Baptism day. LOVE!

      It's Mothers Day! While in my house we tend to not celebrate the "Hallmark" holidays this one I will not let pass without being treated like a Princess (you better be reading this my fellow Wallaces). Don't worry, we treat the Mister like a Prince on Fathers Day too. I have been blessed to have eight of these Princess days in my life. My little fam never ceases to amaze me with the fun and love they give me on this day and everyday (cheesy but true). 

1950's Promo for Circa Vintage

   In honor of these super fly holiday I thought I would tell you a little bit about how my journey as a Mom started. So this kid is mad cute, talented, smart, funny and tenderhearted. Seriously, personality for days (Am I annoying you yet? Keep reading it will make sense soon.) I really have no idea where in the heck she gets all of that awesome from. But none the less I am so grateful God chose us to be her parents.


  Okay so now on with the story......My hubs and I had just moved back from Florida to our hometown in the mountains of North Carolina. Married for 2 years and really had NEVER planned or even thought about kids. Ha, were we in for a surprise! After being back home for oh I don't know, maybe 5 min, yep you guessed it Flo didn't visit. I was like NO STINKIN WAY!! HOW CAN THIS BE???? So the hunt for a test ensued. First store out of stock, second store had them. Purchased went home and the dang thing was broken.  SOoooo, I let it stew for a day and my nerves were in a tizzy. Hubs and I went out the next night to get one, no joke we hit a deer. Animal patrol comes, I'm freaking out cause my pregnant brain has already taken over. Am I ever going to get the proof on a stick of what I already knew was true? I did. An insane amount of crying came along with the results. HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN? WE AREN'T READY FOR THIS! 

Fast forward four months~  
  
  Guess what, it's a girl! Yay!! Meanwhile I already had a boy named picked out at three weeks. What was it? Ace, don't you dare use that name I'm saving it for something like a dog or my grandkids. Who knows. We are going to be the bestest, coolest, hippest parents around...okay, back to it. 
  So at four months we go for my ultrasound thing. Results: "Houston we have a problem." Well, what the doctor says is a problem, we don't see eye to eye on this. "We think your child has Down Syndrome or it could possibly be a condition called Gastroschisis." Gastra what? What the heck are you talking about? I eat everything I'm supposed too. I follow the What to Expect When You Are Expecting guide like it's the Bible. You have to be wrong!!! This my friends, every parents worst nightmare coming true right in front of our eyes. 

  After giving us the grim prognosis the doctor then wanted to talk to us about "OPTIONS". Okay, let's just say I very politely (maybe not that politely, I blame hormones)  told her the "OPTIONS" weren't going to work for us. OUT OF THE QUESTION, YOU ARE AN IDIOT!!!!!!!!
Rough day to say the least. Then we made sure to never see this "educated" but heartless doctor again. We made our decision, no matter what this kid was going to come out on her own will and whatever "PROBLEM" there is we will handle it together.  

  Honestly, when all of this was happening, all we could think about is how God only chooses special people to have these children. We found our strength in Him and the support of a pretty awesome family network. 

Waiting....

Eating...

Praying...

Crying....

Praying...

Waiting...

Eating...

Longest months of our life.

Fast forward three days before my due date & approximately  100lbs gained.~
  
  Hubs now works in Tennessee through the week and travels home every other day during the week to be with me. My whole family is in NC so with his work schedule I needed a strong support system around me. He walks in around midnight, I am in the bath cursing and screaming that I am dying. Of course not dying, just going to shoot out a 10lb bowling ball. No big deal. UGGHH! I hate you and why have you done this to me! 

Fast forward 18 hours. Yes 18~

  My main concern other than my beautiful child coming out healthy was that I didn't get a c section and that I didn't poop on the table. PLEASE for the love of Pete do NOT cut me and no pooing in public! After some serious coaching and fussing at me not to give up by my Hubs, Mom and Doc. Guess what, I pooped. Still embarrassed about that. I vaguely remember asking the hubs if I did and he just looked at me weird. Great. 

Moving on...
  

  This part is still  foggy to me. You know when people talk about having out of body experiences I can totally relate in this moment of my life. I remember hearing her first cries and the rush of adrenaline you feel. I remember her beautiful dirty little body being laid on me and then I remember searching. My hubs and Mom were crying. What's wrong? What's happening? Wait, where is her finger? What's on her hand? Where are her toes? What have I done to make this happen? You have no clue what kind of mama bear syndrome was stewing inside of me at that minute.  I cried and then fog I have no idea what else happened. How can what's the best day of your life also feel like the worst? 
  
  Over the next few days we learned that she actually had Amniotic Band Syndrome. Never did this cross our path before her birth. We had never heard of it and obviously our "educated" doc had misdiagnosed. She was born with her left hand wrapped in the bands missing her middle finger, almost losing the index. Her toes on the left foot were constricted and never forming. 


   What is Amniotic Band Syndrome?  
Amniotic Band Syndrome occurs when the fetus becomes entangled in fibrous string-like amniotic bands in the womb, restricting blood flow and affecting the baby’s development.  Amniotic Band Syndrome can cause a number of different anomalies depending on which body part(s) is affected. If a band wraps tightly around a limb, the limb can actually be completely amputated. If the band is across the baby’s face it can cause cleft lip and palate. In a large number of cases the baby is also born with clubfeet. ABS is also the cause of numerous miscarriages, such as when a band becomes wrapped around the umbilical cord.  ABS occurs randomly. It’s not genetic, nor is it caused by anything a pregnant Mom did or didn’t do during pregnancy. To date, no prenatal factors have been associated with ABS. It is extremely unlikely that ABS will affect a future pregnancy.

Keywords in the definition, not caused by anything the Mom did. I struggled with this for years. 

Prayer lots of prayer is how we are going to get through this. We will make it and we will have an amazing daughter. 

  So now your thinking what's next? Well 8.2 million doctors appointments and all kinds of crazy advice. We had doctors who wanted to play with her like she was an experiment. No joke, one guy wanted to go in and remove the bone she already had and pull the other four together. Weirdo. I tell you one thing this whole experience made me want to have most doctors tested for their human compassion. Thanks be to God we found an amazing doctor and staff who knew exactly what to do. She had three different cosmetic surgeries at the age of two and four. Lots of love and lollipops she made it through with no complications.  Full casts on her hand and foot, once at the same time. Talk about tricky, imagine the looks we got at Target. 

JoJo age 2 she had just had surgery. Still Smiling!

Fast forward 8 years~ 

  One tough little cookie this one. I mean she was fighting battles from conception. She is the most inspiring person I know, hands down.  

So what, if she has two different size feet? Because of this, the kid shops at Nordstrom for her shoes. Did you know? They will sell you two different size shoes no extra charge. AMAZING! 

So what, if she is missing her middle finger. That just means less trouble if you ask me. 

  A child that literally never meets a stranger and has so many friends I cannot keep up with the playdates. She is a talented actress acting in over 20 plays in our local community theatres, tv commercials, radio commercials, covergirl on a magazine. Her latest adventure is piano. Yes, maybe one day if her piano teacher doesn't beat her because of her stubborness, (We love you Ms.Amy!)  you will hear about the nine finger piano player. Oh yeah, and the cover model for Circa Vintage!  Can you tell we are busting with pride?

  In saying all of that, the thing we are most proud of her for is that awesome sense of humor. When she is asked by the kids or adults with no manners what happened. Every time it's a different response; shark bite; bear fight; her friend Nico is a good jouster. This kid is a riot. 

  

JoJo and Nico AKA Jouster

   There you go, I know it's long. I left out so many things that happened. It has been a journey and we have a long way to go. We know if we put our trust in God and just keep laughing we will be alright. Lucky fins are awesome and ten fingers are most def overated!

Typos,probably it's nearly 2AM on Mothers Day. Gimme a break folks.

  Did you read all the way through? Did I bore you too tears? Thanks cause this is much cheaper than therapy. I'll be back next week with the Vintage Stuff. Till' then Happy Mothers Day to all you fly moms out there!

  

  

1950's Risque Pinups = 2000's Classy Lady

   I am constantly looking for what is on the up and up in fashion. It has had me thinking... Are we going to be running around wearing leaves, if we keep this up? I am all about Adam and Eve but seriously folks, it's not awesome and most definitely not classy. 1950's risqué pinup girls wore bikinis and one piece bathing suits. Today slap a piece of dental floss on and call it a day. Disturbing. 

  

Example A~ Marilyn Monroe in her "risque" bathing suit. 

  Pictured above is a style icon Marilyn Monroe. Back in the day this was pushing the limit.  Today not so much. This would be what they call a classy suit. Isn't she beautiful though? I mean in no way shape or form by todays standards would this be called "risqué".  Below is an example of the same style suit that is considered by our standards classy. 

Example B~ Modern day "classy suit"

*sidenote~ Did you know wear the name bikini came from? Circa~1946 in Paris. The teeny-tiny two-piece swimsuit was named after Bikini Atoll Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. They believed naming it the bikini would cause an explosive reaction. 

 

  So moving on to the bikinis. Everybody who doesn't live under a rock knows who Bettie Paige is. Now granted some of her clothing still turns my cheeks pink today most of it wasn't that bad. Let's use this particular picture for an example below. She is mostly covered high waist on the bottoms and still somehow she looks classy for todays standards.  I am sure her mother still wasn't very excited about it. But better than today where girls are getting pats on the back and in competition with their moms on who can wear the least. 

Example C~ Bettie Paige

Last but not least an example of the modern bikini.  I was gonna post it but my sweet daughters face is at the top of the page. I just cannot bring myself to do it. Anyway, you know what I'm talking about. Most mommas aren't cringing, that is the issue. Like I said before some wear worse 

than the 18 year olds. 

This brings me to my point vintage fashion and vintage styled fashion is so great because you can still be classy. Most modern day styles with coverage come from an original design from decades earlier. All the new stuff is barely there. I personally blame a lack of creativity and morals. 

Let's keep it classy ladies...

 

What's your opinion? Why on earth has this happened? Is it just pure disfunction? Are we losing our taste as time goes on? Have we pushed the limits too far? 

  Let me know in the comments below. Or maybe you totally disagree with me and think that dental floss is the classy for the now.