Merry & Bright!

Happy Holidays!!

My shirts a little dirty in this one....story of my life

I put on my new snowsuit the other day to help mom shovel our sidewalk (so much sidewalk!) after the snow.  It seems my feelings for the snow have not changed much from last year.  Here's last year's pic:

Just couldn't quite hide my excitement here

We have our house all decorated and we're all ready for Santa to come visit.  I can't believe another Christmas is nearly here and another year is set to begin!  This is s short post because I have a lot to do to get ready for all of the festivities to come!  

 I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday and Happy New year!

Here's to many, many  new adventures in 2014!

xoxo,
Maggie Shae

Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey

Ok, so I've been hearing some complaints about my pacifier use, so I'm here to clear some things up:

1. I love my Monkey and my Hootie (my pacifier and owl puppet)
2. They've been with me through thick & thin since I was just a little peanut.  Lets be real here, Hootie  has been my rock, my shoulder to cry on (literally), and Monkey, well, he's there when life just plain sucks (pun intended).
  But most important of all..
3. If I give them up then that means the parents have won the battle!! And I'm not ready for that to happen just yet..

There was an intervention, and I can tell that Mama and Daddy are really working hard to stick to their guns on this one.  I've been bribed, I've been reasoned with, I've been threatened (I can hear them plotting to cut off the paci part! Don't think I haven't!)  - oh yeah, they're pulling out all the stops! But it ain't workin'.  I've perfected the art of getting my way (especially with Dad)!

Here's the thing, I'm 19 months old and I still have a 'paci', 'bink', 'wubby' or whatever you want to call it (and chances are you did too at some point in your life!).  It's not like I have a problem or anything. There's no monkey on my back here.  I mean, I could stop anytime I wanted to..
What? No, I'm not sweating just thinking about it...I can..get by without them...You know..I, uh...I just don't feel like it right now...yeah..yeah, that's it..

Oh jeez!  Who am I kidding?!  I CANT SURVIVE WITHOUT THEM!!!!!
Whoo, okay..breath...uh, hold on a minute..I gotta go find Hootie and Monkey...
       

       

Here are a few shots of us just hanging, looking at the trucks and hugging                                       

Okay, so I guess you'll just have to stay tuned on my progress with this situation..

In Other News:

• I had my first real big cold and it was the pits, except for the night that Mama and I watched Ratatouille at 3 in the morning (she didn't think that was so much fun)
• I started walking up a storm last month and I haven't looked back!  I walk everywhere, including trying to walk down our cement front 2 steps.  I made it past the 1st one, but that 2nd one got me.  I got a big scrape by my eye and a bump on my head - again, not so much fun!
• I love to say, "1,2,3 - GO!" and run across the kitchen
• I love to count and the number 8 is my very favorite (I even find it in books and on signs!)
• I am very polite and have been saying 'thank you' for a while, but now I say, "thank you, welcome!"
• On the flip side, I've also learned to say, "stop!" when someone is doing something I don't like (such as wiping off my face or doing anything that interferes with my playing)
• I am learning to go potty and I like to sit on my Elmo potty - fully clothed..I guess I am not really ready yet..
• I am now such a busy girl that I don't have time to use people's full names.  Mama and Daddy are now just Mom and Dad.  Papa and Nana are Pop (sometimes Pops) and Nan.
• It was Daddy's birthday recently and I was in charge of decorations.  So, naturally, I got Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck! I mean, you really can't go wrong with those two.  Let me just say, it was the best decorated birthday for a grown man ever!  
• My MI cousins came to visit me at my new house earlier this month and we had so much fun! I can't wait to see them again soon.
• Next week I will see my Kansas City cousins and then we get to go on a trip to OH to spend Thanksgiving there with family.  It's going to be so much fun!
• My Grammy is going to come visit me in December!
• I love the holidays!  I can't wait for Christmas music and decorating and snow and the Thanksgiving Day parade.  Oh, it's all going to be so magical!  Mom and Dad have been telling me about this guy Santa who brings me presents - I just can't wait for that dude to show up! 

Also, I'm happy to say that I've been helping The OIF with their 50,000 Lives, One Unbreakable Spirit Campaign.  The goal is to raise $10M in 4 years to help 50,000 people living with OI and fund 40,000 hours of research to one day find a cure.  If you're looking to give a charitable donation to a very worthy cause please consider this one.
Have you checked out The OIF's website lately?  If you would like to be added to their eNews listserv just go to www.oif.org and click subscribe on the left.  They have tons of great information and OI news each month.  

You can also subscribe to my blog by entering your email in the upper right hand corner, that way you'll never miss a post.  And feel free to forward on to anyone who would be interested in hearing from a witty little gal who seems to always greet life with a smile. 

Well, another month behind us and so much fun stuff to come!  I'm wishing you a very happy Thanksgiving and many new adventures to you!

xoxo, 
Maggie Shae  

18 Month Update

I'm 18 months old now!!

Me enjoying life in my little pink car 
(with some balloons and bubbles!)

Well, August and September just flew by!  This little gal has been so very busy that I just haven't had time to sit and share everything.  I apologize and hope you didn't think I forgot about you!  It was the complete opposite actually.
Here is a run-down of all of the adventures I've been having (more about them later):

• We moved to a new house!
• I sent Mommy and Daddy on an adventure of their own (to Germany) so I could have some one-on-one time with Gramma and Nana & Papa - what fun!
• I started walking! (sort of..)

In other news, I've recently decided to become a bit more independent...ok, quite a bit more.  
Mama and Daddy say that I am getting quite sassy, but I like to say that I am spirited (after all, the apple doesn't fall far from this tree!). Hey, I'm just trying to keep life more interesting, right?!
Here are some fun things I like to do:

• Growl.  Yes, I growl.  Don't judge.  I really do it for the shock value, but some people think it's funny too.   
• Everything myself!  If you try to help I may swat, scream, throw a mini-tantrum and yes, growl.  Daddy wonders if I'm already in my terrible twos...oh, he has no idea..
• I am very interested in walking, but a little hesitant to do it all by myself just yet (hey, a gal still needs her parents for some things!).  I'm a bit particular. I'll walk across the rug or on carpet and I take several steps at a time, but I'm still afraid to do it all by myself all of the time.
• I like to sit on Ellie (my giant Elephant) and read him stories.
• I get into everything, but I am also very helpful.  I know that I shouldn't play with the remote control or the computer (but I still try sometimes!).
• I love sirens, airplanes and trains, and say, "oh!" when I hear them.  I also love big trucks.
• I like to brush my hair, my teeth and wash my hands (all by myself, of course).
• I love my Daddy and scream, "DA!" all the time, especially if Daddy is with me and walks away, but sometimes even when Daddy is at work.
• I like to play the guitar, the piano and the drums - I'm still deciding which part I'll play in the band.  I guess I have some time still!
• "Uh oh!" is my favorite thing to say
• I like to dance.  I watch The Voice with Mama and Daddy and politely clap for each singer.   One of my favorite songs is "Love Somebody" by Maroon 5.  When I hear it Daddy and I like to dance around, and I like to put my hands up and rock out.
• I love to talk on the phone!  I say, "um.." and babble on (hmmm, who could I be imitating....)
• My favorite new words: 'apple', 'thank you' and 'go'

New House:
Well, in other news, we finally moved into our new house!  I don't even really know what that means yet, and when Mama says, "where's Maggie's house?" I look around very confused.  At first I thought that we were having a big box party because all of these boxes showed up, and I love boxes (what kid doesn't?), but now I only have one or two left to play with.  I guess that's alright though because here in our new house I have so much more room to play, and we live by so many other kids.  It's great!

Mama and Daddy were both very excited about our move.  After all, they tell me that they started looking when I was still in Mama's belly! Whoa, that's a long time!  But it was definitely worth the wait.
Here I am in my little red wagon:

I have to admit that I will kind of miss my very first home in the city though. It was the first house I ever knew..
Before we moved to our new house Mama and Daddy took me to some of their special places.  Here's a picture of Daddy and me at the place where he took Mama on their very first date on April 11th, 2007 (5 years and 1 day before I was born!).
Ah, amour...
                                                                      

Hmmm, I really can't imagine their lives before me, and I'm sure they can't either, it must have been pretty boring..


Vacation:
So, I took a much needed vacation a few weeks ago.  It was hard to let Mama and Daddy go, but I knew that I needed some quality time with Gramma and Nana & Papa.  I missed them (and I hate to admit this) but I hardly even noticed they were gone! Don't tell them I said that !!
I was so busy having so much fun.  I had a complete blast!  We took walks, met new neighbors, went to the park and the farmers market and played, played, played!
Here's a picture of me looking super cool on a walk with Gramma:

A girl needs her accessories 

On the Move:
I've been attempting to walk around all on my own for a few months now.  At first I needed to hold on to 2 thumbs (yes two..not one) to do it, but now I can hold one hand and I even take several steps on my own (8 steps is my record).  I am a little scared to do it all on my own, so usually I use a box to push around.  I also stand up against the wall and scoot along.  So I'm kind of walking!  I have to admit, I'm kind of resourceful and crafty..
I know I'll be walking any day now, so I can take my time and do it when I want (a Maggie motto).
To be honest, I think everyone is alright with me taking my time doing it too!


I go see my new Pediatrician next week for my 18 month check-up.  I'm going to miss Dr. Kaye (my previous pediatrician in the city), but I'm also excited to meet my new one.  Mama searched for someone that she knew would be a perfect fit for me, and I hope she did good!  My new doctor has a background in Genetics, which is probably a great fit for me and my bones.  But I also just like to be treated like any other kid too.  I just really hope my new doctor doesn't do all of those pokes....

My Grampa
This month is the anniversary of my Grampa going away.  I can't believe it's already been a year.
I really do miss him very much, and I know everyone else does too.  I know that he is watching out for us all though.  I'm very thankful that I got to know him and Mama makes sure she tells me how he made the world a better place just by being his generous, caring, loving, funny self.
I hope I am very much like him when I grow up.

Here's a great picture of my Grampa doing what he loved most - laughing with his family at The Lake

Well, I don't mean to end on a sad note, so let's talk about Halloween.  It's coming up and I am very excited for that!  So is Mama and Daddy.  We spent last weekend making our new house spooky, and I'm going to carve my very first pumpkin soon!  Mama likes to tell me silly stories that she remembers about Grampa during Halloween.  She said one time he shaved half of his beard off- that's so silly!  Another time the whole family went roller skating and dressed up as bunnies (even Gramma!) and Grampa was a hunter, and guess what?  They won the costume contest!  Also, Grampa helped Mama and Aunt Shannon and Aunt Brandy make a scary life-sized scarecrow/zombie and hang it from the front tree - yikes!  Grampa really was a kid at heart, so he loved it when everyone was just having fun and being silly - something Halloween definitely is!

There are lots of adventures coming up and I can't wait to share them with you.  I promise I won't wait so long to do so again.

Have a very happy and spooky Halloween!

Here are a few pictures, including a few of me last year at Halloween.  Apparently, Mama put me in 3 different costumes!!  Geez, lady..

Oh, but what a cute little peanut I was!

 

 

And here's a few more recent pictures...

Mini Me

 Daddy and I being really silly.  He is so funny! I love that guy..

 When I bump my head (and it happens often!) 

I just use my new monkey ice bag from Gramma

 Here I am at my new park!

 Here I am at my box party!!  Er..I mean, helping to pack up our old place..

And here I am helping to unpack at our new house!
This is what these things are for, right?!

Many happy new adventures to you too!
xoxo, Maggie Shae

Baby, You're a Firework

Happy 4th!

My very first 4th has come and gone.  Well, the first one that I remember, that is.

It was a day filled with pals, a pool, and pyrotechnics!  

We went to a barbeque, and then a pool party, and then the super fun day was capped off with the most amazing colors in the sky.  They were so completely awesome!

At first I was kind of afraid of them because they were so loud.  But, as you can see from the picture, I couldn't keep my eyes off them!  

Our 4th of July celebration really was a day of fun in the sun.  We all had such a great time and I think we were all secretly celebrating a great check-up the week before, but also quietly thinking about how far we've come.

Time has come and gone and it's been over a year since my breaks.  It's really something to think about, and I know Mama and Daddy quietly mark this anniversary with happiness, sadness and anxiety.
I know it's silly to say something is both happy and sad.  It's a happy thing that I haven't had any breaks in over a year, but it's also sad that certain occasions (a friend's birthday party) will always remind us of that scary time in our lives.  Although each new day is met with happiness because it's one more day that I've gone without a break, it's also met with a bit of anxiety too.  How long will it be until I break again?

So much has changed and we've all grown so much since I was just a little six-week-old baby.  We've learned so much, met so many people, been inspired, touched by generosity and we've felt so loved.  It's easy to forget about all of the other stuff and just enjoy the moment these days.

Check-Up
I had another checkup with my doctors at Lurie Children's Hospital and it couldn't have gone better! I was so patient and cooperative, everyone said so.  Even after I fell and bumped my lip (that I had hurt the day before) and it swelled way up and it really hurt, I still sat and let the doctors take a good look at me.  Here are some things they said:

*Mama and Daddy shouldn't worry too much about me getting hurt, or what to do if and when it happens.  If it's going to happen there's not much we can do to avoid it (or try to stop it).  We all still have to live our lives!
*I'm growing just fine and Mama and Daddy shouldn't be worried about a thing right now - no physical therapy is needed.
*My legs look fine - even my left one (that showed bowing on the x-rays when I was little)
*I am moving around and doing all of the things that kids my age should be doing
*I seem to be very strong

Here are my stats:
I'm 29" long (16th percentile)
I'm 18 lbs (1st percentile)
I may look little on paper, but in this family I'm about normal...what I may lack in height or weight I definitely make up for in personality!

These are a few of my favorite things:
*Climbing and sliding head-first down slides (my Daddy taught me that!)
*Eating with big kid spoons and forks - I can do it myself!
*Standing and holding onto things with one hand (this often gets me a fat lip)
*Playing with anything I shouldn't be!
*Watering the flowers
*Climbing up and down steps - I can turn around and go feet first!
*Smiling, laughing, saying hi to everyone and everything
*Watching big kids and wanting to do what they do
*Sticking my tongue out when someone says, "lizard!"
*Holding on to furniture and walking around (I'm so close to walking on my own!)
*Riding around in my super cool little pink car
*Swimming

Lizard! 

My very own portable pool  

My Little Pink Car

                                                    

     

 

            My Kansas City cousins came to visit me in June!

I'm having so much fun this summer and I hope you are too!  

Coming up: a trip to Michigan and

                                          Mama and Daddy go on vacation

Hmmm, let's see what kind of shenanigans I can get myself into next month...

xoxoxo, Maggie Shae

What a Gift

I can't believe that the month of May has come and gone, and now I am 13 months old!  I am getting older and wiser by the day..and pretty mischievous as well!
I've been so busy this month that it just flew by.  First off, every Tuesday I take a music class at The Old Town School of Folk Music in this wonderful place called Lincoln Square.  It's an area of Chicago that is so quaint and my Mama tells me all about how she used to live there and play softball at Wells Park, she would watch couples dance in the square on Wednesday evenings in the summer and she and her friends had a great time.  Not long after she lived there she met Daddy, so she says she gets very nostalgic when she thinks of it, whatever that means.
Anyways, music class is such a blast, and then after I get to meet up with my pal Sadie and we play and have a snack.  Mama said she signed me up for the summer session, so that means we keep going and I'm so excited!  I love music and love to strum, strum on Miss Julie's guitar.  All of my friends in the class are older and walking so I want to walk too.  Which brings me to my next subject..
I'm climbing and crawling!  Yes, it's true.  The day after my first music class I began to pull up to standing all on my own.  I crawl all over everything and I'm very quick.  I had been getting around doing my 'Army Crawl' and that was getting me where I needed to go just fine, but after seeing all those kids getting around on their legs I wanted to do that too!  Sometimes I get up into a 'downward dog' pose and everyone thinks I'm trying to stand up.  I'm going to keep practicing and I bet I'll be walking before anyone knows it!  Mama and Daddy just look at each other and say, "oh, jeez!"
I just say, "Relax, I'm growing up!"

              

Here's what happens when I'm left to my own devices...

Grandpa's Gift -- A True Gift

As you might know, my Grandpa Tom passed away in October.  To celebrate his life some of his friends and family decided to come together and plan a fun weekend camping trip at one of his favorite family vacation spots, Camp Dearborn in Milford, MI.  Along with honoring my Grandpa and celebrating his life we wanted to use this opportunity to raise money for the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation (OIF).  Being such a kind and generous man himself, my Grandpa would've done everything he could to help me and other kids with OI.  In a way the OIF reminds me of my Grandpa.  Their sole purpose is to support families living with OI and raise money for research to find a cure.  My Grandpa always did everything he could to help others too.

After months of planning, and planning, and more planning the weekend-long event took place last weekend on Memorial Day.  What a fitting time to honor the memory of such a wonderful man, along with honoring those who honor our freedom.  It was also very fitting that it took place in May because my Grandpa would've been 63 years old on May 21st.  

My Mama and I traveled to my Gramma's house the week before and spent the week getting ready for camping and our golf and silent auction events.  Daddy came a few days later.  The OIF sent a banner to hang at the campsite and made polo shirts for our golfers.  No one could've ever imagined what a huge success this weekend would be, and it was a joint effort by many, many people.  My Grandpa's good friends worked tirelessly to get people to come out and camp - recreating the trip we'd all look forward to spending with our best buddies each summer.  We stayed from Friday to Monday, playing his favorite games: euchre and horseshoes and sitting around the campfire making smores, talking and laughing with each other.  There were 6 kids under 5 that camped and countless others that came during the day to play.  So many friends, family and even people who never knew Grandpa woke up at the crack of dawn on a beautiful Sunday morning to golf, something he loved to do. 

We had around 50 campers, 20 euchre and horseshoers, 72 golfers and countless bidders at our silent auction.  The weather just got better and better each day and every single person who showed up, even for just a visit, and waited patiently as we worked out our first-time kinks (none of us had ever done any of this before!) demonstrated the beauty of the human spirit.  Just thinking about how much money we raised and what fun we all had is enough to life your spirit for ages!

We raised over $2,400 from campers and our horseshoes and euchre events, and over $2,500 from our silent auction and generous people giving donations!  

So many people donated items for our silent auction.  We had lighted wine bottles, jewelry and hand-knitted scarves; beautifully hand painted watercolor notecards made by my Great-Grandma and quilts made by my Aunt Brandy.  Someone donated a brand new pair of Oakley golf shoes, a golf bag and clubs! And the list goes on and on.  I wish we had a picture of our silent auction because everyone worked so hard on it, but we were so busy we forgot to take some!  So many people commented that they have items to donate next year, and we hope to be able to have it available online for people who can't make it.  The support has been overwhelming!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to everyone who loved my Grandpa and supports our mission: To create an annual event in memory of Grandpa Tom and to raise awareness and support for Osteogenesis Imperfecta (Brittle Bone Disease).

If you didn't get a chance to participate this year we're going bigger and better each year on out.  Plan to join us next year for The Annual Grandpa's Gift Camping Weekend, Golf Tournament & Silent Auction.  

If you would like to make a donation to our Grandpa's Gift OIF donation page please go here. Thank you!

Here are some pictures from our super fun weekend:

Here's our OI banner displayed for all to see at the campsite

 Here's my Gramma, Auntie Shannon and some of my Grandpa's closest friends before our golf Tournament

Here's on of the foursomes on the course

Here are our horseshoe champs and runner-ups!

Here I am around the campfire with my Mama - Hootie wouldn't miss it!

Here we are at our home for the weekend! 

My Papa and I watching the Horseshoe tournament

Our polo golf shirts - they were a hit!

You can also visit here for so many more great photos!

xoxo, 

Maggie Shae

Birthdays and Vacations -- what a great month!

Well, April is my birthday month, and wow was a special one!  

Birthdays..

Well, I am officially 1!

My big bday party was quite a success!  I had such a blast with all my buddies, I got some serious loot, and there was even a dance party!  Who can say there was an impromptu dance party at their 1st birthday party?  This gal.

It was a very special day, I must admit.  Everyone worked so, so, so hard to make it the best birthday for me - thanks, guys!

Grandma and Shannon came in early just to help bake and set-up, and Aunt Brandy and Carolyn came in on a late-night train just to see little ole me.  Cousin Tom had something special to do in Michigan and poor Erin got sick, so Uncle Ken and her had to stay behind :(  

We missed them all very much.  But there's always next year..and I don't know how they're going to outdo themselves!  Mama says I should just remember this one real good because it'll be a few years before we plan an extravaganza like this one...but it was all well worth it ;)

Aunt Katie was there and Nana and Papa too.  I had so many friends big and small there to play and teach me how to open presents and eat my cake.  I had never had cake before, and as you can tell from the picture above, I didn't quite smash it the way everyone wanted me to!  I was quite a little lady about it.

Here are some pictures that my Mama and Aunt Katie took:

                           

                  Here I am opening my very first present on my actual birthday!

                

                                                       

 Here's the cake my Mama made for me. 

She was bound and determined to make it!  Even if it is hard to figure out exactly what it is..

Yum! Here are the treats Gramma & Aunt Shannon made - they worked SO hard! Aren't they beautiful?!

                       Aw, here's me and my daddy.  He bought me a big owl balloon for the occasion.

Thanks everybody for making my very 1st birthday extra special! 

Vacation...

My Mama and Daddy and I went on our very first big vacation together to Hilton Head, SC.  We even took and airplane!  We met Papa and Nana there and did all sorts of things: took bike rides, went to the beach and pool, visited Savannah and ate lots and lots of seafood.  The water was cool and it was a little breezy, but it was very pretty.  I had a great time!

Here's my Daddy and I on the El and on the plane going to Hilton Head

                                       Here I am on our balcony -- what a view!!

Here we are in Savannah, GA

I really liked playing in the pool, and I met a lot of other nice kids

Me and my family

Wow, what a great time we all had in April!  May is going to be just as special because we have our big Grandpa's Gift Event that everybody's been planning for the past 6 months.  It's a way to celebrate my Grandpa and a fundraiser for Osteogenesis Imperfecta.  Read my next post to find out all about that..

Well, toodle-oo for now!

Hello, I'm Maggie Shae!

Hi there!

For those of you that may not know me, allow me to introduce myself:

  I'm Maggie Shae Sheridan and I'm almost one year old!

Many of you out there may already know me, but all the people I love are launching this first-ever Grandpa's Gift Annual Golf and Camping Event.  It is taking place this May and we are all so excited about it!  It is going to be a super, duper blast!  Plus, it's been created to celebrate my Grandpa Tom's life and to raise awareness and funding for The Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation (OIF), something very important to me and my family...as you will find out if you keep reading!

Anyway, the reason I am formally introducing myself is because there are a whole lot of people (you may be one of them!) who are invited to this event but may not know me yet, and my Mama and Daddy said that I should always be polite girl!  So, as I said before,

Hi, I'm Maggie Shae!

I am also known as Baby Maggie, Shmageroni and Shmaggie.

But I like to call myself Maggie The Great (although I am quite partial of course!)

Here's a picture of me as a teeny, tiny little baby (about 356 days ago!).
Aw, aren't I cute?!

So, as you now know, about a year ago I was finally born into the world.  Mama and Daddy and everyone was so excited to finally meet me!  They thought that I was born just perfect (and I am of course!) but when I was about 6 weeks old I started to not feel very well at all.  Mama and Daddy started to notice that I wasn't acting very happy and I wasn't moving my arm.  They were scared so they took me to the hospital.  The doctors told them that I had a broken femur, arm and collar bone.  Everyone was very shocked and sad.  How could this be?!

That didn't seem right for such a little baby to have all that wrong, so they did a test and found out that I have a disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), or Brittle Bone Disease.  That means that my body can't make the collagen in my bones the same way that other people's bodies do.  My bones aren't as strong and something as simple as falling down can cause me to break a bone.  OI is considered a very rare disease - less than 50,000 people in the US have it.  Many doctors have never treated a patient with OI, and they've only learned about it in school.  There are many different 'types' and levels of severity.  Some kids have it and they only ever break one bone.  But others have it and when they cough or hiccup they can break a bone.  Can you imagine what that's like for mommies and daddies and little children each day?  Even picking up your little baby can be a very scary and traumatic thing.

Sadly, OI currently has no cure.  There is treatment for kids with more sever cases, but it costs a lot of money to do research to find more treatments and a cure.  Since OI is so rare not many people even know about it.  There is funding, but not enough yet to find a cure.  Places like The Osteogenesis Imprfecta Foundation (OIF) were created to support families living with OI and to hold events to raise awareness & funding to one day find a cure.  That's what our Grandpa's Gift event is for!

Well, back to my story..
In the beginning everyone was real sad about it (you can read my old blog posts for that stuff).  It was all very confusing and we didn't know very much about my disease.  Many people, even doctors, couldn't give us any definite answers about anything.  We were scared and confused.

I was in a lot of pain and I cried a lot, and that made everyone else feel even more sad because there wasn't much they could do for me.  I had to wear a special harness for a few weeks to help my femur heal and I had to take a lot of medicine for the pain.

Here I am with my harness

But, eventually I got better.  the harness came off and I started to smile a lot more, which made everyone else smile a lot more too!  My doctors seemed very pleased each time I went to see them, and that made my Mama and Daddy (and everyone else) really happy!  Soon it had been 2 months since I had a break, then 4 months, then 9 months!

I used to go see my doctors at the Skeletal Displasia Clinic at the children's hospital in Chicago every 3 months.  But since I seem to be doing so well now they want to see me every 6 months!  I see a Geneticists and an Orthopedic Surgeon and their team of residents and lots of others.  They are all very nice to me and tickle and smile at me.

I do all of the things that every other baby does, but people just need to be more careful with me.  I don't know when I might have another break again, or even if I ever will.  Like I said, there's not much known about OI and every case is different.  So it can be a very stressful life, but my family chooses not to live like that.  They just treat me like any other kid, and I like that!  Of course, it's great to be different and unique, but my disease doesn't define who I am and I don't want people to be afraid to play with or hold me.  Everyone has something unique about them, but I want to be known for my smiles, my beautiful personality and all of my other wonderful talents, not a silly old disease!

So, now you know all about me and my story.  If you want to help spread awareness about OI, help families living with OI, and help fund research to find a cure please visit this page.

It was very nice to meet you, and of course...

Thank you so much for supporting me and others with OI!  

xoxox, 

Maggie Shae

Here I am with my Grandpa Tom!