4 and 34 - Happy Birthday to US!

4 years ago, I got the most amazing birthday gift one could ever receive.  My Mickey was born on my 30th birthday.  There are so many reasons this is poignant.  That day as I was in labor, I thought of my own mother 30 years prior in labor with me, anticipating the birth of her daughter.  I felt like she was there in spirit that day!  Mikaela was a gift in so many ways.  We had been trying for 6 years for a second child.  We had experienced 3 miscarriages and I had been diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) as a result.  Getting pregnant and staying pregnant was not going to be easy.  With the help of Femara, a fertility drug, we were blessed with the pregnancy that finally worked and gave us Mickey.  I spent a lot of months on bedrest thanks to my ever present preterm labor, but I made it to 36 weeks 4 days, my 30th birthday, and was blessed with the gift of Mikaela Debra, our little miracle!  She was a dream come true, such a gorgeous little baby.  ♥

Photo courtesy Purple Pickles & Cupcake Sprinkles

Photo courtesy Purple Pickles & Cupcake Sprinkles

Photo courtesy Purple Pickles & Cupcake Sprinkles

This bible verse couldn't be any more true:

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has
granted me what I asked of him."

1 Samuel 1:27

Now, here we are 4 years later and I can't believe my baby is 4!  She is sassy, spunky, naughty, cute, smart and strong willed!  She tries my patience on a daily basis, but she always keeps life interesting!  I can't imagine a world without my Mickey Mouse.  ♥

I am now 34 years old, and I LOVE LIFE!!!  Some people are scared of getting older - it honestly doesn't bother me.  Life just gets sweeter and sweeter.  I don't feel old at all ... still feel like a kid myself!  Just living the miracle over here!  :-)  Me on my 34th ...

Crazy Storm!

Most of today was just gorgeous.  Sunny, hot, playing outside weather!  Then right around 4pm, when I was getting the kids ready to head out to pick Haley up from school, it got really dark outside.  Then this CRAZY wind came out of nowhere!  I got Mickey and Carly in the car before the rain started, but poor Callie and I got SOAKED because it had started pouring rain when I brought her out to the car.  As soon as I got her buckled and myself into the car (soaked as I was!) it started hailing!  The hail was pretty good size too - like bouncy ball size.  I was sitting in my car needing to go pick up Haley, but terrified to go anywhere!  I called Mike to ask him if I should be worried, not sure if there were tornado warnings or anything as the power was knocked out pretty much immediately from the wind so I wasn't sure.  I read later this evening that the winds were 60-70mph!  I don't doubt it.  It was just sever thunderstorm warning.  So, I just sat in the driveway until the rain settled down some.  When I finally did leave, I was blown away by all the tree limbs and power lines down!  It was only 10 minutes max, but it did quite a bit of damage!  WOW!

So when Mike got home from work, a little earlier than usual to assess any storm damage, he and Mickey were cleaning up all the debris from the yard.  Mickey was so cute with her little wagon helping daddy!  ♥

Our power was only out for about 6 hours or so, GO Dominion VA Power!  I was expecting a few days, because there were a LOT of people without power in the area ... like 160,000+!  With all the destruction and devastation from storms lately, I am so thankful this wasn't so bad.  A little yard cleanup and a few hours without power are no big deal!  :-)

If you ♥ your freedom ...

Mike's sister got these shirts for Carly and Callie since their daddy is in the Navy - they say, "If you ♥ your freedom, thank my DAD!"  So cute.  Callie always looks so serious in the pictures?  Guess it's the crazy things Mommy tries to do to get them both to STAY for a picture together!  LOL

Have I mentioned how difficult it is to keep them both sitting together for a picture now?  Damn near IMPOSSIBLE!  Someone always gets mad that they have to be still.  Thought this was pretty cute though - I love how Callie is looking at Carly!  LOL

I can't get over how curly Carly's hair is getting the more it grows!  So cute.  Callie's is flat as a pancake!  So funny how they are so opposite!

Mickey is still having fevers, but she will feel better intermittently with the ibuprofen.  I hope she will just feel better by her birthday on Wednesday!  Poor baby.  :-(  

My nephew, Taylor, had his surgery on his knee today at CHKD.  He ended up with pins and screws in his knee to repair one of his fractures.  He had 3!  Poor kid.  He also tore his meniscus which they just had to shave to fix.  He is in quite a bit of pain and feeling pretty emotional.  he has a long road to recovery ahead of him!  I feel so bad for him.  It's always heartbreaking to see a kid suffering.  Praying he heals quickly!

As for me, I am enjoying a coconut rum and cranberry cocktail, hanging out with my Mikey and looking forward to Zumba in the morning!  :-)

Mickey and I were in the paper!

So I got an email this morning from a woman who writes for the "Your Corner" section of the Virginia Pilot letting me know that Mickey and I were in the paper yesterday!  Remember when we went to Healthy Kids Day at the YMCA a few weeks ago?  Well, she took our picture and gave us her card and said she might write about us in the paper.  So I had emailed her to ask when and if she was planning to write about us, and she said she would let me know.  Glad she emailed me, or I would have missed it.  :-)  It's not the most flattering picture of me in the world, but what a fun momento to keep fro Mickey anyway!  We had fun, and Mickey looks ADORABLE!  ♥

I also took poor, pitiful Mickey to the doctor today because she is still running a fever, but they couldn't find a source for the fever and said it must just be from the cold.  While we were in the waiting room waiting to be called back, she threw up ALL OVER the waiting room floor.  YUCK!  Someone was in the bathroom (and taking FOREVER I might add!) so I just stood there with it all over my hands and all over poor Mickey's feet and all over the floor.  The girls behind the desk gave me some sanitizer wipes to clean it up, but it was so watery that I needed paper towels to wipe it up.  What a nightmare.  At least Carly and Callie were being good little babies!  I guess it is the mucous that is making her sick.  She keeps crying and holding onto her puke bag, but she hasn't thrown up again even though she keeps feeling like it.  Poor baby!  Never a dull moment around here.  Hoping to get back to more FUN moments once our herd gets to feeling better.

It's been a long day taking care of poor little sick Mickey and Callie's hiney decided to flair up again, so she and Carly had to soak in the tub with baking soda just as dinner was ready.  Cold dinner for me!  Ah, such is the glamorous life of a Mommy!  ;-)  I'm exhausted and ready to just relax.  But alas, I go, go, go every day until my head hits the pillow usually around 11 or 12 every night!  My 13 year old nephew is having surgery on his knee tomorrow, so I am praying that goes well.

"Can we paint my toenails?"

Mickey wanted to play outside this afternoon, but it was getting ready to thunderstorm, so we couldn't go outside.  She was having a fit about it, as she had been extremely whiny all day and yesterday too - even moreso than usual!  She had asked me this morning if I would paint her toenails today and I said I would, but that it would have to be later.  Mickey still doesn't get the concept of later, because every time I tell her that, she says, "No! Today!"  LOL  So, I painted Mickey's toes in a cute pinky purple and she wanted lots of colors on her hands.  So cute!  Then she sat and talked to me while I painted my toes! The last time they were painted I was in the hospital on bedrest and my sister in law painted them for me - it was around Mickey and I's birthday!  So just about a year.  Long overdue.  We had fun.  :-)

Then around 5, just after the doctors office closed, I discovered why Mickey was so whiny!  She had a fever of 102.2.  Poor Mickey!  She wasn't feeling good.  MORE SICKIES!  I'm so over it.  Now I am the only one to not get it.  Fingers crossed I can keep healthy!

Carly and Callie are feeling much better now.  I am giving them probiotics in their yogurt every morning which seems to be helping with the diarrhea (don't get me wrong, Callie is still having multiple blowouts a day, they just aren't as watery and bad for her bum now!  LOL) and Callie's hiney looks MUCH better.  Still not 100% perfect, but a LOT better than it did.  She doesn't scream with diaper changes anymore.  That was so pitiful.  Carly is teething hard core - her top left tooth has broke through and the right one isn't far behind.  They both have super swollen gums, but it doesn't seem to be bothering Callie so much.  They are back to playing - crawling all over the place (thank goodness I have 2 gates now so I can at least keep them out of the kitchen!  LOL) and pulling up on everything.

They wore their first set of "Big Sister/Little Sister" shirts today!  It totally cracks me up that Carly is the "big" sister since she is much smaller!  hehe  On a side note, trying to get a picture of them sitting together now and is damn near IMPOSSIBLE!  LOL

1 week until Mickey's 4th birthday!  I can hardly believe my baby is going to be 4 already.  Time sure does fly.  This means it is 1 week until I am 34!!  I still can't believe I had her on my 30th birthday.  Crazy!  So, I am birthday shopping and party planning.  She is having a strawberry themed birthday party this year because she is obsessed with strawberries this year!  :-)

Mike made a point to try to get home "early" tonight (meaning he was here around 6:30 versus 8 or 9 like usual) so I could go to Zumba.  My girl Jessica is the instructor on Wednesday nights so he knows I really wanted to try to make it at least tonight.  So I got to go do some much need booty shakin' and calorie burnin! YAY!  Here is my golden ticket, even though it's orange!  LOL  (You have to get tickets early for the evening classes because it is so popular and they only have so many spots.)

I'll leave you with some lyrics from one of the songs in her class.  It's the song "Let's Get Loud" by Jennifer Lopez.

"If you wanna live your life
 Live it all the way and don't you waste it 
Every feelin' every beat
Can be so very sweet you gotta taste it
You gotta do it, you gotta do it your way"

2 very sick babies = 1 week with no posts!

This has been a very rough week.  Carly and Callie have both been very sick.  They both have ear infections and are on the dreaded NASTY drug Augmentin!  Carly had fevers of 104+ for several nights and even after starting antibiotics on Wednesday night STILL had a fever last night.  If she still has one today, then this nasty antibiotic obviously isn't working.  She is still sleeping now, so we shall see.  This nasty antibiotic has given them both diarrhea, but Carly has alligator skin!  It's not bothering her little hiney a bit.  Callie, on the other hand, has the most sensitive skin ever!  Poor baby has a really nasty diaper rash and it's making her miserable.  It did look a lot better this morning thanks to the Nystatin, but it's still super raw, even bleeding.  I feel so bad for them.  I'll be super glad when they are feeling all better.  Poor little babies!!  Mike and Haley both got it too, but they were not too bad off.  Thankfully Mickey and I have avoided it so far.  Fingers crossed we can keep it that way!

There isn't a whole lot to report from this week, since most of it was spent holding very cranky, sick babies, but I do have something fun to tell you about!  A few weeks ago, Mickey found a caterpillar in the garage.  At first she was completely disgusted and came in the house crying that there was a worm in the garage and "it was moving" she said!  LOL  She's definitely a diva, that one!  Full of drama.  But anyway, daddy and I told her how caterpillars were awesome and they turn into butterflies so she decided she liked it.  We put it in a little container and fed it some leaves just so she could watch it for a little bit, and shortly thereafter, it spun itself into a cocoon!   I have to admit, I was fully convinced it was just dead and had spun itself a death web!  LOL  Mike kept saying it was going to turn into a butterfly and Mickey was very excited.  I was just not convinced.  We all kept checking on it not knowing what to expect.  Well, yesterday afternoon, Mike called me into the garage.  (He spent the day outside mostly cutting the grass and planting in the garden with Mickey.)  Our "butterly" had come out of it's cocoon.  Except, it wasn't a butterfly, it was a moth!  An Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth, to be exact.  I was SHOCKED!  I really thought the caterpillar had just died!  But here he is!  I've never thought a moth was so cute before!!

Mickey was so cute, she was SO excited!!  She said, "He finally hatched!  I was waiting and waiting and I was patient!"  It was so adorable.  She still thinks he's going to turn into a butterfly after he's a moth, but what can you tell an almost 4 year old?  LOL

Well, I hear fussy babies calling, so time to go!  But what a fun bit of excitement yesterday for an otherwise long and stressful week!  :-)

Happy Mother's Day ♥

Today was a great day.  While I always feel a little sadness on Mother's Day for not having my mom here on Earth, I have 4 beautiful little girls and a wonderful husband who make it impossible not to feel like the luckiest girl in the world!  I still can't believe I am a mommy to 4 little girls.  They are my life, they bring me so much joy!  I am so blessed and SO thankful for all of them.  Life is crazy sometimes having 4 kids, 2 of them 10 month old babies, sure, but as I have said before, the joy far outweighs the craziness!  :-)  My 2 big girls made me beautiful cards, which are the best gifts a mom could ever ask for.  My sweet little Haley Bug said the sweetest things in hers.  I couldn't have felt more special!

This is what Haley's card (pictured above) says:  "You mean so much to me, so this is why I'm writing you this.  I love you.  I'm using this special day to tell you just how much you mean to us, not just me, but Mickey, Callie and Carly.  You're always there for me.  I am just so lucky yo have a mom like you.  You truly are, the best mom ever!!  "Have I ever told you, How much you mean to me?  Oh you're everything to me..."  - Flyleaf ♥  I hope after reading this, you'll know just how much you mean to me.  Your Loving Daughter, Haley."  How flippin' sweet was that???  *sniff*

And here's Mickey's homemade card, with a little help from Haley!  ;-)

Remember, I already got my Mother's Day and Birthday gift early, my AWESOME Jo Totes camera bag, which I have been using and LOVE IT!

We spent the bulk of the day outside.  While the morning started off dreary, the sun shortly came out and it turned out to be a gorgeous day!  My sister in law and her family were here as well.  We had a cookout (thanks to my wonderful neighbors behind us loaning us their propane tank since ours ran out right after we turned it on!)  Hot wings - YUM!  And Tiffany and I had Strawberry champagne with real strawberries!  Another YUM!

It was a great day!  I am such a lucky, lucky girl!  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥  (1 heart for each of my loves ... my 4 girls and my awesome husband, Mike!)

Relay For Life 2011

Today was the annual Chesapeake Relay For Life!  Don't know what Relay For Life is?  Here is the blurb on their website for the question, "What is Relay For Life?"

"The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length.

Relay began in 1985 when Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon in Tacoma, Washington, ran and walked around a track for 24 hours to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Since then, Relay has grown from a single man’s passion to fight cancer into the world’s largest movement to end the disease. Each year, more than 3.5 million people in 5,000 communities in the United States, along with additional communities in 20 other countries, gather to take part in this global phenomenon and raise much-needed funds and awareness to save lives from cancer. Thanks to Relay participants, the American Cancer Society continues to save lives."

This is Haley's 9th year doing the Relay For Life.  For us, it is a celebration of her survival.  She was diagnosed with Leukemia April 3, 2002.  She was a very, very sick 3 year old little girl that first grueling month of chemotherapy.  There were times I honestly wasn't sure she would make it.  We spent a lot of that time in the PICU and I will never forget the image of her swollen little face and bald head with that blank, lifeless look in her eyes when she was so sick.  But, she has always been a fighter, my Haley Bug.  She made it through that first month, and even though she had to learn to walk again from being in bed for so long, she did it!  She endured the rest of her 2 1/2 years of chemo with many more ups and downs, but the end result is, she is a SURVIVOR!  

Every year she walks the survivor lap with a huge smile on her face, waving to all the people standing there to clap for her and all the other survivors walking.  Every other year, we have walked with her.  This year, she was asked to walk behind the survivor banner, and being that she is 12 years old now, I asked her if she wanted to walk on her own this year.  She said yes, even if she was a little reticent about it.  Her cousin, Taylor, who is 13, ended up walking with her.  It was hard for me to let go and let her walk on her own, but my heart swelled with pride and just complete and utter thankfulness to God for choosing me to mother this special, special young lady and, of course, for her survival.  We walked the caregiver lap with her, Haley by my side, our arms around each other as I held her hand and I fought back the tears.  It is simply amazing how far we have come.  I am so thankful to have such a special event that we can truly reflect on that and be thankful.  Here are our pictures from the night!

Signing the 2011 survivor banner

Haley's signature ♥

Grubbin' at the survivor reception!

Mickey, Taylor and Haley in the big, pink give hope chair!

My beautiful Haley Bug

Haley doing the cupid shuffle

Haley and Aunt Tiffany

Me and my Haley Bug, my HERO!

Mike and I and our first baby!

Mickey and Haley ♥

Haley getting ready to walk the survivor lap

Walking the survivor lap - SO PROUD OF HER!

Haley and her Daddy

All the fun things about Relay For Life - so cute!

Another important aspect of the Relay For Life is the money it raises for the American Cancer Society.  The kind of cancer that Haley had would have been fatal 20 years ago.  Thanks to research into different types of treatment, when she was diagnosed, she had a 90% chance at being cured, which is now considered cured!  Without money to fund research to find treatments, no cancer would be cured.  There are still far too many people dying from cancer because we still need better treatments.  The money made at this event will help fund that fight, the fight against cancer!

And, They're OFF!

It was so nice when C&C were contained in the sunken living room to happily play and crawl about.  An easy little area to baby proof and (try) to keep free of dog hair.  (Thank you Izzie!)  Gone are those days.  As I said in Sunday's post, Callie learned to get up the step, and I said Carly wouldn't be far behind.  Carly was intently watching her sister go up the step and sit up in the new area playing this morning.  Can't you just see the wheels turning?

Well, she figured it out in that sweet little head of hers!  Moments later she was right up there with her sister.  Now there is no stopping them.  They are all over the house!!  Iyiyi.  I thought I couldn't get anything done before?  Callie took her first spill down the step today too.  It's getting real interesting around here.  I am in serious need of some baby gates.  Trying to find some on craigslist or something for super cheap - no luck so far though.

It's really cute how much C&C love Mickey.  They get so excited when she wakes up and they see her for the first time!  They love to play with her.  It's just so sweet and melts my heart.  ♥

I love my brothers, but I always wanted a sister!  My kids each get 3 sisters.  How fun!  I guess they might always wonder what it would have been like to have a brother though.  LOL

The Hang Out

I love that the kids like to hang out at my house.  I have a regular group of preteen/teenage kids that hang out here.  I love that I know what is going on with them and that they are having good, clean FUN!  :-)  The trampoline gets a whole lot of mileage.  It used to have a nice net around it, but they all ripped it to shreds long ago.  Carly and Callie got their first taste of bouncing on the trampoline, very lightly, before the big kids got on and went CRAZY!  LOL

Then after the jumping on the trampoline, Haley held Carly for a ride on the swing.  So sweet!  I held Callie and gave her a ride on the swing too, but I looked a hot mess, and it was not a pretty picture!  LOL  They really liked it.  Haley is such a good big sister.  ♥

While all this was going on, Mike and Mickey were hard at work planting in the garden.

Oh yeah.  Our poor little seedlings mostly all died.  Apparently we didn't have the magic touch to grow them from seeds.  So, Mike bought some already started plants that are surprisingly cheap!  He bought me 2 cilantro plants ... grow babies, grow!!!  LOL

Then we had a yummy barbeque and I was doing Zumba moves in the yard with the kids.  The weather was beautiful, the food was YUMMY and we all just had a great time.  What a great day!  ♥

Oh, and I almost forgot ... Callie learned how to climb up the step in our sunken living room today!  OH BOY!  No more keeping her contained in the living room.  Carly won't be far behind!