Emily 9 Months

Our baby girl turned 9 months on February 6th. She weighed in at 12 lbs. 13 oz.  She is dropping further and further off the charts.  She is 5th percentile for height though (25 3/4 inches).  She is in the 10th percentile for her head circumference (42 cm).
Due to the lack of weight gain our pediatrician is getting worried about her.  We are worried about her.  At her appointment they decided to do her 1-year blood work just to see if they could figure out what is going on with her.  Since she is so small they could only take a small amount of blood at a time.  I have to wait a month and take her back in to draw more blood.
We were thinking that maybe Emily had Coeliac Disease.  That test came back negative.  All the blood work that they did came back negative.
At this appointment Emily was diagnosed as Content Failure to Thrive (FTT).  She is happy and enjoys life but she isn't reaching her mile stones.  She sits up by herself but that is about it.  I put her on her tummy and she just lays there with her head on the floor.  I put her on her hands and knees and she lays back down on the floor.  She doesn't try to stand either. She now has to go to weekly physical therapy sessions.  I have been once and I can see an improvement or perhaps it is because Ryan and I are working with her A LOT more.
Despite everything that is going on Emily is a happy smiley baby...

1/30

On February 15th I took Emily into the doctor because I found blood in her stool.  I was really worried.  It turned out to be a small tear in her rectum.  But it was a good thing that I took her in to the doctor because it turns out she had a double ear infection and a respiratory virus.  She was put on an antibiotic and breathing treatments.  She does not like to have the treatments.  She will usually scream for 7-10 minutes of the 10 minute treatment.

2/16

Due to Emily screaming Nathanial came up with a brilliant idea, he calls it his EAR COVERS...

Emily is such a sweet baby, she is loving and loves everyone around her.  Ryan and I feel so blessed to have her in our family.  She has such a sweet spirit about her.  Her big blue eyes are captivating. Words Emily says: Mama, Dada, Hi, and uh-oh 

2/20

We want to thank everyone who has put Emily's name in various temples and in your prayers.  It means a lot to us.  We will try to keep you up to date with what is going on.

Around Here

This winter has been very warm compared to previous winters, but on occasion we have had some snow.  The snow usually lasts a day or two at the most.  The boys have been wanting to build a snowman but the snow has never been conducive for it.  We decided that we would make a big pile of snow and make it into a snowman. 

I cut a lime in half for the eyes, two green beans made the mouth, and a rock made the nose (Jan 28)

Nathanial and Emily have a very special bond.   Before we ever thought about having another baby Nathanial started to include in his nightly prayers, "please help my baby sister get here".  After this went on for a few nights.  Ryan and I looked at each other and thought, "maybe he knows something we don't".  So Ryan and I prayed about it and sure enough we were supposed to have another baby.  The next month I was pregnant.   Throughout the pregnancy Nathanial kept telling me that the baby was is girl.  We tried  to explain to Nathanial that there was a possibility that the baby could be a brother.  He was adamant that the baby was his little sister.  After we found out that the baby was in fact a girl and we told this to Nathanial he looked at us in a matter-of-fact way and said, "I told you so" 

When Nathanial walks into the room Emily just smiles at him...

Jan 29

On Friday, February 3rd Case held their annual Give Kids A Smile Day (GKASD).  Every year all across the country various dental schools and dentists provide FREE dental care to the public.  Case had various grade school children bused into the school to receive their care.  Case Alliance Dental Association (CADA aka dental wives), which I am president of this year, was there to help.  We were the entertainment after the children were seen but before their buses came to get them.  We had puppets to teach the children how to properly brush their teeth and other oral health care.  I was asked to write a short article about it:

"The Case Alliance Dental Association was represented at Give Kids a Smile Day on February 3rd at Case Western with four volunteers: Kyla Rollins, Angela Harrison, Amy VanYperen, and Kara Jensen.  CADA volunteers helped to keep track of and entertain the school children after they had received their dental care.  Each member had a puppet to help teach the children proper oral hygiene.  CADA had a great song to help the kids remember to brush their teeth (to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat):

Brush, brush, brush your teeth

Brush them night and day,

Keep them bright,

Make them shine,

Brush the plaque away.

CADA was able to entertain over 500 children after they received dental care from Case Western students. It was a very successful day and CADA was glad to be a part of it.

Kara and Angela

Kara, Angela, and Kyla

Entertaining the children

Kara

Open wide

Also at GKASD various mascots came...

Cleveland Cavaliers Sir C.C.

The Cavs, MOONDOG

This next picture takes a little explaining...where to begin...CADA is a group of wives of Case dental students we are under the direction of wives of dentists in the area.  One of those wives is a very nice, very thoughtful person.  She was also at GKASD and thought that CADA members would love to have these "angel" sweaters, since we are all angels for helping out.

Amy, Kyla, Kara, and Angela (we wore them long enough to take this picture)

I am thankful that my friend was able to watch all three of my kids for me so that I could participate in Give Kids A Smile Day.  It was really exhausting but fun at the same time.

After I was done at the school with GKASD.  I went and picked up the kids and we headed over to the library to set up a display to advertise for CADA's annual "A Toothy Affair" to be held on Saturday, March 3rd from 1-3 pm at the Lee Road Library (2345 Lee Road, Cleveland Hts).  The Pedo Club from Case will be there to perform FREE dental screenings for all ages.  There will be a coloring contest, the tooth fairy, and oral health goody bags for the whole family. This is a great event to inform the public about various oral health issues.  This is the last "BIG" event that I will do as president this year.

Christopher is always telling Ryan and I that he is hungry.  A typical "hungry" conversation goes something like this:

Christopher: I'm hungry.

Ryan: Nice to meet you Hungry.

Christopher: No, I want something to eat.

Christopher eating sour cream. Feb 5

Christopher can be the sweetest little boy when we wants to be.  He comes up with some of the cutest things:

Christopher: "Mommy, your favorite color is pink 'cause you're a girl."

After dinner I asked Christopher if he was done eating and he answered saying, "Well, my tummy doesn't want any more food."

One day I was getting ready to go to a baptism and was wearing a dress when Christopher said the following, "Mommy, you look like a princess, a flower princess" He made me feel really good until a few minutes later he says, "Mommy, I love you 100 bathrooms even 100 toilets" Thanks buddy!

Emily is on the small side so our pediatrician recommended adding 1 tsp of oil to her food to help her gain some weight.  We have been trying to find ways to "fatten" her up so I gave her a cupcake...

2/6

She was enjoying it!

Our boys can be silly, they fight like brothers but they also play like best friends.  One night after telling them to go and get their pajamas on, they came out matching...

2/11

We just had to put Emily in there.

I love my kids!

Nathanial has been working really hard and is becoming a really smart kid.  He says some of the funniest things.  One evening he was talking to Ryan and said, "You're the best daddy in the WHOLE WORLD...except when you're mean."

For Valentine's day this year it started out with a Valentine's party in preschool.  All the kids brought valentine's to give to each other.  We made paper heart envelopes to put all the valentines in.

This is what I received from my students

After preschool the boys and I tried to sneak into Ryan's school and leave his present in his cubical but he caught us.  We gave him a digital frame with a bunch of pictures on it, too bad it doesn't work and we have to send it back.
I arranged for a babysitter for the boys so that Ryan and I could go out to dinner for Valentine's Day.  Ryan was late getting home from school so I took the boys to the sitter and then came to get Ryan.  We were about to pull into the parking lot at Red Lobster when the babysitter called and said that Christopher lost his cookies.  Literally, he ate so much junk (cookies, candy,...)!  We turned around and went to get him.  We came home and made cheese fondue with the family instead.  It wasn't what we had in mind but it was fun anyways.

Christopher sharing his sucker with Emily

She wasn't happy when he stopped sharing

Ryan and I gave the kids each a Valentine's Day present...

A singing tiger with Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

A lady bug with candy corn

Cotton candy

I am not sure how long ago this happened but one day I noticed that one of my necklaces was missing.  I searched everywhere for it.  Ryan and I came to the conclusion that the boys must have knocked it into the garbage while playing in my jewelry box.  I was really sad because it was the necklace that Ryan gave me in the hospital when I had Nathanial.  For my Valentine's Day Present Ryan bought me a new one, it isn't quite the same but it is close.