Summer Fashion Show

I took advantage of the warm weather yesterday to try on Rachel some of her spring/summer wardrobe. I can't wait to see those chubby legs and arms again!

What is this?

Oh, it's a grapefruit!

I get it now!

cute butt!

Ready to stand any day now!

Just Keep The Good News Coming

After our our time with Stephen in Huntsville, Rachel and I came home to a message from her kidney doctor on our answering machine. (Yes, he personally calls us!!) The second blood work she had done came back better. Her hemoglobin, hematocrits, and mean cell volume all came down. He didn't say if they were normal but he did say it looked better. We need to have her blood work done again in 3 months to make sure that everything is still going down in to normal range. Yay!

Rachel has been doing really well these last couple weeks. Well, except for sleeping - or lack of. She is working on cruising and standing on her own like crazy so that could be why she doesn't want to sleep. She is still working on teeth. Her top two and one on the top left side are coming in and taking their sweet time. I also think she has a couple more on the bottom coming in too but they aren't quite showing yet. I can't wait until she gets some molars and can chew heartier foods! We have a meeting with her ENT on Tuesday. I wanted to make sure we saw him one last time before we move. I'd like him to take a quick look at her tonsils and adenoids just to see how they are doing and to talk about her sleep apnea. I want to make the rounds with all her docs before we move and I think he is the last one.

In other baby news, my 12 week ultrasound is next Friday and I'm getting pretty excited about it. Initially, I was kind of "eh" about this pregnancy with everything we've had going on. But now that things have settled somewhat, I find myself thinking about this baby and hoping everything is alright. I know I can handle whatever life throws at me but right now I could use the break from things being eventful. Dear Baby F...please be really boring while you are cooking. Thank you, mama.

First Haircut!

 While visiting Stephen in Huntsville, it was decided Rachel was in need of her first haircut. Mostly it was Stephen who decided. He has issues with long hair and refers to any boy with hair longer than his as a "hippy." Anywho, we found a cool place called Spoiled Rockin Kids Salon. They had a first haircut package. You receive a bravery certificate, before and after pics and a locket of hair. The place was awesome! If I was a young girl I would have all my birthday parties there. They even have a catwalk! Rachel was put into a pink car and strapped in. She was all in awe about what was around her and didn't even notice the woman cutting her hair until she started on her bangs. As soon as the hair hit her face, Rachel turned and saw the lady. Rachel did not cry or get hysterical. She just wanted to be picked up! The rest of the haircut turned into us trying to keep her attention so she didn't mob the lady for hugs. It was a great experience and I really hope she is this good with all her other haircuts. We love you Rachel girl!

 

Cross It Off The List

Last week we paid a visit to Rachel's GI Doc. I voiced my concerns on her large amounts of poo and the fact that she has been around 18 pounds since September. I asked about getting tested for Celiac and he agreed that it was worth looking in to. He not only had blood taken for the Celiac test, he also sent some off to see if Rachel was a carrier of two certain genes. If she didn't have the genes, she couldn't develop Celiac. If she had the genes, Celiac was still a possibility even if the Celiac test came back negative. Apparently it's hard to get a reliable results with kids under age two.

The nurse called today and said her Celiac test was negative and she did not carry either of the genes in question. Whew! I am so happy to move past that issue. So Rachel's growth plateau is not due to Celiac or a thyroid issue (that was tested back in September).

We met with her nutritionist today as well just to go over what I was feeding her and making sure I was giving her enough to eat. It was recommended to put butter on everything and to add Carnation instant breakfast to her milk or yogurt to help her sneak some more calories in. I think I can manage that one. :)

Other than that, I had my Baby #2 work up done. Had a bunch of paperwork to fill out, blood to draw and a cup to pee in. I also got to hear the heartbeat with the doppler. Such a sweet sound. The little bean is doing good so far. Next big day will be the 12 week ultrasound on the 4th. I had a hard time deciding to do it. I declined with Rachel but I think if we are faced with "bad" news with this baby early on, I will have an easier time moving forward than I would have with Rachel. Because we now know what "bad" news looks like. My smiley, happy girl.

5 AM

The past two weeks have been a sleeping nightmare. Rachel will not sleep past 5am and she will not nap more than 45 minutes. I have tried moving her bedtime up to 7pm. It's not making a difference. She wakes up at 5am and yells, cries and whines until I get her. I have tried waiting until 6:30am and she just will not go back to sleep. She cries and yells for an hour and a half. I have tried making her nap time consistent. After 45 minutes she is awake and yelling and will not go back to sleep. The only way she will take a nap is for me to drive her around for 2 hours in the car. Not good for the environment, me or our wallet. And it's also not good for my brain. I am so tired. I need the nap time during the day if she is going to get up at 5am but it isn't happening. I am so tired.

Dueling Linkin' Rings

Oh, the fun we have at our Ds play group!

Bun in the Oven

Yep, it's true...we're expecting our next bundle of joy sometime around August 18th. We hope. We'd really like to keep this one in longer than 30 weeks. You hear that little bean? We already have one trouble maker in this family!

yeah, i'm talking about you, rachel girl!

House for Sale

Just wanted to put this out there. If you or someone you know is looking to move to the Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point area of NC, please pass along the info on our house. Thank you!

 Listed on forsalebyowner.com

This 3 year old home is located in a quiet cul-de-sac and sits backed up to a beautiful wooded area. Part of the woods is included in the property line beyond the fence. It is a 2 story, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom home is 1824 square feet. It is move in ready and well care for. A great family neighborhood!

Some of the best features include:

***A large Kitchen with a walk-in pantry, tall cabinets, island, and breakfast area. All Appliances are staying!

***Formal Dining Room with a beautiful picture window facing wooded back yard

***A generously sized Master Bedroom with a large Master Bathroom that includes shower stall, garden tub and big walk in closet.

***Newly installed 4 foot dog-eared fence protected with water sealant

***A loft room at the top of the stairs

Other bonuses include Terminix termite protection and covered HOA dues until April. ADT security system. Garage door opener with two remotes. Low flow toilets in every bathroom, fans/ceiling lights in every bedroom and the living room and 9 foot ceilings throughout the downstairs.


****can send more pics if needed!

Hard Day.

Taken a couple days ago- pre-sickness

 Our girl is sick again. I knew something was up with the way she had been acting. I took her to the pediatrician last week and she had a slight temp but nothing else they could see. Well, she is now congested and coughing. She coughs a lot more at night and that makes for horrible sleep for her. She also refused to nap today and was an all-around crab fest. I had to take a mommy time out and put her in her crib with some toys for 20 minutes so I could take a shower and relax. Entertaining a sick child who doesn't want to nap is exhausting. It's times like these that I miss Stephen the most. If he was here we would tag team her and we would both get some "me" time and recharge our batteries. I know I'm not the best mom when I'm doing it alone. Also, she has been not napping great for over a month now. She will fall asleep and then wake up 30-45 minutes later screaming her head off and arching backwards. Nothing but a bottle calms her. Which makes me think reflux. But, if it's reflux, wouldn't she be doing the same thing at night? Also, I had her fall asleep on my chest while sitting in a chair and she did the same thing about 15 minutes into falling asleep. Again, if she is on an incline, wouldn't that keep her reflux under control? I mean, the girl is on 2 adult doses of Prevacid a day and a thickener for her milk, certainly her reflux has to be under control?? What is next?! Gar. Anyway, a visit to her GI doctor is scheduled this Wednesday. Let's hope she's well enough to get to it. I don't want to miss this appointment. My sanity and her nap time depends on it.

GImmie.

Rachel has found out that her motion for a wave can now be used as "gimmie." As in, " I see you have my slinky... Gimmie!" Or "Oh look, a camera...Gimmie!"

New Year, New Thoughts

Wow, what a whirl-wind end of the year it has been. I don't think Christmas has ever been so jam-packed with stuff to do. The weeks before Christmas were spent getting the house together for it to be sold. There were some things that I wouldn't be able to do without Stephen. We spent Christmas day here (with 6 inches of snow!) and then drove up to NY the next day to spend the week with Stephen's family. Rachel got an ear infection before we left. Thank God, I took her to the pediatrician a couple days before we left and we were able to get meds to help her out. That would have made the trip even more miserable than it was. Poor girl was not happy in the car. She used to be OK for 5 hour spurts but not any more. She cried like we were torturing her. I think she has also reached the point where it's harder for her to sleep someplace besides her own crib. She did not want to sleep past 4:30/5 AM most nights and that was hard on us. We ended up driving straight through from NY to NC on Thursday night just to get home. Rachel slept in the car from 7 PM until we got back around 11:30 and when I put her in her crib, she woke up, looked around and fell right back to sleep. She slept in until 7 AM and has done so since then. Such a home-body. Thank the lord we have no more long trips in sight for months.

Stephen left Sunday to start his new job down in Huntsville. Our last weekend together was spent getting his stuff together. He took our dogs with him too, to keep him company. It is very quiet here now. I never thought I would miss his noise but I really do. I have the carpet cleaners coming on Wednesday and Molly Maid coming on Friday. After that, I take pics of the home and hopefully have it ready to go on the market. I'm sure a lot of people go through this when the sell a home but I worry about this house. Will the next owner like the pear tree I planted in the back yard? Will they take down our fans and replace them? Will they paint over the green in Rachel's room. Thinking about Rachel being someplace besides "her room" breaks my heart. I think I'll have to take the can of green paint with us when it's time to go. Her next room will need to be that green again. I know I've said it before but I will miss it here.

People ask me all the time, "How is Rachel doing?" Actually, she is doing great. I went through some old posts and I have realized that I'm not reporting every little thing she does anymore. Probably because the news of Down syndrome has kind of worn off. I don't feel the need to tell the world each and every therapy session because they are just part of our lives now. Kind of like doing the laundry. Everyone knows that I do the laundry, so why do I need to talk about it all the time? But she is moving along. She wants to walk so badly but doesn't understand how to get her little legs moving. She pulls to stand and if she is near another platform, she'll try and transfer over to it. She has been getting better but she tends to forget to move her legs as she throws her body over. She also almost climbed up from a toy to her bench. She got her little leg up on top of the toy and then I think she got unsure of herself and lowered herself back down. I was so excited. I thought for sure she was going to do it. Rachel is learning much faster now too. She received a couple new toys for Christmas and she already mastered how to use them. I underestimate her sometimes and I know she does these things just to put me back in my place.

most of my pictures look like this now - she crawls after the camera

notice the toy explosion