Categories
Month: April 2014
Categories
Chocolate regret
Ever wondered what the stages of regret are when you find your mum’s favorite chocolates…
Categories
Regal Beagle
Spending so much time in hospital we have seen the benefit of so many therapists, play therapists, music therapists, physio therapists, psychological therapists, but nothing beats the qualifications that a four legged therapist can offer. When ever the girls come charging into the apartment after a long leave of absence, the mood of the boys changes dramatically. Today was no different, as Levi saw Ant and Belle come charging through the door the laughter and giggles rippled through the air. I may be just a little biased, but our girls have the most amazing power to brighten the days of everyone they see. As they come and go into our apartment at Ronald McDonald house the children coming and going to the hospital. After a quick family photo it was off for a walk as Belle was showing clear signs of barrel-ism as she had grown accustomed to sneaking into her sisters food bowl at feeding time.
As Jude chowed down on his favorite food, a rice cracker, Levi couldn’t hold back his anticipation of making it to the park and was fast asleep within 5 minutes of leaving the apartment. It was fortunate that Levi was taking the time to nap as when we arrived at the park there was a couple of children with a very nasty bark so we loitered until it was all clear. Then Levi was set free to run amok on the slides, swings and climbing ropes.
After a big day, our amazing furry therapist had to go home to their dog sitters for a much needed rest from Levi’s chasing them around the house.
Categories
A special visit
On a quiet rainy Saturday morning in Randwick there was a buzz of excitement in the air, as there was a very special visitor coming for morning tea. Ronald McDonald house was sparkling, morning tea was baking and their was a security team doing a sweep of the house and surrounding area. As this was the first time a visitor to the house had brought such a entourage, we wondered if it was just the guest we were told about, or if some royals might be popping past as well?! Yes, I am guilty of starting that rumor, though also knew at the back of my mind that it was unlikely as Wills & Kate were finishing up their tour of NZ, though it was fun to speculate.
Royals aside, Jude and I were lucky enough to attend a very special morning tea with the Governor General and his wife.
The GG had a tour of the house and gave a lovely speech, once the “official” part of his visit was over he and his wife were able to relax and have some morning tea with the families staying at the house. Neither Lady Cosgrove or the GG could resist Jude’s charms and both rushed to be the first to greet him, with Lady Cosgrove winning some cuddles with Jude, while the GG was sent to another table.
It was a lovely morning and equally as nice to meet Sir Peter Cosgrove and his wife, Lady Cosgrove.
* Photo’s are courtesy of the Governor General’s office, www.gg.gov.au
Categories
ViJuFoo goes Facebook
I am not sure if it’s human nature or if it is just me, but I always find that I want to do that little bit more regardless of what we have on our plate. The inspiration to take ViJuFoo to various mediums was no different as we have had a steady following from all around the globe. The thought of our boys growing up with a compromised primary immune deficiency made us start to think about what we could do for them as well as the greater community. We decided that we should try and grow a following of people, that are inspired by our story and are in a position to help. We have already had an overwhelming support from our friends and family both financial and emotional and we want to pay it forward by making a difference. So the first step was to create an educational image and post it to intstagram and follow it up with a couple of tweets.
Raising awareness for chronic granulomatous disease (#CGD) show your support through @jeansforgenesau… http://t.co/4ufg0s4xhD — ViJuFoo (@MrViJuFoo) April 8, 2014
We didn’t want to stop there and have started to contact our local parliament representatives to see what we can do about arranging for more rubberised playgrounds in Canberra to replace the existing tanbark ones. This presents challenges in itself as we have no idea how to start this and so far have had no response from anyone that we have contacted. So it was to Facebook to gather more of a presence that extends past our circle of friends and we have had an amazing response to our page. This page will be used to share our lives with family, friends and others that are currently or just starting to go through what we have been going through so they know that they are not alone. We are encouraging people to share and like the page as much as possible.
In addition to all of this, we have kicked into overdrive with our fundraising with some exciting initiatives around the corner to raise much needed funds for Jeans for Genes Australia, just to keep us busy.
Categories
The surprise..
Living in a small apartment it is really hard to resist the temptation to go a little stir crazy. The days have started merging and the only way we know which day we are up to is driven by Levi’s medication to remind us that we are up to clinic day. So it was not rocket science one night after we had got both boys down, Levi’s night feed on, dishes done and only one more medication to be delivered at midnight, we found ourselves experiencing that long forgotten thing that adults sometimes experience, staring at our feet. So I decided to start playing with Levi’s toys, then one thing led to another…
With the devil in the detail, it took a bit of time to execute the plan but it provided a lot more therapy than staring at our feet.
All the work paid off, with a picture saying everything.
Categories
Levi v Clinic
Categories