Morgen's 4 month check-up

Today was Morgen's 4 month check up. She weighs 15.7lbs, that's the 75% and is 26 inches long! That's the 90%. My pediatrician said to Morgen you have your sisters eye's & mouth, but not her weight! Ha~ JaCee was such a peanut. I looked back at her stats & at 4 months she was 12lbs. I knew Morgen was getting long too...she is just flying through clothes. I had to get out the "12 month tub" this weekend for new PJ's. My pediatrician said she looks great! She has some eczema on the back of her head. I was thinking her sensitive skin wasn't liking the material on a blanket I use or didn't like the flannel crib sheet...but it was neither. So she gave me a prescription for a high powered Cortisone cream we'll use. That will hopefully do the trick. My pediatrician gives the green light to start solids at 4 months. I actually started giving Morgen some rice & beans, squash & pears a few weeks ago at dinner time. She's handling all of this good so far. She also got 2 shots. Boo! I hate-hate-hate that part of check-ups. You get excited to see how big they are getting & then so sad when they get shots. She didn't cry when the 1st shot was given, but she realized what was happening with the 2nd shot. Poor thing. She's been pretty fussy the rest of today & wants to do nothing but sleep. (Doesn't help we had a rough night last night too). Next check up for her is at the standard 6 months. Matt & I are taking bet's on what age Morgen is going to catch JaCee in weight. She only has 10 more pounds to go!!!!

JaCee's ---- well, I am just sick to my stomach about her thumbs. She had her surgery & we took off the bandages this weekend. Unfortunately, only one thumb will straighten out. One is perfect, the other one is still locked up. Ughh. I called Shriner's to let the Dr's know, in case they want to see her right away, but they said they want to just let the pre-op process take hold. They will evaluate if we have to do surgery again at our 3 week follow up appointment. They did say there could be some internal swelling that is causing the hang-up...amongst many other things. We'll keep praying something will make them un-lock....Other than that, we're all doing well.

Here are a few recent pictures:

JaCee couldn't stand that Morgen was getting her picture taken with a HAT on, so she had to get hers on too!

JaCee's surgery Day!

It started at 430am when we had to get up & get ready for the hospital. We had to be to Shriner's hospital at 6am for check-in. By 6:15am this is what JaCee looked like.

We had some fun, silly & tender moments before they came in to take us up to the pre-op room. I did good until that point. We sat in a small room with another girl who was getting prepared for surgery as well. A nurse came to talk to us & gave me a syringe of medicine to feed to JaCee -- it was calming medicine they said to take her anxiety away. (I wish they had a syringe of that stuff for me as well.) A variety of Dr.'s, nurses & anaesthesiologist stopped by to talk to us. Just to give you an idea of the condition I was in...one of the Dr's handed me a BOX of Kleenex...not one or two, he brought me the whole box.

A final nurse came in about 750am & took JaCee from my arms. She was so "loopy" from the drugs she didn't realize what was going on, she went right to the nurse.

Both grandparents came for the surgery, so we all went to get something to eat & then to the waiting room. The nurse called the waiting room to tell us right when the surgery started & about 30 minutes later the Dr showed up to the waiting room & said we're all done.




Here is a picture of what her thumbs looked like when they were done. There is only about a 3-5mm incision.

After her surgery was over & she was waking up was the worst part of the day. She cried & cried so hard. The Dr's & nurses explained to us, it wasn't from pain, it's part of children's recovery process. They don't understand what just happened to them or how they are feeling is so new to them, they just cry & cry. Matt & I took turns holding her, she would just lay in our arms crying - crying -crying. I will be honest & say as soon as the Dr's left I said do your hands hurt. It's hard to imagine that she would cry for so long & so hard & not be in any pain, but she would say No if I asked if her thumbs hurt. So that was good...

After she stopped crying, she drank some juice, and then fell asleep. Hard! Poor thing! When she woke up she hit the floor running, asking for Candy and asking to get dressed in her normal clothes.

Shriner's hospital is a class act operation, I will say that. I was beyond impressed whit the entire process. They understand that you are dealing with parent's most precious gifts & that the parents need almost as much attention & re-assurance as the little patients do.

I'm glad it's all over. Now we get to try to keep the wraps on both of her hands, hands clean & out of the water for a few weeks. Much luck to us! -=)

Morgen's BIG weekend!

Oh my sweet Morgen...your poops are not so sweet! This girl has always had the most EXPLOSIVE poops for a baby...but this takes the cake!

The story of how it was found is the funny part....So Saturday morning my Mom & Dad came into town to surprise US... & also to surprise my mom's best friend Becky, who was in town visiting. I had just gotten back from my morning run when my parents arrived...Morgen was in her crib rolling around...she was just waking up so my mom went in to see her & say Hi...she put her hand under her back to pick her up...as she does this she says, "Oh Gena, she's hot --- her back is all sweaty" ... well, as you can see from below, it was not SWEAT! HAhaaaa...

These types of situations call for an IMMEDIATE bath! And a Brillo pad as Matt said!

After we got her cleaned up & ready for the day, we met my mom's best friend at the Mall...which is just what I needed ---- MORAL support to get Morgen's EAR'S PIERCED! I have been getting mentally ready & thinking about it for a couple of weeks now, but the time was right. I got JaCee's ear's pierced when she was 5 months old. Morgen will be 4 months old this week, so it was time.

Here is Morgen before getting her ear's pierced...

Oouuccchhh!!!!

All done!
Actually there were a few other mom's in the store when we got Morgen's ear's done...they left the store & when we walked out, they came over & said we had to leave the store--- we couldn't watch it happen. Morgen did better than I thought she would. She cried less for this than she did for her vaccinations...and less then JaCee did when she got her ear's pierced.


This week will be about JaCee. She has surgery on Wednesday. They say after 3 day's she can take off the bandages & she'll be doing good then. Poor thing has no idea what is going to happen. I've been talking to her little by little about it --- explaining she'll take some medicine & go to sleep & when she wakes up she'll have pretty thumbs. She smiles & says, "momma go?" I said yes, momma will go with you. Oh, boy --- please pray for me. Momma might be crying more than JaCee will.

Mother's Day weekend

Mother's Day weekend (and my birthday weekend) we went to Thompson Falls, to my parents house. On Saturday after we got settled the guys all went to get a load of wood & the girls all went shopping. On Mother's Day we went into town for a Mother's Day breakfast. The weekend was really nice , but it went fast.

Here are a couple of pictures from the weekend.

JaCee & my mom~

JaCee on a 4-wheeler ride with uncle Ryan.

There's nothing special about this picture of Morgen, just my only picture I have of her on our 1st Mother's Day together!

JaCee loving her little sister

JaCee has been Sooo good with Morgen lately. By good, I mean super cute! The other day Morgen was taking a nap...and before she woke up, JaCee went down for her nap --- so it was about 4 hours total that JaCee was away from Morgen & when she finally saw her, she ran to her & said, "Oh ... Mo-gen, I missed you!" and kissed her. That's the stuff that makes my heart smile. I'm sure it won't always be like that but I'll eat it up as long as it lasts.

JaCee's always been a pretty good helper if I ask her to get me a diaper, etc. But she never really paid much attention to Morgen unless she was stealing attention that JaCee thought she needed. But lately ----- if Morgen drops her binkie & starts fussing ---- JaCee will stop playing with her toy's & go put Morgen's binkie back in w/out me asking. It's like she has finally accepted her into the family 100%! And I LOVE it!

I was preparing JaCee for our weekend out of town last weekend & she kept asking me if Morgen was going. I said yes she's going. Finally I asked her if she wanted to Morgen to go...she said Yes. So we got in the truck to leave & as we pulled out, I looked back & JaCee was holding Morgen's hand in the car seat's...side by side. JaCee says to Morgen, "Mo-gen, it going to be fun." Matt & I looked at each other & smiled...Again, one of those moments that melts your heart!

Here are some pictures of JaCee helping her sister...and them just being together.

Morgen pays WAY more attention to JaCee than JaCee does Morgen...

My sister & me!

Here's your binkie Morgen!

JaCee giving Morgen her blankie

Morgen's adorable smile!

Shriners Hospital visit

Today was JaCee's visit to Shriner's Hospital. The visit went as well as we could expect, but my baby has to have surgery...In a couple of weeks, she'll have surgery on both of her thumbs. The Dr. said she has "trigger" thumb(s) since both of hers are "stuck." They took x-rays & confirmed nothing else was the culprit. So they will go in & fix the pulley that her tendon's in her thumbs run through. While no one wants to hear your baby will have surgery, I have to say I was beyond impressed with the Shriner's hospital. JaCee got a to have a stuffed animal of her choice when she walked in the door to take with her through this process. The waiting rooms were basically toy rooms. In fact, JaCee didn't want to leave --- she asked to go play with the toys. I know she'll be in great hands for the surgery! Here is a picture I took of the bracelet they put on her today for her appointment...and you can notice her thumbs as well. This is as far as she can straighten her thumbs.

On a lighter note: Morgen is 15 weeks old tomorrow. How fast time has flown. If I was going back to work ----OH ya, I am now an official SAHM ---- I gave my notice this week ---- I would be going back to work in a couple more weeks. Instead I get to stay home & enjoy these two beautiful little faces.

The girls taking a bath together this week.

Morgen is enjoying her bumboo more & more every day...yea for me! =)

How can you not want to kiss these cheeks!!!! =) Tummy time must be working because she can now prop herself up about 90 degrees (not in this picture though...)

It's going to be a busy weekend....Mother's day & my birthday weekend...in Montana this weekend...Hopefully some cute pictures next week after the long weekend. k