And Now You Are Three

I remember your tiny catlike cry and the beautiful black orbs that were your eyes. I remember kissing your tiny forehead as the NICU nurse whisked you away to your new home. I fell fast asleep and when I awoke I reached down to feel my belly only to realize that you were no longer there. I turned to my side and found a pink picture frame with a crown on it that said "Princess" and there in the frame was my very first picture of you. You were the tiniest baby I had ever seen, you looked so fragile and helpless that it broke my heart. I wanted more than anything to see you, to hold and comfort you, but most of all I just wanted to know that you were going to make it - that you were going to be okay.

The following weeks were some of the hardest of my life. I would awake in the night as all new mothers do, but for all the wrong reasons. I would wake up to check on you and as I walked into your nursery I would find nothing but an empty crib. I would sit in the rocking chair alone and think about you and what it would be like to have you home. A piece of me was missing without you there. I would call the night shift nurses and they would assure me that you were fast asleep and in good hands.

As the days went on, we grew strong together, but each night when I left the NICU to head home, I would look back twice with tears in my eyes wishing that we could be together, but knowing that you were where you needed to be.

Twenty-five days later you were finally home for the first time, and I was finally whole again. Each day I watched as you grew, learned new things, and became the daughter I always hoped I would have.

Today, you are a very active, opinionated, and funny toddler. When I watch the way you play and interact with others, it's hard to believe that just three years ago you were that tiny and helpless baby fighting for your life.

You love to sing and dance. You will be starting ballet lessons this weekend and I can't wait to see how it goes! You love to help in the garden, play in the sandbox, and make your baby brother laugh. Whenever I'm down you know just how to make me smile. You like to come out of your room every five minutes at nap and/or bed time and make up crazy excuses for why you can't sleep, and even though it makes me crazy sometimes, it still puts a smile on my face when I look back on it.

In just three years we've gone from incubators, to cribs, to toddler beds, to a "big girl bed". You've grown from a tiny 3lb miracle to a tall and strong 3 year old girl. And each day, I love you more than the day before.

"Campout" Wordless Wednesday

Gracie wanted to have a campout in her sleeping bag in her room...this is how I found her 20 minutes after tucking her in.

Time Out

Gracie is going through a phase where she feels the need to test her boundaries. I knew it was coming but I wasn't really prepared as well as I had hoped to be. She is finally fully potty trained during the day and only in a pull-up at night.

Well, Joe put her in a time out the other day and here's how the conversation went:

Joe: Time out!

Gracie: I.DON'T.WANT.TO.

Joe: (picks her up to put her in the timeout chair) Grace, daddy said 'time out'.

Gracie: and I said NO.TIME.OUT.

Joe: Grace, what happens when you don't listen to daddy?

Gracie: I POOP!

Joe: You what????

Gracie: I POOP

Joe: No Grace, you get a time out when you don't listen to daddy

Gracie, Five minutes later (from the timeout chair): DADDDDDDDY I POOOOOOOOPED!!!

Yes...she decided that she was mad that she was in time out so she pooped in her underwear in the timeout chair. Two is a lovely age isn't it? It honestly took everything I had not to bust out laughing...but I didn't want him mad a me too so I just kept it to myself!

Now that takes gall

I may have mentioned that two weeks ago I took a trip to the doctor when I suddenly was vomiting, had excrutiating pain up under my rib cage and had a fever of 102. Well, turns out that I had gall stones (or at least that was their guess at the time). They told me the earliest they could do the ultrasound was the following Friday. Well, I made it to Wednesday and the pain got even worse, fever spiked up again, and I headed back to the office to get checked out again. To my surprise, they were able to squeeze me in for an emergency ultrasound which showed that I no longer had gall stones. They had passed and were visible traveling out of my gall bladder. The doctor told me I wouldn't need surgery and that the stones would break down on their own. Of course, I was psyched because this meant no surgery.

What's the catch you ask? I have been placed on a fat-free, taste-free diet. I am not to have more than 4 grams of fat per meal or 15-20 grams of fat per day. I cannot eat any dairy products, red meat, or eggs. I've been trying to lose weight for a long time now just by eat less and exercising more but I've been stuck at a standstill for quite some time. Apparently this crazy diet is just what I needed. Since TWO weeks ago when I first got diagnosed with the stones and asked to follow this diet, I've lost 12 pounds! I'm totally amazed (and craving a cheeseburger like you wouldn't believe).

I'm hoping this diet isn't a permanent thing though, because this no dairy, eggs, meat thing is starting to get old already. I feel like I eat the same things over and over again. If anybody has some good recipes that leave out meat, eggs, and other dairy please let me know!

Few and Far Between

I greatly miss blogging, and these days it seems my posts are few and far between. Life as a mom of two is busy. Working two jobs and 60+ hours a week leaves me with little time to do what I love the most.

This past week I've been planning Gracie's 3rd birthday party. She has decided on a farm theme, and I'll be making her a "Barn" birthday cake with animal cupcakes (sheep, pigs, cows, and chicks). She is thrilled and can't wait for August 29th to arrive so she can have her party and be "a big three year old".

Carter is growing by the minute (seriously) - he's crawling and laughing and starting to talk, it's just so adorable!

I am not doing so well as of late. I spent most of Friday at the hospital and found out that I have gall stones and possibly need surgery. I've been on a very strict diet for days now and it seems no matter what I eat the pain just will not quit. I've been on antibiotics for five days and still have a fever, so I'm heading back to the doctor in the morning for more tests. Hopefully I'll have some solid answers by the end of tomorrow.

200 - Really?

Wow... my 200th post. Who knew?

First, I want to say thank you to those of you who went out and purchased items from my etsy store or emailed me with custom orders. I am SO thankful and grateful for your help.

Second - I'd like to shared some new pics with everyone since it's been a while!

Gracie got this fairy outfit at our church fair as her special gift for finishing potty training:


Carter - He'll be 8 months old next week...can you believe it?



Gracie teaching Carter how to crawl:


These two amaze me more and more each day. I'm so blessed to have such wonderfully amazing children!

Sadly I don't have anything exciting to say about myself. I'm still working on losing this baby weight, playing World of Warcraft, and knitting my spare time away. Spare time...hahaha.

Stay tuned...I'm brainstorming something exciting for tomorrow's post.

Rain Rain Go Away

We've been in an endless cycle of rain for the past two weeks. My garden is drowning and my kids are cranky from being cooped up in the house. It's been in the mid 60's to low 70's with no hope for improvement. Today we had rain again but as I was leaving work the sun poked out and stayed out for about an hour and the kids were able to get outside for a little bit.

Unfortunately in the hour that we were outside Gracie managed to get stung by a bee and her entire hand is now swollen. I swear it has been one injury/illness after another with my kids lately. I really think that some nice summer weather would do us a bit of good.

I'm looking forward to a short week at work this week and spending some time with family and friends this weekend. I spent the past few days posting some things for sale on my etsy store and tonight I'll be finishing up a twilight inspired mitten/hat set to put up for sale.

I'm hoping to use the money that comes in from my etsy store to pay off some of Carter's medical bills from the NICU, the apnea monitor, and his stay in the hospital with Pneumonia. We are going through a very rough time financially right now, so every little bit helps!