Buster and Kaylie

Every month I try to take pictures of Kaylie with Buster. This month I decided to put them together so you can see how much she has grown. I am not sure what happened but I did not have one for October. I was very forgetful for a month or two after she came home.

September - 4 months/ 1 month corrected

November - 6 months/ 3 months corrected

December - 7 months/ 4 months corrected

January- 8 months/ 5 months corrected

February - 9 months/ 6 months corrected

March - 10 months/ 7 months corrected

Easter 2008

On Saturday we went to our neighbor's house for an Easter egg hunt. She

did not care too much about the eggs. To make the best of it I decided to take

advantage of the situation and got her to pose for pictures.

Since I gained some weight I have tried to avoid the camera.
This is one of the first pictures in a long time that I actually like.

Kaylie's basket was Eeyore. I chose this for her knowing that

this may be the only time I get to pick out what I like. The

funny thing is, Eeyore is almost as big as her when she is sitting down.

When we sat her down on the grass she had a field day. Having two

dogs tends to keep Kaylie out of our back yard. Even though we pick

up after them it still grosses me out to think she may put

something in her mouth that doesn't belong. She sat their

and entertained herself by picking grass. It was adorable.

This was hunt #2. We went to a friend's house for their son's 2nd birthday

and they decided to have an egg hunt as well. This time she tried

to eat the egg. Yet again, another photo op.

I had decided to not to go crazy for her first Easter. At the last

minute I broke down and got her a few toys and some finger snacks.

She has been able to stand with assistance for awhile but this was her first time to stand by herself. She didn't even do the little dance that she did to keep herself up. She is so proud of herself.

1st Easter outfit

1st Easter bib

WANTED!

Female baby between the ages of 10 to 11 months. Petite with brownish hair that sticks straight up like making it look like she has a Mohawk. She has blue eyes, weighs about 12 1/2 lbs and is 24inches long.

Crime: Pooping in the bath tub causing an immediate evacuation of Mr. Duck. Immediately following the baby was whisked away so clean up could begin and has never been seen since. She fled from the crime around 5:30. If you have seen this baby or know of her location please call immediately. She is full and ready to explode at any moment. If you know where she is do not attempt to take actions into your own hands. She may do to you what she has done to Mr. Duck. Mr. Duck will never be the same again.

The victim

Sketch of the suspect at the scene of the crime.

Another First

Today is the last official day of my spring break. In my eyes Friday and Saturday do not count. For the most part it has been nice. Jason took off the entire week which was a huge blessing considering Kaylie got tubes on Tuesday in addition to being sick the entire week. It was a great tag team effort. Even though she is still a little down we decided to take advantage of the fresh air. I think we all needed out of the house so, after spending some time on the porch we decided to take a family walk. The best part was that today was the first "official" time to have her face forward. She looked absolutely adorable. Even though she looks tiny she and can barely see over the tray she had a blast. She could not get enough of the view. I am not sure what she thought of my driving though because she held on to the side for dear life with the other one in the air. I only ran off the sidewalk once or twice but nothing to wild and crazy.

This is the hat I tried to put on her to keep the sun out of her eyes. It lasted less than 5 seconds. She tried to pull it off but it kept getting stuck. At one point she had covered her face completely. She ended up getting so mad she started to cry.

My next thing to try was to actually put sunglasses on her. I figured this was a shot in the dark but you never know. These lasted even less time than the hat did. They were easier to pull off.

Easter Bunny

Here is Kaylie's picture with the Easter Bunny. With so much going on it was hard to get her to smile. This was the best picture. All the other ones had her leaning forward.

Success!

This morning Kaylie went in to have tubes put in and with her being so young they wanted her to go first putting us at the hospital by 5:45. I was thrilled because she could not eat and drink after midnight and as we all know babies do not stop letting you know that they are hungry. My fear was that this would be the one night she woke up at 3 starving so to help with this I feed her at 11:30, just in case! We got to the hospital, they checked us in and took us back. The hospital we went to is pretty new and not that busy so the service was awesome. The nurse to baby ratio was pretty much 1 to 1. When we got back to the area for day surgery they had me put this little yellow baby gown on her. I looked at it and laughed. It was gigantinormous on her! I laughed and the nurse apologized for how big it was. I didn't care and since Kaylie enjoyed eating it she didn't seem to care that much either.

Kaylie's procedure was not supposed to start until 7. By 6:45am I had met everyone and they had already scooped her up to take her back. They were done and back in to get me by 7:00. Wow that was fast. The funny thing was I heard this baby crying, looked at the nurse and said that's not my baby. The doctor came in 2 seconds later to confirm it was. Oops! Apparently, his theory is crye no dieye (that is spelled phonetically to show what he said). I guess this made me feel a little better.

I went back to get Kaylie and the poor thing would not stop crying. Since I have had some friends go through this I was completely prepared for this to happen but it was still difficult. I knew she would stop once she was a little more oriented with her surroundings. I tried so many things to get her to calm down. Finally, I sat in the rocker and rocked. After about 5 minutes she settled down and fell asleep. The nurse came in and asked me if I wanted to dress her. Knowing that she did not like to be dressed on a regular basis I opted to have her go as is with a blanket over her.

Once home we put Kaylie to bed and then I went to sleep. Neither of us woke up until 11:30. For the most part the rest of the day went well. Since she had an ear infection to begin with she was still in a good deal of pain. She was so stuffed up she was struggling to eat which made her not want to sleep. Poor thing was starving and exhausted at the same time! We have tried to feed her whenever she is awake. I finally decided that the only way to get her to sleep was to give her oatmeal. This worked. I think we are going to have to do this the rest of the night.

Cool thing: The ENT called us tonight to check on her. How cool is that?!? How many doctors call there patients to check up on them. I was able to ask about her appetite, the bleeding in her ears, and her fussiness. I figured all of these things were normal. He did say that if she did not have an ear infection to begin with she would most likely be feeling great. He said that because her ears were so inflamed to begin with we have to wait for them to heal. He also said that with her being so premature it may take longer for her to get over the anesthesia.

Even though it was very stressful getting to this point, getting tubes is going to do wonders for Kaylie. Jason and I are thrilled. Since November Kaylie has had 4 to 5 ear infections and was not turning to sound. The noises that come out of her mouth are not normal. She grunts, does what we call a pterodactyl (high pitch squeal) and goes oohh and now that she can hear so man y things can change. The other thing is we might see a huge increase in her weight. Whenever her ears hurt she eats less. I can't wait to see what will happen!

10 months old!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
10 months ago, at 3:54pm Kaylie was born. Wow! Time flies! Today was a very eventful day. I took her to the doctor for a cold and sure enough we had an ear infection. This is the 4th or 5th one since November. Since we are getting tubes tomorrow for the fluid in her ears the doctor went ahead and prescribed us augmentum. Unfortunately I did not realize it but that is the same thing as amoxicillian. Last time we had that we had VERY full diapers! Thinking we should try it again just to see we ended up creating another first. Her first official throw-up. Jason and I stood there in shock as it happened. It was several hours later and after we had just taken a bath and eaten. Fantastic! The funny thing was afterwards she was starving so I went ahead and feed her again. She passed out right after. Bath time

After seeing how much Kaylie enjoyed her little tub I decided to try her in the big tub. This was fun but she could not sit still causing her to move all over the place. With her being so light and my fear of her falling I pulled out the inflatable duck. I was a little skeptical at first but after 1 minute of her actually being able to sit by herself I was in love. This was the first time I didn't have to squish the girls over the tub to hold her. I could sit back and enjoy watching her play. The funniest part was when she would hit the water causing it to splash in her face. She would stop, make a funny face, and then do it again. It was hilarious! I put some toys in with her and she loved it. They did not have the room to float away as she reached for them. As she sat playing she would kick her foot up to rest on the side of the duck. Like mother like daughter! She also tried very hard to climb out. This is not the time to try pulling up.

Adventures in eating

Today was the first day for Kaylie to have a stage 2 food. Even though they are not that much different than stage ones you could not tell by the way she looked after all was said and done. Needless to say, she did not cooperate with me!

She wanted to help! Mommy did not want her too!She is wearing more than she ate.
She is proud of the mess she has made!

Stage 2's

The speech therapist that we have been working with for feedings, has given us the go ahead to start trying stage 2 foods. Stage 2's are thicker and chunkier. We wanted to make sure she stopped choking before we moved on. She has become a pro at stage ones. Her first stage two food will be peaches. Yummy! While she was with us we went ahead and tried a biter biscuit. Supposedly babies love them and make a huge mess with them. I think she could take it or leave it. I am pretty sure she only eats them because they feel good on her gums.

Clean Slate

When a child is born they basically have a clean slate. They know how to do the basic things such as breath, sleep etc. but the other things have to be learned. As I sat next to Kaylie folding clothes I tried to act like I wasn't watching her. If I distract her or catch her attention she wants me to play and at times my greatest joy comes from watching her interact and explore on her own. Today she was happy entertaining herself. It was exciting to see her so excited to play. She went from one toy to another shoving different things in her mouth checking to see which one tasted the best. She talked to her toys, reached for different things that made noise, and smiled when she got things to do what she wanted them to do. At times she would see something off in the distance and attempt to transition from a sitting position to what one day will hopefully be a crawling position to get it. This has been a delayed milestone and in less than a week we have started working on it and seem to be close to mastering it. My little girl knows what she wants. She wants to be mobile and is working very hard to get there. She is constantly working on writing the script to make the things she wants come true. I watch her everyday and constantly see the wheels turning. Since she was born she has been determined to accomplish any and all things that come her way. It is crazy how hard a child works at studying something with the hopes that they can do. If Kaylie wants something and can't do it she cries from frustration and smiles once she has done it. She takes great pride in hearing us clap for her. It is the most innocent time in anyone persons life. A time that most people take for granted. Watching her study and explore her giraffe to try and figure out exactly which color tag would taste the best is so sweet an beautiful. I wish my life could be like that. Everyday I watch her work at new things adding to the script that will help shape her future. Having a baby has made me take many steps back and appreciate God's creations. Babies are definitely a gift from God.

What do you think she is thinking in this picture? Is it not the most innocent look ever?!? At times we will look at her and she will be smiling at something. The first time I ever saw her do it I looked in the direction she was facing and figured out that she was smiling at this music thing that we took to the NICU with us that was blue and had a big yellow star in the middle of it. Everytime she sees it she smiles.

The picture above is one of the milestones she has been missing. From here she is supposed to bring her left leg back and fall into the crawling position. Right now her left leg gets stuck and she ends up just staying like this. We could not do this a week ago. Now it is hard to stop her from trying. Hopefully, this will lead to her crawling or at least being able to stay on her knees long enough to rock back and forth.

The picture below shows how quickly she figured out how to reach for her toys. Two nights ago she got so mad because she did not know how to position her body to reach the toys in the back of the farm. With just a little practice she figured out how to turn her body just enough to get it. She smiles every time she spins the middle yellow thing. She should, she works hard to get to it.

Just to confirm that everything tastes good!

Fun Stuff

Here are some pictures from the last few days. She has gotten two new toys and loves them! The farm toy was first tried out at Jolie's. After seeing how much fun she had with it I went and got it. She is so smart! In no time she figured out how to spin the table, hit the purple button, move the pig, and spin the middle part. It was awesome to watch. We had a great time watching her explore.

A Preemie Mom

At times I find it very difficult to talk to people that are acquaintances about how Kaylie is doing. I have this absolutely amazing baby that has over come so many hurdles and continues to learn and grow every day. Since you don't want to burden anyone you put on a smile and say she is fantastic. What people don't realize is how much worry and stress you go through on a daily basis making sure she has eaten enough, gone #2 (which she has gone 7 days without before. Baby enemas are not fun!), trying to keep up with her doctors appt.'s, taking her to her doctor's appts., and of course doing everything in power to help keep her from getting sick. I find that it is very hard to explain things that we are going through because you would not think anything is going on by looking at her.
Having been born so early Kaylie's needs are so much different than those of most "term" babies. The amount of doctor's appointments we have are ridiculous. In December we went to our pediatrician 6 times for some type of illness related visit. That does not include the weight checks, the appointments with early childhood, or the GI doctor. No child should have to see the inside of a doctors office this much.
I know every parent worries but when you are told over and over how much easier it is for your child to get sick you start to freak out over every little squeak. It kills me when I find out that the daycare has something going around. At Christmas RSV was going around and of course we got it. Now we have the flu going around and I fear that she is getting sick. She has not been eating very well and is very fussy. Her cry is congested sounding and she has an incredibly runny nose. All this even with the antibiotics she is taking for the double ear infection she had over a week ago. Granted it could be that she is about to cut a tooth, who knows. Either way, she can not afford to keep from eating.
As a preemie mom I am constantly on the watch for a change in behavior. I can not tell you how many times I have taken her in thinking she isn't that bad and finding out she is. Twice I have taken her in with very few symptoms confident she is sick and later that night waking up to a sick screaming child that is 10 times worse than she was. I am thrilled I know my child. It makes it easier to know when things are off but it can really stress me out. Poor baby is always sick!

It Never Fails!

For my 30th, Jason treated me with two tickets to see my absolutely favorite country group, Rascal Flatts. The best part about this was they were playing in Vegas. SCORE!!!! Since I had two tickets and someone had to stay home with Kaylie, Jolie and I decided what would be better than to have a mommies weekend. Since Fletcher is 6months and Kaylie is 9 mths we were both nervous to leave our little ones. We had been talking about taking a trip for a long time but did not think we would do it this quickly. Excited and scared all at the same time we both decided we needed to embrace this opportunity. We both knew that it was healthy to have time away to relax and that no matter when we did it it would not be easy. We got there on Friday and had a great night. On Saturday we woke up and I decided to text Jason. Within an hour I got a text back and thought he was playing a joke on me. For several months I have been waiting for Ms. Kaylie to roll from back to front. This was one milestone she has been delayed in. Each day I watch her and work with her and nothing. She has gotten so close and right before she rolls she goes back on her back. Sure enough, she did it while I was gone. Not only that, she did it twice. Of course she has not done it again. She has tried but keeps getting stuck. Excited yet disappointed we went about our day enjoying the sites. A few hours later, Jolie got the same kind of call. Sure enough, Fletcher decided to sit up for the first time. Was this a joke they were playing on us? Wishful thinking! Jolie and I decided Kaylie and Fletch had a conference call. They decided to show us what they thought of us leaving.

On a side note: I have the most amazing husband in the world. I can't tell you how nice it is to know that I can leave for a weekend and not have to worry about how he is going to do with her. He is such an amazing man and I am so blessed to have him as my husband. I love him for knowing how important having a few days away can be to a new mommy. Thanks honey

Walking in a winter wonderland

This is the second time in a week that it has snowed. The first time it did not start until it was dark so I couldn't get any good pictures. Today it started around noon. By about 5pm we probably had a good 3 inches of snow. The first time I took her out she was hungry so she did not cooperate. The second time she did good until I took her in to get the video camera. When we got back out I set her down and she immediately started to cry. I dont think she appreciated being thrown around. She was so mad she fell forward and did a face plant into the snow. I am sure she did not appreciate that! Is it wrong that I so badly wanted to take a picture of her face in the snow?!?

Me and mommy about to go out.

Mommy's first attempt at taking my picture. I may look happy now but it didn't last very long.

Mommy's second attempt. This time we are trying the front yard.

I figure I can catch snow flakes if I stick my tongue out far enough.

Thanks Way Way for my bear sleeper. I would not have been able to play in the snow without it!

A Preemie Poem

A thousand tiny fireflies
Parading through the night
Illuminate the starless skies
With incandescent light
They are miracles, here on earth
So bold, so strong, so wise
And bring to life a sense of worth
For those who lack great size.

Some of this life’s smaller treasures
Are the ones which matter more
Than the larger joys and pleasures
That we have grown to adore
Volume is not as essential
As the gift that lies inside
Smaller souls with much potential
Who shall never be denied.

A thousand tiny fireflies
Parading through the night
Illuminate the starless skies
With incandescent light
These children, while born premature
Are testaments of worth
Their spirits bold, their futures sure
To ever bless the earth.

Sharing is not always good!

Thought for the day...We spend so much of our time teaching our children to share but then we realize they shouldn't share everything! Example: Pink eye Kaylie and I got it first and now Jason. It is hard to see it in these pictures but if you look closely enough you can see her eyes in the bottom picture.