My Two Girls...

Atlanta!

2009-12-15T23:47:00.000-08:00

Well, we just got home from a week long vacation in Georgia. We flew cross country to visit Luke's family, and it was great! We all had a wonderful time, it's too bad it's so far away. It was great seeing his family again. While there, we went to the Georgia Aquarium, and to the Civil War and Locomotive Museum. Both were great. The girls had fun getting to know their cousins, Ava and Ella. What sweet girls! Can't wait to go back again in a couple years for another visit.

2009-08-22T00:09:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

I had a great Mother's Day! The girls and Luke got me a beautiful Mother's ring that has both girls' names engraved on it, along with their birthstones.

My second gift was that my mom came up and watched the girls so that Luke and I could get the house painted! It was nice having a break from the girls, even though I was working outside I enjoyed it. I am SO glad I no longer have to stare at the awful red that our house used to be. I am really happy with how it turned out. Next weekend we are putting in a new front door, we will have a new house by the time we are done!

Before:

After:

Jessica's 1st Birthday!!

2009-04-18T21:35:00.001-07:00

Our baby girl turned a year old yesterday! We had her party at our house today, I think she had a good time! She got several nice gifts, and had a great time devouring her dairy free cake I made her!

Opening her present from Mom & Dad on her birthday

Playing with her new present

Happy 1st Birthday!

Opening presents at her party

Checking out her birthday cake

Really? My own cake?

I guess I can try a little taste....

Yum!! Guess I'll dive right in!

It's fun to patty cake my cake!
>

Shoveling it in, I really enjoyed it!

2009-04-07T09:52:00.001-07:00

Spring 2009

2009-03-27T21:43:00.001-07:00

Hannah

2009-03-10T23:04:00.000-07:00

Hannah has been going to OT (occupational therapy) for the past month (once a week) to get therapy to try to help with the sensory issues she has been having. Well...I haven't seen much of an improvement at all.

Last Friday, she was evaluated by a developmental/behavioral pediatrician. Another bittersweet day for me, but we came out of the appointment with a diagnosis. Hannah was diagnosed with Anxiety with features of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) and Selective Mutism. She was also diagnosed with a Sleep Disorder. (one thing isn't enough, right?!)

You are probably wondering what the heck all that means! Well, the anxiety is due to a chemical imbalance. Basically, she inherited my anxiety disorder. And while it didn't affect me until I was older, she is getting nailed with anxiety at a very young age. In fact, the doctor said she was the youngest he had ever diagnosed with all these things. He said that since they are cognitive disorders, they generally don't pop up until later...but he said that Hannah is extremely smart and advanced with her cognitive function, and that is why we are seeing it now.

He also saw a component of OCD with her...again something that doesn't usually surface until around age 6-7 years, but something she is definitely dealing with.

The Selective Mutism was something new to me, but after he explained it, it makes sense. She doesn't have this to a very severe degree, but he said if the anxiety isn't treated, she could go full blown with it as she gets older. Basically, it is when a child can be extremely social at home or around people they know, but won't speak to strangers (can you see how this could be an issue when she is school-age?). Hannah instead, acts anxious and makes funny squeaking noises instead of using words around people she knows. If I remind her to use her words, she will to some extent, but it is in a very quiet voice and is usually more baby talk than anything.

The sleep disorder comes from the anxiety and OCD. She has always been a horrible sleeper. It's as if her brain just will not turn off and let her sleep. She is always awake worrying or obsessing over something. Last night, she was up from midnight until 4:45 am. She couldn't sleep because she was having unrealistic fears, and was obsessing about something she had done during the day.

I think we are going to discontinue her OT since we really aren't getting much out of it. She LOVES her therapist, and has finally opened up and is really comfortable with her and talking to her etc. But...we aren't rich and can't pay for something we aren't getting much out of! I have gotten several good ideas to try and implement at home...but they are also things I could have found and done just by searching the internet.

The developmental ped wants her to try Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Basically, it teaches people with these types of disorders how to control themselves when they are feeling anxious or having OCD problems. I am really hoping she will benefit from it. I have no idea how long we are going to have to wait to get her started though, as the therapists are apparently extremely busy. We were planning on holding off on medicating her because we wanted to try therapy first. But....since we don't know how long the wait will be, and she is getting worse by the day, we have decided we are going to put her on meds. All of the research I have read shows that children showed more improvement on a combo of meds and therapy than they did on either meds or therapy alone. The goal would be to eventually get her to the point where she can control her thoughts/actions on her own and not need meds.

Wow! Sorry that turned into a novel. I have had one heck of a week. Everyone in our house is sick, and then we got this diagnosis to top it off. I'm glad we can finally get help now, but it really is hard. You never want anything to be wrong with your child. Wish us luck with the meds...I am really hoping they make a HUGE difference. I love my Hannah so much and it is so hard seeing her not be able to control herself.

Fun with Food!

2009-02-03T13:36:00.000-08:00

Jessica is loving "real" food! She insists on feeding herself and making a huge mess, but that's ok with me...at least she is eating and not puking! I'm trying to be creative with foods, but it's hard since everything seems to have milk and/or soy in it! I did find some "safe" mac & cheese for her...she had so much fun being a big girl! And she got spaghetti one night too and made a good mess! Our little girl is growing up fast!

Hannah's 3!

2009-02-03T13:26:00.000-08:00

Hannah got to have 2 birthday parties this year! The first was on her birthday with just family at Chuck E. Cheese. She had a blast! The second was on Saturday following her birthday with friends and more family. She was spoiled as usual and got tons of Thomas train pieces for her train set. Her theme was Little Einsteins, which she insisted on. I had the hardest time coming up with a cake as none of the bakeries have a Little Einsteins cake! So I ended up ordering an edible picture sheet off the internet and laying it on the cake myself! She was happy with the finished product! Here's some pictures from Hannah's parties:

Jessica had fun at the party as well, she liked the balloons!

Is it Spring?!

2009-01-14T14:58:00.000-08:00

We have been having a BEAUTIFUL week! It has been sunny! Kind of chilly, but nowhere near normal! The girls and I walked to the park on Monday. Here are a few pictures of them at the playground swinging!

And...a couple cute pics of the girls wearing their "Big Sis, Little Sis" shirts!

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-01T09:45:00.000-08:00

Ok, so one of my New Year's resolutions is going to be to TRY to keep up on my blog!

2008 was a great year. We welcomed our second baby girl, Jessica to the family in April. I can't even believe she is already 8 months old! How time flies! Our big girl will be 3 this month! Where has the time gone?

Hannah sure is growing up. She is certainly acting like a 3 year old! Everything is "why" or "how come"? She needs to know EVERYTHING! And she never stops talking...she is quite the chatterbox! She is constantly entertaining her dad and I with the things she comes up with! She will be having a "Little Einsteins" birthday party on Saturday, January 24th (her b-day is the 21st) while her Papa is visiting from Georgia.

Jessica learned to say "Dada" on Christmas day. That was a nice little gift to her dad! It was her first word, and she has enjoyed practicing it! She still is not crawling...but she likes to stand and play and manages to cruise around the furniture...very slowly! She's pretty cautious! We started her on a new medication last week and she has had a significant mood change! She actually smiles and laughs now! Plus she is not clung to me 24/7...I can actually put her down and walk away for a while now without her screaming.

Christmas went well. Hannah made out like a bandit as usual! She asked for horses this year...and boy did she get horses! I'm not sure how many she got in all, but I had to go to Walmart and buy a big plastic tote to keep them all in! She also got a cool spring horse from her Grandma and Grandpa. Jessica had fun eating her presents...she did surprisingly well at opening them too!

Here are some new pictures...enjoy!

And a couple videos...

Jessi "walking"
http://s58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/fiestagrill/?action=view¤t=009-9.flv

And saying "dada"
http://s58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/fiestagrill/?action=view¤t=010-6.flv

Fabulous Fall

2008-10-26T21:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-10-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-08-17T22:26:00.001-07:00

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...

2008-08-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-25T22:57:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-24T16:21:00.001-07:00

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!

2008-07-22T22:02:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-21T21:28:00.000-07:00

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!