It's the little things...

that mean the most!!!

"For the person for whom small things do not exist, the great is not great."

"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all."

"It isn't the big pleasures that count the most; it's making a great deal out of the little ones."

"Life is made up of small pleasures. Happiness is made up of those tiny successes. The big ones come too infrequently. And if you don't collect all these tiny successes, the big ones don't really mean anything."

This may seem like an odd picture to some. To others, those who remember the days of "if she eats anything she can't drink until you check her mouth because she can't feel the food in there and she might aspirate." (Always said in a rush of words, with no breath taken: hence the lack of punctuation, LOL.) Or, "She has her own sippy cup in the bag. She can't drink out of the dixie cups or out of straws, she gets too much and she might aspirate." Or, "She aspirated last night, so her cough is from that, she's not sick." There are countless more that I could write on here that friends (especially Brenda) would recognize, but I'll skip that. 

The other day we were expecting some snow; so like every one else in the tri county area, I went to Wegmans. After we got all the little neccessities, I saw this cute set of plates/cups on sale for CHEAP. I like cheap. As a matter of fact, it's one of my favorite words. Gracie needed a new plastic plate and these were cute, and again..CHEAP. So, I grabbed the plate...and then it hit me. She needs her very own "big girl" cup, because she has gotten to that point. WOOHOO! So, we grabbed the panda cup and off we went. I took it home and explained to her that she had a new cup, but that we would still keep the old ones with the lids for car rides, etc. She was so excited!! She's drank from regular cups many times in the past months, but I still watched nervously as she drank the milk from it. She did GREAT. Juice still gives her a little sputter every so often, but it's nothing she can't clear on her own.

See, it truly is the little things. Let me put it into perspective. Last year, three days after she had her shunt  revised, a doctor came in and told me some of what to expect. Animalistic movements and sounds, that could last for days, weeks, or forever. She wouldn't walk or talk- and if she did, it wouldn't be "normal" by any means. She would probably wear diapers for the rest of her life. Her face would be droopy. SHE WOULD NEED TO BE TUBE FED, because the stroke affected the part of her brain that tells you to swallow.

To some, it's just a cute cup with a panda bear on it. To us, it's one more of the little things that make up the HUGE things. God has been good.