2 1/2 years old

Posted by Andrew & Jessica on Tuesday Nov 20, 2007 Under Mary Elizabeth
That’s right, Mary Elizabeth is officially 2 1/2 years old today. I am not sure where the time has gone or when she grew up into this little girl she is… but none-the-less it happened.

She may not go on the potty yet but she’s up to a lot of things….
She pretty much knows her colors, she knows some of her letters too- especially the letter M (ya know for Mommy and Mary Elizabeth!). She can string beads or make a pasta necklace well, follows directions and understands concepts like first we do this and then we do that. Her evaluations put her more towards a 3-year old level developmentally (despite speech/eating). She is a petite little thing weight approx 25 lbs and is 31 3/4 inches. She loves to play with her Mr. Potato Head, do craft projects with Grandma, bathe/dress her dolls and cuddle them, she likes to pretend to suction Mommy and put gauze on her belly (stuff we have to do to her), her favorite foods are ice cream, whip cream, chocolate, lolipops- oh wait that’s not really food- um peas, corn, soup, rice, pasta & meatballs, oh and definitely CHEESE! She seems to like things in multiples of 2 (sing 2 songs, read 2 books, bring 2 dolls in the car etc), She loves to Dance and though she has trouble with her speech she animates the song as if she’s singing, tossing her hands around and mouthing the words. She likes to play the drums with Daddy, she likes to be tickled and to tickle back. When 2 people are hugging, she has to join in and have a group hug. She can be very mushy and gives nuzzles, squeezy hugs, big kisses, and butterfly kisses too if she’s feeling lovely. She’s a toughie when she wants to be, she knows what she wants and can be stubborn- but mostly well behaved. She does expect attention and will get into things if you dare use the phone or ignore her in some way. She is loud when she talks and very expressive so though you may not know what she’s saying- you get the picture. She does use many words and if you are around her long enough you know what she’s saying- some are clearer than others though. When she leaves the house or you are leaving – she says bye about 10 times and blows kisses, just to make sure you know she cares.

She loves animals and thinks all of them want to be hugged & cuddled. She’s a great sleeper, though has a hard time falling asleep- she’ll stay in bed with her books/dolls and she never wants to wake up – the little sleepy head she is! She is very friendly and loves people- though prefers that she come to you -rather than you run to her and bombard her, it’s always on her terms. If she decides to play shy it’s only for about 2 minutes.
She delights everyone she comes across -even waitresses and cashiers when we are out, with her charm. She loves children and will do anything to join in on some playtime, loves to hold hands and run around with kids.
She does not like it when other kids are fresh or push/hit and will back away, I just don’t think she can understand why they are being that way as she tends to be a lover not a fighter 😉 She also is very compassionate if a person/child is crying, she will be very concerned! As we are in drs offices and hospitals a lot – she points out "boo-boo’s" in concern for those who have them. She loves to bow her head and fold her hand to pray at dinner with the family- she will definitely remind you if you forget!!! She is becoming more well-behaved in church as she goes on it seems and gets excited when we go up for communion and loves to have her Pastor pray over her! Anyway,
I could go on all day, but to know her is to love her and you just have to be around her a lot to appreciate her!

All in All- Andy and I are very blessed with this adorable, beautiful, wonderful child we had. She brings true joy in our lives and I’m sure in many others!

Tags : | 2 comments

Hospitals

Posted by Andrew & Jessica on Thursday Nov 8, 2007 Under Andrew, Mary Elizabeth

It’s hospital time all-around…

Last night I went to the hospital- no worries- just for a hospital tour! I was the only non-first-time mom
there. Kinda weird huh, but I was sent to a higher level NICU hospital
with ME, had no tour or anything and well everything is so different
that it’s almost like I’m experiencing it for the first time. So I had
the tour because I didn’t deliver there before or know where to go/what
to do exactly. It was exciting, and wow under a month away- so surreal.
I
do have to say it brought back memories of when ME was born and some
good memories and not so good ones, a reminder of how very far from
normal things were, ya know. We also visited the NICU area they have
there (without going in though) and I thought about all the moms inside who must be going through
a lot. Anyway, I was glad to be there on tour though- as I’m hopeful that all
will go well this time around and I feel blessed that things have gone well up to this point.

Also last night, Andy’s cousin Christine went into labor and gave birth this morning to baby Owen. He was exactly 2 weeks late so she was pretty anxious to have him. We’re excited to meet him and from the pictures he’s adorable and precious. He came into the world this morning at 8:25am weight 9 1/2 lbs and was 22 inches long. Big beautiful boy! 🙂

Then, on the not so fun side of things- we were at the
hospital in the city today. ME was going for Dental xrays and some dental
work (done while under anesthesia). This is no minor type of dental work. Her teeth were rotting away from the build up that pools under her tongue and the lack of saliva she has due to her condition. It was inevitable she’d have problems and her teeth were rotting, especially on the bottom. So the result was 3 pulled baby teeth, 2 baby root canals, 2 silver caps put on, and some bonding/filling on the top. Basically her top teeth look good and are doing ok, and the bottom were just awful. So 3 in the bottom front are gone, and then one on each side toward the back has a big silver cap. So her bottom row doesn’t look too pretty right now. And while that is sad & unfortunate and makes us upset- we know it’s for the best as we do not want her future teeth compromised. And she could’ve gotten infections and whatnot.
Her dentist is a specialist of course, and he is one of the sweetest Doctors we’ve come across, it was obvious he cared very much about doing his best for Mary Elizabeth. He was happy to report that the xrays showed that her adult teeth are nicely aligned and under the gums so all should be ok for the future with that and that’s what matters.
For now, the only extra step we have is a fluoride rub to put on her teeth twice a week which we will do continually to keep her teeth as healthy as they possibly can be.

That’s pretty much it for hospitals now…. well until baby #2 wants to come out and be welcomed into the world – which is coming soon I’m sure as I’m over 36 weeks pregnant (less than a month left to go!)

Tags : | 2 comments

And the verdict is…

Posted by Andrew & Jessica on Tuesday Oct 23, 2007 Under Mary Elizabeth

Cancelled!

Yep, so our Third attempt at going for her Sclerotherapy/Injection surgery (originally
scheduled for Sept 13th) has been canceled once again. While it appeared
her temp was going down and she’s not showing any other signs of being
sick- we thought for a moment she would still be going… but I
definitely believe God had other plans… here’s how it all went down…

Sunday- came down with fever of 102
Monday- Fever was between 99.4-100.2
Tuesday- Fever was 99.1 (close to normal)

…..until
moments before I was going to take her to the Dr and I felt her body
burning up…. Dr took it at the appointment and it was 102 again.
Obviously we’re not going to get cleared for surgery with that!
(if the fever is still up for 2 more days- they want her back in for
bloodwork/urine analysis etc- to see if there are any infections- otherwise everything looked fine – ears, lungs
clear, no secretions, no strep etc.)

Only an hour had passed til I got home and she didn’t feel very warm at all- temp was back down to about 100.

This surgery wasn’t meant to happen- at least not now,
obviously. Though we wish we knew why… we have to accept it for what it is.

As it stands now we are looking towards scheduling this for late January/early February
to be sure that it does not interfere with labor and delivery of the
new baby and doesn’t happen in the midst of bringing the baby home to
get settled. We are waiting on a more definite date.

Nonetheless, as always- keep her in your prayers. 

Tags : | 3 comments

Prayer Request

Posted by Andrew & Jessica on Sunday Oct 21, 2007 Under Mary Elizabeth

I put Mary Elizabeth to bed last night and even went in to check her in the middle of the night and she was fine, sleeping soundly with no sign of any problem.

I walked in at 8:45am as she was awake lying in bed and upon first glance I knew something was wrong, she looked flushed and a little puffy. Low & Behold she had a temp. Came out of no where, she doesn’t appear to have a cold at all, her secretions are clear and not in abundance etc etc – she’s even acting if nothing is wrong.

Surgery is scheduled for Thursday. We are afraid of a 3rd cancellation. If you are a faith-filled friend/family member or even stranger- please pray that whatever is causing this ends right away.

We do know it’s not up to us, whatever happens is God’s Will but it is hard to swallow for us as the sclerotherapy did help her back in June and we want to keep her on track with her surgeries as it helps her physically and developmentally with many improvements seen. If she cannot have surgery Thursday, I’m afraid she may not have it til sometime in the new year because she needs her recovery time and we can’t chance having her recover in the midst of the baby coming.

Thank you in advance and I of course will post an update by Thursday.

 

Tags : | 4 comments

Preparation

Posted by Andrew & Jessica on Wednesday Oct 17, 2007 Under Andrew, Mary Elizabeth

So now Mary Elizabeth is feeling much better and hopefully it will stay that way so she can have surgery on the 25th. We’ve been keeping her busy as our little helper in preparing for the next baby. Although ME probably thinks we’re lying by now as we’ve been telling her for a long time that she has a new baby coming soon.

Andy & ME put together our new cradle that my mother purchased for us. The old bassinette that was passed down & redone for us to use for ME was great, adorable & special… But it was starting to give-out towards the end. The legs weren’t sturdy and the inside was warping a bit. So it was time to get something new. We thought we’d go with a bassinette again but Andy fell in love with the idea of a cradle and I liked it too.

The weekend that ME’s cousin Evan stayed over we started cleaning out the nursery and moving the crib mattress back up (which Evan got to test out!). So things are coming along in there and ME definitely knows it’s not her room because when you ask her she says no, and then when you ask her about her new room she says yes that it’s her room!

We also went shopping for homecoming outfits and though it was hard for me, being the picky person I can be… we ended up with two perfect outfis. Obviously couldn’t do a dress if it’s a girl like I did for ME, that was a bummer but came up with a very nice/soft outfit. And for the boy went with something cute, cozy and comfy as well.

Here are the pictures:

(Blue velour outfit for the boy with a blue/white stripe undershirt and matching hat, will be adding white booties)

 

(White fuzzy sweater top for the girl with pink bows & ruffly
edges, velour-like pink pants with ruffly edges, matching hat &
booties)

We’re all getting very excited!!!! Can’t wait to meet baby Natalie or baby Andrew 🙂
 

Tags : | 6 comments