Update on Tess

Well as you can read below, we had some weight gaining issues with Tess and the doc put her on supplemental formula. She went from 13lbs on a Thursday to 13 # 9 oz on a Monday:) That's one ounce shy of what they hoped for, but hey, we were all thrilled and we'll take it:)
I nurse her and then give her 2 oz of formula with each feeding. Then a 4 oz bottle at night. It seems to be working well for us and she's a VERY happy girl!

Tessa's 4 Month Watch Me Grow

4 months old with her blanket and baby


2 weeks old

Deagan 4 years and Tessa 4 months

Today Deag and Tessa had a little brotherly-sisterly love session:) It was all of about five minutes.... :)

Happy 6th Birthday Miss Olivia

Olivia with the flowers Daddy got for her:)
GiGi and PaPa Ron sent her this AWESOME cookie bouquet! Yum:)
We went out to dinner at Red Robin, it was fun... super kid friendly.

Six years ago today, Jeff and I were in the hospital, on day 4 of me being induced. We were OVER IT. The doctor came in and said, "well I think it's about time we talk about other options." and I think my response was, "what the heck took you so long!" We had been in the hospital soo long, nothing was going to coax this little girl out of her womb! So they scheduled the C-section for that evening. 6pm to be exact.
The C-section went well. Jeff and I were both pretty nervous to have surgery. I think Jeff was more nervous than I was! He was shaking like a leaf! And so was I, but it was because of the spinal tap. I had a horrible reaction to the meds, vomiting, chills, shakes.... yuck! Then I had my (later found out horrible) doctor literally putting her knee on my chest to get the baby pushed out. Not fun. Couldn't breathe. Might have even had some tears. Anyway, the c-section was less than pleasant, but little Miss Olivia was here and she was perfect.
Olivia has always been our perfect little baby. She's gorgeous, she's talented, she's super smart and she knows how to handle it all.
She's O. Oli. Olivia. Livia. Honey. Sweetheart (mainly by Deagan). And sometimes when she's rotten, Ashley.
She's always been mommy's little helper. She is more than happy to do whatever it is I ask of her, well most of the time;)
She's a girly girl. She loves dresses, must have the twirl factor! She loves jewelry and dress up. She's lucky to have a little brother who also loves to play dress up and dolls.
She's a ring leader, yet still very shy. She's just starting to speak when spoken to. Meaning at the supermarket, or by a waitress- she used to just sit there stonefaced and not reply, because it's a stranger. But now, she's a little bit better at judging people's characters.
She doesn't like to be lied to. And she knows when you're fibbing to her.
She KNOWS that there is a stash of mom's chocolate chips in the freezer, and she'll use that to bribe me to give them to her as incentive to do things.
She's reading. She's writing. She loves to write stories and illustrate them. She loves to draw her family.
She loves helping around the house. She asks "mom, what can I do for you today? Anything you need help with?"
She's starting to understand why mommies "lie" to their kids from time to time. I.e.- when at the mall with little brother and little sister in the stroller and little brother stands up while we are rolling and I say "Deagan the mall police are going to come give you a ticket and take you to the time out room if you don't sit down!" (hey, he's not afraid of me!) And Olivia will just look at me and giggle.
She's sweet as pie. She LOVES animals, horses, dogs, cats, anything in need of help. She's a giver. Rarely a taker. She'll make sure everyone has a piece of the pie before she even thinks about taking one herself. She just loves to do things for other people, it makes her happy.
She wants to be a doctor, or a veterinarian. This week it's a kindergarten teacher "but only the AM one, because then I can go sing at night or ride horsies."
Her favorite food is strawberries. And peanut butter/jelly sandwiches- she eats one EVERY day for lunch. And cheerios. And orange juice.
She begs me to make her orange/strawberry smoothies, and I totally don't do it enough.
She absolutely adores her Daddy. He has a special place in her heart. She's the most at ease when he's home and she's in his arms. She loves to watch movies cuddling with Daddy.
She takes it the hardest when he has to leave and makes her strong mommy crumble to pieces watching her cry.
She lights up in delight each time he calls and his picture comes across my phone!
She dreams of moving to Virginia and is excited about having pen pals in Michigan, with a BONUS of actually being able to meet up with them when we come home to visit.
When she lies, she has two lines that appear at the base of her nose. You can spot it a mile away! Then she laughs, because she KNOWS you can see them!
She's a great soccer player. She's aggressive and skilled! She gets bouncy, and then you know she's about to score.
She's an excellent horseback rider. She's gentle and the horses love her. I think we have a new passion!
She loves to have her hair straightened or curled.
She loves to go with MiMaw to get her nails done.
She loves to go to the movie theater with Deagan.
She has the power to completely relax Tessa and turn her from screaming to sleeping in about a minute. She sings to her and strokes her hair.
She fights with her brother daily. One day she loves him, the next they hate each other. One day they play dolls for hours in her room- the next he's not allowed in there and someone ends up crying because the other "won't play with me."

Happy Birthday my sweet, sweet Olivia. I can't believe how big you are. You've grown so fast into this beautiful little girl with a hear of gold! Daddy and I love you more than anything in the world! Happy Birthday Oli!

POST A COMMENT ABOUT OLIVIA!!!! Something you remember about her this year! Please, we all tend to forget! Post Post Post:)

And the winner is....

I entered this photo in a "Daddy and Me" photo contest on babycenter.com and IT WON!
There were like 150 photos and a few hundred votes, and they WON!
They didn't win anything, just the title of winners:)

Grey's Anatomy

As many of you know, I'm a huge Grey's Anatomy fan. It's possibly my favorite show! Well it's so stinkin' dramatic that it makes me cry, almost every time. Usually I love it... but tonight it was all too real.
Most of you know, but perhaps there are some newcomers that might not know- eight years ago (holy crap! 8!) my brother was in a motorcycle accident that took his life.
I've been pretty good at handling my grief over the years, actually I'm proud of myself and my strength. I really didn't have a choice, I was only 19 years old. I knew no different on how to handle things.
Anyway, tonight Grey's was all about the stages of grief. And it started with a character, George, dying. Got hit by a bus (great TV drama).
So watching this brought back tremendous grief. The grief I harbor deep inside. So what am I going to do, blog about it. Before I had multiple kids, believe it or not, I was a writer. A very good writer. I wish I could focus long enough in quiet to get back to that... anyway back on point.

That summer day I was sunbathing at the beach with Lindsey, in Lansing. I got a phone call from my Dad telling me that my brother had been in a motorcycle accident and I needed to come to the hospital. So we packed up our stuff and took off quickly back to our apartment. My mind was telling me, you need to back a bag of stuff, because he's probably injured pretty bad and you're doing to be there for a few days.
I had hope. I had real hope. Only once did it cross my mind that he might die. Once.
Well about and hour or so later when we got to the hospital, I found out that he really did die.
-skip forward for sake of sanity-
So I'm watching Grey's tonight and I see these people saying goodbye to George and I can't help but dream of what it would have been like if I had gotten to say goodbye. Would it have been better? Or worse?
Lindsey and I were talking tonight, and she made a valid point- that at that time in my life it was better the way it happened.
I was far too young. And it made it easier, in a strange way, to just have him be "gone." And my amazing memories intact.
In hindsight, I would have loved to be able to talk to him again- whether on life support machines or whatever, but I didn't get that. He was just gone.
I try not to let myself "get deep into that" for my sanity's sake. I'm perfectly ok with my grief hiding deep in my heart. That's how I've chosen to deal with it. It peeks out it's grizzly head from time to time. Otherwise I'd be a kookookrazy girl. But I'm a pretty strong person.
Point of my sob story, at the end of Grey's each character was saying a quote about grief, and this one touched me and my life the most-
"The very worst part is the minute you think you're past it, it starts all over again. And always, every time, it takes you're breath away."
And so it did tonight.

Tessa yet again

So Tess has been really fussy for the past two days. Like crying for over an hour each night with clenched fists and tightened tummy, with real tears! I figured out that she was having tummy troubles, and then with a little more thinking I discovered that she hadn't pooped in 20 days. Yes, that's right, 20. Now before you gasp and awe, she is breastfed, so it's not uncommon for babies to go weeks without a BM. And it didn't start to bother her until about two days ago. (insert over worked mother of three still running a business and attempting to buy/sell two houses and run a house with two kids in different schools- alone) And then you'll see why I just didn't notice. When she was "regular" she would go only once or twice a week. So I didn't think about it. Breastmilk is so efficient that it is mostly all absorbed and therefor little waste.

Well I call them this morning and they tell me to come right in. They checked her all out and everything came up normal. She was a super smiley flirt- so you could tell she was thriving. Then they weighed her...
She was in last week for a re-check of her UTI (all came back normal, infection is long gone). And they weighed her then, a week ago. Well today she weighed the exact same. No weight gain= not good. At least it wasn't weight loss, but nonetheless not good. She's 4 months (on Sunday) and weights just 12 lbs 14 oz. Deagan was 22 lbs and Olivia was 18 at 4 months. Just to give you a reference point.

So long story short. She hasn't pooped in so long, because there is not "waste". She's taking in all of what she gets and her body is using it. But she's not getting all she needs to grow, just maintain. Essentially my breastmilk is deficient (big surprise) and isn't keeping up with the needs of a baby trying to go through a growth spurt.

So they are having me supplement. I have to nurse her then give her a 2 oz bottle of formula after every feeding. Plus 3 oz of prune juice, twice a day. ( gotta go buy more bottles! Thanks Nancy K. perfect timing)

My poor little sweetie went from nothing but breastmilk for four months to formula and juice in a day. And we're going to weigh her Monday at her 4 month apt and see if she's gained. She's supposed to be gaining a 1/2 oz a day. Then they are going to have me start solids soon too, to give her even more calories! Peanut!

We're going to fatten her up:) However, I'm nearly positive that supplementing will lead to the end of breastfeeding. Or at least that's what history has proven. We'll wait and see, still four months was pretty damn good for a Carter;)

House Update #743

Well the appraisal from the buyer's bank is complete and the home inspection is complete. Now we're waiting on their banks to set the closing date.... hopefully it's next week!

A few pictures from my phone:)

Olivia @ her 2nd riding lesson.
Her shnazy new boots for riding.
Olivia loves to sit with Tess and do her "homework"
This is what he does with my rocking chair in the bedroom.
On Olivia's first day of first grade, I woke her up by putting Tessa in her bed. They had a GREAT snuggle and laugh!

OMG! It's official, the house sale has gone through!

Ok, so no need for a backstory here. The sale that we've had pending on our house since before Tessa was born has FINALLY gone through. Our last ditch effort! The closing date has been set for Oct. 1st and might possibly be sooner.
Ahhhhhhhhh. Someone help me! It took so long and now it came so fast, I'm freaking out!
Now I've got a family to move across the country, and soon. Holy smokes Batman!

And the icing on our cake: the Virginia people have waited for us and we can get right into that home:)

Hold your breath. Cross your fingers. Count your blessings. Wish us luck!

Who ARE these people?

Deagan's first day of 4 year old preschool!

Our sweet little boy, he was actually a bit nervous. They closed his old preschool, so we had to find a new one and he didn't know anyone.
Cheeser!
Come on Mom, you're embarrassing me, no more pictures!
Walking in
Working diligently on his show and tell bag, in which he filled tonight with one of his "cool" trucks that sings awesome 50's music and drives away on it's own.

Deagan had a great first day of preschool on Wednesday. It was a day where the parents could come too. It was nice to meet all of the other mom's too, as this is a new school for us. His old Montessori school closed their doors (she was in business for 21 years!) so we had to find a new school. This one is right across from Olivia's school, and starts 15 mins after her... so it's very convenient for us. The teachers are very nice and the class sizes are super small- 12 boys and 3 girls in his class. Tomorrow is his first official day there solo. He's still a tiny bit nervous:) Oh sweet boy how you melt my heart!

Deag and Tessa playing

Deagan LOVES baby toys. He gravitates to them in the stores and he loves to show them to Tessa. He also loves to play with her and her toys too! While I'm making lunch you can frequently find them together on the playmat. She starts smiling and giggling like crazy at his WILD antics:)

Olivia's first day of FIRST GRADE, and her FIRST BUS RIDE

Miss Olivia, getting ready for her first day of first grade!
On the way, in the car, nervous!
Miss Olivia
Olivia and Steph
Tessa waiting outside while Olivia stood in line.

This was Olivia and Stephanie LAST year! What a difference a year makes!

Olivia and Steph
Tessa and Deagan starting their year home together... and already best buds.
Deagan happy to have his mommy!
Tessa and her new toy.

waiting for sissy at the bus stop! (with my new toy)
Trying not to trip getting off the bus!
Yay, my little baby successfully completed her FIRST bus ride!!!!!
Olivia, the first grader, finished her first day of first grade:)

Olivia

We have a first grader....

New home appraisal scheduled for tomorrow!