Better Late Than Never

I know this is a little late but I figured better late than never. Besides it is still May for another few hours. Considering she has been sick I think they turned out pretty good.

Buster and Kaylie - 13 lbs 7 oz. 25.5 in.

Look at that belly

Update

Yesterday I picked Kaylie up from daycare and when I got her home I realized she had a temp of a 102. I expected this because she had gotten her one year shots about a week ago. The only thing that made me worry was that she was having cold symptoms. This changed everything. This morning I took her in yet again. They are seriously starting to get to know us. That would be fine if the office didn't see over 10,000 patients.

Here are a few ways you know your child is sick too often:
* Kaylie started crying and the nurse looked at her and said she hadn't seen her cry before.
* The doctor walks in and says, "I just saw you last week for a well visit, what happened?"
* The doctor actually cracks jokes with you about how many times you have been in the office. I figure you can join in or cry. I choose to join in. =)
* Your doctor agrees with you when you say we have had a rough winter and continues by saying that my baby has been a little sicker than he would like. That's fantastic!
* The doctor doesn't tell you what to look for in regards to symptoms because you already know them.

I don't know what they are going to do when we are immune to everything and never see us again. Hopefully that will come sooner than later!

During her exam the doctor agreed that with the cold symptoms it ruled out the shots being the cause of the fever making it a virus. Ugh! I am so done with being sick. The poor thing needs a break! As of right now we just need to continue watching her and as long as her breathing stays under control and her cough doesn't get worse we are fine and the fever is just a fever.

Weight
In the past few weeks Kaylie has been losing weight. When we were in the middle of her month long illness we weighed her and she was at 13 lbs 11 oz. The next week she went to 13lbs 9oz. and the next week 13 lbs 6 oz. This stressed me out! Why was she losing weight. She was eating more than she had in awhile (a whooping 24 oz a day...I know she's a pig) considering one day she had a total of 8 oz but still gained weight. Now that she was eating why was she loosing weight?

One night as I was watching her I stood up and went into the kitchen and her comes my little butterball following me into the kitchen. From there I went into the kitchen and she followed me there. Duh! She is losing weight because she is now everywhere! This made me feel a little better. At her one year she had actually gained some and was now weighing in at 13lbs 10 oz. Good but not great. What do we need to do now? What will make us put on weight. After talking with ECI we decided to bring back the nutritionist. This is fine but I kind of feel like we have been there done that why waste my time. The other thing is when do we decide that the reason she is having trouble eating isn't due to something else. The speech therapist agreed with me and said that after she is better we may need to look at a feeding disability. We have made some progress but for the most part not enough. I decided that this would be something that I needed to talk to Dr. G. whenever I took her in next. I just didn't think it would be the next day.

Yet again Kaylie lost weight so it made the discussion with him easy. Today she weighed in at 13lbs 7 oz. Considering she is sick that is not bad but believe it or not she has actually been eating ok. She ate 24 oz yesterday. That is not any different than a day that she feels good. When I mentioned her weight he became concerned and immediately suggested we go back to the Gastrointerologist. We saw him right after we got out of the NICU but our last appt. was in January. She was gaining sufficient weight and drinking her bottles very well so she was no longer having what they call "failure to thrive." That is a term you hear frequently in the NICU and was a concern for us. That term came back up again today. As long as you continue to grow in proportion and you do not dip in your stats (in Kaylie's case off the chart) it is not a big deal. This time we dipped. Since February she has gained less than 2lbs. which is not good so we will be going back. I think I am making it sound worse than it probably really is. I figure their is a lot they can do for her. My doctor talked about a bunch of options that they could do. He said by going back to the GI doctor we will be able to figure out if their is more going on than just being a preemie and being small. He said they will look at her appetite as well as if their is a need for feeding therapy. We have our appt. schedule for the first week after school gets out. Hopefully he will respond in the carefree way he usually does and say she is perfectly fine and he is not concerned. That is what he did the first time we went in. I think that is wishful thinking. Pray that between now and the time she goes in she is healthy and will gain a good amount of weight. Also pray that she will be able to eat table foods without choking or freaking out over textures. I will update everyone once we find out more.

Animal Crackers In My Soup

I have been singing that stupid song all day. I know it was for a good reason but it is driving me crazy. Today we hit a milestone. For most this is nothing but for us this is HUGE!!!!!! Kaylie ate an animal cracker and 4 puffs. Whenever we give her any type of table food she freaks out before she has even swallowed it and makes herself throw up. The good thing is we that with our bottle feeding experiences keeping us in the NICU as long as it did we were prepared. Really she just sucked on the cracker but she did not throw it up or choke. That is AWESOME! She liked them so much she got mad at me for taking them away. Wow! Hopefully this will be the start of some good eating. We have not regained the weight she had lost in the last few weeks so hopefully eating table foods will fatten her up. My next step is bananas and mashed potatoes. Why those two...I don't know but it sounds good. I think their is less of an opportunity for her to choke because they are both mushy. Continue to think good eating thoughts. I do not want to have to take her to someone who specializes in feeding disorders. Hopefully, this was the first step towards many happy eating moments.

For Kaylie's birthday she was given a piano. It is the perfect size for her. Before I had a chance to set it up she was already trying to play with it. She was so happy. She has doing these big over sized laughs accompanied by these big over sized smiles. It is precious. It is so cute watching her explore. She has not figured out that if you crawl over to one of the sides you can reach the other parts of the toy. Instead, she stands by the key board and tries to reach for it. After a few minutes her legs start to give out but instead of just sitting down she slowly starts to sink by putting her head on the keys and her butt farther in the air. After giving her the animal crackers she decided that the only way to play the piano was with a mushy cracker. The poor piano will never be the same again.

I thought this picture was adorable. This was the first time she played with it. Look at the smile on her face.

Her is the picture of our big over sized smile and laugh.

I have already wiped the cracker mush off of the keys a few times. It is hard to take away the cracker when you know how big of a deal this is.

Last but not least...I was able to get two really cute pictures of her this afternoon. I was trying to fold clothes with a one year old climbing all over me. At one point she had actually climbed the mound of clothes and started throwing them all over the place. I loved it. I stopped loving it once she hit my folded piles. =)

Pictures Take 2

On Tuesday we went in to take Kaylie's 1 year pictures. We went back to the same place we went for her 9 month pictures only this time Kaylie was not as willing to cooperate. I picked her up from day care, got her dressed, and took her in. She was happy and smiling. The minute I sat her down she started to scream. She cried for so long we ended up rescheduling for today. The balloon pictures and the tutu pictures were from day 1. The tutu pictures were taken right after I had put some gel on her gums to help calm her down. All of those pictures were what I considered to be "drunken baby". The entire time we took those pictures she had her tongue hanging out while she did raspberries. I put a few of the bad ones down at the bottom for you to see. I am not sure how well you can see it but if you click on the balloon one you can see how upset she was. The rest of them were from today. Today was a lot better. The only problem today was that our photographer stunk! Kaylie gave so many beautiful smiles and the photographer missed them. Even though we got some great shots most of them were with her looking away. I was so sad because their were only a few of her looking straight on. Next time I will be sure to mention that I would like to see her face and eyes looking at the camera. I guess I just assumed that is what a photographer did. That being said the ones I picked are adorable and in true Kaylie fashion. I was so proud of her. She has been such a trooper putting up with her mommy and the things she feels the need to have.

Here are two of the bad ones. As you can see she has her tongue out. By the time we left her eyes were so red and puffy. If we would not have chosen to reschedule we would not have gotten a good picture. I am just glad that when we took today's pictures she did not have flash backs to Tuesday. I feared we were going to walk in and she was going to immediately start screaming.

Birthday pics

For Kaylie's birthday we decided to have a get together with our immediate family and friends. It turned out to be a gorgeous day. The weather had been yucky during the week and Kaylie had just gotten over a 4 week bug. It was awesome. Below are a few of the pictures from her celebration. She was such a trooper. As you can see in the first few she was a little overwhelmed by people wanting to hold her. She was not used to so many loved ones wanting to hold her and it made it hard to get a good picture. This is the first time she has not hammed it up for the camera. I guess I can't blame her!

My main priority for her party (a very shallow priority) was to get her a dress that had first birthday on it. I know this is silly but I had to have it. I looked for a long time to find a dress for a one year old that was a 0 to 3 month. I am very bitter because baby clothes are designed just like adult clothes. Even though some people fit into this perfect perfect size the majority of people do not making it very difficult to dress yourself as well as a 1 yr. 13 lb baby. You were able to find a small selection of 6 month but for the most part they were all 12 +. Now I know Kaylie is unusually small but not all babies are in a size 12 months at 12 months of age so to start it at 12 months + is just plan wrong!!!!!! Can you tell I really wanted to find her a dress. Why should she miss out on having the adorable picture with a birthday candle on her outfit. Again...please know I understand my priorities are messed up! The dress I ended up finding was the only dress that would fit her but it was also the one I fell in love with so I guess all in all I was happy. I also had to have her in a change of clothes (yes, I know...shallow) which I had to have monogrammed in her size as well as a strawberry bathing suit for the pool. Unfortunately the water was so cold she sat down and started screaming. Oops! I am not supposed to make the birthday girl cry on her big day. At least she looked cute doing it. If you asked Jason he is very open with the fact that I buy too many clothes but since my daughter is one of the only kids that is still using her 0 to 3 month clothes while wearing 3 to 6's I feel as if she is getting enough use out of them. Since pointing that out he has left me along. =)

For Kaylie's cakes we decided to do 3 different cupcake cakes. These were adorable. We gave the store a picture of her decorations and from that they made the cakes. The even threw in a smash cake for Kaylie to eat. That way she did not slobber all over the cakes the other party members would be eating from. It didn't seem to matter because if you look at the pictures below you can see she wanted nothing to do with the cake. She was terrified. I even tried to give her a little taste. This made matters worse so we closed up the cake and set it aside for another try. Thinking their may of been too many people around we ended up trying it again the next morning with just Jason and I. Although we did not have the massive screaming fit we did have a massive protest. Cake was definitely a no go!

During the presents Kaylie did very well. She sat on my lap and looked at the toys. Actually, I think she was actually looking at the wrapping paper but for the sack of the party she was looking at the presents. After a little bit of unwrapping her attention span disappeared. This was all do to the discovery of a blue bow that had come off a present. If you tried to take the bow away she started screaming. As you can see we had a bunch of pictures with the blue bow. In one of the pictures we took I am opening the present and off to the side you see Kaylie climbing up Michele trying to get her paper and pen with the blue bow still in her hand. It was hilarious.

Once Kaylie was asleep our families we went out onto the porch to enjoy the beautiful evening. When we finally let the dogs out Shiner decided he was going to show us what he thought of being cooped up for so long. He walked over to the pool that we had set up and peed on it. He peed for a good minute. Once we shooed him away we brought out the hose and cleaned up. Silly dog!

Kaylie's birthday was a blast! Thanks to everyone for coming to celebrate the first birthday of our beautiful baby girl.

Happy Birthday Kaylie Marie

Happy birthday to our beautiful baby girl. You are so loving and sweet. When you smile we smile, when you laugh we laugh, and when you hurt we hurt. We love you and can not imagine this world without you. You have made an impact on so many lives and we hope that that will continue as you grow to be big and strong. You truly are a miracle baby and we can't wait to see what the next year holds for you. We love you so much!

To my daughter...This is extra special to me. This is the song I sang to you before you were born and while you were in the NICU. The first time I heard it I knew this was your song. Whenever I hear it I think about how truly blessed I am that God gave me you. I thank him every day for you and pray that he will hold you and protect you. I hope you will always know that you have a lot of people watching over you and you are never alone. I love you so much!
Love your mommy

RASCAL FLATTS LYRICS
"My Wish"
I hope that the days come easy and the moments pass slow,
And each road leads you where you want to go,
And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.
And if one door opens to another door closed,
I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,
If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,

But more than anything, more than anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,
All the ones who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
And you help somebody every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,
And you always give more than you take.

But more than anything, yeah, and more than anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.


Look how far you have come! God is amazing! Thank you for answering our prayers!


1 day old
1 lb. 13 oz. 13 inches
















1 year old
13 lbs 6 oz 24 inches

Mother's Day

What a wonderful day! Jason got up, got Kaylie and brought her in to see me. In her hand she had a card for me. Since she is getting good with her da sounds we practice them a lot. She loves to say "da, da, da, da, da, da" over and over. The next step is for her to say "ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma." She finally did it, only she wrote it on the front of the card instead of saying it. It amazes me how something so small can make me smile. Once I got out of bed I went into the living room and Jason had his present for me. It was a beautiful etched glass vase with a matching perfume bottle. I love etched glass and I knew that the perfume bottle would fit in nicely with the ones I already had. Jason told me that I needed to be ready to leave by 10:30. Yeah! With Kaylie being sick for the fourth weekend in a row I needed to leave the house. He ended up surprising me with a brunch at the Gaylord Texan. This is a huge resort located in Grapevine about 45 minutes from our house. It was awesome! Their were so many different types of food. They served Mimosas and had a band playing. The flowers were gorgeous and the services was great. Of course I could not leave with out having a diet coke. During breakfast Kaylie was very well behaved. We layed the back of her stroller down and let her play inside it. Since she is pulling up and crawling it was a little harder to keep her inside the stroller. After awhile we gave up and strapped her in. She behaved wonderfully. We finished our family time by walking around the resort. The design of this hotel is amazing. Their are so many plants, a riverwalk that resembles San Antonio, a huge pool, and many different shops and restaurants to keep anyone busy. It definitely made for a great picture opp.

When we got home we spent the rest of the day as a family. We got comfortable and relaxed. I could not have asked for a better day. It is amazing to see how much our little family has grown. As our little munchkin approaches a year I look back and know we are blessed. Man time flies!!!!!

Does anyone see a problem with the newspaper? She doesn't want her other baby friends to feel bad that she can read and they can't so she is acting like she doesn't know which way the paper is supposed to go.


She was put in this box a long time ago and barely peeked out over it. I put her in it again thinking I would have to fight to keep her in for a picture. I could not get her out. She loved this thing.
Her new thing is to play shy. If someone walks up to her to say hello she looks at them and rubs her head into me. I love it!

This picture is priceless. Shiner stood in the doggy door for a good 2 to 3 minutes. Sometimes I wish he had a bubble that popped up telling us what he wants. Lately he just stands in front of you and stares. This can go on for several days. Bailey on the other hand wants to know why Shiner is in her way.

Jason...thank you! You so badly wanted my first mother's day to be special. This week has been hard for me. I am struggling with some of the memories this time last year brought and I thank you for everything you did. You definitely made my first MD a memorable one! I love you!

A look into the past

With Kaylie's first birthday coming around the corner I decided why not get another card made by the person who made her birth announcement many months ago. She is a NICU nurse and that was the major selling point for me. If anyone ever needs anything made, Christmas cards, birthday cards, graduation cards etc. she is fantastic. She worked with me to get exactly what I wanted. She was the one who came up with the preemie poem below. I know this is a shameless plug for her, and no I did not get a discount =). I am just grateful to have gotten exactly what I was looking for!

Her site is http://www.kimsphotocreations.com/. I promise you will love her.

Notice the difference in her bear picture in the picture above from the picture below. You can really see a change.

The NICU bear

While in the NICU we put her next to several things to track her growth. I know I posted all of her pictures with Buster so I thought I would do the same with the bear. It is not as easy to see as it is with Buster.

06/16/2007 - 2 lbs. 9 oz.

06/28/2007 - 3 lbs 4 oz.

08/03/2007 - 5 lbs. 7 oz

09/24/2007 - 7 lbs.

11/03/2007 - 8 lbs. 9 oz.

02/19/2008 -12 lbs.

04/19/2008 - 12 lbs 15 oz.