and more party pictures

Party pictures

Here are the pictures from the party when grandparents came:)

...more birthday pictures

Finally....birthday pictures

I am finally getting around to posting Savannah's 2nd birthday pictures. These are from the 10th when we were first planning to have her celebration.

Digging out

Wow. We really got alot of snow. The kids think it's great. They had fun digging out this morning with dad. Savannah was a little frightened at first, but ended up having a great time (eating snow especially). They were definitely ready for some hot chocolate and marshmallows when they came in!

Pat-a-cake

Here is a picture of the great birthday present I got from my parents, Todd's parents, and Todd and the kids. I LOVE it! I have been wanting a Kitchen Aid mixer for years. I am going to make a cake this afternoon:-)

Girls' check-ups

Savannah had her 2 year check-up and Bella her 9 month the other day.

Savannah: Savannah's lungs sounded good. This was a relief to hear after that pneumonia. We will go back to the lung doctor this fall more than likely. Savannah is still on the small side but the doctor thought it would be OK to switch her off of whole milk. Yes! We will go back to see the pediatric eye doctor in a year I think. Savannah has some astigmatism/nearsightedness, but it is mild at this point so he did not prescribe glasses last time. They only like to do that for this age if its a little worse I guess. That is fine with me, although she does seem to fall and run into things alot. hmmm As far as the cardiologist, we will go back in 1 year to get her coronary artery anomaly rechecked with an echo. Her pediatrician said we should defnitely go ahead with speech therapy through the school system, and if that isn't enough then she will arrange more intensive private ST down the road.

Isabella: Isabella's lungs sounded good too. It's always wonderful to hear that because I worry alot about their lungs. We will continue monthly Synagis (to protect against RSV) injections. Her trachea seems to finally be firming up as we don't hear her stridor as often anymore. Bella is finally eating (and liking) baby food and cereal. :-) She is growing up fast.

The doctor did notice her head size shot up to the 70%, I think, on the regular kid charts (not adj for prematurity) so she is going to keep an eye on that and make sure it doesn't jump like that again. Her body size is at the bottom of the regular kid charts and about average if you adjust back to 6 months for her prematurity. She is still crying for long periods before night and naps. These things, paired with some other things that I don't want to get in to, are of some concern, so we'll be keeping an eye on her. Mother's instinct tells me everything is ok, but we will say our prayers none the less.

We are going to keep up with her PT to help her reach some milestones. I am really trying to get her to roll to the left from her back to tummy. She can roll the other way across the room and sit up for short periods now. It fun to see her grow and progress. Although she likes to cry, she also loves to smile and squeal. :-)

I promise to get Savannah's birthday pictures up when I have some free time.....

A true 5 year old

Today as we were driving around the lake Isaac and I had a conversation:

Isaac: Are those guys out there ice fishing?

Mom: Yep

Isaac: I can't wait until summer when papa (grandpa) can drive his boat out there

Mom: Maybe you and dad can go fishing with him again

Isaac: Yeah, and maybe we can buy some candy corns too

I was laughing so hard.

A day at the spa and sitting tall

Isabella can now sit up for 1 minute with some balancing help. Physical therapy is going great. She can roll in one direction too- we are working on the other way:) It is hard to believe she is 9 months old this month. Where has the time gone?

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY SAVANNAH!!

I can't belive Savannah is 2 today. Here are some current pictures, and then some looking back. She has come a long way from that oxygen tank and incubator. She is a little princess for sure. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweetheart.

Winter crazies and toe touching

Is it just me or is this winter dragging on forever? I think we have the winter crazies in our house.

Isabella found her toes. Margaret, her physical therapist, will be happy:)

Screaming, screaming, and more screaming

I am not sure why at almost 9 months old Isabella is STILL screaming when laying down, but I am about ready to pull my hair out. She still has not learned to sleep thru the night, or go to sleep without screaming for no end. I don't know if it's just her "preemie" thing where she can't be soothed or what. She sleeps maybe 1 hour all day on a good day. When I lay her down she just screams. We have been trying the "crying it out" thing for a few months now and the "crying" periods have not gotten any shorter. She could cry for well over an hour, or hours if I let her probably. I usually let her go for 1/2 hour now and then I just can't stand it any longer. Her reflux meds seem to be ok, so I am thinking it's not that??? I don't know if it's just sensory issues or what. At night, it's the same thing. She is better at sleeping some longer stretches at night, but God forbid she wake up~ it's just more screaming then for who knows how long. Last night Todd fed her twice during the night to get her calmed down. I really thought she'd be sleeping better when I decided to go back to school. What was I thinking? agghhh

Bella started a runny nose the other day. She's started coughing a little now too, so I am hoping it is not the same thing that caused Savannah and Isaac's pneumonia. Pins and needles.

Savannah will be 2 on Monday. She sure is growing up. We were going to have a small party today with grandparents, but everyone was sick with colds, so we postponed till next weekend. We can't be having any more germs come into the house. I had already ordered a Hello Kitty cake for her, so we had to go pick that up. We dug into it today. I'm sure my blood sugar loved that;-) I will post some pictures by Monday. Savannah was so excited. She just kept saying, "my, my."

Stay warm and thanks for checking the site! Will the temp ever get above 0 again?? I am starting to wonder....

Pneumonia Round 2

Savannah has pneumonia now too. She is on day #6 of fever, so I brought her back like they told me to on Wed. She has a spot on her right lung with some pneumonia so we are adding antibiotics. We are still continuing the nebulizers. Isaac seems to be doing better. He still has a nasty cough but is back to his spunky self;-) Still no signs of it in the baby. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

Isabella's nurse came out today and gave her the monthly dose of Synagis for RSV protection. She is bigger now, so had to get it in 2 shots. She didn't like us too much after that, but took a nice nap.