Saturday, February 21, 2009

Everyone's favorite stuff...pictures!


Bumbo fun! She sits up like a big girl...she can rest her head on the back of the Bumbo if she gets tired. She really likes being able to see everything!




This is my newest favorite picture of Bree....She looks like such a big girl with her shoes on! (Thank you Auntie Cindy!)


This what I see about five hundred times a day...Riley saying "UP?" while holding up her arms to me...




The saddest frown face ever....seriously, isn't it?


You know you have a preemie when...you have a list of all of her scheduled feeds and medications...


Riley did not like the ladybug costume. I am such a great mom that I had to make sure to document this moment in case she forgot how she feels about it. (that sounds convincing, right?)

"Kkkkkkkkkkkkk" (smile)

That is Bree's newest development...she will talk with you! If she is awake, and in the mood, she will smile at you and go "kkkkkkkk" and then smile and wiggle because she is so happy with herself. She will then quiet down and stare at you...as soon as you answer with a "kkkkkk" she will wiggle and smile away! The best record we have so far is six times back and forth!

Doctor updates!

GI: She is doing great! She was 8 lbs 9 ounces and 20.5 inches long. We are going up on her Prevacid dose (which is for acid reflux), and down on her Enulose (poop medicine). He was very pleased with her progress...he said if we continue along this trend that she will be a "normal" size gestationally by the time she is 9 months old. This is so far out though that we are concentrating on the here and now. :)

Neurologist: Dr. Teodori was so pleased with Bree'es demeanor, and development (physically and socially) that we get to skip the MRI! She said that there are no outward signs of problems from her brain bleeds so there is no reason to subject her to sedation for the test. She tested her for a variety of small things just to see where she is developmentally and she is right on the spot for a two and half month old. She recommended a Bumbo to us because it will help to develop her neck muscles. So far, Bree seems to like it. We have to pad it with a blanket because she is a little bit small for it, but it works!

Pulmonology: Get ready for some good news! As long as Bree has no apnea spells between now and March 27th we will be done with the monitor!!!! This is exciting, but scary at the same time. (More exciting though...) It will be an adjustment, but it is a step forward. Like we said when she was younger, less tubes and wires is a good thing! Besides that, we are continuing her Pulmicort twice a day until the end of RSV season to help her lungs stay strong. She also got her Synagis shot to help prevent RSV last week again. (she gets it once a month during RSV season for the first two years of life)

Physical Therapist: We mainly did paperwork with Kyla this time, but will begin the real work on Friday....will keep you all posted!

Hope this update helped everyone understand what has been going on and why we have been so hard to get a hold of this last week! Between a sick Riley and crazy dr appts we have had no free time!

Hope this finds everyone happy, healthy and in love with life! (or as Bree would say..."KKkkkkkkk")

"Da-Da! DANCE!"

Little Miss Riley is growing, changing and learning so many new things everyday that it is amazing! Just this morning, while cartoons were on (Mickey Mouse Club House to be exact), she screamed "HOT DOG!" when they started to do the hot dog dance. (For you non-toddler parents, it is a song and dance at the end of every Mickey Mouse Club House show that you do your own special dance to). Riley started dancing and shaking her little booty...she looked over at me, and from experience I started to shake the upper part of my body in rhythm to the music. Poor inexperienced Daddy didn't know any better....and Riley sure let him know! "DA-DA!! DANCE! DA-DA!! DANCE!!!" she chanted until he too started to dance to the rhythm of the music. However, he stopped and once again "DA-DA! DANCE!" It cracked me up!

I have recently gone through and organized all the WONDERFUL! hand me down clothes we have gotten for the girls and I had some left out still. Well Riley literally spent 45 minutes moving them from place to place. It was only ten or so items of clothing, but she would pick them all up, carry them to the coffee table and groan while throwing them onto the table. She would "fuss" with them, pick them up and carry them back to a small table behind our recliner, groan while putting them down, then repeat...over and over. I have no clue where that fascination came from, but it was 45 minutes of pure bliss (apart from the groaning every three minutes)!

I love this stage in Riley's life! She is so adventurous, but cautious at the same time. She has to run for the comfort of my arms whenever unsure, hurt, or even in trouble (even if it's from me!). She is my Riley, and I am her Mama....

Friday, February 20, 2009

Blessed....

We are blessed beyond measure. Without a shadow of a doubt, I give all credit to God. He is the amazing one who knows exactly what our future holds for our family, and is responsible for our present.

Many different times this past week I have been told that we are blessed. We are blessed with an amazing little girl who has defied all odds, and is right on track (even ahead in some areas!) with what she is suppose to be doing according to her adjusted age. Bree is a miracle child. Plain and simple. I do think that every child is a blessing from God, but I do believe that people throw around the word 'miracle' a little too quickly nowadays. However, I think Bree is a miracle child. She has had her heart stop twice, and been revived twice with CPR. How many people can say that? Adam and I joke that we need to change her bedtime prayers:

"Now I prop me up to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
if I should die (and stay dead) before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take...

In Jesus' name we pray....AAAAMEN!"

Ha ha! (We have to prop her up to sleep because of her feeding tube drip that she gets at night) I wonder sometimes if I have a sick sense of humor. But, it is true...

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

A down day

So far today has not been a wonderful day for Riley or myself. Riley woke up with a temp of 99.8 today, her cough is a bit worse, but no throw up so far today! She has been whiney and clingy, which is to be expected with being sick.

I noticed this morning that Bree only had three diapers left so when Riley went down for her morning nap, I decided to run to Walmart, leaving Papa with both napping girls. Well, apparently I "ran" a little too fast....I got a ticket for speeding ten miles over the speed limit. I was going with the flow of traffic and I noticed a police officer with a radar gun. Common practice, I checked my speed and realized that I was going over! I tried to slow down, but he had noticed and pulled my over and cited me. If it had been nine miles over, I would have just gotten a ticket with an amount of money to pay. But since it was ten over, I have to go to court on March 4th. I have to be there from 8am to 4pm...which means Adam will have to try and get the day off. If he cannot, I am going to have to see if one of our friends will watch the girls for me.

So, with Bree's appointment later today I hope that the second part of the day goes better than the first has!

Cell phone pictures

As most of us know (and can relate) our cell phones go everywhere with us! So, what seems to be handy when we want to take a picture of something?? Our cell phones! Here are some pictures that I recently took with my phone (within the last month):




Little Miss Independent...I picked out jeans that morning and gave her the choice of a pink or purple shirt. "Purbow!!" She then proceeded to pick out dress shoes to wear, grabbed a pj top to add to her outfit and snagged her shades to complete her outfit!


Papa was watching Riley and fell asleep in her bouncer...comfy lookin, huh?




This was one of the outfits that we thought Bree would never fit in! (It looked way big compared to her size when she was born)


Look at those neck muscles!


Two sisters fit into one cart! I love Costco!

Daddy's hat!


Seriously?? This warning was on a dry erase board...why?!









Hope this finds everyone happy, healthy and in love with life!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Crazy busy week!

So, my updates this week are going to be few and far between. Today we had Bree's GI appt at 9 am, and her Synagis shot appt was at 1 pm. Adam's Dad aka Papa is here to help us out with these busy times so he was able to watch Riley for me. Of course, Riley threw a raging fit each time Bree and I left for an appt. The second time it was so bad that she threw all of her raviolis on the floor off of her high chair.

Bree was 8 lbs, 9.2 ounces today at her GI appt. We are backing down on her Enulose (poop medicine) and going up on her Prevacid (acid reflux med). Besides that nothing else is new. Her Synagis shot went pretty well, the usual crying and what not with shots and poor little baby pain.

Here's the rest of the week for us:

Wednesday:
Playdate with Aleasha and Ethan at 9 am
Bree's nuerology appt down at Phoenix Children's at 4 pm

Thursday:
Playdate with Iliyah and Nathan in the morning? (possibility)
Bree's pulomonology appt at Phoenix Children's at 130 pm
Adam and I have a meeting with Pastor Steven in the evening

Friday:
Bree's Physcial Therapy that comes to our house at 11am


To top off our crazy week, I just had to take a break from writing this blog to go comfort Riley as I noticed she hasn't been feeling well today. Just a little coughing, disinterest in food, etc. Her crying just didn't sound right so I went to check on her and yup! she had thrown up all over her bed. So, we are going to have a rough week....but we'll make it through! One day at a time.....

Monday, February 16, 2009

Picture post!

Bree's eye exams:
Dr Golub inserts a metal device that holds her eye open, then uses another tool that goes behind her eye to lift it up a little so he can see behind her eye while using a light and his special lens. He also has a headset that has a light on it and special magnifying glasses.






Our family!!!