Thanks Daddy!

Matt just finished building the fridge for the girls' kitchen set. He made the stove in the fall for a Christmas gift. They look great and are so cute. I am super lucky to have such a handy guy around!

Ava likes to hide in the stove!

All Good News!

So after my last few post I thought it was about time to tell everyone about all the great things that Elizabeth has been doing lately.

Her verbal skills have taken off! I was worried not too long ago that she was starting to be delayed. Now she has some words and is babbling and chattering all the time.
So far she says: mama; dada; ball; book; bird; bye-bye
Ball, book, and bird all sound the same but she uses them correctly so I am counting them as words. I may have heard a night-night and baba (bottle)-to soon for me to say for sure.
She played peek-a-boo today using her hands to cover her face. It was so cute. I wanted a picture but of course as soon as the camera was out she stopped. Elizabeth also crawled down the stairs today. It was the first time she ever tried it and she went down the whole way without any problem. What a big girl!
She is also walking behind a push toy (which is about as tall as she is). She won't do it very long, so I have no good pictures of this yet. I do have a video but Ava is streaking across it several times in just her princess panties so no posting of that either!

More teeth- She has three on top and bottom now. Looks like more are on the way-they do take forever to come in.

Big news on the weight gain. At Monday's weight in she was 15 pounds 3 ounces and 26 inches. I was very pleased! Her doctor has decided to keep her on the preiacitn, when I gave it another try she increased her intake by 2-3 ounces and he thought that since she wasn't have any negative side effects that it was worth it to keep on the meds. The prevacid is not going so great. (ok, so not all good news) The first try Elizabeth was obviously uncomfortable with her reflux so after two days we went back to the zantac, I later learn it takes over a week for prevacid to start to work. Soo we are trying it again, but using zantac also while we wait for the prevacid to get into her system. Tonight I think I gave up the battle. Prevacid is little tablets that we have to dissolve and then dispense using a medicine syringe. Easy enough right? What a hassel! The medicine doesn't fully disovle it is just tiny granules floating about in the water, which get stuck in the syringe and are causing all sorts of problems. If anybody uses this medicine and has any tips please let me know. I am about to forget the whole thing and just say that the zantac is good enough!

We also have some graduations of sort to report. Elizabeth has outgrown her baby bucket car seat and now will be in a big girl car seat (still rear facing; have to be over 20lbs to turn around. Hard to say how long that will take!). I have also moved her up to size 3 diapers! The best new of all- we are now mixing her formula (still about 30cal per oz) with whole cows milk (doctor's approval and suggestion). This is going to cut down the the formula we use by half, which is awesome since we are going through about 3 cans a week! I just started the switch today, so I am hopeful that she tolerates it well and we can continue.

Yummy!
Don't forget to take me too!
As I was packing for a recent trip to Grandma's Elizabeth thought she would climb in and help!

Exersaucer Painting!

Singed!

Today was a rotten day.
It all stated at 6:30AM when both girls were up and ready. We decided to get a jump on the day and go to the early service at church. Our church does a cool drive-in church in the summer time for the early service. You pull up in your car and listen to the service on the radio. Unfortunately when it was time to leave the car battery was totally dead. It couldn't be jumped so Matt had to go get a new battery. Luckily there was a car parts place just around the corner and is there a better place to break down than your church parking lot? The girls were able to play on the playground and there were people helping with the jump and to take him to the car place. So we made it home with a brand new battery about 2 hours latter than planned-so much for getting an early start!
The day progressed as any typical day does. . . until dinner. I lite the gas grill for dinner and when I went to check to see if it was hot enough I discover that it blew out. Not thinking I just turned the knob to re-start it. Next thing I know there was a very loud bang and I was screaming! The grill blew up! I am fine. I have a few very minor burns on my face but my eyebrows and eyelashes were singed as well as my hair. I did go to see the doctor just to be safe and I checked out fine. Matt said it was a very loud explosion and a huge fire ball - I am very lucky that nothing serious happened. Since I am fine and only singed Matt admits that the explosion was pretty cool and he had never seen anything like except on TV. I looked just like the dorky kid on all the movies who gets something blown up in his face. My face was smoky and my hair was blown back 80's style. Ava was of course upset and was next to me the whole time I was in the bathroom splashing watter on my face. I am very lucky to have escaped this explosion with such minor injuries - I think I will need to get my hair cut soon though! Not sure what to do about my eye brows and lashes.

This sure isn't for wimps!

I try everyday to be positive and do the best I can to make it through the day to keep all in the house happy, healthy, and feed. Hopefully along the way I can get some cleaning or laundry done, there was a time in my life when my house was clean most of the time. Oh Well... Since a few days after Elizabeth's birth I adopted the attitude that there is nothing I can do to change the past and I must live in today. Nothing is to be gained by saying "if only this. . ." But oh my, it would be easier if. . . .
I know how truly blessed we are. Elizabeth was given a 20% chance of survival-thats an 80% chance of not. The doctors told me she may not hear, see, or walk. She can do all these things. (ok, not walk yet but she is getting there and will-soon!) I was prepared for that when we brought her home. I watched like a hawk for any little sign that something wasn't right- isn't early intervention critical after all? I even glanced in the homes for sale; we might need a single store house to accommodate Elizabeth and any needs she may have. Nobody told me that feeding would be a problem. Oh what a problem, it is the biggest stress I have. There hasn't been a single week in the 11 months that Elizabeth has been home when I have felt she was eating well. If it weren't for reading other preemie blogs I would have thought that Elizabeth's was a single unique experience. What is the deal? There have been some days when I had to leave the house when Matt got home I was so stressed about getting this girl to eat. Elizabeth is 11 months old adjusted and weighs 14 pounds. She averages around 20oz a day of 30cal formula (Neosure). On really great days she may take as much as 27oz, but that hasn't happened in a few months. Table foods she likes, but not off a spoon-she must feed herself. I try add calories to everything I can, but I admit that this is something I can do better with. I have no idea how much actually makes it in when she feeds herself, I thought about getting a breastfeeding scale like they used in the NICU to measure intake then thought I would really make myself crazy doing that. We do know that something goes in-we see it come out. Ohh the vomit! Everything that we worked so hard to just get in there just came out! It isn't everyday but lately has been a few times a week. I am not talking about a little bit of baby spit-up. This is projectile everything she has had in her for a while, multiple heaves vomiting. Almost always seems to happen after her bedtime bottle and usually ALL over me. You would think that it was being laid down after eating that triggers the reaction, but it doesn't bother her middle of night or nap feedings-again another mystery. Her reflux is getting worse and we will be switching her to prevacid instead of the zantac she is currently taking. Maybe this will help. Is reflux the cause of her poor eating? Is just being a micro-preemie? Why won't she eat? We have tried with no luck, a wonder drug for many, preiacitn. Elizabeth just didn't respond to it. We were so hopeful that it would be the magic bullet that would propel her onto the growth chart curve. What to do?
What can I do, but go on with my day and do the best I can to get everyone feed. I will continue to fight the battle of wills that results only in me eating more chocolate. I will be thankful that this feeding problem is the biggest one we have, there could be so many more serious ones. I will look at my girls an remember that they are both blessings from God and smile. I will try not to wonder what if she had 16 more weeks to grow. . .

Happy Fourth of July!

This time last year Elizabeth was in the NICU not even 3 pounds. What a difference a year makes!

Last Year
July 4, 2007

Our Little Firecracker This Year
July 4, 2008

March for Babies- Team Elizabeth Grace

I know that the March for Babies was in April, but I wanted to post the final totals!
Team Elizabeth Grace raised $6901!!! My goal when I started the team was about $500, I am blown away how one little girl can inspire so many. We had over 100 walkers on our team most wearing bright orange t-shirts. Lots from church and friends and family. Thank you everyone who walked with us and made donations.

Team Elizabeth Grace 2008