Hugging

Here is yet another new trick our pony has learned :).

New trick

Hello friends!

Well, a week away and I have a big new skill to report!

Ellie can now hike a leg up on to the fireplace hearth!!  Here is the little one doing it for the first time...

 ...and then of course she could not get herself down!

 "Ummmm...now what?"

 "Oh, I'll go to my favorite coffee table and see what I can find in these drawers."

 Pay no attention to the fact that our baby is sitting approximately 12 inches from a television.

And she even found time this week to practice her fire fighting skills!  Maybe that's why she likes climbing up on the fireplace.

Blogging

Happy Sunday to everyone!

Well, this week is over...and what a full week it was!  Sunday has indeed been a day of rest!

Speaking of Sundays, I think I will start making Sundays my "update on Ellie" days. I'll post some pictures from the week and how she's doing.  Now that Ellie is doing so much better, I have been brave and added some new things on my plate including broader homeschooling goals and more homemade bread :).  So I will be keeping the blog short and sweet and perhaps slowly begin weaning from this wonderful year and a half of connecting with you in this way.  I appreciate all your prayers the other day with the rock.  By the way I had some warning she was going to go to the bathroom so I put her on the toilet to help bare down and that is why the rock landed in the bowl like that.  Thankfully I kept some gloves on hand from the days with the nurses - phew!  TMI?

So here is the post of the week - Ellie being given "safe toys" to play with after her episode with Mother Nature. The boys piled stuffed animals on her and she actually did sit there for a while and play with them!  We do our best to take good care of the children God has blessed us with.  Maybe for me that means not spending as much time on the computer.  Ellie loves you all so much and just loves the fact that a concerned parishioner approached us yesterday asking if our girl had pooped yet.

It's OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

20 minutes of TLC and the "cling" on the porcelain was music to our ears!

She did cry but it wasn't as bad as I thought and it's all over.  She virtually fell asleep as we were getting her dressed so she's napping peacefully now.

I always felt like taking a nap after I give birth too.

Ellie is fine

Greetings everyone!

It's late!  Long day!  Glad it's over!

I was fortunate to have some good phone calls this afternoon.  First, the pediatrician called to say the mass seems to be at the base of the esophugus and will hopefully continue to move along (and out!).  So he then said a GI doctor wanted to see her tomorrow. I called that office and asked some questions about what would happen at the appointment and before I knew it I had asked so many questions about feeding her, if he'd seen the films, what to watch for, etc. that the nurse said "hold on" and the doctor came on the phone!  He was so nice and said it's past the airway, it looks like a typical scenario he sees all the time and there's  no need to worry - just to wait.  He said we could wait until Monday and if it's still in there we could take another look at where it is by then.

Then, I still had some unanswered questions.  So I worked myself through the phone system of the hospital radiology department and found out which radiologist read her x-ray. I asked to speak to him and amazingly - he took my call too!  He was so happy to get more information saying "I didn't know if you were sure it was a rock at the time of the x-ray but I see now this definitely looks like a stone. It will continue to move, if it does not then you will see the GI doctor.  I see this all the time and it is very normal and should be absolutely nothing".  He was so great!

So I dashed out to get some prune juice for the girl - let's get this party started!  Please pray!  Pray it passes first of all.  Secondly, pray it's not too bad for the miss.  I'm hoping she can get it over with and this weekend will really "rock" for her :).

And sorry about the scares for all of you - by the time I wrote it I had already been through fear, guilt, frustration, fatigue, worry and a whopping extra load of guilt. I was ready to move on to humor!

She ended her day with a little Wii playing,

 and some snuggling with a sock monkey.

 Everything's going to be o.k. Ellie - I'll be here for you when it's time for you to show us that rock. In the meantime - happy heart anniversary our heart baby.  You made your momma's heart skip a beat today for sure!

Heart Baby

One year ago, on February 6, 2013...Ellie's hole in her heart was no longer!

Here she is recovering on that day exactly one year ago!

And here is the big girl today!

"What, dey really cut me open and fixed my heart?" 

 "I just don't member any of dat!"

"But I'm happy - it all seemed to work out!"

During our time(s) in the hospital, Ellie was always referred to (like the other kiddos there) as a "heart baby".  Nurses would always say "heart babies sweat more",  "heart babies need more oxygen" and things like that.  It kind of grew on us - Ellie is our heart baby!

So here we are with our heart baby - one year later.  We thought the day was worth a little celebrating.

Ellie and her crew in their heart shaped glasses (and hearts on her shirt).  And trust me, if I could have had all four of them in one picture I would have but the picture of her required all of their help!  

UPDATE:  Okkkkkkkkkaaaayyy...I had typed this and saved it and was down the last picture WHEN I heard Ellie crying.  I had been checking on her often in the boys room while I was finishing up school and typing the above.  There was peace in the kingdom and I knew she was playing with some of the kids plastic animals.  But, when I got to her, she was in the boys closet which is always closed and there are two giant bins of "special" items for the boys which always have the lids on.

Want to guess what the child who hardly puts anything in her mouth, never mind swallows it, did on her one year anniversary of heart surgery?  When I got to her she was alternating between crying, gasping, gulping and dry heaving.  I knew something had managed to go down. I searched the boxes (I have them memorized) and knew right away what was missing.  A "gem" found in the street - a tiny purple rock (or plastic jewel from a ring?).  Now, who in their right mind would even allow the risk of a baby getting a hold of this?  Well, number one - I'm not in my right mind.  Number two - she doesn't put things in her mouth!  But I guess she's sort of starting to do that at the dinner table when you hand her a cracker or something. 

So I  debated Heimlich as well as helping her throw up while I dialed the pediatrician and I knew right away it was a dime sized little rock the kids found on the street. Shiny and purple - worth keeping forever.  She was obviously breathing so they said what I thought they would - let's get an x-ray.  Luckily there's a Chick Fil A in the hospital so when I announced at 11:45 we were going to the hospital - cheers followed when I told them we'd be getting lunch.  

I connected with Jeff and he said "do you need me?" and I easily was able to say "nah, I got this". Because "this" is nothing like "this".  Now, here's how you leave your house for an x-ray at a busy hospital at 11:52 and pull back into your garage at 1:05.  When you've done this act a few times, you kind of have it down.  

You tell your little soldiers that they are to do what you say and questions must be limited (I can't believe this actually worked). You call the hospital registration desk and speak to a nice girl named Ashley. Ashley does all the paperwork for you ahead of time so all you have to do is say "I'm here" when you arrive.  You have a home fax machine so the doctor faxes the x-ray order to you.  You dash out the door with the x-ray order.  You drive to the hospital quickly.  Not too quickly, but certainly not slowly.  You find a good parking space (this is luck). You get the stroller, put baby in it and tell everyone to hold on to a part of your body as you speed walk to the door.  You pass Chick Fil A and take orders as you walk. You meet Ashley - she says "a few more to print". You say "Ok, I'm going to grab lunch". You get four bags with everyone's food in it and a cup of water and hand it out and say everyone is responsible for their own food (your youngest must be at least four for this to fly).  You go back, grab the papers and go to radiology. You sit for just a minute (more luck) and then go back. You get the college student to watch your kids in the hallway so they don't get radiation. They deal with the task of eating standing up.  Have I mentioned our kids are amazing yet?  We get the job done, Mom spots the rock before the tech does and you pack up. Radiologist will call doctor.  Speed walk back out, this time I'm eating my sandwich, and we get in the van.  Kids keep baby awake by handing her things.

We came home, got Ellie to sleep, prayed she was ok and tried to laugh.  Laugh at the irony of a clean house (super clean due to a marathon cleaning last night) and one little box and one little rock for our little girl.  Anyway, now we're in the hands of a gastro doc in town we've never seen because it appears the rock is kind of in a weird place along the GI tract.  Maybe it will pass, maybe it is kind of wedged?  Not sure.  

SO, my friends - please PRAY for Ellie!  On the anniversary of her surgery, she's in a hospital with a rock in her gut!  Lord have mercy, please let her be ok!  I'll keep you posted but for now we go at 9:00 tomorrow morning.

February

The weekend is here already!  AND the month of February which is a pretty special month to us.  We love Valentine's Day, St. Bernadette of Lourdes is meaningful to our family, there's the Super Bowl, we can't wait to learn about all the countries in the Olympics, we're going to a hockey game, basketball is over/golf restarts, Mommy's birthday and we all go to the dentist!

We liked February a lot already but the year 2012 made a few interesting impressions in our minds and hearts.  

First, it was the month I began to really deal with our prenatal diagnosis in other ways than despair.  

Secondly we were approaching one year of having our house listed for sale.  We had said if it didn't sell by the first of March then maybe we could just postpone any showings until after the baby was born since having people come through your house interrupts life so much.  But then showings really started to pick up in February and finally - FINALLY - we got a nibble.

We went for our own nibble for my birthday where I could not eat sugar or bread (no cake) due to the 3-hour glucose screening I had the next day since I had failed the first screening for gestational diabetes.  (I passed)  Right before we left we got a call that someone wanted a second showing on the house. It was pouring rain so we did a fast staging then left it in God's hands.  When we got home from dinner there was a message that the guy wanted to make an offer!

We signed the contract for the sale of our house on February 29, 2012.  By the grace of God, it happened to be a leap year so we sold the house in February indeed!  We then jumped into our dream situation of getting this home and not having to move until after the baby was born.

Ellie is happy about February too and wanted to send you some smiles :).

"I do love February too!"

 "And I love sitting - I hardly fall any more!"

 "If I ever feel like I'm going to fall - I just put out my arm like this and it helps me balance."

  "My bunny slippers are so comfy."

 "What?  Adults don't wear bunny slippers any more?  Why not???!!!"

Smiling for Xavier.  Ellie lets me rub her face with lotion at night to help with her dry skin.   

Ellie knows our house - it is so neat to watch her turn corners and take shortcuts to get where she wants to go.  Which is almost always where the people are!

Snow day

Greetings from a winter wonderland!  Wonderland here is defined as 2 1/2 days of Daddy off work, one inch of snow and many many many hours of playing Wii.  :)

First, the big kids and I stuck it out as long as we could trying to shape "powder" into a ball for a snowman.  I lost the kids one by one so we settled with the one pile we formed and made it a "snow head". I'm sure there are lifesavers and raisins in the yard that need to be picked up this morning.

Then it was in and out and in and out the back door for five minute spurts with it being so cold and cloth gloves getting soaked every trip.  We did do some school (after all, we are at home already!) but played alot of board games and Wii.  Ellie had a great time with all the family around her.  Here she is sneaking off with a Wii remote.

Then by a fire to "thaw out" we set up a little table for a dice game.  Ellie crawled up to it and got herself sitting at just the right angle to be at the table!

"I can play too!"

Then we did a little painting.

And more of the dice game.  This time Ellie let us know she was really trying to get her hands on the dice and fussed whenever we moved her away from reaching distance.  So, she got her own dice.  The best motor skills we've ever seen her do was watching her put the dice into this little cup we gave her!

She had so much fun, she was sooooo quiet!  Ellie the high roller!  Soon the casinos will start calling offering a private jet to fly her out and offer her free hotel stays to play at their tables.

Family Photo

Our first family photo as a family of six.  The moment is "priceless" but the cost really was...cheering, jumping up and down, sweating, acting crazy and three large cups of ice cream with unlimited toppings.  Even in the freezing weather, ice cream always works when you ask kids to do something they don't want to do for almost two hours.

Food

I had a crazy idea this week.  And it worked for...two days.  I thought we could start feeding her real, pureed food in her tube.  It appealed to me to feed her jar food and get away from the formula she's been on so long.  So, after talking to multiple doctors, nutritionists and food companies...I had a plan.  It equated to about 8 jars of baby food, some rice cereal, some orange juice, a hefty amount of cow's milk and a large amount of rice cereal watered down enough to go through the tiny hole in her tube.  Every day.  Oh and a ton of water.  Lots of water to make all this stuff thin enough to go through.  

You know the expression "you can't do it all"?  Well, it was either sit at the table and feed Ellie all this stuff sloooooowly or say...school the kids, feed the other five people - you know what I mean.  It took so long to feed her that and I didn't even get it all in!  At least I might do "some" of the food that way, but then that involves alot of math of how many calories and grams of protein and milligrams of calcium she got from her formula minus which food I decided to substitute that particular day.  Of course when the other kids were toddlers we were happy if they ate some cereal, a few grapes, peanut butter toast and chili for dinner.  But since Ellie is just still so close to all her health stuff, even after a year - she's too fragile to just "wing it". 

It was a real test of "letting go" for me because I really do love seeing our kids eat healthy food.  For now the formula she gets is really quite impressive and comprehensive.  So be it, that's what she'll get until it's time.  

It's hard to have some really perfectly soft avocados sitting on our countertop and she only takes a tiny lick of it at best.  No biggie.  I guess that will give me more to add into this while we're watching this.  Oh and speaking of our kids eating healthy food, they will be having these for dinner next Sunday.

Artists

Here are the girls enjoying some quiet time to "create" in the house this morning.  I was creating a mess in the kitchen!

Onesies

It's cold here!!  I'm sure it's cold wherever you are too - unless we have any readers from Hawaii.  :)

Anyway I had a gift card to a baby store and browsed around and enjoyed looking for the perfect "layer" for this cold weather.  I found a pack of long sleeved onesies - size 12-18 months which is cutting it close but I knew they would no longer be needed by spring.  So here she is with the bottom later...

"Good morning!" 

And the final look!

 

Girls Night

Mommy and Julia and Ellie were all alone for a little while yesterday.

We did some hair brushing in matching outfits (disregard the blue tape on Ellie - it came off the floor as part of a game the kids play).

Then we had a possible "dangerous" scenario as we gals roasted some marshmallows.  No babies or pre-schoolers were injured in the making of this video.

Gettin' around

The cutest little thing is seeing Ellie sit on her own and play with things!

Outside she's happy in her little walker watching the crazy and sometimes dangerous football antics.

Julia obsessively kept putting a red couch pillow behind Ellie's back during breaks of her Wii playing :).  We've heard the sound of her head on the hardwood one too many times, which it's only happened once if you know what I mean!

And her latest "trouble" as we call it...Ellie finds trash and recycling cans fun and intriguing.  One time of it being pulled down and a leaky bottle of milk everywhere...

and we started closing doors around here.

Full life

The other day Jacob asked me if I thought Ellie had a good life.  I told him, "yes she certainly does seem to enjoy being a part of our family". 

Here is what it's like to be a part of our family on most days.  I took this video to show what it takes for me to catch up on some of my calendar organizing/curriculum planning/letter writing so what you see is four occupied children.  

We've got one on line studying which colleges each professional golfer attended, we've got one doing a puzzle who does not like starting puzzles but loves finishing them, we've got one playing with pre-school manipulatives since I finally decided to keep them out and not in a cabinet where they were never used, then we've got Ellie in the middle of it all.  Oh and we somehow have the volume of a kids CD kind of loud.  That adds to the humor of what our life can look like sometimes and why I think Ellie just fits in nicely here.  Never a dull moment for an exploring, growing little girl!

Eating

Well, I like vanilla pudding. Straight up sugar and food coloring - give it to me.

I offered Ellie some the other day and although the lighting is terrible (not sure why!) and I thought I had turned the camera off at the end but kept recording, I thought I'd still share our experience with it.  She does something funny that she sometimes will do that shows me, she um...does not get the concept of swallowing.  She does this hilarious little imitation of a lizard.  I got some of it captured but like I said it's not a good video. If you're a holeyellie die-hards, go for it.

Milestone #1

Ellie has begun to sit!!  She is sooooo happy and so in love with the fact that she can now get herself to the sitting position rather than what was happening a week or so ago:

                                     

Here is the "star" :).                               

"YOU want some of this?"

"It's green foam on a stick that my Mommy soaks in ice cold water."

"Nevermind, you already know how to drink."

The other kids celebrate each and every time Ellie finds her way to a sitting position.  Today they celebrated by getting down with her and cheering!

But then...

...she's off!

She does fall backwards occasionally so we are still in protection mode like were above.  She's already had her first fall on the brick floor of the house.  She cried very little.  She's a tough one!