January 2016

I can't believe that it is already the last day of January! To start off the month Emma had her 9 month (we are a little behind because of the steriod at 6 months she couldn't get her vaccinations while taking it) Dr appt. and she hadn't gained a lot of weight since her last appt. so we had to start supplementing with formula. My milk had lost it's fat content so basically my milk was now just for taste. As hard as breastfeeding is especially as a working mom, you would think that I would be super excited to stop breastfeeding, but I was actually sad cause she loved to eat and what if she didn't like formula. For a while I felt like a failure and kept giving her breastmilk every other bottle and formula the other. Then Brandon said why? She eats the formula just fine and she needs it, he was right I was exhausting myself trying to pump enough for her to eat. So I am officially done breastfeeding and yes now I am relieved. So in conclusion we have another Dr appt. next week to assess her weight gain which I think is huge! Her 12 month clothes we got for Christmas are starting to get tight! Here she is at 10 months (January 20, 2016)

Happy 10 Months Princess

Brandon had an open house this month and so he brought home the balloons for Ava, but they turned into Emma's. She loves watching them and she even held on to the string tugging at the balloons then she tried to eat the string. Yes, I know how irresponsible of me to let my 10 month old eat the string of a balloon, but nope we celebrated because Emma has never taken a toy to her mouth before. So nice job Emma we are so proud of you! See pics below

In order to get our Christmas Tree down without tears we told Ava she could build a fort/hut but not until the tree was down because were else would we build it...big mistake I just barely got the fort/hut taken down today! But I will say these 2 enjoyed their time together inside the fort/hut.

We came across a great item mention by our PT to help Emma to practice sitting up a little bit more independently (we worry about her getting her head too flat by always laying on it or sitting her her support chair). It is called a Hugaboo we ordered it off Amazon (different prices for different colors/designs). So far it's been a great purchase. She should be a Hugaboo model don't you think ;)

Emma also had an eye appt. and we got some pretty good news! Her astigmatism has decreased by half! The Dr. says that most kids are born with an astigmatism and most kids lose it on their own, but where Emma most likely stopped developing between 3-5 months she wouldn't lose it on her own. So the glasses have done their job so far and we will recheck in 4 months to see if the rest has started to go away on its own or if we will need to come back to the glasses. But for the next 4 months no glasses for this little lady. So again I become the only one in our little family with glasses. 

I have to give a shout out to Ava, Emma's big sister. Ava's dance class had a parent observation day and she did so awesome! She had only been in dance class 4 times. I am impressed with her talent! Nice work Best Big Sis!

On a sad note Emma has come down with a cold this weekend. We are doing lots of Tylenol and Ibuprofen to help keep the fever down so we don't see those horrible seizures. Plus lots of suctioning of her little nose. It has wiped her out! Hopefully she's back to normal tomorrow, I have seen a couple smiles today!

On a mommy note I wanted to share something that I have come across this month and have fallen in love with. It's a podcast called Bringing Up Betty. We all have moments in our lives when we feel lost and think that no one could possibly understand how you are feeling....well I have felt that way many times as I am sure we all have, but I finally found a podcast that has confirmed all my feelings and emotions about being a special needs mom. It hits so close to home and I feel "normal" for once about my feelings. This is a wonderful podcast even if you aren't the parent of a special needs child but simply love or care about one, which I am sure we all do. I had never listened to a podcast before but I am so glad I started if you are interested you should check it out. -Bringing Up Betty- is the name of the podcast and there is also a Facebook page and website.

Happy Birthday to Emma's Daddy! We are so blessed to have Brandon in our lives. He is the best daddy and husband. He is a very hard worker and helps with the girls more than I could ever ask for. On a side note...one day he will realize who he should really cheer for.... GO BRONCOS!

I left the cutest little video for last! I was eating a Creamie one day and let her have a couple licks and she loved it. Then 3 days later Brandon was eating one and Emma started to make noises, almost screaming at him, we couldn't figure out what was wrong. Then it came to me....she wanted the Creamie and we were right! Here is the video that followed all that "screaming" LOL! Someone loves her Creamies - Lesson here: Don't stand between this girl and her Creamies!

*Check back next week I believe I will have some exciting news to post* 

NO I AM NOT PREGNANT LOL
Until then.... <3 EMBRACE LIFE <3