Bathtime Baby aka Shamu

This little girl loves (and I mean LOOOOVES) the bath!  She's a splasher, so much so that I call her baby Shamu when we get in the tub.  There's a very large splash zone, but it's worth it. She has so much fun!

The video is a little long (I need to figure out how to edit them), but the beginning is priceless!

Beginning my 31st Year

Beginning my 31st (or 32nd if you ask my hubs) year... (aka "Happy Birthday to Me")

How talented is my sister: she made me this cool M

Yes, my husband has a hard time remembering how old we are.  Yes, he sometimes adds years to my life (thanks, honey), but at least he always remembers that he's the older of the two.

The day before my birthday I received a text from my cousin Rachel asking if I'd like to come down to Tacoma to Auntie Lorna's house for a cousin visit and brunch.  Um, YES!  So the scheming began and pretty soon we had a complete plan...except for asking Auntie Lorna if we could use her house. ha!  It brought me back to our childhood when Rachel and I would scheme up grand plans and only when our plan was perfect would we seek permission.  Ah, exciting!

The next morning dawned and Lucy took an early nap then we headed south.  We spent some great time just us three gals (Rachel, Tori, me), with the littlest of our brood -- Amelia, Lucy, and London.  It was a lovely morning.  Then the craziness kicked in when Auntie Lorna returned with Jade, Amaris, Lael, and Gwenna -- back from swimming lessons.  We had lunch and some fun antics, then it was time for Lucy and I to head home.

Three Musketeers! 

CJ joined in the lady time for a bit... What a guy!
Must admit: he makes me feel OLD...I remember vividly when he was London's size...

Lucy's already trying to run the show 

Good enough! ;) 

Lucy Love and Tori

Little Miss Independent

Tori singing to Lucy

Sweetness showing how sweet she is

Amaris and her babies...

She has a gift! 

Ultimately this girl just wants mama when she's tired... MELT!

Next Sarah and the kids stopped by for a quick "hello, happy birthday!"  They made the CUTEST cards for me and gifted me a spa kit.  Um, yes please!  The best part of it all was the kids getting Lucy laughing -- I mean really laughing.  (See the video on my 6 month post here).

We finished the night with Isaac making me Gordon Ramsey's beef wellington with mashed red potatoes and grilled asparagus and celebratory Martinelli's.  Lovely!!  I love any excuse to use our wedding wine glasses.

All in all a beautiful day complete with so many I love.  I received so many phone calls, texts, facebook messages, and love...  I felt truly so blessed to have so many people in my life who love me so well!



And so begins my 31st year: by far the fullest year of my life yet.  I have a wonderfully loving husband, a beautiful and busy little girl, I'm near family, I have an awesome church family...  I don't feel I'm overreaching to say "I'm blessed!"  I know that word gets thrown around a lot, but I truly feel like God has blessed me in this season by surrounding me with strong believers who consistently and lovingly point me to Christ, love me where I'm at, encourage me, and push me to follow Him more.  Thank you, Jesus for your sacrifice; thank you God for choosing me, setting me apart for your work, and just loving me without condition.

My two most favorites!

6 months old!

My sweet Lucy M is 6 months old already! 

 In so many ways these have been the longest, hardest days of my life, and yet here it is 6 months later and I'm scratching my head wondering where my newborn went.  She's so strong and full of life and spunk.

Her stats:
Weight: 16lbs, 7.5 ounces (50-55%ile)
Height: 27 inches (75%ile)
Head: 17.5 inches (I think....definitely in the 90%ile)

The doctor was very impressed with her core strength. She said it's unusual for a baby to be able to sit up without "tripodding" -- using her hands to support herself -- already.  Lucy can sit up and play with a toy with both hands.  She's hitting all other developmental milestones -- transferring toys from one hand to another, putting things to her mouth, responding to sights and sounds, rolling over, babbling (bonus points for making the doctor laugh with her growling).

In the next 3 months she will transition up to three meals a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and will likely outgrow her infant carseat (for length).  She'll also learn to drink from a sippy cup, and should be crawling and pulling herself up in the next month or two.



Lucy sits up by herself for long periods now and just needs someone nearby to ease her fall if she gets tired or off-balance and topples.  These times are already becoming more and more rare as each day passes.  She can fully manipulate her pacifier now and often falls asleep holding it in with two hands, or with one in each hand (and another in her mouth).  The biggest change we've experienced is that she's no longer swaddled at night.  She is sleeping much better and is down to two night feedings, working towards one.



She giggles, chuckles, and coos, but our favorite continues to be when she growls or outright laughs.  She even had the doctor laughing at her happy growls.  To say this girl is a "character" is putting it mildly.  More and more we're seeing her personality come out. She's spunky, opinionated, determined, and busy.  She loves her daddy and her cousins and lights up when she sees either.  When she's tired she prefers mama or daddy, and when she's really tired we get a treasured snuggle from our active girl.

 

Lucy's started cereal and is starting to get the hang of "chewing" and swallowing her oatmeal.  She also  continues to enjoy sucking on watermelon and watching us eat.

Lucy's curiosity has taken off in the last few weeks and she'll steal anything within arm's reach to further explore it.  With her newfound rolling skills this means we need to start baby-proofing as she's been found pulling on computer cords, mugs, etc. toward her.

Loving being sung to by cousin Tori

It won't be long before she's on to crawling and pulling herself up.  I admit I've got mixed emotions about my baby growing up. I want so badly to see her succeed and reach her goals, to grow and discover her world, but OH. MY. She's my BABY and a part of me wants to tuck her away just as she is today and keep her there forever!

Six month video: 

Lucy gets the giggles -- she'd been doing this for several minutes before we decided we had to get it on camera...she was already winding down, but still giving quite the good giggles to her cousins: 

Papa Lee is Status 1A!!!

Papa Lee just got back from the heart cath procedure, which was uncomfortable (read: brutal!) and long.  The doctor performed the right heart cath and we just heard that the pressures and output (blood being pumped out) were very low.  He had a Swan inserted into his right heart cavity to measure the readings of his pressures.  

His PICC line (which once again migrated up to his jugular) has been pulled back 20 cm so that it's no longer up in his neck. It's now a "deep peripheral line" and is delivering Milrinone and Dobutamine (both are inotropes -- they increase the muscle contractions of the muscle -- in this case the heart). 

Papa Lee is now listed as 1A, and will remain in the hospital on this status so long as he is receiving dual inotropes.  (Praise the Lord for this answer to prayer! He's now on the highest priority list!!)  They will be monitoring his pressures and cardiac output every four hours (he has a bunch of lines and electrodes connected to him) for at least the next 24 hours.  

And now a great Papa Lee anecdote: The hospital has put him in a bed that is designed to prevent bedsores.  The mattress will alternately inflate and deflate, controlled by a small compressor.  He found it really annoying and couldn't sleep because of it, despite a double dose of Benedryl.  He got some much needed rest and woke up around midnight.  Papa Lee asked the nurses and PCAs how to adjust it or turn it off, but no one knew, but they finally dug out a manual and gave it to him.  Picture this:  Papa Lee sitting cross-legged on the floor, reading the manual and pushing buttons on the electronic control.  He finally figured it out and promised them a class in the morning.  

Papa Lee has undergone a bunch of procedures and is trying to rest now.  Mom Peg is going to stay for a while and see that he's settled before heading to her best friend's house in the area to spend the night before heading home to Buckeye.  

Papa Lee, the human pin cushion! He's in good spirits and resting as best he can between doctors and nurses coming in and out, checking his vitals. 

If you're looking for the backstory or previous updates, please see my mom's blog: http://fromseatodesert.blogspot.com/

 PRAYER REQUESTS FROM THE FOLKS: 
- For a heart to come soon and that Papa would get the needed rest and strength he needs
- For both to have continued peace beyond comprehension (the kind that ONLY comes from God) through this 
- For the donor family to find peace through the gift of their loved one's heart
 - That Papa will honor the donor in living an upright life glorifying God, and that the heart will come soon.

Happy Birthday, Ava & Noah!

Happy Birthday to Ava (aka Elsa) and Noah (aka Robin Hood)!  Ava turned 8 -- EIGHT! and Noah is 6.  I can't believe how quickly these kiddos are growing up.  It seems like this was just a few months ago, not years:

They're both so into dress-up and Nana came through once again with epic costumes.  She never disappoints these kids.  Grandma Annette came through with an epic (and I mean EPIC) Frozen cake. It was intense and beautiful.  I hear Vera helped as chief taster.

Sarah set up a bullseye for Robin Hood and his competition to have a shooting contest.  Naturally, Robin won.

Then we moved on to shooting in the 21st century:

All while my poor laid-up sister watched my baby because, really, how can you be down when you're holding this sweet nugget? 

This girl is just TOO BIG!  

Catching these candid daddy-daughter moments are my favorite: 

Robin's bullseye cookies and Elsa's Frozen cake -- both were VERY happy! 

This year Sarah told me that Ava really wanted a long, flowy dress.  I thought I could do that, and I could.  I love it when what's in my head works out in real life.  Bonus: I made a matching outfit for her baby cousin...who was a bit overdue for a nap... But Ava took it like a champ and got her smiling. 

Uncle Isaac holds a special place in these kids' hearts. Helping Noah put together his awesome new Star Wars paper airplanes. 

Noah's solution whenever Lucy cries: "you just need to strip her down"  -- Yes, Noah, sometimes you do.  Look at that happy girl! 

Look at my baby sitting up already! 

Happy Birthday, Daniel Boone and Lady Ava!

Vera enjoyed the cake the best for sure.

Uncle Isaac can always be counted on to play with his niece and nephew. 

Vera did her best to keep up with the kids. 

That pesky grass will stick to bare feet. 

What a good uncle hanging out with the birthday kids in their fort.