Our Family: Sweet Angel

Monday, April 27, 2009

Sweet Angel

I have been following a few other blogs about babies born within the past year who have been in the NICU and are not doing well or who have since passed away.......it absolutely breaks my heart and reminds me how incredibly lucky we are to be blessed with two such beautiful and healthy children. Chase and Ashlyn, I LOVE YOU! You bring me so much happiness!

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Greysen's 4 month checkup

Kids' 2 and 4 year update!

It's hard to believe, but our kids are now 2 and 4 years old. Actually, it's hard to believe I even have 2 kids!! We visited the Dr last week for their well checks and I can't say the visit was without some drama. All day long Chase was saying "sissy, you're going to get shots today!" So let me tell you how traumatic it was when the Dr came in with a trayful of needles and Chase figured out he was also getting a handful of shots. I'm not exaggerating when I say that 3 nurses had to come in and help me hold him down while they gave him his shots. The funniest part was right after they gave him the last shot, he stopped sobbing for a split second and said "I wanna see the blood." LOL Such a typical Chase moment! He continues to be a handful for us, but school seems to be helping slow him down a tiny bit. He is Mr. Social and always seems to be the 'leader' in almost all settings. He has always been a fairly healthy child, but recently he had a ct scan because he was having ear and throat pain for 2 months and they couldn't find anything wrong with him. Well, I had the mama instinct and kept insisting to the Dr that something was wrong and the ct scan showed that he has a severe sinus infection deep in his sinus cavity that had most likely been there for 2-3 months. Poor little guy! I feel so bad knowing he was in pain for so long and the Drs kept telling us he was fine! We just finished 20 days of a strong antibiotic trying to kick the infection, so we're hoping he's on the mend now. Chase weighs 50 lbs (>100% on the charts) and is 44" tall (also > 100% on the charts). His growth obviously isn't slowing at all!

Ashlyn is doing fabulous and is as cute and funny as ever. I have to admit though, she sure is developing a SASSY personality! I'm sure some of it has to do with having to defend herself against her brother, but she sure is opionated and is becoming a little defiant now. If she wants to leave the house to go bye bye or go outside and play, she'll go get her shoes and stand at the door and let you know.....and if she doesn't get her way, watch out! If we're eating dinner and she doesn't like what's on her plate, she'll close her eyes and turn her head and absolutely won't open her mouth. What a little stinker! She LOVES to play in my closet and my jewelry chest and walk around in my shoes with loads of necklaces and bracelets on. She is 110% GIRL! I LOVE IT! Ashlyn weighs 28 lbs (50-75% on the charts) and is 36" (>100% on the charts)....she continues to follow the same curve.

We're super busy with the holidays and beyond THRILLED that my Mom, Dad, Katie, Kim, Phil and Cassie are going to be here with us this year to celebrate. It's sure to be a very memorable Christmas!!

Happy Holidays!

18 months!

Out little baby is 18 months old now...how does time go by so fast?! At her check-up she weighed 24.6 lbs (50% on the charts) and is 34.25" (97+% on the charts). Um, tall and skinny! She likes to eat but is fairly picky with her food these days. She LOVES her orange juice just like her brother and absolutely hates milk, so I give her lots and cheese and some yogurt to make up for it. The terrible twos are starting early, just like they did with Chase, and she has turned from sweet little princess to diva with an attitude! This chick can make a LOT of noise when she's not happy. I hear her screeching in my dreams sometimes! We took her on a flight last weekend and it was a complete nightmare. She won't sit still at all and if she doesn't get her way she will absolutely let you know. On the flip side, she is still incredibly happy and smiley and is SO stinking cute! There are times I just stare at her cute button nose, her beautiful curls and her big blue eyes and can't believe she's my daughter. She and Chase play pretty well together and most of the time he's sweet to her and will show concern "Sissy, are you ok? Do you need some juice or are you hungry?" (it's seriously adorable) BUT there are the other times when he is driving her absolutely crazy by poking her, grabbing toys from her, hiding her blanket, etc. I love it though....it's all part of sibling rivalry and so funny to watch them together! We've had a busy summer already and things are just getting busier. Lots of trips including NM for Tony's nephew's high school graduation, Vegas for a couple's weekend away (yay!), beach house in MI for 3 WEEKS!!, and San Diego to visit Legoland and Sea World. Busy busy! Not to mention Chase is attending "summer camp" at his preschool 5 mornings a week for 3 weeks in June, and then starts back to school on July 27th. What a whirlwind! We all love it though...it's fun to travel and stay busy, and especially to get away from this heat when we can! Speaking of the heat, the rest of the summer will be spent in our pool because it's too hot to do anything else! I'm still staying at home with the kids and liking my new role more and more. I have met some great moms and have found some buddies to hang with, so that makes this job much more fun and bearable! That's it for now. Have a great summer!!

The latest

I took Ashlyn to the Dr for her 15 month checkup today. She is the EASIEST baby on earth and has zero issues. She is 23.2 lbs (50%) and 32" (90%) so in the Dr's words...long and lean. Chase has always been such a big boy that it's strange to have a little skinny thing now! She's a fabulous eater, fabulous sleeper (sleeps 7:30pm to 7:30am and still takes 2 naps) and when she wakes up, she plays in her crib until I go get her. She truly is a dream come true...always smiling and laughing and always incredibly happy. She is finally growing some hair and has a headful of curls in the back now! It's adorable!!

Chase is doing great and is still in preschool 2 mornings/week. In July he will start going 3 mornings/week. He's incredibly active and has an endless amount of energy. He absolutely pushes every limit (and every one of my buttons!) and whenever something is broken or missing, he is almost always the devil behind it! Although he is still a challenge in every way (eating, sleeping, attitude!), he has a heart of gold and wears his emotions on his sleeve. One minute he's angry and telling us "don't see me, don't talk to me"...and the next minute he's cuddling up to us on the couch asking for 'wiggles and scratches on his back' and telling us he loves us.

The other big piece of news at our house is a sad piece of news :-( Tony's mom, Mama Lee as everyone called her, passed away this past Sunday Feb 28th. It has been a hard situation for the family and especially for Tony. You're loved and missed Mama Lee and forever in our hearts.

That's it for now, Happy Spring!

Happy Holidays!

I can't believe it is November 9th today! That means that we will be busy, busy, busy until the new year rolls around. We now have 3 December birthdays (Chase, Ashlyn and me)...oh yeah, and Thanksgiving and Christmas! From here on out, it can only get crazier around this time every year! We are heading to NM to see Tony's family over Thanksgiving...and attempting to drive this time. YIKES! I am very opposed to this idea, but I didn't win this battle :-( Ashlyn will be 1 on Dec 2nd, Chase will be 3 on Dec 8, and I haven't even thought about birthday parties yet. IF we do anything, it will be very small and very last minute. Good thing they don't really understand how important birthday parties are yet (when you're young I mean :-)) We are heading to MI for Christmas and will be spending a week in Mt Pleasant. I am really looking forward to spending some time back home and seeing the kid's reactions to snow! The kids are both doing well. Chase is in preschool 2 days/week and absolutely loves it. It's so heartwarming when he hands me his 'artwork' and says he made it for me. On the flip side, he's a HANDFUL and teaching me and Tony a whole new level of patience. Ashlyn is still a doll, although she is little miss SASS now! She has developed quite a personality and is the diva already. Maybe she's just standing up to her brother...let's hope! She took her first step yesterday, so walking is right around the corner. I LOVE the holidays!! It is the BEST time of the year!!

Happy 9 months!

Ashlyn had her 9 month checkup yesterday and she is doing great! She measured 30 1/4" and was well above the 100th percentile line. She weighed in at 20.6 lbs and is 75%. We grow 'em big in our family! She has two bottom teeth and the two top teeth are coming in quickly. She loves her food and is always ready to eat, although she'd always prefer whatever we're eating vs her baby food. She is crawling like crazy and can climb up a few stairs now, and is also pulling herself up to stand. We have to watch her every second now because everything goes in her mouth and she can crawl across the house in about a second! Big brother is becoming more of a help and is definitely going to be the protective older brother...BUT, he still has his days when he says "I am ATTITUDE!" which means 'I have an attitude, I'm crabby". Haha. He's so funny these days! He likes to help me put Ashlyn to bed and get her up from naps, and is starting to "talk" to her when he doesn't think we're listening. The other day he was saying "sissy, mama said you can't go outside Chase, it isn't safe." It's hilarious! They have their own little conversations. She's definitely going to torment Chase because she is already trying to take his toys or his blanket and crawl away with them while laughing. They are quite a pair! We're enjoying every second with these two....!!

Happy 6 Month Birthday Ash!

Ashlyn had her 6 month checkup today and is still right up there on the charts. She weighed in at 17.6 lbs and is 28" long (75% and 97% respectively). We LOVE our big babies and love squeezing the rolls on her legs and kissing those chubby little cheeks! She is taking a 6oz bottle every 3 hours and eating veggies at night, but we will be adding fruit in the morning starting tomorrow. She is still having an allergic reaction to rice cereal and to any dairy, so we're skipping the cereal for now and keeping her on her special formula. She goes to bed at 7:30pm and wakes up once or twice at night and is very easy to put back down. She wakes up for the day around 6am, but is back down for a 30 min nap by 8am. She takes another 30 min nap at 11am, and then a 3-4! hour nap at 1:30. Ashlyn has the absolute best disposition in the world and is the happiest baby I have ever seen. She's especially happy when her brother is in trouble...which I think is a sign of what's to come! She is always laughing and is starting to "talk" quite a bit, although no 'mama' yet (but I'm working on it!) Ashlyn also went to the cardiologist this week for an EKG and Echocardiogam and everything looks great. The hole is getting smaller and will most likely close up on its own within a year or so. We go back in 6 months for another EKG and then in one year for another EKG and an Echo. All in all, everything is going very well! Now if we could just get a handle on our little boy who is DEEP into the terrible two's!! :-)

Update - 4-3-09

I took Ashlyn to her 4 month checkup today and she's doing great! (besides the shots she got...poor thing was really, really upset and has been sleeping for 5 hours now! Don't worry, I checked her and she's ok!) She is right up there on the charts, as I imagined she would be. She is 15.4 lbs (90%) and 26.5" (>97%). I'm happy to see her growing so well since we're dealing with so many feeding issues. She's still nursing about 3-4x a time and bottle feeding the other 3-4x. The only formula that works for her is called Nutramigen, a hypoallergenic formula that is twice the price of regular formula. Oh well, at least we found something that works. She is still on liquid Prevacid and it's definitely helping her because she was off of it for a few days and suffered the entire time. The Dr said we can try cereal, but it has to be the hypoallergenic kind from Whole Foods, so we need to go pick some up and see how she does with it. If she won't take it, we can try orange veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes, etc) and if that doesn't work, she wants us to hold off on solids until she's 6 months old. The Dr said she's big enough that we don't need to worry...and getting enough iron from the formula and breastmilk. We're due for our next Cardiologist appt next month, so hoping everything is status quo there.

Other than that, we're just enjoying every second with Ashlyn...she is the absolute best baby ever and makes me consider having more! Ok, not anytime soon, but it sure makes the thought more bearable! She wakes up talking and laughing and goes to bed the same way. She's the best!! I love having a little girl (although my little guy is priceless :-) Lately everything is "beautiful"....."momma, it's beautiful outside today!" It's hilarious!)

More updates to come!

Update 2-10-09

We took Ashlyn to her second Cardiologist appt yesterday and to her regular 2 month checkup today. Her heart murmur is still there, but they're not concerned at this point. We go back in 3 months to get another echocardiogram and EKG to check the status. At her 2 month checkup, she weighed in at 12 lbs, 7 oz and is 24" long....95% on the charts for both weight and height. I guess her eating issues haven't stopped her from gaining weight! She already had her first ear infection (thanks to her sick 2 year old brother), but we had her on antibiotics for 10 days and it's all cleared up now. Hopefully both kids will stay healthy now for awhile! Things are settling down at home and we are finally adjusting to having 2 kiddos around here...although it's absolutely a zoo every single day! I go back to work on Feb 23rd, so I'm trying to prepare myself for juggling work on top of everything else. I'm not sure how I'll fit it all in, but I guess many people do it! My mom has been here since Thanksgiving and is leaving this weekend, so we are VERY sad and will really miss her! She has been a huge help and it's great to have the company. What will I do without my daily lunch partner?! Stay tuned for more updates! :-)

Update--Jan 8th, 2009

We took Ashlyn to the Dr yesterday for her one month checkup and she looks great. She weighed in at 10lbs, 2.5oz and 22.5", so she's growing really well. We're still having problems with spitting up, so the Dr is putting her on liquid Prevacid to hopefully help relieve some of her discomfort with reflux. Regarding the dairy allergy, she's doing slightly better since I cut dairy out of my diet, but I'm suffering!! I never knew how many foods contained dairy...almost everything and all of my favorite foods! Nothing like kick starting the weight loss!

Wow, what a month!

The good news is, we're all hanging in there and things are getting better! We found out Ashlyn is allergic to dairy, so I have cut my diet down to pretty much nothing and she seems to be improving. Chase has been doing much better too and is finally adjusting to having a new sister. He was very rough with her in the beginning, but has become very interested in her now and likes to hold her hand and give her kisses. He still has his moments where he tries to play "two points!" with her and throw the ball at her, but hopefully he'll eventually realize she's not a basketball hoop :) I am on maternity leave through mid February (which by the way, is NOT a vacation!) and my mom is here through Feb 14th to help me out (what a savior!). Tony finally took a little time off over the holidays, which has been great for me and especially Chase. Chase is absolutely a daddy's boy...no doubt about it...so he has enjoyed spending lots of time with Tony. Tony's family came into town on the 27th and spent 4 days with us, so we were busy entertaining 4 pre-teen and teenage boys, Tony's twin sister and her husband, and Tony's mom. Needless to say, we had a full house. Things are finally settling down, so it's nice to have some quiet time and we're ready to settle into a routine (if that's even possible with 2 little ones!)

Happy New Year!

Update

Our little girl has been home 11 days now and is doing well, minus one small issue. She was born with a heart murmur that had not disappeared by earlier this week, so we saw a cardiologist yesterday and found out she has a small hole in her heart. The Dr said about 1% of newborns have heart issues, and the small hole that Ashlyn has is the most common of all the issues they see (they call it VSD). They are hopeful that it will stay the same or close up on its own over time, but there is a slight chance that it could cause problems down the road and she would need heart surgery to close the hole. We go back for a checkup on Feb 9th and then 2-3 months after that. We are staying positive!

Welcome Ashlyn Jane!!

Latest update--almost 39 weeks

So we had a little false alarm on Saturday night and spent some time at the hospital, but seems that our girly girl is just playing games with me! I never had pre-term contractions with Chase, so this pregnancy has been a completely different experience. Anyways, I'm dilated to 2cm and 80% effaced, so she's making progress. Now I'm hoping she'll just stay put until after Chase's party on Saturday, but who knows. I have another checkup tomorrow, so we'll see what's going on. Also, we have a name! It's truly a MIRACLE. I thought I might be delivering a baby with no name and no husband to help....haha. That tells you how difficult the name game has been for us! Sorry, keeping it a secret until D-Day though :) Stay tuned!

Latest update from Dr

So little miss lulu is nice and cozy in her home and is still "sky high" as my Dr put it. She's scared to come out and be bullied by her big brother! We're throwing Chase a 2nd birthday party next Saturday, Nov 29th, so I'm hoping she decides to stay put now until after the party. It would be nice to let Chase have one last hurrah with all of the attention on him. Plus, it would be terrible to plan a party and have to cancel it...for those of you who know me, you know it won't be just any ol party :-) Chase only turns 2 once!!

Stay tuned for baby updates!

38 week update

Wow, hard to believe I'm already 38 weeks this week and the princess will be here anyday now. We were anxious before, but now we're nervous! I don't know if I can handle a crazy two year old and a baby! I have a check-up tomorrow, so we're hoping this little girl has made some progress....last week I wasn't dilated, but the Dr said I was showing signs of being ready for labor. Mom and Joe arrive next Wednesday, so it would be nice for their sake if she can hold on until then...but I wouldn't mind if she made an early appearance! I'm miserable! :-)

28 week update

I had my millionth ultrasound today and everything looks great. Baby is 2 lbs, 13 oz and measuring very average in terms of her 'age'. Based on her size today, they show her due date as Dec 1st instead of Dec 4th, but that always changes as it gets closer. My Dr said she is comfortable letting me go full term unless she sees something that alarms her between now and then. Next appt is in two weeks and then another ultrasound in 4 weeks. I have been working on her room, but haven't gotten very far yet since Chase is still using the crib and changing table. No name for the princess yet. Stay tuned!

Our hospital scare

At almost 23 weeks I was admitted to the hospital for symptoms of pre-term labor and possible placental abruption. I was rushed from one hospital to another in an ambulance and kept on observation for 3 days...very dramatic at the time, so we're thankful that things seem to be getting better and better. I think our little girl was looking for some attention--and she got it! It was a horrible experience, so we're praying that was the last time I will have to see the inside of the special care unit. Since that experience, I have had multiple check-ups and ultrasounds and everything looks good so far. Hopefully just a little scare and she will stay put until her due date.

Our Family

Monday, April 27, 2009

Sweet Angel

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