So Grateful

I've gotten connected with this blog through several friends which is following a family from the Midwest.  They are referred to as the Mckfamily and the mom is the blogger.  This family includes four small children, the youngest, Stellen is exactly one month younger than Hannah and since being in utero, has defied the odds of life.  His parents were advise multiple times to terminate the pregnancy, and then no to expect their baby to even be born alive.  Despite the grim odds, Stellen's parents followed the pregnancy through and Stellen was born healthy and "cured" of his heart ailment.  This family is very religious as are many of the blog followers.  During the pregnancy, MckMama kept her blog updated and people from literally around the world sent well wishes and prayers.  

Five month later, baby Stellen is back in the hospital and his heart is again quite ill.  It is quite tough to read the daily updates, but also so hopefully and reassuring to see the support for this precious little baby and his family.  People from around the world are reading this blog and praying and have embraced this little one.  It is AMAZING and a true testament that the human race is not all selfish and bad.

This little boy also makes me think about how truly blessed I am to have a HEALTHY LITTLE GIRL and how precious every moment is with her.  She and baby Stellen are only one month apart.  The doctors thought he was "cured" of his heart ailment, and then one routine albuterol treatment trigger this illness.  Only God knows what our paths will be.  In one moment we are blessed with happiness, and then the next we face a major challenge.  We must hold tight to our loved ones, support those who need it and be thankful to be experiencing life.

Please visit MckMama's blog to learn more and to pray for her family.  It is sometimes difficult to read, but it is an amazing story of strength and belief in a much higher power than us.

www.mycharmingkids.net

Becoming Independent

How could this have happened so fast??  I know it is only sitting unassisted and holder her own bottle and motoring around the room by the rolling method, but these are reminders 0f how fleeting babyhood is!!  In the beginning I felt like I would never have a life beyond nursing.  That my baby would be attached to me 24:7 and not my choice.  Now I feel like I can't hold onto her enough.  I still have A LOT of mommy guilt about leaving her three days a week and going off to work.  Of course she is thriving at daycare.  Miss Social Butterfly even has a "boyfriend" (she and Brady hold hands every day!) and it is evident by her face when you drop her off.  I know I should be relieved to know she love it, but it breaks my heart.  I still find myself making excuses as to why she shouldn't go.  Unfortunately I prove myself wrong every time.  So, I enjoy my full gummy smile and hysterical giggles when I walk in the door.  She likes to show off her new skills and laugh at herself.  I really like 6 months old!!  Hannah is such a little person now and I am glad to see her discover new skills.  I just wish we could slow down a little!!!

Six Months and LOTS of Changes.

Busy mommy has been neglecting Hannah's site, but I was able to get a few moment to update everyone on the month.  We had our six month appointment and vaccinations.  Hannah is now 19lbs 11 1/4oz and 26 1/2 " long.  She gained three pounds and two inches since her four month appointment.  

She took her first trip to Florida to visit with her Great Grandparents.  Hannah is a GREAT traveller, even with almost a 4 hour layover in Chicago O'Hare late at night.  Her biggest difficulty was making sure that everyone in the security line, including the security employees were paying attention to her.  For almost the entire 20 mins of this process, Hannah blew raspberries while everyone else laughed.  Momma was trying to hide.  How can this social butterfly be my child?  She also started a new habit of staring people down until they are forced to make eye contact.  Maybe we have "grown her head" a little too big???!!!  

Developmentally, Hannah can now roll over in all directions from stomach to back and back to stomach.  She is real rolling machine.  We never know what position we will find her in the morning.  Rolling from back to tummy was perfected in Florida with the "help" of Great Grampa (she actually could do it herself if he wasn't around.  I think she just wanted to make sure Great Grampa felt useful :) )  Besides rolling, Hannah is also very close to sitting unassisted.  We still use the Boppy pillow around her, just in case, but she is doing so well and can transition from sitting to being on her tummy quite gracefully.  Her pediatrician feels Hannah could be crawling no later than nine months!

Mommy is busy making lots of baby food (actually just cooking and mushing) as Hannah is now eating three "solid" meals daily with a few bottles in between.  She is a GREAT EATER, not much food makes it out of her mouth...but I am sure that you can see that.  Just look at those cheeks!!

Daddy and Momma continue to be so in love with Miss Hanny.  Each day is amazes us.  It is the best feeling to walk in the door after a very long day and she is there with the HUGEST smile and hysterical giggles!!!  What could be better?

Good Things to Come

Life has been so crazy busy lately, that I have neglected this blog.  Sorry to those who check in regularly.  I will have lots of pictures to share soon, from Hannah's first trip to the Sugar House to her first trip to Florida (tomorrow...so EXCITING).  The update will be coming next week, along with all of her six month appointment stats.  Can you believe Miss Hanny has been around for almost a 1/2 a year???  and that Mommy and Daddy I actually proven to be pretty good parents????

5 Months Old

Where does the time go?  I feel like we just brought Hannah home, a tiny 7lbs 7oz and now she is nearly 19lbs.  She is no longer just sleeping and cuddling, but rolling and jumping (assisted of course).  She has begun to eat rice cereal and pureed vegetables and is working on some teeth.  As I begin to pack away the early baby clothes and diapers, I am a bit sad.  The reality that she only spends a speck of time in each stage is bitter sweet.  I have to say I am enjoying this stage a lot.  The silly giggles for what seems like no reason at all.  The babbling that almost sounds like "mama".  Such a sweet natured personality.  I think Daddy and I are finally not waking with every sound and worrying that "something might happen".  It feels more natural for us, though we have many interesting challenge ahead I know.  Thank goodness parenting can be trial and error.  These five months have been some of the most amazing times in my life.  I could have never planned for what has happened, nor every imagine how wonderful it can be to be a parent.  We are truly blessed to have Miss Hanny as a daughter!!

The Goings On....Catch up on Lost Time

We've been extremely busy and into the swing of things.  Miss Hanny is FINALLY over all of her "yucky stuff" (the doctor warned us, but it still is not easy to give a screaming infant a nebulizer treatment, though we figured out the trick to giving amoxicillin without it being spit across the room) and back to daycare and fun time.  We did have a quick follow-up at the pediatrician today, all is well and Mommy was curious about Hannah's weight...we are now 18lbs 4oz....AAAAHHHH.  Will her growing ever slow down?  We started rice cereal since she is no longer satisfied by milk and formula.  Her daycare teachers commented on how cranky she is in the afternoon.  Hannah also tries to share Mommy and Daddy's food too.  So, we tried a little rice, and Hannah is in love. She actually is a pretty neat eater and we are happy to report, the afternoon crankies are gone!!  Today Mommy is making squash, hopefully Miss Hanny will like it.  We'll keep you posted.

Monthly Stats

Our little girl, is not so little.  She has gained almost 3 lbs in two month, weighing a wopping 16lbs 14.5oz and measuring 24.5" long!!!!  Though the doctor is not concerned with her size at all, I wonder if we should be signing up for baby weight watchers???!!!  More to snuggle is a pretty good thing though.  In addition to her monthly well visit, we also stopped by the pediatrician two other times these past two weeks and will back on Sunday.  Miss Hanny has developed a virus which has moved into her chest.  She is now on nebulizer treatment to bring her oxygen levels back to 100% (they are now at 97%).  She a trooper though, smiling, laughing and playing just the same.  Mommy just feels pretty guilty about working and sending her to daycare, though we are not completely sure that she caught this from daycare as Daddy was sick with pneumonia a few days before her cold started.  We will be taking this weekend easy and hopefully Sunday will bring good news!