book.  (PS we are so proud of Audrey completing 1000 books)   After Reading time, it was music time. Sonata for 2 pianos in D Major K448 Soon after Audrey's epilepsy diagnosis, Amanda did a lot of research.  It led to Mozart.  Mozart's Sonata for 2 Pianos in D Major K448 was proven to reduce epileptic discharges in...

 Audrey had a way about mornings.  In the last memories post about her  night light throwing routine , I talked about the routine of throwing the nightlight in the morning.  She had a lot of routines that she had specifically in the morning. Her routines included: Stretching and reaching up to the sky uttering "KY" Singing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes Poking Hannah in the chest and yelling "Annah" She would ask for "Toto" when she was hungry She used to say "Monin" (But had not in about 6 months) Tuesday May 4 2021 at 6:51 AM Audrey was happy to be with sister in the morning.  Audrey was ready to go to HCC Hand n Hand Childcare.  Hannah (still sleeping) was soon to be up and getting ready for her last month of Kindergarten at Concordia. Dree was much like me in the morning.  She would wake up early, and when she was up, she wanted to be with her loved ones, especially her sister.  Also like her dad, she wasn't exactly quiet in the morning...

  Dree was a creature of routine.  She had to do the same things ever day.   Every morning she has a list of things she had to do.  She had to kiss her sister.  She had to yell out her sister's name : "Annah."  She also said "Monin" which was her good morning. She also had to take out the night light that was across from her bathroom in the hallway, and she had to throw it into her bathroom like a grenade.....every... single... morning.  And of course, I think she kept doing it because she knew that it bothered us, especially Mandy. So, a few months later, when a teacher down the hall at the high school gave me this nightlight as a present, it meant so much to us.  Those gestures really mean so much. Right after we got the new nightlight, Hannah and Mandy competed to see how could unplug the Audrey nightlight first and throw it in her bathroom. Mornings just aren't the same.

Over the last month, Amanda has started to write down memories of Audrey's life.  I have challenged myself to write down a different memory for every day of May.   May Memories of Audrey  will help me focus some of my memories, some organized by topic, some chronologically organized.    Today, I am posting on our first trip outside of the Midwest with just Dree. Technically, it was a work trip for Amanda. She was attending the ASAM conference in DC. She didn't want to spend 3 days apart from Audrey, so I got to tag along.   Washington DC - October 10-13 2018 October 11  Audrey and I hit the mall. Dree was so easy to do stuff with. We had reservations to see the brand new African American Smithsonian, and Audrey was so well-behaved. After we finished our first day in DC, I walked back with Dree in the stroller. I could have walked the way we came or walked by the White House. I decided against it, as we had things planned in that area later in...

 Over the last month, Amanda has started to write down memories of Audrey's life.  I have challenged myself to write down a different memory for every day of May.   May Memories of Audrey  will help me focus some of my memories, some organized by topic, some chronologically organized.  November 8, 2019 It took the Cismesias 2 days short of 5 months, but we made it to Disney.  5 months earlier, Audrey had been diagnosed with infantile spasms, and we postponed the trip.   But on Hannah's 4th Birthday- we made it. And where did we make it to?  To Hollywood (Studios in Disney World).  And of course Hollywood Studios is a place of make believe.  The first place we went to was Toy Storyland.  We got in around 4, so we didn't have much time at our only day at Hollywood Studios, so we did Toy Story land first.  The weather report called for rain. Why is Dreedressed as Buzz Lightyear and Hannah is Jesse?  Because about a week...