Bubblegum Betty

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Happy 4th Birthday Trigger!

Our spunky, silly, sweet, little Trigger is 4 years old today! She keeps us laughing and is always at the door waiting for us with a wagging tail and sweet puppy kisses. She is Seiden's best buddy and Seiden just gets a kick out of her spunky and sweet personality and especially loves Trigger's kisses. We are so blessed to have this bundle of puppy love who brings so much laughter and love to our lives! We love you Trigg...Happy 4th Bday!!!




Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Seiden Grace...You are SEVEN Months Old!!! (5-19-14)


My precious princess, how is it that I'm writing your seventh month post already?!?  Every month goes faster and faster.  But...they keep getting better and better!  I can't hardly believe how much you've grown and how much you've changed.  But, most of all, I can't believe how much you've changed me!

I never knew that my love could run so deep for a tiny little miracle the instant I laid eyes on it, but that's exactly what happened with this sweet angel that I get to call my daughter each and every day.  I grow more and more in love with my precious Seiden every moment of every day and I can't imagine how much more that love will grow over the years.  I just can't even believe how fast time is going.  As I sit here typing her seven month post, I am truly in disbelief that we are over the halfway mark to her first birthday.  I love watching her grow, change, and develop each and every day.  But man, why does it have to go so fast?!?

She is inches...more like centimeters away from crawling.  It's absolutely the cutest thing ever to watch her stuck her little knees up under her with her cute little booty up in the air.  Especially when she's got on one of those sweet little sleepers with an applique on the butt!  She hasn't quite put together how to push up on her arms with her legs up underneath her.  But, she can do each one of them separately like a champ!  She's also rocking back and forth when she's got her knees tucked up underneath her...so close!  This little princess is as strong as an ox and smart as a whip.  So, I know that it won't be any time that she'll put the two together.  And then...we are going to be running around like crazy trying to keep up with her!  We are already looking over our shoulders and seeing that she's rolled from one side of the living room to the other in a matter of milliseconds.  And, when she's not attempting to crawl or roll all over the place, she's ooching closer and closer so that she can make sure she's as close to you as she can get.  She loves to be close to you...which mommy and daddy LOVE!!!

Little miss is also sitting up like a big girl.  This probably started right after she turned 6 months old.  It's so sweet to watch her sit there and play with all her toys.  She'll sling one a little too far from her reach and will lean all the over to her toes to try to get it.  If she slings it beside her, she'll attempt to reach for it and when she starts to realize she's losing her balance, she'll either find another toy to play with or fall to her side and roll to get to it.  It's so precious when she starts to get sleepy when she's playing too.  She'll start to rub her beautiful blue eyes and find her paci in the midst of all the toys.  When she finds it, she immediately puts it in her mouth and has both hands on either side of the paci and will just sit there so happy and content.  I eventually have to lay her down with her taggie blanket so that she'll roll to her side and take a little nap.  I love to watch her play...and nap...and eat...and laugh...and just be.  I could get lost in her!

She's just the best baby.  So happy, sweet, and content all the time.  This little angel hardly ever fusses, even when she's sick she doesn't fuss.  Which brings me to her little ears.  We have been to the doctor twice in the month of May for ear infections.  The first time, she had one in her left ear.  We gave her antibiotics for 10 days.  But, she never seemed to get rid of her cough or stuffy nose.  Which, have always been the signs that she's got an ear infection.  She never cries, pulls on her ears, or doesn't eat.  Nope.  She just gets a bit of a cough that sounds more like a tickle in her throat and a little bit of a snotty nose.  Anyways, after the 10 days, I kept noticing the lingering cough and it kept getting more deep in her chest.  14 days after we first went to the doctor, I decided I'd give her a breathing treatment and would continue with those at least once a day to see if it got better before taking her in again.  Well, that next day (Friday), Cody and I were leaving to go to San Antonio to watch the CrossFit Regionals competition.  So, my mom and dad were going to be watching her over the weekend.  I told my mom that she was coughing and she may want to keep an eye on it for the day.  If it got worse, the doctor's office is open on Saturday's from 8-12, so she may want to make an appointment to take her in.  Well, after about an hour of Seiden being at my parent's, my mom already texted me to tell me that she had made an appointment to taker her in mid-morning.  And guess what...a double ear infection!  UGH!!!  Poor baby girl can't catch a break!  Mom said he mentioned tubes.  Which, before talking to her about what he said, I was totally against.  Seiden's already undergone a major surgery and we don't know what the future holds with other surgeries.  I just didn't want to do an elective surgery if we could keep from it.  But, Dr. Tuegel said that because of all she's gone through, he would send us to Ft. Worth to have it done.  He also said that there are some surgeons in the Metroplex that can insert tubes in baby's ears without having to put them under.  Thank goodness for specialists!  It's not something that he wants to look into right this moment.  But, if we don't get through summer without one, I'd be willing to bet we'll be doing tubes sometime in the fall.

On a growth note...Seiden is a growing machine!  At her 6 month check-up, she was 12.6 pounds and 24 inches long.  When I took her the first time in May (which was a few days before she was 7 months), she was 13.0 pounds and 24.5 inches long.  And, when mom took her last week, she was 13.10 pounds and 25 inches long!  Still a teeny tiny little thing...but she's gonna be long and lean!  She loves to eat...so it's no wonder that she's growing so fast!  She's eating 5 times a day and she gets 6 ounces of breast milk at every feeding along with a serving of fruits at her 10:00 am feeding and a serving of veggies at her 2:00 pm feeding.  As soon as summer is here, I'm going to change her feeding schedule.  She'll be eating 4 times a day and get 6 ounces of breast milk at every feeding along with a serving and a half of oatmeal and fruit at her 6:30 am feeding, a serving of fruit and a serving of veggies at her 11:30 am feeding, and 2 servings of veggies (maybe one serving of veggies and one serving of meat/broth sometimes) at her 5:30 pm feeding.  Then, she'll get her 8:00 pm bottle, play and get love from us, then go night night!  This will probably be her permanent feeding schedule for awhile.  Which is kinda bittersweet.  In a way, I think...we made it!  And, in another way, it makes me realize how far we've come and how fast time has gone.  I can't believe that just a short time ago, she was eating every 3 hours, 8 times a day.  And here we are, she'll be 32 weeks old and she'll officially be eating with us at the dinner table in her high chair.

And last but not least...a few of my favorite things!  Seiden has grown and changed and started doing so many new things.  Most of the things that she does are developmental.  She's ahead on a lot of things and on track with everything else that a 7 month old should be doing.  So, we praise God for that every day!  But, there are some absolutely precious, wonderful, and hilarious things that she does that are Seiden specific!  First things first, she is giving sugars!!!  I know every baby does this, but it's the way she does it that's so darn amazing!  She will get her hands wrapped around my hair on either side of my head, open her mouth as wide as she can, and pull me into her and just root in my face.  The best part...she keeps coming back for more!  And the more you laugh at her and talk to her, the more she does it!  Love, love, love, love her sugars!  She also gets so excited anytime she sees us.  She gets especially excited when she sees me when I'm picking her up from day care.  She's usually always playing in a jumperoo, exersaucer, or on a playmat.  So, I try to sneak around so she doesn't see me and peep in on her from behind.  She immediately starts kicking her legs, cooing, smiling, and sticking her tongue out (also something new and hilarious she does).  She's just started to reach her arms up to us to be picked up...which is wonderful!  And finally (for now!), she has started doing this thing where she cocks her head to one side and will fixate on something and start talking to it.  Then, she'll cock her head to the other side and proceed to talk to whatever it is she's looking at.  It's HILARIOUS!  I'm not sure which is funnier.  The cocking her head to one side or the way that she "talks."  I videoed it the other night.  She's more just talking in the video because she's just had her night time bottle and is more doing it to us than just some random object.  I'll post the YouTube link at the bottom of this post!  She also loves her cute little feet.  She can hold her bottle by herself.  And...she LOVES petting her puppies!!!

My precious, precious Seiden Grace...words cannot express the love that your daddy and I have for you.  You are the light of our lives and we are so blessed by you.  God has truly blessed us with the most perfect and wonderful little girl any mommy and daddy could ask for.  You are simply beautiful, sweet, loving, and funny.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for you and I also can't wait to see what you do for His Kingdom.  You are our precious miracle and the best gift that God could ever give us.  We love you so much princess!  Happy 7 Months Seiden Grace!!!

Seiden Grace...talking up a storm (and this isn't her on a roll!).
Jumperoo time!!!  And...with a double ear infection.