Molly Visits the Kahn's in Massachusetts

Molly and her stuffed monkey, Maxx were waiting patiently for the Kahn's to arrive home from a vacation. They waited on the front porch and had some woodland creatures visit them. When the Kahns arrived home they were excited to find new friends waiting for them. Erin was especially excited and bestowed many cuddles on Molly and Maxx. During the days that Molly visited with Erin, they played A LOT of fun games, including bell ringing. Molly couldn't go on all of Erin's of adventures with her, but made friends quickly and easily with Erin's stuffed friends, creating a posse! Erin had school to go to, but Molly and her other friends, like Curious George hung out and had some adventures of their own.

Milly Visits with Aislynn Diehl ~ Fun in New Mexico

After a long stay in Arizona, Milly arrived in New Mexico to spend some time with Aislynn Diehl and her family. When she arrived, she was greeted by a very excited Aislynn. Aislynn had been feeling sick, but being introduced to Milly was good medicine for this adorable young lady! Many hugs ensued and a cuddly night watching Dora the Explorer with Aislynn's step mother, April; her father, Aaron; little brother, Logan; and last but not least, Aislynn's dog, Daisy.

The next day Milly and Aislynn set off on a big bus to Pre-K. Aislynn loves school and Milly enjoyed her visit.

During the third evening, the Diehl's had a party and Milly had a blast wth Aislynn and her friends. They rode bikes and did art projects.

The entire fourth day was spent at Aislynn's Grandma and Grandpa's house. By the time that Mama Spring came to pick up Aislynn and Milly, they were very tired, after day full of playing and running around. The fifth was another very busy outdoor day. Milly rode in the trailer on a bike ride with Aislynn and Logan. Following their ride, the Diehl's had a barbecue with Aislynn's Uncle Brian.

More friends visited on the sixth day and they played outside and went swimming. Aislynn showed Milly her favorite thing to play in outside, THE SANDBOX!!! YAY!

Another fun-filled play-date happened on the seventh day at the park. Aislynn and Milly slid, played in the dirt and had a picnic with Aislynn's friends and Milly's new friends. The eighth night was spent at another barbecue. WHEW, was Milly tired, but sooo enjoyed her trip to Arizona and New Mexico.

Cuddles between Aislynn

Big smiles from Aislynn during her introduction to Milly

Sandbox time ~ Aislynn and Milly

Milly 

Picnic with friends! 

Aislynn shared Milly with Logan, her little bro.

Logan and Millie outside

Molly and Karly Rose in North Carolina with Updates (5/31)

After surviving a tornado in Texas, Molly traveled to North Carolina to visit the Vaughns. Karly Rose, a cute 2 and 1/2 year old with Microcephaly and Lissencephaly was sleeping when Molly arrived. Yet the rest of the Vaughn clan greeted Molly and Maxx: Mr. Chad (Karly's Dad), Ms. Miranda (mom), Jai'mie (big sister) and Keegan (big brother) all welcomed the monkeys with open arms.

When Karly did wake up she was sooo excited to meet Molly (and Maxx). They played all morning and then got ready for Easter picture time with Mamaw and Papaw, who came all the way from Kentucky to visit. Everyone went to the park for pictures and Molly helped Karly look at the camera by dancing an Easter jig. They all went home and to bed early: The Easter Bunny was hoping down the bunny trail!

The next day was indeed EASTER! The Vaughn family and Molly awoke to see that the Easter Bunny had already been there and had left surprises for the kids. Everyone played with their new toys, danced, had scrambled eggs for breakfast, and died Easter eggs. After getting ready, Molly and her new friends went to a family dinner. Molly was able to meet more of Karly Rose's BIG family! They also had an Easter egg hunt and Karly and Molly LOVED looking for the eggs. When everyone got home from a busy day, we all went to sleep except for Karly and Ms. Miranda. Karly has irregular sleep patterns and can stay up anywhere from 24 -48 without being tired.

The next day Molly played with Keegan and Jai'mie, since Karly slept the day away. Yet, Molly had a blast with Karly's siblings.

The following day was an early morning. Karly and Molly had breakfast, played My Little Ponies and danced. Later that day, Karly's mom and dad worked in the garden, while Karly and Molly played on the slide and had a snack at the picnic table. Tired out from the fresh air, everyone went to bed early.

On the last day at the Vaughn's home, Molly and Karly had breakfast and then went shopping. Molly and Karly picked out something nice for the next Molly recipient, Erin Kahn. They picked a puppy dog bubble blower for Erin. The next errand was a sad one, as it was time for hugs and goodbyes, as Karly covered up Molly and Maxx and sent them on their way to Massachusetts to spend time with the Kahn family.

Karly Rose and Molly during Easter weekend, playing outside.

Updated ~ Milly's Visit with Amber in Arizona and Amber's Sock Monkey

OH NO!!! Poor Milly arrived in Arizona with a damaged box. Yet, Sarah Patton checked out the box and we determined that there was nothing missing. Who would mess up the box though??? Luckily, Milly and her items were okay. Amber, Sarah's sister was delighted to receive Milly. They enjoyed cuddles, hugs and such. Yet, since Amber is a beautiful young lady, and they enjoyed some primping at a nail salon. Amber took Milly to Red Robin for lunch and to the movie, Mirror, Mirror. It sounds like they had a great time together.

Amber and Milly waiting for their lunch at Red Robin

Movie Day ~ The ladies waiting for Mirror, Mirror to start
at the movie theater! 

Of course, Amber had a blast with Milly and her sister Sarah, but much of Milly's visit was spent with Amber's nephew, A.J. (sister Sarah's little boy). The entire family and Milly all tried to help A.J. crawl. Milly, Amber, Sarah, etc... were all excited to watch A.J. crawl on Milly's last weekend in Arizona. The Three Musketeers enjoyed stories, watching and singing along to Blues Clues and the Wiggles. Amber knows most of the songs and dances of these two shows. Milly tried hard to keep up.

Awwww....Milly with Amber and her nephew, A.J.! 

Milly and Amber spent some one on one time listening to music and singing. They also played Angry Birds on Amber's iPad. Since, Milly loves music, the two had so much FUN together!

During Milly's trip to Arizona, she took a mini-trip to Amber's brother's house in another city in Arizona. It was for Easter, so Milly and Amber enjoyed an Easter egg hunt with Meara (Amber's niece) and Nevin (her nephew). They also decorated eggs to look like monsters. After a yummy Easter barbecue, everyone went to the backyard for a game of basketball.

Milly with family!

Milly with Easter Bunny and Amber

Overall, Milly enjoyed her time with Amber and her family, but was sad to see Amber going to many doctor's and saw Amber have many seizures. When Milly's adopted Mama, Heather found out about this, she sent a sock monkey to Amber (and a little elephant to A.J.) named Maxxie. According to Sarah, Amber's sister, Amber thinks that all monkeys should be named Sarah, so Maxxie was re-named as soon as Amber saw her.

Molly's visit with Parker Reynolds with Updates (5/31)

Parker checking out Molly soon
after Molly arrived

Parker Reynolds enjoyed her visit with Molly. When Molly arrived it was HOT, even for Texas. In the 80s in mid March, the new friends spent A LOT of time outside. They spent some time getting to know each other on the first day.

On the second day, two parties were in the plans. First was a Crawfish Boil and engagement party for Mama Megan's friends. Then on to Parker's Scotty's birthday party. Scotty has Microcephaly like both Molly and Parker. Their parents met Molly's new friend, Parker's parents on-line. Parker and Scotty have Lissencephaly, too. After the two parties they all went to Spaghetti Warehouse. What a busy day they had!!!!

Day three was a little more relaxing. Everyone slept in a little longer than normal and they got up to start the business of getting ready to go somewhere. The somewhere was to Mammy's House (Mama Megan's boyfriend, Phillip's mother). While they were in transit to Mammy's house, poor Parker had some NEW seizures :( She was worn out when they arrived at their destination, so Molly and Parker took a nap together.

On the fourth day of Molly's stay with Parker, they hung out home and had a visit with the Occupational Therapy. Molly was able to see Parker have some successful moments with rolling over. After OT, Parker began to get very cranky and tired. Also, her urine had a bad order, so Ms. Megan took her to the doctor, who discovered that Parker had a bad UTI. They went home with Antibiotics. Since Parker wasn't feeling well Parker and Molly went to bed early.

Day five was an extra early day. Parker had an appointment for her hand splint measurement all the way across town at 7:30 am. Hopefully, the splints will help Parker grasp and hold things better. They had breakfast between the first and second appointments. the second appointment was a fitting for leg braces. At home, Molly helped Ms. Megan pack for the big move from Megan's parents home to Mr. Phillip's house, while Parker took a nap. After her nap, Parker's had a successful Vision Therapy session.

They all got up at early for the arrival of Parker's Physical therapist at 7:30 am on the sixth day. Bath-time and nap happened next and then they OT came again. After the busy, morning, Molly and Parker and Ms. Megan were off again. This time they went to the hospital to visit Parker's Great-Grandma (aka Parker's BFF). Great Grandma is in hospice care, but managed to smile when she saw her Great - granddaughter and Molly. They stayed in the hospital as long as they could and on home they went. The SEIZURE MONSTER struck again that night and the entire family and Molly helped poor Parker.

On the first attempt at getting Molly to the post office, Molly and the Cain family had a big scare, when they had to sit on the floor of the post office when a tornado went through their area. Thankfully, no one was hurt. Yet, Ms. Megan had to wait until the next day to send Molly on her way to the next home on Molly's journey, since they evacuated the post office due to more tornadoes descending on the area. Yet, everyone was unharmed . And Molly moved on to her next destination!

Parker and Molly getting some sleep 

Molly in Parker's brand new room

Play time! 

PARTY TIME!!! Parker brought Molly along to her buddy's
house. Happy Birthday, Scotty!

Molly's Stay with Sean and the Hudson Family

The Hudson's did a great job of sending loads of pictures and updated us through most of Molly's week with Sean (thanks, Mama Hudson aka Robin!) Here is Molly's stay in pictures and captions:

Sean hiding Molly in his book bag! Sneaky guy! LOL!

Sean and Molly bonded immediately

Sean went to visit his grandparents. Molly met cousin Cody . Smiles

Cuddles with Sean and his grandparents and MOLLY!

Molly shared in Sean's last day for Speech/Feeding Therapy.
Molly and Sean showed their love to Neddy, therapy receptionist

Sean sharing Molly and Molly sharing her sock monkey with
Sean's sister Karli! Sibling love! 

Molly will be missed at the Hudson house. Here she is all packed up
to go on her next adventure! 

Emily Evans Loved Her Sock Monkey! Now She is Flying with the Angels

Emily and her lovelies from her friends. The little grey
one was from us here at the monkey house! 

Molly reached Ms. Emily, otherwise known as Peanut in between hospital stays. This family is amazing in their continued out-reach to others, even when Emily is in the hospital and even during Emily's hospice care . Sara is a huge part of the Microcephaly community and has shared Emily with the facebook group, Parents of Children with any-cephaly group and many others in the any-cephaly community. Emily's battle with her disorders and conditions was tough and heart-breaking to watch, but what made us all marvel was that she still managed to have her pure, wonderful and smiley moments. She was a fighter and no one feels that she lost her battle when she passed away on April 16th, 2012. We all feel that she gained her wings and won a war of love and purity and grace, while she was with her family for 8 short years.

As a mother of a Special Needs child, I often keep my thoughts of Ella's mortality and my fears of when the end of her life will occur at bay. Yet, Sara addressed hers, always allowed her emotions, whether they were hopeful, fearful, or heart-felt right there on her face and in her writings. Sara and Emily are my heroes. I have teared up and out-right cried during this time of mourning for a child that I have never held in my arms, but I hold her and her mother, Sara in my heart!

During Emily's hospice care members of our any-cephaly group began flooding FB with images of Hello Kitty both on Sara Evans page and as their own profile pictures. I did for a little while. My cover photo was a Hello Kitty as well. I also bought Ella a Hello Kitty plush and Lulu gave her a Hello Kitty with a bunny costume for Easter. So, I took many pictures of Ella with her kitties as well as clothes with Hello Kitty on it. Other friends of Emily and Sara did the same.

After Emily passed away on April 16th, her family posted the obituary, which asked for attendees to wear pink in celebration of Emily's life. On her funeral on April 22nd, people did and they also released balloons into the sky to honor Emily. People who couldn't attend wore pink on that day and sent those pictures to Sara's Facebook page. We wore our pink here at the monkey house, too.

Balloons released at the funeral for Emily 

Ella and me wearing pink in Emily's honor

Our buddy, Parker and her family showing
support with a balloon release of their own.

The Miller Clan wearing pink and ready to release some balloons

Fly high sweet, Emily! You belonged here with your family; you died to soon! Yet, your soul and your heart goes on and on in your mother's heart, your brother's eyes.

Love, Heather, Molly, Milly, and Ella