Family Pictures

In all 5 Christmas' Zac & I have been together for we have never done Family Pictures or Christmas Cards. I decided that since we had Ayla this year that we would do them and I am SO glad that we did! I absolutely love how they turned out & have found our photographer for all our other things :)! We got them taken on October 23rd and am so happy with them. We seriously have the cutest little girl and I am so happy that I get to be her Mom!

A Mother's worst Nightmare followed by a blessing

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12/3/2013

Ayla was born with a bump in the corner of her eyebrow. Our pediatrician has been telling us for a while to go in & get it checked out however of course I was in denial & we never did. FINALLY I decided I would make the appointment before the end of the year. I called & scheduled for a dermatologist appointment with Dr. Sheryl Vanderhoolft. When we went to see her 2 weeks ago, she told us that the bump was probably a cyst and that we needed to get an MRI done to ensure it wasn't connected to her brain or something internal. She explained that because of the location, there was a good chance that it was connected & they wouldn't do surgery until it was looked at through the scan. For any parent, getting news that your baby isn't perfect and might have to have surgery is very hard to comprehend. For us, the thought of potentially having to have Ayla get brain surgery was absolutely beyond what we expected.

I made the appointment for the MRI & here we are.. on the day!

 Today Zac & I took Ayla to Riverton Primary's to have an MRI for a cyst that she has on her right eye brow in the corner of her eye. Because of the MRI, she was unable to eat solids aft 1:30am & then could no longer have liquids after 5:30am. Her appointment was at 7:30am so we had a VERY grumpy baby on our hands. Of course we had to make matters worse when the weather decided it was winter time & gave us a ton of snow that backed up 2100 N which means we were 10 minutes late to the appointment.

Once we got there we checked in, she walked around(holding my fingers) for a little bit & then they took us back to weigh her. We went back to a room where a Nurse asked us a bunch of questions.

(Post finished on 12/17/2013)

After we answered all the questions we had people coming in and out to distract her with toys, put in the IV, ect. Ayla cried and cried when she got the IV. It was heartbreaking to see my little girl go through something so painful. She sat on my lap afterwards and didn't really want to play with toys but liked the bubbles :). 

We took her Ayla back into the MRI room where they gave her the anesthesia. It only took about 10 seconds to kick in. I stood there, holding her close, trying to comfort her while she was scared, half way out of it, and about to go into a big machine all by herself. Once she was out they took her from my arms and put her in the MRI machine. Of course they wouldn't let us stay in there so we decided that instead of waiting in the waiting room we would walk around. We ended up at the cafeteria where we got some breakfast and tried to keep our mind off of things. We were gone for about a half hour. When we got back, Ayla was laying in the recovery bed and they were hooking her up to some monitoring machines. Because of the kind of anesthesia they used, they wanted to make sure she slept for 2 hours. We were unable to hold her so we sat by her bedside and waited for her to wake up. She slept for the entire 2 hours & then the nurse came by and abruptly woke her up. That part made me mad. I wanted to be able to wake her up slowly so that she wasn't scared and confused as to where she was but they didn't let me. 

Once she was awake I was able to hold her and comfort her. She was pretty delirious and drunk acting. She was laughing but was slurring her laughs if that makes sense at all. She couldn't control her limbs very well and had a hard time keeping her head straight up. Once she was completely awake and able to keep down some bottle, she was able to go home.

This was the most nerve racking experience for a couple of reasons. First, I was scared that she would react badly to the anesthesia but secondly and most importantly, we were terrified that they were going to tell us that our little baby was going to have to have brain surgery. While we were waiting for Ayla to wake up the a doctor came in and talked to us. He let us know that the cyst was 6mm and that it was NOT ATTACHED to anything which means NO BRAIN SURGERY. I am just getting teary eyed writing this. It brings me back to that overwhelming feeling of relief that both Zac & I felt. I am so happy that our little baby doesn't have to have that awful surgery and that she is going to be okay. She still will need plastic surgery to get it removed eventually but she won't need it anytime soon and it will be a small quick and simple procedure. Thank you to all those who prayed and fasted on Ayla's behave that everything would go smoothly and that she would be okay.

12/3/2013

Ayla was born with a bump in the corner of her eyebrow. Our pediatrician has been telling us for a while to go in & get it checked out however of course I was in denial & we never did. FINALLY I decided I would make the appointment before the end of the year. I called & scheduled for a dermatologist appointment with Dr. Sheryl Vanderhoolft. When we went to see her 2 weeks ago, she told us that the bump was probably a cyst and that we needed to get an MRI done to ensure it wasn't connected to her brain or something internal. She explained that because of the location, there was a good chance that it was connected & they wouldn't do surgery until it was looked at through the scan. For any parent, getting news that your baby isn't perfect and might have to have surgery is very hard to comprehend. For us, the thought of potentially having to have Ayla get brain surgery was absolutely beyond what we expected.

I made the appointment for the MRI & here we are.. on the day!

 Today Zac & I took Ayla to Riverton Primary's to have an MRI for a cyst that she has on her right eye brow in the corner of her eye. Because of the MRI, she was unable to eat solids aft 1:30am & then could no longer have liquids after 5:30am. Her appointment was at 7:30am so we had a VERY grumpy baby on our hands. Of course we had to make matters worse when the weather decided it was winter time & gave us a ton of snow that backed up 2100 N which means we were 10 minutes late to the appointment.

Once we got there we checked in, she walked around(holding my fingers) for a little bit & then they took us back to weigh her. We went back to a room where a Nurse asked us a bunch of questions.

(Post finished on 12/17/2013)

After we answered all the questions we had people coming in and out to distract her with toys, put in the IV, ect. Ayla cried and cried when she got the IV. It was heartbreaking to see my little girl go through something so painful. She sat on my lap afterwards and didn't really want to play with toys but liked the bubbles :). 

We took her Ayla back into the MRI room where they gave her the anesthesia. It only took about 10 seconds to kick in. I stood there, holding her close, trying to comfort her while she was scared, half way out of it, and about to go into a big machine all by herself. Once she was out they took her from my arms and put her in the MRI machine. Of course they wouldn't let us stay in there so we decided that instead of waiting in the waiting room we would walk around. We ended up at the cafeteria where we got some breakfast and tried to keep our mind off of things. We were gone for about a half hour. When we got back, Ayla was laying in the recovery bed and they were hooking her up to some monitoring machines. Because of the kind of anesthesia they used, they wanted to make sure she slept for 2 hours. We were unable to hold her so we sat by her bedside and waited for her to wake up. She slept for the entire 2 hours & then the nurse came by and abruptly woke her up. That part made me mad. I wanted to be able to wake her up slowly so that she wasn't scared and confused as to where she was but they didn't let me. 

Once she was awake I was able to hold her and comfort her. She was pretty delirious and drunk acting. She was laughing but was slurring her laughs if that makes sense at all. She couldn't control her limbs very well and had a hard time keeping her head straight up. Once she was completely awake and able to keep down some bottle, she was able to go home.

This was the most nerve racking experience for a couple of reasons. First, I was scared that she would react badly to the anesthesia but secondly and most importantly, we were terrified that they were going to tell us that our little baby was going to have to have brain surgery. While we were waiting for Ayla to wake up the a doctor came in and talked to us. He let us know that the cyst was 6mm and that it was NOT ATTACHED to anything which means NO BRAIN SURGERY. I am just getting teary eyed writing this. It brings me back to that overwhelming feeling of relief that both Zac & I felt. I am so happy that our little baby doesn't have to have that awful surgery and that she is going to be okay. She still will need plastic surgery to get it removed eventually but she won't need it anytime soon and it will be a small quick and simple procedure. Thank you to all those who prayed and fasted on Ayla's behave that everything would go smoothly and that she would be okay.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Carroll's :)

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11 Months Old

This adorable little girl turned 11 months old today. I can't believe that it has almost been a full year since she entered our lives. She is so spunky and loving. She loves life and everyone! Whenever we go to the store she just people watches and smiles at everyone. She will go to whomever wants to hold her which is a great thing but of course makes me nervous at the same time :)! She is so social and will have conversations with anyone.

Accomplishments

* She is starting to talk so much. Some things aren't 100% articulated naturally but it's so fun to listen to her talk and have conversations with Zac & I! She can say: Momma, Dada, Daddy, No no, Hi, Bye, Nana

* Little Missy has started to not only eat adult food but she is now eating Ritz crackers by herself without me breaking them into pieces.

* Ayla has continued to walk around furniture but LOVES to hold our hands and walk. She still has to hold onto both hands but she is doing great. Whenever I go to put her down, she tries to grab my hands and starts walking! Her steps are really big and still unsteady but she is getting good really fast!

Ayla never will let anything stop her. When she puts her mind to it, she really sticks to it & won't budge. She is determine and will go so far in life. She is very smart and curious. She wants to know everything and go everywhere. She is ready to not just walk, but run.

 

10 Months old

 

Accomplishments
* On October 27 Ayla stood by herself for the first time! She was almost 9 1/2 months old. Ever since then that is her favorite thing to do! She can't stand along for more than 10-15 seconds however she is always trying. She will climb up on the dogs, furniture, me & try to let go. She get's so excited that she will wave her hands trying to clap, laugh & then fall down only to get right back up. She is so determine and doesn't let anything get in her way.

* She can walk around furniture pretty quickly now. She goes anywhere she wants to. Again, nothing gets in her way. If it is, she climbs over it.

* Whenever we say YAY little missy Ayla will get this big smile on her face and start clapping.

* She loves Bananas & her Veggies!!!!! This took a while but she finally has gotten the hang of it

* Little miss butterfly loves to talk to people & sing in the car! She is so happy all of the time & just  is a chatter box!

9 Months old

Stats
Height: 25.5 Inches (0 %)
Weight 17.15 Lbs (30%)
Head Circumference:

Accomplishments

* Ayla can say Mama but has stopped saying Dada. This makes Zac sad but I love how in the mornings I can hear her calling my name over the monitor :)! Mama... Mama... Mama! Just melts my heart

* She loves to pull herself up to furniture and walk around it. I just know that she wants to be running already. She loves learning new things and being able to accomplish them

* She loves yogurt,  ravioli (YUCK) , bananas, Mac & Cheese, Pumpkin & Spinach, Bread, Cheerios, and cake (thanks to her father). She has decided that she does not like baby food and always wants to be feeding herself.

* After sleep training last month she has done great. She sleeps in her own bed every night. She loves to sleep on her tummy and moves around throughout the night but none the less, does sleep :)!

* She loves life. In her blessing Zac blessed her that she would love life and boy has that rung true. She loves everything and everyone. She is always laughing at the dogs, wanting to "talk" to people, singing in the car, reading her stories, and exploring. She is my busy bee who wants to be all grown up way too fast.

Being a mom is the best feeling in the world and I just love every second of it!

What's Next for Ayla
* On November 19 she has an appointment with the dermatologist. She has a cyst on her eye and they are going to see what it is and if it needs to be removed. If it needs to be removed then we will have to contact a plastic surgeon to do the surgery. Although they may do these types of things all the time, it still makes me really nervous as it is my first time and I don't want to see my baby go under the needle.. AHH. It is so nerve racking. More to come on what's going on with that.

8 Months Old

Accomplishments
* She loves to help me feed her. Every time we sit down for a meal we get about half way through and then she wants to help. She tries to take the spoon and just makes a MESS. Zac was feeding her one day and when she grabbed the spoon he told her no. She just burst into tears.... Looks like she already knows what to do in order to get her way!

* Ayla has started crawling and is really mobile! For a long time she was only backwards which was super silly! She can get anywhere she wants to ... especially when it's something she isn't suppose to get in to. On Thursday, 9/12 she crawled forwards for the first time! We are so excited that she is able to get where she wants to go. The smile on her face is worth 1000 words. She just loves life!

* Ayla said her first word! 'Dada"! It actually was more of a "DaDD".. emphasis on the last D but is so cute! She just says it light and under her breath but it adorable!

* Little missy has started pulling herself up onto furniture. She hasn't pulled herself onto her legs yet, just her knees but absolutely loves it! She just laughs and laughs as she tries to get up onto her feet.

* She loves any cereal as long as it has cinnamon in it. She absolutely LOVES cinnamon. She also loves Sweet Potatoes, Pumpkin & Spinich, and her Daddy's sweets.

* She absolutely does not love her greens but will get her Garden Veggies down. She


This month has really been a month of FIRSTS for our little bug! Crawling in general, Crawling forwards, Her first word, Pulling herself up onto furniture! Such a wonderful time in our lives :)

Crawling

Well my friends, we are mobile! Ayla has been crawling backwards for a couple weeks however tonight she made her big move! She finally went FORWARD :)! I was at a "It works" party when she decided she wanted a toy in front of her & just went for it. I can't believe how quickly time goes by but I love every second of her growing and learning.