Happy Birthday Adam!

Happy Birthday to my loving, handsome husband!

23 years and 11 months ago, Adam's parents crawled into bed together like they did every other night...except that night was different. That night they snuggled a little closer, kissed a little longer, and...Okay, okay...enough of the gross talk..and yes I meant 23 years and 11 months ago. The average pregnancy is really 10 months (40 weeks) and Adam was a month overdue...yes a MONTH! That poor boy put his mother through an extra month...he just figured it was nice and comfy where he was so why bother going anywhere?

 Adam was technically an 'oops' baby, His mama found out she was preggo at her yearly visit..

Doctor: "You're pregnant!"
Mama: (insert sarcasm here) "Hilarious joke..Hardee har har."
Doctor: "Were you trying?"
Mama: "Yeah, six years ago! Wait, are you serious?"

In my opinion, he's the best 'oops' that I have ever had in my life. I could not ask for a better husband. Yes, he slacks on chores at times, and we are not the best at communicating, but what marriage doesn't have that? He tells me at least once a day that I am beautiful, that he loves me, and I know he loves our girls with all of his heart. What more could I ask for?

Happy 23rd birthday Babe...I hope you had a good one!

I've got a pretty wonderful life....

...it just hit me. I do have a pretty wonderful life. Regardless of how far Riley pushes the boundaries, I am thankful that she can. She can speak, and run, and jump, and throw herself on the ground voluntarily just to roll around screaming at the top of her healthy little lungs. Not to say that Bree isn't pretty wonderful herself, but being a mommy of a 'normal' child and a special needs child really causes me to take a step back and be thankful for what I have.

For the record, I have...

...a husband who adores me with all of his being.

...a husband who tells me at least once a day that I am sexy, attractive and/or beautiful.

...a silly little goose two year old that I am unable to resist when she says "C'Mon Mommy! Yet's Pyay!"

...a two year old that still loves to be "rockarocked" when it is sleepy time.

...a one year old who's smile can turn any gray day into a sunny one in an instant.

...a one year old who has more determination and drive than I have seen in most full grown adults.

I have so many things that many others do not have. I need to remember to focus on what I do have, instead of what I don't. Yes, we are having issues with finding a house, but at least we have a house to live in, we can pay our bills and we have food to eat. I am thankful and grateful for all that I have, physically and emotionally, I am present in this time and moment. :)

Oh...and I also have...schoolwork...that I should be doing at this time and moment.

Riley's Birthday Pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Down day

While we had a wonderful playdate today at Danielle's house, I have been in a down mood today. I have been staying up late the past week, and I think it is catching up with me. I am overwhelmed with school, Riley is testing the boundaries like a normal ALMOST two year old does (she'll be two TOMORROW!! can you believe it?), Bree is switching therapists around, and Adam is having a little bit of difficulty adjusting to his new schedule at work.

Deep breath in...deep breath out. Oh, and our contract we had with the house we were buying was canceled due to title issues. So, we get to jump back on the "looking for houses" horse. Sigh. So, everyone is allowed to have a down day every so often, right? It just means that tomorrow will be better. I hope.

Coming and going...

As what happens in life, things come and go...like for example, we got great news when we were told that we would be moving to seeing the GI doctor every two months. Today we were told from the pulmunologist (in their words) "Congrats on graduation from the BPD clinic in March...now welcome to the Asthma clinic!!".

Yup, you read right, asthma. Now Bree cannot be diagnosed with asthma due to how young she is, but she can be treated for symptoms that are similar to asthma. These symptoms can be directly related to her premature lungs. So, for right now we are giving her pulmicort by inhaler two times a day and albuetrol as needed....which for right now is every 2-3 hours during the day. She has slightly labored and fast breathing constantly right now, so we are hoping this will help her.

If for some reason this does not help her, we will be getting a chest x ray in a month to double check everything. The reason why it is in a month is because it takes at least two weeks for the pulmicort (an inhaled steroid) to build up in her system to allow it to start helping her and "beefing" up her lungs. (Imagine a set of lungs flexing it's muscles...it's steroid enhanced muscles!) So, once again we find ourselves waiting, watching, and monitoring. However, we will manage to squeeze some fun in there...

...because who can resist this sweet face? Not me.

Another one bites the dust....

Okay, so maybe I am speaking a little too soon, but hey, it's always fun to reference songs, right? Today we got some GREAT news and some not so great news. Let's begin with the not so great simply because I like to end of a good note.

NOT SO GREAT: We are in the process of purchasing a home. We found out today that the said home has liens out against it so the title is in limbo. This means an extra 3-4 weeks at least tacked onto our house buying time. So...we are waiting to hear back about what type of liens, and how long it might take to process all of that mumbo jumbo and if it is something we do not want to deal with we shall be backing out of this house and starting to search again for another. Ugh.

GREAT: Bree only has to see the GI doctor every two months now!! Woo hoo! Recently it's been every month, if not more. They are satisfied with her progressive weight gain (16 pounds, 10 ounces....that's 1 pound and 2 ounces more than a month ago) and growth (2 inches in a month!) so they no longer need to see her on a monthly basis. Our gas bill thanks them for making that decision...and thanks Bree for being such an excellent grower! :)

So, another monthly doctor visit bites the dust while another possible home purchase hovers on the edge of biffing it.

Oh yes, I went there.

Bribery. I tried it on Riley and failed. We've always had a problem with getting her to drink milk. If I ever knew it was going to be such a problem I would have kept her on formula for much much longer....but hindsight's twenty twenty right? Anyways, we were eating lunch today (spaghetti with bread..and milk to drink) and Riley proclaimed she was finished. I cleared her plate and said "Take one more drink of your milk and you can be done." Oh, you would have thought I put a hot poker on her! The wailing, the sharp high pitched "NO! NO MILK!", the flailing...you name it!

So, I figured I'd try out something new: "Riley, Dora drinks all her milk. That's how she can go on adventures with Boots. You wanna be like Dora, right? Go on, drink your milk...". That was met with "No!!! No Dora milk!". So, after more wailing and flailing Riley was given a choice to take one drink of her milk or go to her bed to take a rest. Guess what she chose? Not the milk.

Fast forward to this afternoon and Riley and Ethan are playing with her new set of play food. (Provided courtesy of the birthday money my Mom sent her) Riley brings over a fake ice cream cone and proceeds to get right up in my face and tell me..."Mmmmm Ice cream. Dora eats ice cream. Yeah...Dora eats ice cream, okay?"

Sigh....I'll never win.

Party pictures!

The cake that Adam and I ended up making...and it looked good!

 

Bree was cool and ready to go....(and cute as ever!)

 

Even Daddy got into the Luau mood!

Time to play...where's Bree?

 

"Ethee" and Riley...best buds!

 

 

 

 

Do we have a pyro in the making? I think so!

Riley was much more content to just stare at the candle. (Sorry for the blurry...I was trying to take pictures of both girls...and guard Riley from touching the flame...it was a sight to see!)

 

(Here's the picture I promised ...remember?)

A new way to open presents...hey whatever works..right?

While we were doing this (see above)....Riley was doing this (see below). She wanted nothing to do with opening presents.

Too many people and too much attention ..I think it freaked her out a bit. So, we recruited her friends to help. :)

 

 

However, when we broke out the bike she suddenly became interested again...funny how that works.

 

 

After a looong day, and a GREAT party both girls (and Daddy) were in need of a nap!

I want to take the time to personally say thank you to everyone who came to their party and who wished them well (whether you were able to make it or not). This past year has certainly been an adventure. We have laughed, cried (too many times to count), been outrageously silly, been outrageously tired, and everything in between. We have experienced emotions we never knew existed. However, through it all we have had good friends and great family by our side. We could not have done it without each and every person we have met, been friends with, or even just spoken to in a doctor's office. It is amazing the difference it makes when you have good people in your life. The people who care for you, and you for them are more precious than you could ever imagine. Hold them close and do not take them for granted. Enter into every day with a grateful heart and all will be well.