All she wants to do is dance, dance....

All she wants to do is DANCE!

This kid loves to dance and she is always dressing up like a ballerina. So, naturally, I signed her up for a three year old tap/ballet class.

You can imagine from these pictures how the first day went...

JUST.

HOLD.

STILL!

Nope. Not gonna happen.

This girl has got some moves.

It took a lot of work, but we got her hair in a ponytail.

C'mon Mom!

Ready to go in and get this thing started!

Waiting with her teacher to walk back to class.

After class and after she whacked herself in the leg with her bag full of tap shoes.

Fortunately the next two classes had much happier endings.

Last Monday was parent observation at  the end of class and we got to see the one and only move that she has mastered so far... the shuffle-hop-toe.

Ellasyn's Third Birthday Party!

Ellasyn  is so blessed to have shared this birthday party with both sets of grandparents (Honey & Grandpa and Marmee & Papa) along with one set of great grands (Nanny and Papaw Briggs) and one great grandmother (Grandmother Jackson), one great aunt (Karen Jackson Fowler), all of her aunts and uncles and all of her cousins, and on top of that... all of her sweet little friends came too. 

 

Thank you for helping to make this special day so full of LOVE! 

~ Her only request for her party was balloons. ~

~ Daddy's birthday gift to her was a bounce house! ~
She is waiting for Travis to come and bounce with her.

~ Welcoming her buddy, Kason. ~

~ Baby sister's happy place. ~

~ Daddy and Ellasyn ~
 

~ Birthday Girl and her family ~

~ Blowing out the candle on her "cake" ~
Aunt Merinda did an awesome job with the watermelon and canteloupe cake!

~ Picking off some canteloupe flowers ~

~ Cousin Belle decorating her Fruit Pizza ~

~ Cousin Penny with Momma and Caraline ~

Ellasyn is 3!

She is strong, independent, silly, sweet, sensitive, active, persistant, loving, creative, and I cannot believe that she is THREE!

Ellasyn's favorite color is orange. It has been since she could talk.  If she has a choice, she will choose orange. Every. Time. Being an Aggie family, this is not something that we encouraged. As I realized that she was not going to change her mind, I began to embrace the orange.  But definitely not burnt orange. Always a true orange, or tangerine, or coral. Somewhat recently she was introduced to the book Pinkalicious and loved it. So, our party theme was Orangelicious with pink and orange polka dots. 

Her birthday was on a Wednesday. We had to take Caraline to Cook's to have some labs done, but after that it was all about Ellasyn. Lunch at Double Dave's, a trip to the Fort Worth Science and History Museum, presents and a cupcake and dinner at Chic Fil A. We all wore orange in her honor.

~ Three Year Rocking Chair Picture ~

~ working on the computers ~

 

~ Not too crazy about the Hurricane simulation ~

~ Excited about her orange cupcake with pink icing ~

 

~ But she won't eat it because she will get icing on her fingers! ~

~ opening her James Avery charm bracelet ~

~ modeling her bracelet ~

~ Dinner at CFA - YUM! ~

See the next post for Party Pictures


CK - 2 Months!

Caraline Kate is two months old!

She is a super sleeper.  Going 6 - 9 hours each night.  I am one blessed and mostly well rested momma.  I still find myself tired most days, but I can deal with tired.

She loves her Daddy and Big Sister.

She loves to smile and "talk".

She loves to snuggle.

2 Month Check up Weight: 10 pounds 10 ounces (Woohoo!!), Height: 21 3/4 inches, 50th percentile.

~ Her first Sunday at church ~

~ Playing with Sister ~
(check out those matching profiles!)

~ Two Month Rocking Chair Picture ~

~ Snoozing away... ~

And poor thing, she doesn't have a choice but to just come along with us wherever we are going!



~ This one is just for your viewing pleasure ~
:)

CK - 1 Month!

Caraline Kate is one month old!

The first week or two of Caraline's sweet life were very busy. Her bilireuben (jaundice) levels were high when we left the hospital and she had lost 12 ounces. We went to see Dr. Geppert the next day for a weight check and to the hospital for a blood test.  No weight gain, jaundice still high.  We went back the next day... same story.  While we were at the hospital for the blood test, our doctor's office recieved a phone call letting them know that the results of Caraline's PKU screen were abnormal. We had to back to the doctor and find out what was going on.  The PKU test screens for quite a few different disorders. It is designed to be very sensitive so that it will pick up any signs that something may be going on. Caraline's test came back positive for congenital hypothyroidism.  After hearing from our doctor that CK could be mentally retarded for the rest of her life... he finally mentioned that it is very treatable.  Whew! I wanted to smack him!  We went back to the hospital to have more blood drawn to run more tests. Have you ever watched them draw blood from an infant? Torture. For us and CK.  The tests confirmed that she did have hypothyroidism and we were immediately referred to a pediatric endocrinologist for treatment.  Our appointment was the following Monday.

Some symptoms of Hypothyroidism:  excessive sleeping, reduced interest in nursing, low or hoarse cry, infrequent bowel movements, exaggerated jaundice, poor muscle tone.

I could check almost all of these off. If you want to know more about Congenital Hypothyroidism.

I was so nervous to go to Cook's Children's Hospital. I didn't know what to expect. I am so thankful that Ethan was home during all of this uncertainty and all of the doctors visits!  I chose to dress Caraline in a little outfit that says, "I'm a miracle".  It was a sweet reminder to us and to the nurses, techs and doctors that dealt with her.  I don't know if anyone noticed... but I like to think that they did.

The first thing, after registration and filling out forms, we were sent to have an ultrasound of her neck to see what the thyroid looked like or if there was even a thyroid gland present.  Next, CK had to have an IV put in. The nurses were great, they wrapped her all up in this heated blanket and she slept pretty much through the whole thing. Once the line was in, we went to have x-rays of her knees. We were confused about this and after having the nurse double check, we found that they wanted to see the growth plates since the thyroid gland is essential for growth. I was glad to find out that the nurses follow all the correct protocol... which included asking me if there was any chance that I might be pregnant.  Uh. No. My daughter is barely two weeks old. After x-rays we went into another smaller waiting room to wait for the test. This was the strangest part.  She laid on a table like surface and the tech placed weighted pads on her to keep her still while the top part of this machine scanned her little body. We watched as this baby shaped blob appeared on the computer screen in front of the doctor. I don't remember the details, but basically, it was showing if the thyroid was working by dispersing the medication that they pumped through her IV.

~ With her arm stabilized and her IV in, all wrapped in her nice warm blanket ~
(You can see how yellow she is compared to my arm)

After all this, we had more blood drawn and were finally sent to see the endocrinologist, Dr. Wilson. We liked him right away. Very calm and reassuring. Engaged us in the conversation. Talked TO us, rather than over our heads.  When we left, we felt much more comfortable and were thanking God that we were able to find this early and that it is so simple to treat.  Caraline does not have a thyroid gland and will take a thyroid hormone replacement for the rest of her life and grow into a happy, healthy, normal child/teen/adult. Praises to God! For newborn screening, thorough pediatricians, smart people that know all these big words, tests and treatments, family and friends support and love.

~ Waiting to see Dr. Wilson ~

Caraline Kate is a great baby! She is easy going and flexible. She wakes up 2 - 4 times at night. Except two or three nights when she decided to be awake and hungry from 10pm - 5am. Did I mention how thankful I am that Ethan is home during the summer? He is a great Daddy and takes great care of Ellasyn while Caraline and I catch up on sleep.

7/2/12 Birth Weight:7 pounds 14 ounces
7/5/12 Weight: 7 pounds 2.4 ounces
7/10/12 Weight: 7 pounds 8.7  GOING UP!!
1 month check up Weight: 8 pounds 2 ounces, Height: 20 1/2 inches, 25th percentile

~ CK 1 month visit & E 3 year visit ~

~ One Month Rocking Chair Picture ~

Caraline's Story Part II

 

Monday, July 2 rolled around and we woke up bright and early, ready to have a baby.  We were prepared to be in the delivery room all day waiting for the Pitocin to do its thing.  When we finally got settled into the room, the nurse told us that Dr. Walker like to turn the Pitocin up by four increments every hour, instead of one or two like some of the other doctors.  I had no idea what that meant so I just rolled with it.  I was dilated 1 ½ cm when we arrived, just like I had been for the past two weeks or so. We watched an American Pickers marathon on tv and visited with my mother in law Jan.  I was feeling contractions but they weren’t too strong. I was prepared to hold off on getting the epidural as long as I could stand it.  I didn’t want it to slow things down too much.  At 9:30ish, I was 4-5 cm and beginning to be in some pain.  I went ahead and requested another bag of fluid so that the anesthesiologist could put in the epidural in when I was ready.  About half way through the bag I was ready.  The nurse  Around 10:30, my parents brought Ellasyn up to see us. She had a lot of questions about all the tubes and machines and wondered why I was in bed. The nurse checked again and I was about 6 cm.  Mom and Dad were taking Ellasyn to the mall for lunch and a carousel ride.  Gara was going to feed her kiddos and get them down for a nap. 

It wasn’t too long before I was nodding off and the nurse came in and asked if I was feeling any pressure.  Actually, yes, I guess I am feeling some pressure. (that epidural sure was great!) I was sort of ignoring it because I really did want to take nap. She checked me and I was 10 cm! Ethan sent some urgent texts and the nurse paged Dr. Walker.  Dr. Walker had a scheduled c-section and may not be able to get here in time.  Aw, man! Really?  Once again, God is good!  She delayed the section so that she could deliver Caraline.  She is pretty great.  After a couple 3-push contractions, Dr. Walker arrived. One more round and Gara was there. Two more round and here came Caraline!

She was perfect! A little bruised due to her quick arrival, but all in one piece, ten fingers, ten toes, a mop of brown hair and blue eyes.

More pics: Part II - Pictures

Caraline's Story - Part I

How we found out that we were expecting: It was the day we went pumpkin picking at Gnismer Farms. At the time, I didn’t know why but I just had a “feeling”. Not necessarily physical, I just knew.  It was pretty neat and I wasn’t sure how to explain it so I kept it to myself that day. The next day was Sunday. On the way home from church Ethan requested BLTs for lunch. We had to swing by Tom Thumb to get a tomato and I grabbed a ept so that I could know for sure. Once we were home, and the test was… uh, taken… I told Ellasyn first.  I tried and tried to get her to tell Ethan, but it was either too loud or too jumbled for him to understand.  Finally, at the table over lunch she said, “ I’m gonna be a biiiig teeeterrr!”.  After a few times repeating, “teeeeterr”, I stepped in with an interpretation. Ethan’s reaction was, “REALLY!?”

~ Picking pumpkins with a little secret ~

Flash forward six weeks or so, to my first sonogram appointment. It was confirmed that there was indeed a baby and we were given an estimated due date of June 17… our sixth wedding anniversary date. A couple of days later I received a phone call telling me that the heartbeat was very faint and there was also a subcortical hemorrhage. A what!? I went straight to Google and WebMD to find out more. They were pretty common, but we were still cautious and decided to keep the news to ourselves a little longer.

Two weeks later, I went in for another sono to see if there were any changes. Good news and not so good news: The heartbeat was stronger and they had actually miscalculated the gestation so our due date was changed to June 24. However, the hemorrhage was still there and had grown. Another more in depth sono was scheduled with a specialist.

At 16 weeks I went in for the sonogram and was told that there was no sign that there had ever been a hemorrhage. God is so good! He had resolved the hemorrhage and our baby was growing right on track.

Another few weeks go by and our appointment to find out our baby’s gender comes up. It’s a GIRL! This visit came with some more confusing news. There was an abnormality in one of her heart valves and the base of her skull was thickened… both signs of a baby that may have Downs Syndrome.  No other signs were found and overall our baby girl was healthy and strong.  Despite the doctors assurance there was still some concern.

After much prayer and another visit with my doctor we were assured once more that God is bigger than us and that we were going to have a healthy baby.

The remainder of the pregnancy went on… and on without any concerns. At my 38 week checkup there was not any progress being made so a date to be induced was set up for 41 weeks.  I really didn’t think I would make it that long and I really did not want to be induced.  More prayers for Caraline to make it here in God’s timing.  I used Philipians 4: 4-7 as I prayed:

 ⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

40 weeks rolls around and there is still no sign of Caraline coming. At my checkup the nurse said, “Doesn’t she know that we are waiting for her?”. We were waiting for her, and so ready to meet her. But I was fine with waiting since my doctor was out of town.  Dr. Walker was out of town for Ellasyn’s birth and I really wanted her to be here for Caraline’s.  I still had seven more days before I was scheduled to be induced.  Each day brought me more peace about waiting. 

~ 40 weeks ~

~ 41 weeks ~

I kept working at church, getting things prepared for my leave and also accomplished a couple last minute projects for the nursery. I set up care for Ellasyn with my parents and coordinated with my friend, Gara Hill, to be on standby as the birth photographer. 

To be continued: Part II...

Birth Day Pictures

~ I have a great coach! ~

 



~ Everything is all set up and ready for the big debut. ~
 

~ I  [heart] Dr. Walker! She was almost as excited to see CK as we were... almost. ~

 

~ Not a big fan of the outside world just yet ~

~ Proud Daddy ~

~ Big Sister is the first visitor ~

~ Excited to meet her sister face to face ~

~ She already loves her so much! ~

~ Family of 4 ~
 

 Compliments to Gara Hill with Beyond the Blue Studios for the amazing photographic journey of this very special day!