Our Little Sunshines: January 2008

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

MLK Weekend 2008

Uncle Joey with Connor Joseph

Cassidy all dressed to play in the snow...well, to play WITH the snow on our cars! :)

Poor Lily can hardly move in her snowsuit!

Cassidy taking Lily for a ride

What a good big sister!

Lily sitting patiently in the wagon

Taking a very brief stroll around the neighborhood...it was FREEZING!!!

Cassidy's first snowball...she was SO excited!

Cassidy and the World's Smallest Snowman! :)

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

I originally wrote the post below about a week ago. I have some great video I'd like to share with you all, but have not been able to get it to upload to Blogger. I'll keep trying, but in the meantime, I wanted to give you an update on Lily's recent accomplishments! :)

Here it is folks...Lily's First Word! It's DaDa...Joeyis SO proud! She started saying it Monday, but I told Joey we couldn't count it until we both heard it. Yesterday, when she started saying it I called him and held the phone up for him to hear. Then I grabbed the camera and started recording it for posterity! :)

Other news - Lily is rolling from a sitting position to a crawling position and pushing from her tummy to a crawling position. She rocks back and forth from her hands and knees and uses her hands to turn herself around while on her knees. Stay tuned - I'm sure we'll have crawling footage to share before too long!

UPDATE - Since I first wrote this post a week ago, Lily has begun to crawl. She took her first tentative steps yesterday (MLK Holiday) as Joey, Cassidy, and I cheered her on. We haven't been able to get it on video yet, but keep checking back to see Lily on the move! I also found her sitting up in her crib this morning...my baby is quickly growing into a big girl!

We had a fun MLK weekend with Uncle John and crew. Joey was upset that we didn't get any real accumulation of snow, but Cassidy was tickled to play with the little bit that was on our vehicles. I'll try to get pictures up soon so you can see her with her first snowball! :)

Just look at those eyes...

Saturday, January 12, 2008

From One Mom to Another...

Just had to share this bit of advice that has been priceless for our family. But, before I do, let me set the stage for you...

In the past week, Lily's top teeth have begun to descend. (Her first two bottom teeth arrived right before and right after Christmas.) As some of you veteran moms may know, along with pain and discomfort, this can also cause your baby to have a runny nose. In Lily's case, her nose was literally like a faucet with water pouring out of it almost constantly. During the day, a runny nose is a nusiance, but it's at bedtime that it becomes a real problem. For you see, the runny nose meant that Lily could not breathe out of her nose, which meant she couldn't suck on her pacifier; and because she could not suck on her pacifier she could not relax to go to sleep. So there she would lay in her crib, rubbing her eyes and screaming, and we, her parents, ran around trying to help her. We tried everything - the humidifier on full blast, a pillow under her head to prop her up, suctioning her nose, decongestant drops, moving her to her swing, and then later, (and I know some of you are going to cringe) to our bed - and while some of our efforts probably helped, they did not solve the problem. Finally, after hours of crying, she would finally fall asleep of pure exhaustion, and we, her parents, stood over her much of the night praying because her breathing was so shallow and labored that we truly thought she might stop breathing all together. Needless to say, by Friday morning, we (except for Cassidy, who thankfully slept through it all) were barely hanging on.

Fortunately, as the girls and I stumbled wearily into our Music and Movement class on Friday, my dear friend Brandy and her children, Weston and Natalie, were waiting for us. After I'd told her about our rough week, she suggested that we use saline spray in Lily's nose. I had always thought saline spray was for dry, crusty, stopped-up noses, but her pediatrician had told her that saline spray would also help dry up a runny nose. It had worked with her little ones, and she suggested I use it often throughout the day to help clear up the runny nose faster.

As soon as I got home, I started using the spray. We also continued using the humidifier and pillow, and we did suction her nose several more times (that made her REALLY mad!), but I definately think the saline spray made a significant difference. She still had a hard time getting to sleep Friday night, but she nursed easily at her 4:30 a.m. feeding and then was able to take her pacifier when I put her back down to sleep. Today, she was able to nap with her pacifier and also to go to sleep using it...and was asleep by 8:00 p.m. HOORAY!!! Her nose is still drippy at times, and will probably continue to be until she cuts those teeth, but we can certainly deal with that as long as we all get our sleep!

So, the next time your wee one has a cold, break out the saline solution to help get rid of that runny nose faster. Thanks Brandy for this great tip! :)

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

A special message for Uncle Bob...

Sorry this is a little belated, Uncle Bob. We made this video before Christmas, but then our Internet crashed and was down through New Year's Day. We really would've liked you to see this on Christmas morning, but I guess better late than never. Love you!!!