15 and couting

WOW what a change in just a year.
Brandon and Bella at his birthday Party on Sunday with his friends.

He is such a good big brother.

Brandon and all his friends!

They grow up way to fast, our little guy turned 15 yesterday. Took him to Cheesecake Factory, which seems to be our choice for birthday's this year. We went in August for Roby's and October for mine and now again in October for Brandon's. Had a good time. Brandon is such a great kid I met Roby when Brandon was 4 and celebrated his birthday for the first time when he was 5. I can still tell you what I got him for his birthday. A pair of doc martin boots, Pole Jeans and a Pole shirt. I didn't know back then that kids don't really want cloths for there birthday but trust me I have learned over the years. He has become one of my favorite people to buy for even thought he is hard as hell to buy for. And has zero emotion so if you get some out of him you know that you have hit a home run.. This make him all that more fun to buy for. Only other way to get him to smile put his dad in front of him or Bella. Those two make him light up like a Christmas tree. :)

Did someone say CAKE!

Yesterday was my birthday, I can't believe I am 35 I am only 5 years away from 40 that just seems CRAZY! This month is a busy birthday month for us. Brandon will be 15 on the 20th. It is our PARTY month. He is going to be able to drive(with an one of us in the car) in a month. That does not seem possible at all.

Started my birthday fun on Monday with Roby. We have not been to the movies in over a year. So we both took off work and took Bella to daycare and off to the movies we went. We saw It's Kind of a Funny Story, cute movie. Then we headed next door for lunch at Cheese Cake Factory. I took one look at this chocolate cake, Reese peanut butter cup cheese cake and thought SALAD! Had to make sure I had room for it. So I had a nice side salad and a small fried cheese appetizer to save room and still had to take some home with me. Roby had his usually meatloaf (lunch size) and banana cream cheese cake with a cup of coffee. It was a nice stress free relaxing day with no diaper bag. LOL


Bella and I spent the day with Nana going to lunch and then shopping. After that we went to watch Miss Graycie perform her Halloween Rock Show at school. Bella was busy trying to play with the 6th grade girls like a big girl. I think she enjoyed her day but was exhausted when we got home and only wanted her momma.


Yesterday 10/12/2010 Bella turned 19 months. This time last year we had regular monthly doctor visits, machines and O2 attached to us and breathing treatments and medicine twice a day. WOW allot has changed in a year. Now at 19 months we are free of all machines and meds. Bella went to the doctor last month and does not go back again till Dec. We had very little contact with the outside world last year and now she gets to be around family and friends providing they are not sick. :)


Let's see what can she do since last month:
She can walk, she has to take a break but she would rather walk than crawl. 10/12/2010 she said Parker of course her first word other than momma and Dada would be PARKER, she loves that dog.
She has cut two more teeth one on each side in the on top in the back. These caused a bit more crankiness than the first 6 teeth but still she cut them with very little issues. She amazes me everyday at just how happy a baby she is.
She has become a bit clingy to mommy the last few weeks.
She got her first bump on her head but we survived. I say we cause I think mom and dad were more upset than she was. Once she saw Brother everything was good. Lucky her bangs cover it up.

She had a cold this month but started medicine and got it all cleared up fast before it turned into something worse. So just a few days down and then she was back to her normal self.

Got some musical instruments this month, her own drum and drum sticks that are small for her hands. She loves music, her favorite show to watch is dancing with the star when they are doing fast numbers. She goes crazy and tries to dance around.

Can sign more, milk and ball. Really understands ball. Will sign it and go get the ball. I was really excited about this one since she doesn't really mean more when she does it. She really means done. LOL.

18 Months and Stepping

So hard to believe but Brandon is the one smiling in the picture and not Bella. And on another note our little man will be turning 15 next month. :0 He will be starting driver's ed that is right people we will have one walking and one driving.

Bella has been a busy girl the last few weeks. She started at an at home daycare with two other kids. She is doing great loving it and adjusting to the changes well. Since August 16th she has put on 1 lbs as of 9/18/2010 now weight in at 18lbs 2.9 oz. She had her development apt 9/8/201 with Dr. Suterwala, MD (her NICU Doctor) he said she is first of just beautiful and she is doing great. She is range between a 12-16 month so right on track and a little a head with her corrected age in some areas. He looks for her to be caught up by her second birthday. :0 His only concern not walking but she took care of that before the end of the week. She will be starting speech therapy finished with her OT they felt she was on a good track and didn't need it anymore. I asked for Speech Therapy just to give us suggestions on ways to help her because she falls under 18 months on the development range they said she still gets services from ECI for some kind of therapy and at this point as well as she is doing it is more of what we would want help with than what she really needs help in. I felt help with speech is an area that can't hurt.

She can:
Stand from a sitting position on the floor
Stand for long periods of time with no support
Pull to a stand
Eats lots more solid foods and still a jar of fruit a day.
Said Dogie but only once.
Took 7 steps on 9/9/2010
Took 12 steps on 9/12/2010 - 18 months that day.
Loves to play the drums, brother shared one of his drums and a set of sticks. Will be needing to do a Dear Santa Pop for a set of Pink Drums for Christmas. ;)
6 teeth
Cloths are around 12-18 months but can still fight in some of the 6 months and a few 24 months.
Loves to play "where she go" with her blanket and anything else she can put over her head and cover her face with.
She had her first McD's Nuggets, I know I said I wouldn't do it but she really like them, not giving in to the fries just yet still holding my ground on that one. she gets a nugget happy meal with apples and Carmel sauce that she thinks is a real treat for her. She has tried a PB&J with the crust cut off as well this month.
We tried crayons and well she is not sure what to do with them. They don't do anything that makes sound so why bother, she just picked it up and looked at it then gave it back to me like OK mom bored now. LOL

Bella also figured out how to get under a cabinet I painted for her room; it was in the kitchen before it made its way back to her room and while on daddy's watch she found her way under it. Of course he had to take a picture before helping her out from under it.

We head to Zapp on Saturday to see all our Blogger friends at Sweet T's Blog party with Nana and Cat Daddy.

testing....

testing the new phone before we leave for zapp on saturday.

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Pool Side

Can some please get this hat off my head.

Bella loves to take a bath, but not so sure she loves the pool. The jury is still out on that one.

Just thought I would share some newer pictures of her. But she does wear her sunglasses but only in the pool she won't wear them in the car.

She now has five teeth, is standing on her own, has not decided to take that big first step just yet she is a girl who likes to take her time. Next month she has development apt with her NICU Pedi, her OT 6 month check, her first dentist apt (not sure people realise but preemies sometimes have issues with there teeth coming in from the gums being tough) and her 18 months check up. That right I said 18 months I have been blogging about my little miss for 18 months can you believe it.

School starts next week our big kid will be heading to High School. WOW can't believe when Roby and I started dating Brandon was not even in school. 18 years seemed like forever and now we are just four years away from Graduation. I have had the pleasure of seeing him graduate from pre-school, kindergarten, elementary school and well you know when it is middle school no big hoopla and now he will be a freshman. Sounds crazy I forget sometimes he is not 4 years old playing with action figures. Although I do have to say Bella's beach balls do keep ending up in his room; I don't think he is as grown up as he thinks he is. Lucky for him she will keep him young a little bit longer. He is such a blessing to have for a step-son. I really do need to scan some pictures of him when he was younger so you can all see what a doll baby he was just like his little sister. You just wanted to put him on a shelf he was so darn cute.

So hope you all enjoy the tax free weekend. Good luck with the school supplies and school cloths shopping.

Home Sweet Home

Bella has been home with us for 1 year as of yesterday. I can't believe how fast the year has gone by. It has been the best year we have had so much fun being parents to our little miss. She is such a little helper we just moved a few weeks ago into a new house so we have been busy unpacking and Bella decided to give me a hand on Friday.

We both just look at her all the time and can't believe how blessed we are. She really is such a good baby. She loves to spend hours playing with her toys and is so happy.

So lets get some updates on Bella. Our little 15 oz baby is probably around 19lbs now at least. She is wearing 13 month cloths. We went to the doctor at 15 months and she does not go back till her 18 month apt. She cut 2 teeth months ago and I thought she would never get anymore. But nope last week I noticed a little something white on top and she had cut a top tooth. Was so excited then the next day I realized she was actually in the process of cutting four teeth on top. :0 (This is just an example of how easy a baby she is) She is not cranky nothing we didn't even know she had cut the teeth. At this point I began crying just at how much she has done and realize how different our lives would have been had we done what the doctors wanted. How she has continues to grow and develope just in God perfect time. Everything the doctors said she would never do.


She is still not walking but has started letting go and standing for about a minute with no help. Specially if she is excited about something.


She is eatting more and more solid food. I know once the four teeth completly come in she will really want more solid foods. And after about 12 sippy cups we have finally found one she likes. She likes a straw and does really well drinking out of one. I don't know about anyone else but the sippy cup selection overwhelem me. So glad we found one she likes.
No new words just allot of babble.

After working hard on Friday helping me unpack we need some time to relax and unwind in the pool.


Hope all are having a great summer, kids will be straiting school in a few weeks. Our big kid will be heading to HIGH SCHOOL!!! WISH US LUCK! LOL

Little Miss

Bella's first weekend home - she still sleeps with this bear. Little Miss will hit her 1 year homecoming August 8th. I can't believe she has been home with us this long. I can't believe she is 16 months. She amazes me everyday. We both just look at her in amazement. She is the happiest little girl. No matter if she feels bad she is still able to work up a smile. And of course we think she is the cutest little girl too. :)


So I am looking for help that anyone can provided me with. Now that life is starting to get normal again. And we have a good routine. I am back at work on a routine and Bella is doing great. I want to give back to other preemie mom's it is something I have thought about since before I had her; three weeks in the hospital on bed rest gave me lots of time to think about what changes I wanted to make in my life after all this.

And I have thought long and hard about it. I decided that I want to figure out how to start some kind of NICU organization. They have the March of Dimes that is great and I plan to do the walk in 2011 and lot of other great organizations for pre-term labor & preemies research. But I want to give back to the preemie moms/dads/grandparents/foster parents who are in the NICU. Nothing about having a NICU baby is normal.

Is it the best thing that could of ever happen to me? YES.

Would I have changed things? I can't say. I think God knew what he was doing when he gave me Bella.

Would I love to have more children? Sure I would, I love being a mom. I know people say that but I really do mean it when I say it I love everything about being a mom. I get frustrated and need a break of course I am not super mom. But I love the good and the bad.

So with that said.
Any suggestions or help on how to make this dream a reality please let me know.

I want to figure out a way to take donations to then donate to the parents at the NICU, to buy preemie cloths for the baby's in the NICU, to buy chairs(which are in high demand - or take donations) and mobiles(plastic ones are best - lots of fluids to get cloth ones dirty). These are all the things I had in the NICU that made going each day more tolerable. I want to do gift baskets for new moms that are filled with the things you can have in the NICU; like camera w/flash, notebook, pens & literature for the new parents. You would be surprise at the fact that a lot of hospitals don't have books on preemie baby's for new moms to read. Space is limited for that. And in the first few days they are so focused on all the medical issues they forget to tell you about how your baby will look. They spend so much time telling you statics they don't think about telling you the baby's skin won't look normal or they may not open there eyes for a while. And even that a girl may not look like a girl. Everyone knows that was the hardest thing for me. But after about a month I went to a book and got a book on preemies. I skipped the chapter on grieving. And read the first few pages. Those first few chapters would have helped so much to understand the appearance of the baby.

It is hard to not bring home your baby. And the stay is long. I treated Bella's space like it was her home. I never started a nurse I am so thankful for that because I don't think I could have came home everyday to a empty nurse. I created her nurse there.

All these things make the time a little easier.