Isabella Grace Minard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another year drawing to a close

As this year ends and another begins, I look forward to what it holds. This last year was the most interesting I have had so far. I have learned many things about myself, and changed my views on quite a few things. One of the most important things that I learned and plan to keep with me is to not judge others based upon what you can see. They have had many different experiences and their life has taken a different path than my own. I cannot judge their way of parenting because every child is different and until you are in that situation yourself you have no idea what it is like. This was a great concept for me to learn, and has been even harder to accept and practice. This lesson has always been repeated to me, but with the experiences I have had with Bree I got to learn this one the hard way. We have had many suggestions and stories told to us about how we should be raising her and what we should be doing. However, it has made me more thankful and opened my eyes to the fact that the life we are sharing as a family is our own, and it is ours to take our own path with.

We will be ringing in the New Year with my brother and sister here to celebrate with us and I wouldn't have it any other way. Surrounded by those we love, we will be looking forward to what the year of 2010 has in store for us...and for all of you!!!

Isabella Grace Minard

We all have a new member of our family! Isabella Grace Minard was born by emergency C section on December 26 at 8:29 in the morning. She weighed 8 lbs, 12 ounces and was 21 inches long. She has already proved herself to have a good set of lungs, and is just as cute as can be. Pictures to follow in a few days.

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday (potentially)

Merry Christmas to all our blog followers, family, friends and everyone in the world! We have had a wonderous Christmas day full of surprises, and lots of love. Bree stood up for the first time today without someone holding onto her! She was holding onto her Uncle Ooba, but he was not holding onto her! What a big girl! The girl's got a lot of gifts, and my brother and sister seemed to enjoy their gifts we got them as well. It is hard for me to pick out gifts for them since we live so far away from them we do not know them as well as we would like to. So, we might be making some trips back to the stores to exchange a few things before they go home. As long as they are happy with everything that's all that matters. :)

My aunt and uncle also get a Christmas surprise today. My aunt's water broke this morning so I am typing this from her hospital room right now! Little Izzy will either be here today or tomorrow!! New babies are so precious and exciting.

I hope that all of you are enjoying the time with the people that you love. Eating food, sharing stories or even just playing board games with them. It is the time that is spent that is most precious. Merry Christmas everyone!

Apple soup

Tonight I made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for dinner. Not extravagant, but it gets the job done. While it was cooking Riley had suckered Auntie into holding her while she stood in the kitchen with me. Riley happened to see the tomato soup cooking and said "Yum! Apple Soup!" (It's red like an apple, right??)

*Fingers crossed*

My fingers are crossed in hopes that this time tomorrow evening my Aunt Shrrene and Uncle Rick will be holding their sweet new little girl in their arms. Tomorrow is Isabella Grace's official due date...and her Mama is sure ready for her to come on out!

Sweet Izzy, we can't wait to meet you!

The warm fuzzies

You know what I am talking about...the warm feeling you get when all feels right with world? Well, I have that. Right now.

My brother and sister are in town visiting until January fourth and I always have a good time with them when we get together. Riley absolutely adores both of them. In fact, she told me tonight. First with her actions, and then with her words.

After bath time tonight my sister helped me by dressing Riley in her pj's. After some bedtime blue's clue's it was time to brush Riley's teeth. Auntie volunteered to help Riley brush her teeth so I told her to holler for me when they were done and I would do the bedtime routine of books and bed. However, when I sat down in Riley's rocking chair to read her her two nighttime books I was told "Scoooz eeee....it auntie turn. scooooz eeeee. Move mommy!" She loves her Auntie.

After Auntie had put her to bed, she called for me and I went in to rock her as she requested. She laid her head down on my shoulder and said "wow". I kind of chuckled and said wow back to her. She sighed and said "Oooba very fun". (Ooba is her name for her Uncle Caleb) I asked her "Oh, yeah?" She informed me that "Oooba fun on slide". I asked her if Uncle Ooba was fun on the slide today and she said "Okay, let's go!". I laughed and told her it was bedtime right now but maybe they could play on the slide again tomorrow. She loves her Ooba.

My posts may be few and far between lately because I am going to take the time to enjoy my wonderful family visiting. :) Or I might just have many stories to tell because they are here. Only time will tell.

GO BREE!!!

This week is getting better and better! Yesterday and today she has been on full strength formula at feeds of 150 cc's 3 times a day and we've had no vomiting. Tonight is the first night we are doing half strength formula instead of pedialyte so wish us luck! I should start blogging about sleep deprivation more often because last night Bree slept from 7 to 530!!! Much improvement from previous nights!



 We had a check up  with Bree's eye doctor on Thursday and he said she is the fastest healing kid he's ever seen. :) In other news, she has started crawling!!!!! She surprised both us and the physical therapist. She is taking off and is pulling herself up on stuff and standing on her knees. She is such an amazing little girl! GO BREE!

Sleep deprivation

When we decided to have kids, I knew that when they were babies they would rob me of my sleep. However, I thought that it would only be 'the worst' when they were first born and woke up every two hours. Ahhh..those were the days! At least there was a schedule of sleeping. Wake up, feed baby for 30 minutes, lay down....try to go to sleep for 1/2 an hour...wake up in an hour to feed baby again. Now, since they are bigger...we have good days and bad days. (okay, so they are really nights...that's what I meant to say)

Lately, we have had more bad days/nights. Bree caught a bug after her surgery and has been throwing up 24/7. It doesn't seem to be contagious because no one else has it so I wonder if it is a reaction to anesthesia. She is a sensitive little girl ya know! Today was the best day we have had in a week. She took 3 feeds of full strength formula at 150 cc's each. We are going to do a night drip of pedialyte tonight again just to make sure she is back on track (night drips of formula make her vomit pronto right now). So, wish us luck that she sleeps better than the 3 hours of sleep we all got last night. Sigh. Good night everyone. Sweet dreams.

Smiles

Smiles can melt my heart. So can hugs, but today it was smiles. The sweetest smile I got today was from our friend's daughter Ella. (You can read her story here) She has a critical immune system and was unable to make our Christmas craft playdate so Riley, Bree and I brought the crafts to her, her sister and her mom.

When we first arrived Ella was relaxing and resting on the couch. Celine, Ella's mom, informed me that Ella had been like that for most of the week. She just didn't have the energy to get up and do much. However, after some coaxing, Ella built some towers with Bree, then took a rest again. She played a little...then would rest again. However, when Ella found the bag of construction paper, stick glue, and cotton balls she perked right up. She was very patient when asked to wait until I was done feeding Bree.

While we were doing the crafts, her little face light up and you could tell she was really enjoying herself. It was when I brought out the red paint to fingerpaint the nose on the reindeer that she smiled. She was so proud of herself for making the nose AND the eyes out of the red paint. My heart seriously melted into a puddle of happy goo tonight. Ella is such a sweet little girl and I love every little bit of her!

It's a Dora song!

Sunday night we had a family boogie down party complete with Christmas music! Riley played her guitar, danced, sang and spun in circles! Bree played drums, sang and danced by rocking back and forth and shaking her cutie booty! Adam and I supervised, danced along with, clapped and made fools of ourselves...and we loved every minute of it!

At one point in our festivities, Adam and I were playing with Bree while Riley was spinning circles in the living room to the music. All of sudden Riley stopped, put her finger in the air and declared "It's a DORA SONG!". I reassured her that no, the tv wasn't on, so it isn't a Dora song. Thirty seconds later, I started really listening to which song it was because Riley was again declaring it was a Dora song. Lo and behold....it was Feliz Navidad! My smart little cookie realized that it was Spanish!

Sometimes Riley amazes me. She's a unique, silly, smart, special little girl. And she's mine. She makes me proud.

Baby steps

No, Bree's not walking yet...but she is on the move! Adam reported to me that while I was at school observing this morning, Bree took her first "crawling steps" today! That's right she crawled!

Now, I don't think she understands the entire concept that she can go all over, but she understands that she can torment Riley. I saw her crawl a little bit today (like 5 inches) to get to Riley so she could pull on her shirt. And...she also broke one of Riley's toys today.

This is going to sound weird but seeing Bree pick on Riley and break her toys just makes me a happy little camper! Now, ask me that in a year and I am sure I will have a different answer, but for today, I am happy.

Picture post!

It's been quite a while since I posted some pictures on here...(too long if you ask me). So, here are the family pictures that our wonderful friend (and marvelous photographer!!) Carrie Fay took for us recently. Here is her website if you happen to live in the state of Arizona (or feel like flying her to your location): http://amarobabyphoto.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the news today

As a fan of the Duggar family and their show "18 kids and counting", I couldn't help but gasp and feel my heart sink as I read that their newest daughter (who makes 19!!) was born early due to pre ecclampsia. Little Josie Brooklyn Duggar weighed in at 1 lb 6 ounces and arrived last night via emergency c section. My heart goes out their family.

On the other hand, I do not ever want to wish prematurity upon ANYONE, but I am anticipating how the prospect of their tv show will show the struggles of prematurity that not only Josie faces, but how it affects the family as well. There are already news articles saying that the baby will be 'fine'. Really? Have they ever seen the inside of a NICU? Have they seen the babies around your child die? At two days of age, they cannot predict that she will be fine. Of course, that is everyone's wish and hope, but it is a bit premature to be saying that. (No pun intended)

(This was Bree at 4 days old when I saw her for the first time. Josie Duggar probably looks similar.)

Many many people do not understand that a premature baby is not just a small baby. It is a small baby that is not developed and not ready to be in this world. Since it has been forced into this world too early, surrounded by lights, needles, tape, and people among other things, the normal process of development that should be taking place in the womb is delayed, and some parts of development are halted or altered.

I pray and I hope that little Josie has an uneventful stay in the NICU and maybe in 3 or 4 months will get to join her family at home. However, her medical journey will not likely end there. It will, however, be publicized on TV for the whole world to see and to understand prematurity just a little bit more than they did before.

Seeing Red

Mommy Song!

Riley has taken a liking to guitars. They can be real, or just play ones, but she likes them. Yesterday she grabbed her friend Ethan's guitar and started strumming and singing "Numanumanuma!!!! EEETTtttthhhhEEEE!!! Ethee's song!"

Today she has graduated from that to whoever is listening to her she substitutes in their name and ends with "Yeahhh..." (input jazz hands here). So she had a giant lime green guitar around her neck (Wonder who picked out the color??? Hmmmm) strumming and singing "NUMA numa numa numa Mooooommmmmmyyyy! Numa numa numa Mommy's songgggg! YEAH!" I swear, I am going to die from the amount of cuteness in this house one day.

To top it all off, she insisted on taking her guitar with her to bed (which I allowed since it doesn't make any noise or have buttons or batteries) and she is now spooning with it while sleeping. Sigh. She cracks me up.

Surgery update

Bree's surgery went well. We have some eye drops we need to put in three times a day for the next week. Her eyes are bloodshot and look horrible, and she is quite cranky. This is the worst we have seen her act with any surgery. She is sleeping a ton, but when she is awake she is crying, flailing and fussing. So, today will be an interesting day since Adam has to go to work at 3. Riley is very spirited and doesn't understand to be quiet since Bree doesn't feel well. Right now, Riley is down for a nap (she woke up at 430) and Bree is napping on Adam.

Wish me luck on the rest of the day!

'Twas the night before surgery...

..and all through the house, no children were stirring, and Bree was sleeping with a stuffed mouse!

The diaper bag was packed, with careful care, knowing that in 10 hours, we would be there.

For now Bree is snuggled all warm in her bed, with visions of crinkle toys dancing in her head.

With I doing schoolwork, and Adam drinkin' a night cap, soon we'd be having a brief nighttime nap.

For in a few hours, the alarm will clatter...and we will spring from our beds...to realize what was the matter!

To pack up the car, and drive away in a flash...we'd be off for her surgery...in a mad dash!

We'll use the GPS because we don't know which way to go...this time her surgery is at St. Joe's!

When we arrive we'll sigh and say "We're here!"...for then we will know we are in the clear.

The prep will start, it will go so quick! It will be time for surgery, and she'll be taken back by a guy named Nick.

The waiting will begin, and we will hope to see...success on the face of the person who comes to inform me.

"Her surgery is over, it went as well as it could...now come on back and snuggle with her, as you should!"

This is a best case scenario and true it will be.......just you wait your pretty little self and you will see! :)

Skip a dee doo dah...skipped last Friday!!

Oops! I skipped Friday! My best friend Ashley, her son (my godson) William, and their "Mah Maw Ego" (grandma who lives in san diego) came through town and stayed with us on Friday and Saturday. They are driving from California (where Mah Maw lives) to Florida (Ashley and William's new duty station). Ashley's husband Fred has been in the desert for the past 6 months on deployment and will be coming back into the States tomorrow. I got so wrapped up in the fun of their visit I forgot to post! So, needless to say, I had a great time with their visit and one of these days I will get around to posting pictures of all the fun we had!

I have been in a weird rut as of lately. More down days than up days, and no particular reason why. If it continues I am going to need to go to the doctor to get this all sorted out. I seem to always be saying I need to go the doctor when I am having a streak of bad days, but then things brighten up and I forget all about it. Ah, the joys of life!

Speaking of life, little miss Bree will be having her eye surgery on Wednesday at 730 in the morning! Yup...we are the first surgery of the day! Which is great, but makes it difficult for us to find someone to watch Riley. Dropping a wide awake two year old off at someone's house at 5 in the morning is not something I have people beating down my door volunteering for. So, Adam's *lovely* (dripping with sarcasm) work has scheduled him for a class on Tuesday night (which he was suppose to have off) and he will be at work from 3 - 11. He will be getting home about midnight and there will be no point in having him go with me to a surgery that he is going to sleep through. So, instead of trying to find a babysitter for Riley, Adam will be staying home with her while I go with Bree to her surgery. Needless to say, I am a tad bit nervous about venturing out alone with this, but I am sure I can do it. It's more the drive home I am worried about. However, life will go on no matter if I am nervous or not so I will make the best of it.

Typing and tape

Tonight as I was (and am) typing, Adam is taking his turn at taping. Taping Christmas presents that is! Being a military family has made us to where we need to get presents out pronto! That post office gets busy fast around the holiday season and the earlier we can get our presents out to the family the better! We are about 3/4 of the way finished so hopefully we can have them sent off to family by the end of next week.

Another type of tape we are dealing with right now is red tape. All the documents and papers necessary for Adam to be prepared to go to Korea for a year need to be filled out. He got his orders yesterday for Korea. He will be leaving in early September 2010. So, he will just miss the girl's bdays, and we will miss his. However, we have a few friends that have been through the Korea deployment already who are offering some wonderful advice and help.

We as a family knew this would be coming soon so it does not catch us off guard at all. However, as I am sure you can all imagine...the idea of being without a member of your family for a year is not ideal. Necessary for the safety and service of our country...but not ideal for the family.

Yes, he is not going to a "declared" war zone, but he is going to to South Korea...which is really close to North Korea. The leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il, is not the most sane man on this planet and he likes to launch missiles and create nuclear weapons. So, tell me, would you feel safe if your loved one was sent there? (I have already had many comments of "at least he's not going to a war zone" and I am already tired of them)