Mia is 4 months!

Yesterday was Mia's 4 month mark. 

We went to her 4 month check up and she is 15 lbs and 23 inches long. She is cooing a lot and she is as smiley as they come! 

At the appointment we talked about her muscle tone. Her muscles are kind of weak just about everywhere. Her left side is stronger than her right. The doctor told me that she was going to take longer than most kids to do everything like, roll over, crawl, and walk. I'm not going to lie, it made me sad. Again, I was reminded of the lasting effects of the Spina Bifida. We will continue helping her as much as we can, but nerve damage is nerve damage and there's nothing I can do about that.

That smile though...

Mia loves taking baths in the bathroom sink. She especially likes her hair being washed and brushed. She gets really excited when she sees me, her dad or Bret walk in after she's taken a nap.
Her left arm is really strong and she actually reaches out to play with her toys and grabs a hold of them for a few seconds! She always brings up her right hand to her mouth and sucks on her fist. We're working on getting her right arm past her mouth and up over her head a bit.

Mia loves story time at night when we read a fun book and the kids version of the Book of Mormon. I put both kids on our bed and then I lay right in between them and read to them. Mia really likes it and squeals in delight when I read and when her brother jumps around on the bed.

Talking about Bret, yesterday they both got shots. Bret got his first. He has really intense eyes and he never took his eyes off of the nurse. She cleaned his leg with the alcohol pads, and then took out the syringes. Bret stared at her through the whole process, not smiling or moving one inch. When she inserted the first syringe, he took a deep breath and his brows furrowed in anger, then, she stuck the second syringe in... this one was the tetanus one... there was fire in his eyes as he looked at the nurse and he started crying. I picked him up to comfort him, then I told him that it was Mia's turn. She gave Mia both of her shots and of course Mia started crying right away. The nurse handed her to me and I was holding Bret and Mia. Bret stopped crying when he heard his sister cry, and when the nurse handed her to me, Bret put his arm around Mia and gave her a kiss. The look he gave the nurse was hilarious, it was like, "you hurt my sister again and I'll cut you!" Both the nurse and I thought Bret had been so sweet to his sister after she got her shots, completely forgetting his own pain, he  comforted his sister.

Happy 4 months baby girl. You have a good brother. And you are such an easy baby. Serioiusly! Thank you for sleeping through the night, even if you do wake up at 6 or 5:30 am, I'll take that over 4:00 or 3:00 am.

Bret is 16 months!

Bret is now 16 months! Some of you might say, why do you still count it by months? Why don't you just say, "he's one!"

Well, I will tell you! Bret is VERY different from his 12 month old self! 

Even from 14 months to now he's changed! For example, the picture above was taken in May. Both my babies were drinking from bottles. Soon after this picture was taken, I decided to introduce sippy cups for nap time and then for bed time. 

One day I realized that the nipple on Bret's bottle was kind of yellowish. I smelled the bottle and it was a very strong unpleasant smell. I washed his bottle every day! But this was the only bottle he had left from the set we bought when he was about 3 months or maybe it was from the set we bought at like 6 months. Bret had a very bad habit of putting his bottles in places we couldn't see. So, when we would find them, they would have moldy milk in them and it was gross. We HAD to throw them away. There was no saving those bottles. THIS bottle was the only one that survived. But it was time for it to retire. Unable to get rid of the pungent smell, I tossed that bottle out as well and Bret had no choice but to use his sippy cup for comfort. Some days he would cry for a long time because he wanted his bottle, and I ALMOST gave in and bought him a new one however, I remained strong and stuck with the sippy cup. 

Now, at 16 months Bret has graduated from his sippy to his teddy bear! He loves, "Oso Moreno". And I love not having to change extremely wet diapers in the morning. ;) 

Bret is very smart and will point at his nose (nariz), mouth(boca), and eyes(ojos) when I ask him. If I ask him to find his shoes (zapatos) or ball (pelota), he will go get them for me.

He loves the outdoors and the aquarium! I'm so glad our friend Corinne invited us! 

He is down to one nap a day and still goes to bed between 7:30- 8:00 pm.

He is a REALLY good big brother. He loves his sister so much he ends up hugging her too tight or giving her headbutts instead of kisses (that makes me REALLY nervous). When we get ready to go outside, after I put his sister in her car seat, he tries to help me by taking the car seat. He can't lift it of course, but he grunts and tries to lift it. He also rubs my back and gives me a kiss when I am buckling his sister in. 

He is still not saying any words, except for "agua" but he CAN drink water from a normal cup and user a fork. He's a joy to be around most of the time and the rest of the time, he gives me gray hairs. 

Love my little fire ball.

Father's Day

I wanted to make father's day WAY special, with breakfast in bed, handmade presents from the kids and Heath's favorite dish. It went a little bit different than I expected...

First off, Heath had to work ALL day Friday, and Saturday, so I couldn't do the family activity I had planned. Saturday night though, we were able to go to the movies while his parents watched the kids. Since we're old married people now, midnight was WAY past our bedtime. Heath made it to the couch when we got home and was out in a matter of seconds. Mia decided that she wanted to eat at 5:15 in the morning, but I wasn't ready to get up! So, I put her in bed with me and she fell asleep again. At 6:30 Heath came to bed with us and Mia started with her ambulance cry, so he went and made her a bottle and started feeding her. She finished it, while we fed it to her half asleep and next thing I know, it's 8:30 am and church starts at 9:00 am. I had to play the piano in sacrament meeting, play for the kid's special number during sacrament, play the piano for first hour of primary aaaand play the piano in relief society. Heath got ready. While I got ready, he cathed Mia, changed Bret and made him breakfast. I made Mia her bottle and Heath got both diaper bags ready for church. I ended up not playing for sacrament meeting, but in all the other meetings I played.

Happy Father's Day!

Bret got a cold this week again and he would wake up crying in the middle of the night. Heath stopped studying to comfort our baby boy and read him a story or two before putting him back to bed. 

This guy right here, is one of the best fathers I know. He works SO hard! He goes to school full time and works more than full time. Sometimes, he comes home and the kids have been asleep for a few hours and he wakes up before the kids wake up and starts his day all over again.

During one of our E.R runs last month before we were told Mia needed surgery. 

However, he is there to hold me, help me, and listen to me when motherhood becomes too hard. He is there to wipe the tears off of our adventurous toddler. He is there for E.R days and hospital stays. He is there when he needs to teach his primary class and take care of Bret at the same time. He is there when his family needs him or a friend needs a helping hand.

Teaching Bret how to work hard during his lunch break. 

And even though I miss him when he's not around, (and I wish he could spend all day every day with us), I am grateful he takes his role as our provider seriously. We always have what we need and it wouldn't be possible without his hard work.

Bret learns from his daddy how to be gentle with Mia. 

So I gave him a personalized cup for father's day. With pictures of the kids, him, and I. He loved his cup and has drank milk from it, every time he gets a chance. Then, he spent the weekend performing his fatherly duties. God bless this man.

After a long day of work, Heath fills up his water jug so he can share it with this kid! 

I am so grateful to have him in my life.

*Also, he hates it when I say nice things about him on the internet. So, don't tell him I told you how amazing he is. But if you know him, you already know in which case, I don't need to tell you sooooo... yeah. 

Happy Father's day to all the wonderful men in our lives! Especially the father of my children.

Spina Bifida - A Blessing in Disguise

Getting an ultrasound of her kidneys

On Thursday Mia got her kidneys and bladder tests. Basically, because of her lesion, she has nerve damage in her bladder. So, they checked to see if her kidneys had any reflux from her bladder. First, the did an ultrasound of both her bladder and kidneys. Then, we went to a different room, where they put a catheter in her bladder, filled it up, and emptied it, then filled it up and emptied it again. Meanwhile, they took x-rays as they filled it and emptied it to make sure none of it was going up to her kidneys. Luckily, they found that she isn't having any reflux. She, however, doesn't empty completely, which means we still have to help her empty by cathing her twice a day.

Friday was Spina Bifida Clinic and we saw the team of doctors and specialists. Usually clinic is from 8am-1pm. This time it was only until 11am!! We were stoked!

Right after getting her blood drawn

At the end, she had to get her blood drawn to make sure her kidneys were really okay. We got word that all was good and we could go home. FINALLY! We don't have to go back for another 3 months!!
Which is GREAT because ever since we've been home from the NICU we've been back to Primary Children's or the pediatrician's office at least once a week.

 Bret likes dogs... from a distance. Irrelevant I realize, but he's just TOO cute!

As we were waiting to go in to clinic, I saw a lot of Spina Bifida kids come in, boys, girls, of different ages and different races. Some came in their wheelchairs, others in their walkers. Others had braces, or limps and some, you wouldn't even know they were born with SB. I was amazed at how healthy they all looked. How "normal' they all seemed. I noticed how no one looked at them with pity and how their parents enabled their independence. They talked, played and displayed curiosity just like any other child. I couldn't help but think how lucky we were to be able to interact and be part of this new circle of friends.

People with disability in the United States have a lot more opportunities and are more enabled than those I've seen in Mexico, for example. They are not shunned, or separated from society. However, if you don't have a person with disabilities in your family or close to you, they are still somewhat distant or part of another "world" that's unknown and at times, scary.

It's taken me some time to say it but, I am grateful for Spina Bifida. Because of it, we have the opportunity to interact face to face with people with disabilities. We are now in the same "world" and I cannot help but think how much Bret and Mia will benefit and grow from this experience as well.

Bret decided he likes splash pads after all

"What if trials of this life, are Your mercies in disguise" - Laura Story