DADDY DAYCARE

Today Daycare is closed for conference's so Chris took the day off and is staying home with the girls...I wonder what the house is going to look like when I get home. This is actually that longest amount of time that Chris has been home with both girls at the same time. I know he'll be fine but it should be interesting.

The Drive to work this morning was so peaceful, I needed that. The Sun is finally out not a cloud in the sky and it is not to hot yet. I LOVE IT!!! I got to roll the windows down listen to adult music and not talk to anyone, how refreshing, a great way to start a extra long weekend.

This has been one of my tougher weeks so I am glad it is over but at the same time I am glad it happened because I have really learned a lot about how all this medical stuff works and that I truly have a group of wonderful friends.

I want to say thanks to everyone for the support this week I truly needed it.I hope that everyone has a safe and wonderful 4 of July weekend. God Bless our Troops...

Wow it is 7:20 I have been up for so long it seems. I do have time to check out some blogs and update since Chris took Em with him.
Tatum has PT at 8:30 and then has to have blood drawn after that. Great, late to work for me again. I know they understand but I feel so bad it is always something. Dr Apt for someone, PT ,OT ,Blood Work it just seems never ending. I live in one place and Daycare is inbetween all the doctors seem to be by my wk so I am forever driving in circles and buing the oh so cheap gas in this area....atleast it was under 3.00 today, HA 2.97.

....I think I am a bit stressed over all the demands in my life these days.
I am trying very hard not to let it show that things bother me but my goodness work traffic kids and Rain and never a quite ride in the car as a matter of fact I do not even get a quite time in the bathroom.

Maybe it is times like these I just need to step back and be greatful for the great kids and husband I have (even if he gets out of daycare pick up and drop off all the time).

Tatum did things today That i had never seen her do before I was so proud.This is a new stunt for her. I think she performs more at daycare.

even better we now have a use for the excercise ball that I HAD to have ;)

I started this blog this morning and have just added to it at different points during today ahhh what I would do for a few extra hours in the day, who am I kidding I would more then likely waste them HA. I can not even concentrate alot of times at work because I let my self get worked up and stressed about Tatum. I think I am going to be totally gray by 35!!

WOW sorry for rambling and thanks for joining my pity party...I'll blame it on the rain that just won't go away...

WELCOME BABY MOLLY

Today @1:01pm weighing 8.11 Molly Joined our Family...

We are all soooo excited and the girls can not wait to meet there new cousin, well Emma can't wait ;)

Mommy and Baby are both doing fine
We love you Julie, Geoff, and Baby Molly!!!

WELL CHECK UP

Today Both girls had well Chuck-ups as expected Tatum is below the charts for height and weight and Emma was 30% for weight and 50% for height. Tatum weighed 9.8 and Emma was 32.5. Emma has barley gained a weight in he last yr, gee I wish I could be like that :)

Tatum got four shots she was not digging that to much but she made it through and by the time I left her a Day Care she was fast asleep. One good thing that I learned is Tatum is really not so far behind yet anyway...The only question that I could not say she was doing is laughing. I Thought that was pretty good.

Actually for the first time last night Tatum held her bottle....How great is that going to be mastered...Everyone well have a much nicer ride home from work in the evening.

June has been a great month for Tatum she smiled for the first time,reached for objects, the other day she held a object for 30 sec and passed it one time from one hand to the other, the bottle holding thing, and the best by far for Tatum She found her thumb. Would it be my child without a thumb in the mouth ;)

Emma just can not understand why baby can suck her thumb but Daddy wants Emma to stop sucking hers....This should be a interesting habit for us to get Emma to break. All in all a pretty good week so far.

Father's Day

...


This was Chris' first Fathers Day with two kids. He really took the time today to spend with each of his daughters alone. Emma took a nap early in the day giving Chris the time to listen to music and dance with Tatum, she even got her bottle from Dad. After Tatum fell asleep for afternoon nap, Emma woke up.


Emma had fallen asleep early she had had a big day on sat. Then got up at 6am (even before Tatum) on Sunday morning...YUCK...Anyway before Tatum woke up Chris had a chance to play with Emma. She loves playing with her Daddy. After a catch game in the back yard


Tatum woke up...

So off to the pool we went with both of them, it was 6 by now so there were not so many people still there.




It was a very nice family day the four of us have not gotten to many of those lately. I feel very lucky that my girls have Chris for a father, I know he is always going to put them first. I know he learned great things about being a dad from his dad. This is how my girls well remember how wonderful there Grandfather was ( Chris' Dad) by seeing how wonderful there Dad is to them.Chris and I were both very lucky to grow up with great dads and now I know my kids well too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy Birthday EM-CHUNK....Thanks for making the last three years so special for Daddy and I we love you so much. We look forward to many more birthdays...
My #1 baby is Three :)

Moving Along...

With each passing day I try to tell myself that it is not such a big deal that Tatum has WS and I can handel it all just fine....Yeah untill I go to pick her up from daycare and see the new 6 week old baby there. HUM funny how she is almost doing the same things as Tatum. I would bet in about 3 weeks this baby is going to be moving right along past her. I know, I know ,you can not compare children, easier said then done especially when your Child was born in "ITALY"....I read this poem first on a Blog from another parent of a WS child and then it was shared again with the WS list server. I think it is something I am going to be reading over and over for a while still....

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

By Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.


I could not get spell check to work so please don't hold the spelling against me :)

A Very Busy Weekend....

Friday Tatum and I went to the Cardio Doc and had a great visit. They thought Tatum sounded great, pressures were good, and we do not have to go back for a month. She weighed 9.13 yipee we are on our way to 10lbs...We might hit 3-6 month clothes this summer after all :). We also found out that if everything remains the same we won't have to do another Cardio Cath until October, what a relieve.

The girls had a great weekend with Aunt Catina and Uncle Scott.Chris and I got our night out, we went to see Tom Petty @ Nissan Pavilion. Stevie Nicks was there too very cool great concert. Ah yes but best of all we got to sleep in, I can not tell you the last time I slept till 11:00 I must have needed it.

We picked the girls up Sunday afternoon and meet my Dad, Aunt Jules and Uncle Geoff at Scott and Catina's. This may be the last time we see Aunt Julie before baby Molly arrives. Hurry Up Mol we are all waiting to meet you :)




My Dad took Emma and Maddie swimming...




While Chris went inside to feed Tatum her bottle, it looks more like recovery from a busy busy weekend.
Hey how come I didn't get a nap???

Can you believe Emma is going to be 3 on FRIDAY!!! Whoa it seems like yesterday when she was a baby. I am sure I'll have pictures of that to post ;)

Love you all...

A Child Is...

A child is........
A butterfly in the wind,
Some can fly higher than others;
but each one flies the best it can.
Why compare one against the other?

Each one is different!
Each one is special!
Each one is beautiful!

Author unknown

Family

This was a great weekend I got to spend time with both kids and even a cousin. Emma was so excited that cousin Maddie came over to play. We used to live next door to Madison until the fall after Emma was one so it really makes me happy to see the two girls maintain there relationship like they are still together everyday. But not to worry if they did not get enough of each other on Sunday "Emmy Chunk and Baby Taner" are sleeping over Aunt Catina's on Sat. night. That means a good night sleep for Mommy and Daddy...Yeah!!!




Tatum is still doing well her coloring is great. We can not help but wonder how long this is going to last. I guess we should just take advantage of it while we can. Emma loves that Tatum is more alert it makes it easier for Emma to constantly be in her face :) 24/7 stimulation or free OT... LOL Actually on the Subject of OT Terry Tatums Occupational therapist said she was very impressed with her mussel tone and how well she was doing. He head control is great and just getting better everyday.









Just one last note about Emma she is doing very well at school and becoming quit the little grown up...She went strawberry picking on Friday and later came home and played in the rain. She is such a joy, most of the time ;)

Weight Check

Oh yeah as of yesterday Tatum reached Emma's birth weight we knew she would break 9lbs... Way to go Tatum!

Happy Friday.....

a>

>


I think this is the best Friday in a while. Although I got not a ton of sleep at the hospital last night...Got to love the peds floor no one sleeps... I did get more then the people on the other side of my room. But anyway...

Tatum is a true rock star, she went through her cath like a trooper. We learned that it would be a while and maybe never that she would need heart surgery.Tatum did end up having angioplasty....It seems that she is not able to have surgery because she has so many little problems going on in there. Her Cardiologist feels that a stint is not a good idea because although it would help in the immediate it would cause problems in the long run and cause further open heart surgery. They are planning to do chronic caths with a lot of ballooning. She has about 12in of her descending aorta that is about 4mm wide this is way smaller then it should be. Her pulmonary arteries are about 1mm they uses a 4 mm balloon yesterday to help the pressure in the right side of her heart. If you ask me this worked GREAT! I do not think I brought the same child home. It is just amazing the noticeable difference in her she must be feeling good. She has slept less ate more and been so much more alert all day I even saw a little smile. Needless to say Tatum must be feeling a lot better.

I am not real sure how I feel about chronic caths but if they make her feel this good then I know something is wrong and this seems to be the way to fix it right now. I just hope everything grows like the Dr.'s are hoping.

This first year sounds like it may be pretty tough,in and out of the hospital quit a bit. The heart cath certianly showed me a very important thing, I can handel this and more. I have my best friend by my side for all of it, thanks Chris you are a great Dad and husband....
It has taken four months, I am starting to finally see the joy and love for life that is so apparent in Emma shining through in little Tatum. She is such a beautiful blessing and a great addition to our family. I can not wait for everyone to meet her.