Out Like a Lion

First let me begin saying that I am glad spring is here, but I'm not sure where it is hiding. We've had so many "wind advisories" around here, that I'm sick of it! I want to send the girls out to play, but I can't.
That being said, we are doing fine around here. We've kept busy with life. I look at my one year old, and she just doesn't look like a tiny baby anymore. She's so long and moving everywhere, and most people can't tell she was even a preemie. I suppose that's a good thing, but it's just evidence she is growing up. A few times I have seen her crawl "normal" but most of the time she swims all over the house. I joke about putting a wet rag on her tummy so she could mop while she scoots around. She's deciding that she is done with the baby cereal in the morning. She clamps those lips closed and bats at the spoon. She is beginning to get into the girls' things, and they aren't too sure of that...esp. Maisie.
Speaking of Maisie, I heard her longest sentence yet. This morning she said, "Ahhhh, Baby, no, no, no." Like I said, she isn't used to Sadie playing with Thomas trains and knocking over blocks. We continue to hear more words from Maisie, and we love it! She is about 85=90% potty trained. Whoo-hoo! She still needs a pull-up for naps and errands and a diaper at night, but otherwise, she's got it down. She learned pretty quickly what to do, and her beloved Boz helped teach her. Boz went potty and #2 in the toilet...bread crusts...need I say more? :)
Maisie has discovered the volume and seek buttons on the stereo in the kitchen. She loves her music loud!
Analise is keeping busy with school and friends. She LOVED spending the night with her cousin over spring break. She continues to enjoy the Wii and now even plays tennis against Maisie. I wish you could see them play. They swing their remotes like crazy, and they have great volleys. Analise likes watched her daddy hunt on the Wii, and she talks non-stop while he hunts. He will ask her to get quiet after a while, and she will ask, "Why do I need to be quiet? It's just a pretend hunt, and the animals can't hear me." At this rate, this will be the only hunting she will ever do.
Brandon and I went to a Weekend to Remember conference this weekend. It's a Family Life Today's marriage conference. His parents were willing to watch the girls, so away we went. We enjoyed the focused time together, finishing a complete sentence, eating a hot meal and shopping for ourselves. The conference was a good refresher on the oneness in marriage, and it makes me even more thankful for the wonderful hubbie I have. 48 hours later we headed home, and I was ready to be with my girlies. They had a wonderful time with their grandparents.
At the conference God confirmed something for me that's He's been telling me to do, and I've been putting it off. So, I am going to try and be more disciplined in a couple areas of my life. It just requires getting up 30 minutes earlier. So if you see me, you can ask me how my mornings are going to help keep me accountable. :)

Reflections on being one

Birthday Girl

Don't take away my cake!

Chocolate cake is yummy

Daddy and daughter a year ago

Sadie just a few days old

Can you believe a year has gone by? My sweet Sadie is one already! She's not the only one who feels blessed to see this day come; I do, too. I feel like God gave me another chance to live here on this earth to be the best wife I can be to a wonderful man, a Godly mommy to my three precious daughters, to love my family, serve in my church and encourage my friends.

When I think back of all we have been through in the last year, it's rather overwhelming. Sunday was an emotional day for me. It wasn't officially Sadie's birthday, but since she was born on a Sunday, I felt like I was reliving the day. I'll never forget the contractions, losing the dark fluid, telling my parents (who where there!) what was going on, finding out we would deliver in a couple of hours and quite honestly, getting fearful. I called my sister in law and got the prayer chain going. Peace then flooded my soul. My dear nurses came in to give me hugs and encouragement.

The surgery began, and I heard the most wonderful sound...Sadie's cry...and then I blacked out. Little did I know it would be the hardest 12 hours for Brandon and my family. Only by God's mercy and grace did I survive the night. The next day I remember bits and pieces...some familiar faces, eating ice chips, asking for more meds and holding my daughter for the first time...and falling asleep while she was in my arms!

A week later I came home...rejoicing to see my two daughters again, weeping that I had to leave my other daughter two hours away. It was a slow recovery on my part. I had the catheter for two LONG weeks and then the miserable stints for a few weeks longer. After those came out, I finally felt human again.

There were the weekly trips to see Sadie. I treasured the times of snuggling and "mothering" as much as I was allowed. Along with each visit came another goodbye.

After ten weeks of this, Sadie was able to come home...with all her extra baggage! I recall the monitor and oxygen days. We stuck close to home, I fed her every three hours around the clock. I remember the day I knew nursing wasn't going to do it. That was a hard day. However, it wasn't until the end of October that she had to start formula. And even to this day, she may be bottle bed, but I spoiled us. I always take her to her room and close the door. It's still "our time."

We had the weekly visits from the home health nurse...the weekly weight checks. Calories, calories, calories! Grow, grow, grow! We finally said goodbye to the monitor and slowly weaned her from her O2. At this point we began to feel more like a real family. We were able to get out more. Sadie continues to stay with me during church and Bible study. Once May is here, she can go to the nursery.

I remember being concerned when Sadie was in the NICU about how we could bond. To this day she is a mommy's girl, maybe even more so then the other two were.

To look at Sadie today (twice her birth length and ~14 lbs heavier!) one may never know her beginning. She is content, happy, crawling everywhere, eating great, and hates missing out on the excitement going on around her.

Phew, I don't know if I could do this all over again! However, we are constantly reminded of God's faithfulness and His strength to see us through when we need it.

In honor of that, we sponsored the morning part of the local Christian radio station. We thanked God for His faithfulness and for many of you who prayed for Sadie and me. May we continue to praise Him for what he has done!

Sadie Stats

She's a flower - not the Statue of Liberty :)

We had Sadie's monthly doctor visit yesterday so she could get her liquid gold. I learned that this is probably the last month to get the shot. We will know for sure in a couple of weeks. Anyway, since we were there, and it was so close to her one year, we went ahead and did everything except get her immunizations. It's always fun for me to see how far she has come.

She weighs 16-7lbs. For her real age, she's not on the growth curve. For her adjusted age (10 mo), she would be ~10%. She doesn't weigh much, but she is long - 29 inches! For her real age curve, she is the 48% (wow!); for her adjusted age, she is at 75%. I am sure one day I will be the shortest one in my family. She is finally getting in a couple of more teeth. She's had her bottom two for a long time. However, the top teeth coming in (one is through, and the other really close) are her I-teeth! Will she look like a little vampire? :)

Part of the appointment is going through the list of questions to see how she is developing. One question made me laugh out loud. "Is she putting two words together?" HAH! I told her my 2.5 year old just started doing that! Health wise, she looks great. Praise the Lord!

Sadie took quite a tumble today and got a bump on her noggin. Poor girl. Thankfully she seems okay and didn't seem too effected by it.

Any hint from moms on weaning from a bottle to sippy cup? I've tried several different types of cups, and she just uses them as teethers.

Thanks to my sister in law, I finally figured out how to compose in a much easier way. Like she said...it looks like I put my glasses on! Thanks!

Family Fun

Sadie waiting for us to get her up
Bowling Fun
Analise loves her new umbrella
We've had a fun week in this household. Some of the fun began last weekend when we took the plunge and invested in something we are all Wiilly enjoying. We have been wanting something that we could do for family nights, and this seemed like a good way to go. Obviously the younger two aren't playing it yet, but let me tell ya...watch out for the 5 year old! She is competitive with me and has beaten me in some games. I'm not the only one who loses to her. According to Analise, she "smoked" her daddy in bowling. What I also love about this is that it gives Brandon and I something to do together. It's hard to date with three young kids, and we don't get to go fishing just the two of you like years gone by. So after the girls are in bed, we go at it on the Wii. What fun! We laugh and have a great time together.
In addition to the new entertainment, we had some awesome weather here this week! One day is got up to 75! We enjoyed time outside playing, going to parks, and one night we had a picnic supper at a local state park. It was wonderful.
Friday night we went to a friend's house to so she could take pictures of the girls. Talk about an adventure! She had baby chicks for the girls to play with and get their pictures take with them. The girls loved the chickies, and the chicks survived the girls! :) Maisie was holding them all sorts of ways. I am looking forward to getting the cd with the pictures. We also had Sadie's one year pictures taken (a week early). I jumped in some pictures with Sadie as a celebration from where we were a year ago.
Saturday morning we got up and went for a donut date and then bowling. Maisie had never been bowling, and she seemed to enjoy it. Analise remembered the fun, so she was all excited. We will remember that one game is long enough. Analise's score in real bowling is nothing compared with the bowling on the Wii. :)
The girls are doing well. Maisie had a better week...PTL! She continues to say more and more words. Sadie is still scooting around on her tummy, but now her back legs kick. She looks like a little tadpole. She blessed me with two nights of solid sleep.
I hope you are doing well, wherever you may be!

The Birthday Girl

Finally...here is the post on the birthday girl. I can't believe Analise is already 5! Seems like just yesterday she was born. I'll never forget when my doctor announced, "It's a girl!" I cried with relief and pure joy. Just a couple of days ago Analise asked me how the doctor knew she was a girl, "Was it because of my long hair?" Oh, the innocence!
Analise's birthday was nice and stretched out this year. We had our first "friend" party. We called it a "mommy and me tea party." She invited four friends, and their moms for tea. We had fun decorating hats, playing, having our tea, opening gifts and doing another craft. Thanks to a dear friend for her suggestions, I felt like this first party could be marked as a success. I made tea for the moms, and the girls' tea was actually apple juice. For this party Analise wanted a teddy bear cake.
On her real birthday Analise loved all the phone calls wishing her a happy birthday. She wanted pork chops for supper, so we had those with fries, beans and a salad. She opened her presents from us and my parents. She loved everything!
The next day she was star of the day for school, so she chose to take in her new stuffed Horton for show and tell.
We then celebrated later in the week with the other side of the family. For this party she wanted a fish cake. Thanks to a Wilton cake design, I was able to simply arrange my pieces for both cakes. I love simple!
Analise is a delightful five year old. She loves to be with family and friends. She's kind, compliant, helpful, and motherly. She is great with her sisters, and though I know she loves me, she is definitely a daddy's girl!
Analise, we love you lots!