Visit from her Uncle

My brother is here from California, last time I saw him was over 8 months ago. My parents and him came by on Tuesday night for Pizza...its so great to first see my brother and give him a big hug. It stinks that we can't always hang out because of living in different states.


My brother and me


Yesterday I packed up Cassie and Athena and we went to my parents. Cassie didn't want anything to do with Lee while we were there, if he even made eye contact with her she would shut her eyes and start to whimper...so dramatic! We had some applesauce and Grandma gave her a bottle, we then went for a nice walk. Athena was in high heaven, she got to play ball and was jumping in all the ponds and trying to catch geese. She hasn't had that much activity in a long time. I thought we may have to carry her home!


Cassie in the highchair that I used as a baby


Lee got a little to close for her liking in this pic



Lee came over to our house that night and I made chicken pot pie for dinner. Cassie then decided she really liked her Uncle. She sat next to him on the couch and was pulling his hair, touching his face and was full of squeals and other baby noises. She was in a great mood!!


Athena getting groomed by Lee

A Dream Come True

Those are the words my husband used yesterday as we were on our way home from a fun day out yesterday.


Look closely and you can see her new bottom teeth!

There was the possibility of us never having a family or we could have still been trying to have a family but here we are with our little girl. I remember when we would go out on the weekends and see family's out and about and it would just break my heart...I wanted that SO bad. Seeing pregnant women was also very hard. Yesterday and everyday we are living our dream. We ran to Babies R Us to grab a few items and met some friends at Stir Crazy for some Chinese food -yum. Our friends have a 3 month old, she slept in her car seat the whole time, Cass sat in her high chair and kept throwing all her toys and anything else she could get her hands on off the highchair. I would retrieve it and hand it back to her only to have them chucked again. After a nice lunch we ran to Matt's parents house and hung out there for a couple of hours. It was a nice day with our family...a dream come true.


Mmmmm...Toast

I have been reading such sad blogs lately, Girls trying IVF and it not working or either it working and then loosing the baby, sick babies and babies passing away while in the womb - the pain and loss these poor girls are going thru - please pray for the girls who long for a baby, that they will become a Mommy either thru fertility treatments or adoption..whatever path God leads them down. Also pray for everyone who has a lost a baby or whose babies are sick, my heart breaks for these family's.


Pic from today - just woke from a nappy


Having fun outside


Tried Cottage Cheese today - I think she spit out every curd of cheese and flung them everywhere.

Appointment at Childrens Today

We had an appointment today with our Craniofaical surgeon, growth has greatly narrowed her cleft palate which makes for an easier surgery. He was also all for removing Cassies G-tube...we were very excited about that and made a trip to the Surgery Clinic to see if anyone was available to remove it. They were pretty booked and said a nurse would call us to schedule an appointment. Later in the day Matt talked to the nurse who said the GI doctor wants the tube to remain in till her cleft palate surgery in case she doesn't want to eat. We don't fully agree with this decision and Matt has requested to talk with the GI doctor tomorrow, we'll see how that discussion goes.

I am not looking forward to the cleft surgery, the positive thing about it is it will be the last surgery she has to go thru, however it is not going to be fun. It is going to be SO hard to hand her over to doctors again, especially with how clingy she is to me. I know she is going to be in alot of pain afterwards and she has to wear arm restraints for 3 weeks - that will NOT be fun. I am still trying to get her more receptive to the sippy cup, I am thinking once she is closer to 10 months I may take away a bottle and see is she will drink from her cup then. If she is not totally off her bottle and on sippy cups by the time her surgery rolls around we have to postpone it. She does not seem very interested in her sippy right now and has been getting mad and pushing it away when I try to get her to drink from it. Nothing like a little pressure to get her off the bottle.....and after I worked SO HARD to get her to drink everything from her bottle. It took me 6 months to get her to drink exclusively from that bottle!!! Ok...I have vented :o)

A very appropriate bib!!

This bib is just to cute!!

On another note we were supposed to go to the GI clinic tomorrow to meet with the feeding specialist,however Cass is feeding all by bottle now (no more pump!!) and eats her solids just fine. She has to use a special bottle called The Haberman because she can't create suction as a result of her cleft palate, I found she does really well with a faster flow so I make the hole in the nipple a little big bigger. She is not yet interested in finger food, she just plays with it and throws it off her highchair. In a month if she is not doing finger food then we will go to the clinic to get some tips but I feel like she will eat finger food when she is ready. I talked to the feeding specialist by phone today and she said it sounds like Cassie is doing so great we don't need to see her tomorrow. Yipee!!

Thursday we are going to Childrens Hospital to see her surgeon...we are hoping to have her G-tube removed which would be AWSOME!! They originally wanted to leave it in until her cleft surgery was done but that is months from now. Hopefully we can have it removed Thursday!!!

Weekend Recap

Today will be a no picture post - just recapping our weekend.
Saturday was Matts Grandma's 80th birthday party, we took Cassie to her house to eat some food and visit with family. The last time Grandma Rosella had seen Cassie was when she was in the NICU...so 9 months ago!!! Alot has changed in that time. She screamed bloody murder as soon as we took her out of the car, there were just to many people in her face at first and that freaks her out. It took a while to calm her down but eventually she did calm down. We put her on a blanket and she played with her toys and danced. Yep...she dances now. She will sit on her tush and bounce up and down and move her head around - its so cute. I swear she is copying me when she saw me dance. The neighbors were playing a Michael Jackson song and I was dancing goofy for her...which she loved and since then she has started this dancing move.

Sunday we ran errands and got a call from our friends who were at a Martini bar in town with their baby. It was around 4 so there was no one there and we sat on their outdoor patio with the babies to visit - it was actually quite nice. We felt wierd about bringing her into a bar at first but it is non-smoking and actually very classy. Matts parents met us there also to chat. I had to get Matt going sooner than I would have liked because my head was KILLING me , I thought I was going to loose my cookies. I had to lay down right when I got home and stayed in bed till 8:30, Matt was a great Daddy and took awsome care of Cassie - getting her pjs on, feeding and playing with her and tucking her sassy pants into bed :O)

Day at the park

Today was a play date day, its always nice to get out of the house and meet up with other Mommys. We met with Jessie and Haddy today, Jessie used to be my hair dresser but is now a stay at home Mom. We met at a park and let the girls play on blankets. Poor Haddy kept getting bonked on the head with a "banger" (the yellow toy in the pictures) that Cassie has, but she didn't seem to mind. It was a pretty windy day and Cassie's uncontrollable hair was just blowing in the wind, I think I will need to cut her bangs soon as they are starting to hang in her eyes!

The Girls

The Doctor is SO not her friend right now...

Cassie had her 9 month well baby checkup today. I was holding her in my arms and her doctor walked in, she just stared at him and he knew right away she had stranger anxiety..just from the look on her face. She flipped out and cried/screamed the whole appointment. Her little face was so red and I thought she may make her self throw up because she was crying so hard. (Shes done that before) She is a tiny little girl - in the 20th percentile for weight. (17 lb;2 oz) She doesn't have much of an appetite and has been giving me a hard time when it comes to eating solids these past few days. The doctor looked in her mouth and we see her tooth cutting thru the gums so maybe thats why she wants nothing to do with solids right now. The doctor was trying to tell me some information at the end of the appointment but I could barely hear him through Cassies ear piercing wails. Lord!!

Snoring in Church

Yep, that was my girl. Hey, at least she wasn't crying. She fell asleep in Matts arms and started snoring away during the sermon. The woman in front of us turned around to see where all the racket was coming from and she started laughing when she saw it was from Cass. The last few min. she woke up and I had to stand in back with her because she was getting cranky but she did really well. Afterwards we went out to the mall and to Babies R Us to get Cassie a new toy...like we don't already have enough toys but hey...its fun to buy for her.

On Saturday my parents came over to watch Cassie and we went out to dinner with Matts aunt and uncle. We went to an Italin Restaruant and boy was it yummy!! I had this AWSOME cherry/mozzerlla salad - SO GOOD, Veal and a faboulous chocolate desert.....it was yumms! I Love Italin food. It was nice go get out, have some wine, food and conversation. Thanks Mike and Claudia!

Today Cassie turned 9 months old! She is so darn cute, loves to cuddle and give me big sloppy open mouth kisses (those are the best kind!)shake her head "no" to everything and call for "Ma Ma". Its so much fun to see her personality shine through the older she gets.

Over 9 months ago - Pregnant with Cassie


In the Womb


9 Months ago in Childrens Hospital


She has come along way in 9 months! Happy 9 month b-day Cass!

One day closer to Friday

It was just a nice day spent with my girl today. The dog, myself and Cassie went for a morning walk, mornings are the best part of the day in my opinion. Before we actually start out on the walk the dog hightails it out the door and around the house on a mission to catch a squirrel before they see her coming...she has caught one once, another time she almost caught one but it bit her right in the nose. Cassie had a nice 2 1/2 hour nap today and we have just been hanging out. She sat in her jumper for a while bouncing, bouncing bouncing. Everytime I made eye contact with her she would burst out in giggles. So cute, I am so happy that I am able to stay home with her and not miss a moment of her life. She is now sitting happily at my feet playing with her toys.


Visiting with Great-Grandma on Tuesday


She has Daddys smile!



Yesterday we met Daddy at his office and went out to lunch, it was the first time we have done that since she was born...almost 9 months!! Tomorrow Daddy has a vacation day and we are hanging out all day - can't wait!!

Pics from today - Pretty in Pink

Her FIRST Word!!

I will let you know what it was after I talk about our nice 4th of July weekend. On Friday we went to our friends house, they have a 2 month old, we grilled out cheeseburgers, had chips and dip, tomato salad,watermelon and brownies...yum yum! Afterwards we went for a short walk with the babies and that pretty much ended our day. Later that night is when Cassie said her first word...more on that later.

Asleep on Mommys shoulder after a fun day


After waking from her nap - her hair was a sweaty mess! Wild Woman!


Happy 4th of July!! Isn't she patriotic?




Saturday we went to the bagle shop with Cass and had some breakfast sandwiches, got home and she went down for a nap. After she woke up we headed to the Johnson Creek Outlet Mall, we only bought stuff for her. Before we had her we always bought stuff for us..but that has changed and its so much fun buying for her. We bought her 2 outfits from Carters and an outfit from The Childrens Place. Both Friday and Saturday night Cass was up way past her normal bedtime of 7:00. She had taken later naps in the day so she was up till 9:30 both those nights - happy as can be and not interested in bed what so ever!


Family Picture


Sunday Matt braved the killer mosquitos outside (they are seriously so bad at our house) and mowed the lawn. While Cassie napped I cleaned the house and was able to catch up on my Scrapbooking - I don't want to get to far behind!! Once Cass woke up we went to Culvers for a Pepsi and some cheesey fries. We stopped at the grocery store because I wanted to buy some YoBaby - we'll see how she likes it tomorrow.

Anyways...that was our weekend! Cassie went to bed at a normal time tonight - yipee!

Oh..........the first word Cassie said was "MA-MA"!!!!!!!!!!
Friday Matt was changing her and she kept kicking her legs around, he said he pinned her legs down and thats when she started crying "Ma-Ma". He yelled for me to come in her room, I walked in...she looked at me...and said "Ma-Ma" Oh - it was SO amazing and sweet. Today she was really repeating it alot...especially if she was upset. It is just to cute for words.

4th of July Explosion

.....and I am not talking fireworks, I am talking poop. We were about ready to head out of the house and I could smell Cassie needed to be changed. Went to pull down the pants and plunged my hand into a huge mess. It had leaked out the sides of her diaper and when I "dunked" my hand ,it was up in my finger nails....yuk! Also, I have noticed they always seem to plan a big mess right when your ready to walk out the door. At least it happened at home and not out and about.

Anyways, got her cleaned up and headed to Kohls to get her a 4th of July outfit - it is SO cute. Plus I got a great deal. Saved almost $30 on an outfit and sunglasses! Whoohoo!