Cell Phone pics!

Sno cone blue mouth!

Pool fun!

Toddler luvin!

Big girl!

Okay, so she's not THAT big!

Painting fun!

This sitting up lasted 1/2 a second, but I got it!

Sleepy Mama...we'd only been up five minutes!

Look at my cute clip!

Cheesy grin: "CHEEEEEESSSSSSEEEEEEEEE!"

Torture??

"Jesus Christ is Lord, not a swear word"

Mother's Day fun!

For reason unknown to me, my mind is blank before 8 o'clock in the morning on Mother's Day (don't panic, it's an inside joke). At eight o'clock we were in the car headed to the zoo! We got to the zoo, saw the animals...and had many fun moments with Riley. She was more excited about the regular birds in the exhibits (you know, the birds that always try to steal your food). And when we were looking at the horse she was afraid so we were talking about his eyes "eyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee mama eyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" (while poking her own), nose "NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooos mama nooooooooooooooos" (while poking her own), and when we got to his hair I explained that he "has hair on his head, neck, and butt. The hair on his butt is called a tail." What cracked me up is when the horse would twitch it's tail she would say "HAIIIIRRRRR!" and shake her head wildly!

Bree didn't enjoy the zoo quite as much, and we discovered that she is much like her Daddy and overheats VERY EASILY! So, we all got a snowcone to share and Riley discovered that she loves them. Bree wasn't too sure, but it helped to cool her down a little bit. She had a few tastes and then decided she was done. So, as we were heading out of the zoo, Mama, Daddy and Riley had blue mouths. :)

That within itself would have been a perfect day, but it continued! We headed home and I got to go out for a bit by myself to Barnes and Noble. After a bit, I headed back home and Adam proceeded to cook me lobster, crab, steak and brussel sprouts for dinner. To some of you, the brussel sprouts wouldn't be on your menu...but I love them. Weird, I know, but I like them.

Bree got laid down for bed after this and Adam, Riley and I compulsively jumped in our big pool (mind you it's only 2 feet deep) and played and played! Riley LOVED it! We followed up with a quick family shower to warm up since it was super windy outside and we were freezing. We all snuggled the rest of the night away (for 20 minutes) and watched the Yo Gabba Gabba sleep episode until it was Riley's bedtime.

That, my friends, was a perfect mother's day to me.

Eye yi yi!

I am going to get a quick post in here before it is time to feed Bree. On Monday (yes, yes I will do a post about my mother's day later today!) we had Bree's eye check up. We had good news and some "eh" news. Good news is that her eyes are perfect for her age! Her ROP laser surgery that she had will affect her peripheral vision, but Dr. Golub does not think it will be too drastic. We won't really know the extent of that until she is able to talk to us about what she can and cannot see.

Our "eh" news was that the muscles in her eyes are showing signs of crossing a lot more than they should be. Since her eyes checked out a-okay, that means that it is the muscles in her eye and eventually she will probably need some surgery to correct that. For now we are keeping an eye (ha ha, get it?) on it, and we'll take it as it comes!

Got to go feed Bree!

Pictures!

GI and Pulmonology Appts

On May 1st Bree had her GI and Pulmonology appts at PCH. GI was first and she weighed in at 12 lbs, 10 ounces! Chunky monkey! She was also 24 inches long, which if you all recall is 11 inches longer than she was when she was born. She has come a long way!

With GI we got some good news and some not so good news. The good news is that she is growing exactly how they want her to be, and she is on track with working her way onto 'their' charts. (I think everyone uses different charts...really, I do!) The not so good news is that we are headed down the road to a G-tube, which for this time I am refusing to have put in. (You can learn about the G-tube by clicking here) In my heart I feel that once we start solids with Bree she will be able to get away from her NG tube. If time tells differently we will be getting a G tube, but for now I am following Bree's cues and my heart.

Onto Pulmonology! Are you ready for this? DUN DUN DUN! We no longer have to regularly see a pulmonologist! She still has underdeveloped lungs and probably some scarring in there from the ventilator business that happened, but for now they are not giving her any support or treatments so it is no longer needed. If for some reason, a problem arises we will go back but that's one more doctor appt I can cross off Bree's list!

Bree is doing great with her pureed foods and so far is following the same trends that Riley had: she loves green beans! I, of course, being the paparazzi mother of the year have many ooey gooey smiling pictures of her when eating that I will post for your viewing pleasure...right after I get done editing.

Not me Monday

This idea was given to me by one of the micro preemie blog mom's so I thank her for it! (this is going to be fun!)

I am not the one who let's Riley watch over 5 episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba on schoolwork days....nope, not me!

I am not the one who put brown sugar into Bree's pureed squash today (have you ever tasted that stuff! uck!)...nope, not me!

I am not the one who wishes somedays that it could just be QUIET!!! in my house...nope, not me!

I am not the one who desperately would love to have a nanny devoted exclusively to toddler tantrums (isn't that a good idea?)...nope, not me!

I am not the one who feels guilty about yelling at my toddler (I am working on it)...nope, not me!

I am not the one who, on a daily basis, (sometimes multiple times) feels very incompetent and unable to cope with the emotional craziness of my life right now...nope not me!

And last but not least....I am not the one who loves, and adores, snuggling with Riley right before bedtime, and reading two books to her (tonight it was the Hungry Little Caterpillar and Flicker Firefly) before tucking her sweet snuggly self into bed....nope not me!

Ahhh...blessed silence!

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS"

Riley's newest answer to everything is "YUP!", which is odd because Adam and I don't use that word. I will have to pay attention to her friends to see who uses it, she had to pick it up from somewhere. Any ways, I am not too fond of it when she is in trouble so I have been trying to get her to say 'yes'. So when she says "YUP!" I tell her to say "YESSSSSSS!" and I over emphasize the "SSSSS" to make it apparent. So what do I get from Riley?

"SSSSSSSYUP!"

Sugar, anyone?

Why is it that our nation is so obsessed with cutting out sugars completely? Hasn't anyone heard of portion control? I am so frustated with it! On our most recent visit to WIC, we weighed both the girls and Riley was 24 lbs. Earlier in the day she had gone to the pediatricians office and weighed the same...we were told she was in the 50th percentile for her weight. Well, WIC lady broke out and told me that she was only in the 13th percentile and because she was low we had to go over a survey of what I feed her. Now, if you know Riley personally this child never stops eating! When asked if I give her sweets and cake occasionally I replied 'yes' and was met with a frown. She informed me that exposing her to sugars this early in her life (THIS EARLY???!) could lead to obesity. She says this with a straight face while Adam and I are sitting there right in front of her. Can she not see us? Do we look obese? I understand that she is only doing her job, but that lady needs an attitude adjustment.

To top it all off, Bree's weight was 12 lbs, 9 ounces. That's great to us, right? Not to WIC, since they don't adjust for her early birth (stupid, right?) I got a lecture on how she is only in the third percentile for her age. I looked right at her, in the eyes and said "You know what? I am happy she's even on the chart. She has certainly come a long way." That made the lady quiet for a little bit until we moved onto Bree's eating survery which sparked another "sugar" talk because I put fruit juice in her cereal she gets in the morning. I even explained to her that it is Gerber juice, made for babies and she still told me that I could be leading Bree down the road to obesity.

Can't we all just have a little sugar now and again? It won't hurt, and trust me...it'll taste good! If you don't believe me go have a brownie, or a pudding cup....or go ahead, just eat a spoonful of sugar. (It helps the medicine go down, ya know!)

A big day!

So today was our second multi mommy play date! We were having a pool party at 9 am...yes in AZ we can do that. We had 11 kids planned to come so we were expecting a full house. Bree's 'therapist' Kyla was coming at 8 and her sessions typically last for an hour. I was honestly kind of wanting to hurry up and get through the session because of all of our other plans for the day. However, this is what Bree had to say: "Oh yeah, mama...watch this!"

Bree has been working on her tummy time, and head lifting as of lately. Well, she found a way to get out of tummy time...that's right, she learned to roll from her tummy to her back! (and does it rather quickly!) She is also doing much better with lifting her head and can lift it to an almost 90 degree angle....GO BREE!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Dr. appt I could not miss!

So as earlier promised, here is what is up with my doctor appt I could not miss. For the past three years every so often I would feel like I would have a lump stuck on the left side of my throat. However, it would only be for a day or two so I figured it was just something I ate. I am allergic to fish, and mildly allergic to eggs so I would just think I ate something in it that had eggs and I didn't realize it. However, since Bree has been born I had noticed it more and more until for the past two months it had been there constantly and started to affect my swallowing when I am eating. (things getting stuck and having to reswallow to get it down)

As most of you know, I am a super worrier and my own mind was enough of a hinderance with this problem.(that is why I didn't tell anyone until after my appt!) Luckily the ENT specialist was able to get me in earlier than most first time patients do. So, I could not miss the appt! At my appt, he numbed up my nose and throat by squirting some sort of liquid up my nose (it smelled and tasted like dirt...literally!). Riley was with me because this was when Bree was still in the hospital and she did great..didn't fuss at all when the doctor was examining me.

Once I was numbed up he stuck a long thin cord that had a camera on the end up my nose, and down the back of my throat. What he saw was an inflamed voice box and surrounding tissues, which is what was causing the lump. I have what is called laryngopharyngeal reflux. You can learn more about it here. As it is a form of heartburn (but only 30% of people feel it with this condition...and I am not one of those!) I am on heartburn medication twice a day at least 30 minutes before I eat.

I will go back into the doctor's next month for a check up to see if it is doing the job...if it is that's great but so far I have not felt too much of a difference. (but it's only been a week!)

Cereal!

A few days before Bree went into the hospital this last time we gave her her first taste of cereal...and she loved it! So now she is getting 2 tbsp of cereal and 2.5 tbsp of pear juice all mixed together at 7 in the morning. We are going to start her on veggies here soon since she is doing so well with her cereal...

We are still giving her the same amount of formula so her calorie intake is actually going up for right now. We have a GI and Nutrition appt on May 1st, so we will have a clearer answer for if we are going to be going down on formula and up on foods..or what is going on. I do know one thing though, no matter what they say, she is continuing on the trend that she is. Even if they tell me to stop giving her foods I am not going to. She is doing well with what she has. Many many many micro preemies have massive amount of food and food sensory issues so if she is doing well, I am not taking it away! After I figure out how to save my videos from my phone on the computer I will share a video with you all of Bree after she had her first bite of cereal (oh boy was she happy!)

So...where to begin?

I got so behind! I was trying to save some blogs to talk about that happened when we had family here, but I wanted the photos to go with them, so I was waiting for myself to edit them. Now I have them edited but don't remember where I left off! So, I am going to pick one thing and start from there!

Friday...April 3rd was Spouse Taxi Day at Adam's work. Over fifty wives were signed up and there were only 19 slots. They put all the names in the hat and drew them out and guess what?! I got the first slot! So off I went...Mama and Dad watched the kiddos since it was an all day thing. We got to get dressed up in flight suits, the helmet and even the gloves. I got the taxi with Adam's pilot, his 'name' (pilot nickname) is K-Rush. It stands for something, but I don't remember it all (Killing Responsibly Undisciplined, S____, H_____). Adam got to 'launch' us out, which was pretty cool. While we were taxiing (at like 10 mph) I got to steer the plane a little bit with the foot pedals. Then we got to taxi down the runway at 50 knots (which is almost equivalent to 50 mph). Check out the pictures we got!

First round of editing!

Grandma Gonce and Riley laughing!

Seriously, could there be more pink?

Running wild with her cousins

Bailey and I aka two cool chicks!

Sunbathing girl

Gettin Auntie's help

Riley's crazy hair

Na, na na na na!

Our exciting weekend.

This will be a quick update as I have about three hundred things to do today...

Saturday night Adam took Bree back into the ER due to difficulty breathing and not keeping her food down again. So he was there until 3 in the morning, and was sent home on strict orders of staying on a continuous drip of pedialyte until her respiratory symptoms resolve. (she is on 22 mls/hr) Once they came home Bree needed a breathing treatment at 330, then coughed for an hour and half, then finally I slept from 5-6 and got up and went to work until 1. Adam did make Easter dinner (turkey, homemade mashed potatoes, asparagus, rolls, and stuffing) but then we went to bed right after the kids did. :)

One of these days when I get done editing the 900 photos I have to edit (literally I have that many!) I will do a MASSIVE photo post!

Bree's home!

So, after my last post the doctor insisted that Bree stay overnight. We had to do some juggling because I had a doctor appt that I could NOT miss (whole other story) so Adam stayed overnight with Bree, but had to leave at 300 in the morning to make it to work by 400. So Bree was by herself from 300 in the morning to 1000 when Adam was able to make it back.

However, Bree is now home! We are being sent home on a continuous feed of 22 ml/hr for a few days (probably until Sunday) and then slowly go back to our 75mls at 8, 11, 2, and 5. (then the night drip) We are so happy to be together as a family again under the same roof! Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes, we are very blessed to have you all as our friends and our family!

A few cell phone videos for ya...