Easter Pics

This Easter was a heck of a lot different than last year. Last year Kaylie was new to the whole sitting up independently thing and could absolutely care less about getting any eggs. This year it was every baby for themselves. She was running from egg to egg and putting them in her basket. The funny thing was that her basket was half as big as she was. I was nervous she wouldn't want to hold her basket but after a minute or two of her running with it I had flash backs to her pumpkin holder from Halloween. She still plays with that.

After we had found all of the eggs Kaylie spent a good 30 minutes opening and closing her eggs. It is adorable how easily amused my child is. I am not complaining! After this adventure we went to see Kaylie's boyfriend. She and Fletcher had a blast looking for eggs. Kaylie kept trying to steal his basket. Do you know how hard it is to get two kids to take a picture together? I do not know how people do it!

Woo Hoo!

I promise...no matter what...I will never be on of those who posts pictures of my child on the potty. Instead, I will just tell you about it. Yesterday Kaylie got out of her bath, walked over to her potty, sat down and went to the bathroom all by herself. We thought she had been doing her normal stand up sit down play time until she stuck her hand inside and shook off something wet. Jason and I were shocked! Way to go little girl. We are so proud of you! This made us realize we needed to make sure daycare was taking her on a more "regular" basis.

Since I refuse to post pictures of her on the potty I decided to post a random picture that has nothing to do with it. Here is a picture drinking by herself in her new chair. She loves chairs and can fly up into one before you have a chance to sit down. If she beats you you are better off on the floor because she doesn't give up her spot without a good fight.

Lots of stuff!

This week has been filled with a lot of medical info for Kaylie from tests that had been recently done. At this point I can say I know a lot of stuff that at times I wish I was clueless about. Overall, I would have to say the results have been good and some what informative. I feel like we have a piece of the puzzle secured into place. Surprisingly, this piece may actually be a large piece of it.

Last Friday Kaylie had her blood taken to check her immunity levels as well as to check for some genetic disorders. The lab work for the immuntiy came back rather quickly. This is the second round of testing. The first was to determine baseline levels. During that her IGG and her IGA were low. Your IGG are your first line of defense and your IGA's are your third. On this second round her IGG's had gone back to normal but her IGA's had gone down from where they were originally. Since IGG's are about 80% of your body it is good that they went up. If both were still low Kaylie would be in great danger of having serious illnesses throughout her life. Instead, she just has to deal with the fact that her IGA's are low.

These antibodies are 10 to 15% of your body and deal with the respiratory and GI tracts. When I read that I about flipped. This explains so much!!!! Now we have an explanation for why she had chronic ear infections at such an early age and why we can never get over a cold without strong antibiotics.

The other thing I found interesting was the strep pneumonia levels. These levels should have gone up since her last visit. Every time she gets a respiratory infection these levels should go up and you should become more immune to things. Right now her body seems to not acknowledge it making her levels be at what a newborn would be. He suggests that at her two year well baby we get the pneumonia shot. Without this she will continue to be at an increased risk for ear infections, sinus and respiratory infections. Pneumonia is not as much of a concern unless we let it go without using the cabinet full of meds that we have to help with this. Once we get the shot he wants to recheck her levels a month later to see if her body has responded to it. It is quite possible her body will not respond and the results will be the same. If that is the case we have to be even more aware of illness.

So what now...Basically we will have to be careful. For the most part we have not be overly paranoid unless it is obvious someone is sick. I am a freak about open mouthed coughing but being a teacher you are a little more aware of germs. Even though I cringe every time a kid coughs on Kaylie I refuse to make her a bubble girl.

In regards to medication most of what we are doing will remain the same. He and I discussed the daily antibiotic (pro biotic) she should be taking (when she is not on one due to illness) and decided to hold off during the summer. She did not handle this last one very well and I would like to see her body have a break. The other thing is that he feels we need to be somewhat liberal with antibiotics as well as quicker to act when an illness appears. He said we will most likely need an antibiotic to fight any thing she gets. Thank goodness we had a second year of RSV shots.

I asked him if this could last her entire life and he said most likely. His hope is that her body will start to pick and choose what gets her sick possibly ignoring the small illnesses allowing her to get a break. Right now she gets sick, takes an antibiotic and two days after it is finished gets sick again. With school about to be over I pray her body gets a well needed break.

Sleep study: Came back fine.

As Kaylie approaches her two year birthday it has been hard for us to see what she is going through. When your baby looks like every other child around it is difficult to understand and accept the things she is experiencing. Our hearts broke the other day as we watched a one year old child inhale her birthday cake. We so badly want an easy life for here. Don't get me wrong...I am not saying everyone else's life is easy and our lives are hard. I am saying that I would like for her to be able to go through a day without coughing, sneezing, gagging, throwing up, and/or taking a cabinet full of medications. I would like a day where I do not fear what illness she will get next and how that will affect her feeds. I want a day where she can walk into a doctors office and smile instead of scream before she even enters an exam room. I say all these things knowing that even with all of this we are incredibly blessed to have her. It blows me away that God loved Jason and I so much he allowed her to come home to live with us even after being born 3 months early. I don't complain often because I know how things could have turned out but this last week has really been weighing me down. I am hoping with this new information we can move forward knowing what we need to do for her.

After Kaylie's hospital stay, drastic weight loss, and constant illnesses Jason and I made an important decision. This year will be my last year teaching for awhile. I have been stressing about this decision for awhile but after getting this information this afternoon we know this is what is right for our family. As of June I will officially be a stay at home mom. I am overjoyed yet terrified all at the same time. I love my child and can't wait to spend quality time together. Right now a lot of our time is spent in therapy and doctors appointment. I pick her up from daycare, we go to our appointment, go home and then have to sit through a 25 minute feed that at times can be quite stressful for both people involved before going to bed. Now we can have more fun times mixed in with the not so fun times. What I fear is not having enough interaction with adults. I will have to use my resources to find ways to cheaply stay busy.

Thanks for listening to my emotional moment. Sometimes all of the information can be a little much for two people to handle. I have had so much on my mind this last week it has been hard to function. Please pray that we are on the road to figuring things out.

PPITP

PPITP stands for.....


Kaylie went PEE PEE IN THE POTTY!!!!!!! We are not full force potty training but we are working on getting her comfortable on it. She has really shown an interest in it so we decided to ask daycare to help us out with it. In her room over half are either trained or working on it so we figured why not. I think her teacher thought I was crazy but agreed to it. Kaylie is the youngest in the room (corrected) so I understood. Today was the first time they tried it and I happened to walk in right when she was putting her on it. I did not want to distract Kaylie so I waited outside but could still hear what was happening. The next thing I hear was her teacher asking if she had just gone in the potty. She picks her up and says it again. Excited I quickly ask myself. Needless to say...our first potty experience at daycare was a success. Mrs. Katrina thinks we may have started something. Woo Hoo! Go Kaylie Marie. We will most likely hit potty training in full force over the summer. Until then we will keep trying.

Shi...na

Within the past week or so Kaylie has gotten good at saying Shiner's name. To some degree I would have to say she is some what obsessed with saying it. The amount of effort she puts into saying his name makes us laugh.

Here is a video of us on the porch from a few days ago. She loves Bailey but is more drawn to Shiner. At times she decide Shiner needs a toy or a bone, walk by Bailey, and give it to Shiner. If Shiner does not want it she gets louder and more demanding. She definitely has developed quite a personality.

I included this video more for our family to see how much better she is talking. Kaylie is incredibly shy and takes a long time to start being herself. Usually she starts to get comfortable right before it is time to go.

Happy Dance

I apologize for the fact that my daughter has a package. She had just woken up, was in a great mood and decided to perform for us. Volume up.

Spring time fun

This afternoon was absolutely gorgeous so we decided to take advantage of it. The three of us plus the dogs sat on the porch blowing bubbles and learning how to throw dog toys. Every time I would say one, she would say two and on three she would throw Shiner's toy. After a few minutes she would take off running with his toy and when you asked her to throw it she would say "no." She was hilarious! She is getting really good at saying Shiner's name. She separates it into two syllables. She says the "Shi" in a really high pitch voice holding it out and then puckers up her lips to quickly say the "ner" part. Love it! She repeats it over and over until he actual does what she wants him to do. I know it is a lot of pictures but she gave us so many good ones. I have some "normal" poses but I thought the action ones were better.

Here is a picture of her saying Shiner's name over and over. We actually have a video of this.

Seriously mom. The camera...Again!?!

Whats wrong with this pictures?

Kaylie and her Bee Bee

A daddy and his daughter

Lenny and Kaylie

Last year we were lucky to find Desirae. Every year she takes pictures with a lamb and bunny for Easter. Thankfully, Desirae was incredibly patient with Kaylie because Kaylie refused to get any where near the lamb and really hated the bunnies. I envisioned her walking up and loving on the animals and struggling to get her away from them. Ya...not so much!
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It was a good 30 minutes before we could even get her to sit anywhere near the lamb. She was hysterical for awhile. We decided it would help if we told her it was a dog. Yes, I know that is bad but it seemed to help. After a few minutes I decided to distract her with Easter eggs. This was the trick. She was distracted enough with trying to put the eggs together that we were able to sneak the lamb into the picture without her walking off. At that point she began to tolerate the animals enough that she let them sit with her until they got too close to her basket or the eggs. That is when she grabbed them sternly and said "mine" to the animals. I love her!

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Right before we were about to leave Kaylie started to feel comfortable with the animals and felt free to walk around the room. She was comfortable until I heard her whining because the lamb had walked up to her and started to push her. Apparently, this particular she is a herder. Kaylie tried to get away but the lamb pushed her down and then head butted her. It sounds like it hurt but it didn't. The lamb is actually very sweet and gentle so it was funny. It cracked me up and couldn't help but laugh. Does that make me a bad mom?!?

My favorite picture is the second one!

Sleep Study

WARNING!!!!! The last picture looks a lot worse than it was!!!!

Last night Kaylie had her sleep study. It was exactly what I expected. The building the sleep study was in is the same place as many of her other doctors and procedures so I figured Just walking into the building was going to cause Kaylie to freak out. Sure enough as we walked toward the building the whimpering started. Knowing that Kaylie was most likely going to freak out with everything they had to put on her Jason and I both went. Thank goodness!!!!! I figured she was going and she did.

Right when she started putting on the leads Kaylie started to scream. She screamed so long that she finally gave up and fell asleep on Jason. Jason was awesome. The room was incredibly hot, he was still in his work clothes, and he risked Kaylie throwing up on him and didn't even think twice about comforting his daughter. I am pretty sure he held her for a good hour while they hooked her up.

At about 9 she was asleep on Jason so we put her in the crib. She woke up and started screaming all over. We figured she would not stop unless we left the room. Jason quickly left and I waited outside for her to stop so I could go back in to go to sleep.

The cool thing was that the tech allowed me to go into the room they were in and watch her. Overall, it took a good 30 minutes for her to stop crying. Once she stopped crying she decided to be incredibly stubborn by refusing to lay down. Instead, she grabbed her blankie, put it up to her face like a pillow, and started to fall asleep while standing. Every time she would doze off she would fall back, freak out, grab the rails and then start to cry. This lasted another 15 to 20 minutes. After that she gave up and sat. Now we are started the process all over again but in the sitting position. This lasted a good 30 minutes. I finally decided to go into the parents lounge and relax. The tech came in, told me she needed to make sure the cords were not around her neck, and was going in. Good Luck to her!!!! She came back a few minutes later, told me she fixed the cords and was able to lay her down on her tummy. That was all she wrote. I went into the room at 10:25 to find a baby passed out and snoring. I was so worried about waking her up I question even flushing the toilet. Thankfully, she slept well!

They came in at 5:30 am and unhooked her. The tricky part has been dealing with all of the sticky stuff on her. Overall, she did wonderful! I was grateful she was able to come home and go back to sleep until 10:30. I loved her for that.

The results: Unfortunately, we will not know anything for at least a week and a half. We will let you know as soon as we hear anything.

In this picture Kaylie and I are singing, "If you are happy and you know it." This is the part where we talk about the smile being on her face. Every time we sing it she immediately puts her fingers up to her cheeks. I am pretty sure she learned this at daycare.

In this picture she is calming down. This was almost an hour into it. At this point it is 9:15 ish. This is late considering she is usually in bed between 6:30/7:00. She finally was completely asleep by 10:25. Even I was ready for bed at that point.

I put this picture last because I was really hard for me to look at. I know that she is perfectly healthy and nothing is wrong with her her but it was a little scary to see this. I had to keep reminding myself her head was wrapped to keep her from pulling anything off. She is definitely passed out in this picture.

Hot Springs (Part 1)

Jason and I have been feeling very cooped up this cold and flu season. With Kaylie being sick the majority of the school year we do not get out often. We have spent many weekends at home with a sick child and needed a break.

After seeing commercial after commercial for different vacation desitnations Jason and I decided to take a chance and take our first trip with just the three of us. Needless to say I stressed all the way up to the minute we left our driveway, fearful Kaylie was going to get sick before we left. We decided to go somewhere that was not too close but not too far away at the same time so we decided to go to Hot Springs, Arkansas. I have always wanted to go there so why not?!?



Kaylie has decided that she no longer likes to take naps in the car. This is a problem when you are taking a long trip. Lollipops helped keep everyone happy!

You think we brought enough?!? Many of the bags are Kaylie's... We had 3 to 4 bags full of her feeding stuff. It is hard to accomodate her feeding needs when you are out. Jason and I had one bag each and a bag for electronics and games. The rest belonged to Kaylie.

Since Kaylie takes a 2 to 3 hour nap each day and goes to bed by 7 we decided to stay at the Embassy Suites. It was great! The Embassy Suites is designed for families like us so that we can close the door to the bedroom when Kaylie is sleeping allowing us to watch t.v. and play games without bothering her.

This was one of Kaylie's favorite things to do in the hotel. The room gave her plenty of room to run around in. It was great for our family.


Since we got into town late on Saturday we did not get out to explore until the next morning. The town is beautiful. This is the National park that sits right in the middle of downtown. There are so many natural hot springs for people to look at and enjoy.

Their are many different hiking trails for tourists to explore. It doesn't look like it at first but Hot Springs is a place for outdoor lovers. We ended up visiting two different National Parks. They were all gorgeous. We can defintely see ourselves visiting when Kaylie is older.

I think this is the most precious picture ever! It makes my heart melt.

On the second day we went to Garven Gardens. It is similar to the Arboretum but is more natural. They have so many amazing waterfalls and hot springs all over. Every time Kaylie saw water she would repeat it over and over...wa wa!

They had a Koi pond with 30 to 40 fish. We had to think fast when it came to wanting to feed them so I decided to grab a graham cracker. Not really fish food but the fish seemed to love it. Seeing how quickly they swam over to us before any food had been thrown I am assuming they are fed quite often.

Kaylie got a kick out of the tulips. I know she should not be touching them but seeing how excited she was I did not want to stop her. She kept pulling it down and watching it fly back up. Loved it!

I am seriously contimplating taking photography lessons. I love to take pictures! This is another one that makes me smile!