Wednesday, February 27, 2013

crazy genes?!

Crazy genes? Yep! they have 'em.
I've tried to figure out where they get all the craziness from. I'm positive it's the mix from both sides of the family. 

Lily is on the mend. Still a bit of a cough, but no more croup cough. It's a task to get her to take her medicine twice a day, but we are getting it done.
Leia is now on the sick list. I'm thinking seasonal allergies are the culprit. Her eyes are draining constantly...and she started with a cough yesterday morning, so I called the doctor. We were able to be seen. Come to find out, she has one ear that is red (meaning start of an ear infection..boo) We are doing ear drops for now. I have an antibiotic if she starts running a fever or the irritability gets worse. And the doctor prescribed some eye drops and OTC allergy meds for now. I noticed the other day that there was a substantial amount of pollen on the hammock outside. I guess it's that time of year. While I love the seasons changing (Spring and Fall are my favs), I don't care for the seasonal allergies that go along with it.

I'm thinking after the kiddos are well again (hopefully before Spring Break), this momma needs a day of fun.

Friday, February 22, 2013

just a talking

It's been a week!

Cranky overload from the girls this week. And come to find out, Lilyann, has a nasty ear infection. We found this out when I took her in for her croupy cough.

Nothing is more dramatic than a sick 5 year old. She wants anything and everything. But heaven help us, if her baby sister brings it to her. It MUST BE mommy. While I love the feeling of being wanted, it's tiring at times.

Lily is slowly on the mend. Cough isn't as bad unless she get over excited. She did miss 2 days of school this week. And cried each time I told her that she couldn't go to school because she was sick :(

Reality just hit me. Spring Break is in 3 weeks!!! AHHHH

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

All the hype on motherhood

Sometimes this thing called Motherhood gets utterly overwhelming.

The cranky almost 17 month toddler is giving mommy a run for her money (and her sanity).  Nap time has been a bust lately. It seems to only way to get her to nap is to run her energy out and then MAKE her stay in her crib til she actually falls asleep. And Heaven help us if she figures how to climb out of her crib. 

We just experienced a major tantrum all because Mommy said No about letting her have my coffee. It was CraZy!!! Half way through, she'd look my way..smile..and then say "ka pee". I would then again say NO! And it was as if she was recharged from that simple two letter word. 

I let her have her fill of tantrum and then picked her up to comfort and offer HER cup of milk. She turned her up nose to HER cup then laid her head on my shoulder and bit me. AHHHH!!!

Will finishing off the box of Valentine's chocolates put me in a euphoric state to handle this toddler the rest of the day????!!!???



Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Valentine's and kiddos

 The big kids working on their Valentine's for classmates. They both selected Lego Star Wars Valentine's...hmmm, I see a growing trend here.

 Lily did pretty good writing all her classmates' names. Jed helped her on some. But it was alot of work.

My crazy goofy kiddos. It takes a bit longer to get them all looking at me at the same time and this was the closest we could get to a group shot. But I love it! I'll have to remember not to take the picture on the trampoline next time. Lily's sporting the static look...lol

It can happen to anyone


Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week is coming to an end.
I wish I had all the money in the world to fund the research for CHD's. But since I don't, I figure that sharing our story and educating others about CHD's is a good runner up.

What are CHD's? a CHD is a defect in the structure of the heart and great vessels which is present at birth. Thanks to technology, most defects can now be found in utero.

Most CHD's are treatable with medicine and/or open heart surgery.

Lily's defect was treatable by both. The doctors wanted to give the hole in her heart the chance to close up on it's own. No growth is good, but failure to close isn't good. We were in that boat....the hole wasn't getting any bigger (YAY) but it wasn't shrinking.  Failure to close caused failure to thrive for Lily. Nothing is worse than taking your child in repeatedly to find out she was losing weight. We were feeding Lily every hour. She would consume maybe an ounce and fall back asleep. Finally, the doctor called for an NG tube. This would be force feeding. Lily would be nourished constantly. When you make your baby plans and prepare for baby's arrival, you don't think about "should I learn how to put in an NG tube?" or "Wonder if I should invest in IV bags to hold the formula??"

Lily was hospitalized at 10 weeks for Failure to Thrive. She was hooked up to monitors and IVs and a continual feeding pump. Our hospital stay for this was 11 days.

Finally, she was gaining weight. Now, we were working on "fatting her up" for open heart surgery. To make that call, "Let's not wait anymore, schedule the surgery" was one of the hardest things I had to do. So thankful for my hubby by my side.

Surgery day was here. Leaving your little one with strangers is heart breaking enough in itself. The nurses at Medical City Children's Hospital were AMAZING!! Always keeping us informed. 5 hours later, the surgeon is there to see us. Hearing about how well Lily did, and finding out that the hole was larger than they thought assured me that we made the right decision for surgery. Seeing my precious baby girl on the insanely large hospital bed, cords and wires everywhere. It all hit me. That's my baby girl! Let me hold her, tell her I love her. Please Jesus let her know that mommy is here right now. Emotions were flowing. There was no chance in trying to hold it all back now.

Recovery was quicker than expected. From the time we checked in to the hospital til the time we left was 7 days almost to the hour. Lilyann had a few set backs just after surgery. Arrhythmia's and side effects from the pain meds but she bounced back with vigor.

I thank God daily for her. She's a miracle. Her "zipper" is a reminder of where we were and how far we have come. Thank you, God, for keeping her safe and healthy. She may get on my last nerve some days, but I wouldn't have it any other way. ♥


Friday, February 8, 2013

Sending Hugs for Valentine's

Getting ready for Valentine's Days around here.
We made Valentine's for Grandma and Papi in Florida and bought paper Valentine's for the kids for school/family. Both kids chose Lego Star Wars. The fun part will be having the kids sit down and write out the names of each of their classmates.

 "designing" their hands 

our finished Valentine's. The paper in between will fold up accordion-style to make it easier to mail. On the back of each hand, I wrote the child's name, age, and the date. 
We sent "hugs" to Grandma and Papi ♥

By the way, I saw this idea on Pinterest. Yes, the original idea looked more crafty, but these were made with sticky hands and smiling faces :)

Monday, February 4, 2013

Ventricular Septal Defect....CHD awareness

Here is a repost of a post from 2010...all about Congenital Heart Defects. 
It's amazing the technology we have these days. I'm thankful that my Lily is currently heart healthy. On April 15th, we will be celebrate our 5th Anniversary since her open heart surgery. What an amazing God we serve!
What is a congenital heart defect? CHD’s are structural problems with the heart present at birth. They result when a mishap occurs during heart development soon after conception and often before the mother is aware she is pregnant. Defects range in severity from simple to problems, such as “holes” between chambers of the heart, to very severe malformations, such as complete absence of one or more chambers or valves.

Lily's congenital heart defect was a Ventricular Septal Defect. A ventricular septal defect (VSD) is a defect in the septum between the right and left ventricle. The septum is a wall that separates the heart’s left and right sides. Septal defects are sometimes called a “hole” in the heart. It’s the most common congenital heart defect in the newborn; it’s less common in older children and adults because some VSDs close on their own.

The above is a diagram of a heart with a VSD

~February 24, 2008~
Lily's hospital stay for Failure to Thrive


~March 4th, 2008~
Lily is home with her NG tube


Lily's did not close on it's own. It was effecting her growth and development. Due to her VSD, Lilyann was put on an NG tube (nasogastric). This tube was inserted through her nose, past her throat and down into her stomach. It was the only way at the time that Lilyann would receive the nutrition that she needed to survive. It took all of her energy to just stay awake throughout the day. Her VSD was medium to large; and it effected her breathing. Her body was working overtime to keep up. She was burning calories faster than she could take them in. Lily had to have open heart surgery to repair her VSD.

 Lily -- February 2010

 Lily-- February 2013♥

Red for a Cause

Lily sported Red on Friday. She wore Red for Congenital Heart Defect Awareness. 
Yes, It's that time again!!

 Normal heart

This is a picture of a heart with a Ventricular Septal Defect (Lily's diagnosis)

Friday, February 1, 2013