Happy 8th Birthday, Alison!

I am finding it impossible to believe it has been 8 years since I held my little girl for the first time. That was the minute my life changed and I am thankful for this sweet, caring girl every minute of every day.

How did she go from this-




to this in a blink of the eye?

Saturday Alison went to a party. My friend Aimee's daughter was turning 8. It was a cute party. The kids danced, did karaoke(way too funny) and got their hair and make up done. I posted a few pictures(with Aimee's ok) :)

Alison and Aimee's daughter Nicole

The birthday girl, kelsi getting her hair done
Alison and Nicole again. The height difference cracks me up. The girls are the same age.

Alison with her hair and make up done
Alison had a great time and talked about it all Saturday night. Thanks for inviting her Aimee. :)

And I have to share this..Saturday night I realized at about 9 pm that I never bought Easter baskets. I bought the stuff to fill them, but no baskets. I had to go to 4 stores before I found any left. Not a fun night!

Today we had Heather's Birthday party. I was a little nervous that she would be bossy and not let her cousin touch anything when he came. She had a melt down sharing with Aimee's little guy last time they came over and I thought that would happen again. But she did great. She wasnt bossy at all and even offered him toys to play with. She had a great time. She is little Miss Social. Greeted everyone with a hug and was such a show off. Alison was always so shy and Heather is the total opposite.

Before the party my mother came by with the cake. A friend of hers made it. As she got here she said that one of Blue's ears was coming loose. A few minutes later I looked over to see his face slowly sliding off. So I ran and held it in place. We tried to reattach it, just so it would hang on until everyone got there(this was 10 minutes before the party). No luck! But I did rescue it and put it on a plate for Heather. Heather still loved it and it was definitely the best cake I've eaten in a long time.

She opened the first gift from her aunt and wanted to play with that and not open anything else. It took some convincing to get her to try to open the rest. Luckily Alison and their cousin were there to open them for her..lol. She loved all of the toys and was so excited. She would say thank you to every single person in the room after she opened each gift. It was very cute.



My big 2 year old before her party.(She is sitting,hoping I will give her cake before the party)






















Opening some gifts



































The cake before the face incident(luckily I got pictures quick in case..lol)







































































































That's all for tonight. I need to go eat some dinner. I had so much cake that I had to wait hours for my sugars to go down before I could eat anything else. I know the left over cake is going to be an issue! It is so good and I will be eating it for a week. I did send home some with a few people to get rid of a lot of it though!

I spent all day today cleaning for Heather's party tomorrow. With cramps and being extra moody. Bob hurried out and took Alison to the library once Heather went in for her nap. I cleaned every room thoroughly, which was no easy task. All I have to say is cleaning sucks!

Heather had her water babies class Friday. She loved it.She didnt want to put her shoes on to leave home and I said we are going to go swimming. She got huge eyes and started dancing around in circles saying "let's go." We got there and I got her undressed in the locker room. She was saying bath and I thought she would have a fit when I tried to put her in a swim diaper and bathing suit. But she did fine.

We got in the pool and she was laughing and splashing. The instructor sang songs that involved the babies splashing and kicking. She did every part and tried to sing along. She stood on the side and jumped into my arms 4 times. They put out a little slide and she was hesitant to go on it. Finally she decided she would try. She went down it and I caught her in the water. She loved it and asked to go on again. She lasted the entire hour and did everything she was told to. I was very impressed!

I have been feeling bummed the past few days about Heather. I started noticing about a week a go that her flat spots were looking really bad again. I thought maybe I was imaging it. But having her in the tub with her hair wet the last few nights, it is very obvious that I am not imaging it. Even hubby walked in an commented on it. So I am at the what do I do point. Do I do nothing and just hope that it doesn't keep getting worse. Do I fight my insurance for further treatment and put Heather through it. I don't know yet. I emailed a fellow Massachusetts plagio mom who has "been there, done that" with her daughter. Her little girl regressed after treatment too. I am hoping she can give me some pointers as to what can be done. Heather is too old for another helmet. It wouldn't work. I am hesitant at surgery and am extremely doubtful that I could get insurance to cover it anyways. I am just feeling so sad over it. All she went through, actually our whole family did. So much money and time. Only to sit here tonight and worry about it.

*I wanted to quickly add that my father is done with his heart surgeries and is doing good. He was transfered to a better hospital for the 2nd and is going to be coming home this week.*


Yesterday my little girl turned 2. I had mixed emotions about it. I am so proud of all she has gone through and the little person she is becoming. But it is always a little sad to see your babies growing up so quickly.

Alison was so excited that it was Heather's Birthday. She had her entire class make Heather a card and they all signed it, including the teachers. She is such a thoughtful girl. After school the Tv was on and I could hear the show ask if today is anyone's birthday. Alison was saying to Heather" It's yours! Say Me!!" Then the show said clap if it is your bday. Alison ran over and said to Heather"that's you, clap!!" LOL. She was so excited that it was Heather's big day. I took Alison to dance and at the end of the class Alison asked the teacher if Heather could get a sticker(good dancer stickers) because it was her birthday. Heather thought she was very grown up getting a sticker like the big kids.

I took Heather with me to get an ice cream cake. I asked her there" Do you like the blue frosting trim or yellow?" She looks at me, smiles big and proclaims "Blue!" and pointed to the blue. I knew she was a smart kid!

I put the #2 candle on the cake and Heather said"6". We sang Happy Birthday to her and she grinned and then blew the candle. She needed some help to get it out, but she knew what to do. She loved the cake. She ate the blue frosting off and then asked for more. Alison let her eat the blue off of her piece too.










Then it was time for a quick bath to rinse off the blue face, hands and hair! After that came present time. Heather was so excited she got out of the tub and ran into my room and was pointing at the presents saying"Mine, Me, My!" She got the new Sing with Elmo and a Sesame Street My First Purse that Alison picked out. She was so happy.









You will have to live through another Birthday post next week. Heather's party is Sunday. In Laws and all....

I can't believe Heather will be 2 tomorrow. Technically not until late at night. She really wanted to be a leap year baby, but I refused to let her. My labor was induced at the crack of dawn on the 28th. By 8 pm my labor had slowed down even with pitocin.I did not want a leap year baby. The nurses kept saying she would probably be the 1st baby born on the 29th and the newspaper was there waiting for pictures. They really thought I would pose for photos after just delivering a huge baby after a full day of labor? Ha! I asked them to break my water, they were hesitant because she was very high up and taking her time. They decided around 9:30 to break it and so my labor picked up fast. Much more painful than with Alison. Heather's head was wedged in my pelvic bone and took some real manuevering for the Dr to get her out. We were so excited and scared to death at the same time. We had no idea if she would be perfectly healthy or very very sick. We had been prepared for months by specialists that she might not make it, or might have severe problems.The NICU team waited in the room with a peditrician as I delivered her, just in case. She came out and right away screamed to let us know she was not happy about coming out. I breathed the biggest sigh of relief ever hearing her cry. It was the best feeling. After seeing that she was okay, I knew we could deal with whatever "little" things came our way.

This little girl has been through so much and come so far. She has changed the lives of so many people around her, by showing them that nothing can be taken for granted and that anything can be accomplished with hard work and determination. All she has been through and she smiles and laughs the whole time. We can all learn a lot from kids like her. She has had more pokes, caths, tests and been in the hospital more than most adults. She has shown me that with hard work and motivation, anything can be accomplished. By the Drs standards, she shouldn't be walking, or should be walking with braces. She should have a trach tube to help her breathe. We refused it all along and she has been fine. She is amazing and I am proud of her every minute of every day.

I love this little girl with every part of me. I have never seen a sweeter child. She gives the biggest hugs and loves to cuddle. She laughs all day and has the biggest smile. All I have to do is look at her and she makes me happy. Like I said before, she is simply amazing.

I thought I would show some pictures of her over the past 2 years.


A Brand New Heather


















1 Month Old

















First Smiles~ 3 months old
















Prednisone Chub :) ~ 5 months old


10 months old~ Sick with Pneumonia and kidney infection


First Birthday!


Learning to Stand~ 14 months


One mad Girl after her first casting


15 months old~longest time inpatient(weeks)


Beach Babe~ 17 months


Silly Girl~ 20 months old


22 months old~ being a comedian like usual


Taken today~ the day before she turns 2