I Would Have To Agree

Those of you who follow me on facebook already know that a couple of days ago josh and i entered Em in the "Best Legs in a Kilt" contest at the local radio station. she was up against 9 other people all of which had been listed to recieve votes for at least 1.5 weeks. well, after a little over 36 hours Emmeline swept the compeition and won. she was two stars ahead of the second place winner. her picture is adorable.
i was a little irritated that someone would vote her down every night so she didn't get a full 10 stars in the end but whatever. my kid's better than them! HEHEHE.

here is the winning picture! the kilt is a bit long but she will grow into it.



here is the link of the contest if you want to check it out.
http://www.goblueridge.net/index.php?option=com_hotornot2&Itemid=141

Thanks to all of our friends/family who voted 10 stars for our cutie!!!!!

Em's Tree

Those of you who know my weirdness probably know that i like to plant a tree with my baby's placenta. we did it for Isa so i was determined to do is for Em as well. we planted Isa's when she was about a week old. it took us a bit long for Em (she is almost 10 months) but in the end we did it. it took several days to do because there is only one spot of sunshine in my parent's yard because of all the trees. the only problem was that there was a very old strong bush/tree there that i had to move. it was also on a hill. shoveling on a hill is harder then i anticipated but i did it. we also moved isa's tree so it could be in the sun spot as well. a lot of work but worth it.










For anyone who is really curious about what the placenta looks like, scroll down.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISABEE

technically she isn't 6 until 10:32 tonight but my night time schedule is crazy. here are a few pictures. she has been having some trouble with growing up. it makes her sad. after looking at these i am too.



with mommy




with daddy




random cuteness




the huge 6 year old




quite the young lady.

better late then never

isabella has updated her wish list on amazon.com.

she also said she likes "spring" stuff whatever that means.

The Very Idea Makes Me Want To Vomit!

so josh officially announced at work on Monday that he is not returning to teach this fall because has has been accepted to The University of North Texas for his Phd. At first i was really excited about the prospect. then i remembered my life.

It has taken me since November 2008 to get all of em's services set up. that is 7 months! the thought of moving and having to set up all new CDSA services AND find new specialist is enough to make me ball up in the corner and rock back and forth. typing it even gives me anxiety. i have counted it up. this move means i will have to meet/screen at least 11 medial professionals! i have not even factored in the fact that i might not like some of them and will have to talk to more.

i think the two i am the most upset about leaving are her PT and her pediatrician. both are amazing and i know i will never find anyone like them for her. they both know me well and know i am doing what is best for Em and they help me achieve that.

i have so much more emotional stuff about this issue but my brain has put a "protection block" to help me survive until i really have to do it. thank goodness.

Spring Recital/Ballet

Isabella just finished her spring dance performances. she had so much fun in dance this year and we will be sad to have the summer off. she has been dancing around the house non stop since we started classes last fall. luckily we were able to get her there most of the time with everything going on. we have had some wonderful helpers. we took a ton of pictures so i will only show a few. she has made some really great fiends in dance this year. it was the only time she got out of the house during the week.


Here is Isa with one of her best friends Kendall. You might remember her from the Nutcracker pics from the Christmas Ballet.


Until recently Isa called this little girl number 11 because that was her mark on the floor. i told her she had to know her actual name for her birthday invitations. It's Caroline. It is amazing how kids can be great friends and not know each other's names.


Believe it or not Annika is 4 years old. She is adorable and is usually the front of all the line so we can see her.



All the girls had to wear socks over their tap shoes so they wouldn't slip back stage. they were all disappointed that they couldn't tap their shoes until they were on stage.



They were trying to be really patient while they waited to go on stage. there was a lot of "she's touching me!" the two little girls next to Isa are about to go at it for rubbing each other's glitter off. Girl fight!



Her is Oyster Isabella skipping on stage to meet her friend oysters.



They all wave to the last oyster (#11).



More waving.



Then they start they oyster dance. skipping in a circle.



London bridges.



More skipping.



"pushing" the walrus.



following the walrus. just in case you are wondering, no, they oysters don't get eaten. they push the walrus and the carpenter off the stage in the end.



Isabella's favorite park is at the end when they can all get on stage and dance as much as they want. we always do her flower pictures up there. it makes her feel like a big ballerina.



Big Ballerina pose.



this is Miss Catherine, Isabella's teacher, as the cat from Peter and the Wolf. she did a great job and Isa always loves finding her in the ballet.



The is the Alice ballerina. She did a great job.



Miss Catherine's mom owns the studio and she has like 4 sisters. this is one of them. she was a wonderful duck in Peter and the Wolf.



Cheshire cat. The did a really cool thing with a black light and a guy in black lifting her so it looked like she was flying and flipping around.



The Ballerina that played the butterfly is amazing. Isabella saw her part in the nutcracker during dress rehearsal and decided that she was going to be a ballerina that gets tossed too. side note her name is megan.


All in all i am soooooooooooooo glad we did ballet this year. Isabella has her ice cream party this week and then it's over. so sad. she was a trooper about having her hair put in curlers 5 times between all the dress rehearsals/performances/picture days we have had.

10 years off my life

so i was having an average day. Isabella was doing her spelling test while i did an oral feed with Em. normal enough. Em did great tasting her bananas and i picked her up to go hook her up to the feeding pump. that is when it happened.

first of all, for those of you who don't know. em's g-tube is a hole that goes through her side and then through a hole in her stomach. there is a round valve on the outside that is held in place on the inside by a balloon filled with water or air. from there, a cord called an extension hooks the
g-tube up to the feeding pump. Em eats frequently so we leave this cord attached to the g-tube all the time because it is uncomfortable to take on and off.

i picked Em up as i was standing. i didn't realize that her cord was stuck in a crack of the high chair. i have accidentally pulled on the extension before. it really hurts her so i got really upset when i realized i had done it again. i yelled and took her over to the living room to change her out of her banana clothes. whenever i pull the extension i always put my hand on her stomach to make sure the g-tube is still there. when i did it this time i felt nothing. i felt some more, wondering if the gauze was to thick to feel it. i pulled her onesie up and all remember seeing was blood. i froze. it took me a second to register what had happened. then i saw the g-tube . it was laying on the floor with her onesie. a million thoughts popped into my head most of which are to graphic to post here. at one point though i actually thought "Megan this isn't so serious. everyone will laugh at you and say you didn't even need to go to the Dr." after considering this for a minute i decided that it was indeed a big deal and if anyone tried to tell me it wasn't they would get very very hurt! the balloon of water was still full which meant i had pulled something the size of a gumball through a hole the size of a nail head. at this point i almost threw up.

since the balloon was still filled with fluid i couldn't put it back in. i scrambled around and found a syringe. i fumbled and got the water our of the balloon. the thought of sticking anything through a hole in some one's side petrified me, much less my helpless baby, so i tried to just put it in before i thought about it to much. it didn't go in very easily so i had to twist it a bit. this just made Em scream even more. i got it in on the second try.

somewhere is the middle of everything i was apparently giving Isa instructions. she turned up with Aunt Terra and her shoes and socks on. Terra was great and held a clean burp cloth over the newly inserted g-tube because i was sure it was still gushing blood (it wasn't). i then took a few deep breaths because i realized i hadn't in awhile. em was no longer screaming. just whimpering. i gave her a chewy and she calmed down a bit more.

i then called the doctor and the emergency room. ER wouldn't give any info and wouldn't even tell me if i should brig her directly there or her Dr first. the whole Dr office was at lunch and not answering the phone so we taped down the g-tube and piled in the car to meet them at the door after lunch. Terra in the mean time had called her brother in law Jim. YAY for Jim. he just finished nursing school and is a pediatric nurse. he was great at being thorough with his questions as well as keeping us calm. i owe him a present!

i walked into the Dr office and didn't even finish my sentence of " my daughter has a g-tube and i accidentally pulled it out and the ER..............." before the nurse was taking me through the door. the Dr was in our room with in 30 seconds. we are friends and he could see that i was very frazzled. he was great as always and told me i did a great job. as stupid as it sounds that made me feel a ton better. Em was smiling at him happy as could be. until he had to take the tape off. apparently i went a little over board. in the process of examining her the g-tube cam out again since i hadn't re-filled the balloon. i totally freaked out but it ended up being a good thing because they were able to clean the little bit of blood that had come out off her stomach. ( i could have sworn there was more). she cried a bit when he put it back in but then calmed right down. she actually cried longer when she got her shots.

all in all she was cleaned up good as new. so far i can't tell anything even happened to her. she is happy smiling and using her abs just fine. poor Isabella got really scared during the whole thing. understandably so since i was freaking out and her sister was bleeding but we worked it out. i am able to keep a good eye on her emotionally since this all started. The doctor was saying how much easier it will be next time. i almost threw up again when he said that.

josh thinks it is to hard to picture what the g-tube looks like so here are some pictures. sorry they are tiny. i just couldn't bring myself to sift through all those pictures of different kinds of g-tubes pre and post surgery. not today.

this is what it looks like on Em on the outside (obviously).


this is the whole thing with the balloon inflated. that is what i found on the floor in her onesie.