Ramos Romper Room

A Little, No A Lot Scared

2011-01-08T00:22:00.000-05:00

Bella has had some problems since birth. She screams ALL the time. She doesn't sleep soundly and is routinely up until 2 or 3am. We took her to the pediatrician when I just couldn't take it any longer with out losing my mind. She was diagnosed with possible acid reflux. They put her on Zantac twice a day. It did NOTHING for her. So a little over a week later we went back to the pediatrician. This time they put her on Prevacid and again it did nothing for her. In fact she stopped sleeping. She was awake for 22 out of 24 hour in a day. We stopped giving her that med and went back to the Zantac trying to bide our time until January 3rd when we had an appointment with a pediatric GI doctor.

January 3rd comes around and we head out to the specialist. She reviews Bella's symptoms telling us it sounds just like her second child. She said it sounded like reflux to her but she wanted to run and upper GI test to be sure they were not missing anything. So we scheduled the upper GI for Friday January 7th (yesterday.) The GI doctor put Bella on a new medicine for acid and told us to make a follow up appointment in 3 weeks. So January 28th we are headed back to see her again.

January 7th comes around and we are again on the way to a medical appointment. This one had a catch though. Bella was not allowed to eat for 4 hours before the appointment, which if you know Bella she likes to eat every 3 hours! They wanted her hungry because she had to drink some very nasty white stuff that is reflective for the test. So she stays up until 2:30am and only eats 2 ounces at that time. 6:30am rolls around and she is mad as a hornet because she is hungry and wants to eat. We hurried and got dressed, me while Chelo was holding her and Chelo while I was holding her. Then we jumped in the car hoping the car ride would lull her to sleep until her appointment at 8:30am. IT WORKED! She fell asleep in the car and we arrived at the hospital at 7:53am. Thankful that they were running ahead of schedule and called us back almost right away. They proceeded to strap Bella down so they could rotate her to get the films they needed. This included strapping her arms up by her head. She was NOT a happy baby. She was a good baby and ate the nasty white stuff fairly easily so they got the test completed in about 10 minutes and we were able to feed her a real bottle. The lady running the test said everything looked good to her but the doctor would have the results in 3-4 days and would call. Imagine my surprise when they called the same afternoon.

It was a phone call I will never forget. They said that all of her anatomy was formed correctly so that was a good thing. They also said that she showed some minor reflux but that is normal so they were not concerned with that either. Then she said something I will never forget. "We found a vessel in her heart that is in the wrong place." WHAT? She explained to me that they are sending her to a pediatric cardiologist because she has a vessel in her heart that should come out from the right side but instead it comes out from the left side and wraps around her heart where it eventually ends up in the right place. Though it is pressing slightly on her esophagus and may be causing some of her problems. She tried to tell me not to worry that they usually just do an untrasound of her heart and then watch the condition. That did not make me feel any better. So now we are headed to another specialist on February 1st.

It is weighing very heavy on my heart that something could be wrong with Bella. I am left to sit and wonder why, even though I know we are not supposed to ask why. It is always said that God does not give more than we can handle, but He is giving me credit for being far stronger than I feel right now.

The Arrival of Bella Grace 10/28/10

2010-11-21T21:09:00.000-05:00

The day in pictures!

In triage waiting to go to the OR

All smiles waiting on his baby girl

Ready to roll

Dr Greenberg with Bella Grace

She came out screamingOur tiny girl

Getting warm

First time mommy got to hold herFeed me!

I see you!

Finally all wrapped up and getting settled

Mia getting her baby when she came to meet her little sister

Bella's first bath

Getting in a nap on the warmer

Sweet face

Hi daddy

Cuddles

Proud daddy

Mia relaxing

Mommy and Mia

Mia with her little sister

Proud PawPaw

BB loves her new grandbaby

Uncle TJ came to visit

Worn out, drugged, but oh so happy mommy!

Daddy cuddle time

Momaw was here to celebrate Bella's birth

Such a sweet face

My girls!

Another Attempt

2010-11-20T12:57:00.000-05:00

I am going to attempt to start updating the blog again for those of you who used to read it and do not have access to facebook.

A quick family update.

Mia is 23 months old now and a full of nonstop energy. She talks up a storm and I believe she is way ahead in her speech considering she can say anything she wants to and does! She loves to be outside. It doesn't matter the weather cold/hot or rain/shine she wants to play outside. She is not a tom boy but she is not prissy either, just don't let her hands or feet get "yucky." She is such a big girl and is growing so fast and learning new things. Oh and Mia is a BIG SISTER!

Bella Grace was born 10/28/10 Weighing in a 5lbs. 13oz. and was 18 1/4 inches long. She is not your typical baby. Right now we are battling fits of screaming for seemingly no reason at all and at all hours of the day and night. She eats well and sleeps well when not screaming. She is 100% healthy which after Mia you know what a blessing that is to us. Even with her imperfections she is perfect.

Chelo and I are making it on minimal sleep and him working 7 days a week right now. My wonderful mother has been such a blessing and a huge help with Mia and Bella as we battle these issues in the first few weeks. I am scheduled to go back to work in January and I am looking forward to it. It just doesn't seem right not to work for me. I have had a job since I was 16. 12 weeks off feels insane.

A new post with pictures to some soon and hopefully at least once or twice a week I can update a new post and pictured of our life!

11 Months

2009-12-12T21:13:00.001-05:00

10 Months

2009-11-02T20:51:00.000-05:00

Mia is 10 months old. The count down to the big ONE is on! The planning is in full swing. How does this affect her? It doesn't. She just goes about her day playing so hard that she is exhausted at night. She crawls, chatters, dumps the dog water bowl, gets Granny's pine cones out of the tree, chases the dogs, tries to climb the stairs, eats Cheerios , kisses her baby, turns circles on her bottom, laughs when you sneeze, and oh yeah WALKS! That's right I just said my 10 month old is walking. Welcome to the real world mommy. This last month has been amazing. Mia has learned so much and grown so much. I can't wait for tomorrow just so I can sit and watch her.

9 Month Professional Pictures

2009-10-15T19:34:00.000-04:00

I got my CD of Mia's 9 month pictures. I am so happy with them. They came out so good. I'm only going to post a few here but if you want to see the rest just check out my facebook page.

The Big Bed

2009-09-28T19:56:00.000-04:00

The past few mornings Mia has been waking up before I am ready for work. Now that she can pull up in her crib she wants out as soon as she's awake. She is also very mobile so I can't watch her as closely as I need to while getting ready. What to do, what to do? I have found if I lay her back down in our bed with pillows all around her she will lay there and play or fall back asleep. I never thought I'd be the type to just sit and watch my baby sleep but I am. I have managed to get some very cute pictures over the past few mornings.

Busch Gardens

2009-09-28T19:33:00.000-04:00

On Saturday 9/19 we took Mia to Busch Gardens for her first trip. We just renewed our 2 year passes. It was HOT. Since we have the passes we only planned to stay for a couple of hours. She started off impressed with the tram ride. I really think it was the wind in her face that made her giggle. We decided to just do animal exhibits this trip since Mia likes animals so much. We got some really cute pictures.

9 Months

2009-09-23T22:13:00.000-04:00

Mia is 9 months old. I have a very hard time believing that in 3 short months my baby girl will be 1. The time goes faster with each passing day. She has learned so many things in the past month. She can crawl, pull up on anything and everything, drink from a straw, and say mama. She gets braver every day and thinks nothing of holding on with just one hand when standing up. She even gets so brave as to let got for a few seconds and is able to hold her balance then boom, bottom on the floor. We have bumps and bruises and tears when she falls but, we love every minute of it. Our living room and dining room are her play ground. You'd never know we have a baby living here ha ha! She only takes a bottle at night now. The rest of the time it's a sippy cup. I wondered how hard it would be to break her of a bottle, not that hard I guess. She's over it at 9 months. Her smile melts my heart every time. We are so blessed!

For My Mimi

2009-09-13T13:19:00.000-04:00

Dear Mimi,

I wore my official Disney World gear for the first time today. I just wanted you to see how cute mommy thinks it is on me. Sorry there is only 1 picture but I just can't sit still long enough to allow mommy to take pictures anymore. I have places to go and trouble to get into.

Love,
Mia

Uncle TJ Visits Again

2009-09-06T22:13:00.000-04:00

Monday Uncle TJ was able to pass through town again for a little while and spend some time with my mom and Mia. He's so busy with work and school right now. I appreciate the effort he makes to stop in town for a little while to see Mia. She has grown so much since he saw her last, and next time he sees her will be the day after her 1st birthday. I can only imagine the changes until then. Wow! These are just a few quick pictures of their day.

Mia was very impressed with her Gator outfit! (We hope Uncle TJ was too)

Mia's First Admirer

2009-09-06T22:03:00.000-04:00

Mia went to her 1st birthday party on Saturday. An old friend of Mitch's daughter Jaiden was turning two. The party was outside and it was HOT. Jaiden was opening her gifts so I sat down on the ground with Mia so she could watch. That's when another old friend of Mitch's son Jake came walking up. Jake is 19 months old. The last time we saw him he was only 10 months old and Mia was on the way but not here yet. Jake was fascinated with Mia. He stood there and talked and talked to her like she could understand everything he was telling her. Mia however was more impressed with the ball that kept rolling by. All in all it was a very cute scene and Mitch said in 50 years Mia could date Jake if she wanted to LOL!

New Shoes

2009-08-29T17:16:00.000-04:00

Granny bought Mia her first pair of Nike's. She got a great deal on them. We are loving bargain shopping for Mia. The prices they charge for clothes a child will out grow in a few months is crazy.

8 Months

2009-08-29T16:54:00.000-04:00

Mia is 3/4 of a year old already (8 months?) What happened, where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday we brought her home from the hospital. Now she is this amazing little girl who scoots around the floor on her bottom, rolls over (finally), claps (well, baby claps), smiles all the time, smacks her lips, clicks her tongue, gets up on all fours trying to get mobile, and walks while holding on to your fingers. I am saddened every time she reaches a milestone because it means my baby is growing up. However I am elated each time she learns something new. It's amazing how full your heart can get with love for a child. So precious!

The Faces of Mia (Part 2)

2009-08-14T20:15:00.000-04:00

Mia makes some of the funniest, strangest, cutest, wonderful faces. Here is a few of my favorites over the past few months.

Mommy's Big Girl

2009-08-12T22:11:00.001-04:00

Patience is a Virtue

2009-08-07T20:35:00.000-04:00

Many of you know my mom has a very spirited dog named Sassy. She is the most loving dog in the world but slightly hyper. She just can't control herself when she is happy. I admit I was worried about how Sassy would react to Mia. At first she would go insane every time we brought Mia to the house. Over time she has calmed down and now Mia is just another person who belongs in her world. Sassy has patience beyond belief where Mia is concerned. She lets Mia pull, grab, or pinch her and she just sits there. We don't let Mia do these things but you know babies they do things before you can stop them sometimes. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Mia and Sassy. There is also a video at the end of Mia and Sassy.

Big Girl Car Seat

2009-07-29T21:10:00.000-04:00

Mia still fits in her infant carrier just fine. However her carrier alone weighs about as much as she does, so we decided to go ahead and upgrade her to a convertible car seat. I had my heart set on something girly since everything we have bought thus far has been neutral so when we have a 2nd baby (I know you can't believe I'm even thinking about it) we can use everything we already have. I was not lucky enough to find a seat we liked and felt safe enough with that was pretty. I was disappointed but ok with it because Mia will be protected. However my mom found the same car seat online in a pretty black and pink flower pattern. I bought it for my car and Mitch gets the gray one for his car ;-)

I have decided to keep Mia rear facing as long as the weight limit on the seat allows. My research has opened my eyes to the dangers of a child too young and too light facing forward. The risk of serious/fatal neck injuries is significantly higher in such young children. I would keep her backwards until she's 5 if I could. (Stepping off my soap box now)

I have been doing my research on car seats and had decided on a Graco My Ride 65 due to the seat having a rear facing weight limit of 40 pounds and forward facing of 65 pounds. Once we got to the store we were discussing different seats with the sales people regarding safety and recommendations. They suggested an Evenflo seat that will take her rear facing to 35 pounds but stay with her as a booster until she is up to 100 pounds. The safety rating are equal to that of Britax seats in everything except side impact which is a little lower. So the decision was made.

Feeding Time Fun!

2009-07-25T21:25:00.000-04:00

Mia got her hands on her baby food during dinner last night. We went right from the highchair to the bath tub, but had so much fun!

7 Months Old

2009-07-19T20:28:00.000-04:00

Here are the pictures I took of Mia on her 7 Month Birthday. All too soon it will be me taking pictures of her first birthday party.

Mia wearing the outfit her 2nd cousin Nicki gave her

She was sacked out on the way home from church

Hands always in her mouth

Her foot is finally growing. She can wear a size 2 now!

Getting ready to make her favorite spitting sound

There she goes

She loves sitting in the glider

Almost time for bed

Eating her book for the evening

Whoops, she dropped it

Good Night time for bed

Mia's First Tooth

2009-07-19T20:24:00.000-04:00

As most of you know Mia has been drooling non stop since she was about 4 months old. We have to keep a bib on her all the time or her clothes would stay soaked. She can easily go through 5-6 bibs a day. Well on Friday July 10th all that drooling finally paid off. Mia cut her first tooth. It has finally come in enough I was able to some what get a picture of it. I hope you all can see it since Mia really didn't feel like sharing when I was taking the picture.

Swimming

2009-07-19T19:58:00.000-04:00

We took Mia to the pool yesterday. She had a great time floating in the big pool in her big girl float. It was a great day to take her since we waited until about 5 before going. The sun wasn't out but it was still very warm with a nice breeze. We were only able to stay for about 45 minutes because this is Florida and the afternoon thunderstorms started rolling in.

Big Girl Bath Tub

2009-06-30T19:54:00.000-04:00

My mom gave Mia a bath in the regular bath tub this week so I decided it was time to break out the big girl bath tub. Mia had a blast. She loved to play with her toys while sitting up like a big girl in her very own duck tub. Mitch snapped some pictures while I gave her a bath.

Father's Day 2009

2009-06-30T19:48:00.000-04:00

6 Month Pictures

2009-06-30T19:40:00.000-04:00

Here are Mia's 6 month pictures. As you look at them there are 2 things about Mia you should know. First she is fascinated by a camera and watches it very intently, second she is a very serious baby.

Giggles

2009-06-26T21:15:00.000-04:00

We love to hear our little angel laugh. She still hasn't come out with a real belly laugh yet but she giggles all the time. Tonight she woke up and was wide awake! We decided to bring her into our room for a while until she was ready to go back to sleep. We laid her on the bed between us and Mitch started playing with her. He was putting a pillow in her face and she just giggled over and over. Here is the little bit I was able to capture before she realized I had the camera and started staring at it.

Morning Play Time

2009-06-26T21:13:00.001-04:00

Mia's Fort

2009-06-26T21:01:00.000-04:00

Mia is quickly becoming independent. Now that she can sit up by herself she wants to sit straight up all the time. Since we have hardwood floors and tile downstairs we always had to put her on a quilt to play on the floor. Mitch has become quite creative when he's home with her in the afternoons. He has built Mia a fort so to speak. She really seems to enjoy playing in it. This weekend we are going to take the baby part of the pack and play out so we can start using that instead of finding every pillow we have in the house!

6 Months

2009-06-20T20:34:00.000-04:00

Mia is 6 months old now. Time is going by so fast. It seems like just yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital and she changed our lives for the better! We had her 6 month pictures taken today. We used a new photographer and I'm really excited to see the proofs. Mia is sitting up unsupported. Of course now that she knows she can sit up she thinks she is supposed to sit up ALL the time. She is eating solid foods (well as solid as baby food can be.) She pretty much loves all her food but I think so far her favorites are carrots and bananas. She also loves to spit her food back out at us now. More often than not I end up wearing at least some of her dinner. She rolled over from her back to her tummy for the first time today. Very exciting. Last but not least we have managed to successfully switch her from Similac Alimentum to Similac Sensitive formula. She is learning and growing so fast. I look forward to getting out of bed every day to see what she will learn and do next. Here is her day in pictures!

She started out all smiles on our way to Granny's

More giggles

Time to eat

Granny bought her a remote of her own so she would stop changing the TV channels

Wow, what happened?

Jump, Jump, Jumparoo

She didn't look to happy Granny was bothering her during play time with her new toy

She had a blast with this thing

Another new toy. Wow Granny, Thanks!

Playtime

Time to relax

Almost bed time

A little more fun before bed

My Couch Potato

2009-06-20T20:30:00.000-04:00

My little girl loves to sit in the recliner. She is sitting up so well now that we can put her in the recliner and she will stay there for a good long while just having fun. She is fond of watching the Sprout channel from her new favorite place.

6 Month Check Up

2009-06-16T20:40:00.000-04:00

Mia went in to see Dr. Hughes on Monday for her 6 month check up. She was 4 days shy of 6 months but I was off work so we made the appointment for that day. She weighed in at a healthy 16 pounds 3 ounces and is 24 3/4 inches long. Dr. Hughes says if her growth continues at it's current pattern she is on track to be about my height. That is fine with us! She is not yet rolling over from back to front yet but she tries so hard. I think she will master it any day. She is sitting up like such a big girl. She sat through her entire Dr. appointment with almost no support from us. She got 2 shots, one in each thigh and she didn't even cry. I was so proud of her. She made up for that later though. Her shots made her very fussy and she cried and cried for no reason. All I could do was hold her and rock her and try to calm her down. By the late afternoon she was doing better and almost back to normal. All in all she is a very healthy normal almost 6 month old baby girl. We are very blessed!

Active Baby

2009-06-06T20:07:00.001-04:00

Mia has become so active lately. She twists and turns when you have her laying down to play. She never ends up in the same place she started. Not thinking about this I laid her on our bed so we could get ready to leave the house. I came out of the bathroom and this is what I saw.

I uncovered her head and she was just smiling. I couldn't help but grab the camera and get a couple of too cute pictures!

Fever

2009-06-06T19:50:00.000-04:00

Mia was running a fever of 101.7 on Monday June 1st. After the rough start I had with a very sick little girl I probably panicked more than I should have. I called into work, called granny to let her know Mia would be staying with me, and called the doctor as soon as they opened. After some reassurance from the doctor that they didn't need to see her unless her fever got up to 102.5 and to give her some Tylenol I settled in for an interesting day. Mia whined all day and didn't really want to eat much but she was a trooper. She didn't have any other symptoms. Once Mitch got home she was still a little warm so we put a cool rag on her head. She loved it! I'm happy to report everything was back to normal the next day. We have no idea what caused her to spike a fever but no lasting problems so I'm grateful!

Is she there already?

2009-06-06T19:43:00.000-04:00

Mia is learning to drink from a sippy cup. My first thoughts were "already?" and "my baby is growing up too fast." Still, she has a lot to learn but she really tries. She mostly thinks the cup is a chew toy but every once in a while she sucks on it and get milk. It really surprises her when she gets the milk. I am very grateful to have my mom watching Mia to help teach her these simple things!

Not a Baby Anymore!

2009-05-29T20:18:00.000-04:00

I know Mia is only 5 months old but she is not a little baby any more. She is able to sit up in a high chair at the dinner table now. She did this for the first time Wednesday night at the Cracker Barrel. I just can't believe how fast she is growing and learning. She is just soaking up knowledge every day!

My Messy Eater

2009-05-29T20:09:00.000-04:00

It thrills me to no end to feed Mia her baby food. She loves to eat and is already eating a wide variety of food. My mom even let her suck on a piece of red grapefruit this past week and she loved it. I look forward to introducing new foods to her on a regular basis. So far we have not found anything she won't eat. She may not be too fond of it at first but after a few days she takes to everything. Here are a few of her messy eater pictures.

She is always this happy after she finished eating.
I guess that's why she's such a beautiful chunk!

Talking to Momaw on the Phone

2009-05-29T20:06:00.000-04:00

My grandmother talks to Mia daily on the phone.

Here is a quick glimpse of Mia talking to you Momaw.

5 Months

2009-05-26T19:14:00.000-04:00

Let me start off this post stating that on her 5 month birthday Mia was in an awful mood all day. Granny had a tough time taking pictures of her and I didn't get a chance to take any after work because she stayed in a bad mood. Granny did get a couple of cute ones. Maybe we will have better luck on her 6 month birthday.

Sitting Up

2009-05-25T14:41:00.000-04:00

Mia sat up alone for the first time today. She is still really shaky some times but over all she is doing great. I was so glad to be home to witness this one of many firsts in her life.

It looks like Mitch was holding her up but he wasn't

I let go really quick afraid she would fall

Most of the time she starts out leaning over really far like this

Then she is able to get herself more upright

She really loves her little frog carrier toy

She started to wobble

She kept looking at Mitch like "what are you looking at?"

She tipped over a few time. I felt like I was playing catch

Yummy puppy

This is her shocked expression

Next I'm sure she will be wanting to stand all the time

Such a sweet girl

Mother's Day

2009-05-22T18:30:00.001-04:00

First of all please let me say I'm sorry about being behind in my blogging. Things have been very hectic lately so I'm just now trying the catch up. 5 month pictures are coming soon!

As you can imagine I was very excited about my first Mother's Day. It was a wonderful day. Mia and I had pictures taken the day before of just the 2 of us. I am so pleased with the way they turned out.

Mia and Mommy
I love the look on her face here

Mia Loves to be lifted up in the air like she is flying
I wish you could have seen her face at this moment

My Heart, My Soul, My Life is this little Angel

I love this picture because it looks so casual

This picture has a world of meaning
Mia was brought into this world by 2 people who love each other and her more than anything

This picture is so special
I have a passion for reading that I hope Mia develops
This is her favorite book, she talks non stop when we get it out to read

Getting Better Every Day

2009-05-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

Mia is getting better with her hands every day. She is able to hold her bottle better now. For the first time this morning she fed herself over half her bottle. I only thought to go grab the camera at the end though. I apologize for the poor video quality but it was quite dark in her room since it was only 6:30am.

Big Girl

2009-05-04T20:36:00.000-04:00

After Mia had her cereal tonight I gave her, her bottle. Imagine my surprise when I realized I wasn't holding the bottle anymore. She's such a big girl now!

Fruit...........Yuck!

2009-05-04T20:14:00.000-04:00

Mia tasted apples for the first time on Sunday. She does not think to highly of them at all. She all but refuses to eat them. Mitch shot a video of her first taste.

Pictures

2009-04-28T20:26:00.001-04:00

Jump Jump Jumperoo

2009-04-24T19:52:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we bought Mia the Fisher Price Precious Planet Jumper. She loves to stand up all the time now so we thought a jumper would be good for her and this one had nothing but great reviews. The first few times we put her in it she wasn't quite sure what to do with herself and her feet don't touch the floor so we have to put a pillow under her feet, but she loves it. She hasn't figured out how to play with all the fun things it has on it yet but that will come in time. I took a video of her jumping and playing tonight. It was so cute. You also get a glimpse of her new talent in this video. She has learned how to spit and it's her new favorite thing to do. Enjoy!

Cereal.....what is cereal?

2009-04-21T20:26:00.000-04:00

Mia was cleared by her Dr. to start eating cereal and fruits. I was so excited for something new to try with her. I decided to start her out on cereal and just go with that for a few weeks and then add in one fruit at a time. Tonight was our first try with the cereal and I think Mia did pretty good. She has no clue what to do with a spoon yet and she made some awful faces but she managed to get several spoons in the right place. I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed trying to feed her LOL!

4 Months

2009-04-21T20:16:00.000-04:00

Time marches on! Mia is 4 months old and growing every day. We went to visit Dr. Hughes on Monday and Mia is 13 pounds 10 ounces and 23 inches long. She was pronounced perfect. I know I'm biased because she is my baby girl but I think she is getting prettier every day! Here are her 4 month pictures.

The Most Precious Sound

2009-04-17T21:10:00.001-04:00

I was going through my pictures and videos tonight trying to put everything in it's place when I came across this video. As soon as I watched it all the feelings of hearing Mia cry for the first time came back to me. What a precious sound.

Family Easter

2009-04-13T20:02:00.000-04:00

Our first family Easter picture!

Mia's First Easter

2009-04-13T19:50:00.000-04:00

Mia's first Easter was fantastic. It started out early with a visit from the Easter Bunny. Mia was very surprised to see a furry basket full of goodies that he left for her. After all the Easter bunny fun we got all dressed up and went to church. Mia had a good nap at church but that didn't help us out when we all went to eat lunch. She was in an ill mood and didn't want anything to do with anyone. After lunch we had a nice afternoon and Mia had a really good nap. This Easter was so fun I can't wait until next year when Mia is old enough to hunt for eggs and eat Easter candy.

Mia's 3 Month Pictures

2009-04-10T22:13:00.001-04:00

The Easter Bunny

2009-04-09T22:46:00.000-04:00

Tonight we took Mia to see the Easter Bunny for the first time. At first she was not impressed. She sat there and looked around but wouldn't smile. Finally she started to get into it and gave us a huge open mouthed grin. What a wonderful memory!

A Surprise in the mail

2009-04-09T22:33:00.000-04:00

When I checked the mail today I was surprised to find a package addressed to Mia in the mail box. I opened it to find an Easter surprise for Mia. Her Mimi sent her several very cool things. She got some teething rings, an adorable onesie, a talking lamb chop doll, headbands, a Winnie the Pooh wipes case, some interlocking rings to play with, and some Easter candy (her daddy ate that.) We had to take some pictures with all her neat stuff. It was such perfect timing as we were taking Mia to see the Easter Bunny tonight.

Thank you Mimi. Mia loves her gifts.

Rolling Over

2009-03-22T20:31:00.000-04:00

Mia is starting to try and roll over. I was lucky enough to catch one of her most recent attempts on video. I must tell you before you watch the video, I sound like a goof! I was so excited to see her trying to roll over I became her personal cheerleader. I hope we are able to catch her first full roll over on video.

Videos from Mia's 3 Month Birthday

2009-03-21T22:18:00.000-04:00

3 Months Old

2009-03-21T21:50:00.001-04:00

It's already been 3 months! Just wanted to share a few pictures from Mia's 3 month birthday. She still makes some of the funniest faces I have ever seen.

Happy St Patrick's Day

2009-03-19T18:59:00.001-04:00

Tuesday was Mia's first St. Patrick's Day. It started early at 5:30 when she woke up to eat. She was in a great mood. I fed her and got her changed into her Cute St Patty's day outfit my cousin Crystal gave her. Once we were both ready we loaded up the car and it was off to "Granny" Daycare for the day. When we got to Granny's house she took some pictures of Mia. We couldn't leave her in the outfit too long as it was 80 degrees here that day. She had a great first St. Patty's day and her bib said it all. "I'm your lucky charm." She is that too us for sure!

Trip to Mississippi

2009-03-16T19:03:00.002-04:00

On Tuesday March 3rd Mia and I flew with my mom to Mississippi to meet her great grandmas, her Mimi and all of her other family. It was a wonderful trip minus the fact both mom and I got sick as a dog a few days after we got there. Mia got a touch of something but it didn't last too long and we learned that Tylenol knocks her out cold for hours! She was so knocked out we thought about taking her to the ER to make sure she was ok. Other than that we had a lot of fun and it was great to see everyone. Mia met so many new people from cousins to 2nd cousins and even one 3rd cousin, to great grandma's and great uncles. Here are some pictures of all the fun she had.

Mia's morning started at 5:45am

Big stretch, but she still didn't want to wake up.

Mia with Grandpa. He drove us to the airport an hour away

Finally a little daylight on the way to the airport

The first airplane Mia ever got on

She slept like an angel on the ride there

Mia with Granny while flying

Mia and Mommy while flying

Mia and her Momaw the first time they ever met

Mia and her Mama when they first met

Mia's 2nd cousin Bayleigh holding her. Her mom Crystal is my cousin.

Mia enjoyed the water bed. It wiggled and was warm.

Mia with her Mimi and her big pink bow. Don't ask LOL

Mia with her Momaw ready to have our 4 generation pictures taken

Mimi, Mia, and Ritchie. Ritchie owns the best restaurant in the world!

Here it is Keifer's. The food is to die for!

Granny cleaning the church while Mia relaxes

She loves her bip!

Mimi and Granny talking and cleaning.......they multi task LOL

A hard night of cleaning and everyone goes a bit nuts

Tummy time on the couch at Momaw's

Mia and her 2nd cousin Ceci. Her mom is my cousin Alexis.

Mia and her 2nd cousin Michaela

Mia and her 2nd cousin Alexandra. All three girls are sisters.

Allie, Ceci, Bayleigh, and Michaela

Mia with her 3rd cousin Janet. Janet is my mom's cousin.

This is Jake

Mia with her Great Uncle John.

Chilaxin in the swing

Mia sneaking in a good nap while Mimi holds her.

Mia with a photograph of her Great Great Grandparents

Ah the plane ride home. She was sick and exhausted!

Ear Piercing

2009-02-24T12:21:00.000-05:00

Mia got her ears pierced on Monday 02/23/09. I always told my mom I would never have my daughters ears pierced this early in life. My mom had mine done at 3 months and the holes in my ears are not even. Well, I couldn't resist getting Mia's done now. She is only 2 months old so she won't remember it thank goodness. The pictures make it look much worse than it really was. She did very well and only cried or about a minute after they were done. I think Mitch had a harder time with it than Mia did. He got very upset at the end.

Here is the mark for the earring on her ear

She was a happy girl while waiting

They hadn't even touched her yet in this picture. She didn't like being held still.

That's One

That's Two

Ms. Michele and Mia once it's all done

A happy girl with her pretty earrings

2 Month Pictures (so many changes)

2009-02-24T11:51:00.000-05:00

12/19/2008

01/19/2009

02/19/2009

2 Month Old Video

2009-02-24T11:38:00.000-05:00

The past 2 months have gone by so fast and been so wonderful. Mia is growing and changing by the day. Here is a short video I took of her on her birthday.

Colic and a Bubble Bath

2009-02-21T17:31:00.000-05:00

Mia has been suffering from bouts of colic for over 2 weeks now. She would scream for 5-6 hours as hard as she could and NOTHING would sooth her. We were told by a lady we go to church with about an herbal colic tablet for babies that apparently works wonders. We were desperate so we decided to try it. It worked! They are made by Hyland's company and they are such a blessing. Mia had a colic spell and we had to give her 4 doses 1 every 15 minutes until she was quiet. She screamed for less than an hour that night and it's been less and less each time now that we are using them. To watch your child scream in pain for hours when there is nothing you can do is the worst thing in the world. Mitch and I were mentally, physically, and most of all emotionally exhausted. After the last of her really bad spells we decided to give her a warm bath to help relax her after all that crying. It turned into her first bubble bath and she loved it!

Mia's 1 Month Pictures

2009-02-17T18:21:00.000-05:00

A Trip to Granny's

2009-02-16T22:21:00.000-05:00

Any of you who knew me when I was really little already know that my mom loved to fix my hair pretty. She would use corn starch to stick bows in my hair before I had enough hair for a bow. Then as my hair grew it progressed to bigger bows and nights in curlers to make ringlets. Well my baby was born with lots of hair. YAY for Granny! On a recent trip to Granny's mom broke out the little bitty curlers and gave Mia her first real curl.

Church

2009-02-15T20:46:00.000-05:00

A quick picture to show you how much Mia enjoys church!

Mia's 1st Wedding

2009-02-15T20:35:00.000-05:00

A couple we go to church with got married on Valentines day. This was Mia's first wedding so I made sure to take pictures to document the event. It was also the first time I let anyone from church other than my parents hold Mia. This was a huge step for me. I am so over protective of her since she has been sick that I have almost become a germaphobic! (sorry can't spell that one quite right) I can't stand anyone to touch her and if they do they need to either wash their hands or use hand sanitizer first.

Mia's 1st Valentines Day

2009-02-15T19:56:00.000-05:00

Mia had her first Valentines day today. It was a very busy day for us. She also attended her first wedding. (More on that to come) She woke up in a wonderful mood. This was a pleasant surprise for us because she has been battling bouts of colic on and off. We never knew what kind of mood she would be in from one moment to the next. She ate happily and then sat in her swing having a good time while I got ready for the wedding. After I was all ready Mia had a bath which she LOVES! Then she got all dressed in her Valentines day dress her Great Granny bought her. Then we were ready to go. It was a wonderful morning. (A special thanks to daddy for letting me sleep in and taking care of her on his day off!)

Short Video

2009-02-13T16:29:00.000-05:00

Here is a short video of Mia sitting up in her Bumbo seat. She is growing so fast and she sits up so well now. She is starting to coo and play more every day. I now have figured out how to take and upload videos so I will be posting more in the future. Hope you enjoy!

Newborn Pictures

2009-02-05T19:46:00.000-05:00

Here are the pictures taken of Mia in the hospital. I just now got them ordered and got the CD. It's amazing how tiny she was.

Like Daddy Like Daughter

2009-02-03T18:14:00.000-05:00

As everyone already knows Mia has her daddy wrapped around her very little pinkie. Today Mitch was playing a game on his PS3 and I decided to show him how well Mia sits up in her Bumbo seat. This is the result...........

Daddy playing PS3

Mia playing PS3

I know this is only a small glimpse of what is in store for me as Mia grows bigger and her daddy shares his love of video games with her. I hope he will lean more towards Leap Frog and V-Smile. I'd like her to learn while she is playing.

Sitting Up

2009-02-03T18:08:00.000-05:00

I have always heard what a cool thing a Bumbo seat is for a young baby, so I knew Mia had to have one. After carefully reading the box which said it was good for children 3-14 months I decided to get Mia's out and try it. She is really starting to be able to hold her head up well so I figured what the heck lets give it a try. She was not too sure what to think for a minute but she sat up very well and seemed to enjoy being able to see the world around her from a different perspective. Here are the pictures I snapped. One is fuzzy for some reason. Sorry about that ;-)

Uncle TJ

2009-01-29T16:03:00.000-05:00

Mia had a very special day today. Mom and I drove to Orlando so she could meet her Uncle TJ for the very first time. TJ lives in Kansas City and rarely gets to come for a visit so we took advantage of his very little bit of free time to drive up and eat lunch with him. Mia loved her uncle so much she feel asleep right in his arms. I'm so glad he was able to meet her while she is still so small. We can't wait for him to be able to come for a longer visit.

Mia's First Bath

2009-01-29T15:56:00.000-05:00

Keeping with the theme of the last post here are some pictures of Mia's first tub bath. She loved being covered with the warm water and snuggling with her daddy after she was all clean. She is very easy to bathe and tries her hardest to slide down so her whole body is covered in water. I would sit her up and she would scoot right back down into the water. I guess it's good that we have a water baby since we live in Florida and I'm sure she will be swimming as soon as it's warm enough.

Wash My Hair

2009-01-29T15:47:00.000-05:00

This post should have been made a while ago but I've had my hands full with a sick little girl, who is all better now! Thank goodness.

When we first brought Mia home from the hospital and we couldn't give her a tub bath yet we learned that after her sponge bath she LOVED to have her hair washed. She would scream all through her bath and then as soon as she felt the warm water run over her head she would go limp and completely relax in her daddy's arms. It was so precious to watch. These are a few pictures from when I washed her hair in the hospital.

Baby of Many Faces

2009-01-19T20:44:00.001-05:00

One of our new favorite past times is watching Mia make faces. She can make some of the funniest, cutest, and meanest faces I have ever seen a baby make. I took the camera today and just watched her for 5 minutes and took pictures of all the faces she made. Here is what I saw.

One Month.......Already!

2009-01-19T20:32:00.001-05:00

Mia is One Month old today! I can not believe how fast the time has passed. She was this tiny little baby who weighed 5 pound 12.5 ounces and now she has grown so much and weighs 8 pounds 4 ounces. She is starting to focus on objects now and We love to watch her look at her surroundings with such interest. She has some control over her head now and she tries so hard to hold it up and look around. Every day is a new adventure with her. She is amazing in every way and we can't wait to see what she will do next.

12/19/2008

01/19/2009

Special People

2009-01-19T20:22:00.000-05:00

It takes a very special person to become a pediatric nurse. They see children at their worst on a daily basis. We were blessed enough to be surrounded by a wonderful group of nurses our entire stay in the hospital. I can't say enough about how they treated Mia and us as well. I will never be able to say thank you enough to them!

This is nurse Lori. She took very good care of Mia. She took her for a bath and rocked and loved her for a couple of hours so that we could get some sleep when were were just exhausted in the first few days of Mia's illness.

This is Nurse Tech Kristen. She always had a smile and a silly comment for our little girl. She was especially good to us. (parents and grandparents)

This is Nurse Rob. He has a daughter about a month older than Mia. He took special interest in her and was present for almost all the major procedures she had to go through. It made us more calm to know he was there taking care of her.

Home from the Hospital

2009-01-19T20:13:00.001-05:00

It has been a very long 13 days but I am so happy to say that Mia is home from the hospital. She was released at about 3:45 pm today. Mia was given a very special 1 month birthday gift from the doctors by being allowed to come home today. She is doing so well! She was sent home with 5 more doses of antibiotics to take over the next 2 days. Other than that we are in the clear and can go back to our normal routines.

Granny dressing Mia to come home

More getting dressed

Granny loves Mia so much! Can you tell?

All strapped in ready to go

Why are we still here?

Finally home in her swing where she belongs

She is fascinated with the bears on her swing

More Hospital Pictures

2009-01-17T22:33:00.001-05:00

Mia in the Hospital Part 4

2009-01-17T16:36:00.000-05:00

Well, we are now on day 11 of our hospital stay. Mia is doing wonderfully. However we still can't go home. I am very upset over this. We can't seem to get a straight answer from anyone when she can go home. It started at 7-10 days then went to 14 days then we were told she was half way done with her 10 day course of antibiotics meaning she could go home on tomorrow. Today the doctor comes in and tells me that they are going to do 14 days worth. I told him I want her out of here because she is fine. He goes back to the excuse that she had a dose of antibiotics before she had her spinal tap so she could still have meningitis and they just want to be careful. WHATEVER!!!! If she had it she would have showed signs by now. I'm so thankful this place was here to help my baby girl but now I feel like they are holding her hostage. She will be 1 month old in 2 days and will have to spend that milestone in this awful place. I HATE that!

Pictures coming soon.

Mia in the hospital Part 3

2009-01-15T17:17:00.000-05:00

Today is day 9 of Mia's hospital stay. She has received her last dose of one of her antibiotics this afternoon. She still has 11 doses of her other antibiotic to go. She should receive the last dose on Sunday morning at 8am. Hopefully once she receives the last does we can take her home the same day. She is doing really well. On Tuesday morning they had to take her IV out of her hand because it was finally leaking. A normal IV only lasts about 3 days on average. We were lucky hers lasted 6 days. She still needed an IV so they inserted what is called a PIC line. It goes from her leg up into the main vein in her chest in a direct line. This sounds awful and it is I cried about it but I've cried about everything so far. The PIC line has been a blessing because now she gets her medicine and they can take blood from the line with out having to stick her anymore. All of her blood cultures are now coming back negative and her test results are all falling in the normal range. Thank goodness. It looks like Mia has beat this scary infection and she will never remember any of it. We have documented it in pictures so one day she can see just how scared we were for her. I'll post more of the pictures once I can get them uploaded to my computer. For now we are very blessed that our baby girl is doing so well.

I heard someone say this the other day and it rang very true with me.

God is not only good at times like this, God is good all the time!

Mia in the hospital Part 2

2009-01-12T17:23:00.000-05:00

Let me start by thanking all of you who are checking in on her and praying for her. She was a very sick little girl for a while but is doing so much better. The course of 2 antibiotics they have her on seems to really be working. Her last blood culture came back negative for Group B Strep YAY! Those words were music to my ears this morning. Her CRP test which measures the level of inflammation she has was a 1.4. A high number for this test is bad and hers was up to 32 the morning after she was admitted. So we are truly blessed that she is doing so well. God has been with out little girl and heard all the prayers offered for her to get well. We hope to maybe be able to leave the hospital on Saturday or Sunday but it could still be as late as the following Wednesday or Thursday.

Mia in the Hospital Part 1

2009-01-10T19:53:00.000-05:00

As most of you know by now Mia was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday night for an unknown infection. We have now learned the infection is Group B Strep or GBS. This infection can be fatal in infants if not caught early. We were so lucky that we caught it VERY early and she was put on antibiotics the same day the infection was caught. She is now being treated with 2 antibiotics. One every 6 hours and the other every 8 hours. The doctor says that she will need to be here for 10-14 days. More than likely it will be 14 days to make sure we get all the bacteria so she doesn't chance coming down with this again.

The staff here at the hospital has been wonderful. We love Nurse Rob and Nurse Lori and Nurse tech Kristen. They have all treated our baby like she is a part of their family. They have also been very good to us. Of course as first time parents we have been a mess and asked a million questions. We even love the doctor that is treating her. He takes his time with us and never makes us feel like we are bothering him or that we are asking stupid questions.

Here are a few pictures we have taken during our stay in the hospital. I'm sure there will be many more to come as she will be here for about 11 more days. All your calls and prayers are greatly appreciated.

Just Pictures

2009-01-06T16:26:00.000-05:00

Here are some random pictures of Mia. Some of them were taken with a cell phones so they may be a little fuzzy. You will notice that 99.9% of what she does is sleep! Enjoy!

A Very Special Outfit

2008-12-27T10:11:00.000-05:00

Several months ago I posted about the history of Pink in my family. My mom saved my pink dress that I came home from the hospital in and she saved a pink sweater that my Mama bought for her when she was pregnant with my brother and it never fit me. I was very hopeful that it wouldn't be too cold when Mia came home for her to wear the dress. Well let me tell you it was 80 degrees when I went into the hospital and 60 degrees when I got out! I was lucky enough that Mia was able to wear the dress and sweater home. Here are the pictures of her in her special outfit.

Mia in her mommy dress. This dress is 28 years old.

Mia with her sweater on over her dress.
The sweater is 32 years old and was never worn before this day.