Bittersweet Night

Bryan and I just got home from dropping Christian and Bryleigh off at the in laws house!  Tonight starts our vacation and I couldn't feel any more horrible at this point :(  A million and one questions are going through my mind:  "Did I remember to pack Bryleigh's favorite blanket?", "Is Christian going to miss us?", "Will Bryleigh be able to sleep somewhere other than her crib?" Oh boy, I'm already a nervous wreck and we're only 2 hours into a 9 day vacation! 

I'm sure its the nerves of every mother but I have never left Bryleigh overnight with anyone since she's been born and besides Christian's occasional overnight trips to Grandma and Grandpa's, he's always home with us also.  I know we will be so much more patient and rejuvenated when we return but right now I'm feeling selfish :( 

So I will cry some tears but also know that the kids will be in loving, caring Grandparents care until we return!  Now on to vacation :)

Surgery

My little niece Phoenix had surgery today!  The poor little thing has been having nothing but problems since she was born and they decided that surgery was the best option for her right now!  She is 18 months old and all she can eat is Pediasure and some puffs once in a while.  If you follow my blog, you know that she was in the hospital for a week several months ago because she would not eat and kept throwing up.  Well, she is a little trooper, that's for sure.  She was born with a Tracheoesophogial Fistula, otherwise explained as her esophagus not being connected to her stomach so she had surgery for that at 1 day old.  She was also diagnosed with Neuroblastoma which has slowly went away without treatment (Thank You Lord!).

After genetic testing, it was determined that she has an extra 11th chromosome which is causing all her problems.  So now after many doctors and many tests over the course of these past few months, they determined that she has too much acid coming up her esophagus, thus causing pain and then she does not want to eat.  So sorry for my non medical explanation but today they went into her stomach and stapled it so that her esophagus "seems" longer and then twisted her stomach 180 degrees.  Their goal is for the acid to stay in her stomach.  The only complication was that the doctor punctured her stomach during the surgery today (which he says has never happened before in the 30 years he has been doing this surgery) but thankfully he caught it and sutured it before ending the surgery.  So now she will remain in the hospital for several days and then hopefully be on her way home! 

 She is such a strong little bugger! She was so medicated when I went to visit her today that she intentionally covered her eyes because she just wanted to sleep!  Oh, how she takes on the traits of her mother :)   Prayers are really appreciated at this time! 

One more down...

 I finished making a matching bow for another set of Bryleigh's summer outfits last night!  I think it turned out okay!  I'm still struggling with getting down the right technique to folding the ribbon into a bow.  I have decided though that I need to start using wider ribbon because as my bows get bigger, the more you can see the underside of the ribbon and I don't like it!  Eventually, after many more practices, I will get a technique down. But for now,  I'm just having fun! 

And Bryleigh is starting to get some peach fuzz on top so we might be able to have her wear the ribbons without the crochet headband this summer!  That is exciting! 

My First Pedicure

First off, how did I never know how amazing Pedicure's are????  I'm going to have to have a little chit chat with my mother!  Yesterday my mother in law and I went and had our first ever Pedicure's and boy was it amazing?  Who would have thought that they massage your legs and feet!  And since I pretty much hate feet, it sure took a lot for me to let someone else touch my feet!  But I figured that I better do a favor for the other beach goers in Mexico and do something pretty with my toenails :)  And I'm so happy with how they turned out... Just to warn you, if you don't like to see feet, do not read on! 

Ta Da....My pretty toenails!  

After church this morning we headed over to the high school to the Home Show!  We were able to talk with with some local landscaping businesses and now I am so eager to get started on landscaping our yard and tearing down our 2 dead trees in the front yard.  This is another reason that I want Spring to be here already!

Now the kiddos are sleeping, I just finished my P90x workout (I'm on week 9 and still going strong!), and now I will relax and attempt to watch some of my DVR'd shows from this past week!

My Beauties!

Oh how I love my little munchkins!  They make me smile every time I look at them!  I still can't believe that we made these precious little ones!

 
And I have to throw in a comparison picture because that's what I love to do :)

Now I am off to have my 1st ever Pedicure with my mother in law!  Should be a fun afternoon! 

When will it be gone????

Sooooo.....even though I have said it a million times,  I"M SO SICK OF WINTER! Mother Nature goes ahead and teases us with 40-50 degree weather and then slaps us in the face with a winter thunder, snow, rain, sleet, ice storm!  Really?!?  Enough already :)

Bryan told me this morning that I should call it a "snow day" instead of commuting my usual 45 minutes to work.  And for once, I have to say that he was right! I got stuck 3 times before I even got 2 blocks down the road and then the main roads weren't even plowed.  But the Lord was watching out for me and I made it to and from work okay! Pretty uneventful day at work today but it was nice for a change! 

I don't have any pictures today but I do feel better that I vented about this nasty weather!  To think that I will be in nice warm weather in 9 days :)  

Bryleigh's 15 Month Update

Little Bryleigh girl is 15 months old now!  I haven't updated on how big she is getting so here goes:

Talking:  You are starting to "talk" a lot more now!  You will have a conversation with us but now if only we could understand what you are saying:)  On Mommy and Daddy's Anniversary, you learned to say "Ga Ma" and "Ga Pa." And Grandma and Grandpa are so proud that they were able to teach you this!  When you were 8 months old, you started to say "Ma Ma" but this phased out really quick and it turned to "DaDa."  Well last week, you finally learned to say "Ma Ma" again and now that's ALL you say!  I love it! Daddy also taught you to say "eyes" and you can point to yours and other peoples eyes!  You can also point to your ears.  You say "hot"  and "shhhhh" and put your finger up to your mouth!  You learned to do this in church last Sunday!  As you can tell, we have to do this quite a bit in church! 

Moving:  You are a little explorer!  You have been walking since before your 1st birthday and now you can run, especially if its to get toys and food from your brother!  You like to be held when we are at home but its usually just a quick cuddle (like 2 minutes) and then you want to get down and play!  You do not like to sit in your stroller, you would rather walk around and touch things!  When we go places with Grandma and Grandpa, you like to go around with Grandpa and you have to touch EVERY picture or object on the wall!  You have no fear!  You try to climb on anything and everything that you are able to!  Yesterday, I caught you 1 leg in and 1 leg out of your high chair and it was at that highest setting!  You also have a thing for doors,  all doors must be shut, even if that means you shut it on your self and then cry to be let out! 

Eating:  You weaned from nursing almost 2 months ago and now you are a great milk drinker!  You love your milk and water!  You also like most all foods!  But we have noticed that you will not eat anything that looks "different" to you!  We actually have to "force" you to try it and then once you do then you love it!  You are not a big pasta fan which has daddy cringing because of his Italian background :)  And, most meals you will eat everything on your plate and then Christian's leftovers, and some of Mommy's!  We do not know how you are so petite because you can sure eat!  Its not unusual for you to have 2 packages of oatmeal for breakfast and still want more :)


Sleeping:  You are so much better at sleeping then you used to be!  You will go down for bed at 7pm and most days wake up about 8am!  There are times that you wake up in the middle of the night but its just because you lost your nuk so we come in and cover you up and give you the nuk and you fall back to sleep! You lay down for a nap after lunch at around noon and will sleep until about 2:30pm.  We have you coordinated on a nap schedule with Christian's nap!  It works great for Daddy during the week!

Growing:  You had your check up today and you are 18.8 pounds and 29 inches long! Still my little peanut! You are not even making the charts for weight but you are in the 10th percentile for height.  The doctor isn't worried because you surely don't have height on your side (sorry kiddo) and you are proportionate in your height/weight ratio!   You wear mostly 12 months clothes but you can still fit into some 9 months clothes, especially pants and then some 18 months clothes.  Mommy loves to make you bows and flower headbands but you only like to keep them on for about an hour and then you are done with that but yet you will wear Christian's safety glasses on your head all day long!  Oh boy,  can we say "tomboy."You fit into some size 2 shoes but you are mainly in size 3.  You are wearing a size 3 diaper! 


Personality: You are such a love bug!  When I pick you up, no matter when it is, you throw your arms around me and hug me with a little pat on the back!  You are also stubborn, when you want something, you want it NOW!  You will stand between person and food while anyone is in the kitchen cooking until mommy or daddy gets annoyed enough to pick you up and see the food!  You always seem to get your way too!  You know what "no" means but you also know how to push the limit until mommy or daddy will get up to get you and then you will stop whatever you are doing!  You get a big smile on your face whenever mommy or daddy walk through the door and this is my favorite part of the day! You also love to antagonize Christian and take his toys away and run! You two are already fighting and I can tell we are in for some trouble as you are both strong willed children!  But yet, you two can play so well together at times and you will kiss Christian and yesterday, you walked up and hugged him! Daddy calls you our little Sourpatch because you will come up and hit/slap us (sour) and then you will hug or kiss us (sweet).  You have the cutest little giggle and it doesn't take much to make you smile or giggle! You are truly our little Diva!

On a side note,  Christian woke up this morning and complained about his ears. I sent him to school anyways thinking maybe he slept on his ear wrong but Bryan got a call shortly after I dropped him off saying that he wasn't acting like himself so Bryan picked him up!  Luckily, our doctor was able to fit him in at the same time as Bryleigh's check up!  So it was confirmed,  he has an ear infection in his left ear :(  Only the 2nd ear infection that he has ever had!  I feel bad for the poor guy but he is doing okay with it and he was happy to get a sucker at the Doctor.  And Bryleigh had to have her DTAP shot so she will probably be cranky in the next couple days!  These poor kids I tell you,  Winter sure has taken its toll around here! 

After Bath Fun

Tonight I didn't do much of anything but clean:(  I always put off the bathrooms but tonight while the kids were in the bath, I made myself clean it!  And after bath time, I tried to catch Bryleigh voicing her "cold"  whimper!  She does this after every bath and since she knows it gets sympathy, she has started to get other things she wants too!

Excuse my hands in this video....I was attemtping to put lotion on her while recording so that she wouldn't get too cold!  See, she already has me trained :)

And then as I was getting Christian dressed he informed me that he wanted to take me out on a date....AWWWW!  But then he told me where he wanted our date to be...

Now I relax for the night as I am still in a lot of pain from having fillings 11 days ago!  This jaw pain is horrible and I'm hoping it gets better soon!

Movie Night

On Friday, we had our weekly movie night with the in-laws!  I look forward to Friday's every week because we have such fun eating pizza, watching movies, and eating popcorn!  Not to mention, the kids get grandpa and grandma time and Bryan and I get a little relaxation time!  

Like I've said before,  it is hard to get a serious photo of Bryan because he always has to somehow throw a funny face in there!  He makes fun of me for how many pictures I take!   Well as it turns how,  Bryleigh got her father's genes...:)

And what kind of night would it be if Christian and Daddy didn't have a sword fight...

Christian begged to spend the night with Grandpa and Grandma and he of course got his way!  I think he had this planned because he asked if he could bring his blanket and he doesn't sleep overnight places without his blanket.  So it must have been his plan all along!  It sounds like they had a lot of fun and even built a tent in the living room to sleep in! 

Yesterday, we headed to Appleton with my mom and niece, Denali to do some last minute shopping for Bryan before our trip but of course,  Bryan didn't find what he was looking for and I bought more clothes for the kids that they probably don't need! And today, I did some grocery shopping and now we are going to snuggle up on the couch to watch my Sunday night shows, Secret Millionaire and Undercover Boss!

Celebrate Social Work Month 2011

When I started college, I always knew that my career choice would be in the helping profession. I did not know where my desire to help people would take me but it has brought me to the career path that I am pursuing now, which is social work.  I absolutely love the social work profession.  When I was in college I completed my internship in child welfare and thought that this was my area of expertise.  Then after graduating,  I landed a job in a nursing home, which I quivered at the thought of working in, but this was where the job was and financially, I had to take what I could get.  Little did I know that I would actually fall in love with working with the geriatric population.  Now today, I work in a sub acute brain injury rehab unit and I live every social workers dream. I have a small case load (and I'm talking very small as in a max of 8 residents) and I can spend quality time getting to know my residents.  This is not the case for most others.  Most would say that they are happy if they actually get a change to meet their clients with the overwhelming amount of paperwork to complete! 

Being a social worker in today's economy is hard.  The lack of funding paired along with the economic downturn, has made the need for social workers to rise but the funding to decrease which means very high case loads and over worked social workers.  So in honor of Social Work Month, I want to let every other social worker out there, along with all my co workers, know that you are appreciated!  It is a very rewarding, challenging profession but I wouldn't change what I do for the world!

Our 4th Wedding Anniversary

4 years ago today, I married my best friend!  It has been 4 years of ups and downs but I wouldn't change it for the world because we are the people that we are today because of our hard times and best times!  Bryan and I were married on St. Patrick's Day in a wonderful afternoon ceremony followed by a light dinner reception!  My sister and her now ex husband were married on the same day as us in a double wedding!  I don't regret this at all because all though their story did not end happily, it was right for us at the time!

Bryan and I have been through so much in our 4 years of marriage and almost 2 years of dating.  Here are some of our big accomplishments/challenges that we have faced together:

Bryan and I began dating-July 26, 2005

Bryan joining the Marine Corps-January 2006 

Bryan's Diagnosis/Treatment of his Brain Tumor-March 2006

Excuse the Smile-I've been known to smile whenever a camera is around (Even inappropriate times)



Radiation

Our Engagement in San Diego, California-May 22, 2006

Our Wedding Day-March 17, 2007

The infamous picture of me feeding myself cake (This just goes to show that I was 6 months pregnant)

Buying a House-June 29, 2007

Don't worry, we have done a lot of work since this picture was taken!

The birth of our son, Christian Patrick Keith-July 9, 2007

Excuse my fatness here



My college graduation-May 18, 2008



The loss of Bryan's Grandpa-Richard Keith-January 16, 2009

The birth of our daughter, Bryleigh Kadence Keith-December 7, 2009



And since we like to do some things backwards, we will be taking our honeymoon in 15 days!  We have had quite the exciting journey and so the story of our life continues...Happy 4 year wedding anniversary to my wonderful husband, I love you babe!

Our night of Firsts

It sure was a beautiful night out tonight for Wisconsin standards anyways, probably low 40's and we decided to take our first walk of the year outside! 

Well I should probably say attempted to take a walk because we only got several blocks down the road and then Bryleigh had enough!  I do have to say that I am pretty jealous of all the mom's out there who's children are content to sit in strollers because both of my children never liked it!  Last year at this time, Bryleigh only wanted to be held and now she wants to explore so sitting is not an option!  So although it was a short walk, it was nice to get outdoors none the less!  We are definitely ready for Spring to have Sprung :)

 After our delicious dinner that I made, Pepper Steak, we headed downtown to support all of my fellow union employees in the Democrat Rally!  My first experience at a political function! 

 Its so hard to watch all of the people being affected by Walker's bill which takes away nearly all of collective bargaining rights for state workers.  I am a state employee but I am one of the few employees at my facility that is not union but I am definitely going to support all those that are!  Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Scott Walker's got to go!  I am going to be hearing chants for days now! 

Surprise Visit!

Tonight, our sister in law and nephew decided to surprise us with a visit!  They moved to San Diego,California in January and since she had a photoshoot this past weekend, she flew back to Wisconsin!  It was nice to be able to have the boys play together again!  They are only 5 months apart so they play so well together!  We sure do miss them!

Devin and Christian

Aren't they just the cutest?

After the boys got a little play time in!  We headed up to Plover for some dinner at the Golden Corral!  We haven't been there in awhile and it sure was good.  But Christian was pretty lazy all day and by the end of the night, he was looking pretty rough!  We are thinking he is coming down with something but really hoping that he is not since last week they had a confirmed case of H1N1 at his preschool!   We sure don't need that and it also scares the heck out of me!  So we will be keeping our eye on him!

Bryleigh has also been a bottomless pit lately and it seems as if she is never full!  Christian was finished eating lunch over the weekend and I went to go tuck him in for his nap and come back to this....

Bryleigh chowing down on Christian's leftovers after she had just ate her own!  I'm surprised how tiny she is because boy, can she eat :)

We also snuggled up on the couch over the weekend and really enjoyed it as you can tell!

 Now this momma is off to bed soon because this daylight savings time is sure throwing me off!

Snow Fun

We sure had a cold, but fun day yesterday! My sister's fiance's parents manage a cranberry marsh, so yesterday they had a fisheree on their pond!  We took the kids out there and they had a blast.

Bryan and I are not really winter loving people so the kids are lucky if they get out to play in the snow more than once in a winter!  I know its sad but we hate cold.  But Christian had so much fun with his cousin Denali!  They were loving the 4 wheeler rides and learning about tip up ice fishing! 

And Bryleigh did so well riding around in her sled!  She couldn't get enough!  After about 2 hours, we gave in and brought her up to the house so that my mom could watch her in the warm house!  If we would have let her, Bryleigh probably would have stayed outside with all of us!  

We were bummed when we had to go home to feed the kids lunch and put them down for naps but the fresh air wiped them right out and they both took almost 3 hour long naps!  We sure had fun but with the cold winds yesterday, I think we are happy for winter to be over with!  Bring on Spring :)