Fabulous Fall

What a beautiful weekend we had! The sun was out and it wasn't too cold (certainly wasn't warm either though!). Today we took the girls on a bikeride. Jessica went on her first bike ride ever. She LOVED it! Not a peep out of her the whole way, she was just looking around taking everything in. It was a nice slow ride as Hannah was riding her own bike and she's not the fastest pedaler yet! LOL A nice first ride for Jessi. It's nice having another family activity back!



Yesterday we had company over for the World Series...which ended up being rain delayed, and I'm probably the only one that stayed up late enough to see the end! Go Phillies! Hannah got a battle wound from her little friend Oliver, he's the little guy I used to watch. Apparently they got in a fight over who got to flush the toilet! Hannah definitely lost the battle, she got two good scratches under her left eye. Today she was still talking about how it hurt and she didn't like it!



Aunt Abby and Cousin Cash came over too, Cash got to try out the jumper for the first time!




And a couple other shots...Jessi is starting at an early age with the tv addiction. Hannah was playing boxing on the Wii!

Halloween Party and Snuggles

The girls went to a Halloween party earlier this week. They had fun, especially Hannah who got to load up on sugar! Here are a couple pics of the girls in their party attire:





Last night I captured this picture...I LOVE it! I was putting Hannah to bed and laid Jessi down next to her so I could give her her nighttime hugs and kisses. She asked if baby sister could sleep with her so she could snuggle her! SOOO SWEET!



And a few more random shots:

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Jessica!

Ok, so I have been a total failure at keeping up with my blog. I will blame it on the fact that the girls have been healthy and we have been enjoying life! :)

Jessica celebrated her 1/2 year birthday yesterday...amazing how time flies. We are so happy to have her as part of our family, she's a wonderful addition. Hannah still is the best big sister ever, couldn't ask for more!



So...what has happened in the past 2 months? Hmmm...we FINALLY got to go camping. We went to the coast for 2 nights, my parents came along. It was great, wonderful weather and relaxing. Hannah had a blast at the beach and riding her bike around the campground. Jessi loved getting to be outside all day. She even passed out in the hammock for a mid-day snooze.





Hannah has been doing well with her potty training. She still has accidents, but for the most part has things figured out! It's nice having once less bum to have to diaper!

Jessica is getting quite the little personality. She is such a mommy's girl, in fact, I can't really put her down. She won't let anyone else hold her, even if I stand next to her. Oh well...I know it won't last forever. At least she likes me! :) She's a pro at sitting now, and is mastering standing up. She refused to try to crawl or roll over, she would rather be on her feet (just like her sister was!). So, she spends a good part of the day standing at her table playing, or holding on to my hands. I think she will be cruising soon!






We took the girls to the pumpkin patch last weekend. Hannah LOVED it. Her favorite part was the wagon ride. She keeps talking about the horses and how she wants to do it again. Jessi enjoyed herself too...probably because mommy was carrying her the whole time! ;)







We spent the other day last weekend over at Aunt Abby's house helping her get her backyard in. We lucked out and had nice weather for rototilling, raking, digging, etc. It's finally ready to lay the grass seed. Hannah helped pick up rocks and Jessi got to play with Cousin Cash.




I have started watching 2 kids during the day. It's just 2 hours a day, so it's not bad. Emi is 18 months and reminds me so much of Hannah at that age. She has a great vocabulary and I can tell she is going to be a strong willed one! Her baby brother Ben is 3 months old. He's such an easy going baby, it's great! Hannah's having a hard time sharing her toys, but she's gotta learn!

I think that's the update....summer flew by once again. I'm enjoying the cooler weather though and am looking forward to the holidays and getting to see the family.

4 months old...

Wow, I can't believe Jessica is 4 months old today! Where is the time going? We will be celebrating her first birthday before we know it!



This weekend was hot....ridiculously hot. We had the big family golf get-together this weekend at my Uncle's house. We were supposed to camp in our trailer. Well...the girls and I ended up coming home. Poor Jessica just could not get comfortable. She was so miserable from the heat! We stayed most of the day Saturday, then came home to the nice air conditioned house. She immediately calmed down and was much more relaxed once she was able to cool off.

We had fun swimming in the hot tub this afternoon. It was a family affair...that doesn't happen too often when all 4 of us get to do stuff together! Jessica seemed to really enjoy it...it's just like a huge bathtub!





Hannah has been really stringing some good sentences together lately. Luke commented tonight on how well she has been talking. It's not that she has gained more words, she is just figuring out how they are supposed to go together better than before!

My Uncle was wearing this straw hat yesterday, Hannah thought it was a cowboy hat. She kept sort of whispering to my mom, Luke and I that there was a cowboy. (she has had a thing with cowboys for the past year! lol) So, we all went along with it that he was a cowboy. Well..Hannah can never just drop things, she has to think about them for a while. So, while she was off swimming with my mom, she asked my mom a question....my mom told her she needed to go ask my Uncle. So, Hannah got out of the pool, walked over to my Uncle, and as serious as ever asked him, "Where's your horse?!" LOL It was the cutest most hysterical thing ever! Every cowboy needs a horse, right?!

Update on the girls...

Hannah saw the allergist today. We were hoping she may be able to help with all of the issues Hannah has with so many foods. Right now, the only fruit she tolerates is apples. She is not tolerating any vegetables that she will eat at the time. She has been complaining of stomach aches for the past couple months and wakes frequently at night grabbing her stomach and crying out in pain. She have vomited in the middle of the night on a few occassions for no explained reason. She complains during the day of stomach pains as well. Unfortunately, the allergist wasn't much help. She did what she could. She tested her for more food allergies (we had already had some testing done when she was 18 months old which showed an allergy to soy an strawberries). All of the tests came back negative which is good, but also makes things even more perplexing. The allergist thinks we need to make another trip back to Portland to see the GI. She thinks that Hannah has some very valid issues going on that need to be dealt with. She was concerned about her lack of growth over the past 6 months, and said that if her current GI is not going to take things seriously, she thinks we should seek a second opinion. The good thing we got out of the appointment was that Hannah has outgrown her soy allergy.

Now for the good news. Jessica is doing amazingly well. She still vomits bucketloads throughout the day, but it doesn't seem to be bothering her. The Prevacid is doing its job. She is doing fabulous on the Elecare as well, her bowel functions have been normal! She is feeding much better and sleeping better. Overall, she is a much happier baby who finally knows how to smile and laugh. She has discovered toys and is getting close to sitting up on her own (she has for about a minute, but it was in a forward leaning postion). She is extremely clingy and loves her mama....I can't put her down or she cries! But, as long as I am right there with her, she is a happy girl!

Hooray Hannah!

Hannah has not had a pee accident in 6 days now! Woohoo! She is really getting the hang of this whole potty training thing, we are so proud of her! I even got brave today and took her to the mall in panties. We had lunch, then I convinced her to use the potty at the mall (her first public potty experience), then she got to play. We went out to dinner tonight and no accidents then either! I still can't believe she is using the potty! Woohoo!

Here are some pictures from the mall play area...sorry they aren't very good, all I had was my cell phone.

Our New Baby

I just wanted to post these videos because Jessica has came so far since she has switched to Elecare (super hypoallergenic formula). She is such a fun baby to be around now, even though she is stuck to me like velcro! :) It's hard for me to watch the video of her before because it brings back a lot of memories of how miserable she was, and how much pain she was in. She has came a long way in the past 3 weeks, it's truly amazing what feeling good can do for a person.

Jessica Before Elecare
http://s58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/fiestagrill/?action=view¤t=JessicabeforeElecare.flv

Jessica After Elecare
http://s58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/fiestagrill/?action=view¤t=jESSICAAFTEReLECARE.flv

Poor Hannah

We aren't sure what is going on with Hannah. She has been complaining of belly aches for about the past month now, almost every day. She wakes up 2-3 times at night crying that her belly hurts. Well, now in the past week, she has started puking in the middle of the night. :( We can't figure out what it might be. Her diet hasn't changed and neither has anything else that we can think of. She has always been a bad sleeper waking frequently, and maybe she has always had stomach pain and is just now able to tell us. But the puking thing is new. She isn't running a fever and has been perfectly fine during the day other than not really wanting to eat much this past week. Looks like we may be making a trip to the doctor in the near future. :(

Aunt Abby is hired!

Aunt Abby babysat the girls for me today while I went to my dentist appointment. The whole time I was away, I figured she was most likely being tortured by Jessi screaming. Was I wrong! She said Jessi cried for 10-15 minutes, then she went to sleep! She ended up sleeping for 3 hours in her new bouncy chair! She usually only catnaps through the day for 30 minutes at the most! I think this new chair is going to be her new bed!

And, the biggest, happiest baby in the world....Cousin Cash!

Proud Mama

I am one proud mama. Jessi sat by herself for 12 seconds today! She also discovered toys this week and reaches for them and grabs them. She is getting quite strong now that she is feeling good!

And now for my Hannah brag....she has been peeing on the potty the past few days! Go Hannah! She even went on her own this morning without me reminding her...she met me in the hall with her potty with pee in it!


Our girls are growing up quickly!

Hooray!

Today I got some wonderful news! Apria called to tell me that UPS would be delivering 2 cases of Elecare...today! This is the formula that Jessica is on now...and finally tolerating. Our insurance is apparently going to cover it at 100%...I almost had a heart attack! They are sending us 2 cases a month which should be plenty, and if we were paying out of pocket it would cost $420 a month! This is truly a blessing to us!

The girls are doing well, Jessica is smiling much more and laughing quite a bit. She is really becoming quite fond of her daddy and enjoying spending time with him each evening. She is still quite a little cling-on during the day though and doesn't want to be far from mommy ever! Hannah's my little helper and and AWESOME big sister. She is so loving to Jessi, it is so sweet.

And, a proud moment for Hannah...she peed on the potty tonight! Second time this week! Keep up the work Hannah!

New to blogging

I decided to create a blog...this is new to me! Bear with me as I get used to this, I will try to keep up to date on the girls on here!