Happy 7th birthday to our littlest Perry nugget! 😍🎉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Honestly I could go on and on about this dog (and I often do). Besides all his loveable quirks and personality, I know he was meant to be in our lives.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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He’s a part of my soul, existing outside my body. 🥰⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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He is an extreme example of the Doberman “Velcro” personality. He follows me everywhere, he is physically glued to me the moment I sit down (and needs to be cuddled at least every few hours), and snuggles right up every night.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It wasn’t always smooth sailing. The first week we had him, he gave me a huge black eye 🤣 (my fault). Training him was a challenge. He’s a strong personality. And, we got him at age 2 where he had a past history of neglect and abuse. Through professional help, I learned to “speak dog” and it was like this whole world opened up. He listens, and I can tell what he wants every time he tries to tell me something. Our communication is one of my favourite things.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Time to celebrate Perry today. Long walk through the forest to the pet store so he can pick out some new treats and a special organic Himalayan yak milk bar (yes his expensive ass taste 🙄), some new toys and playtime in the yard. Maybe he’ll even get to see his girlfriend dog next door 😘

Oops. 😳 I turn around for one second and... F

Oops. 😳 I turn around for one second and...

For their birthday, the boys got an assortment of colouring books and markers. I decided to bust them out this morning. I got Axel set up with one that the markers only show up on the special paper in the book, because I knew he’d draw all over everything. It worked great! What an invention! 🙌 Does Nobel know about this yet???

For Jaxon, I set him up in his stander and just used a regular marker with a big drawing pad. He was more interested in throwing the marker across the room when he held it himself, but with my hand guiding it, he really liked seeing it colouring and was smiling and laughing. 🥰 I used a red and blue one so that the colours would pop and (hopefully) be more visible against the black and white paper for his CVI. He could definitely see them! 👏

Then, cleaning up, I looked away for one second and Axel grabbed Jax’s “real” marker and tried to eat it. And gave himself a teardrop tattoo? Cool cool.

It was fun to try a new activity and work in some sneaky OT as well. Pre-writing, holding the marker, wrist turning and putting the caps back on. 😉

And then, a reminder that our kids are always watching! After colouring, Axel set up his “office”: his “emails” as he calls them (a piece of paper), his “credit card” (a junkmail one from the other day) and his phone. He had to “do some work” he said. 🤣 #bossbaby

Today my amazing boys are 3 years old! 🎉 Ther

Today my amazing boys are 3 years old! 🎉

There were many times over the last 3 years where I didn't know that we'd ever get here: 3 years. Any years. But here we are.

We celebrated their birthday yesterday since my husband was home and the boys had a blast. They got presents dropped off from my mom, Chris' parents and Aunty S and had fun tearing into all of them over FaceTime. This is their second pandemic, full isolation birthday (2/3!), but we had a great day anyway.

Next year, assuming the pandemic is over in Canada by then (who knows really with the dumpster fire management going on!), will be tough because how do you even plan a children's bday party? 😅 I legit don't know.

Some highlights of the day were Axel ripping around into everything, Jaxon really enjoying opening presents, the laughs due to a whoopie cushion AND... the most amazing thing all year: Jaxon ate a whole piece of cake. Yep, a big giant more-than-toddler sized piece of cake. (Axel had 2 pieces LOL) Jaxon has only recently been able to handle some solids so this is a big deal.

I ordered a cake from a bakery near us: chocolate cake with raspberry filling and vanilla and Oreo buttercream icing... with sprinkles, of course.

I am just so thrilled Jaxon loved it. 😍 Never thought we'd get here either: the boys enjoying food. And here we are.

Happy birthday to Axel, who is 1 minute older 😆, and Jaxon, last but not least! 🥰
(Also Perry was v upset today because he knows what presents are and that he didn't get any and he SULKED. But, his birthday is on Saturday ;)

(Also yes as per Public Health rules our quarantine is over + we are all feeling 100% good and COVID-recovered! Back to the normal grind this week! ❤️)

SO pumped to share this #sponsored collab with you

SO pumped to share this #sponsored collab with you today! @HeadbandsofHope is celebrating their 9th birthday on April 25th, and having a huge sale.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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But more than that: their goal isn't just to sell headbands, it's to give back to kids.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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For every single headband they sell, they donate one to a child battling illness. Right now they are only 100,000 headbands away from giving away ONE MILLION headbands! 😮⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Help them get to 1 mil during their anniversary week! You can get 50% off orders over $50 using the code "100K" (or use the swipe up link in my stories today!) --> https://www.headbandsofhope.com/discount/100K⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I'm also chatting about my thoughts on the headband on stories today. I mean, spoiler alert, it's comfy, but yeah I talk a little more about their mission, too.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Hurry: the sale is on April 25-28th!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#countdownto1million #100kaway #headbandsofhope #ad

BIG SALE 🎉 --> http://shop.thefightingirishmart

BIG SALE 🎉 --> http://shop.thefightingirishmartins.com⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I've never had a sale for the shop before, but in case you didn't see my stories the other day, I'm putting EVERYTHING 30% OFF (!!) to clear out some inventory and celebrate new things.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Yeah, I have a shit ton of inventory. Before we moved, I would pack up boxes, then forget I had inventory so then I'd order more of the same stuff. 🤦🏼‍♀️ Hey, I'm good at printing, never said I was good at the rest of biz shit.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Also! I am celebrating 2 big milestones for the shop:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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1. I am ALMOST READY to give out the first physio/OT sponsorship amount (the 20% of profits that go towards this for children with cerebral palsy)! I'm so excited to do this. (More info soon!)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The first year has been tough with a lot of expenses in business (way more expenses than I first thought!), but I'm almost to this big goal.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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and 2. Ya girl just upgraded her heat press to the MACK DADDY of heat presses. 😍 It's a beaut. And gonna let me make even more cool things for you from now on. Woo!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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NONE of this would be possible without all of your support over the last 8-ish months!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I'm so excited to have my home studio set up again now that we've moved, get back to regularly working on the shop and bringing you what ya wanna see, for gift giving or to treat yoself.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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THANK YOU as always for your support, whether that's a purchase or just a like, comment or share. ☺️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I've added 24 NEW items today with many more planned for the near future. Tell me: what do you wanna see more of? Let me know 👇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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(And shameless reminder: if you need printing for your business, check me out at @furnaceroomprintshop ;)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🥰🥰🥰

Here's the post I've diligently tried to avoid wri

Here's the post I've diligently tried to avoid writing for 14 months.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Yep, I'm Ro Ro Ro-ing my boat gently down the polymerase chain. 🚣‍♀️ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I'm not making any stops on the way to KokoRo. ☀️ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I've joined Vancouver's latest punk band, The Variants of Concern. 👩‍🎤⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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But seriously, I have COVID-19. 🦠⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I've already completed all contact tracing requirements. We're all safely isolating at home.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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We're 18-39. The ones "ruining this for all of us," according to our illustrious Premier. We followed all the rules. FOR 14 F🤬ING MONTHS. We don't see anyone. We don't go anywhere. Yes, we go to the grocery store and we've been to a restaurant a few times (and always felt safe), and of course I'm always at the hospital for appointments for the boys.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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So how?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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My husband is an essential, frontline worker. 🤷‍♀️ Or maybe I touched a contaminated jar of spaghetti sauce one fateful day. We will never know.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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My point is simply that while workplaces are doing all they can, it can never be enough in the wake of neglectful government inaction on policies that turn around and blame "partying young people" categorically, instead of addressing the bungled and slow rollout of vaccination campaigns.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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But "we're ruining this for everyone."⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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We have 2 immunocompromised, lung-diseased former preemie children we have anxiously protected for 14 months. And now, what we feared has happened.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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But... we're the ones ruining everything.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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To be clear: I'm not worried about us.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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[CONTINUED IN COMMENTS]

That post-virtual OT feels 🤣 Moments after I to

That post-virtual OT feels 🤣 Moments after I took this quick photo, Perry slid down in his sleep and fell off the couch... not for the first time. My graceful, elegant puppy. 😬⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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This pic is also a good representation of how we’re all feeling lately. I haven’t posted much because... meh! What’s life in an endless 13 month lockdown if not full of excitement? It ain’t, and life is mostly “same old same old” lately.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It’s not a bad thing, but it’s not something to shout to the world about either.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Just reeeeeally wishing BC would get its shit together with vaccines, restrictions that don’t contradict each other and just general fuckquackery. Let’s mask up, stay away from people and end this thiiiiing.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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My boys have missed enough therapy opportunities and other (social, recreational, medical) opportunities. Because why? You haaaaad to go to that house party for “your mental health”?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Well I don’t give a fuck about your mental health. 🤷‍♀️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
You don’t care enough about vulnerable people like my boys to not party?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Then I don’t care about you.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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(NOT talking about all the essential workers being exposed or those w/ large households / other socioeconomic factors. That’s not their fault. I’m talking about the little shitheads whining about their mental health when really they’re just too selfish to give up their social lives to help others.)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Is there some kind of post-lockdown rage management, “how to not hate people” class out there I can sign up for orrrrrr?? 😅⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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In the meantime, I’ll just be here, mommin’, business-in’, and waiting (im)patiently for my province to unfuck itself. 👋

[ID] Jaxon, a white toddler wearing a patterned romper, is laying on his dad’s chest, asleep. Chris, his dad, is also asleep leaning back against the couch. Both have their arms draped over Perry, a Doberman Pinscher who is also asleep. They’re all cuddled on a black leather couch with the afternoon sun coming in the window.

Happy Easter from my favourite peeps 🎉 Honest

Happy Easter from my favourite peeps 🎉

Honestly I’m not really a “holiday person”, nor religious, so today is just about chocolate for me. 🍫 I could have put in more effort for the boys too but mehhh. I got them some chocolate, and Chris’ parents dropped off some awesome Easter baskets filled with stuff for them. We’ve had fun eating chocolate before lunch (whoops) and just spending time together.

It can be a challenge for me to schedule in family time with all 5 of us (incl Perry). I work every day. Today is no exception, although I’m going to attempt to work during nap time then put away the computer so we can all go for a walk later.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what life will be like when things “return to normal”(ish)... maybe this year, maybe next year in 🇨🇦? What will we do? I don’t even know how to have a conversation anymore. 😬 It’s so weird. I feel like I could live this way forever. Not like, happily. But... mediocre-ly? Sometimes change is scarier than a crappy situation.

Anyway. Happy Easter if you celebrate. ❤️

Explaining how disabled children are denied access

Explaining how disabled children are denied access to daycare in BC. Process of getting daycare, why many are excluded, and how much of a fight it is to get it (with no guarantees). Also how ridiculous the process is and keeps parents of disabled children unable to work and many in poverty. This applies to BC only as each province is different.

Can it work out sometimes and disabled kids get daycare and their parents can work? Of course. But my point is the arduous process and that many, many disabled kids in BC do not have access to early childhood education opportunities like their nondisabled peers AND the perpetuation this has on poverty among families with disabled children.

#TextsFromMyShunt — Wouldn't it be nice if your

#TextsFromMyShunt — Wouldn't it be nice if your shunt could tell you when it was failing, about to fail, or when you should get it checked by neurosurgery... BEFORE launching a person into an emergency health crisis requiring urgent brain surgery as the only course of action?
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We have self-parking cars. We have Bluetooth speakers. We have powerful computers inside the phones in our pockets. We have video calling around the world. We have space missions and robot guided surgeries and implantable glucose monitors and pacemakers and so much more.
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Yet the shunt, the main treatment for hydrocephalus, has not changed much from its original design in the 1950s. It's a valve that pumps CSF (cerebral spinal fluid) around yer noggin to keep you alive, as having hydrocephalus means your body cannot do this naturally on its own.
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CT scans are sometimes unreliable indicators of performance, so are MRIs. Fluid taps and pressure monitors can only tell docs so much. Sometimes, the only way to see if a shunt is working is to drill a burrhole in the skull and go in with a scalpel and take a little looksie.
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In 2021, when my $100 Fitbit can tell me what my heart rate is 24/7, the only way to check if a critically-important, extremely serious medical device implanted in the brain is working is to look at it with EYEBALLS. In the OR.
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It's time to make a better shunt. If I can buy a "smart" thermostat, alarm system, phone, speaker, and Bluetooth lightswitches, it's time to make a smart shunt.
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#NoMoreBrainSurgery #NoMoreBrainSurgeries #hydrocephalus #vpshuntrevision #vpshunt #pediatrichydrocephalus #neurosurgery #pediatricneurosurgery #TheFightingIrishMartins

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NICU Progress Update

Medical Motherhood• NICU Mom Life• Physio, OT + Therapies• Tube Feeding

CP, ROP, G Tubes and More (Oh My!) – NICU Progress Update

August 3, 2018

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