Big love, big happenings

Hello! Lots have been going on this month! We left LA on the 27th of December and right before we got into the car to come home, baby man started crawling! Yeayyyy! Since then, he hasn't stopped and is now super fast at crawling and has started cruising along furniture. He also said "da-da"! I know the books say they really don't know who they are referring to, but I really think he does!!! When Brandon is home, he says it over and over again! I started writing this post over a week ago and the other day, Lucas started saying "ma-ma".  :)

Lily has been super cute at helping getting him to talk. She'll say" Say da-da, bubba. Say ma-ma, bubba" Say we (Lily), bubba.". She is such a good sister. Tonight I sat and watched him try to wrestle her on the ground by pulling up on her. Right now, she laughs at it, but he better not DARE pull her hair. If he pulls her hair, it's over and a meltdown ensues! All we have to worry about is the hair pulling.  It seems that they wrestle and laugh all the time!  I think it bothers me more than it bothers them! 

 Baby man at 7 months!

8 months old!

The kids are getting so big, the other day, he weighted in at 23.6 lbs and is 30 1/4" tall and Lily is now 37 1/4" tall and 33.8 lbs.   Lily is recognizing a lot of her letters and numbers these days and working hard on potty training....well, we are in a bit of a slump right now, but that's ok.  We were doing AMAZING the past few months, but not so much the past few weeks. Lucas is doing everything he is supposed to and more.  He is a great eater just like his sister and is ACTUALLY using a sippy cup wayyyy better than Lily did.  He went straight to the tilty cup!  No valves.  We use it sometimes for Lily at the table when her open cups are dirty and one day he picked it up and just started drinking it!  He ended up drinking it completely!  Very strange as we had such a hard time finding a good one for Lily to take at this age, but I'm happy.  Those valves are such a pain to clean!

My sweet Lily belle also started Mothers Day Out one day a week this month. She is doing great there and really enjoying herself.  She isn't napping at school, but that's ok.  She's always been a finicky sleeper.  I just pick her up a little bit early and she naps at home. She also started SoccerTots this month.  She loves it!  They do very little that resembles soccer, but she really enjoys getting out there and running around with her friends. 

We have a lot coming up in the next few months and we are just going to be all over the place this summer.  My dear friend Katherine from high school is expecting her first baby in July, I'm co-hosting a baby shower for my friend Melissa next month, I'm trying to plan a Mardi GRAS party for our playgroup, my sister is having another surgery, John and Christine's twin boys are expected March/Aprilish and then everything just goes cray cray with dance recitals, weddings and vacations.  This all leads up to our big trip to Disney in October!  :)

A much needed update

Hello everyone!  Sorry it has been so long since I have updated.  The kids barely give me a free second to use the bathroom these days!  Since I last updated, Lily has turned 2 (dec 1st) and Lucas is now 6 1/2 months old!

We had Lily's 2nd Birthday this year at a great place called Kids In Action.  She had an absolute blast!  Right now, she is doing GREAT with potty training.  I am not pushing it too hard yet because there is a lot going on and I really want to be able to follow through with it when we start but she goes close to 4x a day when we are at home. 

Baby man at 6 mths :)

Time sure is flying by!  Lucas is doing everything he is supposed to be doing and is working very hard to crawl forward.  He is awesome at crawling backwards right now and pulling himself to stand!  He has cut 2 teeth and working on his 3rd right now.  He is a sweet baby and just so darn happy!

We had his 6 mth cardiologist appointment on the 16th and it went ok.  I was really hoping we would go to the appointment, they would do the echo and tell me that the hole has closed, but....that was very wishful thinking. 

Lucas' murmur is still there and the hole has not changed any in size, but one side of his heart has enlarged.  This tells us that there is indeed a lot of blood flowing through the hole (still measuring approx 8mm).  We go back in 6 months and if all is well, we may go a year before meeting with the surgeon.  He will have the surgery around his 2nd birthday.  :(  The doctor thinks Lucas is growing very well and should do well with having the surgery around that time.

Other than that, life is great right now.  I am enjoying staying home with my sweet babies and everyday I thank the Lord for our health and happiness.  We have a lot to be thankful for as we celebrate sweet Lucas' first Christmas!

 

4 months old!

Lucas is 4 months old!  

At his well baby visit on Sept 28th, he weighed 18 lbs 3 oz and was 17 1/4" long.  The doctor said that he looks very strong and confirmed that he is indeed a little ham. :)  I also asked about the sacral dimple that he was concerned about at his 2 month visit.  The doctor said that it seems like (as gross as this may sound) it isn't as hairy and it looks like he is growing into it!  YES!  He said we will still keep an eye on it and if Lucas starts to act like he is in pain when he is starting to crawl or walk, then we will revisit the idea of getting an MRI.  Hopefully, this is just a thing of the past.  :)

Here is a few things he has been doing:
He has been trying to roll over while he is sleeping but unfortunately, that is causing him to wake up because he is just not quite there yet.  He is trying though!
He is rolling from his belly to his back all the time now.
He is a thumb sucker.  We have officially given up on a pacifier. 
Bearing lots of weight on his legs and playing in his exersaucer and jumper.

He is doing great and is such a sweet smiley baby!

Little Miss Lily

Wow.  What can I say?  These terrific twos are rough!  These past few months, I have learned that Lily is a VERY independent girl.  Not only is she independent, but she is controlling of her space.  You wouldn't guess this when she goes to playgroup.  She plays very well with other kids and is very kind.  When we are home though, she thinks she rules this roost!  Well, unfortunately, I do too.  It's definitely been a struggle around here, but we are moving forward.  I think it would be easier if I was completely able to devote 100% attention to the situation, but with Lucas, Lily is having to learn patience and sharing on a MUCH bigger level at a really difficult age. 

Lily is now sleeping in a toddler bed (yeayyy) and is doing amazingly well.  We moved her when she finally climbed out of the crib and honestly, it was a great choice.  She is sleeping great in there and I think she is enjoying the independence of the situation.  We watch her on the security camera and she NEVER leaves her bed.  She did the first night. but hasn't since.  She has a bin of books near her bed and she will read until she falls asleep.  This toddler bed has done WONDERS for nighttime tears! 

For my  birthday, I brought the kids to Maryland to visit my sister in law, Candice.  The trip there was hard with a lap infant and an under 2 yr old, but we got there in one piece.  We had so much fun.  The first day we were there, we went on a 7 hour shopping spree for the kiddos at the Annapolis Mall.  The kids did amazing and we were even able to bring all 4 of them out to dinner by ourselves at the Cheesecake factory.  It definitely was not easy with a 22 mth old, an almost 2 1/2 yr old, a 4 year old and a 4 month old but we did it!  We did lots of fun stuff and lots of shopping.  The kids did really well and thoroughly enjoyed being with each other.  Nothing warms my heart more than seeing Lily and her cousins play together. 

On the day of my birthday, my little family made me feel so special!  We ordered Pei Wei, ate it at home and Brandon and Lily went and bought an ice cream cake and gave me some sweet cards.  It was a great evening. I felt so special having my little family throw me a little birthday party.  I ordered my Snow White doll a week earlier so that was my present, but what was more special was how excited Lily was that it was my birthday!  She brought that ice cream cake inside the house with such pride, and excitement.  It was so cute.  That, along with the week long "Happy Birthday Mommy"s made this 30th birthday really great! 

Hope everyone is well!  I will be updating soon with Lucas' 5 month update!  :)  Take care! 

Little man, big smiles

Hello everyone!  

Lucas is 3 months old!!!!

On the 26th of August, our little baby man turned 3 months old!  I can't believe it is flying by so fast this time!  He is such a good baby and is ALWAYS smiling.  ECI came for Lily on 8/22 and he was 16 lbs 2 oz and 26" long.  That is up 4 lbs and 2 3/4" since Jennifer's last visit when he was 6 weeks old!  He is growing like a weed. 

Things we have learned recently about Lucas. 
He loves his swing...loves loves loves. 
He is a thumb sucker! Actually, it is more like a pointer finger sucker.  He absolutely hates pacifiers.  
He is a squirmy child!  He learned that he can bear weight on his legs and likes to jump everytime his feet are flat against something. 
He also discovered his toes and thinks they are just the coolest thing EVER! 
He is hitting at his toys and really focusing on things. 
He had his first giggle on August 31st. 
He rolled over twice a week ago!  He hasn't done it since, but he definitely has done it! 
He is just the sweetest little boy!  We are absolutely smitten with him! 

Miss Lily is doing great!  

She is talking and singing a WHOLE bunch these days!  We are learning that she knows parts of "Tangled" and "Princess and the Frog" word for word.  Needless to say, it's been a long, hot summer and we've been watching a lot of movies!  I have been working with her a lot too though.  We are working on her shapes, colors, and letters right now.  

At her ECI visit on 8/22, she was 31 lbs 10 oz and 36" tall!  She has come so far and it's really cool that now when Jennifer comes, Lily opens her bag, tries to take the scale out, lays out the length chart and runs around the house with her tape measure.  The last time she was here, Lily sat on her lap and drew the whole time we were talking!  Jennifer has been seeing her since she was 2 weeks old and it's really cool to see how Lily has evolved around her. 

We also learned recently that John and Christine are expecting identical twins!  Christine is 8 weeks along.  I am so incredibly excited!  If you can't be the parents to twins, next best is an aunt!  Congrats John and Christine! 

Hope everyone is well.  Next week, we travel to Louisiana for the weekend to get Lucas christened.  While we are there, we have to get Christmas shopping done!  We need to get it done early so we can get the big things and store them in LA. 

Take care! 

2 months and a hairy dimple??

Hello all!

Last week our little baby man turned 2 months old!  At his well baby visit, he was 14 lbs 5 oz and 25 1/4" long.  He is a big boy just like his sister!  It just astounds me how fast he is growing.  Last month, he looked like a skinny old man and now he is just a cute little chunky monkey.  He is such a good and sweet baby. 

Around 6 months old, we have to get an MRI done on him.  He has the symptoms of what they call a tethered cord.  It is essentially a sacral dimple that is very hairy.  I have a picture of it, but I am debating posting it.  Lots of people have this dimple, but APPARENTLY the hair makes it suspicious.  Here is more info about a tethered cord.  I have talked to a lot of people recently who have the dimple and the doctors don't think twice about it.  All I know is he said he wanted to get an ultrasound done but then said, "no, I think we need to get the MRI".  Apparently, the ultrasound isn't as reliable.  They like to wait until at least 6 months to do an MRI because they have to sedate them...that being said, Lily had an MRI done at 3 days old, then again, she was all hopped up on phenobarbital. I am taking this along with the heart murmur one day at a time.  I can't worry about it until they tell me there is something to worry about.  Again, we are very lucky to have this sweet baby in our lives.  I'm not wasting one second of his babyhood fretting over something that MIGHT be.  

Miss Lily

Sheesh, were do I start with this little hot mess??!!  She is getting to be such a big girl and we are so very proud of her.  Right now, she is learning her shapes, colors and a few letters.  As far as her shapes she knows triangle, circle, heart, star, oval, and square.  With her colors, she knows, red, green, blue, pink, and purple.  Such a little sponge these days...a sponge that repeats EVERYTHING but a sponge nonetheless.  At her last ECI visit, she was 31 lbs and 35" tall. She is doing much better with her "baby bubba" these days.  She loves him so much and is such a big helper. 

Having the two of them has it's pros and cons.  I feel like our day FLIES by and our routine is more set in stone then it has ever been.  I love that.  A massive con is that we are entering the "terrible twos" and getting out and about is nearly impossible to do in a time frame where she doesn't have a meltdown and he doesn't have to eat.  We don't go very far without daddy there to help, but we do stay busy. 

Cardiologist update

I've kinda been dreading writing this, but I wanted to let everyone know what the cardiologist said when we brought Lucas last week.  What I thought was just a "run of the mill" heart murmur turns out to be something a little bit more of an issue. 

Where do I start?  Well, as I said before, when Lucas was in the NICU, they found a heart murmur.  An ASD.  Usually, ASDs have a very good chance of closing up with time, but Lucas has an ASD with an aneurysm.  An aneurysm is a flap over the hole.  The doctor told us that, the ASDs with an aneurysm do not usually close up.  Apparently, the hole is quite large (approx 8 mm) and the amount of blood going to the other side of his heart could enlarge it and cause problems over time.  The problem will have to be corrected between the ages of 2 and 4.

How can they fix it?  Well, there are two ways.  One is a catheter through the leg into the heart where a clam shell thingy is placed over the hole and closes it up.  This stops the blood from entering the other side of the heart.  For the size of the one Lucas has, there may not be enough tissue for this clam shell to clip on to.  If they do that surgery and the clam shell becomes dislodged, the outcome would be, in his words, catastrophic.  Therefore, this surgery is not an option.  Our last option is open heart surgery. 

The difference between the surgery happening at 2 as compared to at 4 is reliant on if the symptoms of the ASD are effecting him.  Weakness, extreme sleepiness, shortness of breath, poor weight gain....  Since his heart is working harder than a normal heart, it causes him to burn more calories and the most common problem they see is poor weight gain.  If Lucas doesn't have any of these symptoms come 4 years old and the hole has not closed up, they will still have to do the surgery.

This is a really hard thing for me to stomach.  I can't believe he is going to have to go through this.  I know it can be 10 times worse.  It really can be and I thank God everyday for my two healthy babies.  I am grateful it isn't worse, but that doesn't make it any easier.   Open heart surgery is such a scary thought. 

Until then, we are going to continue to pray.  Pray that he continues to grow healthy and strong and pray that the tiny "large" hole closes up.  Pray for all the families going through this right now with their little ones and the families and children with the bigger obstacles.  We also can't forget how fortunate we are and we must thank God everyday for the blessings he has sent to us.

Lucas Update again....

Hi everyone!  I am sorry it has taken me awhile to update, but we finally got to take our little man home on June 2nd and it has been quite chaotic around here!  Lily is adjusting to having a little brother and I am adjusting to having 2 kids.  We are both working very hard on it, but each day gets a little better!!!

Like I said, Lucas is home and is doing great!  The TTN just ran it's course and cleared up!  One day, we went in there and he was at such peace.  It was amazing.  He was a normal color (not bright red) and he wasn't working nearly as hard breathing.  He was still breathing fast, but that was slowly getting better as well.  They did a sleep apnea test before he left the hospital and it came back negative (thank goodness).  If it would have come back positive, he would have come home on oxygen and a monitor.  He still has a few issues while eating.  He coughs a lot, but it is getting better as well.  We have an appointment with the cardiologist on Friday.  I think that will go well.  Again, this murmur isn't something that would give us problems right now, but it is something that we need to keep an eye on.

Lucas made it back to his birth weight on Friday.  He was 9 lbs 2 ounces at the doctor's office.  I had to bring him to the doctor last Monday and he had yet to make it back to his birth weight.  Jennifer (ECI) came on Friday though, and did his stats.  According to her scale, he was 9.4 lbs and 22 1/4" long.  If you recall, his birth length was 20".  There is no way that he grew 2 1/4" in two weeks so we are thinking that the measurement they took in the delivery room was inaccurate.  I'm not surprised though.  They were concentrating on getting him breathing!

His sister on the other hand is still growing like a weed!  She was 31 lbs and 34 3/4".  She is going to be so tall! She is working very hard at adjusting to mommy's attention being divided.  She is doing all the things that the child life specialist at the NICU told us she might do while adjusting to having the new baby in the house... Not sleeping well, tantrums, anger.  She's working hard.  She loves her brother so much, but the entire process has been very confusing for her. 

Mommy's having a baby!  She's going to be in the hospital and come home with your baby brother. 

Oh wait, mommy is in the hospital but there's no baby and mommy comes home, but there is still no baby.   

Then one day he just shows up.  
Cue the confusion


Poor thing.  I really feel for her. 

Here is a picture of a tender moment between my two babies!

Thank you all so much for all your prayers and well wishes.  We have again been blessed with another little angel who gave us a run for our money at the get go, but is doing well.  We are very VERY blessed!