Tuesday, February 28, 2012

New milestone reached


Why is she so dang happy?

Leia has cut her 1st tooth! Woot!

I am hoping for some better sleeping now. If I remember correctly, the 1st tooth was always the worst (for now, molars and incisors usually were pretty bad, too). I would love for her to have some relief and sleep awesomely for the next few nights!
Here's to hoping that momma gets her wish.

Since it's a teeny bit about "remembering"..I'm gonna link this up with my Way Back When-esday bloggers. Wanna read more about Way Back When from other bloggers? check out Cheryl's blog, Twinfatuation.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Makes My Monday: easy going mornings


Makes My Monday to see my smallest one watching her big brother in awe.
Usually mornings are hectic here, but something happens when Big brother is the center of attention. He turns in a leader. It's been awhile since he got dressed all on his own and did it with a smile :) I guess having little eyes watching gives a boost of confidence.

Even with not getting much sleep the night before, seeing my kids getting along (even if it's just for a split second) makes my Monday.

So....what makes yours?

Link up with Cheryl at Twinfatuation and share :)

Friday, February 24, 2012

changing up the decor on the blog ... be patient with me.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Way Back When-esday: teeth in and teeth out..the vicious cycle



I definitely remember Dakota cutting his first tooth...I think back to that time rather often lately. Leia is working on cutting her first tooth and she's been working on it for let's see....7-8 weeks already. This momma is exhausted!!
I never realized how monumental the 1st tooth cutting through was...and Look at Kota now..he's about to loose tooth #7 (the tooth fairy is gonna be broke soon)

Dakota and Mommy..this was before he started cutting his 1 year molars



And Mr. Dakota now....6 years old and he's lost 6 teeth...#7 is hanging on by a "root and the gums" (as Dakota says)

Read about other Way Back When-esday at Cheryl's blog, Twinfatuation.

And think of me during the glorious teething period....I'm at the point of just joining in with the whining these days.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Not all pink is good


Pink is a fav around here with the girlies.

But one kind of pink I don't care for is PINK EYE!!! Both girls have it. Lily started with it early this morning. I tried to stress to her that she needed to keep her hands away from Leia. Leia did have a watery eye this morning. Well, for the few seconds I left them alone, Lily took an eye boogie out of Leia's eye...and it's been shared.
The positive about it all, the dr's office was on the ball today and called in a prescription for meds for the girls.
Just typing about this makes my eyes itchy...I think I'm gonna go sanitize my hands now.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Heart Healthy makes my Monday



Sorry for the blog hiatus...but I'm gonna jump back on the blogging train and not get off at the next stop. I am hoping to do more than 1 post each week...but we will see if the children allow.

Getting used to getting up every hour is somewhat exhausting. And head cold on top of that...super exhausting.

Congenital Heart Defect Awareness week is almost over and I have yet to make a post here on the blog...so here it goes.

Y'all remember Lily, my middle child, right?
She is my Heart baby. She was born with a Ventricular Septal Defect (a hole in her heart)...we didn't know this until she was 7 weeks old. It was effected her growth. She had no energy to eat resulting in an NG tube being put in around 11-12 wks old. At 18 weeks old (4 1/2 months), Lily had open heart surgery to repair her VSD. It was a 5 hour surgery...and truly the longest 5 hours of my life. Emotions were all over the place that day. When the surgeon came back to talk with us and tell us all he did and how Lily did, I was just eager to see my little girl...and then the doors opened. A team of nurses, the anesthesiologist, and security were there with her. She was covered with tubes and wires. And there was plastic covering her entire body. It was something I wish no other parent has to EVER see. That's when every emotion hit me. I was sobbing...partly of fear of the unknown, seeing my baby in that condition, and also tears of joy knowing that she had pulled through. She was off the heart/lung bypass machine. She was on the road to recovery. It's hard to just give her little one over to an almost complete stranger and pray they do what is best for them.
Though I wish for this to never happen to any other baby, child, teen, or adult. It still does.
  • About 1 out of every 100 babies are born each year with some type of Congenital Heart Defect in the United States (approx. 40,000/year)
  • Nearly twice as many children die from Congenital Heart Defects in the United States each year as from all forms of childhood cancers combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer research is five times higher than funding for Congenital Heart Defects
  • Congenital Heart Defects are the #1 birth defect worldwide

Here is Lily a few weeks before surgery. She was hospitalized for Failure to Thrive and at the same time had her NG tube put in. It was almost 2 weeks in the hospital for this. She got RSV while there :(

This is what was wrong with Lily's heart...This condition (VSD) caused her body to work harder at burning calories...which in turn caused her to NOT gain weight. Her heart became enlarged and there was fluid around her heart as well. All this results in other problems as well.

And here's my Sweet Lily now...4 years old and almost 4 years post surgery (April 15th is her surgery anniversary)
Not every story is miraculous as ours...but with research and raising awareness maybe one day they ALL will be.

So, for this Monday, It truly makes my Monday to have a heart healthy children.

Linking up with Cheryl from Twinfatuation for Makes My Monday.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Stats are in!




Sweet Leia is above average...she ranks in the 75-76th percentile for height and weight. She is currently 14 lbs 15.5 oz and 25 inches long.
The Dr is sure that Leia had a major growth spurt in the last 2 months. And the Dr says that Leia is FOR SURE teething. I knew it, but it feels better to hear the confirmation from the doctor. We should see some teeth very soon.

All around, Leia is perfect ♥

Monday, February 6, 2012

18 weeks


4 month check up for Miss Leia is tomorrow. I can't believe it's that time already.

She is growing so fast. She is trying to sit up now, just trying. She has found her feet, they haven't quite reached her mouth, though. As for rolling over...well, she only does it when she really feels like it and it rarely happens. She does roll from tummy to back, but I have never seen her do from back to tummy.
Of course, she thinks her hands are food. Speaking of food, we have started cereal. She is eating up 1-2 TBSP of oatmeal each evening and getting better at keeping it in her mouth :)

She loves for anyone to talk to her...her face just lights up.

I guess after tomorrow's visit, I will post her new stats. By 4 months, babies (on average) are supposed to double their birth weight. I wonder if Leia has done that or gone over. She was 6 lbs 9 oz at birth...so (on average) she should be roughly 13 lbs 2 oz....We will see tomorrow how average Miss Leia is.

Until then....EnJoy!