April In The Burbs

Having Dottie has been such a blessing in my life. She's taught me patience in the hardest and best way possible. She's taught me how to speak up for my babies, and myself. She's taught me in such a clear and consistent way, that life is short and fragile, and to grasp these mundane moments of mommy-hood and really appreciate them.  Then there's days like today that are hard. Just plain hard. When both of the babies are sick with some type of respiratory junk, when we have breathing treatments for both of the babies every 4 hours, plus multiple medications.  Having a medically fragile child like Dottie can be challenging. Something like what the kids have now, some typical respiratory junk, can send her to the hospital for several days. Like I said, it's just hard.  And here's where the worst part comes in. Our pediatrician whom we've been with since Johnny was 2 weeks old, and whom I love dearly and have the highest respect for, is talking about pulling Joh

Mid-September, Johnny started attending preschool two mornings a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays.  There are 6 students in his class, including himself, and all of the teachers in the school have degrees in Elementary Education, Bachelors degrees, along with several years of in school teaching experience with preschool and school aged kids. Johnny on his first day of Preschool  9/15/15  What I like about his preschool, is that they have a pretty tight schedule, which is intended to get him used to the structure of attending school full days when he's older.  His schedule goes a little something like this:  8:45-9:15 Arrival, Greetings, Table Toys and Puzzles  9:15-9:30 Shapes and Colors  9:30-9:45 Wash Hands  9:45-10:00 Snack 10:00-10:30 Playground  10:30-10:45 Wash Hands/Specials  10:45-11:05 ABC's and 123's  11:05-11:15 Restroom/Wash Hands  11:15-11:45 Lunch  11:45-12:15 Activity Center  12:15-12:30 Theme Craft  12:30-12:45 Circle

A quick recap of Dottie's 1st Birthday!  It was the perfect celebration for our miraculous baby girl.                     

We recently spent a Day Out With Thomas!  Johnny was a bit shy to meet his idol, Thomas.  Not only was there music, there were food booths, picture opportunities with Sir Topham Hatt, there was also a craft area with stamps and a play area with Thomas themed building blocks, and a very substantial gift shop.  Daddy bought Johnny the wooden Deisel 10 to go with his set at home, yay!  Waiting in line to ride Thomas! Great old train.  After the train ride Johnny was ready for a big nap.  Mommies like trains too.  Although it's free to attend the actual event (ours was in Burnet,TX) and parking was free, tickets for the train, food, and of course gifts from the gift shop all cost.  We paid $20 each for tickets on the air-conditioned train car, but they also offer slightly less expensive tickets for the open-air cars.  We all had such a great time meeting & riding Thomas. I'd definitely recommend this event for any kiddo who loves Thomas or even just trains in general.  For the

Dottie is the big 1 today!  It's been a year full of twists and turns - one I will always remember as both remarkable and overwhelming.  And now, for a little look back.   We love you.       

It's so crazy to think of Dottie turning one in a little over a week.  In the last two weeks alone, she has gone from being 100% dependant on a g-tube for all of her nutrition, to eating table food like a champ. She has interest and wishes to taste and scarf down everything possible that's offered to her. Her speech therapist told me yesterday to introduce fresh and whole sweet potato, avocado and banana. It literally brought tears to my eyes.  She has also gone from barely army crawling, to crawling on all fours (at the speed of lightening), as well as pulling herself up on furniture.  Dottie was 10 days shy of 3 months old when she came home from the NICU, getting g-tube feeds 20 hours a day and vomiting every hour due to her Panhypopituitarism. At the time she had another undiagnosed issue that no one knew anything about, called Craniosynostosis.  Since her surgery mid-August for her Craniosynostosis, she has developmentally made leaps and bounds.  I

Yesterday we had the pleasure of visiting the Austin Aquarium here in Austin, Texas. Austin Aquarium is our first and only aquarium locally, so we were super excited to take the kids for fun morning out to see what they have to offer!  You can see sharks, stingrays, A giant pacific octopus, tropical fish, Rockfish and so many other species it's impossible to name them all! There's even an aviary where you can go in, sit with the birds and feed them.  Towards the middle of the aquarium, there is even a play scape for children seven and under to get some of their energy out.  Johnny especially loved the stingrays and the play scape during our visit. Meet Baloo the parrot at the Aquarium entrance!  Johnny checking out the stingrays.   You can purchase tickets online for a small discount, or buy them when you get there. Don't forget to check out their huge, and I do mean huge, the gift shop. There are price points and goodies for the youngest to the oldest aquarium visitor! 

If there's one thing I am personally addicted to, it would definitely have to be shopping for clothes for my kiddos. Currently, Dottie has about half of my closet, and about half of the kids' closet that they share, full of her personal wardrobe. What can I say, a girl needs her choices!  A few months back, I ran across a T-shirt subscription service for kids ages 1-6 called The Curated Tee  on Instagram.  Each month they have a guest artist who creates a unique (and gender neutral = awesome for boys and girls) design.  You can sign up for a 3 month or 6 month subscription, but you can also purchase these shirts individually online if you wish not to subscribe, and see something that tickles your fancy!   September's tee was designed by NYC based, Australian freelance artist, Adam France ,  and it's called 'France Pants ABC'. It's just the cutest alphabet tee I ever did see!  So far we've received about 4 tshirts