Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Little Man's Almost 3!!!!

It's hard for me to believe that Little Man's going to be turning 3 in February.  I find it hard because he is growing so fast, but looking back over these past few years, we've see lots of growth.
Moments after birth 7lbs 7oz
 
A few days old in the same cradle I used when I was a baby hand made by mom's dad (RIP Grandpa Joe)
 
 
2 Photos of Little Man The one on top is a few weeks old and the one on the bottom is hubby with us the day he went back to work for the first time since Little Man's birth.
 

As time progressed, the first few months were very difficult for him and weight gain was difficult.  At 3 months or so he was diagnosed as failing to thrive and had reflux too.  Gaining weight was so hard that he started solids at 5 1/5 months old.  After starting solids he finally started to gain weight.

Here he is at 6 months old on a weekend trip to our family summer house, also in the picture is my cousin who was there spending the weekend too.  He was helping me roast a marshmallow.  It was his first trip and so far been his only trip...


Here's his first sippy cup at nine months old, he seemed to not like that cup.  It did take a while for us to find him a sippy he likes.  Even now we are still trying...but I think we have found a winner and a non-leaker!
His first Halloween.  We took him to a friend's home for a party.  The little girl on the floor is 5 days younger than Little Man.  We dressed him as a Count, he had red skulls on his cape.  After a bit, I did change him into a "My First Halloween" onesie with matching orange pants.
His first Thanksgiving, that was a bittersweet holiday since earlier that week I had lost my job due to missing too much work.  I missed too much work because I had to care for my son.  Also the day before I lost my job Little Man had surgery to correct the Hypospadius birth defect.  He was hurting and both hubby and I were trying to figure out what we were going to do.
First Christmas, this was his first gift and he loved it.  He couldn't sleep without it.  Even now, he needs Scout to go to bed with him. 
First time out to play in the snow.  He's doing my favorite thing, sticking his tongue out to catch snowflakes.  This was taken in January of 2011.
We made it, his first birthday!!!!  It was a very happy day, everyone was there to celebrate his birthday.  We went with Winnie the Pooh theme for his birthday.  By this point he was doign amazing with his growth and development.
This was taken after we set up his toddler bed.  My in-laws bought it for him so that once Precious Butterfly was born she could sleep in the crib.  He picked out his bedding on his own.
Here he is at Easter, he was walking very well and wearing a suit for the first time.  He was growing so fast before my very eyes.
This was taken in June of 2011 after a Sprinkle Shower for me for the upcoming birth of Precious Butterfly.  It was at my in-laws' home and it was nice to celebrate with my friends and a few of my family members.


This was a month before Precious Butterfly was born.  He's at my mom and dad's house.  That's my mom (his Memere) outside at his little pool they bought just for him.  He's so pale skinned like me and such a happy boy.
The day Precious Butterfly was born...He was such a big boy!  I'm so lucky to have him in my life.

(Top) Here he is holding Precious Butterfly one morning after getting up.  He loves her so much. (Bottom) Here we are a t Story Land in Glen, NH.  We decided to take a trip to have some fun.  He loved the statue and was dancing to the music.  I'm in the background breastfeeding Precious Butterfly.



This was his first Halloween that he went Trick-Or-Treating (my sister and her husband took him since hubby was working that night.  He was a giraffe (my sister bought the costume).  It was fun for him, he didn't get much candy, but he had a good time.
This was his second visit to meet Santa at the church Christmas Fair (held in November), at first he was shy, but once Precious Butterfly was with Santa he wanted to sit with Santa too.


 
Christmas, and man did he have a good time.  He love the remote control car that hubby had bought for him.
 

His second birthday, it was fun.  He had cupcakes instead of a cake.  I loved his shirt more than anything.  He looked like a little man and that shirt was paired with jeans that just completed his outfit.

This was just a few weeks ago when we went apple picking as a family with my in-laws.  It was Little Man's first trip and certainly won't be his last.

He's grown quite a bit and I'm sad to see him turn 3, but happy at the same time.  Time does fly by fast and I try to cherish every moment of it and hope that I can help make pleasant memories for him to look back on as he gets older. 


Monday, October 8, 2012

First Birthday...

So Saturday the 11th of August my precious butterfly turned one!


Since she's allergic to eggs, a birthday cake was not an option, or so I thought. Thanks to my sister, she found a cake mix by Cherrybrook Kitchens that is egg free, dairy free, peanut free, etc. It wasn't cheap but it was worth it since it was safe for her to touch and eat. That was one less thing to worry about, but I also had to figure out what to serve at her party. I wanted it to be minimal risk of cross contamination from egg/egg ingredients. After realizing the food would pose little risk as long as nobody fed her anything we should be ok. I decided to do cupcakes for everyone else and decided to use eggs since I had regular cake mixes that I originally bought before we found out she had an egg allergy. This is what they looked like:

We had friends and family present as we celebrated her birthday, unfortunately my home isn't big enough to host parties, so we have birthday parties at my parent's home.  Both my little man and precious butterfly had fun.  Little man got spoiled by my mom prior to the party and did a good job of not getting into as much as he usually does at her home.  Both my husband and I had a difficult time choosing a theme, but in the end we chose purple and green with butterflies.  Her party was a success I think.  It certainly wasn't a big as Little Man's first birthday, but it was a party with those that are close to us and close to her.  Although some friends and family were unable to attend, I believe she had a great day.  After all, they don't really remember their first birthday, we do tho.
 
Here she is eating her smash cake...it was a memorable day.



A Birth Defect...

His hypospadius birth defect was one that had to be fixed via surgery.  At 6 months old we were refered to a pediatric urologist, who infomed us about how he'd repair the defect and possible complications.  We set up the surgery and it was scary for us since it was his first ever surgery.  I went into the OR with him and stayed with him until he fell asleep.  The repair went well; there were however, some complcations.  Before we left after his surgery his diaper was checked and he wass still bleeding, the surgeon came in checked it and decided to redress it and advised us to watch it for active bleeding. 

We went home and that afternoon his diaper had a lot of blood in it.  We called and the surgeon said to wait an hour and if it was still bleeding to take him to the ER.  We waited and it didn't stop so we went to the ER and the doctor's there had to call the on call resident at another hospital to explain what was happening and to get guidance on what to do.  We spent quite a few hours doing that; finally the doctor returned and redressed the area to try and stop the bleeding.  We went home, but were told to watch his diapers for the next few hours and if it was still bleeding after the second diaper change at home to return to the ER.  We went home it was around 11PM and put him to bed; at 1AM we got up and changed him...he was still bleeding and we got dressed and headed back to the ER.  We spent more hours waiting and finally it was redressed again because the last doctor didn't wrap the area completely prolonging the bleeeding.  We stayed to be sure it worked and we finally returned home at 5:30AM.  Just in time for an exhausted me to go to work.  I was tired and had no sleep; I faced the delima of either getting behind the wheel driving an hour and possibly getting into an accident or staying home and sleeping so that I could go to work the next day.  I decided to stay home since putting my life on the line wasn't a good idea.  I called in stating that there were complications and that I just got home from a second trip to the ER and I wasn't going to go in that day, but I'd be back the next. 

That's when it all changed.  My boss (she didn't work where I worked, but I worked for her under a contract to this other company) called me that afternoon at 10 minutes to 5PM.  She informed me that I was let go from my job due to missing so much work...my husband blamed himself and I said that I understood and I chose not to drive exhausted and possibly die.  Do I regret my decision?  No, I love being at home with my son and playing with him.  I still wish that my son didn't have any complications, then I'd probably still have my job, but would I have my baby girl, I guess we'll never know.  About 7 months later, we had a follow-up with the surgeon, the residual swelling was finally gone and it was determined that he needed another repair to complete the procedure.  We were fine with another repair being done, we just wanted it done before our new baby girl would've been born.  Unfortunately, it wasn't scheduled until a month after her birth.  This second surgery went great, my husband went into the OR with him and stayed with him until he was asleep.  The surgeon came out and said everything went well and after his final follow-up he was all done with pediatric urology.