Sunday, December 29, 2013

Whoops.  So I just realized that it's been a while since I updated anything here.  The holidays, work, being a married-single-mom...life, you know? Anyway, we're all doing fine.  Aubrey is still trying to walk and still not quite there yet.  She's doing a lot more cruising on the furniture and is lifting and moving her legs so much better when we hold her hands to walk.  She got a new walker toy for Christmas and started using it today without us hanging on to her.  I have a feeling she'll start walking like she started with the bottle--one day she'll just decide that's what she wants to do and will do it.

Her shirt was a gift from our friends who went through the NICU with us; it says "My first Christmas at home."

We were able to do a few normal Christmas things this year that we didn't do last year, like going to the gardens where Adam and I got engaged to see the Christmas light display.  We couldn't really tell if Aubrey was overwhelmed or underwhelmed...either way, she was her happy-baby self the whole time.

At the gardens to see the lights

 We had a pretty good Christmas.  Adam had to work, of course, and as a policewife (PW) I know that this happens all the time (as in Adam worked every single holiday there was last year).  And we PWs often have to move holidays to a different day.  That doesn't always work seeing as the rest of the entire family has already had their holiday on the actual day and can't all get back together 2 days later to have it again for the cop that was working.  It's tough being the only person in the entire family who is at every holiday gathering without their spouse; on the flip side, it's tough for Adam to miss all the gatherings too. And I learned this year that being a "single mom" on Christmas is exhausting.  Whew.  Adam and I exchanged a few presents on Christmas Eve and got to spend a little time together.

Using her new walker toy

Anyway, we got Aubrey an outside swing for Christmas, and Adam put it up a few days before.  She LOVES it.  I try to take her outside for a little while every day, and this gives us something fun to do.  She can see the dog (whom she laughs at) and doesn't seem to mind going high (but just for a second).  She got lots of other fun presents from family too. Aubrey really just enjoyed playing with my nephews all day on Christmas and wasn't worried about unwrapping things.  I'm thinking this might be different next year. :)

Yep, I think she likes it.

We don't have to go back to PT/OT until January 15 since they are closed for all the holidays.  I think they're sort of expecting Aubrey to be walking by then, but we'll see.  She's always done things in her own time, as we are all aware of.  Today she has a little bit of a runny nose and a even littler bit of a fever (like a degree high), so I'm not sure if she's getting a cold or is having teething issues (she hasn't had either symptom with teething before, but I know some kids have those problems).  I hate to think that she's getting sick, but, if she is, no doubt she can handle it like a pro. Mama, on the other hand, might need a valium or something. ;)

-Keli

To blave.

Inigo: "'True love,' you heard him? You could not ask for a more noble cause than that."

Miracle Max: "Yeah, true love is the greatest thing in the world, except for a nice MLT--mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, when the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe.  They're so perky.  I love that.  But that's not what he said: he distinctly said "to blave," and as we all know "to blave" means to bluff, heh? So you were probably playing cards and he cheated..."

In case you didn't know, that's a scene from one of my favorite movies of all time, "The Princess Bride." If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and watch it ASAP.  It's full of action, adventure, and comedy, but ultimately it's a love story.  Once upon a time, I was the girl who curled her lip and rolled her eyes at the mention of "true love." But, alas, as usually happens, my mother turned out to be right when she said something like, "one day a certain guy will come along and you won't roll your eyes at it anymore."

Thanks to Sharpest Image Photography

I thought I was in love once, years before I even knew Adam existed.  I had a boyfriend that I was pretty sure I was in love with, even though I was young and wasn't really sure what that entailed.  But, things ended badly between us and I was horribly cynical about guys and dating and love for a while afterward.  On Christmas Eve 2005, I met Adam on a blind date.  I didn't think he liked me.  At all.  Not even a little.  Turns out he liked me more than I thought, and we kept seeing each other which led to getting engaged in 2008 and getting married in 2009.  Looking back at that previous relationship, I now know it wasn't true love, at least not love as I see it now.  That boyfriend was a good guy overall, don't get me wrong, but there's no comparison between how I felt about him and how I feel about Adam.  Adam is my true love, and after feeling that way about him for almost eight years, I couldn't imagine being in a relationship where I felt anything less.

Now I have another true love in my life: the minute I found out I was pregnant, I was simultaneously terrified and awe-struck.  The first time we saw our little alien-looking-peanut-sized baby on the ultrasound screen at the doctor's office, I fell head over heels.  When I laid eyes on Aubrey 16 weeks too early, a little red shadow of a baby, I was terrified and awe-struck all over again; I also realized that I would give my own life to save hers if I needed to.  That was the truest, most pure form of love I had ever felt.  Different from how I love Adam, but just as strong.

Wonderful, scary, life-altering love.
Protective, hopeful, life-long love.

It's tough to wrap my head around the fact that my parents have loved me (and continue to love me) like that for 33 years (I know myself and fully realize that I am, in fact, not always lovable).  Now knowing first hand what it's like to love a child of my own, a piece of my heart that lives outside of my body, it's nearly impossible for me to understand how God could have let His son be born onto this planet just to know that he was going to suffer and die.  He knew what was going to happen to His child, and He sent him here anyway.  My heart just can't take it.  Think about that true love, that love that's bigger than anything we can imagine: God loves US so much that He sacrificed His child on our behalf. Could any human parents worth their salt ever do that willingly? As we approach Christmas, I'm reminded again that that's what the season is about--the love of the Father for us, His children.

So, as we celebrate this time of year, remember, whatever your particular beliefs might be, to make this season all about love--for your family, your friends, and for people you may not even know.  Cherish the loves of your life, because, as Westley, the hero in "The Princess Bride" said to his fair lady, "This is true love--you think this happens every day?"

-Keli

(Pssst, Keli is only 25)

- Adam 

Friday, December 6, 2013

Christmas tree shopping

It's finally Christmas time!  Woot woot!  It's my favorite time of year, and I have to say that Christmas stunk it up good fashion last year.  It was a bust.  Aubrey was in the hospital, Adam had to work and was sick, and I was just bummed.  We didn't do anything Christmas-like--no decorations, no light tour, no tree, nothing. So, this year, we had our tree up by December 2!  We went tree shopping last weekend and decorated the same day.  We put the tree up on a table so destructo-baby can't reach it to pull ornaments off or pull the whole thing down.  She can reach the tree skirt, and that's already been pulled off an uncountable number of times.  That's ok.  She likes touching the tree, and I'm just glad she's here to wreak her own special brand of cute Aubrey-havoc.  Adam is working Christmas day ("what a surprise!" Keli says, sarcastically), but Aubrey doesn't know which day is which; we'll just have Christmas another day.

Helping get the ornaments out

 

I had to take her to the hospital Tuesday for her barium swallow study.  She's still aspirating with the regular thin liquid, and they think she aspirated with the next thickness up. So, the speech therapist said to stick with the thickness of milk that she's been getting; it's obvious she doesn't aspirate with that because she hasn't had any respiratory problems or illnesses.  We want to keep it that way through the winter months when all of that is being passed around; we don't want her lungs compromised in any way so she's more susceptible to what's out there.  The therapist said we could thin applesauce down with some juice to make it the correct thickness and see if she likes that to drink.  She also wants us to try to get Aubrey to learn to use a straw in a cup. She said sippy cups aren't good for babies like her because children tend to tip their heads back when they use them and that opens the airway even more; her airway already doesn't close quickly enough, so we don't need that added to it.

Mischievous pirate Aubrey with her straw-sword

PT/OT is still going...ok.  Aubrey still cries during it, but she's doing what the therapists are asking of her.  We're still working on that fine motor skill of picking food up with two fingers and actually getting it to her mouth; she's doing better, but not quite there yet. We're also working on making her shift weight from foot to foot while standing...she doesn't really like that too much.  She's standing straight up on her own now, not holding on to anything, but she doesn't go anywhere yet.

The wonderful banana: fruit snack inside, super awesome toy outside

One year ago today, Aubrey weighed 2lb 10oz.  I still can't believe how awesome she is.

-Keli