2010 In Review

As I sit here on NYE with my love, I can't help but think what 2010 was like for us. I love the song "Happy Christmas" and the lyrics "So this is Christmas, another year over and a new one just begun....." As we put 2010 behind us with all of the memories we have created, we are able to look ahead into 2011 with a positive attitude and the expectations that 2011 will rock our socks.

In 2 months we will be celebrating the birth of Natalia that happened a year ago. I can't believe that our sweet bundle of joy slipped into this world almost a year ago. I get misty eyed when friends bring up this joyous event that we will be celebrating soon, but they are so very happy tears. I don't know what our live would be like without Natalia. Sure I do, our living room would be clutter free, our counter space would appear larger than what it is, our dining room would not have a Sesame Street floor mat, and we would not be sitting in on NYE in our house. I wouldn't trade any of that in. I love that I have to constantly pick up hand fulls of plastic balls that she has thrown about the room (sure I might grumble under my breath about every one of them) and I hate that I can never find the ONE duck that belongs with his family, and that I always manage to step on Buzz Lightyear's foot! This just simply means we have a healthy, precious baby in our home and with that I am very thankful! Have a look at the dolly----




She is a character and she knows it! She is working so hard on those top teeth. They are just taking their time coming in, and for pete's sake, after a few months you would think they would be in. This girl is a trooper though to deal with them. She has her "off" time at night, and cries and all I can do is hug her and pray harder that they will just pop through already!

Dan and I moved into our first HOME in October and 2 months later we have most certainly made this house a home. We are not fully unpacked and won't be for a while, but the important stuff has been placed in it's proper locations. There is a few updates we have made and it's so rewarding to see the after math of a big project.

Night night for now. More in 2011! I promise!! :)

MAJOR UPDATES

WOW! I have become the worst blogger ever. So much has happened since the last post in July! So, let me get to it.

August--- Natalia turned 1/2 a year old. That was a bitter sweet celebration. She is so full of life and I am so happy to say she is my daughter.



September-- Nothing major happened. We were in the process of buying a house and that ended up taking a lot longer than anyone thought possible.

October--- We OWN a house now!!!!! We moved in on Sweetest Day, so Dan thinks that will be my gift for the next 20 years. :) He he. Natalia now says "Dada" and has her two bottom teeth. I know you want to see what she looks like now, so I will post a few pictures. She is going to be a flower for Halloween.

I will try to keep up more with this blog, considering family and friends far away like to know what is going on with our family.

Love to all!!!

A Tad Bit Behind.....

So, when my friend kari said that I needed to update my blog, she wasn't kidding. Well, I will share a tad bit about Natalia (pictures will have to wait until tomorrow) and then I am going to share a story about life and death.

Natalia is 4.5 months old! I am so scared to blink anymore. She will be entering preschool before I know it!! She weighed 11 lbs 12 oz at her last check up and was 25 inches long. She is doing fantastic. I was anticipating her wonderful doctor to say to start cereal and that's it. But, because Natalia is on the tiny side, she said we could start fruits and veggies. Well, it took about a week or so for Natalia to figure out what to do, and now she loves her breakfast and dinner. She LOVES squash and isn't to sure about the fruit yet. Which is very odd to me. Normally it's the other way around. As long as she eats something I am happy. When I give her squash she is very petiete demanding about how fast I feed it to her. I would NEVER let her lick the container if she is still hungry! What kind of mother do you think I am. Don't answer that! We have been blessed with a baby that likes to sleep at night and take 2-3 short naps during the day. She is almost always happy, unless she is tired or it is near 7 PM and that is when she turns into a witch!! None the less, we love you Natalia.

Ok,so now onto my story.

My friend had a baby on July 4th!! and I was up visiting her on the 5th. The small details won't seem important to you, but they are what makes the story. I had went up alone--Dan and Natalia stayed in the waiting area. I was so darn excited to hold a new born baby that I forgot her gift on the seat next to Dan. I was up in her room for about 20 minutes or so then I decided I should go only because Dan was with Natalia and she gets crabby around her nap times. So, I ran back to the lobby and got the gift, ran back up to the 3rd floor and then delivered the gift. (Note: I didn't actually run, I took an elevator that took it's time going from floor to floor.) I then took Natalia to get a diaper change and went back to the waiting area. Then, Dan went to the bathroom. Then, IT WAS FINALLY MY TURN!!!! As I was washing my hands I was sort of listening to a conversation a young lady was having on her phone. Here is what I could hear:

Young Lady: She had an infection. It spread to her heart. There was nothing they could do. (At this point there are tears streaming down her face. I can put 2 and 2 together.......)

Me: Do you need a hug?

Young Lady: Yes please!!!!

As we are hugging- we are talking/crying-- (Her) My mama,she is gone! (Me) Oh sweetheart! I know this is going to be a rough time for you. Can I pray for you!?

I said a prayer for her in the bathroom with tears streaming down my face. I am a Christian but have never done anything out of the ordinary for my character. This was the first time in my life since I have been saved that I finally felt Christ talking to me, and asking me to be there for this young lady. I walked out of that bathroom as a changed person!

It was a bittersweet moment. First celebrating a life that was just brought into this world, then only moments later mourning the loss of someone's mother.

God is so good!

Blessings,

One Year Ago

One year ago today I took this picture......

And now I can post a picture that looks like this, because after all she is almost 4 months old! Yes, my precious 5 lb 14 oz. baby is now topping the charts at around 11 pounds. She has some how managed to outgrow size 1 diapers already (her thighs are a little thick.....)



Her "twigy" arms as Dan calls them are doing a wonderful job supporting her during tummy time which she has grown to not mind as much just as long as it's not for an extended amount of time.

It has been a wonderful blessing being able to watch her grow and develop this little personality!! See here.......








Bye for now,
Beth

Part 2 of Scariest Moment of My Life....

I apologise for the delay in this post. Now I don't even remember where Dan left off. Oh yes, complications. After they discharged Natalia from the hospital on Mother's Day, we came home in hopes she would start to drink her bottle again and things would be back to normal. But, that was not the cast at all. She had bruised the inside of her mouth pretty bad,and in turn she wanted nothing to do with a bottle. So, at 8 PM that same day, we went back to the hospital and after monitoring her and drawing blood and getting an IV put into her tiny little vein, she was readmitted to the hospital. She was getting fluid via the IV but was still having a hard time drinking from the bottle. Monday she was making a little bit of progress and by Tuesday she was back to her drinking self. So, Tuesday afternoon we were released to head home!!!!! Yippie. She was still having trouble sucking, but nothing like before. She had a doctor appointment just for a follow up with one of her paediatricians. He checked her over and she got a clean bill of health. He weighed her and she had gained a bit back but not much. He asked how much she was taking in the bottle and then he said something that stung my heart, "You are starving her." She was taking a 4 oz bottle and drinking it dry. I thought this was great, but he said we need to offer more in her bottle and she needs to leave about 1/2 an oz. to an oz. to know that she is fully satisfied. So, now our twiggy baby takes about 5.5 oz at each feeding. I am looking forward to her 4 month check up! Oh my word, did I just say 4 month check up!?! 4 months!!! How did that happen?? My baby is getting so big. I will post pictures soon. Bye for now.








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Scariest Experience of My Life!!

Yesterday was Beth's first Mother's Day. I'm pretty sure it is a Mother's Day she will NEVER forget. Oh her hubby was responsible for the unforgettable memories, alright. They just weren't the unforgettable kind she was probably looking for.

The ideal wakeup:
"Honey, breakfast is ready. Natalia and I made you a delicious assortment."

The actual wakeup:
Natalia: blood curdling scream
Dan: "CALL 911!!"

Sunday morning I got up at 4:30 to feed Natalia (she took her whole bottle, which was good because she hasn't been doing that lately since she had a minor viral infection) and then put her back down. I got up again around 7:30 to feed her before making breakfast for Beth. This time Natalia only took 2.5 ounces. That was fine. I figured I'd put her in the bouncy seat and get breakfast started and then try giving her the rest of the bottle. So I put her in the seat, strapped her in and set it on the kitchen counter as we had done many times before. However this time the counter was crowded so it was overhanging the edge a little, but I THOUGHT it was stable enough for a few seconds while I cleared off more room so that I could get it on the rest of the way. This was the biggest mistake of my life.

No sooner did I turn to move a bag than the seat tipped off the counter with Natalia in it. Did I see it falling out of the corner of my eye? Did I hear it crash to the floor? Did I hear Natalia scream? I still don't know...It was such a blur. All I know is that a million things went through my mind at once. I screamed for Beth to call 911. The "Falls from more than twice their height can be fatal" from our Baby Safety class last fall kept running through my mind. I kept thinking about her soft little skull and her delicate brain within it. "Is my baby going to die because I was stupid?" "Is she going to have brain damage?" "WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO HER??"

Well, God was watching over her and protecting her. The ambulance arrived so quickly. The E.R. staff was so good with her. After X-Rays and a CT Scan everything checked out fine. All she ended up with was a minor abrasion on her upper gum, and a small scrape on her chin.

This meant she was going to be OK. PRAISE THE LORD, HALLELUJAH!!!

Unfortunately it did have complications, but I will let Beth continue.


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Smiles, Coos, and so much more....

Well it has been quite sometime since I was last here. Sorry about that! Natalia, Natalia, Natalia. Where do I begin with this precious babe..... She is just about 11 weeks old. I can't believe that at all! My baby, sweet, 5 lb 14 oz Natalia is now over 9 lbs and out growing her new born clothes. Sure this makes me sad, but it makes me so happy to know that her dad and I are doing something right to help her grown into this little person. She is all about smiles and cooing especially when she is clothed naked of all things!!!!! Haha. She is reverting back to her time in the womb. I could literally be having the worst day ever and then she will look at me and coo or smile and then my day gets so much better. Gosh, I love her!! "The talk" about having another one came up already. We both agree that once she is potty trained we will entertain the idea of having another. I think she might be very easy to potty train. As of right now, she does not HATES being wet, so if she wets her undies, she will soon catch on. Oh, I really hope it is that easy.

She is still not doing well with tummy time. Sure I make her lay on her tummy for odd number of minutes, but she screams and I just have learned that it is OK for her to be unhappy for a bit if it means she is going to benefit from it. She has got to work on head control.

Ok. I am going to end this for now......Toodles!




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