End of Summer

Here are some pictures from the summer. There are some more at Flickr.

Crafts with Auntie Sarah, and my sisters and I before my cousins wedding.









The "froggy jump" ride at Toronto Island is all Morgan could talk about since we went two years ago. It lived up to the expectations she had in her head, and she went on it twice with Devin.

There is a playground at our local park that the girls refer to as the "Dinosaur Park"; you can see why. It was all to much for Ella, and she had a lovely snooze while they played.


Tonight is the last night before school starts, so I thought I'd better get a couple of pictures up from the summer before we get back into school routines and hit the ground running. This summer really flew by. It feels like I blinked and its over.

It was a really busy one and a sad one as well; losing Fury. Montreal for the wedding, then both my sisters were here for our cousins' wedding, a trip to Toronto Island, and a whole lot of doctors appointments; not to mention the fact that my tiny baby is now half a year old. How on earth did that happen. I so clearly remember as a child that time dragged on for ever; and now I don't know where the time goes from one week to the next.

I think we are mostly ready to tackle the new year, and I'm just waiting for the registration papers to come from the pre-school for Paige; she starts next I think.

Ella saw the eye doctor last week, and at this time her eyes look great, we just have to make sure to keep her right eye well lubricated. We go back in three months to have the muscles of her eye checked. Next appointment is the ENT next week.

xxoo to all.

We have a diagnosis!

First off, I have lots of pictures to post of the summer, but seem to have no time these days, so I'll get them up soon I hope. Hard to believe that summer is over, and Morgan starts grade one!!! Paige will be going to pre-school, but that starts the following week I believe; I'm waiting for the registration package to arrive.

Ella and I saw the plastic surgeon two weeks ago. Auntie Sarah was able to come which was great for me. It was very helpful to have another pair of ears there. After reviewing all of Ella's test results (the MRI and CT scan) it has been determined that Ella has Moebius syndrome. It is a very rare nerve disorder, that is usually bi-lateral. It is even rarer to have it be unilateral as in Ella's case. The good news is that from what I have been reading, it seems to be quite mild. Moebius syndrome is primarily characterized by absence or underdevelopment of the 6th and 7th cranial nerves. The 7th cranial nerve is the facial nerve, and in Ella's case it is underdeveloped, and it is also unclear as to whether or not it is rooted properly to the brain stem. The 6th cranial nerve doesn't appear to be involved because it controls lateral eye movement, and Ella is able to move her eye from side to side. We are being referred to Sick Kids to the plastics team there. You can read about their work here: www.sickkids.ca/smile-surgery/moebius.asp

There is also some information at the Moebius Syndrome Foundation .
So now we wait some more...Eye doctor is this week; her eye is my main concern (keeping it protected), the we see the ENT, cardiologist for an ECG (no big deal, pediatrician just heard a mild murmur and wants to check), then we see the geneticist. That should be a good appointment as the pediatrician has now told me that my questions are beyond her knowledge.

So, I'll keep digging, although my time on the computer is very limited these days. So if you find anything worth reading, leave a comment and send it our way. Since it is such a rare thing I need all the help I can get in the research department. So now we wait to hear when we go to Sick kids, I'm going to call our plastic surgeon's office here to find out if they've heard back yet. I'll keep you all posted, and get some pictures up soon. On a happy note, she is growing well, eating veggies as well as cereal now, and wanting to crawl, although I've been watching her and she rolls to get where she wants to go. She's a really happy baby.

Well that's it for now, hopefully pictures tomorrow.
Love to all. xxoo

Greys Wild Fury

SEPTEMBER 29, 1995- JULY 25, 2006.

Fury came to us in the summer of 1999; our first summer living in Hamilton. At that time we had only been married for two years; and Fury was our first "baby". Kevin had fallen in love with greyhounds in Montreal. There is a flea market in Hudson that we used to go to on the weekends, and the local rescue would do "meet and greets" there. Fast forward a few years, to our first summer here. We spent the day with Andrew who had taken us to Niagara-on-the-Lake for the day. During the drive we were talking about dogs, and Kevin had said how he would love to have a greyhound. Andrew being Andrew said that he had friends with an ex-racer and why didn't he give them a call to see if we could drop by to see them. It turned out that they were more than happy to let us come by and meet their greyhound; and that day they also had another dog there who hadn't been adopted yet. That was the first time we ever saw Fury. He was skinny (yes more than usual), his coat was awful, and he was terrified. That day we also met Joanne for the first time.I knew Fury was the dog for us. He was such a spook, and it was quite a road.... We used to go up every night after work to walk him so that he'd get used to us. He got to the point where he would be waiting at the screen door for us. Eventually he came for a trial weekend to see how he did with us, especially since we lived in an apartment at the time. Well he never left. When he first came to live with us he spent a lot of time afraid of everything, and would never take cookies from a stranger. That is something that never changed. Actually it took quite a while before he would take treats from us.When we'd had him about six weeks he went to Montreal with us for the first time. My Dad said that there was a cheeky dog under all that spook. It took years for him to come out, but boy was he funny; he could get very silly.Fury was there for the births of our girls, loss of loved ones, buying our house. He put up with devil puppies, and fell in love with Cookie. He survived Tabby, and tolerated Maggie. When Morgan was about six weeks old, I caught his tail in the front door, requiring an emergency trip to the vet, and a very long recovery. When Paige was five weeks old, Morgan caught his tail in our bedroom door, requiring a trip to the emergency vet followed by a visit to our clinic every week for eight weeks. Two winters ago his tail got caught in the patio doors; recovery was shorter that time because I was by now a pro. We did have a little chat in which I told him that if he did it again I'd have it amputated.About a year ago I'd say I looked at him, and said to Kev that he was looking old, he was getting white in the face, and stiff a bit and I watched him more carefully. This spring I started watching even more concerned, and in the last few weeks it became apparent that he was very ill. Our vet was very supportive through the whole thing, and I can't thank her enough. She sent me a card with this enclosed: http://www.anangelsdestiny.com/pet-memorial-poems.html, get out your tissues if you go and read it. Also AJ whose Golden’s Alice and Toby made me fall even more in love with dogs when I was a very little girl made a donation in Fury’s name here: http://www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/friends_supporters/pet_trust.shtm . Thank you so much.

Fury is buried up at Joanne’s with other greys that went before him, so the girls can go and visit him. He was a wonderful boy, and we will miss him very much.
Xoxo



Cookie and Fury, November 2005.

Here is Paige driving her bus tent, and Ella in her highchair for the first time. Well I think I'm mostly caught up now with picures, and will try to post some other ones to flickr as well. 

Paige's Princess cake

 

Here is Morgan with Uncle Brian in the temple after the ceremony. Paige is in the background with Grandma. This is the only photo from the wedding I am posting without the bride's permission. 

Stories with Auntie Catherine

 

Paige's Montreal Mouse cake

 

Ella's first cereal

 

Camping

Kevin and Morgan went camping with Devin and Mark on Father's Day weekend and had an awesome time. Here is their campsite. 

Exersaucer

Here is Ella about a month ago, trying out the saucer for the first time. She is an old pro at it now, and really likes it! 

Where to start?

The last few weeks have been crazy.

Paige turned three on the 30th of June. Happy Birthday darling Paigie Pie!!!! It's hard to believe that you are already three years old, the time is going so quickly. We celebrated Paige's birthday a couple of times!! The first was on the actual day in Montreal. We were there for Uncle Brian's wedding, and we spent the day with Grandma, Uncle Brian, Aunt Liane and Ilysa, and Auntie Catherine, and Grampa. We also had a cake for her at Morgan's godfathers. Last weekend we had a backyard princess party at home. I'll post pictures when I take them off the camera.

Uncle Brian's wedding was an awesome experience, and the bride was gorgeous. I have pictures, but won't post them until I have permission from the bride!

Morgan is enjoying summer vacation. We are going to the library once a week, and are reading together every day. Morgan is also reading to me, which is great!

We a saw the pediatrician last week and got the MRI results. Ella does have a facial nerve, but it is very small and underdeveloped. The doctor ordered a CT scan so that they could see the bony structures of her ear a bit better and we went for that yesterday. I wasn't expecting to get an appointment so quickly! There was no general anesthetic this time, but she was sedated for the test. I was with her the whole time. This time was a bit hairier for me than the MRI, but we got through it, and thankfully she will have no memory of all of this. We'll get the results next week, and will then figure out where to go from here.

Today we're having a quiet day, we're all very tired from the last couple of weeks. My next task will be to get some pictures up!

xoxo to all!!

We survived it!

Ella's MRI was yesterday, and we all survived. Thankfully Miss Bean was oblivious to what was happening to her, and will have no memory of it. The nurses were wonderful, and everyone took really good care of her. She handled the anaesthetic well on the whole, and is fully back to normal today.
We tried cereal this morning, and she liked it; more went in than out which is always a good sign.

We should get the MRI results on the 7th when we see the pediatrician. Tomorrow is her hearing test which could be tricky because she has to be asleep for it.

I must run, and get the big girls some more snack (cut up red and yellow peppers, crackers, and salad dressing - yum). Pictures to come soon.
xoxo

Quick Mini-Update

Wow! Life is a whirlwind lately.

We had a great visit with the Aunties, and I do have pictures to post, just not now.

The girls are great. Morgan went on her first camping trip with Daddy, Devin, and Mark. They went overnight Father's Day weekend, and came home tired, dirty, and full of mosquitoe bites; a definite success!!!! Pictures of that to come as well.

Paige can't wait to go on our trip to Montreal, and is so excited about her birthday. We ordered the cake for her party (when we get back). It is Disney Princesses, and will be really pretty I think. She also had her hair trimmed last week which she loves. Our hairdresser always puts pretty ponytail holders in their hair after she's cut it so the girls love it. My turn today, but no pretty ponytail holders for Mums.


Little Miss Ella Bean is rolling now and we put her in the saucer last week for the first time. She loves it. She had her needles yesterday and weighed 11 lbs 5 oz! She's growing like crazy. I got the go-ahead to start cereal which we will do later this week. She is getting hungry.... The big news is that she has her MRI tomorrow morning. Also Friday is her infant hearing test. So all in all a very busy and nerve-wracking week.

I'll update as soon as I get a chance.

Look how she's grown

This picture just flashed by on my screen saver, and I just had to share because I can't believe how much Paige has grown in the last year!!!!

I'll update on other stuff when I get another second sometime this week!
xoxox

Anesthesia consult

Ella and I went to the hospital to speak with the anesthesiologist yesterday. He was very nice and explained what would happen when we go in for the MRI. I won't go into the details but I feel very confident that she will be in very good hands. The whole thing has me quite freaked out to be honest, and I will be glad when it is behind us.

Not much else new, we have a crazy busy weekend. Tomorrow we are going to see the Aunties, and cousins (Elizabeth is the star attraction), so that they can at long last meet little Miss Ella Bean. On Sunday Morgan has two birthday parties; one we are all going to, and the second is for a class mate.

Well I must go, Ella is singing for her supper :).
xxoo


Check out this picture; it's Morgan the summer Paige was born!!!!! So she was 2 1/2 here. What a cutie.

Summer is here

Lynn bought these cool shades for Ella, (my thought was that they would help keep the wind out of her eye). Doesn't she look cool???

Ella update

I got a call last night from the MRI clinic at MacMaster. Actually I was nursing Ella, and wasn't going to answer the phone until I heard the woman on the phone say MRI clinic; boy did I run for that phone. So we go tomorrow morning for her pre-anesthesia consult. I assume they will give me the date for her MRI then. So wish us luck in the morning, I will update when I have news.

This week has been uncharacteristically hot, and we have been sitting at 40C with the humidex all week. It is supposed to break tonight with thunderstorms in the forecast. Poor Fury, but this is horrible heat.


Morgan had a dentist appointment this morning, and she was a star. Her teeth are in great shape! She really enjoyed the fluoride treatment which tasted like chocolate, but her favourite thing was the "spit-sucker" as she calls it.

Not much else new, the girls are terribly cranky in this heat. So is their mother! I've turned on the air, but have it fairly warm during the day since there is no a/c in the van, and I don't want to shock the baby's system too much.

More when I have Ella's appointment date; wish us luck tomorrow.

Morgan has a plan!!!

Morgan has a plan!!!! When she grows up she is going to be a nurse, and she is going to live in Guelph in Devin’s old house. She will have 5 children (all girls), and I will babysit them while she works at the hospital.

I just had to record this. I wonder what she will think of this plan when she’s older. Oh and she just added that she will breastfeed not use a bottle. Her words, not mine.

Xxoo to all.

Parade Day

Yesterday was the Girl Guide/Scout Parade in Hamilton. We dropped Morgan off at the church so that she could go on the bus, and we drove downtown to pick-up Grandma. We then walked down to watch the parade.


Here are Daddy and Morgan at the church before she got on the bus.






Here is Morgan’s Spark unit; I can’t pick her out in this picture though.






Can you find her in this one????





After the parade, the girls went for a picnic. Grandma, Paige, Ella and I walked down to pick her up at the end of the day.

Here’s the gruesome twosome:







And the three musketeers:






While Morgan was at the picnic in the afternoon we went with Grandma to get flowers, so my plan for today is to plant providing that everyone cooperates. :)

For Auntie Sarah

The Easter Bunny (yes I realize how long ago that was) brought the girls some Polly Pocket stuff, and since Auntie Sarah played with it as a child she wanted to see how it has changed:


Here's Daddy putting the house together with the girls.


Here's the house:


And here is all the stuff.

Out of the mouths of babes.....

Wow! It's been ages since I've been able to sit down to post. I have absolutely no time these days. I haven't figured out yet how to type while nursing the baby, so no blogging. She is sleeping in her playpen at the moment though so I am hoping for a few minutes to update.

We went to see the paediatrician last Friday. While we were in the waiting room Paige in her biggest possible voice said: "Mama, is this the grumpy doctor???" Mama replied that no it wasn't the grumpy doctor to which Paige said: "But Mummy, you said she was mean." I could have died!!! Looks like I need to watch what I am saying when I think that little ears aren't listening!!!

The appointment went well though, and the doctor wasn't grumpy or mean, actually she was almost nice to me, and is taking me seriously now. Ella weighed 10 lbs 1 oz!!!! She's getting so big! The doctor said that she was going to call the plastic surgeon to see if she could get some action. Another thing that she mentioned was that she wondered why they weren't planning to do an MRI in the first place. Now I've been calling the surgeon's office every week, not getting anywhere. Her assistant says that she has Ella's papers on her desk and calls the booking department every couple of days..... The other thing was to try and get the appointment with the geneticist booked, which still hasn't happened. Well today I came home from getting Morgan from school to a message on the machine from the surgeon's office. When I called back, her assistant said that the paediatrician had phoned to consult, and that the consensus is that Ella is to have an MRI, and that they would be calling me directly to book but that it could take months. Five minutes later the phone rang and it was the paediatrician herself (which was very awesome of her) phoning to let me know that she had spoken to the actual radiologist and that the appointment would be made within the next month and that I should hear in a couple of weeks; if I don't I am to call her. FINALLY SOME ACTION!!!!!! I know that there is no real emergency, but I would really like to know what we are dealing with.

Morgan and Paige are awesome. They are really enjoying the nice weather and playing outside. Our annual street party was last weekend and they had a great time, especially with the fireworks.

I know that there is more I should be writing about but I am too tired to think straight, hopefully it won't be so long before I get a chance at the computer again.

Morgan's godfather became a Dad for the third time this morning. Welcome to the world!!! Megan Julianna was born at 12:23am (same time as Paige- cool eh?), and weighed 9 lbs 1 oz. Mom and baby doing well reportedly!!! Congratulations you guys, and welcome to the three girl club!!! xxoo

Crazy Life

Life over the past month has been insane to say the least. Everyone in this house (except Ella thankfully) has had an upper respiratory infection of some sort all with high fevers. I got everyone else through it, and thought that I had gotten off scott free until I got sick a little over a week ago. I'm feeling much better now, but still tired and coughing. Although the tiredness could just be due to the three children that reside in our house. :)

Now that the weather has finally warmed up, Morgan and Paige have been spending most of their time outside playing, which is a wonderful thing! Poor Paigie was so worn out tonight that she put herself to bed after her bath while I was bathing Ella, poor muffin. Morgan is having a bit of a difficult week. She got herself grounded from t.v. and playing on the playground at school before and after class due to some very rude behaviour last weekend while we were visiting friends. She actually hasn't asked to watch t.v., but the playground at school is much more difficult especially since Paige can play on it. Drastic times..... Hopefully the lesson will get through this time.

Ella is growing like a weed, and is such a happy baby. She is always grinning (those wonderful gummy grins that make your heart melt), and is very strong. I really have to watch when I am holding her that I always have a hand near her head, not to support it, but because she flings herself backwards and has almost landed on the floor a couple of times. Nothing new on the medical front, although now that we are outside so much I really have to watch her eye. I am playing phone tag with the plastic surgeon's two offices trying to get an answer as to when her CT scan is going to be booked. I would really like to know what we're dealing with.

I have pictures sitting on the camera that I need to upload when I get a second, but those seem to be few and far between these days. This is the first time I've actually sat down today.

Darling Fury is off to the vet with Maggie for needles on Thursday. Fingers and toes crossed for him, he's getting up there in age, and I have a couple of concerns about his health. I'm hoping its nothing and that he is in great shape. The trick with Maggie will be to keep her in that morning...little monster always runs out under the dogs legs.

Alright that's all for now, pictures will go up soon.

xoxo to all,
Tired Mama

Oh Happy Day!

Little Miss Ella Bean slept through the night last night, I can't believe it. She is the first to sleep all night at such an early age. I am not naive enough to think for one second that it will last, but I am so happy that it happened.

Also today I hung my first load of laundry out to dry, spring is in the air. Okay so I'm a bit strange, but it is the little things......

On another note this virus has taken over our house. Morgan and Paige are still not better, although Morgan did make it back to school yesterday after missing three days last week. Dad is now down with it, and home from work. Keeping my fingers crossed that Ella and I keep fighting it.

xxoo to all, HAPPY SPRING!!!!!

Maddison and Ella

Here is a picture of Maddison holding Ella, almost a month ago now!!!! Wow, where is the time going, I'll have to take some new pics because she is growing like a weed. The only problem is I have to get new batteries for the camera, they aren't holding a charge anymore, and I can only take about 5 pictures before the batteries die!!!!!

Cinderella pictures

Cinderella reading a story to the girls:

Princess Ella with Cinderella:


Princess Paige with Cinderella:


Princess Morgan with Cinderella:


Morgan getting her makeup done:


Paige getting her makeup done:


The girls had a wonderful time at the party, and thought Cinderella was awesome (she really was by the way, she sang, played games, and told them a story as well as doing their makeup). Paige has decided that Cinderella needs to come to her birthday party (which she is already in the process of planning).........

Quick Note

Just back from the doctor. Ella weighs 7 lbs 10 oz (little piggy). Doctor was nicer today, although not what I would call warm, she didn't get my hackles up like last time. Ella's chromosomal blood all came back fine as did the other blood test for a virus that I can't pronounce (the one you get from cats). The next thing she wants to do is set up an appointment with a geneticist to see what they have to say. It will probably be the doctor I saw when I had that in depth ultrasound at Mac. Other than that Ella looks great, and I go back in a month. Still waiting for an appointment for the scan. As for her eye, the doctor said to use the ointment instead of tape since her skin is getting irritated.
Before I forget: today was report card day. Morgan is doing really,really well; just some issues with printing and fine motor skills; which really comes as no surprise. Just something we have to keep working on. Other than that she is really doing well!!!!!!!
Off to make dinner. Pictures later.
:)

Update...

Well, Last week went much as the week before! More colds, and more lice….I was beginning to reach the end of my tether, because in the midst of all of that chaos, little Miss Ella Bean hit her six week growth spurt and wanted to nurse constantly.
We did however, all survive!!!! Yesterday was Maddison’s sixth birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDISON), and on Sunday she had her party. It was a princess party, and Cinderella was there!!!!!! I have some awesome pictures of the girls that I will post as soon as I get a minute to download them to my computer, and then upload them to the blog.
This afternoon we are off to the paediatrician, so I will have an update on Ella to post as well.
Two positives: I think we are winning the lice battle (I hope) using tea tree oil and Paige is continuing to be awesome with the potty and is completely trained during the day!!!! HOORAY!!
I’m off for a quick cup of tea; I’ll get those pictures up soon.
xxoo

Of doctors, potties, and life!

Last week was quite the week!

Paige had a horrible cold (actually she still has it, and the rest of us are fighting it), and was extremely miserable. But in the midst of her cold; she has potty trained herself, is wearing “big girl panties” and just a pull-up at night. What a star!!!!!

Ella had a busy week as well. We saw the plastic surgeon on Monday. She is a really nice lady, which was a relief after my great dislike for the paediatrician that we have to see. She told me that Ella’s ear and facial palsy are related, and probably occurred during development. She couldn’t really tell me exactly what is going on though. Ella needs a CT scan to see exactly what is going on. The discouraging thing was that she doesn’t think that it is something that will resolve itself, and that Ella will require surgery when she is older. Also I have to tape her eye shut when she is sleeping so that she doesn’t do any damage to that eye. The only problem is that the tape is really irritating her skin. Any suggestions???? It has to be taped though; she can’t have a patch because the eye-lid itself has to be shut so that her eye doesn’t dry out. So the next step is to wait for a call from the hospital with her appointment. We saw the family doctor on Friday, and Ella weighed 6 lbs 15 oz!!!!! Little piggy is growing very nicely. Also this weekend for the first time Ella looked at me with real recognition, and grinned at me. I totally melted.

In the midst of colds, potty training, doctors appointments, and just plain life; Miss Morgan came home from school with head lice. Now this is a bullet that we have been dodging ever since she started school last year, as the school is full of it. From what I’ve heard, 40% of the school is infested. What a pain!!! Morgan was an absolute star through the whole thing!!!! She is also being such a big help to me with the little ones.

Other than that, I am feeling much better physically, almost back to normal I’d say. I’m just trying to figure out a new routine; and learning to deal with the fact that I can’t get as much done as I used to. Actually I’m doing pretty well with that, as long as everyone is clean, fed and have clean clothes to wear we’re doing well. The vacuuming can wait. I’m hoping maybe the collie will figure out how to use it, since she is the biggest contributor of hair!!!

Well I’m off. It is a beautiful sunny spring morning, and we are off to a slow relaxed start which is kind of nice. Daddy is out of town this week, so it is just us girls. I’ll try to take some pictures of the girls this week.

Xoxo to all.

Quiet Sunday

Just a quick note to say that Morgan and Paige absolutely loved Curious George, and they cannot wait to go to their next movie.
Today for the first time, they had a play date with Devin and Tasha on their own. I dropped them off this morning, and picked them up this afternoon. They had a great time, and Kev and I had some quiet time to ourselves with Miss Ella. We also got some groceries done; which was great. Not something we can do with all three kids at the moment, and I haven’t gone since Ella was born because my incision hasn’t healed enough yet to be hauling groceries around. Many thanks to M and M for taking the girls and giving us a little break. It was much appreciated.
New pictures are up on Flickr now, and I’ll post soon about Ella’s appointment with the pediatric plastic surgeon.
Back to school tomorrow; although I don’t know if Morgan will make it, she wasn’t feeling well towards the end of the day today (actually Paige wasn’t either), and they were both running low-grade fevers so who knows…….

Where is the time going?

I can hardly believe it, but little Miss Ella Bean was a month old on Thursday. I have no idea where the time is going, but it sure is flying by. I know that I said I would post photos to flickr, but I haven't had a second, this is the first time I've gone near the blog since my last post, and I have new ones now as well, and I really will try to get them up as soon as I can.This past week was March Break, so Morgan was home. We had a great week, but very busy with lots of visiting. The girls were all awesome. As I write this Morgan and Paige are with Daddy for their first movie. They went to see Curious George. I must admit I'm quite jealous; I was hoping to take them to their first big screen movie. They were so excited to go by themselves with Daddy though, and I am sure they are having an amazing time!!!!

Last Friday was Morgan and Maddison's dance recital. You can see it here:

Video Sharing at DropShots.com

Paige did a show of her own:


Video Sharing at DropShots.com
I'll post pictures later, someone has woken up and would like to be fed. Ella has her appointment with the pediatric plastic surgeon on Monday, so I'll let you know how that goes.

Pictures as promised

Here are pictures of the girls. I have lots more, and will post them to flickr, so you can check them out there. xxoo


Big Sister Paige!!!


Daddy and Paige doing a puzzle.


The big sister t-shirts that Ashton made with the girls!!!! :)

Daddy with his three girls.

Now that's a lot of girls!!!!

A huge THANK YOU

to everyone who has sent cards, baby gifts, best wishes. You'll all be getting cards some day when I have a second to myself, but in the mean time I wanted to let you all know how much your love and best wishes mean to us.

Extra, extra special thanks to Grandma for watching the kids while we were in the hospital, Lynn for all your help throughout the last nine months, Auntie Catherine for that first week home, and Miranda for stocking my freezer!!!!!!

You are all awesome, and we love you!!!

xxoo

Ella Grace

At long last I would like to introduce the latest member of our family. Ella Grace was born on February 16, 2006 at 2:58 am. She was very tiny weighing in at only 5 lbs 5 oz, and was born via emergency c-section. She is healthy though and growing like a weed. We were at the family doctors this afternoon, and she weighed 5 lbs 11 oz, so is growing very nicely now that she is on the outside. It turns out that there was a hole in her placenta which is most likely why she was not growing well in utero. I wonder how long the hole was there because they saw blood in my very first ultrasound way back in August, and she was already measuring small by the end of September, so who knows.
Ella has some nerve damage in her face, and is missing an earlobe, so we are being followed by a pediatrician to monitor that. Our family doctor thinks that it will repair itself (the nerve damage), and thought he noticed some improvement already. She did pass her hearing screen in the hospital in both ears with flying colours though, so the inner workings of her ear are fine. The doctors just want to follow her closely because of all of those issues combined.
Morgan and Paige are so excited that their baby is finally here, and love her to bits. I have lots of pictures to post which I will try to do this weekend. Morgan and Ella share the exact same birth weight, and were both born on a Thursday. How cool is that?
Auntie Catherine came the day I got home from the hospital, and was with us for that first week home. She was an amazing help to me, and Morgan and Paige adore having her here. Thank You Auntie Catherine for all of your help to me, and for spoiling all of us so much. You made that first week so much easier for me. Also thank you to Catherine for making the new banner for the blog!!! You rock!
It will be interesting to see how the shift from two children to three goes. This past week was our first one on our own, so we are still finding our groove. Morgan and Paige are transitioning quite well, although both are having a hard time and are manifesting it in different ways. I'm sure I'll be writing all about it over the next few months.

Here she is hot off the press, maybe an hour old. I love how alert she is. As I said I have lots of pictures that I will try to post this weekend.

Hell hath no fury like........

a woman at the end of pregnancy.


I'd just like to apologize to everyone for my moodiness, and lack of communication over the last week or so. That goes to my husband and children especially.

I think pregnant woman should be allowed to hibernate like bears for the last few weeks of their pregnancies!!!!!!!

Anyways, love to all, and I should be back to normal in a couple of weeks. Don't worry, everyone will hear as soon as there is any news.

xxoo