Five on Friday {SUN, TV, + A MIRACLE}

I've got a pretty random list for 5 on Friday today. Just a little about what we've been up to this week. So glad the weekend is finally here! I've got the wine in the fridge and I'm ready to relax...hopefully.  

{ONE}

We've been spending a lot of time outside this week. We went to the park Tuesday and Thursday for picnics and playtime. Today marks the first day of normal weather for the next week or so, so that stinks. 

{TWO} 

Last weekend we watched Gone Girl. I'm really regretting not reading that book. It was such a great movie, I just know the book was amazing. We've already got Fury reserved at Redbox for tonight, can't wait! 

{THREE} 

Two of my most favorite shows came back this week, Greys Anatomy and The Americans. Justified also started back but we've yet to watch it. Now if The Walking Dead will hurry and start I'll be one happy girl! 

 

{FOUR}

I've started working out again. I actually started a couple weeks ago, mainly to help with stress. I'm down a couple of pounds but I've mainly lost inches. I can now wear two pairs of pre-baby jeans! And to keep me entertained I've been watching Friends on Netflix. I'm excited to see them all in order, especially since I was so young when it started and missed out on a lot.

 

{FIVE}

If you didn't hear our exciting news this week, you can read about it HERE. Again, I just want to send out a big THANK YOU for all the prayers and love you sent our way. 

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Our God is So Good

Wow. We've been on such a roller coaster of emotions the past couple of weeks. If you missed it, we were told that Stella had craniosynostosis after having some x-Rays done back in December. 

Yesterday, bright and early, we loaded up and headed to Little Rock to Arkansas Children's Hospital to have a CT done and meet with a craniofacial specialist. Of course, we ran into construction traffic and got there about 10 minutes late. That didn't stress me out and make me cry.

We had the CT done at 8:30. Stella was a rockstar, as I knew she would be. They put some weight on her to hold her still. But she didn't move her head, didn't cry, nothing. We were in and out in about 5 minutes. 

We then headed up to the Neuroscience department. We went in for her appointment at about 9:45. They did the routine measurements and then we headed to an exam room. First we spoke with a nurse practitioner; answered some questions, she felt around on Stella's  head, and we gave her our x-Rays. She left and told us the doctor would be in soon. 

 

At about 11 the doctor came in. She started asking us questions; what brought us to Childrens, how was my third trimester, any complications during delivery, and so on. We immediately thought something must be terribly wrong. She then proceeds to feel around on Stella's  head, which just made Stella  mad. Then she just flat out tells us that she looked at the CT and Stella does not have craniosynostosis. There is nothing wrong with her head. I'm sorry, come again. We were completely dumbfounded. She explains that basically, like all babies, her skull contracted during delivery and part of her skull hasn't "popped" out yet; there's still an overlap. That if we're not happy with how it looks when she's about 7 months old we can come back and have it fixed with a "shaping helmet". I'm sorry, come again. Again, completey dumbfounded. There's absolutely no signs that her skull has fused anywhere. Wow. And that was that. She left the room, and I couldn't stop smiling. 

 

We walked out into the waiting room where Pop immediately knew the results based on my smile. We tried to psych mom out but I couldn't contain the excitement. We gave our thanks and praises to God for working this miracle on our precious girl! Thank goodness Mimi  and Pop were there because it was a pretty long morning, and Wyatt definitely enjoyed the company! 

 

We, of course, had to go have a #Stellabration! We headed to DIAMOND BEAR BREWING COMPANY for some lunch, beers, and t-shirts!

 

 

I want to send out a huge thank you to all of you for the prayers and well wishes. Family, friends, readers, strangers, THANK YOU. Without you God's miracle would not have happened for our princess. 

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Craniosynostosis

On Monday, December 28 Sean and I took both kids in for their well checks; Stella's 2 month and Wyatt's 18 month. Everything was great. They both took their shots like champs.

During Stella's exam our doctor had some concerns about a ridge in her skull and mentioned some word, cranio-blah, blah, blah (I didn't put it into my long-term memory). She wanted her to have an x-Ray done and examined by Arkansas Children's. It was probably nothing and just for reassurance. 

Fast forward to Wednesday, January 14 (Mine and Stella's first day home after being in the hospital.). I woke up to a voicemail from our doctor asking me to call her about Stella's X-ray results. I put it aside and figured I'd wait until the kids were napping. Until she texted me asking if I'd heard the message. I called her immediately. 

The next part was basically a blur. Wyatt was screaming for Mickey Mouse. Stella was tired and fussing. All I remember her saying is that we'd need to go to Children's for a CT and to speak with a specialist. Stella has craniosynostosis. 

Basically craniosynostosis is where one or more of the sutures in the skull prematurely fuse together and harden. Babies skulls are supposed to be in sections to leave room for the brain to grow correctly. When areas get prematurely fused it can cause the head to grow abnormally, and cause other problems.

We had another appointment with our doctor on Friday, January 16th. She set us up with a craniofacial specialist from Children's. We have an appointment with her and a CT scheduled for January 28. Hoping we'll know more at that point.

There are still a lot of unknowns. We're pretty sure she'll be having surgery to "un-fuse" the fragments that are fused together. We're just not sure of a timeline at this point. The surgery is pretty routine for doctors that do this so we're not too worried. It's just something that needs to be fixed.
 

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21 Months!!

 Wyatt,
 

You're growing up so much, so fast! You're talking up a storm and really starting to do imaginative play. It's so fun to see how your little mind thinks. We've had a pretty busy month (and it's not slowing down anytime soon) and you've handled it so well! We love you, baby boy!

  

What you did this month:

• You weigh 28 pounds and are 35 1/4 inches tall.

• You are wearing size 6 diapers.
• You wear size 24M/2T in pants and 24M/2T in shirts.

• Your favorite foods right now are pizza, French fries, mashed potatoes, Gerber fruit/veggie pouches, and bread (yes, any kind).

• You usually wake up between 7:30 & 8, take a nap around one for about 2.5 hours, and go down at night around 8.

• You can say "mou" (which could be more, music, Mickey Mouse, Mimi, movie, basically all of his favorite things start with 'm'), "where'ditgo" (Where'd it go?), "do" (go), "dat" (that or cat), "jew" (juice), "no", uh-oh, "what'sat?" (what's that), "dow" (down),  "yeth" (yes), "where did dey do?" (Where did they go?), "det do" (let's go), "no'kyou" (no thank you) "

• 18 teeth

• You still really enjoy Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Although, you are starting to branch out and let us watch other things too.
• You and daddy got to enjoy 2.5 days without mama and sissy, since we were in the hospital. I think you thoroughly enjoyed your time with him but you sure didn't let me out of sight for a few days when I got back.
• You are officially sleeping in a "big boy bed". At nap time you usually go right to sleep. Nighttime is a different story, you usually play for 30 minutes to an hour before falling asleep. But at least you don't cry.

• You love to try and put on pants. Some mornings I find pajamas and pants in your crib. I guess you try and change clothes during the night.
• You are climbing on everything. Everything is a step stool so you can reach where you shouldn't, like the kitchen counters.
• You climbed up the clubhouse (with a little help from mama) at the park and went down the (curvy, tunnel) slide all by yourself!

• You are still doing so well with Stella. You're even getting to where you want to sit by her!

 

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Our Week {through the eye of my phone}

These are a few of my favorite moments from this week. I had a great week with my kiddos! 





Wyatt is loves coloring right now!

This boy has really been showing the love for his sissy!

Stella had some follow-up labs from being sick with RSV and they came back normal!



Our crazy dog cat. #HiI'mOllieAndILikeWarmHugs

Just some extra lovin'!

We got to celebrate this special boy's 7th birthday! Wyatt loved exploring the bowling alley.

Enjoying the awesome weather with daddy.

Please stop growing.



Me and my girl!

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Our Beautiful Weekend

We had such a nice weekend! We didn't have any real plans, we're all healthy, and the weather was uhh-mazing!   Friday morning we had a doctor appointment for Stella. Since Mimi was home with Wyatt we took advantage and after the appointment checked out a furniture store. We then headed home and said our sad goodbyes to our Mimi.

We spent the rest of the evening finishing up some work in Stella's nursery. Although, I'm pretty convinced she'll never actually sleep in there, ha! We finally did get her crib put up! 

^^^^Wyatt's already put his mark on her room! ^^^^

Saturday was pretty lazy. We had lots of outside time! Sean and I spent the evening curled up watching movies. We watched "This Is Where I Leave You" and "A Walk Among the Tombstones".  

Sunday was much of the same. We headed out to our nearest state park and played on the playground, walked around, and made plans to hopefully camp there in the spring. We capped off the evening with "The Maze Runner" and some football. 

 

Monday morning Sean got up and made us a delicious breakfast. We got around and had some family outside time. We spent the late afternoon and evening watching some TV and Sean did some work on some house details.

 

We wrapped up our long weekend with The Bachelor and some yummy strawberry daiquiris! Thankful it's going to be a good short week!

 

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What a Week...

Hi, all! I'm back...I hope! It's been quite the week and I'm ready to get our lives back to normal.   So, you may remember me writing this POST...oh, I don't know, 13 days ago. Well, after I wrote that I ended up taking Stella back to the doctor the following day, Thursday. Our doctor confirmed that yes, she thought it was reflux as well and sent us home with some Zantac to try and help. 

Stella continued with the coughing and runny nose Friday and Saturday, but the hoarseness did get better. Sunday morning, at about 5, she woke up and I fed her. After feeding her she started having a coughing fit. I mean, it was bad enough that I wasn't even sure if she was coughing or choking. She finally got calmed back down and fell back to sleep.   She woke up again around 8. When she woke up I thought she was feeling really warm, but couldn't really tell if it was just from being cozy or if she had fever. I went ahead and checked her temperature...and watched the numbers climb. I honestly can't remember how high her temperature got but I know it was at 102. To say I was freaking, is an understatement. I immediately woke up Sean and told him we had to go to the ER.  I'm pretty sure that's the fastest we've ever all gotten ready and out the door. As we drove to the hospital I sat in the back with Stella and just made sure she was ok. She was lethargic and pale.

We got to the ER in record time and thankfully there was no one there. We immediately went in to triage and they started taking her vitals. By the time we got there her temperature was already way down, I hadn't even given her anything. The worst part was the nurses trying to get a vain to draw blood. And then finding a vein to start an IV. I'm pretty sure she was poked at least 8 times. The doctors came in and informed me that she had RSV and we were being admitted.   Stella and I were put in isolation in the hospital Sunday and Monday nights, while Sean stayed home with Wyatt. On Monday we were told that she also had a UTI. She was on an IV with antibiotics Monday night and Tuesday morning. Around 5pm on Tuesday we finally got to go home. I've never been so happy to be home. 

Wednesday Mimi came to help us out with Wyatt, and boy were we happy about that! We had doctors appointments with Stella on Thursday and Friday, just to make sure she was fully healed. Thankfully, she's back to her old self! We have to go back one more time this week to have her blood and urine checked but I think she's going to be just fine! 

 

I'm so glad we had such a beautiful and low-key weekend!  

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Three Months!!

Our Dearest Stella,

You are growing and changing everyday. You've started having a lot more awake time this month, although, you still prefer to be held when you're awake. We're working on that. This next month has been, and is going to continue to be, very busy for you. You're so easy going and flexible with your schedule which is so nice because we've been busy. We love you, princess!

 

What you did this month:  

• You are weighing about 11 pounds. 
• You are wearing size 3 month clothes. I've put you in a few 3/6M items but they're a little big.
• You are wearing size 2 Pampers Swaddlers.
• You nurse every 2-3 hours during the day and 5-6 hours at night.
• You definitely like your naps, much more than Wyatt ever did.
• You still sleep in the Fisher Price Rock and Play Sleeper at night in our room. I'd like to transition you to the  crib but I'm too scared you'll wake Wyatt.
• You enjoy laying down and looking around when you've been fed and are happy, otherwise, you prefer to be held. 
• You are so smiley. You smile when I talk in a "peppy" voice to you, so sweet. 
• You hate tummy time.
• You can hold your head up when you lay on your tummy.
• You try and sit up all the time. You're definitely going to have a strong core from all of the "sit-ups" you do.
• You've started "cooing" a lot more. Your favorite words seem to be "brother" and "daddy".
• You've started taking a pacifier, which is a lifesaver at night. You like the Avent kind.
• You made your second trip to NWA this month.
• We celebrated your first Christmas in NWA. You met a lot of family! 
• You do really well in the Bjorn carrier. I use it when we go for walks.
• You and your brother are becoming the best of friends. He's started wanting to be near you, especially when you're laying on the ground.
• Daddy calls you his "little monster".
• You've also started letting daddy hold you a lot more, which he and I both love!

 

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That One Transition

Obviously with kids there are so many transitions you go through, not just one. Nursing to formula, bottles to cups, diapers to toilets. The list goes on and on, ya' know. While we were traveling during the holidays, Wyatt decided he was ready for his next transition in life.   When we stayed at my dad's house over the holidays we took our pack n' play for Wyatt to sleep in. Let's just say, he wasn't having it. The first night we put him in it, he screamed. And screamed. And screamed some more. Then, it was quiet. Of course, this was the first time we didn't bring our monitor, so we just assumed he was asleep. ha! A few minutes later we hear the rattling of a door knob. OH, NO HE DIDN'T. Yea, he did. He climbed right out of that thing. OVER. AND OVER. AND OVER AGAIN. At that point we decided it would be best for Sean to sleep with him in the bed and Stella and I would just sleep in the living room. Not the best but it worked.   Nap time on Tuesday, it was the same story. Sean ended up sleeping in a chair with him. Tuesday night...pretty much the worst night we've had since parents. Wyatt went down without a hitch. Didn't climb out, didn't cry. It was great. 2am was a different story. We woke up to the sound of him screaming. We didn't really know what to do since it was the middle of the night and everyone else was asleep, so we just put him in bed with us. Yea, that didn't work. We tried watching a movie. That didn't work. We moved to another room and watched TV. That almost worked, but didn't. Sean tried laying with him, without me. That didn't work. So finally, at about 7 {yes, 7am} I went and laid down with them to calm him down. He finally fell asleep. Ugh...what a night.   We kept thinking,  It'll be better once we're at mom's. She has a crib. He won't climb out of a crib. So, there we were Christmas Eve. Not two minutes in to putting him in the crib, he was out on the floor. Sean ended up spending the week sleeping with Wyatt on a twin mattress, on the floor. Thankfully it worked like a charm. And actually, by the end of the week, Wyatt was sleeping by himself.    So when we got home we transitioned his crib to a toddler bed. He's done amazing. The first night was the only night he really cried and it only lasted 15 minutes. He occasionally gets out of bed and plays but it never lasts more than about 30 minutes. 

 

 

I'm so glad he's done so well. I know some kids struggle with this big change. It was definitely something I used to stress over. Let's just hope he keeps it up once we take the paci away...eventually.    

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Let's Fast Forward...to tomorrow

Have you ever had one of those days? You know the kind, the one where you just want to push rewind and do it all differently. Or maybe press fast forward and hope that tomorrow is better. 

Today has been like that for me. I'm going on day 3, or is it 4, with a headache. I feel like Wyatt's pulling me in a million different directions. He's still not feeling 100%. Stella doesn't feel well either and there's nothing I can do about it, which is killing me. 

I took her in to get checked out at the doctor yesterday. Turns out she has reflux aspiration. Which is definitely not the cold that I was thinking. She sounds terrible and I know it's bothering her as much as it is me. I have so many questions about what's going on with her. I was so frazzled yesterday having her and Wyatt at the doctor. I wasn't able to concentrate and get the answers I need. I'm hoping to have my questions answered soon and praying she starts feeling/sounding better soon. If anyone has experienced this with an infant, I'm all ears. 

I'm just feeling overwhelmed and stressed. Ready for my kiddos to feel better. And the weekend. 

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That One Time....Yesterday

So, in case you've been hiding under a rock, everyone is sick. Whether it's the flu, a cold, or whatever...it's going around. So our house has been hit with the cold from hell. Now, I'm not complaining, I'm still praying we don't get the flu.   Before we left for Christmas, Sean had been suffering from a pretty bad cold. Bad enough to actually go to the doctor, and that's saying something. Thankfully he started feeling better before we left. Then while we were traveling Wyatt started showing signs. Runny nose, whiny, etc. And it's lasted now over a week. I think it's about run its course because his cough seems to be getting better, and there's less of it. But, of course, now Stella is stuffy and coughing.   So, I'm a pretty paranoid mama. Especially when it comes to my 2.5 month old being sick. Yesterday I was trying to check her temperature {for the second time of the day}. Y'all, it literally took 4 tries and 4 diapers. UGH... EVERY TIME. Not to mention, Wyatt was trying to climb onto the bed, into the pile of poopy diapers. Thankfully she thought my frantic screaming was quite hysterical.   I'm just glad that through the runny noses and coughing, these two are still happy babes! 

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Christmas #5 {of 5}

Our fifth and final Christmas was with my brothers and sister and their families. It was their first time meeting Stella, and my first time meeting my nephew, Charlie. It was such a fun night, and wish we could all get together more than once a year.  

 ^^^^Uncle Jared and Aunt Jen^^^^

 

 ^^^^CHARLIE!!!^^^^

 ^^^^Aunt Jessica^^^^

  We had a wonderful time with all of our families, but were definitely happy to be home after our busy week.  

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