Grandma and Papa Hammond

The kids put on a great puppet show for Grandma and I. I made them Phineas and Ferb pizza.
Grandma and Papa Hammond came to visit on the 10th. Zeke and Amari were wary at first, but warmed up pretty quickly. I'm glad they had a chance to get to know them a little better. Pantera was in heaven with someone to play with and all the extra attention. She has always had a great relationship with her grandparents on both sides, she was lucky enough to live by both sets at different times in her life.

A couple of Tera quotes:

"Mom, I'm really good at telling time. Even on clocks with Ramen numbers."

"Mom! Amari colored on you favorite bathroom!"

Isn't her hair super cute? I told her if it goes missing, don't check my head.

"Lala" twins. Katurah had her 2 month check up last week. 90% for height and 94% for weight 13lbs 13oz, now I know she wasn't switched at birth;)

Amari is super territorial, so my favorite game to play with her is "That's my bummy." I tell her she stole my bummy and tell her to give it back, she runs away giggling "no, is mine" while covering her little booty. This is also how she dances to "Squirrels in my Pants."

That song is from Phineas and Ferb, the show all my kids love. It is the only thing Amari will sit through. Zeke has picked up on their optimistic attitudes often saying thing like "This is the best (enter word here) ever!" So cute. Or when he is mad he will shout "You're so BUSTED!" Which is also a very effective punishment for him. He is putting together sentences like crazy all of the sudden. He told me "I'm getting hungry. Get me my dinner." I am so happy with his progress, it sure does make life alot easier.

Of mice and men

It is said that heros are born through adversity. I bring before you the tale of a mere lad, not yet 3 1/2 and his courageous outburst that may have changed the course of history.

Ezekiel awoke that frosty January morning to the nagging sound of his wretched mothers voice "Zeke sweetie, do you want to go potty? I will give you m&m's." "No" he replied, but she just couldn't let it go "Ok Zekie, that's your choice. I need to go downstairs and feed the baby." She would not get away with her constant pestering any longer, it was time for him to stand up and do something about it.

Quietly, Ezekiel moves to the bathroom and removes all of his clothing and sets up his potty chair. As his mother hears a diaper fall to the floor, she runs upstairs to check on him. Here's his chance, standing in his birthday suit, hands on his hips, voice like roaring thunder as if shouting for opressed potty trainers everywhere, he exclaims "I WILL NOT GO POTTY!" And he hasn't to this very day.

Some call it a tall tale, others wonder why he needed to be naked to stand up for his natural human right to pee in a diaper, but one thing is certain, potty training will never be the same.

The long Katurah story

It's hard to believe while looking at this cute smiley girl, that she is the same baby we were so worried about 3 weeks ago. Weeks 3-6 were so hard for us, I will explain for records sake and maybe to help another mom out there somewhere.
Katurah has never had the best latch while feeding. I asked the nurse about this in the hospital and was told it was fine. She nursed alright for the first 3 weeks and was gaining weight normally. Right around the 3 week mark, she got so fussy. First we thought it might be thrush, 5 days on meds and it didn't work. She was screaming when I tried to nurse her and would cry for hours at night. I cut anything and everything I could think of from my diet, maybe allergies. Then they thought maybe reflux, those meds seemed to help for about 2 days, then it was even worse. She finally started to refuse to nurse altogether despite EVERYTHING I tried. I was desperate so I started pumping, she would down each bottle so fast! After the first day she was a completely different baby, so happy. She couldn't use certain bottles and when I was talking to my mom about this she asked if we had ruled out tongue tie. This had never crossed my mind. Sure enough, her tongue is restricted and she can't nurse well enough to get all that she needs. Had the stupid nurse and doctor in the hospital done their jobs right, we could have avoided a ton of misery.

By the time we figured this all out she was 6 weeks and ready for her next growth spurt. I wasn't producing enough to keep up, since she was never an effective nurser. So I did some homework and decided on a rigid pumping schedule (every 2 hours) and some wonderful herbs fenugreek and blessed thistle. Almost 3 weeks later we are exclusively pumping and my supply is great, I even have some great food storage in the freezer for her.

Things had finally calmed down, until Monday morning. She woke up at 11am with a HUGE swollen eye. I called her doc right away and they got me in at 1:30. Her doc walked in looked at her then left, got another doc and came back in. Then they started throwing out big scary words that could lead to a brain infection...excuse me? It's a swollen eye, really?!? So they advised me to take her down to the ER at children's. My dad was awesome and watched the other kids and my mom saved my bacon by driving us down there and bossing the hosptial staff around. We waited FOREVER. The swelling had started to go down when they got her in around 8:30pm. At first they were going to send her home, but about 5 doctors later they decided to admit her. I don't think I have ever been so scared. They tried 3 times to start an IV and had no luck...thank goodness my mom stopped them before they tried putting it in her head, she will forever be my hero for that! So they wanted to observe her and give her antibiotics. Long story a little shorter, they came in the next morning and said it was a clogged tear duct, but it could have been something potentally fatal...they often confuse those. Not really, they were just being safe and I will appreciate that, until I get the bills in the mail anyway.

On some very happy notes, she giggled for the first time yesterday. The pictures above are actually frames of her giggling making them extra priceless. She was also blessed at our house on Wednesday night and both sets of grandparents were there. She is such a special little girl, I'm so grateful she is ok! We love you so much Katurah!