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.

Baby Catching

First things first...Kaylie is 13 lbs. 11.5 oz. She has gained almost 1lb in 2 and 1/2 weeks. We have changed to a level 3 nipple on her bottle and has started to inhale her milk. She is still only drinking 4 to 5 ounces but she is finishing more of her bottles.

April - 11 month/ 8 months corrected picture with Buster (13 lbs. 11 oz)

That is the look that will get her a pony when she is older!

Before Kaylie was really mobile I made a comment to my mom about people who could not get their babies to lay down long enough for you to put their diaper on. I told her you should be able to teach a growing baby how to do this (through a routine) and not have to "catch them" and hold them down. I finished that conversation by laughing and saying that I knew at some point I would eat my words. That time has come! Kaylie only likes to roll to her right side and because of that she is quit stealthy about it. The minute you take that diaper half way of she is on her stomach trying to get away. It is quit a site to see a half naked,13 lb baby with a diaper dragging on the floor. Your first reaction is do I grab the diaper or the baby. This morning Jason was not home so I did the morning duties. Since he does not have a set time that he has to be a work he has taken on that task. After this morning I have a lot more respect for him. No one can ever say he does not have patience. With her diaper hanging half way off I frantically played the "how to catch the baby" game. Now I know you are thinking that I am silly and how hard could it really be to grab her, lay her down, and put on her diaper but I promise she is fast. The minute you go to reach for the clean diaper she is off. To top off you are on the floor which means play time to the dogs. I wait for the day one of them grabs her diaper and runs out the doggie door with it. That will be another post. Once you finally completed the mission and gotten her diaper on the game starts all over again.

I thought this was an adorable picture. This dress was put away before it was worn because she did not get to wear it before it got to cold. Who knew she would still fit into it 8 months later.

What are you talking about...? I wasn't doing anything wrong!

On a side note...On April 14th, I took Kaylie in to the doctor because she had started coughing really bad and as a 28 weeker her lungs are developed but definitely a lot weeker. They are somewhat immature. Because of this we spent the entire winter on RSV watch. Over Christmas we got a very mild case that we caught fast enough (Christmas Eve) allowing us to start breathing treatments and keeping us out of the hospital. Since then we take her in to make sure it is not in her chest and then restart her breathing treatments any time she gets a cough making it so it goes away fairly quickly. This time her cough has not gone away. On the 14th the doctor added another inhaled medicine called Pulmocort. It is an inhaled steroid that is used for asthma. That would be given with the Zoponax making her breathing treatments last 30 minutes vs. 15. For anyone who has had to give a breathing treatment you will understand my pain. 50% of the time Kaylie will go to sleep. The other 50% you are fighting her trying to keep this mask that is shaped like a Rhino on her face so that she gets the medicine. The only plus to her crying is that she inhales the medicine better. It doesn't make it easier. =) When I got to the office they ask the same questions. The first thing they ask you is what brings you her today? For the first time in months I really did not know. I told them I did not really know if anything was wrong but she spent the night before waking up every hour either whimpering or screaming. Her cold had picked up and her cough had not gone away. Prepared for the doctor to say she is fine and continue with what you are doing I waited. When he came in he listed to her lungs and nothing. I was confident he would not find anything their. He did the rest of his exam and nothing. The last thing he does is check her ears. Poor thing hates this but for some reason she did not cry. He said she had some wax and started to pull it out only it was not wax but blood. The first thing he said was she ruptured her ear drum. Frustrated, stressed, and sad all at the same time I almost lost it. Poor thing has been sick since November and can't get a break. He then said he was wrong and it was actually from her tubes. He told me she had a really bad ear infection and the blood was from the tubes. Gross! He also said she most likely had a sinus infection. As we were about to leave he told me that because she was a 28 weeker chances were we were going to have to see a pulmanologist for her lungs. Since she can't seem to get rid of this cough we may have to look at some different types of medication that he would not feel comfortable giving her. He said we would give it another week. Ugh! My hope and prayer is that maybe if we add this last component to her day we might actually have a week or two with a healthy baby. The doctor prescribed us a new antibiotic that has not been out too long and after one day of it her nose is clearing up and her moods have drastically changed. She is playing and happy. It could also be from the combination of that combined with the antibiotic ear drops and 3 doses of breathing treatments. =) Please continue to pray for her and her health. When she is healthy we catch up on so many milestones. It is amazing to see what she has done in the past when she has a week or two of feeling good.

I always know she is not feeling good when she uses her paci during the day.