Surviving the Third Year Picture Session ...

... would have been much easier had they been serving Espresso Martinis consecutively to mommy ...

Yes, it is that time of the year once again to make the dreaded trip to the photographers studio and attempt to make these sweet, cooperative free spirited, mind-of-their own little girls pose for pictures.

We were optimistic. We talked about it for a few days and agreed wholeheartedly that we would listen to the camera lady and do everything she asked. The reward would be great pictures for mommy and a bag of popcorn for the girls ... perfect!!

The morning went great. We got up, got dressed, had breakfast and headed off to get our pictures. Mommy, being hopeful, actually brought an extra change of clothes so we would have choices when it came time to ordering. Mommy drove into town happy knowing that the hideous atrocity best shot of a "together" picture from their 2 year session (side view of both girls holding a big orange jack-o-lantern between them and feeding their ladybugs ... lovely I know) would finally be replaced in the homes of our families and friends.

It was a nice drive into town thinking of rainbows and gumdrops, but then reality smacked mommy in the face. The session started and, still hopeful, we start taking pictures. Madison was in rare form, as usual. When instructed to lay down on their tummies, Alyssa did and so did Madison although Madison continued rolling and giggling uncontrollably, which, of course, forced Alyssa to copy. When asked to put their faces together by touching cheeks, they started head butting each other and cracking up. The sessions results were reminiscent of watching stills of a World Wrestling Federation title match.

On to individual pictures, Alyssa was a perfect poser, although when it came time to smile, she would only turn her head sideways or look at the floor. We have lots of nice shots of the top of her head.

Madison on the other hand, looked at the camera and succeeded in giving us every Madison funny face she could muster up.

The camera lady was wonderful, cheerful and happy. The camera lady was ready for the change of clothes and to go for Round #2 ... mommy asked where the martinis were ... they had none to offer, so mommy said it was the end of the shoot ... no change of clothes ...

our efforts will be rewarded with prints of this session on 9/9/08 and I believe amongst the mess described above, we found three mostly okay pictures to use, although Madison is more smirking than smiling in her individual one ... which is actually pretty fitting ...

Stayed tuned for the results ...

Love & Hugs -
Amy

Lake Minnetonka Regional Park

Living in Minnesota, we have an unending supply of Lakes ... hence the motto "The Land of 10,000 Lakes." Even though a lot of these lakes have great little beaches, sometimes swimming without the extra added benefits of lake fish, ducks and green water scum is a nice thought but alas those public cement swimming pools just do not cut it ...

however, this beauty of a park does cut it for us!! Tucked back in this park which is a part of the Three Rivers Park System, is a find much like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, well okay maybe not the equivalent of gold, but as far as clean swimming goes, it definitely rules. Basically it is a man-made beach but is a swimming pool. The water actually came from Lake Minnetonka, but has been filtered and purified and chlorinated. The bottom of the "lake/pool" is sandy and the deepest part is 6 feet. The deeper areas 3 feet to 6 feet deep are roped off and everyone on the outside of the ropes is 3 feet or less ... perfect!!!

They have changing rooms, bathroom rooms, concession stand and 15 permanent gigantic sun umbrellas installed around the beach. There is a cement sidewalk all the perimeter of the beach and there are picnic areas and grills in the grassy areas. There is also, in another section away from the swimming area, a gigantic play area that the kids haven't gotten to play on yet, but we will be back! All this for $20/year for a family. What a deal!!!!

We got there just in time to get one of the last two umbrellas that were open. We spent four hours on the beach watching the girls play in the water, in the sand on the beach and ride their "horses" (the bottom of part of the wooden frame for the life guard stands). We actually had drag them from the water when it was time for use to leave.

We will definitely be budgeting that $20 a year for this little perk of summer fun!!!

Water Fun:

Riding their "horses":

A sister walk on the beach:

Love & Hugs -

Amy

Lunch on the Lake

Mommy and daddy took a break from the hustle and bustle of life and enjoyed a relaxing dinner at Maynard's on the Lake with the girls. We even brought a loaf of bread with us to feed the ducks, geese and fish off the pier. It was a great afternoon to eat outdoors and the girls had fun feeding the animals!!

Baby Heath ...

... IS COMING HOME TODAY!!!!

Thank you everyone for keeping my friend and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

Love & Hugs -

Amy

Baby Heath Update #3

Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers ... they seem to be helping ...

I spoke with Tammy last night and things are up and down with his eating but they are working on figuring that out. The wide panel screening that was done for many genetic disorders came back yesterday as entirely normal! So that was GREAT news! His bilirubin was elevating a little again yesterday, but he didn’t eat well the night before so they are hoping it will trend back down again. An Occupational Therapist is working with Heath, Tammy and Chris at bottle nipple options for feeding, trying to find the right fit that will work best for him.

The cardiologist also cleared him officially of his heart being the problem. Heath does have a back flow murmur (normal in some infants) and some narrowing of a coarct of his heart (like his brother, but not as severe). Due to those findings, Heath will be following with Christian’s cardiologist to monitor those down the road.

Although he is still tubed and still in the ICC, he is making progress and has gained some weight back. They are not giving a go home date at this point, but taking it day by day. We are all hoping they will be home by the weekend.

Baby Heath Update From The Weekend

Thank you everyone for the thoughts and prayers ... we are making progress, but still no official diagnoses at this time. Here is the update from the weekend:

Heath has remained in the ICC (a step down from NICU) but he is not in his own room yet. They are hopeful for that today or tomorrow. If things go well, he may be able to return home in the middle of the week. His bilirubin is dropping day by day. He is eating more and is more alert, but he is not gaining back weight yet at this point and they continue to feed him every 3-4 hours and whatever he doesn’t finish they give him through the tube. They will be fortifying Tammy’s milk with a high caloric formula for a few days now too. Testing results are starting to come back and they have ruled out chromosomal issues and have cleared him of concerning heart issues. So far so good.

Tammy has gotten some rest and is doing much better.

________________________________

The girls and mommy got to visit with Tammy yesterday at home for a little while. We are hoping for a hospital visit in the next day or two to see Heath.

A Prayer For Baby Heath

My best friend is in need of prayers right now. Baby Heath was admitted to Children's Hospital today because he has continued to lose weight since his birth day one week ago and he isn't responding to feedings. They are running tests on him and have fed him via nasogastric tube for one feeding. They have pulled the tube and now are having mom try to feed him every three hours, the first try didn't go so well. He will stay overnight and they will continue to try feeding him. He also has jaundice and his numbers are on the rise after having been declining. Depending on how the night goes, they may decide to do more tests tomorrow.

My girlfriend is tired from lack of sleep, dealing with mommy guilt over the situation, worried to death for her baby and is trying to recover from pregnancy and a c-section. She needs all the support from friends and friendly strangers that she can get. I know she is a dedicated reader of this blog ... so any encouraging words would be greatly appreciated and all prayers greatly cherished ...

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts ...

Amy

UPDATE #1 (Friday 8/8):

Heath did well overnight time with his cluster feedings and his bilirubin has come down a bit but not where they would like to see it. He also lost more weight, despite the cluster feedings over the night. I was wrong yesterday when I said the nasogastric tube had been removed, it is still in place and they will likely use it to feed him some more today. He will remain in the NICU at Children's for anothernight and additional labs tests and imaging studies are pending.

UPDATE #2 (Friday 8/8):

I just spoke with Tammy again. Heath is still being bottle fed and then the balance of what he doesn’t eat is being given to him through the tube. They are keeping him in NICU overnight with the bili lights and will check his bilirubin again in the morning. They NOT doing any neurological work up or brain scans on him as they are confident that he is okay neurologically. They are, however, doing a echocardiogram on him this afternoon to address a front and back murmur they are hearing in his heart.

If he does well overnight and his bilirubin drops in the morning, he will be transferred to a room with Tammy. Currently he is estimated to be release hopefully Sunday, unless things move slower and he is in the NICU longer.

National Night Out

Last night our neighborhood had a get together for National Night Out. What is National Night Out you ask ...

The "25th Annual National Night Out" (NNO), a unique crime/drug prevention
event sponsored by the National Association of
Town Watch (NATW), has been scheduled for Tuesday, August 5, 2008. We
cordially invite you and your community to be a part of our NIGHT OUT
2008 team.

NATIONAL NIGHT OUT is designed to:
Heighten crime and drug prevention
awareness;
Generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime
programs;
Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships;
and
Send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are
organized and fighting back.

------------------------------------------------------------------

So, last night we attended our neighborhood's version and the kids had a GREAT time. The event was catered by Subway and Sponsored by Target. The kids got to meet police offers from our neighbor (the chief of police is one of our residents).

We got there early so the kids had a chance to enjoy the bounce house before it was bombarded with all the kids from the neighborhood.

Next the girls got to meet Hermie the Clown. They waited patiently for about 30 minutes in a line for their turn to get a balloon creation made just for them. Madison decided on a blue petal flower and Alyssa chose a heart flower ... such girls we have!!

Next we rested for a bit and enjoyed a turkey Subway, Cheetos, Water and an M&M cookie!! Some how we escaped without the girls ever knowing that rootbeer floats were also being served.

After eating, the girls hit the playground for a while and then it was home to cool off in the pool for a few minutes before bedtime. We had fun meeting new neighbors and seeing some old friends ... the girls definitely had some fun!!

Love & Hugs -

Amy

We LOVE our Jump-O-Lene!!!

We attended a birthday party earlier this summer at the neighbors and they had a neat little inflatable bouncer that they picked up on sale for $40. It worked great for two kids at a time (120 lb max). The girls seemed to like it, so of course, mommy hit the internet to find one for us which I did for an even better price of $28!! We recently finished our basement but do not have any furniture in the family room yet, so now it houses an inflatable bouncer thingy, which it turns out is great for bouncing, sleeping, making a castle out of and pretending it is a ship. The handy inflatable rings also detach and make the perfect size beds for Pablo, Tasha, Tyrone, Uniqua and Austin our resident Backyardigans.

Mommy is thinking that this upcoming winter just got a little easier ... thank goodness for mommy neighbors with good ideas!!!

A House, The Sun & Two Ladybugs ...

... also known as grilled cheese, carrots, cucumbers and strawberries.


Yes, woefully, this is the extremes to which mommy will go to get Miss Alyssa (otherwise known as Miss Picky Eater) to try some vegetables, but you know what ... it worked and seconds were even requested of the sun and ladybugs! Score one for mommy!!

A Pirate Park!

The other day while driving around, mommy and daddy noticed this little park in Burnsville. Yes, there are a lot of parks in Burnsville, but this one caught mommy's eye as it was a small play area but interestingly, it was a Pirate Ship!! Well, we decided that the girls would absolutely love to play there, because you know ... as Pablo from The Backyardigans says ... "A pirate says arrrrrr!!"

We were right, they had a great time!!!

Love & Hugs -

Amy

Meeting Heath

The girls had the chance to meet their new little buddy, thus officially marking the end of the three amigos as they have now become the four amigos. The girls were enamored with Heath at first site and of course wanted to help with everything from holding to feeding. They even asked if they could have one ... ummm, I think we will just be happy with Heath ...

Love & Hugs -

Amy