Pool Party

Happy 8th Birthday to one of the most special little girls I have ever known, Jasmine! This child has endured so much through her 8 years of life and has amazed doctors, nurses, and everyone around her. They never thought she would ever make it this long. Just being in the same room with this child will make you smile. She is such a blessing! Jazzie had a major milestone a few days before her 8th birthday...she sat up all by herself for 8 mins. WOOO HOOO JAZZIE!!!! We all love you:)

9 months

Kinlsey turned 9 months on the 22nd. We had her well check yesterday and here are her stats:

Weight: 20 lbs 6oz (75th %ile)
Legnth: 30 in (95th %ile)
Her head was also in the 75 %ile.

She is crawling, pulling up, walking down the furniture. LOVE WATER, says MA MA, is 100 % Mama's girl, and is just such a delightful baby!

Happy Birthday

Today would have been my Dad's 54th birthday! The girls picked out a balloon and cake. They wanted to take the cake to his grave and eat it, but it has been storming all evening so we didn't get to do it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! WE LOVE AND MISS YOU!

(The pictures are from my phone so not the best quality.)


Everyday Daddy would come home from work and sit in his swing under the trees and Bandit, his German Shepard, would lay by him. His swing has only been sat in a few times since he passed away and Bandit sure misses him sitting with him.

Our new ride

We are the proud owners of a 2010 Chevy Tahoe:) Our family of 5 had outgrown our Trailblazer we had purchased about 2 years ago. At the time, we were downsizing from an Expedition because that's when gas prices were rising and we thought our little family of 4 was complete. We negoticated on the Nissan Armada and the Tahoe and Chevy gave us the better deal, so Chevy it was.

Hope

Kinsley has slept thru the night the past 3 nights:) Hopefully it will continue! I'm still trying to figure out what has been going on. I am really thinking maybe it's been separation anxiety. The reason being, the past 3 nights, I have layed her in her crib and allowed her to get her ownself to sleep instead of rocking her and putting her down asleep. Yes, she cried, but not for long and she was out. Her Endocrinologist has also increased her medication during the past week because her TSH level showed a good bit of increase instead of decrease from her last lab work. I'm not sure her tyhroid levels being out of wak would cause her to wake up though because normally, it makes her much more tired. So, hopefully the trend will continue.

He's home

We picked Shane up at the airport this morning:) He is here for 30 days! WHOOO HOOO!! The girls are so excited to have him home and Kinsley took right up with him.

Still no "Confirmed" Answers

Kinsley saw the ENT yesterday and after doing an Laryngoscopy, he said he the MOST LIKELY diagnosis is a mile case of tracheomalacia. The only way to confirm that is to put her through a surgical procedure and he did not recommend putting her through that unless she gets worse. Basically he said, just keep watching her and make sure she doesn't get worse and she should outgrow it by the time she is 2. The only treatment is to place a trach in the airway, and PRAISE THE LORD, her case (if it's what she has) is not that severe. So...the question of what is going on with my baby is still unanswered. I am thankful he thinks it is somthing she will outgrow, but I there is still that uncertainty that that's what it is. Do I take his answer and deal with it, Do I get a second opinion, Do I keep pushing for answers??? I do plan on talking with her pediatrician about it again next week and get her opinion on it. I also plan on talking with her Endocrinologist as well. I am having a hard time accepting what he is saying because she struggles so hard sometimes to breathe and as you may have noticed on pictures, she holds her mouth open ALL TIME TIME with her tounge partically hung out. It's so frustrating!!

They did the laryngoscopy, in which they put a fiber optic scope up her nose and down the back of her throat and gave her no anesthesia. My heart was breaking for her as I had to sit and hold her little arms down. Today, she has felt very bad and had "cold like" symptoms. I'm not sure if the procedure and/or the bee stings has anything to do with it or if she is just getting a cold. Last night was a bad night for sleep and I have a feeling tonight will be worse. She is just pitiful!

I am thinking it's time...

for a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs.

 

First Bee Sting

My poor sweet baby girl had her first bee sting this evening. We were at Bible Camp sitting there talking to another lady that goes to church with us. Kinsley has standing up holding on to the pue and she just starts screaming. I never saw the bee, but her eye immedietly started swelling and turning blue/red. I saw the two little holes that to me look like bee stings. I felt so bad for her. She is much better now. Her eye is still a little red and swollen but much better.

 

 

 

Sleep

So, Kinsley is stll waking for whatever reason anywhere between 11 and 1. I've tried tylenol in case of teething, more food before bedtime, wardrode changes in case she was hot, put a fan in her room, played music, but she is still waking. I guess she just needs some Mommy love.

7 more days...

...until Shane will be home for a month:) WOOO HOOO!! All of us girls are ready to have him home for a while. I guess I need to brag a little too. After only a few months working with the company, he has been promoted to the Head Logistics guy over all of the FOB's (Foward Operating Base) in Afghanistan that has people based there that work with the company. He will be traveling from FOB to FOB (which scares me him having to go outside the wire), but God has gotten him home safely to us from 2 tours (Iraq and Afghanistan) so i will keep praying!

Kinsley's first "Boo Boo"

This...

From 2010-07-08

Led to this...
(A busted lip)

From 2010-07-08

Look at her top lip on the right side of the pic. and you can see a "fat" spot.

And now just sharing the cute chunkieness of my "lovebug"

From 2010-07-08

From 2010-07-08

A real tear jerker

Kaley and Kelsey wanted to me watch them play the guitar that My Dad had bought for them just a month or so before he passed away. So I sat while they put on a "show" for me. They love to make up songs and sang songs about Cheeze Its, our family, their friends and who knows what else. Then Kaley said, "I am going to sing a song that might make you cry." Needless to say, I was sitting behind the camera crying.

Kelsey also sang a song about her Papa and Kaley one about her Daddy that I will share later.

As good as it gets

So, the girls were in no mood for pictures on the 4th so this is the best is gets I guess...

From 2010-07-04

From 2010-07-04

From 2010-07-04

From 2010-07-04

From 2010-07-04

Here are the girls with cousin, Chloe waiting on the fireworks to start.

From 2010-07-04

From 2010-07-04

From 2010-07-04

Kinsley was not a fan of the fireworks. She was TERRIFIED. Luckily, my Mom was with us so she stayed with kelsey and kaley while I went and sat in the car with Kinsley. I held her close, covered her ears and rock her back and forth until she went to sleep.

To Cry or Not to Cry???

Last night baby girl slept great. She was asleep by 8 and slept until 8. Tonight, it's 11 pm and she has been awake 3 times already. So the question...Do I let her cry herself back to sleep or do I go in there and rock her back to sleep?? I hate to hear her cry, but I do not want her to get in the habbit of doing this because she knows Mommy will come pick her up.


*UPDATE*
I let her cry for about 10 mins. and couldn't take it anymore. She started coughing so with her breathing issues, it kind of scares me to let her get too upset. Anyways...I first tried patting her back...didn't work, picking her up and cuddling...didn't work, rocking and singing to...didn't work. So I gave her a bottle, she cuddled with me and talked to me for a few mins. and she's out again. Maybe she's going through a growth spurt?? Who knows! Hopefully this little spell we are going through will not last too long.

More waterpark fun

Can you tell we love the waterpark??

From 2010-06-28

From 2010-06-28

From 2010-06-28

From 2010-06-28

From 2010-06-28

From 2010-06-28

Hopefully it's short lived

5 out of the past 7 days Kinsley's sleeping patterns have been way off. She wakes up around 11 pm screaming and the only way I can calm her is by giving her a bottle. I was trying to just get her back to sleep because I don't want her to get in the habbit of waking up to drink a bottle, but after attempting to rock, bounce, walk around with, it was the only way. On top of that, she's been waking around 6 am which is also unusual. She goes back to sleep, but it's not like her normal 11-12 hour sleep pattern. She has slept all night since around 4 month so it has me wondering why??? Why is she waking up again?

My thoughts:

1) She is not eating enough during the day to fill her up through the night
2) She is overly tired by our "going" during the day. We are always on the go trying to keep the twins entertained.
3) Hot/Cold?? (I try and keep it the same temp. in the house so doubt this one)
4) Night Terrors
5) Can't breath well

I am going to try today to feed her more "food" and see if this helps. She loves her bottle and had much rather have a bottle than food but maybe it's just not satisfying her anymore. Any other suggestions??