Insanely happy

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. They make you forget about all the sleepless nights, crying, and poopy diaper for the past eleven months.

I'm that girl

If you happened to be in my neighborhood this morning, that was me. Yes, I was the one huffin' and puffin' behind the orange BOB stroller, pushing nearly 40 pounds of baby + 23 pounds (the weight of the stroller.) There were times that I thought I might lose a lung, but it was OK. I ran about 3.25 miles and did walk most of the hills, but I am feeling like a real woman right now.

picky, picky, picky.

Maddy has always been the picky eater of the two girls. She's always been a slower eater and my Mom finally admitted that she used to scoop up Libby first because she was easier to feed. Even with her bottle some days, she'll just press her lips together and turn her head away when she's telling you "no!" She's finally eating applesauce, cheerios, and bananas. Maybe a few bites of oatmeal, sweet potato, and carrots, but those are few and far between.

I decided to try out blueberries and yogurt for lunch today. They both gobbled up the blueberries. My only "fiasco" was when I gave Maddy a bath this evening and noticed that she had a bruise on her arm. I nearly panicked trying to figure out what had happened to her, when the "bruise" washed off. She had dropped a blueberry inside her outfit and it left several "bruises" on her arm and tummy.

Anyway, Maddy loved the yogurt. It's the full fat plain Stonyfield. It makes me pucker a little, so I didn't have high hopes. Shockingly, she ate two servings today. Whoo-hoo ... I think it will be the new item on the menu.

Ugh.

I have been dreading tomorrow all day long, and not for my own selfish birthday reasons. Libby is having her surgery to have her hemangiomas lasered. While the actual surgery part doesn't make me as nervous - they use a laser that will help reduce the size, lighten the color, and toughen the skin so the hemangiomas won't open up - it's the anesthesia.

I have kept myself from googling today and looking up scary statistics about anesthesia. I know as a rational adult that we have a great Pediatric Anesthesiologist who will take care of my girl, but as a Mom I can't help but worry.

We have to be there at 6AM for her 7:15 appointment. So, I'm asking for thoughts and prayers that everything will go smoothly and we'll be back home playing before she realizes what's going on.

** Update at 9:00 AM ** We are back home and everything is fine! Thanks so much for the messages, thoughts, and prayers. Libby charmed all of the nurses and 2 even asked to take her home! It was a quick procedure and honestly, we chatted with another family in the waiting room, then received our call that everything was done and fine. I picked her up from recovery and we were back on the road. Whew!

Meet Murphy

Why is it that on the night that I try to go to bed early knowing that I have to wake up by 4:30 so I can get showered, dressed, breakfasted, car loaded, and out the door before 6AM that my normally two sweet, sleeping through the night babies decide that they want to be up every 3 hours?

I'm guessing it's either teething pain or Murphy's Law.

I'm really feeling like a mom of newborn twins this morning. Thank goodness for Hubby. Have a great weekend ... I'm off to work an event. Let's just hope there's a Starbucks in the building!

Hemangiomas

L. has had three hemangiomas since she was just a couple of weeks old. They all appeared while she was still in the NICU. They are located on her hand, upper back, and on her back hip, right where the diaper lays across her back. We are very lucky that they aren't on any areas that would impare her vision or eating.

We have been keeping an eye on them and our Pediatrician checks them out at every visit. The one on her hip is starting to get a little weakened in the middle, so she referred us to a plastic surgeon for further evaluation.

Our appointment was earlier this week, so we had someone watch M. while Hubby and I made the trek for the appointment. It was the first time since leaving the NICU that they've been separated! Both did fine, but we made the dumb mistake of not taking a stroller and of course we didn't park in the right spot, so Hubby ended up carrying L., who was still sleeping when we arrived, in her car seat all across a big ol' hospital. Next time, we'll park in the right spot AND take the stroller!

So, we found out that she'll have to have surgery to remove these, since the one is getting weaker and they don't want to risk it ulcerating and opening up. As you can imagine, you don't want to run the risk of this thing opening up + coming in contact with any, um "diaper related" contents.

So, my sweet girl will have to be put under with anesthesia and they will go ahead and remove all three at one time. I know that she's a trooper, but I just hate to think that she'll have to be go through this at such a young age. It probably is better, because she won't remember it ... plus, we won't have to wait up to 5+ years for the hemangiomas to go away on their own. This practice specializes in pediatric plastic surgery, so I know they know what they are doing, but still. I guess part of becoming a Mom is learning how to worry like one!

Growing up

I just packed up a box of 4-ounce bottles, since they were taking up cabinet space and we haven't used them in months. Sigh. It's so hard for me to believe that 6 months has flown by this quickly! Some days, it seems like only yesterday we were making daily trips to the NICU and Maddy and Libby were eating out of the little NICU bottles that look like baby doll bottles. I think they may hold 2 ounces, plus they were taking about 22 ml, which isn't even an ounce and they normally would end up finishing those bottles via their feeding tubes.

It just seems so long away now and it's hard to remember them being this small. I'm sure it will be even harder to remember when they turn 13 and are wearing their generations version of Maddona t-shirts, and I will look back at these pictures and smile. Or maybe cry. Or both!

Have I told you lately?

Does getting pooped on by your oldest daughter mean she's trying to tell you that she loves you? She did smile at me afterward ... I guess that counts for something.

Mom of the year award

That is exactly what I won't be winning.

I had an appointment to have Maddy & Libby's photos taken today. I knew that it would coincide with one of their feedings, so I packed bottles so I could feed them while we were at the studio. When we arrived Maddy was pretty fussy, so I decided to feed her while our favorite photog was getting set up.

I pulled out the little cooler bag and noticed it was upside down. No big deal, I thought until I unzipped it and noticed that the bottles were both less than half full. The milk had spilt all in the bag and leaked onto their extra change of clothes, blanket, etc. Such a bummer, because I knew they would be hungry, plus the milk is like liquid gold.

Of course, neither one was very happy with the less than stellar lunch, so I tried to breastfeed as well. In a very gorgeous studio with high ceilings, exposed brick walls, oh and with large windows everywhere and construction workers walking by, who are working on other studio spaces down the hall. Yeah, that didn't go over too well.

Luckily they were troopers and both did fine even though they had just had a little appetizer instead of a 3-course lunch . I would post photos, but of course the Mom of the year left my camera at home, so hopefully I'll have some great shots to show you in a couple of weeks.

Going to mark all of those damn bags with an UP arrow for our next outing!

smile report

I have been patiently, um make that anxiously waiting to get a real smile from the girls. We've seen plenty of the sweet smiles that they make when they are fast asleep, but I wanted one of those real, melt-your-heart smiles when they are wide awake.

I'm happy to report that Maddy gave me THREE big smiles this morning after her breakfast. She was wide awake after her feeding, so we were talking about life and when I saw these smiles , they just about melted my heart. So sweet.

Then, Libby offered me several toots and a big explosion of poop. So much for all smiles this morning, but I guess those are just the joys of motherhood!