Weekend Surprise!

As much as it sucks for my Dad, I sorta love it when something goes wrong and he has to step up and drive one of the trucks for co-op! Because then I get to see him!! AND Jed drove a truck up this weekend also so I got a DOUBLE surprise just like last October! My Dad was up for 36+ hours straight but he found some energy to play with Darbi ALL day today! He kills me. I tried to get him to take a nap but I guess it's hard to say no to those big beautiful brown baby eyes! We all went to Brick Oven for dinner and came home and watched a movie. Dad finally crashed at 8 and there was no waking him! It was so fun to have them come visit us even if it was only for a day.. I get my Mom next weekend so she won't miss out on the fun baby times!

We tried bribing her to crawl with yummy sweet treats... since the laser pointer isn't working. :)


I stuck D on the blow up mattress as it was blowing up. This is mid-blow-up. She was only a little scared. It lifted her up all the way though!

I love putting babies in funny spaces

Our new insurance will pay for those annoying sticky tabs for the cannula on D's face now.. I'm giving her a break from the headbands (mostly while I find them all...) I misplaced them and can only find the huge ones that don't hold the cannula on well. Doesn't her head look huge without the headband?! :)

One step closer to crawling!!

I've been saying for weeks that Darbi is soooo close to crawling. Normally... for a normal baby, that would be accurate. Soooo close for us really like 2 months away! But we are making progress! Clint thought it will be helpful (hilarious...) to use a laser pointer to get D where we want her. :) It's pretty dang funny but I don't know if it will work like we want. She has mastered getting from all 4's (I have to put her there) back on to her bum! This is a HUGE deal!! Most babies born at full term can easily put two and two together to figure out crawling. We have to practice each individual step over and over and over. Even then, it still won't click. You don't realize it but there are like 20 different movements to get a baby into the crawling position!! (maybe not 20.. but still.. it's tough!) We are making progress and I'm sure any day (week) we will be crawling! :)

My voice is kind of annoyingly loud... sorry! :)

Guess whose car broke down again??

That's right.. mine did! I was all the way in Sandy when it happened too! I got stuck in traffic when the back passenger tire started grinding so loud. Everyone was looking at me and they had a TON of time to stare since we were all moving 5 miles an hour! I seriously thought my tire had fallen off and I was driving on the rim with sparks flying everywhere! I sounded so horrible that Clint could hear it through the phone. I was able to pull into a 7-11 and lucky for me.. the tire was still there. I was down on my hands and knees trying to figure out what the problem was! Nothing looked wrong! So I called Clint to come save me... We had a tow truck come and drop our car at the shop. Clint thinks it's the ball bearings.... or something.... :)

I remember like 5 years ago I had to have an alignment done on my car and the guy said it would need to be replaced soon... HA. Sucker.. I got 5 years out of that thing! The mechanic will call tomorrow with the damage. Ugh.

Darbi and I had some more backseat fun while we waited for everyone though! :)

We're back!

We are all almost better! I'm the only one with any lingering symptoms. Just a little runny nose and sore throat but I think tomorrow I will wake up symptom free! I kicked that cold to the curb! Darbi fared extremely well considering her chronic lung disease.. Extremely! We are so lucky. We hit our pediatrician office 2 different times and the after hours clinic once just to double check her lungs and to check for ear infections. All is now well!

Being sick and cuddly

My little faker.. :)

Life will go back to normal now and hopefully, so will my blogging habits! We will disinfect the house entirely tomorrow. I know there are some who think my crazy hermit and germ free ways are unnecessary. This lady puts all my thoughts on this into words that make sense. :) Read it. And don't judge my reasons for keeping my baby clean.

Because of Clint's new job and our insurance changes, we had to switch to a different oxygen provider. It is so much nicer now! We had no problems with the old company but now things are just easier. Before, when D was on 1/8L or higher, she was on an O2 concentrator which was loud and put out heat BUT allowed us to walk about the apartment without dragging anything but a little tube behind us. Then when she was able to go below 1/8, we put the concentrator away and had to carry around a "D" tank in a bag. We got used to it but if Darbi were to crawl (which she still doesn't) she'd be tethered on a 5 foot leash attached to a 3 pound tank. In some ways, I guess that would be nice for me.. if she were to ever crawl! :) NOW, we have a 40 pound tank that stays in a central location in our apartment with a 50 foot cord again! FREEDOM. It's so nice to not have to kick that stupid tank around when I need to move D 10 feet in any direction.

Check out all that freedom! :)

RSV Update

We're not at the hospital yet and that's a good thing! Last night Darbi did surprisingly well. Our good friend and Elder's Quorum President came by last night to assist Clint in giving her a blessing which definitely helped both her and me sleep better. She napped in my arms in the rocking chair on and off until about 12:30 last night. She would wake up every 30 minutes in a coughing frenzy if I set her down. I think holding her kept her a little more relaxed until she was ready to fall into a deep sleep. I don't mind the extra snuggling.. even if it is a little snotty. :) She slept until 6:30! From there she was up and down quite a bit until about noon when she decided to really wake up. She was extra extra snotty and congested this morning. Much worse than yesterday. The sneezing subsided for the day but was replaced with a yucky phlegmy cough. She's not really wheezing but it's hard to hear her and not try to clear my throat.

We haven't had to turn her oxygen up any further since Monday. I turned her up to 1/16L just to be safe and we've left her there. Around 4 this afternoon, she perked right up and you almost could not tell she was sick except for the occasional crackly cough. It probably helped that she spent the whole night with Clint while I was at work. She was smiles for the rest of the night until I put her to sleep! She still is not feeling so well and we've got 1-3 more days until we know if we are in the clear.

If tomorrow takes a turn for the worse, we may be on our way to the Dr. again but I'm really thinking she's going to pull out of this one. She's got such a happy disposition and I think that helps when she's feeling really icky. She'll smile no matter how crappy she feels and it's so sweet to see those sicky eyes with a smile under them. :)

I'm still sleeping in her room so here's hoping for another good night for both of us!

Patina in PG

Cutest. Store. EVER. I love it. My friend Nichole opened up this little shop in Pleasant Grove a few months ago and I think it is a great idea! I had a few minutes today and popped in to see what she had in her shop.

How it works is every 2 weeks, Patina will house different artist's handcrafted goods for the public to peruse and purchase. I seriously wanted to buy everything.. Nicole has extremely good taste and her little shop is so cute!! You HAVE to check it out!!!

They are also going to start teaching classes and the first one is this super cute book making class. I'm super interested in some beginning sewing classes that she said will be starting up soon. I'm so excited!

Nichole in her cute little store!

I'm still trying to figure out how I can fit one of those DANG cute pillows into this months budget! :)

And the best part is.. every 2 weeks there is ALL new stuff!!! She showcases new artists for each rotation online but there is also A TON of stuff in there that is not on her blog! Definitely worth going to take a looksie! :)

You've GOT to be kidding me!!!!

January blues have turned into February blues... blogging will pick up soon. But breaking news...

Darbi tested POSITIVE for RSV today. :( HOW?!?!?!?! She just had her Synagis shot 11 days ago! Synagis is to prevent RSV. We have worked so hard to keep D away from harmful germs and she ends up catching the worst one of all. Not to say that was all for naught though... I'm glad she's as big as she is right now (even though she hasn't gained more than half a pound in the last 2 1/2 months..).

She woke up yesterday with a runny nose. Not too bad. I can handle that. Then it moved into her head last night. She was stuffy and achy. I could just tell she didn't feel good and she was very whiney and cuddly. I went to Walmart around midnight and bought a humidifier. Neither of us got much sleep and I ended up sleeping on the floor in her room because I was too tired to walk back to my bed... every single time.

The cough started this morning, I decided to call the Dr. because 1) She's NEVER had a real cold before (the other 2 times it was because of immunizations then she was teething), 2) I've never had a baby before and I have NO IDEA how to handle this, and 3) she's on oxygen!!

They fit me in right before lunch. She weighs 14 pounds 6 ounces now, by the way. They swabbed her nose to check for RSV and it came back positive. Our jaws dropped! The test is 85% accurate so we are hoping on the slim chance it was a false positive. They said her lungs sounded perfect so I really really hope it was a mistake.

Our plan is to watch D for the next 2-3 days. If she gets worse, we need to go in to the hospital for the big expensive RSV test. Right now, she's eating okay and smiles when we sing songs and play games but she sounds so miserable every other minute. I hate seeing her like this. :( I feel so helpless.

We'll try to keep our germs to ourselves! :)

Sicky eyes :(

Being cute and smiley with Daddy before our appointment

Unfortunate Events

I didn't go running today. It was all in the plan but today took a bad turn. Not bad. Just unfortunate. Well.. there were two unfortunate occurances today but the reason I did not go running was because my car broke. :( I was leaving our pediatrician's office because D had her Synagis shot today and the spring (I think) in the ignition is broken. Or something. Ask Clint. So he came down from work, tried to figure out if he could fix it, then realized he couldn't because of the air bag, then had to leave for Ogden. SO.. I had to call a tow truck and have it taken to an auto shop to sit there until Monday. Dumb. So tomorrow is running day #1 and I'm EXCITED!!

Unfortunate event #2.
We found out at the pediatrican that Darbi, for 2 months now, has not gained weight. :( She was 14 pounds 2 ounces at the beginning of December, 14 pounds 9 ounces mid January, and back to 14 pounds 2 ounces today. For the last two weight checks, we weighed multiple times just to make sure. UGH. Our feeding plan has just changed and now I am even more a slave to Darbi but ALSO to a hospital grade pump again. :( BOO. And I thought we had parted ways once and for all.

So now I will wake up, feed Darbi some solids as best I can - then top her off with a bottle of frozen breastmilk fortified with Nutramigen to make sure she's full. Then I pump. I nurse her one or two times, then give another bottle of breastmilk and Nutramigen midday, then I pump. I nurse for one or two more times and in the evening we try another solid and then you guessed it... ANOTHER bottle of breastmilk/Nutramigen yumminess. THEN I pump. I am not supposed to let her go longer than 3 hours between feedings. I convieniently forgot to ask if that counts while she's sleeping so I vote that it doesn't and we'll all sleep for a lovely 9-12 hours! :)
Oh the things I do for this girl.

But she was super cute after her appointment while we were waiting for Clint to come get us...


I sat her in her car seat and she maneuvered herself into this position all by herself. She was cracking me up!!!

How I found D this morning...

On the baby monitor this morning, instead of her crying out for me like normal, I hear "Uhhh-uh" and "Ahhh-uh-uh". She pulled off her headband and cannula. She knows how to scoot at least...

Where have I been???

WOW I've been in a funk. A blogging, cleaning, exercising, bill paying, unmotivated funk... I have not been in the mood to do ANYTHING. UGH. I'm trying to pull myself out of it. These dreary Utah winter days are getting to me. And I don't even go outside much. I sit at home and play with Darbi. That is all I want to do!!! She gets cuter and cuter by the hour. I'm not kidding. I love this kid!! We're so close to crawling it's crazy! But knowing us, that will translate into... Darbi won't actually crawl for 2 more months. We'll see. I'm hoping that one of these days I'll turn my back while she's playing on the floor and I'll find her across the room. She wants to SO BADLY. It's killing me!! I work so hard with her everyday. But I guess that will really be the end of my life. I'm sure nothing will get done after that. Just like nothing gets done now. :)

I've actually been talking a ton of pictures and videos but obviously haven't shared them because of the aforementioned funk. Mom got me the Project Life kit by Becky Higgins for Christmas and I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. It will seriously be so easy. So. Easy. Essentially, I will be taking a picture a day, which in reality means I'll just do a two page layout of the week and most of the pictures will be of one day. :) I'm doing really well so far and it's not as hard as I anticipated. I'll be working on the majority of January this Saturday so hopefully I'll post what it looks like so you are all motivated to get your 2010 pictures organized. I'm telling you! SO. EASY.

I've been exercising. LIKE CRAZY. Well.. up until a week ago... like crazy. :) Jillian Michaels is my trainer and she's GOOD. I've been doing the 30 Day Shred video and it's been fabulous for me! In the past, workout videos haven't worked. I ran cross country in high school and so exercise to me is an outdoor activity and I don't get how you can break a sweat indoors and get results. BUT when it's cold... that's another story so I'm learning how to do it! I'd rather run 4 miles in 105 degree weather than 20. I took a week long break from the video because Mr. Bingley came to town. HA! That was what my roommates and I called our monthly monster my freshman year at BYU. I don't remember why.. but he had a Scottish accent, I think. Becky... why did we call it that again??? Anyway.. that is what started the funk but today, I SHREDDED again and it was AWESOME. I have been eating better, applying bits of the Weight Watchers philosophy without actually attending meetings and paying the fees. I think it's working! I have, since Jan 6th, lost 7 pounds and a total of 3 inches from various places on my body. ;) My pants fit a little better and hopefully, in no time at all, they won't fit at all!! The video is on sale right now at Target for $9! You should all go out and get it! :)

Also, my brother-in-law just joined the Marines, and I'm SO EXCITED for him! This is going to be an awesome opportunity for him. He has to get in tip top shape so he asked me today to start running with him everyday. This kid hasn't gone running in like a year and busted out a 6 1/2 minute mile.. MINE IS LIKE 15. He's going to kick my butt. I really want to try and run a half marathon this summer and Kade.. you better help me get there!!! He doesn't read this blog so I'll just have a little talk with him tomorrow. I'm really excited about the running... not the cold. I HATE COLD WEATHER. It's no secret to anyone I know though. I'm a grump when it snows.

We have our Follow-Up Clinic for Darbi next Friday and I want her to show off for all her doctors so I'm working super hard with her. We had her 12 month checkup last week and she weighed 14 pounds 9 ounces. We lost a little weight in December but our pediatrician isn't so worried. She was eating solids extremely well while we were in AZ but once we came home.. she was not interested at all. I have to sing, play airplane, and keep all other distractions to a minimum just to get her to even think about opening her mouth. This was a HUGE step backwards for us. I spoke with the Dr. about it and he said the is common... and we know that but it's still not fun. So we try a solid in the morning, rotating between a fruit, a veggie, and rice/oatmeal cereal, she gets a bottle of breastmilk fortified with 26 kcal Nutramigen with her vitamins in the evening and she nurses for every other meal. Hopefully she gains a lot this month. We also found out today that with our new insurance, each month we have to pay 20% of our Synagis shot each month. :( That is a hefty amount.. UGH. I hate bills.

I'll get some pictures up of our lives from the last few weeks soon. Maybe tonight... but probably tomorrow. :)

Redbox

We've officially accidentally bought our first Redbox movie. :( I'm such a procrastinator and it wasn't even a SUPER movie to pay $25 for!! But I still really liked it. We now own The Brothers Bloom. It was a bit predictable but also a bit surprising. If you want to borrow it, I have it! But I only lend movies out to people I trust who won't ruin it or lose it. I mean come on! I paid $25 for this thing!!