Wow..... not sure how this day will end up

So, Kaelyn didn't sleep so great last night. Ended up getting up to nurse at 5am. I think we are gonna have a growth spurt because this is NOT typical for her. One can only hope it comes soon cuz momma misses her 8-9 hours of straight through sleeping.

So we woke up this morning, I've got a glass of tea and some lactation cookies for breakfast and Kaelyn has munched on 3/4 of a banana. I logged onto facebook to hear the news that my husbands Great Grandma had passed away. She was in hospice care due to having a pretty major stroke 2 weeks ago and they think she had another (unknown severity) last weekend. They knew at her age (in her 90's) that there wasn't much they could do after they found the blood clot in her brain. She was in and out of consciousness and my mother-in-law and her siblings and Grandma Judy all went to visit a few days ago to catch her at a wakeful moment so they could say their goodbyes and let her know how much she was loved. She was Kaelyn's Great GREAT Grandma. How many people get to say they knew their Great GREAT Grandma? We have a picture we took with Jeremy, Kaelyn, Sandy (My mother in law) and Great Grandma Judy and Great GREAT Grandma Lucy. A milestone picture for sure. Our family has had some pretty hard losses in the last 3 years. We found out before I was pregnant with Kaelyn that Jeremy's Grandpa David had cancer. He kicked it and was strong and kicking for my brother in laws wedding but shortly after it came back. He saw the ultrasound picture of Kaelyn (Whom he called "the bean") after Jeremy took it in a frame to his hospice room. Things seemed to go downhill pretty quickly. We lost him fall of 2009. 2010 seemed to be okay but in December, my uncle Roger who had moved home to be closer to family, went into the hospital with chest pains and passed away less than 24 hours later with my mother and my sister by his side. That was a hard funeral to go to, no because I knew him very well, (he was kind of distant from the family when i was growing up, for whatever reasons), but because it's the second child my Nana and Papa had to bury. And it's never easy to see your grandparents in such pain. so now, little over a month since the last funeral, here is THIS one. It's going to be hard, no doubt, but Sandy and Grandma will have us all there for support. I know we missed home, haven't been there in 3 weeks (doesn't seem like much but after 3 long weekend visits in a row, 3 weeks is HARD!) but this wasn't the circumstances we wanted to have for another visit home. Its' been pretty cool 3 weeks though. Kaelyn's teeth are more visible (she cut tooth #1 on our last trip) and she loves to wave and clap now. and she figured out how to motor herself around in her walker. YAY! I'm gonna see about taking her walker to the inlaws. and then NEXT weekend, they are in our neck of the woods for a peewee hockey tournament. SO we get to see them 2 weekends in a row! WOO! (but lemme tell ya, 3 dogs in one house can be a bit much! lets hope the weather is nice so that they can tear around the back yard and waste some energy. lol)

Well, I better get packing. Have some laundry to do. Oy Vay. What a day. But on the upside, it can't get much worse, right?

thursday..... and it's been a good day.

The birth to 3 ladies came and it was all positive news. They loved how she rolls and scoots and pushes herself up to sit from laying down. They called her "graceful" which is a twist seeing as how her daddy is a clutz and I suffered from being a "twinkle toes" playing softball but being a bit clutzy for ballet classes. They showed us a few things we can do to get her to sit up on her knees and start to crawl and we will most DEFINITELY put them into motion so that we have big strides in her crawling when they check back with us in a month. They seemed as positive as us that she's waving and clapping and pulling herself to her feet, so in that regard, I was THRILLED! They also remarked on her good natured personality, which may or may not be related to her Partial Trisomy 21. (Many people attribute a good attitude with people who have Down's Syndrome, so maybe that is one of the blessings we have been given. Don't get me wrong, she does get a " 'tude" every now and then, but she is a smiley, happy, laid back little girl who can make any day a little brighter with a single squeal!)Anyways, we also had her 9 month appointment. She is right on track from her last visit. She is keeping the same growth curve so it's a small victory considering the first month she was slow to gain weight and it left us a bit concerned. But hey, we do snacks and veggies and fruits and proteins now and..... well...... have you SEEN her thighs? Puts new meaning to the phrase "thunder thighs". We are going to try a new eye drop for her crusty eyes. (Oh joy, another 2 weeks of holding her down, pinning her arms down and forcing her eyelids open to give her drops. that was a blast over our trip back home for Christmas.) The doctor was very happy with her progress and sees no real reason for concern. Why borrow trouble before we have any reason to truly worry? She is on track and granted she may fall behind, we will take every milestone and gain in strength and intellect for what it is.... a miracle. She is our little miracle baby. She's unique in her DNA and I truly believe she is here for a reason. She was here to heal my heart after the loss of our first pregnancy and hopefully one day we will be strong enough to try for a second baby. We understand there is the chance we can end up giving birth to a child with the same genetic anomaly as Kaelyn, but there's a chance we might not. I have done so much soul searching since we found out Kaelyn's diagnosis that I truly believe God doesn't give us more than we can handle and we are each made in his image. Every child is a blessing from God. This doesn't mean we will be one of those families that has 19 kids because a large family is a blessing. Adoption is expensive and we dont want Kaelyn to grow up an only child. We always saw our family as 2 or 3 children, us as Mom and Dad, and a dog to round out the family. I know there always the option of fostering, but I'm not sure I am made to deal with some of the extra emotional and physical needs of foster children. (Please don't think of me as shallow or selfish, but not knowing for certain the impact that partial trisomy 21 is going to have on Kaelyn, I'm not even certain someone would let us foster a child in the hopes of adopting. Would they?)

Anyways, last night while giving Kaelyn her bath, I told Jeremy that Kaelyn's doctor asked what we though of having more children and in the course of conversation, i think we may have come to an agreement to try, and hope that there is another child for us in the future. We know that there will possibly me miscarriages, and pain and suffering in the process, but Kaelyn was such a gift to us, can we not try? Maybe my mind is just wandering in circles.

I've got a rather happy little girl in her walker, munching on cheerios and making new "huh huh huh" sounds. I think she was mimicking Odin when he pants hard, but who knows. its new and exciting and ADORABLE! She may not be able to say "mama" yet, but her smiles are enough for me!

I better go get ready to meet Jeremy at work to swap the baby. I still have to brush my hair and find my work outfit. (Gotta love panicking and the last minute, scrambling to find khaki/brown pants and a polo. ugh)

Anyways, hopefully i can post a picture or two. She's such a DOLL! My big girl! (i can't believe she's over 9 months old now! CrAzY!!!)

Today is as good a day as any to start a blog!

Today we have Kaelyn's big 9 month check up, along with her birth-to-3 assessment. Its pretty jam packed today. I sewed her some slippers/booties last night and need to sweep up my thread and fabric scraps from the kitchen floor and TRY to contain the mess that is our house. A dog, a baby, a hubby, and me, well we can drop a few things here and there and before you know it? BAM! the livingroom is a mess! Thank goodness for the baby gate and Kaelyn's unwillingness to crawl, cuz i think somewhere in the hallway is a bottle of febreeze just sitting on the floor.

Jeremy hasn't felt 100% the last few days and doesn't want to get us girls sick so he sacked out on the couch. I miss snuggling up to fall asleep and Kaelyn misses the snuggles and kisses when he gets home from work. We'll survive, but lets hope Daddy gets better quick. Mommy could use a trip out of the house to the library where I don't have to take Kaelyn out in the freezing Wisconsin winter elements!

We also have some sad news to report. Great Grandma Lucy is not doing so well. She had a pretty major stroke 2 weeks ago and last Saturday they think she had another minor one. They took out her feeding tube and at some point during testing to find out just how significant the stroke was, they found a blood clot in her brain. She's now in the care of hospice and seeing as how she is Jeremy's Great Grandma, that means she's Kaelyn's Great GREAT Grandma. A pretty special thing to be able to meet that kind of grandma. Kaelyn hasn't seen her since this fall due to living hours away, but our prayers are most definitely with our family right now. It's been a hectic last 3 months, with the holidays, my uncles funeral in December, new years/packers game (Jeremy saw the packers play the bears the day after new years. pretty exciting!) and we've managed a few weekends at home where we aren't sitting in the car for hours to go home, and it looks like we will be back before we know it. We aren't sure how long she'll be in hospice for, but I just hope that she isn't in any pain and is at peace.

Well, Kaelyn finished her banana slices (and made QUITE the mess in the process) so we have to go clean up and get dressed. 2 hours till Kaelyn has her birth-to-3 assessment and we go from there STRAIGHT to her 9 month appointment and from there we might as well go to walmart and grab a few things. I have an idea for the CUTEST slippers. Kaelyn has small but wide feet o finding shoes is a bit of a pain. I got this handy new sewing machine for Christmas so I have already made her one pair but wanna try another with a fun pattern! Maybe make some burp rags for my Brother-in-law and his wife who are expecting their first child (a GIRL!!) in early may. I think the girls will get along great! We'll just have to make sure they see eachother more than I saw some of my cousins. (Then again, My mom was 1 of 9. so that means we were all pretty spread out by age and by location. )

Will post an update later to let you know how it's going!

Thanks for your support and we hope you enjoy our blog!

Mommy and Kaelyn (and maybe Odie too!)