A letter to my {third} daughter: YOU ARE TWO!

Vivian -

From the moment I found out you were growing inside me I knew we were going to have a special bond. You came into our lives as the third little girl we would get to raise and love two (short, but sometimes long-feeling) years ago.

Ironically, I woke up this morning at just about the time I knew my contractions were the real deal and I so vividly remembered that morning as I bounced on an excercise ball, drinking coffee by the light of the Christmas tree. The excitement I felt in my heart, butterflies in my stomach knowing I would be meeting you so soon, apprehension at what my (then) baby would be feeling as I sent her off with her Aunt knowing the next time I saw her she would be a big sister. It was a crazy day – so many long moments, so many really really hard moments and then you were here and in the blink of an eye I was rewarded when they placed you on my chest and I looked in your eyes for the first time.

You were a snuggler and a mommy’s girl right from the get go and not much has changed about that.

In the past year you have learned to run (and gallop, jump, spin in circles and race “ready set go!”), talk (so much! It is fantastic!), play pretend, and (sort of) sleep in your own room.

We’ve stopped worrying so much about your peanut-stature since you have finally made your way onto the growth charts.

You became a big cousin! What fun and adventures you are going to have with your cousins – and are already starting to have. You love to see “baby Lia” and get so excited when Luci comes over. The bigger you get, the more fun you have playing!

We went on a few out of town adventures – including Columbus, Disney World (you loved it!) and Toledo!

This year, and really the past month or so, I’ve noticed a big change in your relationship with your sisters. You’ve always looked up to them and wanted to do everything that they do but the more you play and talk, the more they include you in their games adn play time. One of the things that brings me the biggest smiles as a mom is watching you three develop your own relationships with each other – watching them evolve and grow with you.

And your favorite thing to do, other than watch Snow White, is probably take care of your baby dolls. You are so nurturing and loving “baby need a pillow?” “baby need a blanket?” – you usually have no less than 2 binkies and 1 baby in your hands or within your eyesight at all times!

This year you are going to put that love for baby dolls and babies to good use when you become a big sister! It is probably going to be a tough transition, with your dislike for sharing your mommy with anyone – including your big sisters a lot of the time –

but we are going to make it and everyone is going to be alright!

In a nutshell –this past year you’ve grown in your smart, sassy, smiley, stubborn ways into your own person – a person we are so lucky to get to love and watch continue to grow and change and we wouldn’t have you any other way (except with a few more hours of sleep under your belt each night – that would be lovely!)

Keep that twinkle in those big blue eyes and that sense of mischief behind that toothy smile, my little love, those are things that make you you!

Love you more than you could know -

xo

Mommy

Itty Bitty Happy: Update

I posted a few months ago about Vivian and how she is so itty bitty happy.
We’ve been doing a lot of things to see what is up with her petite-ness. I think where I left it was that we were giving her some formula but still nursing every 2 hours in hopes that that little bit of supplementing would do the trick.
Plot twist: It did not do the trick.
We gave it about 6 weeks with frequent weight checks, essentially zero weight gain. We were starting to see her length and head circumference affected by her lack of weight gain and that was no good.
We checked her labs, and thankfully, all of that came back normal.
That forced our hand to move to primarily formula, which by this point, I was totally fine with because sheesh, she needed to get bigger and it was obvious that something wasn’t working. So we had to get her up to 24 ounces of formula per day which was not the easiest of tasks.

We have her on between 22 and 26 ounces a day and she nurses primarily at night now. And finally we are seeing some actual gains, which is making everyone feel a little better.
At her nine month appointment we got the okay to start her back on foods as long as there aren’t any dramatic decreases in her volume intake. She has a fairly strong tongue thrust reflex which makes it hard for her to get pieces of food to stay in her mouth, but she does pretty well on purees. She doesn’t always tolerate all of her bottles the greatest and sometimes she wants to eat ALL THE FOOD and sometimes not, but hey, I can say the same for myself!

The goal is that she gets back on the curve by 15 months. She's a petite 12.5 pounds right now!

It makes me a little sad/frustrated/angry that for whatever reason breastfeeding was so hard for us in the weight gain department. Maybe I didn’t produce enough. Maybe she burned too many calories while nursing. Maybe a million things that don’t really matter right now.

Overall, she is finally heading in the right size direction.
Developmentally? She is a tiny rockstar – she has been crawling for months, but finally is up on all fours, puling up on everything, waving, clapping, and grinning from ear to ear whenever she isn’t crying or sleeping!

We often get a lot of strange looks when people who don’t know her see her – she surprises everyone and I usually just say something about her being sweet and portable. Not a preemie, not neglected, not anything but small and loved and perfect just the size she is.

These Days….

There is so.much going on around here (always?!) and 101% of the time, I have no time to really even process all that is happening in our lives. I am going to give a quick rundown and I really, truly (honestly) hope to expand on most, if not all, of these things going forward.

* Gianna started FIRST GRADE last week. We ended up moving her from Catholic to public school after a really long debate. I think we made the choice that made the most sense. The first week went well for her, so that’s exciting for all of us!

* Aleesia is officially 2.5 and she is THE SPUNKIEST ball of energy I have ever met. I’m lucky she is mine, but also, wow – she makes me tired!

* Being a full-time work at home mom for the past 6 months has been so great. And so hard. And so many things. There are a few things I can say for certain though. This wouldn’t be possible without my village – our nanny, my sisters, my parents, cousins, so many people who help out when needed. Being at home has been so fun and the flexibility I have is wonderful. But it is HARD to be “on” all of the time.

* We are going to the beach in a few weeks! We are going to Hilton Head for the first time and really looking forward to it. If you’ve been there – tips, tricks, places not to miss are all greatly appreciated! We are planning on vising Savannah as well while we are there.

* Our new house! Oh my gosh, so much I can say about our new house. We have a pre-drywall meeting this week and we are looking forward to that. I have pictures of the whole process and will hopefully do a few posts related to our building process (which has been really great). Things are moving along and I am ALL OVER the Pinterest boards with updates and ideas for decorating a house that is significantly bigger than our previous home.

* Vivian is such a sweet baby! She finally started to sit up on her own and can go from laying/crawling to sitting. She’s been crawling for at least 2 months so she gets all over the place and flashes her amazing smile at us! She is a bit of a mommy’s girl and she doesn’t love to sleep without touching me. It has been hard to get her in a sleep routine, but we’ll get there. We started to give her some baby food a few weeks ago and she is just now really getting the hang of eating from a spoon.

* I ran a half marathon last weekend, it was a great race and I had a pretty huge PR. I’m looking forward to my next one in September. I also finished my 4th (or 5th?!?) MBA class last week. I’m looking forward to finding some good books to read on vacation – any ideas for me?

Overall, I’m not ready to give up summer yet but also ready for the routine the school year brings. We have fun plans that will get us through the end of September and then our fall plans (and moving!!) start up in October! I don’t feel like I am as organized and on top of life as usual right now which is frustrating but somehow we are all getting through our days!

A letter to my second daughter {TWO!}

Aleesia!

Holy cow my smiley little girl, you are TWO! I feel like the past two years have just flown by so quickly. I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday – it was probably the most empowering day of my life to date.

You were my slow grower, staying nice and peanut sized for quite a while. But once you decided that food was awesome and figured out that you could move – well, we haven’t been able to stop you since (moving or eating!)!

You are quite hilarious! You’ve been talking for awhile now and I forgot just how much I love toddler-ease. One of my favorite things is how you narrate your day – “Leesie wake up”, “Leesie habba milk”, “Baby cryin”, “Baby done cryin”, “I put cup table on”, “Leesie laughin mommy” you get the idea – you tell me every move you make (or that I make, or that your sisters make!). You are great about using your manners, I really need to get the way you say “you’re welcome” recorded because it is adorable!

Some of your favorite things to do are to snuggle with your blankie and binkie (“I sitta mommy on da couch? Right here?”). You love it when I hold you but you also love to sit in your new anywhere chair, or your princess chair as you call it. Playing with Gianna’s toys is your favorite – barbies, doll houses, and ponies usually win out over “little kid” toys. You really like to color and do “homework”, dancing,  and I think you could sometimes spend all afternoon playing with puzzles. And I just love to watch you play – it’s no secret that I love to watch imaginations at work and yours is developing so quickly!

You are a tough girl – always falling down, bumping into things, getting lots of bumps and bruises – and while you might cry, you don’t let anything stop you. While you are tough, you are also sensitive and emotional. If anyone else is crying, chances are so are you. You are realizing that everyone doesn’t always get their way all the time and it’s not your favorite lesson so far. The way you pout is too cute to ignore, and I am pretty sure you know that!

I’ve always said how special sisterhood is – and watching sisterhood in action, in development, is quite awesome. You play both the baby sister and now the big sister rolls perfectly. Anything Gianna says, you do it and you take care to notice what Vivi needs (mainly her blanket, lovie, and binkie!). I am so looking forward to watching your relationships develop in their own special ways.

While you love your sisters, your relationship with your cousin has grown so so much this year. You always want to play with Luci, go see Luci, when she comes in the room not much else matters and  you two are in your own little cousin world. What fun it is to watch you get into all kinds of mischief together!

People ask me a lot if you are a mommy’s girl or a daddy’s girl – I think you are both. You always seem to know just who needs a hug or an “I wub ewe too”. You just have a way of changing the mood in a room from tense to joy with the way your eyes sparkle and you smile spreads across your whole face. Never lose that ability because it is priceless. You have so many people who love you so much in your life and while you have some clear favorites (Muncle and Papa!) there isn’t really anyone you won’t love on. You’ve started to become a bit cautious in new situations but you always smile.

When you were born you snuggled right up on my chest in this spot that was obviously made just for you. You have been snuggling up in that same spot on my left shoulder ever since. I never ever EVER tire of my Aleesia snuggles. I might not be able to hold you all the time right now but I love you so much  more than words can ever say. I am so excited to see what two years old has in store for you and the lessons you will surely teach me along the way.

Love you my little peanut,

Mommy

Baby Got Moves–video and twitter party

Remember last month when I posted about Pampers Baby Got Moves campaign?
The video is ready to be released with lots of cute dancing babies AND on Thursday and I can’t wait to share it with you.
BUT!! There is something else happening on Thursday – a If you have never participated in a twitter party, they are really fun and the prizes are awesome!!
Twitter Party Information:
The Twitter Party will take place on Thursday October 2nd at 9pm EST. RSVP here: http://twtvite.com/BabyGotMoves
To participate, follow your hosts @DoubleDutyDivas, @BridgetteLA, @CeceliaMecca @AngieKcom @WhatMommiesNeed @RamblingChick, and our sponsor @Pampers.
Twitter Party Prizes Include:
· 1 Pack of Baby Dry Diapers, a $15 iTunes GC and a VTech Learn and Dance Interactive Zoo
· 1 Pack of Baby Dry Diapers and a Zoo Tunes Mobile Blue Tooth Speaker (owl)
· 1 Pack of Baby Dry Diapers and a $100 Gift Card to Little Gym/Gymboree/My Gym
· 1 Pack of Baby Dry Diapers a $25 iTunes GC and an iPad Mini ($350 value)
· RSVP: 1 Pack of Baby Dry Diapers
You can always find Pampers on Facebook too.
I’ll be tweeting and participating in to the party – can’t wait to see you there!

*updated with the video! If you were at the Twitter Party let me know - it was a fun one!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5-o67rIccg&list=PLEO5ZutnaN0OoisKlld9b3OqyIY1o0vbG&index=1

This review was made possible by Double Duty Divas and Pampers. I was provided the featured product free of charge to facilitate my review, but all opinions are 100% mine.

A letter to my second daughter: 18 month unbirthday

My little Aleesia -

What an adventurous, crazy, first 18 months to life this has been for you (and for all of us!). Between hospital visits, big smiles, a few extra doctors appointments, extra snuggles, you sure have learned a lot more than just to eat your toes!

This is one of my favorite ages – the beginning of toddler silliness with a side of snuggly baby. And  you my little love are no exception.

You LOVE to eat – I know I’ve said this before, but it still amazes me and makes me laugh at the same time. You went from being a small and scrawny baby nearly falling off of the growth chart to a complete 180 in that department!

Your pink blanket and elephant wubanub are your security items, or as we refer to them, your supplies. You aren’t seen much these days without these two things close behind. I can’t believe I don’t have a good picture of you with them, I’ll need to fix that.

And speaking of pictures, while there might not be as many pictures of you as there are of Gianna as your aunts like to point out, I still managed to get a few adorable ones.

You are talking a lot now – mama, dada, hi, bye, more, please, dog, papa, aunt jacqui (no, really!), baby, nigh-nigh, high five, Mickey and Minnie! and I know so many more things that I am forgetting right now. One of my favorite things is the way you say hello – it’s more like “ellooooo” so funny! You know exactly who Gianna is but for some reason you still call her “daddy”!

Speaking of Minnie and Mickey, you have discovered this crazy Disney sing a long that we have and you love it – you’ll just bring us everything that looks like a TV remote saying “Mickey?” until we turn it on!

We started coloring with Gianna, which  you also like. Swimming is a favorite still. And you have started playing with toys some too – it’s fun to see you interacting with Gianna and starting to do some imaginative play. Babies dolls have recently made a big entrance into your life – you hug them, rock them, put them nigh-nigh, throw them on their head, etc.

We see a little sibling rivalry sometimes, but mostly you just want to be doing whatever Gianna is doing and stick close to her. Generally you two will snuggle in the morning. And you are sharing a room now, which is going pretty well. You are a night owl compared to your big sister and usually think she is playing hide and seek with you once she falls asleep!!

We’ve traveled a bit the past six months and you had quite an adventure in Washington DC! We are gearing up for your first airplane ride to Florida though, it should be a great trip.

It amazes me how similar yet how different you are from your sister, I am constantly reminded that you are truly unique people and I love it! You love to dance, have picked up the skills of tantrum-throwing from Gianna, and are truly perfecting the pouty lip (you’re a sensitive sole).

I realize this doesn’t mean much to you right now, but you are a lucky girl. You have one big sister to learn all about life from and you will soon have a little sister to teach all of the life lessons you learn from Gianna.  She’s lucky to have both of you, but I have a sneaking suspicion the two of you are going to have something special.

My little snuggle bug, you have such a unique personality and your big smile truly lights up any room you are in. I can’t wait to see your personality bloom even more,you have so much to share with us!

We love you peanut,

Mommy

Cutest Sickie you’ve ever seen

It seems my sweet Aleesia often gets the worst of any germ that crosses our doorstep.  She is pretty regularly fighting some kind of stuffy nose or sniffle.  Right before her birthday she had a long week of high fevers which (thankfully, actually) ended up being Roseola without a presenting rash. 

And then, the latest medical drama began after Gianna brought home a set of her own sniffles from preschool.

Miss Aleesia started off with the same set of sniffles and a cough, but she wasn’t eating and was randomly throwing up. (she’s my puker, she sort of throws up randomly for no real reason) She didn’t eat much on Thursday, started coughing and had a rough nights sleep that night.  Friday was no good at all, so we actually took her to the doctor where they diagnosed her with RSV. Which stinks, but shouldn’t be a huge deal in the end considering her age and that she had no risk factors.  Except Aleesia had some pretty serious work of breathing but worse than that, she stopped eating all together and continued with the throwing up. 

I decided that it would be best to take her to the ER late Friday night because it had been too long since her last wet diaper and I’ve never seen a baby so lethargic, I knew she was dehydrated and my rehydration attempts ended in immediate vomiting.

So, off we went thinking we’d be headed home in 12 hours or so after she started to look up.

Except we ended up staying in the hospital for FIVE DAYS!

It turns out her dehydration was very severe (like, VERY) – which is a little scary because it was really a quick onset. They were going to admit her for observation, mostly because of the time (it was 3am at that point) and that was fine.  Except her bronchiolitis was at the beginning of the disease path and only got worse over that period, leaving her working very hard to breathe and not helping the dehydration situation.  And, add to that her literal refusal to take anything by mouth which continued for four days. 

She ended up with an ear infection and a few moments of energy here and there.

Eventually, when her breathing continued to remain difficult, we figured out that pneumonia was the culprit.  She started eating some (I never imagined I would cheer so much when my 12 month old took 2 ounce bottle in my life!) and things were finally looking good!

This little one has spent 7 nights in the hospital over the past 10 months, which I believe exceeds her lifetime parent-allowed maximum of nights in the hospital.  Both times for pretty random medical issues.  Thankfully, she seems to be no worse for the wear now that her antibiotics are all gone.  I knew she was feeling like herself when she threw some toys in the toilet the other day.

I am so grateful to have such amazing parents and sisters though who helped us take care of the biggest girl in our house – she knew Aleesia was sick and she was sad, but they did a wonderful job of keeping her occupied enough that she didn’t get TOO sad.  And she got a mommy-gianna date to the mall! Facebook, as much as I dislike it (but can’t quit it…), was also a great source of support – it was nice to check in and know that friends and family were thinking and praying for our little peanut.

We had quite the little adventure to end her birth-month and she won the hears of many doctors and nurses, for sure – but next time we visit the hospital I hope it’s to bring some volunteer cheer and does not include an overnight visit!