Dance & Company Performing Arts Studio is now offering a Dance With Me class for children with special needs.  Come join Cecily and her friends as they enjoy the power and movement of dance!

Classes start July 9th!

See more information below.

Onwards & upwards!

After a very long week - Cecily and Cason have finally turned the corner!  This was not an easy week - and after a long hospital stay it was a less than ideal homecoming.  But the good news is everyone is finally feeling better and we have a house full of smiles and laughter again.

This week forced us to reflect on how far Cecily has come.  Our life used to be full of weeks just like this one... sleepless nights, pain, and suffering with no medical answers - not knowing what is happening or how to help.  It is amazing to me how a simple bug can lead to a week of misery for her - something that a typical person would likely be able to fight off with some antibiotics.  We are just so grateful that we have our spunky, sassy and fiesty little angel back! 

Today we had a wonderful day full of our traditional Saturday fare - soccer, skateboarding and surfing. It was so nice to be together as a family!

Onwards and upwards!

Please buy tickets to this event! You can help to make the difference in the life of a child.

Onwards and upwards!

Happy Mother's Day! On this day I'm especially grateful for my own Mom whose constant love, devotion and support not only opened up so many doors for me throughout my
childhood - but provided me with the confidence to walk through them. She was and is always there for me, holding my hand, pushing me forward and holding me steady when life gets challenging. As a Mother to three, I am so grateful to have her love and guidance to help me and Brien raise our children. It is a blessing that we don't take for granted. I can't imagine how much better off the world would be if every child was gifted a Mom like mine. (And my Dad is pretty cool, too!)


On Mother's Day I'm also reminded again of just how lucky I am. I am so grateful and blessed to have not one but three beautiful children who make my life so full, busy and wonderful. I always thought that when I was a Mom I'd have "stuff figured out..." but I don't! I continually make mistakes, second-guess decisions, and utilize the bribe, guilt, threat (triple threat) parenting method when things don't go my way! (And for the record by threat - I mean... "No dessert" or "no play-date!") I want to be the very best Mom I can be. I worry that I'm not doing enough - or at times that I'm perhaps doing too much. I worry that I've set the bar too high - or perhaps I've not pushed hard enough. But the one thing I do know with 100% certainty is this: I love my kids more than anything in the entire world. And I'm pretty sure that 100 kisses a day, lots of love, smiles, the ability to listen, the ability to say I'm sorry and always providing a shoulder to cry on will keep us moving forward one day at a time as a family.

I absolutely adore being Mom to funny Noah, sweet Cecily and joyful Cason. I can't imagine my life without these three amazing bundles of love, energy and happiness. Each day with these precious angels is a gift. My children teach me every day about what is important in life. They each face the world in a unique way and it is their differences that make them so very special. There can be no better gift that seeing the children play together. I have so much more to learn but I have the three best teachers helping me along every day.

Happy Mother's Day

Onwards and upwards!

My rosy hue glasses needed a steam cleaning less than 24 hours after our discharge... and they got it by way of the freezer aisle!

Cecily's sweet arrival home was upset by an unknown infection that we feared stemmed from her surgery but appears to be now unrelated and likely just a parting gift from our stay at the hospital!  At lease we have a clean track record... we seem to always take our bags (and a few bugs) home with us just to keep things interesting!

The fear of getting readmitted rang in my head as Cecily wouldn't tolerate her feeds and continued to spike fevers (only to have them disappear) and then reappear with a vengeance.  It is days like this where I wish to scream and shout and haved a good tantrum.  (And I've learned how to have one from the best of the best!) But... I'm the Mommy so that is not going to happen - at least not while anyone is looking!

But through it all - the restless nights, the fevers, the wretching, the recovery from her surgery... Cecily continues to power on!  In fact, she amazed us today and I'll just focus on this very big win! Cecily ate an entire popsicle today! Yes, the entire thing - from the top to the bottom.  We think her sore throat and inability to tolerate her feeds has made her so hungry with discomfort that her nemesis - eating - seemed like no big deal today! We are so proud of her!

If it weren't for this surprise infection Cecily may not have discovered her ability to eat a cherry flavored popsicle. I just wish I had taken a picture... Her snow white skin against the cherry red pouty lips was a sweet sight!

So the motto for the day: it's popsicle possible! She also drank what I would estimate as 16 ounces of water!  A first for sweet and stubborn Cecily!

Onwards and upwards!

We're home from the hospital and getting back into our routines. We are so grateful to have such an amazing medical team looking after sweet Cecily. I always feel she is getting the very best care and Dr, Karen Kling is our very, favorite surgeon! She does such a lovely job of explaining everything to us and walking us through every aspect of Cecily's journey. We had a lovely stay at Hotel de Radys - but it is time for the home care to begin!

The one good thing about going to the hospital is coming home is really wonderful! I appreciate the little things and don't dread the silly things in quite the same way.  For ex., typicaly at say 5 ot 6pm I'm in full Mommy mode trying to get the kids bathed, fed, and ready for bed at 7...which usually ends up being 8! I often feel like I'm racing but LOL - who am I racing? Tonight despite being sleep deprived and exhausted beyond repair - the art of making dinner seemed quite mellow and dare I say enjoyable?  The incessant, "I'm hungry... no not THAT again..." and typical musings from my lovely Noah were sounding extraordinarily cute! I was not miffed that I burned the fish (no real surprise) or that my angel Cason seems to be reaching that "T" for trouble phase where every step is a step towards Danger! He has a way of finding cords, sharp objects, and other dangerous "things..." within a matter of seconds and he can bump his head on just about anything even when he has my full attention!  But... while the boys played and Cecily happily sat in her princess chair (I believe she seriously missed her throne" ... I just smiled.  I was so happy to be back in the buzz of our house. I was so happy to be surrounded by my parents and the chatter of the day.  It was not mundane. It was not boring. The chores felt more fun that work and I didn't even mind cleaning up post dinner despire the sleep deprivation.  I felt oddly FREE!

I guess after multiple days of being glued to Cecily's side in her hospital bed has provided my glasses that lovely rosey hue and I only hope that this time I don't let the color fade under the glare of work, silly drama or even the stress I often create for myself with Cecily's Closet.

Like every stay at Children's Hospital I exit enlightened. I see families that are just embarking on the joy of g-tube feedings. I see the fear and anxiety and it reminds me of when Cecily's tube was first placed.  I see children that have long roads ahead of them and I can see the weight on their parent's faces.  I paced the hospital endlessly this visit holding Cecily and pushing her IV pole up and down every floor - from Med Surg to the Surgical Suites - to the Cafeteria and anywhere I was permitted to go - inside, outside, healing gardens etc.  What did we see? We saw pain, stress, patients in all states of disarray but we saw plenty of smiles, too.  I think the gift of having a child that has to fight for everything is the gift of appreciation for the simple things.  This hospital stay was not easy.  There were moments when I held back tears, anger, frustration and fear. But... those feelings help to shape how we will carry on at home. They will help to shape the priorities we place on "stuff" and "work" and the ever important balancing act. 

It's easy to complain.  It's harder to admit that you're not perfect. That you make lots of mistakes. But that you're ok and you're human and tomorrow will be another chance to be the person who want to be. 

What's important tonight. Cecily is home! The family is back together. I just hope she can get some sleep - and me, too!

Onwards and upwards!

I love this kid! I just LOVE this kid!  He is a giggle box and the complete definition of fun! I had no idea how much fun being a parent could be until this little guy lit up my world. I am so proud of him - not because of his surfing or school accomplishments or anything like that... he is just a good kid with a huge heart. He has a gift for making us laugh and his sarcasm and humor is something else!

The other day one of his friends was trying to figure out where he ranked on the Noah friend ladder... He was suggesting that Noah like friend A better than friend B.  I eagerly strained my Mommy ears to hear the chatter in the back of the van.  I smiled from ear to ear when Noah responded, "I like all my friends the same!" 

And this is Noah.  He is always quick to let his friends go first.  He is always there to make sure no one is being mean.  He defends his sister like a Mama Bear and he knows how to make us laugh on demand.  This weekend - like every weekend -  we celebrated the sweet life of Noah.  It started with an early morning soccer game and was quickly followed by a trip to the skate park with his friends and then a fun day at the Kids Expo with his family that ended with video games and pizza at Oggis... and movie night with dessert! Yes, the sweet life of Noah! Sunday he was right back at it... heading back for Day 2 at the Kids Expo with his adorable little buddy before being swooped off to the skate park and then to the beach for a late afternoon/early evening surf session with the family.

I was VERY excited today because he wanted Mommy to paddle out with him!  I was going to actually do it (it would mark the first time in almost 8 years that I've dusted off my board...) but he let me off the hook with a pinky swear that I would do it next weekend.  I was just laughing to myself about how happy he made me by just wanting me to go in the water! I am so not cool and I'm not a good surfer... but I will be getting the board out because if my little guy wants to surf with me then I will do it! 

Cason and Cecily were sitting in the stroller chanting Noah - Noah - Noah! They just adore their big brother so I guess we can say we all had a Noah-love fest.  And the timing was perfect because next week Cecily heads off for yet another surgery and there won't be as much fun!  We have learned to make the msot of it when we can. 

Today Noah caught his best waves yet.  With every session he is getting stronger and more stable.  Daddy is so very proud! I could see his two hands thumping the sky when Noah caught his last wave and popped up into standing position and rode it almost all the way to shore!  The Woot Woots were loud and we all headed home.  It was a great weekend and a good reminder that it's good to get sandy every now and then.... the laundry, dishes, bills, GTM plans, and grants can wait... we had a lovely family weekend!

Onwards and upwards!

Thank you to Molina Healthcare, Inc., for recognizing Cecily's Closet as one of its six Community Champion Award Winners last night!

We are so honored to be part of an amazing group of people that are making a difference for so many people in our San Diego community.

This award is shared by all of our volunteers who are the heart and soul of Cecily's Closet.  While Brien and I may have founded this organization 3 years ago - a mission and vision for change is nothing without execution.  We are so grateful to our army of generous, passionate and caring volunteers who believe in our mission and are committed to spreading hope and love to children with special needs in San Diego.  Last night we honored those volunteers for their countless hours of service and for truly making a difference in the community one family at a time!

Thank you to our Board of Directors for providing the vision and guidance to help us on our journey.  Thank you to Emily Dolton, of Inside Emily Dolton's Head, for her tireless commitment to helping children and their supportive families in our community.  If it were not for her, Cecily's Closet would not have been recognized for this award and more importantly - we wouldn't be able to do what we do in the community today!

And thank you to the amazing volunteers from The UPS Store - for not just helping us raise funds (which we really do appreciate!) but for the passion that you have brought forth to our team! You are such a wonderful group of hands on people that have truly made the difference for us and enabled us to expand our service programs to so many!  There are so many people to thank - but a special thanks to Julie B., Christina H., and Beverly!  We would never ship with anyone else!

And of course, our rooms would never look so good without the beautiful painted backdrops that the team at PaintGreen provides.  From day one they signed up and they have NEVER disappointed! They are truly our go-to partner and we are so grateful for everything they have done for us and for everything they continue to do!

We are a team and we are so grateful that Molina Healthcare recognized our work in the community.  It is so exciting to see us building momentum and shipping more and more belly bands and recycling more and more equipment each week!  We love what we do and we are so happy that we have a team of local businesses, artists, volunteers, and local agencies that support us!

And of course, a special thank you to our family and friends because if it were not for them NONE of this would be possible!  Lots of love to Mom and Dad, Anita, Julie H., and my amazing husband who puts up with a lot of non-sense on a regular basis. He is the strong, silent supporter (sometimes sarcastic supporter)... but he does not get enough credit for what he does to keep us trucking!

Thank you team and let's put the grant from Molina Healthcare to great use!

Onwards and upwards!

We love Grace Ann Piano and her DENIZENS show at at GLASHAUS
Gallery in Barrio Logan is still running through June!  If you can't make it out...we've included a PDF file that contains her latest work!  Please pass it on to any prospective buyers and art lovers; friends, interior designers, gallery owners,
fellow artists, and anyone who may be interested. 

Grace is a beautiful person with a very generous spirit. We are so grateful to her for her support of Cecily's Closet.  Please check out her amazing work.

Grace Ann Piano
Artist
www.graceannpiano.com
art@graceannpiano.com
 619.778.3045

Onwards and upwards!