Baylee and Blair

Busy as always!

2010-07-09T14:57:00.003-05:00

I continue to work a bazillion hours away from home as well as at home! I don't know when I get any rest at all. But, it must be done.

I'm changing my hours when Baylee starts Kindergarten in a couple of weeks. I'm going to work Friday/Saturday night, bartend Sunday during the day and wait tables Monday night. That way I will be off Tue, Wed, Thurs and will get to help her with her homework and be home more during the week.

Other than that we've kept pretty busy this Summer. Taking the girls to the movies next week! Hopefully Blair will do well.... this will be her first movie since she was a tiny baby! :)

Speaking of Blair.... she is FULLY potty trained now! Pretty much every night she wakes up dry in the mornings and rarely has accidents! I'm SO proud of her and how fast this all happened! She was MORE than ready for it! And, it's exciting that diapers are no longer part of my weekly grocery list!

My parents are about half-way through their remodel/addition to their house. It looks great and really makes me want to put some hardwood flooring all through my house! I love it!

Well, I'm off to work!

Hugs -Tiffany

Preschool Graduation

2010-06-21T12:56:00.006-05:00

Hello? Anyone home?

2010-06-18T14:00:00.001-05:00

Sorry I've been absent lately... just working a LOT and taking care of prescriptions, Dr's appts and everything else that has to be done!

Just wanted you to know that I'm alive and well... just have been busy! Will be uploading pics later today! :)

Blair's b-day party

2010-05-18T10:49:00.007-05:00

I'm SO behind on blogging it's not even funny. Since I work at home during the day (domesticated engineer) about 40 hours/week and then work at OTM another 50 hours a week I don't have time for much! I'm trying to get better.

Just thought I would share pics from Blair's b-day party!

Photo Workshop

2010-05-01T08:06:00.003-05:00

I took this workshop last year to help me better understand the use of my camera. It was a GREAT learning tool! If you live in the NW AR area and would like to attend please see the info below. AND... you will receive 20% off the price of the class since you read it here! :)

On Monday go to http://benfieldphotography.blogspot.com and sign up! Type in syk_repeat20 (expires May 20th)

Sign up soon before all the spots were filled!

Hugs - Tiffany

Eureka Springs

2010-04-26T09:51:00.014-05:00

We took a little trip to Eureka Springs yesterday. It's one of my favorite places in AR. I don't know why we don't go over there more often. It's only about 45 minutes from our house, but feels like thousands of miles away. It just has an "old" 1800's feel to the little town. Everything is very old so we thought we would get some good pics taken. It was cloudy and in the 60's so perfect weather!

We stopped at this little candy store where Blair broke open a bag of candy... of course we bought it along with some lollipop's for the girls.

Blair and her lollipop

Blair posing

Baylee was trying to get Blair to hold her hand... of course you can see what Blair thought of that! :)

Watching the motorcycles go by!

I loved this big rock wall. It made Baylee look so small in front of it!

My pretty 5 year old!

Just gorgeous!

Baylee wanted me to take this picture of her in this alley!

Posing in downtown ES.

Working her own skills!

We had a blast and hope to make a trip over there very soon!

Hugs - Tiff

Not much

2010-04-23T11:05:00.005-05:00

going around here except the nice weather. I thought it was suppose to rain all week, but I guess they were wrong. Unless it's been raining at night and I haven't noticed!?

I've been working a LOT lately... and by a lot I mean like 45 hours per week. Which is good and bad. The money is good, but it wears on me and I'm tired a lot. I try to sneak naps in when I can. Here lately I've been laying out in the afternoons for about 45 mins or so. That gives me a little rest!

We will be going on family vacation to Destin in June. I CANNOT wait to go! I LOVE going to the beach. I wish I could live there!

Here are a couple pics of the girls at Easter. Blair was sick sick on Easter, but we still managed to have a little Easter egg hunt for them at my aunt's house. Britt's Mom does a HUGE one at their house, but we missed it. With Blair being sick and I had to work the night before it just didn't work out this year!

Waiting....

2010-04-19T09:08:00.002-05:00

for a nice day so I can go take Blair's 2 year old pics. She turned 2 on April 7th. I've been so busy lately that I didn't even write a post for her! :( I'm working 4 (sometimes 5) nights a week at the bar. Which is good because it's good money, but I miss my family! It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make though.

Hopefully this week I can get out there and get some good pictures of her. She's at a hard age because she's all over the place and doesn't want to "pose" like I would like her to in some of the pics. So, we will just have to wait and see how it goes!

Hope all is well with everyone!

Hugs - Tiff

Baylee's 5 year pictures

2010-04-04T13:05:00.005-05:00

While we were in Indy I took Baylee's 5 year pictures. I think they turned out great!

In Indy....

2010-03-25T10:39:00.003-05:00

We have been in Indy since Sunday night visiting my friend and her family! We are having a great time, but it seems like everytime we are here that one of my kids get sick.

Last year Blair landed in the hospital for 5 days with a nasty respiratory virus. Also, this is about the same time that we found out about Baylee's Hypertension.

This year Baylee got sick in the middle of the night with diarrhea and vomitting! Nice huh? Well, not being at home I didn't know where a puke bucket was located and also I didn't know where Sanne kept her meds.... hoping she had some children's Immodium... which thankfully she did!

So, I felt terrible for waking her up at 5:15 yesterday morning.

Other than that we are having a great time!

Hugs - Tiffany

Reminded

2010-03-18T09:07:00.002-05:00

Evil Twin's Wife reminded me of a post I should of done on Monday. I took Baylee to the dentist to get some sealants put on her back teeth. It's like toothpaste that they paint on to protect the teeth from getting cavities. She needed them because she has very deep crevases in her back teeth.

Let's remind everyone that Baylee LOVES going to the dentist. I reminded her that she wasn't getting any pokes and they were going to paint her teeth today.

We also needed to see Dr. Caple because Baylee knocked her top tooth out on Saturday at a birthday party. He was going to do an x-ray (which she had before) to make sure nothing was left in there.

So, she's laying in the chair letting Dr. Caple get started and all of a sudden the tears start flowing and she starts SCREAMING.

I pulled her to the side and explained again that it was going to hurt that he was going to do an x-ray and paint her teeth. She was NOT having it for whatever reason.

So, we stormed out of there and got in the car.

My point is that she is old enough to know when I say it's not going to hurt it's not going to hurt. I am always honest with her when it comes to that. And, it took me 3 months to get that appointment... now we will have to wait another 3 months! UGH! I feel like I shouldn't be upset, but I was SO mad yesterday!

So, we had a long talk when we got home after she calmed down. I explained to her that she has got to trust what I say. She said to make another appointment and she would go! :)

Gotta love kids!

Hugs - Tiff

I will never buy Windex AGAIN! Mark my words!

2010-03-10T16:19:00.007-06:00

Today, Blair and I took a trip to WM to do some grocery shopping. I thought to myself that since it was going to be nice today I needed to clean all my windows. Windex (yes, not the generic) but actual windex still streaks my windows and in my opinion stinks. We browsed the aisle with cleaning supplies and came across this gem. I.LOVE.THIS.SPRAY! Totally works just like it says and will NOT streak your glass. And, it smells REALLY good! You actually use less paper towels! It's amazing. I will continue to buy it from now on!

And, they also support this:

Had a great weekend. We had Baylee's skating birthday party on Saturday night and she had a BLAST! She had so much fun skating with all her friends and cousins. I think we had about 50-60 people there!

Sunday we went to my parents house to celebrate my Sister's birthday. The kids played outside since it was nice out! We also took pics of them in their matching Hawaiian outfits my Mom bought them while they were in Hawaii. I thought they turned out cute!

Austin and his skateboard

Baylee riding her bike

Britt giving Blair a ride on the Yerf Dog

Me on the Yerf Dog! :)

Happy 5th Birthday Baylee!

2010-03-02T15:45:00.008-06:00

I cannot believe my little Baylee turns 5 today! It seems like yesterday that I was laying at Willow Creek waiting for her to be born. Praying like crazy that everything would be okay and her lungs would be fully developed. She was born at 32 weeks weighing 3lbs 12oz. She spent 3 weeks in the NICU and came home only weighing 4lbs 5oz. She spent 6 months on a heart monitor.

I always knew she would be okay. Even when she was diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension last year... I knew she would be just fine.

She is a sweet girl and I'm so proud that she is mine. She has brought such joy to our lives!

Baylee 2 weeks old - NICU

At home... see how tiny she was... this mini-swing swallowed her!

2 days old... we were doing kangaroo care. I love this picture because you can't see all the tubes and wires coming out of her!

5 months old... first beach trip to Gulf Shores, AL

Zoo last year - 4 1/2 years old

Pics last year - 4 1/2 years old

I love you Baylee with all my heart! Happy 5th Birthday!

Bathroom project

2010-03-01T09:17:00.010-06:00

Britt took the girls to Cabot this weekend to celebrate his Mom's birthday. I stayed here because I had to work Saturday night and I also wanted to start painting my bathroom. I think it turned out pretty good!

Before

Before

After

Something good

2010-02-23T13:56:00.002-06:00

I haven't had anything good to blog about lately. Probably because I've been battling a sinus infection the past few days.

On our way back from Wal-Mart today (getting my meds) Baylee and I had the following conversation:

Baylee: Momma

Me: Yes, dear!

Baylee: Look what I did
Me: (I thought... should I look or keep driving)

Baylee: Just look

Me: I looked in the rearview mirror and saw this!

She indeed has ALL THREE seatbelts on in the very back of my car. Yes, I drive a Mom bus (Yukon XL).

2nd Tooth

2010-02-15T12:11:00.002-06:00

My child lost her 2nd tooth last night. :(

I got called in to work at the last minute and Britt said while he was brushing her teeth last night he brushed it right out of her mouth!

Nothing new to report. Work has slowed down a bit since football season is over. So, I'm taking whatever hours I can get.

I'm ready for warmer weather to start taking pictures again. It's just too cold to do it right now!

Hugs - Tiffany

Kindergarten

2010-02-08T12:07:00.001-06:00

Seriously... my child is almost old enough to start school. I'm so sad about it! After all... she's my little 3lb 12oz little baby. I cannot believe how fast time goes by. At the beginning of next month she will turn 5 and in August she will start school!

Skating.... is like riding a bike!

2010-02-07T11:44:00.003-06:00

I took Baylee skating yesterday. She got a pair of skates for Christmas from Santa and has been practicing in the house. Her friend Phoebe had a skating birthday party this year and that's what we had planned to do for Baylee's party in the next month.

I did not get to see her skate at Phoebe's party because I stayed home and gave Blair a nap. So, this was the first time I saw her skate outside of our house.

SHE.IS.AMAZING! For someone that is 4 years old she was going MY SPEED out there and keeping up. She fell a few times, but for the most part she did great! I watched her the whole time and couldn't help but feel sad because of how big she is getting. And, she wasn't holding on to me, the wall or anyone else! She actually did better NOT holding on. I showed her how to kind of lean forward to help with her balance.

Skating was something I loved from a very early age. I remember my best friends parents friends owned our skating rink in the next town and we were there... every Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. YES.... I loved it that much. And, this went on for several years! So, I'm glad she shares my love for skating as well... because honestly... it felt SO good getting back out on the floor! :)

So, like I said... skating IS like riding a bike. You never forget how to do it and your moves come right back!

Hugs - Tiffany

PS - I did not take my camera this time, but promise I'm sure we will be going back even before her party and will get some then! :)

Sledding Pics

2010-02-01T12:05:00.010-06:00

Okay, so this time around we actually got enough of the white stuff we found a HUGE hill to go sledding! The first hill was pretty sweet and you could get up enough speed to have fun on.

BUT, we are not about "average" around here. Oh no... my Brother-in-Law had to go down the trail and through the woods and find the MOTHER of all hills! We are talking 45 degrees and about 200-300 yards LONG... with a sweet little snow ramp built about 3/4 of the way down. You will see what I'm talking about in the pics. Of course... the pics don't do the hill justice in just how big and steep it really was! BUT.IT.WAS.FUN!

This was the first hill and my brother-in-law wiped out and went in the bushes!

My Nephews

You can see in this last picture that my Sister was FLYING down the hill and wiped out. I was laughing SO HARD (yes, I almost pee'd my pants) that I didn't get any pics of the aftermath. But, TRUST ME... it was funny!

And, see how her right leg is sticking straight out? I guess when she landed she hurt it really bad and was limping around yesterday. I hope it's okay!

GOOD news!

2010-01-29T13:03:00.002-06:00

Baylee had her 2nd Heart Cath on Tuesday. Her heart pressure before we started meds were 55. After this Heart Cath I'm excited to report that her pressure number was 31!!!!!!!!!! Can I get a whoop whoop???? Holy cow!!! We couldn't be more happy about this. Plus, she didn't spike a fever like she did last time and she did great in the hospital. Even took out BOTH her IV's in her foot all by herself. YES, the nurse let her take out her own IV's to show her it wouldn't hurt. Whatever it takes right?

Right now Britt took Baylee sledding. It's been snowing all day and is suppose to snow all afternoon and tonight!

Worked last night, tonight, tomorrow night and Sunday night.

Hugs - Tiffany

Potty update

2010-01-15T11:39:00.003-06:00

Blair pooped on the big girl potty! NOT her potty chair, but the regular toliet. I think she was actually excited to flush it. I had no idea she would poop... only thought she would pee!

Blair's appointment went well. They want to see her back in 6 months. She does indeed have a hernia, but as long as we keep some pressure on it they are not concerned to go in and fix anything right now. Juli (our awesome OT) is getting the paperwork ready so she can get fitted for a Benik Vest. She will wear this in place of her "wrap" that we have been doing. This is very thin and hopefully take some weight of her belly off her back. We tried this vest before she had surgery and it just didn't give the support she needed all the way around her O. Now that she has had surgery I think it will be perfect!

Baylee is back to pre-school and loving it. She's learning new things everyday and we are working on word recognition a little bit. Hopefully she will have a fairly good group of words she can recognize by the time she starts Kindergarten this fall. She is really in to skating lately... ever since she got a pair of skates for Christmas. She is going to have a skating party for her 5 year old party! I CANNOT believe she is almost 5!

Hugs - Tiffany

St. Louis - trip # 4,594... hehehehe

2010-01-13T20:21:00.006-06:00

Look who is starting to use the big girl potty!

2010-01-13T13:47:00.007-06:00

Just thought I would get these pics out here. I thought they were SO cute! She HATED sitting on the potty and then one day she was just okay with it. I think she was just scared of it at first.

Babies

2010-01-08T10:53:00.003-06:00

I cannot stress enough how much Blair LOVES her babydolls. Seriously she will sit in the floor for the longest time holding them, kissing them and poking at their eyes that open and close by themselves.

I caught her the other day just sitting in the living room floor and forgot to post the pic from it.

Of course Baylee thinks Blair is her living babydoll. I'm sure she won't think that forever, but I think it's cute now! :)

Insurance Companies

2010-01-07T12:15:00.004-06:00

UPDATE... AGAIN!!!!
That $22,000 is what we paid in 2008. We have another almost $25,000 that we get to write off for 2009.
___________________________________
UPDATE!!!!
I called CVS and spoke with several Departments. I guess they have a program where they will pay for 2 or 3 months of the shots! YES... FULLY COVER THEM! That's until we can apply for some other assistance. BUT, Blair will not qualify anyway for the shots after April since she will be 2 then. So, we won't have to worry about it anyway! And, we ONLY qualify for this because we had $22,000 in medical expenses last year that we wrote off on our taxes!
___________________________________
So, normally I do not like to put anything negative on here. But, it's time that I do a little venting.

Monday I received a call from our Dr's office telling us that they were trying to get Blair's Synages shots lined up for this year. (This is a shot she qualifies for until she turns 2 throughout the winter to prevent RSV and Pneumonia). She was calling to check deductibles and everything in order for her medicine to be shipped. Normally 1 SHOT would cost almost $5,000. Last year we only had to pay a $50.00 deductible to CVS Pharmacy for shipping it to our Dr's office to be administered. THIS YEAR our Insurance company (I refer to them as the devil) decided to get around this only paying $50.00 and now that cost goes towards our "family" deductible. Which is $5,000 because we have more than 1 person on the plan. Now that little shot will cost $2,300/month until we meet the $5,000 deductible.

I have decided that we will eventually meet our family deductible anyway this year with Blair having a skin graft and Baylee having another Heart Cath. But, STILL... I'm not happy about this "change" they decided to make. And, I'm really not happy about sending them $2,300 today!

Also, Blair has Medicaid as well. She ONLY qualified for this because she spent more than 30 days in the hospital when she was born and she is considered disabled. But, since she is not currently taking any medications for her heart or anything else Medicaid will NOT pay for the shot. WTH?

This is where I get so frustrated. It's like we have Insurance and Medicaid for her for a reason! But, they make it so dang hard on us and anything but easy for us to use it until we meet that HIGH deductible!

I've tried shopping around for other healthcare with no such luck because of both girls pre-existing conditions.

Luckily we usually spend at least 7.5% of our adjusted gross income on medical things so we can at least write this off on our taxes. But, looks like our tax return will already be going back in to medical bills!

And, our premiums went up again this year!

Here's to 2010!

Winter

2010-01-06T11:53:00.003-06:00

This is probably one of the worst winters (as far as cold and snow) that I can remember. The night before last we felt sorry for the cat since the low was 5 so we left the garage door cracked open. He also has a blanket and a heat lamp out there. Well, I guess by "cracking" the garage door it got cold enough in there to freeze our hot water heater pipe that sticks out of the wall. My husband didn't unfreeze anything before he left so my Dad came to the rescue yesterday and took care of it. I mean, after all... a girl HAS to take a shower at some point in the day!

I'm just glad we had heat and power. I don't think I could of made it without those as well.

We are expected to get more snow tonight and our low is 5. Our wind chill for tonight is -25 or something ridiculous like that. We live in ARKANSAS! Good gravy!

I was really needing a few days off work since I worked 5 nights straight. Don't get me wrong it was GOOD money, but a lot of work and I was worn OUT!

Tonight I'm making my Grandmother's soup for my family. It's called Nifla soup and it's basically potato soup with dumplings. I seriously can eat about 3 or 4 bowls of it. I love it that much. It's easy to make and it sure does sound good with this cold weather we are suppose to have!

I think at some point in the next couple of weeks I'm going to start repainting our entire house on the inside. It REALLY needs it. Our builder used flat paint and we all know that it doesn't wash little fingerprints easily. I am changing the color of our bedroom and bathroom. I will post pics of the final product on here. I got new bedding recently and am getting ready to get some curtains to put in there. After all, we've lived in this house for almost 4 years so it's just time to do some slight updating and replace some things. And, we have 5 big windows in our room and I want something to shut some light out!

After I finish our bedroom and bathroom I'm going to work on hallways and the 1/2 bath. Then, the living room will probably be the last room. Only because I want it to be a different color I just don't know what I want to do yet. I want a little color, but don't want to go overboard... plus, I want to put curtains in there as well. So, it's gonna all have to go together.

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful week!

Hugs - Tiffany

Snow!

2010-01-04T10:08:00.005-06:00

My silly girls!

2010-01-03T12:28:00.002-06:00

I hope to be able to post more this year! I know I have been slacking lately because I've been working a lot of hours.

I took some cute pics of the girls this morning. Just thought I would share!

Christmas Eve/Christmas Day pics

2009-12-25T21:48:00.003-06:00

Just thought I would share how exciting our 2009 Christmas was this year. First of all, Baylee has been horribly sick the past 2 weeks. I took her to the Dr. last Wednesday and they said it was just viral. At this point she really was only running a fever and nothing else. By that afternoon the hacking cough had started. By Christmas Eve night she was STILL running a fever and we decided today that we would take her to the ER Christmas afternoon. Glad we did because she had pneumonia.

So, Christmas morning Baylee did NOT want to get out of the bed to see what Santa brought her. And, I will stress DID NOT! It was awful. And, Blair was upset because she wanted Daddy to hold her. Of course I had the camera and Britt had the camcorder so we were both trying to get their responses on film. This is the "look" we got from them. Baylee was literally coughing and miserable and Blair was crying! Poor kids!

On a better note... Baylee seems to be getting over her funk and Blair is doing great! They are both spoiled rotten and got WAY too much for Christmas!

I've been working quite a bit lately! Which isn't all that bad. I really love my job at the bar. Never thought I would say that, but I do! The nights go by super quick and this still allows me time to spend with the girls during the day and stay home with them. And, that was the goal from the beginning. Plus, the tips are great and the people are very friendly. I like the girls I work with and my boss rocks and that makes it easier!

With Jan. 1st being tomorrow our insurance deductibles start all over. It's sad that it's all I can think about and trying to stock pile our savings account just to hand it all out in a couple of months to the insurance companies and hospitals! UGH!

So, I worked last night, working tonight, tomorrow night, Saturday night and Sunday night! Whew!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and have a safe and Happy New Year!

Hugs - Tiffany

My little messy girl....

2009-12-22T21:02:00.001-06:00

This is what Blair has been getting in to lately! I think the picture will speak for itself! ;)

Sister and her family

2009-12-21T13:55:00.004-06:00

Christmas pictures I took for my Sister. I had so much fun and this is my new favorite place to take pics! :) Now... if I could just locate the owner of this property so I could properly ask them to "use" their barn/milk house for backdrops! :)

First Tooth

2009-12-21T13:48:00.003-06:00

My baby girl (Baylee - 4 1/2) lost her first tooth yesterday while I was shooting my Sister's Christmas family pictures. It had been REALLY loose for the past week or so and it just fell out. She was VERY upset about it and wanted me to "tape" it back on. She was crying in this picture, but she managed to get excited about it when we discussed the tooth fairy with her.

I had to work last night so Britt was in charge of putting the girls to bed. Baylee was so scared about the tooth fairy coming in her room to take her tooth that the pillow stayed in the living room. She is scared about Santa too! ;)

All in all it was a great weekend! Made lots of money at the bar and took some great pictures of my Sister and her family. I will post those pics next.

Hugs - Tiff

Can't catch a "break"

2009-12-01T10:46:00.001-06:00

Well, the Holiday's are in full swing at our house. Britt decided to hang lights on the house yesterday afternoon while the weather was still nice. He made it all the way until the last 4 lights.

The ladder slid down the driveway and he went down with it. About 15 feet total. He finally decided to go get x-ray's and found out he sprained both of his wrists and broke his right elbow. He will see the Orthopedic surgeon on Thursday to find out what they are going to do. UGH!

What I am thankful for this year!

2009-11-24T12:34:00.002-06:00

After seeing everyone post on Facebook and other blogs what they are thankful for I decided I would list what I'm thankful for!

Most of all I'm thankful for both my girls. I'm thankful that the Dr's have Baylee's Hypertension under control. I'm thankful that Blair had a successful surgery back in August and is thriving! I'm thankful for my family and friends and all of the support we have received over the past year. Seriously I don't know how we would of made it without all of the love and encouragement! THANK YOU!

I'm thankful for my new job that will provide for my family!

I'm thankful for a warm home and food in the fridge.

I'm thankful for a loving God!

I hope that all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and are able to spend it with your family and friends!

Hugs - Tiffany

Christmas Cards

2009-11-23T11:50:00.002-06:00

We went out and took pictures for our family Christmas cards. I think considering I had to use the timer they turned out great!

Okay... Okay... Okay

2009-11-17T14:24:00.003-06:00

Since I don't have the post finished on our weekend I will let you guys in on where I'm going. First... the story!

So, many of you know that my Sister is a travel agent. She often times gets invited FOR FREE to different properties to view them. Well, after talking to her in October she asked if I would go with her to Cancun at the beginning of December. FOR FREE!

She is even adding extra days so we will be able to spend a week in paradise... a much needed vacation after everything we have been through this year. The only thing that stinks is Britt can't join us. It's only for her and 1 guest. And, that 1 guest is ME! Did I mention it's all FREE?

We are staying in a 5 star all-inclusive adults only resort for 6 glorious days! And, it's FREE... did I say that already? :)

Britt has agreed to stay here with the girls... his job is flexible like that.

So... that's where folks... the countdown has begun!

Hugs - Tiffany

Wanna know where I'm going?

2009-11-16T19:18:00.001-06:00

I will tell you after I post about the Bestmann's visit to our house! :) In the meantime... feel free to guess!

My friend is coming... My friend is coming... WAHOO!

2009-11-12T13:32:00.001-06:00

I'm a little excited that my friend is coming to visit. They should be here late tonight as they are driving straight through from Indianapolis! They are the one's we stayed with after Blair's surgery before we had to go back to get Blair's stitches taken out.

Her daughter Zoe turned 16 yesterday and she is having her birthday party with her old friends from school here on Saturday. She is having a small party at our house and I couldn't be more excited to help her celebrate!

So, Sanne... HURRY up and get here already! :)

Amazing Sunset!

2009-11-09T08:02:00.004-06:00

We had the most amazing sunset last night. I ran outside to snap a few pics... as it did not last long!

A few tidbits from today

2009-11-06T19:15:00.002-06:00

Well, today was slightly productive.... Momma is going back to work. I decided it's time for me to supplement our household income. And, while I really would rather not put the girls in daycare I've decided I'm going back to waiting tables at night and on the weekends... hopefully... if anyone will hire me. I filled out 4 applications this afternoon and have several more to do tomorrow. It's not the most glamorous line of work, but I've done it before and I'm good at it. And, I think it's kind of fun and rewarding. Plus, tips are GOOD! Tips are ALWAYS GOOD! AND... it still allows me to stay home with the girls during the day so we don't have to put them in daycare.

I've considered doing other things for money, but this is what I'm most comfortable with since I've been there before.

While I was gone Britt started to grill the chicken and they had a burial for a dead crawdad that showed up on our back porch... I'm thinking that's thanks to our cat.

Yes, they had a full-on burial (sorry no pics because my husband didn't think of taking any) with a cross, a prayer and dirt!

Tonight at dinner:

Baylee: (saying this to Britt as she was walking towards the fridge) Oh.... Daddy, Daddy, Daddy... you didn't put the chicken on my plate! (with a little attitude)
Britt: Yes, I did Baylee... look at your plate.

Then, they proceeded to tell me about the burial. Poor crawdad... he was pretty intact considering Jazzy must of killed him. Otherwise I really don't know where else he could of came from.

Anyway... a little tidbit from today!

Oh, Mamaw and Papaw came to visit for a few hours this morning on their way to Branson.

My Sister and Mom have not called me back... uh em'... if you are reading this! :)

Hugs - Tiff

New pic of Blair I loved!

2009-11-04T15:46:00.001-06:00

Just playing around....

2009-11-04T09:29:00.005-06:00

Baylee loves to wrap Blair up in blankets in the afternoon. Blair seriously LOVES it! She will lay there and suck her fingers just like in these pictures. I love knowing that they will be close when they grow up! Baylee gives Blair a hug every morning before she gets out of the car to go to preschool.

Anyway... just thought I would share what we do in the afternoons! :)

Hugs - Tiffany

My trick-or-treater's!

2009-11-01T08:30:00.005-06:00

Blair the pink and black kitty cat

Baylee the bride (she kept saying she was a "wedding") :)

We had a great time trick-or-treating last night. We met up with our neighbors and some of their friends and off we went. Our neighbor down the street even had a haunted house set up in their garage. Baylee LOVED it! When they would see a group coming down the street they would yell whether or not they were big or little kids! It was cute!

We made a big loop around and then came back and handed out some candy. Actually, I should say that Baylee handed out all the candy. She had SO much fun doing that! I think she loves getting involved because I use to be the same way!

Hope everyone had a wonderful time!
Hugs - Tiffany

A little fun on a beautiful day!

2009-10-31T15:33:00.006-05:00

Halloween

2009-10-30T11:24:00.002-05:00

We are getting all geared up here to go Trick-or-Treating. We are heading up to the Wal-Mart Home Office in a bit to do some pre-trick-or-treating with my Mom. The girls... well, Baylee... is SUPER excited that she gets to wear her costume early!

Then, we will go around our neighborhood tomorrow night and gather more candy! I'm glad the weather is going to be nice tomorrow for it. We usually luck out with nice weather around Halloween so it makes it nice for the kids.

Which also makes me want to go take some pictures of the girls. I got a CUTE outfit for Blair yesterday at Target and think I will go back and get this dress that I noticed would be cute on Baylee. They kind of match... so we will see how they turn out. I've scoped out some abandoned bridges in our area that I think I will use as the backdrop. I'm hoping for a bit of overcast weather, but I think it's suppose to be sunny. So, we will see I guess. I have a cute hat for Blair to wear. It was actually one of Baylee's hats when she was little. I don't have many pictures of either of the girls with it on.

Till then...
Hugs - Tiff

War Eagle Mill

2009-10-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

I LOVE this place! We love just going out and walking around and watching the water go over the little dam. I remember coming out here all the time when I was a little kid (and still as a big kid). One of my favorite places in NW Arkansas!

My friend JB and Devil's Den - Saturday

2009-10-27T13:09:00.008-05:00

My friend JB came for a visit from Denver. He's actually got business to do in town, but came out early to hang out with us. Friday night we went to some haunted houses, Saturday we spent the day at Devil's Den hiking (south of Fayetteville) and Sunday we went to War Eagle Mill. This was Baylee's first hiking trip and she did really well. We took lots of breaks and played in the waterfall. It was sunny and just the perfect day for it! I will post some pics of War Eagle tomorrow.

More fall pics...

2009-10-23T08:31:00.013-05:00

Fall pics of the girls! Stay tuned for more... :)

2009-10-22T09:46:00.007-05:00

St. Louis trip... both girls!

2009-10-20T20:58:00.009-05:00

Our trip to St. Louis went better than expected. Here are a couple of pics from the rest area on the way up there.

My friend Wendi and Blair. She came with me to help with the girls and keep me company. After all, 6 hours in the car one way is a little much with both kids. It's MUCH easier with 2 kids.

Sunday evening we met up with Bayta's Family. They were scheduled to have their Omphalocele baby the next day. They call me their Fairy O Mother as I have guided them in the direction of St. Louis and Dr. Warner. She was born Monday morning and is BEAUTIFUL. She was able to have a complete closure surgery as her Omphalocele was very small.

The girls being silly waiting on one of their appointments.

Beautiful Bayta - I was able to visit the NICU before we left and meet sweet little Bayta! She is beautiful and doing great. Hopefully they will be home soon!!!

Appointments:

8:30 - Blair visits new Cardiologist - Dr. Canter

This appointment went better than expected. She had a full Echo of her heart that determined her VSD (hole in her heart has closed completely). She does still have dextrocardia (and probably will the rest of her life). This is where her heart is on the right side of her chest. But, so far, it's an isolated issue. A lot of times their intestines will be backwards as well. We already know with her surgery that is not the case. She will not need to be followed by a Cardiologist any longer. This appointment literally took about 10 minutes of visiting with the Dr.

10:10 - Blair visits with Dr. Kane (Plastic Surgeon)

He said things look great with her belly. We are still letting things heal and will do a skin graft when the scab falls off. He thinks that will be a while as it's still pretty attached. We are to continue doing the wraps like we are now.

12:30 and 1:00 - Baylee has an Echo with Dr. Grady (Cardiologist - Pulmonary Hypertension Specialist)

Everything went as scheduled and her heart looks the same as last time she had an Echo done. I really liked Dr. Grady. He seems to want to work with Boston to do everything locally (except the big stuff). That way we don't have to run to Boston for every little appointment. We are to continue all meds like we are giving them now as well as the oxygen.

So, looks like we get to get "rid" of 1 Dr. at least! No more messing with Little Rock from this point forward! Except Dr. Lyle (Blair's Neonatologist) because we love him so much. But, I think she only will see him once per year or so from here on out. And, that's if she's having issues. I think they are pleased with her development and that's something that can be followed with her normal Pediatrician.

Razorback game...

2009-10-12T12:15:00.011-05:00

Well, our HOGS beat Auburn 44 - 23. It was an exciting game! We started the morning off by dropping Blair at my friend Brandy's house. I'm glad we decided to take Baylee to the game. Even though the morning started off at 40 degrees it warmed up nicely by the time we got in the stadium and found our seats. Baylee and I left right after the 3rd quarter started. She was done... and that's okay because I had to tend to the ribs that were smoking! The food was awesome, the weather was awesome and the friends were GREAT!

Me and Britt

Sleep Study

2009-10-10T23:26:00.014-05:00

Baylee did very well for her sleep study! She was a brave little girl this time and only cried a bit from the scrubbing stuff they have to clean their skin (on their head) with! I knew she wouldn't like it. As they also have to clean area's on her face.

Baylee being silly in the waiting room before they took us back

Playing in the cool playroom

All hooked up and ready to go

This is the lady that hooked everything up on her. She was SO sweet!

5:45am.... we are outta here!

18 month appointment

2009-10-09T21:36:00.007-05:00

Blair had her 18 month appointment yesterday. She was in the 10th percentile for her height and weight. And, she was in the 75th percentile for her head circumference. Little body + Big head = cute baby. :)

She had a flu shot and another shot she needed. She had a mild reaction and her leg is swollen and red. It's not too bad. I drew a line around it and it hasn't gotten any bigger so far. I've been treating it with benadryl and a little tylenol.

Obviously she did NOT like having her head measured.

Sleepover...

2009-10-06T14:45:00.004-05:00

Well, a lot of you know that I have had my nephews the past 9 days. They went home on Sunday after their parents got back from their vacation to Hawaii.

I snapped this cute photo of the kids while they were watching cartoons Sunday morning.

This week and weekend is going to be busy once again. Thursday Blair has her 18 month check-up while Baylee is at school. Around 3:30 Baylee and I will head to Little Rock to have her sleep study that night. We will be done with that around 6:00 Friday morning and head home. We have company coming in to town Friday afternoon for the Hog game on Saturday. It's Homecoming weekend and we will be tailgating and going to the game. It's an early game at 11:00.. BLAH! I hate early games. You have to be there so early to tailgate, but I'm sure we will stay afterwards for a while to hang out with Britt's friends from Cabot.

We are switching Cardiology clinics to St. Louis. If that's not enough stress in itself I don't know what is. But, I know once it's all said and done we will be better off. Both girls have an appt Oct. 19th in the morning in St. Louis and then we have a 1:30 appt with Dr. Kane for Blair's belly. Baylee will have to go back the following week on the 28th to see a Hypertension Specialist. This is NOT going to replace our Dr. in Boston. She is wonderful and we are going to keep her. This is just for a local clinic in case of emergency's and minor appointments.

Other than that not much else to report. Fall is here as the temps have started to drop and the leaves have started to change. I can't wait to take fall pictures of our family!

Hugs - Tiffany

Fall is in the air....

2009-10-02T15:16:00.007-05:00

This is probably one of my favorite times of year (besides Christmas). The time of year when the leaves change, cooler weather is on it's way and Halloween is almost here. Craft fairs are right around the corner and I will be sure to be in attendance. College football is well under way and even though our Hogs aren't doing so well so far this year I'm still a die hard fan!

I don't know why or when my love of Halloween started. At a very young age I'm sure. But, I remember decorating our front porch at my Mom's house when I was little. I would beg for pumpkins to carve and would hang ghosts (that I made from cloth and newspaper) in the trees at our house.

To continue on that celebration I have begun getting down our Halloween decorations out of the attic for Baylee to help me put out. We still need to make our way to the pumpkin patch, but I'm sure that will take place in the next week or so.

The weather was beautiful today so after lunch the girls and I headed to a nearby park. We took these cute photos that I cannot resist sharing with you all!

Hope you enjoy!

It's time....

2009-10-01T13:35:00.002-05:00

Once again I'm totally frustrated with our Cardiology clinic in Little Rock. They have drug their feet too long in my opinion. So, I feel that it is time to leave that behind and move the girls local Cardiologist to St. Louis. After all, they are ranked #6 in the nation and so far we have had wonderful experiences with that hospital.

Baylee will remain seeing Dr. Mullen in Boston for her Pulmonary Hypertension and use the clinic in St. Louis for non-emergent things.... like Echo's, EKG's and sleep studies.

Blair will have a new Dr. to treat her Dextrocardia. Which, as of right now, doesn't affect her. Her heart works normal. It's just on the wrong side of her chest.

I have taken it upon myself to call St. Louis to start the process of a 2nd sleep study. Little Rock can't seem to call me back about one... so forget it. They have had over a month to get one scheduled and I have still heard nothing.

The only person we will continue to see in Little Rock is Dr. Lyle. He is Blair's Neonatologist and an AMAZING Dr. He truly cares about his patients and FOLLOWS-UP with the parents. Something that is near and dear to me.

You know... I rarely vent about these type of things.... I just go with the flow and stay strong to get things done for my kids. Yes, I have switched surgeons (which saved my daughter's life) and we found the best of the best in Boston for Baylee's Pulmonary Hypertension. I guess I'm just not taking someone's crap anymore. This is MY CHILD and I will do whatever it takes to get them the BEST care. If someone doesn't act like they care then they obviously have too much to do or just don't care. I shouldn't have to wait around FOR OVER A MONTH for someone to call me back to get something like a sleep study scheduled. Especially when they are wanting that sleep study to happen BEFORE possible tonsil removal and BEFORE Baylee's Heart Cath in November.

I'm tired... worn out... and frustrated with all of this! Hopefully this will be the end of having "bad" Dr's!

Tiff

Busy week!

2009-09-30T20:15:00.009-05:00

It's been crazy around here. We are keeping our nephews this week while the rest of my family is on vacation in Hawaii. I'm getting up at 6:00 am to get ready and then wake the boys and Baylee up at 6:45 to get dressed and eat breakfast. We leave at 7:15 to have them to school at 7:45. I've been proud of myself that we have been early each day and I've managed to make the beds every morning as well as keep up with the laundry, keep the house clean and make dinner every night!

I have overcome my nasty sinus infection! THANK GOD for steroids, antibiotics and Tylenol Severe Allergy! I literally thought my head was going to fall off a few days ago.

Baylee obviously is not having her tonsils/adenoids taken out tomorrow. My friend Robyn reminded me about that today! :) They are wanting her to have it done at a Children's Hospital. So, I'm pushing to get her consult appt moved up from Oct. 19th in Little Rock. The sooner the better. Plus, Boston is wanting this done several weeks before she has her heart cath in November!

I feel sometimes like I flip back and forth from one child to the other. Now that we have Blair all well we have to switch back to Baylee.

I wish sometimes it wouldn't be that way! I wish I could just look forward to our yearly appointments and that's it. But, then again... my kids probably wouldn't do so good go to the Dr.

Speaking of Blair... here is a pic of her belly I took last Friday. It's the area that they will eventually do a little skin graft on. Probably in the next month or so.

Also, here are a few pics from that same trip. This one was taken when we were sitting in the waiting room.

This was taken while we were waiting on Dr. Kane to come in and check her belly. I LOVE the colors in their new clinic! SO FUN!

Then, on the way back from meeting the little sweet O family in Barnes Jewish we found this cool hallway with cool chairs. We stopped for a few seconds and caught this great photo!

St. Louis Appointment on Friday

2009-09-27T15:48:00.002-05:00

Sorry I'm just now getting this out here! I needed to download some pics first. Anywho... Friday's appointment went well with Dr. Kane. He is very pleased with how her belly is healing. He said we are waiting for the scab to fall off before they do the skin graft. It's probably the size of a half dollar (maybe a bit bigger) that they will have to graft. He said if we just let the "red" skin grow where that area is then it will be like her Omphalocele skin and break down easily. So, we wait... we wait for the scab to fall off.

I also got the opportunity to meet this sweet family. They are going to have an O baby in Oct. and choose to use St. Louis Children's as their hospital after hearing my story. I'm so excited to meet their baby girl as we will be in St. Louis once again ON THE SAME day that she is scheduled to have a C-Section. Please go HERE and check out their page and pray for their baby girl. So far everything looks good with her... kind of a similar story to Blair's.

Other than that just fighting off a nasty sinus infection. I finally broke down and went to the clinic yesterday. Got a nice steroid shot (which made me feel almost instantly better) and some antibiotics. Got a little more sleep last night compared to the 2 previous nights! Although my rear hurts I think I'm gonna make it! :)

Hugs- Tiffany

Swallow Study and OT/ST/PT Evaluation

2009-09-23T09:12:00.002-05:00

We are back from Little Rock. I felt like we were at Arkansas Children's for forever yesterday. I guess if you say we were there from 10:45-3:30 that would feel like forever.

Her swallow study was scheduled for 11. Surprisingly we went right back for it! But, she DID NOT want to drink the flavored milk they had. :( The ONE drink she took she had some mid-level penetration (where the drink goes half way down their windpipe and then back up). I'm not comfortable (and neither are they) with switching her to nectar consistency feeds. For now she will just stay on honey consistency.

Anyway... Blair saw Dr. Lyle (we love him) afterwards for a follow-up yesterday. He said she is doing great and was impressed with her new belly.

She also had a OT/ST/PT (Occupational, Speech and Physical) evaluation. She scored around 17 months (her age) for Occupational Therapy. So, she's doing everything she needs to do for her age. However, when it came time for Speech Therapy and Communicating she scored around 13 months. I knew she wouldn't score very high in this area. I'm thinking about enrolling her in a Gymboree Play and Music class. She really needs to be around kids her age more and be doing things her age. My friend Juli (which is Blair's OT) owns this with her friend and it's right up the street from my house. Hopefully I could enroll her while Baylee is in school once per week or something.

Hugs - Tiff

Beauty Pageant!

2009-09-19T23:30:00.011-05:00

What an exciting night! Baylee was entered in the Miss Benton County pageant tonight. Against what I should of known as "better judgement" since my Hogs were playing AT THE SAME TIME this evening... our little Baylee WON the title of Miss Benton County Tiny Tot! Seriously, I don't think I could of been more proud of her! Out of 15 contestants and 8 runner's up... she WON!

Last year she was in the 0-3 age group and this year she moved up to the 4-6 year old group. She went backstage all by herself and did such a great job on stage ALL BY HERSELF!

So, it was a huge surprise to all of us when they called her name as the winner! I think my heart about stopped! Here are some pics!

This is the cute little outfit!

And the winner is... BAYLEE!

All of the girl cousins on the Morris side.

Cousins on my side

My gorgeous little girl! We are SO proud of you Baylee!

Dr's appointments

2009-09-17T17:29:00.002-05:00

Today I had my yearly exam. We are scheduling my mammogram to get a baseline picture. Then, after I turn 35 I will go back once/year. I should of had this done 2 years ago because of my Mother's history of breast cancer. Yes, she kicked cancers BUTT 12 years ago!

And, this afternoon Baylee had an appointment with Dr. Black (her original ENT). He SCHEDULED her to have her tonsils and adenoids taken out on Oct. 1st. Yikes! I'm calling Boston one more time to make sure they don't want her to have it done at a Children's Hospital. They will probably call tomorrow since it was late in the afternoon. And, I also called Little Rock to do a bit of a follow-up... since they never seem to follow-up with me and this is what was said to the clinic nurse.

Me: I need to see if Dr. Moss will approve Baylee having her tonsils and adenoids taken out here (home).
Nurse: Ummm...well... ummm... let's see... ummm... Did you not have another sleep study done?
Me: Nope, because NO ONE called me!
Nurse: Oh, well I'm going to have to go through this paperwork and get back with you tomorrow.
Me: Well, I just need to know if she can have this done up here or if we need to come to Little Rock....
Nurse: I don't know... I'm going to have to get with Dr. Moss, but I don't think she will want that!

My frustration... this lady needs to get a little better about following up with her patients! You know how they have that program in the schools called "No Child Left Behind"? It needs to apply to these type of situations... No Patient Left Behind. It's freaking ridiculous how much calling and following up I've had to do on their behalf! Maybe they are upset with me for taking Baylee to Boston... honestly, I could careless because I feel like she is getting better care from a clinic 1,500 miles away vs. Little Rock! At least I get follow-ups consistently. All the more reason to have her heart cath done in Boston in November!

Hugs - Tiff

My little cupcakes!

2009-09-16T09:11:00.009-05:00

The other night Baylee wanted to make some pink (Strawberry) cupcakes with chocolate icing. She was so proud of decorating them and we really enjoyed eating them!

Old church + overcast day = awesome photos!

2009-09-14T09:00:00.005-05:00

Well, we decided last minute yesterday afternoon to go take a little drive. We were looking for an old barn (a red one to be specific) to get some pics of Baylee. I needed a few more so I can send in an order. I'm trying to get enough to do some sort of collage on my wall. Anyway... so, we found a barn that would of been perfect, but the house looked like a drug dealer house in the middle of the country. So, I just opted to skip it... maybe we will try again some other time when I get up enough nerve to knock on their door and ask if we can use their property!

Instead we found this cool old church and this is what happened! :) Britt thought I was crazy until he saw what I did. Actually, I think he thought the outfit was a little crazy because it was all different colors, but I told him it wouldn't matter since I was doing some black and whites anyway!

Blair has been the little stinker lately. She's been waking up either really really early or take last night for an example. She woke up around 1:15 am and decided it was time to get up and eat. I think she is going through a growth spurt and needs the extra calories. So, I sat in the kitchen in the dark with her this morning while she drank her milk, ate a piece of cinnamon raisin toast and ate a banana! Afterwards, she laid right back down and went to sleep!

Hugs- Tiff

What have I been up to? Let's just take a looksey!

2009-09-13T19:20:00.008-05:00

Taking some fun pics of the girls... that's what! I have really enjoyed doing this in the past couple months! More to come!

Hugs - Tiff

Last night was HORRIBLE!

2009-09-11T13:09:00.002-05:00

Okay, let's just start off by saying I'm glad we let Baylee sleep with us for a few nights while she was sick, BUT it made last night awful putting her to bed. IN HER BED!

8:30 pm - Baylee was screaming and woke Blair up when we were putting her to bed.

Midnight - She came in our room and wanted to sleep with us. Britt was putting her back in her bed and I could hear through Blair's monitor that this was NOT going well! Baylee woke Blair up again and I HAD it! I flew to the other side of the house and started yelling! Yes, I do yell people and it wasn't pretty. Britt asked me the next morning if I felt bad and to be honest maybe a little, but there really was no reason for her to be screaming like she was to the point of waking up Blair.

2:30 am - Once again she made her way to our side of the house and woke Britt up. She pee'd in her bed so she HAD to sleep with us! UGH! I think she did it on purpose! :) That woke me up and then I couldn't get back to sleep.

We had to get up early this morning (well, early for me and the girls) to take Baylee to the ENT.

That appointment went well. She is going to schedule another sleep study. One that is more under normal circumstances. She, of course, doesn't want to go in and do surgery. I don't think she really agreed with the Hypertension Specialist's theory of "When in doubt we take them out". I agree with the Hypertension Specialist and think if it's worth it then we should just do it. But, we will just see what happens with this 2nd sleep study and go from there. They also checked her ears and the fluid was gone.

Baylee hasn't ran a fever since yesterday morning... THANK GOD! I'm so glad it was just viral!

Tonight I think we are going to watch my friends son race BMX bikes. He just started and is so excited about it! This will be the 1st time we've been to see him. I guess they just started last week.

Tomorrow Baylee has pageant practice. The fair pageant is next weekend and she is so excited. I think she is more excited about going on stage by herself than the actual pageant. I will have pics to come after that! Wish her luck!

Hugs - Tiff

Still sick = NO SLEEP!

2009-09-10T08:00:00.003-05:00

Update... the Dr's office called back. They said if she is still running a fever tomorrow morning then to bring her back! So, more waiting and I hope it goes away by then! I hate seeing her like this!
---------------------------------------------------------------
My baby... not Blair... is still sick. She keeps running a fever and still has the hacking cough. What to do What to do? I'm going to call the Dr. today and see if she needs to come back. On Tuesday while we were there she did say that there was fluid behind her ears. I'm assuming that was leftover from the ear infection from last week!

I really wish that there will come a day when we don't have to "look" forward to our next Dr. appt! Really... they are getting OLD!

Anyway... tomorrow I do actually look forward to the ENT appt for Baylee. Hopefully we will get some answers on whether or not the tonsils come out! I hope they do... only because it can't hurt and they are big anyway! Maybe this will be the end to the Hypertension... only one can hope, right?

Hugs - Tiff

Dr. reports

2009-09-08T21:21:00.002-05:00

Blair....

Our little Blair has a little condition called Alopecia Areata (basically an area of hair loss). So, we will need to take her to see a Dermatologist and see if they want to treat it right now. Being that she is so young and she just had surgery. Dr. Cadle said sometimes they treat it with steroids. We will have to see what happens with that. I just hope it stays in this isolated area that is hidden and doesn't move to other areas. She did say it can be stressed related.... and we've had some of that lately!

Baylee....

Well, Dr. Cadle said that she still had fluid behind her ears, but nothing was still infected! THANK GOODNESS! We did discuss her tonsils once again and she is encouraging me to make the call myself to an ENT to talk about having her tonsils removed. She said her tonsils aren't necessarily big, but she doesn't have the room from the back of her throat up to her tonsils. So, we might be looking back to that MIGHT be causing her hypertension. And, if that's the case then I'm ALL FOR them getting taken out! After all, kids have this done all the time right?

Tonight when we got home Baylee was worn out. She actually fell asleep in the car on the way home. We went by my Mom's house to see if she was home. I was going to make her go to bed early so we went in to get in the bath. She started SCREAMING when she got on the potty! I'm thinking... once again she has a bladder infection... UGH! Off we go to the after-hours clinic to have her pee pee in a cup! At least they weren't busy and we were in and out pretty quick! Bladder infection here we are! I guess we need to start putting the Premarin cream on again to help with everything. I won't go in to detail about that! Basically her urine is getting trapped and keeps getting infected.

So, another $54.00 spent on medical appointments...over 30 minutes in the drive-thru at Wal-Mart.... but making my babies feel better... PRICELESS!

Hugs - Tiff

Nothing much to report... which can be good!

2009-09-08T13:12:00.003-05:00

We had a pretty good weekend. Britt's brother and family came up Saturday afternoon to spend the night with us. I love having company so it was good to see them. They left around noon on Sunday and then we headed out to the lake where my friend Brandy and her family was camping. We spent the evening out there and let the kids play! It was fun! Baylee got to open up a fire hose (with the help of a fireman of course) and spray water all over the place. Next year we are FOR SURE going camping with this group. They are a blast!!!!

Blair has a bald spot on the back of her head. And, it's not the type of bald spot that appears because of back-sleeping. Besides... she sleeps on her belly every night. I just noticed it today and am going to take her to the Dr. this afternoon. I hope it's nothing, but it has me concerned a bit. It's really smooth and about the size of a quarter. Almost like someone shaved it!

I will keep you posted on that!

For now... enjoy your week!

Hugs - Tiffany

5 years..... and the girls

2009-09-04T08:54:00.004-05:00

Today is mine and Britt's 5 year Anniversary! WOW! It doesn't seem like we have been married that long. Where does the time go?

Baylee.... She has had an ear infection since Monday. My Sister took her to the Dr. for me to get her some antibiotics. She spiked a fever early Thursday morning which prompted a trip to the ER. I was afraid she was going to have a syncope episode and I just wanted to make sure her ear was clearing up. She has also had a very congested cough. So, the Dr. decided to switch her antibiotics. Hopefully that will clear the rest of the ear infection and cough up!

Blair.... She is doing GREAT! Yesterday was 2 weeks post-op and everything is looking great. I will post some pics below. She is actually CRAWLING! And, she still spins across the floor too! She is in to everything and so spoiled! I have to change her dressings 4 times per day. It's worked out to more like 3 times per day. Morning, before nap and right before bed. I think anything more would be too much and I'm NOT going to wake her up at night to change it! Also, the "dead" area is looking a bit pink underneath. So, like the Dr. said it might just be like a scab that kind of falls off and there will be new skin under it. It's very encouraging because I really didn't want her to have a skin graft!

Other than that we've had a LOT of calls about the house just no one booking an appointment to see it! URGH... So, that's been a bit frustrating!

Thanks again for all the prayers... just need prayers for healing for little Blair.

Big Hugs - Tiffany

We're back!

2009-09-02T14:29:00.002-05:00

We had a slight delay in St. Louis on Monday. They could not take Blair's stitches out without sedating her because some of them were grown in with the skin. So, they made us an appointment on Tuesday to have her slightly medicated so she wouldn't feel them.

She slept the ENTIRE way home. So, there were no stops. I just kept driving! I couldn't believe Britt's bladder made it 5 straight hours in the car! ;)

We met my Sister with the kids at a local mexican restaurant around 5:30. It was SO good to see Baylee! I missed her so much and hope I don't have to be away from her like that again!

Thanks again for all the prayers and support! It means the world to us! We truly have a little miracle girl!

Hugs - Tiff

Hello.... from INDY!

2009-08-30T08:41:00.002-05:00

We were released from the hospital around 11 on Friday. We decided to head over to Indy that is 3 1/2 hours from St. Louis to stay with my friend Sanne for a few days. We are so glad we made that decision rather than staying in St. Louis! Not only have we been able to catch up with our sweet friends, but Blair has been resting VERY well! She has slept 15 hours each night without waking up. And, she seems to be getting stronger everyday and in less pain. We've been staying on top of the Tylenol with Codeine that they prescribed her!

We will leave early tomorrow morning. We've got an appt in St. Louis to follow-up with Dr. Kane (plastic surgeon) at 10:20. We should be home around 6 ish on Monday.

Thanks to everyone who has prayed for a speedy recovery. Blair has amazed us! Our God is so good!

Hugs - Tiffany

Don't want to jinx anything....

2009-08-27T15:36:00.002-05:00

but, I think we are being released from the HOSPITAL tomorrow morning. Now, we will have to stay in the area until Monday morning because Blair has an appt with Dr. Kane to follow-up and see how everything is coming along. I have no idea when they will take out stitches although that might be something he does on Monday. We will just wait and see I guess.

Blair is doing great. I think she is pretty sore and tender. We are going on 12 hours with no morphine. They are going to start giving her Tylenol with Codeine and see if that helps with the pain a bit. She's good as long as she is laying down, but she needs to be up more to move the fluid in her lungs around.

I know it's all a matter of time for her to heal and we just have to be patient. I can't believe it's been a week since surgery! My, how time flies... even when you are bored in a hospital 6 hours from home!

I miss my Baylee and so far she has done SUPER with my Sister. She has stayed on green all week at school! Which means she did not get in trouble at all! She loves school and loves her teacher Miss Lea. I'm so glad we made the decision to switch schools at the last minute. I think it's good for her to go 4 half days per week! It will get her ready for Kindergarten next year and having to go all day!

Hugs - Tiffany

My baby just POOPED!!!!!! WAHOO!

2009-08-26T17:34:00.003-05:00

This makes my heart smile... in a weird funky sorta way!

They have had her on a clear liquid diet as of this morning and she has only been drinking apple juice. She also ate 1/2 of a popsicle.

As the Dr. was walking in this evening to prescribe another suppository my little angel produced a dirty diaper! Thank you LORD for allowing my daughter to have normal bowel movements after such a major surgery. Bowel blockages are always a huge concern with something like this.

They are going to go ahead and give her some miralax just to help soften things up. They are also placing her on an age-appropriate diet!

We also have had her up quite a bit to get the funk cleared out of her lungs. She did really good earlier and coughed quite a bit.

Yes, Joel was making rounds this afternoon. A lady that was with him was carting around a huge wagon full of St. Louis Cardinal bears. That he personally autographed for all the kids!

Hugs - Tiff

Great News!

2009-08-26T11:53:00.008-05:00

Dr. Warner came by this morning and checked on Blair. He asked if we were ready to get out of here. I told him we were as long as she is ready. Of course she will have to start eating solid foods and POOPING first. She still hasn't had a bowel movement since that one the other day. So, continue to pray for that.

Anyway... so, he said we should be out of here in 3 or 4 days!!!!! WAHOO!

Stitches will come out in 10-14 days. So, if we get released before then we can have those removed by our local pediatrician.

Other than that she is doing great. We need to get her up more to help things move around inside of her! She slept really good last night and so did mommy and daddy!

Earlier Britt got to meet Joel Pineiro. Since Blair is on isolation he couldn't come in the room so Britt got his picture taken with him in the hallway. He is the St. Louis Cardinal's pitcher.

Me and Happy Blair!

Playing "I see you" with the plastic scissor clips.

Sleeping with sippy cup tight in hand!

Britt and Joel Pineiro!

Movin' on up!

2009-08-25T17:36:00.002-05:00

Well, we have busted out of the PICU and up to the 10th floor. It's much quieter up here than the busy PICU! We love it... we can both sleep in here with Blair and it's just much more comfy!

Blair loves it too... she has her own little bedside tv that pulls out next to her crib!

Dr. Warner (I love him) has already been up here to see her. He said she just needs to heal. She cannot be on her belly yet... which I'm sure if she rolled on it she would NOT be happy about it. But, she can roll from side to side!

As I type she is being funny and laughing at me. I think tomorrow I may try to give her a sponge bath. She.stinks! :)

Also, we can have our cell phones up here!

Hugs - Tiff

All is still well!

2009-08-25T07:33:00.002-05:00

Sorry I did not update last night. There really wasn't much to report. Britt let me go back to the hotel so I could get some rest. I was completely exhausted!

They are talking to the surgeons about releasing us today and moving us up to the regular unit. Which will be nice because we can sort of move in up there. After that happens we can move out of our hotel! Ronald McDonald House never called us for an available room. I know they are very busy and since we don't have Baylee with us this will work out better.

I think my Sister is going to bring Baylee up this weekend to visit us. I think my Mom will be coming with them as well. Hopefully Blair will be less sore by then and maybe moving around a bit more.

The part of skin that was turning black has really started to turn red. It kind of formed a blister and is pinking up. They still think the very bottom portion of that flap of skin will not make it and they will let the skin fill in.

She pulled her NG tube out of her nose last night. And, she sounds MUCH better after getting that out! :) Britt said he went and got the nurse and when they came back in she was holding the tube looking at them like, "You better not put this back in"! That's my girl! They said they won't put it back in unless she starts throwing up. They haven't said anymore when she can eat, but they are still giving her TPN feeds with nutrients!

Hugs - Tiff

Surgery - Night 4

2009-08-24T13:24:00.003-05:00

Last night was pretty calm.

Blair had a bit of a low grade fever (99.5) right before I laid down to try to get some rest. She was also shaking in which we figured it was from the lowgrade fever making her have the chills. They kept an eye on it all night and she's much better.

She's been awake most of the day today. She still hasn't had another bowel movement and we are still praying for poop! She's been pretty content today and has needed less pain medicine. They are just giving it to her as needed now.

They are still doing TPN feeds and Nutrition came up and even talked about feeding her something. I'm hesitant about that because this morning she started doing this gaging and wretching thing. Nothing came up, but it scares me that her tummy wouldn't be able to take the food. I wish she would have a couple more bowel movements before they decided to do that. I just want to be certain all of her plumbing is working properly!

Please say a little prayer for a family down the hall from me. Their son drowned and they are taking him off life support today because of no brain activity. They have TONS of family and friends up here that have been coming in and out of his room. They've been camped out in the conference room ever since they brought him in.

Hugs - Tiff

Surgery - Day 4

2009-08-23T18:36:00.004-05:00

Blair is OFF the vent! WAHOO! She seems to be doing really well today.

She is hoarse from the breathing tube. They have her on 1 liter of oxygen and are giving her breathing treatments to kind of help open up her airway because it sounds a little swollen. She's awake off and on. They are giving her morphine and adavan for the pain. They have her on the lowest dose starting out of Morphine, but will probably turn it up a bit so it doesn't wear off so fast.

They have started TPN and lipid feeds.

They changed her PICC line dressing.

She was happy to see the balloons that daddy got her at the end of her bed. Of course she tried reaching up to them and couldn't. I felt so bad for her! Hopefully in a few days she will get to hold them!

Also, she is making a LOT of pee pee! So, that is great news because that means she is getting rid of all the excess fluid in her. Her abdomen doesn't seem as swollen as it was this morning.

And, the best news of all... SHE POOPED!!!!!

Please continue to pray for poop... this means that she doesn't have any bowel blockages!!!!

Hopefully tomorrow or the next day she will get moved up to a regular room!

Here are the pics from today!

Surgery - Night 3

2009-08-23T10:50:00.002-05:00

As if we don't have enough to worry about while being 6 hours from home... our car got broken in to last night. The funny thing... they were only after money and nothing else. And, thank goodness that they didn't break my windows to get in! But, still... a part of me feels a tad violated! And, dang it... they STOLE my Sonic money! :) I have a change bag I always keep to use at Sonic for drinks and such! After all, there's nothing like a good ol' Strawberry Limeade!

Last night was another smooth one. They turned her vent settings down over the course of the night and she tolerated them very well! They are wanting to extabate her in a bit as soon as one of her meds wears off.

They did an x-ray last night and saw a small hernia... they are trying to get a hold of the Dr. to see if it's really anything to worry about. It might be something he knows about from her surgery.

They are talking about what kind of dressing they want to do when she wakes up more. She is very protective of her belly so they want to make sure when she wakes up she's not rolling to her belly. I told them good luck because she is a HUGE stomach sleeper. They said she cannot be on her belly at all because it's kind of like a compression dressing... and they don't want those either!

Also, her hemoglobin rate has come up. It got down to 5.9 and now it's 10.5 after the blood transfusion! YAY blood!

Bladder pressures are normal enough that they don't want to monitor those anymore. She still has her catheter for now. They also gave her a glycerin suppository to try to get her to poop yesterday.... still NOTHING... so, now we need prayers for POO POO! PLEASE!!!!!! Obviously the prayers for pee pee really worked! Thank you for those!

They are going to start some TPN feeds as well. They think this will help with nutrients for her skin to heal up nicely.

So, I would say in the next day or so we should be moved to a regular room! That way both Britt and I will be able to stay in her room with her! Don't get me wrong... I'm really falling in love with the OH.SO.NOT.COMFORTABLE.CHAIR and all, but it's time to move on to bigger and better things... Chair, I will miss you! NOT! :)

Britt's Sister, her husband and the 3 girls came up yesterday. They are picking up Britt's Mom and taking her back to Cabot. She rode up here with us so was kind of stuck and needs to get back to take care of some things at the dance studio. Her car is at our house and they will just get it later. It sure was nice seeing some familiar faces. I just know soon enough we will look back and this will all be over.

I'm just so thankful to have wonderful surgeons that helped fix Blair's belly! Dr. Warner and Dr. Kane... THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!

Hugs - Tiff

Surgery - Day 3

2009-08-22T21:20:00.008-05:00

Today has turned out to be another good one. Although Blair had to get a blood transfusion today she is doing great. Her hemoglobin was at 6.3 and normal is 10. So, that's why they decided to do a transfusion.

Also, her bladder pressure was a bit high tonight. They want it to be below 20 and tonight she was at 22. She has been at 10-17 in the past couple days. They have a call in to the Dr. to see if there is anything they need to do for that.

The patch of "dead" skin is pinking up on the top part of it. They still think she might lose the bottom portion... so, prayers for that would be great!

They talked today about starting to wean her off the vent tomorrow. I don't think they have made official plans so we will just play that by ear.

Hello everyone!

Getting my blood transfusion.

My blood.

My door that Mommy decorated.

Thanks for my gifts!

Surgery - Night 2

2009-08-22T09:40:00.009-05:00

Last night was calm once again.

Britt did not wake me up until after 7:30 when he arrived at the hospital. Once again, I slept in Blair's room in the OH.SO.NOT.COMFORTABLE.CHAIR! So, I'm stuck in here until they get done with rounds and I have to pee pee really bad! Not to mention I really need a shower!

Blair's hemoglobin dropped a bit over the last day. It is now 6.4 and normal for her is around 10. So, she might possibly have to get some blood to bring that number up. Nothing to be concerned about just yet. They are going to keep an eye on that as well. So, let's pray for some higher hemoglobin numbers!

The surgeon team came by earlier and said that everything was looking good with the exception of the dark area. (See post above) They are still waiting that out to see what it's going to do and if they will need to do a skin graft.

Also, she is a bit allergic to her antibiotics. This does not mean she cannot have them, but rather she needs a bit of benadryl with the dose. She gets what is called Red Man's Face after getting her dose.

Here are some pics of the morning of surgery. I will put today's belly pics on tonight's post!

Blair getting weighed in.

Blair with Mamaw (Britt's Mom)

Me, Blair and Britt - she's on goofy juice that's why she looks crazy/goofy!

Steffen, Blair and Sanne (One of my BFF's - they are from Indianapolis)

Blair looking out the window of the play room.

Thanks everyone for the continued prayers and support. You have NO idea how much it means to us and there is no way we could ever re-pay everyone!

Surgery - Day 2

2009-08-21T21:18:00.006-05:00

Everything has been going good so far today. Lots and lots of pee so those prayers are working! :) I have to chuckle myself. I know I've prayed for other people and their kids to have lots of pee or poo... just never thought I would do that for her just yet!

Once again today has been pretty uneventful. Still watching the patch of skin and it keeps getting darker. It's okay and I'm not worried about it because I know there is a plan. If there wasn't a plan I would be totally freaking out.

I was pretty exhausted today. This chair I get to sleep on in her room is not made for sleeping. It does not recline all the way and it's pretty hard. Since I'm a side sleeper it's not my best friend right now. I would sleep in the waiting room, but I don't want to be far from her right now. Hopefully, once they extabate her and move us up to the 10th floor then things will get better. Both of us will be able to sleep in the room with her so that will be better.

Baylee is staying with my Sister and having a grand ol' time! She didn't have school today so my Sister took her swimming at her neighbors house. Tomorrow she is going with my friend Brandy and her family to the lake to go boating! And, then she will spend the night with her. So, for now she is occupied and doing great! I miss her though, but I've got to be here and I know Baylee understands. My Sister showed Baylee pics of Blair's "tummy tuck" and she thought it looked great! :)

Also, someone asked and we will probably be here a few weeks. Yes, it's a long process but by doing what we did we probably cut out 2 or 3 surgeries.

Hugs - Tiff

Surgery - Night 1

2009-08-21T07:48:00.003-05:00

Nothing major to report this morning. Blair is still stable and heavily sedated. I know they slightly decreased some of the pain meds so she's not in such a zombie state.

The Plastic Surgeon came by this morning and helped with her dressing change. They are still concerned with the 1 area of skin because it keeps getting darker. He said he assumes this area will die and if it does then they have a couple different things they can do to fix it.

-No fevers! YAY!

-Peeing a bit! YAY! But, let's pray for MORE pee!

-Abdominal pressures are 10 which is almost normal! They want it to be under 20.

-Pray for a miracle with the "dead" skin issue. Pink up Pink up!!!!

I made a sign for her door and put pictures I had with me up. It's nice that the nurses can see how happy she is when she's awake. We also had to buy some pink balloons (even though one says Happy Birthday - which it is NOT - thanks Britt). And, they provide a HUGE bag of hairbows to choose from. Of course my girl has to have some bright pink! All of this because EVERYONE kept calling her a boy! Ummmm NO! I will provide pictures of all of this on tonight's post! Yes, you will be getting 2 per day for a while! ------ You're welcome! :)

Rounds - They are getting ready to do rounds. This is how it works: Basically, you have to be in your childs rooms BY 7:30 am every morning. At this time the unit is locked down... so you cannot leave and you cannot enter the unit. And, they keep it locked down until after 10 or 11. Patient privacy... gotta love it!

I just ask that everyone to continue to pray that God provides her comfort, peace and healing!

In the meantime I will give ya'll a picture of the night before surgery!

Hugs- Tiff

Left something out...

2009-08-20T21:20:00.002-05:00

Everything was in her Omphalocele sac. Liver, intestines, stomach, colon and THEY FOUND HER SPLEEN!!!! It's not missing afterall! :) Pics and update are 1 post below this one!

Hugs - Tiff

Surgery - Day 1

2009-08-20T20:44:00.008-05:00

Today has been pretty uneventful after surgery. There was a bit of what we thought would be a pee pee issue, but since has resolved. Turns out she just needed a new foley... so, that is good to go. But, still pray for pee!!!

There is a place on her belly that has the Dr. a bit concerned. Nothing to get too over excited about. It's just darker than her normal skin... kind of the "old" skin that was grown up over her O. They are watching it, but the Dr. has assured us that there is a back-up plan in case that area of skin happens to die. They have put some of her skin back for skin-grafting in case they need it.

They are keeping her doped up on pain meds and she seems to be comfortable for the most part. The nurse just came in and said they would be placing another IV in case the other IV goes bad. I would much rather them do that now while she is "out of it" than when she is fully awake!

Looks like we will be here a few weeks. No one knows for sure exactly how long. She needs to heal up nicely and the next step will be getting her off the vent as long as the patch of skin does okay.

Last night was another first. I forgot Blair's bathtub at the house so she got to take her first AND last big girl bathtub with her "old" belly! You can see from the pics that she had a GREAT time! Also, you can see the compare pics from after her surgery and can see the size difference. Keep in mind that she was a little swollen right after surgery and that has gone down in the past few hours! But, even swollen it's MUCH smaller!

Update on Blair

2009-08-20T16:06:00.002-05:00

Tiffany called and Blair got out of surgery around 11:30 today. Everything went well but they are keeping her sedated right now because she is on the vent and probably will be for a couple of days. They just don't want her moving around right now. She said they were able to get everything back into her belly and had to use a but of alloderm to patch her muscles together. Tiff sounds good and just asked that we pray for peace!! She really didn't know any plans right now but said that it sounds like they will be there for a few weeks.

Change of Plans

2009-08-20T08:31:00.004-05:00

This is Brandy and I just got a call from Tiffany. When the doctor put Blair to sleep this morning and started squeezing around on her belly he realized that he could get most of the contents from her omphalocele back in to her belly now without having to do the expander. So, this is great news but of course Tiffany is nervous. Blair will be in surgery for a few hours but this would basically be the phase 1 that she would have had in Octoberish and that expander situation did not sound like a pleasant experience. So, please pray that everything goes well with the surgery today!!

BBQ

2009-08-18T10:18:00.011-05:00

Last night we went to a bbq at my Aunt and Uncles house. My cousin was in town visiting from MN. Got a cute picture of the 4 Grandkids on that side and thought I would share. They all play so well together and my nephews are probably the best behaved boys I have ever met!

They all started school this week. Baylee's first day was today. We switched schools because she needed to go more days to get her prepared for next year. She will start Kindergarten and this will get her ready for that. She is going to school where my nephews attend. I think she was more excited about me dropping her off in the car line and not having to walk her in to school!

Baylee got to meet her teacher yesterday. Her name is Miss Lea and she is so sweet! I think she is very structured and it will be good for Baylee!

Hugs - Tiff

St. Louis - Part 1

2009-08-14T12:58:00.003-05:00

The girls and I took a trip to St. Louis at the beginning of the week. Blair had to be cleared by the Pulmonologist and Anesthesiologist before her surgery this week.

Both appointments went great and they think she will do just fine for surgery. Of course they had to tell me all the bad stuff to cover themselves, but I tried to tune all of that out!

We will be leaving on Wednesday! I have no idea how long we will be gone. Hopefully just a few days, but that just depends on how well Blair does with the expander's in her belly.

I believe my Sister is keeping Baylee for us. Being that we have to be at the hospital Thursday morning at 5:30 I really don't think she would do well for that! Plus, she starts preschool next week and is SUPER excited!

Hugs- Tiff

Beyond just Kindness

2009-08-11T19:49:00.002-05:00

This morning I let the girls sleep in a bit at the hotel while I got ready. After we got everything loaded in the car we went and found a Cracker Barrel. After all... they have the best breakfast! :)

So, we walked in and they sat us next to this table. It was a young Grandma (Katie), her daughter (Susan) and Susan's 3 daughters. I didn't catch their names, but they were 5, 4 and 2 1/2 and SO CUTE! They had their dress-up clothes on!

We got to chatting with them about the girls and for some reason Blair's belly got brought up. I told them the situation with both girls and how we've been doing a LOT of traveling. They were just super easy to chat with!

After they had left and we were waiting on our check our waitress came over and said our ticket had been taken care of!

I feel so bad that I didn't catch their last name or anything because I feel like I need to send them a Thank You card! So... to Susan and Katie... if you ever find this blog and read this THANK YOU!

I was speechless!

Hugs - Tiff

Pics of Boston

2009-08-06T09:37:00.016-05:00

I just remembered I saved this as a draft. Here are some pics we took in Boston! Enjoy!

Little Rock Appointment

2009-08-05T21:39:00.003-05:00

While this is fresh on my mind I thought I would get this out here. The girls (yes, both of them) had appointments yesterday in Little Rock at Arkansas Children's. Not only did they have appointments, but I also had to run by medical records to get a report from last December for Blair as well as return her car bed to Occupational Therapy at the hospital.

We went down to spend a few days with Britt's family before their appointments. I wish I did some better planning though since his Mom was gone most of the time. But, with all the upcoming appointments and surgeries I felt it was better to go before-hand.

Anyway... so, both girls had an appointment with the same Cardiologist. I will just be honest and upfront here and tell you that I don't care for her. Not that she's not nice or anything, but these people are just NOT thorough with following up. And, that's one thing that is very important to me. I don't care if you have to make me believe during the entire appointment that you CARE and WANT to see my child. DO IT! Maybe if you can't keep up with everything you should hire an assistant to follow you around to help you follow-up with the patients and their families!

Now that I've got that off my chest I will tell you about their appointments....

Blair:

Blair had an Echo that showed us the size of the hole (VSD) in her heart. They said it's very very tiny and should close on it's own. Her heart is rotated... and not that it's really rotated because it's sitting the correct way in her chest, but it's on the right side (literally) of her body. Other than that everything looks great and looks like her heart is working properly.

Baylee:

They did an Echo on Baylee as well. I was SO proud of her as she went with the lady ALL BY HERSELF to get it done since I was with Sissy! As we said before she will wear oxygen at night. Little Rock ordered 2 liters, but I called the Hypertension Specialist just to make sure I heard right and she said 2 liters is okay, but sometimes that is uncomfortable for the child. She said 1 liter would suffice and that's what they would write the script for. They were not able to measure the pressure by a leaking Tricuspid valve because it wasn't leaking yesterday. She will have to have another Heart Cath by November and I'm thinking that it will take place in Boston. After all, they are the one's wanting the report anyway in case they have to change the medicine or anything. Britt and I are still discussing what we are going to do with that. Yes, it would be more convenient doing it in Little Rock because Britt's parents live right there, BUT is it the BEST place to have it done? I'm positive I can answer no to that. Today, the lady from the Home Medical Supply place came by to switch out the equipment. We still had all the oxygen stuff from when Blair came home on it last year. She replaced a couple bottles of empty oxygen and reminded me on how to use everything.

Tonight we started Baylee on her oxygen. Of course she did NOT want to wear it, but she quickly fell asleep. I started her off on 1/8 of a liter of oxygen and after she fell asleep I turned it up to 1 liter. She just didn't like the blowing in her nose feeling. Which I don't blame her. It's kind of like a dog when you blow in their nose... they don't like it.

Sunday we leave for St. Louis for Blair's appointments. She has one with a Pulmonologist and has to be cleared by Anesthesia for surgery. I promised Baylee I would take her to the Magic House and she is SO excited about it! After all, dragging her through a hospital all the time and her doing so well with it requires some reward! :)

Hugs - Tiff

Catching up...

2009-08-05T15:58:00.006-05:00

I needed to do this post the other day and didn't get around to it.

I was in the kitchen and Baylee was in the living room playing with her Sissy. The next thing I knew is Baylee was yelling for me. So, when I walked around the corner this is what I saw! I couldn't help but to go grab the camera and start snapping away. Now you see normally she could of just stepped down, but she grabbed a hold of something so she was kind of stuck.

And, then I looked down and saw Sissy! TOO FUNNY!!!! At this point I'm laughing so hard I about wet my pants!

Neither one of these munchkins were hurt in the process! I had a good laugh for the day indeed!

Hugs - Tiff

Delayed Entertainment

2009-07-30T21:46:00.005-05:00

Today has been the LONGEST day of my life. Well, not really... but you will understand when I explain myself.

This morning started out great. It was cloudy in Boston, but we headed to the airport early in case we were stuck in security lines, etc! Our flight left late because of bad weather in Atlanta. Once we got to Atlanta we were in a holding pattern in the sky so that delayed us even more. We landed at 3:35 pm only to catch a 4:06 pm flight on the OTHER side of the airport. We all buy run to the other side and found out our flight was canceled. And, they didn't know where to put us. So, they put us on Standby for another flight. Got some lunch and found a place in the floor to have a picnic (it was NUTS in there with all the flights being canceled and such). After we finished eating we went back only to find out our Standby flight had been canceled. They put us back on our original flight to leave at 5:30 pm. UGH! We went back in time 1 hour and landed at 8:00 pm (Eastern Time) 7:00 pm (Central Time - our time).

Anyway... back to our picnic... had not all of this craziness happened I never would of met this famous person! Yes, I said FAMOUS people!!!!

If you are unsure of who he is let me give you a little history. His name is Jason Acuna also known as "Weeman" because he is a midget. He has been a professional skateboarder for the past 6 years. He appeared in Happy Gilmore when Happy was trying to go to a "happy" place and daydreaming... yes, weeman was in the dream! :) He has also appeared in the Jack@ss movies and with Wildboys on MTV. I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff that will make me laugh. And, I was so happy I was able to meet him and have my picture taken with him!

So, even though we had a long day and really wanted to be home I was able to put a little smile on my face and not worry about the delays for about 10 minutes!

I will put some Boston pics tomorrow as well as more of what we "did" while we were there. Besides being at the hospital ALL DAY Wednesday!

Good Night!
Hugs - Tiff

Boston Appointment

2009-07-29T21:28:00.002-05:00

Let me put all of this out here while it's fresh on my mind.

First off, we were late to Baylee's appt. Not because of anything that was our fault, but they sent us the wrong appt letter so we had no idea. No problem though... they were so kind and worked us in ALL DAY!

We arrived to the Cardiology clinic around 11:15. Baylee did her height and weight check, went for the Echo and had her EKG. Then, we were discussing everything with Dr. Mary Mullen when she was called to an Emergency and had to leave. So, we went and grabbed some lunch because at this point it was 1:00 pm (our time) 2:00 pm (Boston time). We came back and Baylee did a 6 minute walking testing which she passed with flying colors. Then, we went to speak with Dr. Mullen once again. This Dr. completely amazes me. She picked up with her conversation RIGHT where she left off without looking at a chart or folder! LOVE HER! After we spoke with her we went down to the Lab dept and they drew some blood. OUCH! She does NOT like needles... she is just like me when I was little!

So, right now this is what's going to happen.

-She will be placed on Oxygen only at night while she is sleeping. This is to help dialate her vessels and relax them while she is sleeping.
-We will also have another sleep study performed to make sure once again her tonsils are not causing all of this.
-They are not adding or taking away any meds as of right now.
-She will have another Heart Cath either in October, but no later than November.
-She is also a tad bit restricted on activity. No rough sports or anything like that. She basically needs to learn to limit herself on activity and know when she needs to stop and rest.

All in all it was WELL worth the trip up here! I'm so thankful I researched and found the BEST when it comes to all of this. I will post LOTS of pictures when I get home (not just of the hospital, but our little bit of sight-seeing we were able to do).

I LOVE BOSTON! It is such a cool city... a lot going on!

More when I get home tomorrow!
Hugs - Tiffany

Look at what my friend did for us!

2009-07-24T18:23:00.006-05:00

My friend... who happens to be my next door neighbor offered to take family photos of us. We haven't had any professional family pics done since Blair has been born. I know I know... we've been so busy and it's expensive to have them done. Anyway... she's just starting out with photography and does an amazing job! Thanks, Lynne!!!!!

A little practice makes perfect

2009-07-23T21:41:00.006-05:00

I cannot believe how fast time just goes by! I still kinda consider Blair a baby because after all she cannot walk yet. She could crawl, but instead she spins like a tornado all over the place. She cruises all around furniture, your leg, the kitchen cabinets, etc. Here lately she's been letting go and standing for 5-10 seconds. It's so cute to watch her do it. I actually caught her in the act today and here is what I came up with!

Here I am Momma!

Look what I can do!

Hugs - Tiff

Gentry Safari

2009-07-21T12:26:00.011-05:00

I love this place! My friend Brandy's kids spent the night Sunday after we were at the lake all

day. What was our purpose? Well, everytime they spend the night usually we head to the Gentry Safari. This place is SO much fun! They have a 4-5 mile long drive-thru area and TONS of animals to pet! Here are some pictures of the trip!

New Hair Cut

2009-07-18T14:53:00.010-05:00

Here lately Baylee has been BEGGING me to cut her hair OFF! And, by off I mean OFFFFFFF. Like really short! Since my heart isn't quite prepared for really short we went with middle of the road type cut. And, she LOVES it! I think it's really cute as well and much easier to fix. Plus, it doesn't get so stringy looking... you know, like she's a homeless child or something.

Anyway... I broke out the scissors today and hacked it off. I almost cried, but I love it and Daddy doesn't care for it too much!

Sissy has been a mess lately. She is SO funny and in to everything. She is constantly pulling up on EVERYTHING. Cruising everywhere, spins to where she needs to go, and is opening the cabinet doors and taking everything out of them! I just let her do it... after all, we are just so blessed that she is able to do it! We have found something else that she loves to do outside. The past couple of days it's been really cool out. I say cool... I mean, like in the low 80's which feels cool to me. And, very low humidity which is really unusual for this time of year. So, we took Baylee's empty plastic pool and put it in the shade in the backyard and let sissy play away. She LOVES IT!

I also cleaned out my garage this morning. Took about 3 hours, but it's done and finally everything out there is organized the way I like it! We pulled the pool around to the garage and let her play out there while we cleaned. It was nice and she didn't fuss a bit.

Hugs - Tiff

Baylee's Hair before the cut

Baylee's hair after the cut

Blair enjoying the pool WITHOUT water

Blair at Family Night after Baylee's VBS

Blair enjoying the pool!

Not enough time!

2009-07-14T20:48:00.002-05:00

I know I gripe about this so much, but we need more hours in the day and more days in the week. I just feel like our Summer is going by so fast... before we know it we are going to have to pull out the yucky winter clothes again. And, personally... I'm just not ready for that!

A) I get depressed when it's really cold out
B) I'm just not ready for the popsicle days to end
C) I love the smell of a fresh cut lawn
D) We still need to sell our home and I'm afraid as it gets cooler it's going to be harder to do!

We are desperate to sell our house at this point. Not that we can't make the payment, but we just need to get out from underneath it. And, whoever buys it is going to get a DARN good deal! We are only asking a little above what we owe and that's only to cover our closing costs.

I just know I have to keep praying to get a buyer and SOON!

Hope everyone else is enjoying their Summer!

Hugs - Tiff