You made your way into this world exactly 8 months ago today.
Happy Birthday Angel!

It’s been too long! We’re already into 2010 and one of my commitments is to blog more often…even if it’s just a sentence or two! Let’s see, a lot has happened since the last blog entry.

Thanksgiving – Jeremy, Stacey, Grant, and Molly drove down from Iowa. The dads went to the Dallas Cowboys game on Thanksgiving day. The girls and Grant decided to do a little tailgating with them so you can officially say you’ve been tailgating!

Christmas – You took your first flight (outside the womb) to Iowa. You had a 10 minute crying fit (you were just absolutely exhausted) on the way home, but even with that, you did great on the plane! You got lots of good gifts from your grandparents and got to see your first snow. Ironically enough, it actually snowed more at home in Dallas than it did in Iowa! It’s was Texas’ first snowy Christmas in 30 something years…and we missed it!

New Years – very sadly, your great-grandfather (Daddy Dann) passed away on New Year’s Day. He lived a long, healthy, happy 90 years, of which he spent 66 years married to the love of his life, Mama Lou. Luckily, you were able to see him quite a few times since you were born in May. We have a couple of great moments of the two of you captured on video and picture. Cherish them always.

Milestones – you’ve accomplished quite a bit since the last time I wrote. Though you are not crawling quite yet, you are definitely mobile. You are able to get up on your knees and rock back and forth so it won’t be long til you are actually moving on all fours. In the meantime, you’ve mastered the art of the belly crawl…you can spin a full 360 using just your arms and you can move your legs enough to make strides across the room. It’s only a matter of time til all of our lives change forever.

Your hair is ridiculously long. Your bows and barrettes have begun to serve the purpose of function, not just fashion. You are growing like a weed and are already into 12 month pajamas! Most of your onesies and shirts are 9 – 12 months. It’s absolutely amazing how much and how fast you’ve matured!

Your motor skills are developing nicely. You can grip things and use your hands/fingers with more precise purpose now. You are sooooo curious (or as the girls at daycare say, nosey). You constantly have to know what’s going on around you and are constantly taking in your surroundings. I sometimes think your neck can turn a full 360 degrees!

You have four teeth now! The two bottom ones came in first, almost at the same time, and then your top left broke through. The top right was soon to follow and just recently broke the skin. You’ve become much more vocal in recent days. You make this really cute hissing noise, mostly when you are smiling or happy. You’ve also learned to let out a little yelp when you want attention and you are known for just chatting away when you are bored.

About a month ago you ventured into the land of baby food! Squash was your first taste of something besides formula…and you actually liked it. Since then, you’ve had all kinds of fruits and veggies. You don’t seem a big fan of bananas and peas make you gag. Other than that, you’re much less picky than either me or your father!

We actually moved on to the next step just this week. The ladies at daycare said you were stealing Cheerios off the other kid’s high chairs so I figured we better get you some of your own. We’ve since tried Cherrios and puffs – some sweet and some cheesy. You’ve got the hang of hand to mouth, but the minute those puffs get moist they just stick to your hand so you spend more time passing it from hand to hand than you do eating it. You had juice for the first time today…we started with apple and you sucked it down. Guess that was a hit!

It’s absolutely amazing how much you’ve changed and how fast time has flown by. You are one very lucky little girl…and we are two very blessed parents. Our love for you is simply boundless.

In August of 1998, just 2 short months after I moved to the “Big City”, I decided to adopt a cat for some companionship.  I went down to the local no-kill animal shelter, Operation Kindness, and after spending quite a bit of time in the cat room, became particularly drawn to this one tabby black/grey/brown tabby cat named Jasper.  He was full grown but no one had the exact information on his age or history.  He had simply been left there by his previous owner.    

I filled out the paperwork and took him to my apartment.  He was very timid and seemed a little anxious about all the changes and after hiding under the covers for a few hours decided to come and check things out.  So began our friendship, me & Jasper. 

He moved with me to a new apartment about a year after that, and in September of 2000 I introduced him to the person that would become my future husband…and your future father.  Though he was a little upset at the thought of having to share me with someone else at first, eventually, he warmed up to Brad.  And so began their friendship, Brad & Jasper.

Over the next 10 years, Jasper would become a different cat!  He went from shy and timid to curious and head strong.  He used to hide from strangers but began to embrace their presence.  In the beginning he would sit next to you but not in your lap but eventually his favorite place would be on my lap…especially anytime I had the laptop computer in my lap.  It was a challenge to navigate the computer with him basically sitting on top of it, but we always managed.  I remember just a month or so ago, he would burry his face in the middle of my hands as I would type…the motion of my fingers would rub his little cheeks and make him purr.  His favorite place to sleep at night was at the foot of the bed in between my legs.  All was right with the world when he was there. 

When we brought you home 6 months ago, his little world was turned upside down; though he did much better with all the change than either of us anticipated.  You really started to show an interest in him the past couple of months.  Watching him as he walked across the room.  Reaching out to touch him when he was nearby.  He was actually more accepting of your curious advances than I imagined he would be.  And so began your friendship, you & Jasper.

Unfortnately, that friendship came to a very untimely end.  Jasper had lost quite a bit of weight over the past month or so and went from a spry and happy kitty to lethargic and skinny kitty – he was bascially not eating.  I took him to the vet (Banfield at PetsMart) on Tuesday only to discover he was down from 13 pounds to about 8.5!  It seemed to happen overnight.  They did some testing but couldn’t find anything particular to be the cause.  So we narrowed it down the possibility of a sore tooth and began feeding him canned food, which he ate very little of.

By Saturday morning (yesterday) his situation had worsened so we took him back to Banfield.  It was a horrible experience and they basically said they were not sure what the problem was but they could tell that he was dehydrated.  They pumped some fluids into his skin to hydrate him, force fed him a couple of syringes of food, and sent him on his way. 

By 9pm Saturday night, I was truly worried.  Your dad and I were feeding him and noticed that his breathing was labored and he was particularly lethargic.  I got scared.  We made a couple of phone calls and decided that your father would stay home with you (you were in bed asleep) while I took Jasper to the Emergency Vet Clinic down the street. 

Immediately, the vet there provided an educated assesment.  She was having difficulty hearing his breath sounds at the back of his lungs…especially on the right side.  She let me know that symptom, combined with rapid weight loss, usually indicated something really bad.  I agreed with her suggestion of  a chest X-ray and a few minutes later she showed me the results.  Poor little guy had fluid in his lungs brought on by a mass in his chest.  Kitty cancer. 

I called your father.  We considered all options, and given the fact that he was obviously uncomfortable and had been deteriorating so rapidly, we made the very difficult decision to end his suffering by putting him to sleep.  Your father made a few calls and found someone to come over and stay with you (Thanks Jessie!) and headed up to the clinic to be with me.  

We spent some last minute alone time with Jasper…just holding him and loving him until the vet came in with the medicine.  I made the decision to hold him while she administered the drugs…I wanted him to feel as comfortable and loved as possible.  It was quick and it was painless, and in an instant he was gone.  No more suffering, no more hunger, no more trouble catching his breath…just peace. 

I knew Japser for almost one-third of my life!  For 11 years he brought me joy, comfort, companionship, and love.  I will always remember the good times and I am so thankful he was able to meet you, even though your time together was brief.   

 Though he is gone physically, his memory will continue to live in all of our hearts….for always.

Hailey and Jasper

Maddison and Jasper

You offically have your first tooth comin’ in!  Of the two front bottom teeth, one has broken through and the other is about to.  And the only reason we knew is because we could feel it…not because you’ve been fussy or in pain.  Hopefully this teething thing won’t be too bad.

Oh, and as of this weekend, you are mobile!  That’s right, it’s the end of the world as we know it.  You have mastered the art of the rollover and seem to like to roll multiple times at once.  We put you on your floor mat and the next thing we knew, you had rolled to your right so many times that you were almost all the way to the TV!  We are thankful that you are able to roll all the way over cause Ethan, our friends Dave & Allison’s baby, could only go back to front…which meant many frustrating situations for him and lots of work for his parents.  But there’s no going back now…you are officially on the move!

Just in time for your 6 month birthday on Thursday!

It was one year ago today (November 1st) that we found out we were pregnant!  We said it, “The world will never be the same” but ther’s no way would could have known just how true that statement would prove to be….

Here you are, 5 1/2 months old and just as precious as could be.  You truly are a blessing.  You are so vibrant, curious, cheerful, strong, fun-loving, tender, bright-eyed, amazing, happy…and your smile lights up the room!  We are the luckiest parents in the world.

Unfortuantely, you have been sick for the past 2 weeks.  During that time, you’ve been to the doctor 3 times (about to be a 4th), tested negative for the flu twice, negative for sinus infection once, and all three times your lungs have been clear.  So, what’s going on?  Why do you continue to fight an on/off fever?  Why do you continue to have this pesky cough and nasal drainage?  It’s killing us that you are not back to 100% yet. 

And with the frequency and intensity with which I stress and worry, the first 5 months your life has shaved about 5 days off of mine.  🙂  I have no doubt you will get through this…and be stronger for it in the end.  You’ve proven from day one in the NICU that you are a fighter and one of the strongest little girls we know.

Anyway, just thought we’d share our reflection of this monumental day in our lives with you.  We are both beaming with excitement at the thought of all the wonderment that your future holds.  Here’s to the day that forever changed all three of our lives:  November 1st, 2008.

If we had a dollar for every time someone said “She’s such a good baby”, we’d be rich!

But the truth is, they are absolutely right!  You are almost alwasy happy, you sleep 10-12 hours each night, you are very good natured, and you can pretty much guarantee that if you are crying, there is something wrong.  You truly are one of the best babies we’ve ever known.  And while we are so appreciative and thankful for that, it does have usworried a bit.  We are fearful this is just the calm before the storm and one of these days, probably around the time you become a teenager, we will pay the price.  Time will tell, but for now, we are just going to enjoy it! 

This was your first time to ever stay home from day care.  You’ve been battling the crud for the past couple of days and it finally caught up to you.  They called at 4pm yesterday afternoon to say you had a 100.3 fever and someone had to come pick you up.  Your father was kind enough to work from home today so you were able to get some much needed, peaceful, and uninteruppted rest.

Though your fever had broken and you seemed to be doing a little better, we decided it would be best to go ahead and get you to the doctor.  There is so much scary illness going on right now, namely H1N1 (Swine Flu), and you are still so helpless and fragile that we didn’t want to take any chances.  Luckily your flu test came back negative and your lungs sounded good so we were able to rule out flu and pneumonia.  Best we can tell it’s a viral infection and will have to just run it’s course. 

Oh, and to top it all off, you’ve had a raging case of diaper rash for about the past 5 days.  Luckily Dr. Rathkamp gave us a prescription for some fancy cream that should clear you right up.  Unfortunately, the pharmacy has to mix it and it won’t be ready until tomorrow.  Hopefully your poor little cheeks can hold on just one more day!

Even with all of that, you’ve still been good natured and chipper!

You are getting to be such a big girl!  You are on the verge of mastering the rollover.  There’s been a few mornings we’ve come to get you and you are on your tummy.  You move a lot while you sleep so it seems you get up against the bumper, push off, and end up on your tummy.  You’ve eaten rice cereal a few times and sit in your big girl high chair for that.  You weighed in at 16 lbs and 12 oz at the doctor today.  At this rate, it won’t be long before you are driving and dating!  🙂

We love you sweet baby girl!

Luli and Papaw picked you up from daycare around 3pm on Friday.  We all went to dinner at Pappadeux’s and then turned in for the night.  Since we knew that we’d have a sitter, your father surprised me with an appointment for a couple’s massage at my favorite place…the Spa at the Crescent!  We left the house around 10:00am so we could get to there by 11am for our massage.  It was absolutely wonderful! 

After that we went to Northpark mall for some shopping and lunch, then headed to the hotel.  We went to Hadera & Gigi’s wedding and enjoyed a night out alone.  We got back home around 11am on Sunday and even though we knew you were in great hands…we both really missed you!

After Papaw and Luli left, we put you in your new dress and headed to Jessica & Jose’s wedding.  What a fun time!  It was your first wedding and you did AWESOME!  You got a little fussy right before the ceremony, but once we got out your bottle you did fine.  It was just your way of telling us you were hungry.  Christy & Tina were both loving on you and showing you off….everyone loved you! 

What a fun-filled weekend!

Friday was a rough one.  You woke up with a bad cough and it just went downhill from there.  I called the daycare to check on you and you had a 99 degree fever and were not feeling well.  You ate and took a nap as soon as we got home and when you woke up about 7pm you sounded horrible!  You were, what sounded like, wheezing and your cough was much worse.  We decided it would be better to be safe than sorry, especially since we are in the height of this swine flu epidemic, so we took you to Cook Children’s Urgent Care. 

They diagnosed you with Croup, gave you some oral sterroids, and sent us on our way.  We were all in bed around 11:30pm.  Thankfully, you’ve gotten much better since then and should be 100% better in a few days.  Scary stuff for a first time mom & dad!

It seems like just yesterday we were checking into the hospital!  Your 4 month check up went well – you are in the 50th % for weight (just under 14 lbs), 90th % for height (right at 26″), and 90th for head size (17″!) – that’s so you have room for that super smart brain of yours!  🙂

The doctor said we could start giving you rice cereal so we tried it yesterday.  We mixed it as the directions stated and it was very wattery so we put it in a bottle and went that route.  You didn’t seem to mind it…or even notice it was there but your tummy was pretty big afterwards!  We are going to ease into it with maybe one cereal bottle per day for a bit.

We are so very thankful that you are such a GREAT baby!  Most notably, we are  appreciative of your sleeping habits.  We’ve established a bath, bottle, bed routine that usually has you going down for the night around 9pm.  I usually have to wake you up to feed before I go to work around 6:30am!  And on the weekends…you sleep yourself right through to 8am or 9am!  It’s AWESOME!  We are just going to enjoy it while it lasts…

It’s been a football watchin’ weekend!  Yesterday Dave, Allison, and Ethan came over to watch Iowa State get whooped up on in a horrible loss to Iowa.  Today, we’ve got some friends, Sarah & Collin, coming over to watch the Cowboys beat (hopefully) Tampa Bay!  You wore your Iowa state bib yesterday, the one your Godparents Jeremy & Stacey, bought for you.  And you’ve already got your pink “Future Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader” onsie on for today’s game!

It was 9 years ago today, September 8th, that your dad and I had our first date! 

I answered his personal ad from the internet just before Labor Day weekend and we had sent instant messages and talked on the phone for a week or so after that.  Things were going so well that we decided to meet in person at Chili’s in Addison (off Beltline) after work.  It was a Friday night and when I got there I did not see your dad right away.  All I really had to go on was pictures so I was frantically scanning the crowd for someone who looked like him, with no luck.  So, I sat at an open table at the bar and continued my search. 

About a minute later I saw him…and immediately got butterflies in my tummy!  He was SO tall and SO handsome!  I was instantly attracted to him!  We proceeded to have dinner and great conversation for what seemed like an hour or so.  We didn’t realize how long we had actually been there until they kicked us at midnight because they were closing. 

I was not ready to part ways and wanted the date to continue so I invited Brad to join me at the Flying Saucer just down the road.  I worked at the Corporate offices of the Flying Saucer and had to go there to drop off some flyers…and since it was a bar, I knew they would be open for a couple more hours.  He of course, accepted my offer to continue the date.  🙂

And here we are…9 years later…married with a precious little baby girl.  It’s the stuff dreams are made of!