So I Had a Great Idea

and I know you all will laugh as I'm SOOOOO good at keeping up with this blog, but my New Years resolution is to do a blog post every day for a whole year. When I informed Matt of my idea, he laughed and said "don't you think that you should start with an easier to obtain goal and say maybe once a week to start?" Laugh if you will, but I'm going to attempt it!

And since we're starting new (and I don't want to have to rename this one), I started a completely new blog! Click on the link to see and bookmark it to see if I can keep it up!

Love you all.

Surgery Scheduled for Izzy

Some of you know that our last appt with the cardiologist was quite confusing. We went in expecting to discuss the surgery and to get the go ahead to schedule it, and instead Dr G told is we could push it back and suggested getting a second opinion.

We were quite blindsighted by the appt and we didn't ask the questions we should have. After coming home and discussing it, we decided it best to call his nurse and discuss what had changed. I heard back today and basically what I learned was what I expected - he sent us the direction he did because he could tell we were apprehensive. No one wants to put their seemingly healthy on the outside baby through surgery, but we trust his opinion. Plus we have the opinion of all the other docs at Hope Childrens as well as the surgeon.

They all say that timing is crucial due to the risks that cold/flu/RSV season, so we really don't want to wait until December to get into see a new doc for an official 2nd opinion, then till Jan/Feb for the surgery.

So basically we got in contact with the surgeon today and we have a date for surgery - November 19th.

So it looks like we're going to miss turkey day with the fam (boooo!!), but she should be better in time for her first Christmas.

Here's what we know:
She goes in on the 16th for a checkup to make sure she's healthy for surgery. Then we go in some time on the 19th (we'll know more after we get the packet from the doc). The surgery should last about 3-4 hours (w/ prep), and she'll be in the PICU for that first day. We'll have to come home that day as there won't be a place to sleep, but once she's moved we'll have accomidations. She should only be there for 2-4 days.

After that recovery is around 4 weeks, so just before Christmas she should be good as new!

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

So I Know It's Been a LONG While

and I don't really have a good excuse as to why other than I have been trying real hard to stay off of the computer lately. Seems like when I get on I intend to spend just a few hours on it, but end up spending 5. So in order to not waste my day or be up into the wee hours of the night I try and just stay away all together. I'll update with some pics soon, but for now here are some things that have been going on around here lately.

- Alice is getting there on the potty training front. She still isn't telling us when she has to go 100% of the time, but she is staying dry most days. I will be so glad when she starts going on her own and when she stops yelling and telling me no when I tell her it's time to sit on the potty. Of course I think that has a lot to do with...

- Alice is going to be 3 soon, and I have a feeling 3 is going to be worse than 2. Some days I swear she has a personality disorder! She tends to be really super sweet and awesome to be around, or she's the spawn of Satan. Maybe my name was once Rosemary and my parents never told me. Either way, she can be quite the handful. I'm sure there is no magic age when it all gets easier, but I was REALLY hopeful that 3 was going to be awesome on the attitude front. I guess only time will tell.

- Speaking of getting older... we're having a Halloween bday party for Alice this year, and I can't wait! We're planning on having a haunted house, lots of games, treats, and I'm sure since we're celebrating on Halloween this year that we'll all take the kids out around the neighborhood to trick or treat as well. I'm SO excited for it and so is Alice. Of course the best part is having a reason to dress up as an adult. Part of the reason we decided to do it this way this year is because for MONTHS Alice has been talking about how she's going to have a Halloween party despite never hearing that from us. We have no idea where she got it, but eventually we decided it sounded like a good idea.

- Izzy is nearly 6 months old. Can you believe it?! I know I can't. In some ways it feels like she has been apart of our family forever, and in others it seems like I JUST found out I was pregnant! It's been a smooth transition to having two, and I'm sure part of it has to do with just how well Alice did with the adjustment and how even keeled Izzy is. I honestly don't know how we got so lucky to have two easy going babies. The next one (and yes, God willing, there will be at least one more EVENTUALLY) is sure to be a colicky nightmare.

- Lately she's really coming into her own. She's discovering new things every day, and she throughly enjoys playing with the toy bar on her bouncy seat - with her feet. I don't remember Alice ever being as interested in her appendages as Izzy is. It's so neat to see just how different they are. Toys are another big thing in her world right now. She's been rolling (but not consistently) even more lately and if there is a toy near her that is just out of reach you can bet she will try everything in her power to get to it.

- The latest thing she's been doing that makes me grin from ear to ear is she LOVES to sit on my lap and play peek-a-boo. And I don't mean I put my hands on her eyes or my eyes and play it, but rather she will fold herself in half, bury her face in my belly, sit up and I'll say "peek-a-boo!" She'll laugh and then do it all over again. Cracks me up! We have video of the first night she ever did that (although it was after she stopped being REALLY into it) so if you're good I'll upload it so you can see just how damn cute it is.

- A certain special teddy bear got a face lift this week. Well not so much a facelift, more like a face transplant. I had to preform very lengthy surgery on Alice's beloved Teddy (she's very original when she names things) a few days ago. Lately she's been kind of rough with him and my last surgery didn't last for very long. His eye was starting to come undone on Friday so I finally decided he was due for a major overhaul. I spent a good 2 hours total working on getting his arms back together (they come together to "hold" a part of the blanky), sewing the small blanky piece back on, securing both eyes, fixing his nose that has been coming apart for well over a year, and adding his mouth back which we haven't seen since Alice was probably less than a year old. Aside from the fact that he will be forever dirty no matter how many times he is washed, he looks good as new!

- Alice is starting to show just how girly she really is. She's obsessed with princesses, dressing up, and she's got the damsel in distress thing down pat. And the one thing she's been wanting for her birthday is makeup. She always wants to put it on when I'm getting ready in the morning (and I usually oblige) and she's been begging to have some of her own to play with. So I gave in, found a cute Tinkerbell (whom she is also currently obsessed with) pencil case and filled it to the brim with cheap makeup and brushes. I have a feeling it's going to be a big hit!

- She really surprised us when we took her to go see the Toy Story 3D double feature. She had never been to a movie before so we weren't sure how she was going to do for one movie, let alone two, but she did fantastic! Aside from not wearing her glasses for long (which isn't that big a deal, but some parts were especially blurry without glasses) she behaved so well! So well in fact that we bought her the "Where the Wild Things Are" (I know what you're saying, how tragic that you didn't already have that book!) book and we're hoping to take her to see the movie when it comes out soon.

- On a more serious note, Izzy's next cardiologist appointment is tomorrow. We'll discuss what Dr. G's colleagues had to say about Izzy's case and she should have another echo and unless the hole has closed up dramatically we're going to go ahead with surgery. We should have a better idea when that will be tomorrow. She continues to do SO well though, you'd never know she was sick! I think that fact alone is what keeps me from thinking about this surgery. To tell you the truth, it hasn't even hit me yet.

Well the baby is up from her nap so I'll have to stop here. My 4th quarter resolution is to keep up with this much better than I have been. Hopefully I can stick to it!

Happy Birthday Uncle James!

Thought I'd Clarify

Izzy's heart on the echo shows signs of congestive heart failure, but
she currently isn't showing any signs of it (like sweaty, rapid
breathing, turning blue when she's calm, etc) which is why the doc was
so shocked when he did the echo because based on the looks of it she
should be.

Thank you bunches for all the support.

Update on Izzy

We wanted to let you all in on what we discovered at Izzy's
cardiologist appointment today.

First, the good news. The hole in her heart is definitely getting
smaller (yay)!

The bad news is her heart is starting to show signs of congestive
heart failure. Her heart is stressed because some blood is getting
pumped to her lungs and back to the heart again instead of going to
the rest of her body first. He prescribed medicine to help combat
this problem in hopes that her heart will show signs of improvement
long enough for the hole to close on it's own.

So there's that. Good news is she's currently not showing signs of
heart failure, to the shock of her cardiologist.

The other bad news is that she's not gaining weight like he hoped.
She's gone from the 50th percentile at birth, to the 10th or 12th
percentile now. He wants her to gain more as it will make her less
veunerable to disease, especially since RSV season is right around the
corner.

So we're hoping that she does well on the meds and she can put on more
weight by the time her next appointment rolls around. In the meantime
Dr. G is presenting her case to fellow pediatric cardiologists to see
what their point of attack would be to get another opinion.

For now we're still hopeful that the meds can keep her heart healthy
long enough for her heart to do it's thing and heal itself, but the
doc stressed today that he's definitely worried.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

I'm Home

Surgery went well, no more gallbladder!

Matt says that I had a small umbilical hernia that they fixed while they were in there.

Tired, hazy, nauseated, and in pain, but hopefully I'll be well enough to take care of the girls by Monday when Matt goes back to work.

and no, Mike, I didn't did not ask to keep it.

(better now, smart ass? :) )

Good News

Don't have time to post much, but I wanted to let you all know that Izzy had a good cardiologist appointment today. Dr. G checked her out and said she looks great and that the murmur is definitely much louder now (you can even FEEL it!), which should mean that the hole is getting smaller. Hurray! We still don't know for sure, but we'll get confirmation that it's closing when she goes back in a month for an echo.

Momma and Daddy can finally exhale!

Will update with vacation pics ASAP. I have a lot to look through!

Why Are Strangers So Much Nicer In the South?

I don't think I've ever met a restaurant hostess that was more chipper
than the one we encountered at an O'Charley's near Chattanooga, TN.
Now whenever I dine at said restaurant I won't blame the whole chain
for hiring morons (I've had really bad luck with them and figured it
had to have been a problem they have nationally). Apparantly I just
need to take a LONG roadtrip when I'm craving southern fried chicken
salad and hot sweet rolls.

Anyway, if you couldn't tell we are on our way home. Sadly we left
Georgia and all of our loved ones who live there (or near there)
behind this morning. It was a very sad goodbye and I miss all of them
desperately already. We are currently somewhere outside of Nashville,
TN and plan to stop for the day wherever the road has led us by around
7:30pm. The girls (and, let's face it, the parents) can't take much
more than that in the car so we'll spend the night in a hotel and head
home early tomorrow morning. We should be back in Chicagoland
sometime tomorrow!

I'm so sad it's all over, but we definitely had a blast seeing everyone!

Not Five Minutes From Aunt Rosie's

And Alice is already passed out cold. Hopefully she'll sleep most of
the way to GA!

Goodbye Lakehouse

Hello Aunt Rosie and Uncle John!

The family and I packed up our things and left the lakehouse this
morning. We're headed to Georgia to spend a day with my cousin
Jennifer and her new little one and I couldn't resist stopping by and
spending a few hours at Aunt Rosie's house before heading out of state.

It was nice to finally see the house and her yard that I know mom was
always so very fond of. And of course the company was good. Mike,
Rae, Kaylee, James, and Dad joined us a bit later for lunch and good
food was had by all.

Now we're off to Atlanta to see Jen, whom I haven't seen since 2004 (I
think)!

Milestones at the Lakehouse

Well I missed it because I was slaving over a hot stove making chicken
and dumplings, but apparently Izzy rolled from back to belly! She's
getting so big already!!

I Don't Have Many Photos on the Phone

So this will have to do for now.

We all arrived safely in NC from our respective parts of the world,
India included. So far we've enjoyed swimming in the lake, genuine
Carolina BBQ, and the company of many realtives.

Tonight it looks like more swimming, discussing plans for tomorrow,
and chicken and dumplings are all on the agenda.

At the moment, life is very good!

Somebody's Smiling

Izzy started smiling this week! She's also become enamoured with the
toy bar on her bouncy seat. She can sit in that thing for hours so
long as the music and lights are on. I can't wait until she starts
doing it all the time!

It Better Have Been the Best Day of Your Life

We threw a surprise graduation party for my BIL Freddy this past
weekend. Lots of fun was had by all, especially the kids. This pic
would have been a lot cooler had it been a video instead as you just
can't quite capture that moment without the squeeling and laughter.
Aunt Ann had a lot of fun teaching the kids to bop eachother with the
balloons. Always the instigator.

I Don't Know How Easy It Is To See

But this pic that Alice "painted" on probably one of the best gifts
ever (thanks Mike and Rae) marks the first time I ever saw her draw
something more than a scribble. If you look in the lower, left corner
you'll see a stick figure that is me, apparantly.

What'd You Say?

I Habe My Gwampa Eyes On

That's what she tells me anyway.

Once upon a time Alice swiped these safety glasses from the
Jacksonville house (hope you didn't need them). She hasn't played
with them in a while, in fact I forgot we had them, and today she
pulled them out and said that little gem. She's certainly always good
for a laugh.

Speaking of laughing, we got our new computer this week so we've been
Skyping fools having talked to James and a very giggly Kaylee (and
Mike and Rae too) yesterday. Now that we have a computer that can
handle video chat I have a feeling we'll be doing it more often.

Not much is going on here. If you don't know already I have to have
my gallbladder taken out. The last time I was down at Dad's I had an
attack and after a morning in the J'ville ER (fun, it's SO different
from the hospitals around here) I found out my gallbladder is full of
stones and sludge. A classic post partum presentation they tell me.

So on the 10th of July I go in to have it removed. Hopefully it's
pretty straight forward and there won't be any issues.

We're looking forward to seeing some of you VERY soon!!

My Girls Are So Different

Alice was always a bit behind when it came to physical milestones. Of
course it never worried me because she was advanced in other areas and
afterall someone has to be below average. Well my little not quite a
two month old Izzy just rolled over so she could get closer to her
stuffed doggie. With the way she moves during tummy time I have a
feeling this kid is going to be mobile MUCH earlier than Alice was!

Somebody Had a Long Day

What happens when you spend the whole day shopping (we went to the
Wilton's tent sale with Auntie Annie) and playing outside with your
friends?

You fall asleep during dinner with bratwurst on your face.

I'll be off to bed early too if Izzy lets me because I'm pooped! Not
before taking some painkillers though, I have a feeling I'm going to
need them.