Reflections

My baby is 3 years old now. I guess that means she technically is no longer a baby but a toddler. To me, it is almost too much to wrap my mind around. I remember 3 years ago, sitting in my chair at home and getting the call from the doctor’s office stating I needed to go check myself into Labor and Delivery immediately. My previous day’s blood work had come back bad. I remember arguing with my doctor on the phone about going to the hospital. This was certainly not the first time I had to be admitted to Labor and Delivery. I had spent so much time of the third trimester in the hospital that I was just tired of going in and out. I still had 6 weeks of the pregnancy left. Little did I realize at the time just how serious things had become? The evening seems like such a blur of doctors coming in and out of my room and the uncertainty of not only my life, but that of my little baby girl. Needless to say, thanks to lots of prayers and the work of some incredible doctors and hospital staff everything worked out.

Now I sit here in awe, the little bundle of joy is now 3 years old. How could this little being that I gave birth to 3 years ago be this amazing little girl who knows her ABC’s, counts to 15, recognizes her letter and knows her colors! She amazes me with her ability to memorize all of the nursery rhymes and songs that I teach her as well as use her own imagination to create and tell me stories. It saddens me and makes me so happy to see all of these changes in her. Part of me wants to hold onto that dependent little baby who needed me for all of her whims, and part of me is thrilled at all of her accomplishments and wants her to strike out on her own and become an independent young lady. This is such an emotional battle for a mom like me. I guess if I had another child younger than Elyssa these milestones would not be “hitting” me so hard. The realization that these parts are over forever hit me like a lead balloon. Elyssa wants a little brother or sister. She asks for one all of the time. As she gets older and observes people around us she realizes that a lot of her friends have little brothers or sisters. Unfortunately because of infertility and medical conditions, she will not have a brother or sister and it is very difficult to calm her as she protests “but mommy, please! Me want a brother or sister!” Someday she will understand…I hope.

She had an amazing 3rd birthday party. Her Aunt Heidi flew in from Arizona to spend the week with her. She loves her Aunt Heidi so much and boy did it show. For almost the whole week I was told “No mommy, Aunt Heidi do it for me”. I certainly became second fiddle for a week but I did not mind. I loved watching the two of them play together and Elyssa had Aunt Heidi wrapped around her little finger. We had a huge party for her and she was surrounded by all of her friends and family. Thanks to the help of Aunt Lisa, who spent all day Friday helping me get the food and house prepared for the event. The theme this year was Mickey & Minnie and friends. Aunt Tammy did an incredible job on her birthday cake, it was adorable and of course delicious to boot! We set up two bounce houses in our garage since it decided to rain on her birthday and all the kids had a blast in the make-shift Play Zone. The amazing thing is that on the evening of her party it started snowing and we woke up Sunday morning to 6 inches of snow. Of course we all had to go out and enjoy the snow!

Since Aunt Heidi was in town the following week was filled with fun as well. On Monday, we all took a trip to Sam Moon where all 3 girls (Heidi, Elyssa and I) all bought new purses. Isn’t that what girls are suppose to do at Sam Moon? It is the Mecca for woman! On Tuesday, Aunt Heidi, Aunt Lisa, Elyssa and I went to the Dallas Arboretum. It was a beautiful sunny day and the flowers were beautiful. They had a Texas Pioneer Exhibit for Elyssa to enjoy and even a petting zoo! On Wednesday we did some lounging around and some shopping at Wal-Mart. Thursday we had some of my friends over for dinner and we colored Easter Eggs. Since Aunt Heidi has never been able to enjoy egg coloring with Elyssa we decided to do it early. Elyssa loves coloring eggs and by the end of the evening her hands were all green/brown very much like the Shrek’s. In fact we kept telling her she had Shrek hands. Friday Heidi, Lisa and I took Elyssa to the mall to get her picture taken with the Easter Bunny. She was not afraid and even hugged the bunny. The pictures turned out just great. I’m so proud of her, considering last year she would not go near the bunny. On Saturday we had to take Aunt Heidi to the airport, but before we did, we took Elyssa to an Easter Egg Hunt at the church where Aunt Lisa goes. It was Elyssa’s first Easter Egg hunt and she loved it. It was so sweet watching her pick up the eggs. The excitement and smiles on her face made all of it worth it.

On other news fronts, Elyssa is potty trained. As I’ve mentioned before in previous blogs, she has been Number 2 potty trained for almost 8 months. We were having trouble with Number 1, but as of March 1st, 2010 we were diaper free in the Borden house! She still has a few accidents here and there, but we no longer where diapers or pull-ups, it is big girl panties in our house. Ok, let me re-phrase that, she does where special big girl princess panties at night (pull-ups) because I am to afraid to just use panties. She is waking up probably 85% of the time dry but I’m still not brave enough to do panties just yet! She is so proud of her self and we are so proud of her as well. Elyssa has “Potty Power”. For anyone who has ever seen the DVD, you understand what I am talking about. We finally beat the odds and even though she has stage 3 renal reflux we did it. She has her follow up with the urologist the end of May. We can pray for a miracle, that it is healed and if not we will more than likely be planning the surgery. I am just so afraid that this will hamper all of the progress we have made, but I will keep my fingers crossed that it will not.

I have rambled enough in this reflection. I guess I should blog more often, and then I would not get so long winded……nah, maybe not!

Emergency Rooms are no fun for kids...

Boy oh boy, what a week and it ended in a pretty traumatic night. Elyssa had not been feeling well all week. She started getting down last Saturday but it really did not set in full force till about Monday evening. After a few days of just continual throwing up I took her into the drs who told me she had a stomach bug and sent us home with some Zofran to help settle her stomach. She told me the only time to be concerned was if she got dehydrated or if she started expelling a dark black/brown, chunky vomit because it could mean she had an obstruction. The dr’s appointment was on Wednesday and by Thursday evening she was still puking 3-4 times a day. Thursday evening she woke up at about 2am vomiting the thick chunky dark stuff and that is when I got scared. Luckily Eddie was home and we got dress and took her to the emergency room to be checked out. We spent over 9 hours in the ER. They did several tests, hooked her up to IV fluids, and just tried to make her comfortable. She was so miserable, she did not like the pulse ox on her finger, and hated the IV in her other hand. We tried to tell her the pulse ox was her special “princess finger” and the IV board they had taped to her arm to hold the IV in place was her magic sled but after about 4 hours of it, she told me “mommy, this is not special anymore, take it off!!” We were worried for a while because the abdominal x-rays came back showing her intestines were bloated and possibly did have an obstruction. They did a CT scan and fortunately there was not an obstruction but her intestines were indeed bloated but the dr felt it was all triggered by her dehydration ( she did end up being very dehydrated), and the constant vomiting and stress on her stomach. He said that it was a gastro intestinal infection that was causing all of her issues and that he had seen several kids in the ER with this problem. It is just something that is going around right now and it was our luck that Elyssa happened to get it! The amazing part to me is that the only symptom she had was the vomiting, no fever, no chills, no coughing or sneezing…

Today Elyssa is feeling much better and acting like my little princess again. I think we are finally on the road to recovery and I can say I am just overjoyed that this adventure is coming to an end…

The ending of yet another year...

…and what a year it has been! Elyssa has blossomed into a beautiful, intelligent, loving little girl. My baby has somewhere and somehow disappeared, and this inquisitive, demanding, sweet little child has been put in her place. I do have to say I am a bit sad at the loss of my baby, but I am so excited about the future. She will be turning 3 in 3 months. Yes, 3 in three months. I almost had a small breakdown when I realized her 3rd b-day was so close. Of course this does bring on the excitement of planning her big 3rd b-day and we all know just how much fun I have doing that. I’m very confused about a theme this year, Elyssa and I will have to have a talk about this. Speaking of talking, she is doing quite a bit of it! Her vocabulary is just amazing and her ability to speak in full sentences is just amazing to me. I guess it is just normal for kids her age, but to me it is amazing that I am able to have a conversation with her and she is able to communicate to me exactly what she wants. She tells me when she is cold, hot, hungry, thirsty, sad, or having a bad day. Some of the things that she says just cracks me up. If she is upset, she will tell me “mommy, I have my feather’s in a bunch” or if she is happy about something she will say “mommy, that just cracks me out” (instead of cracks me up!!). She also tells me that Daddy is being grumpy when he tells her “no”, or that she wants to do things “by myself mommy, by my self”. Such independence and character, my little girl has!

The last few months have been very busy and exciting. There were so many holidays to celebrate. In October we went to the pumpkin patch with Elyssa’s friends Jack and Luke. She had such a wonderful time, feeding the goats, going on a hay ride and of course picking out the pumpkins to take home. We also went trick or treating for the first time. We went to Aunt Na-na’s house and went with her. This year Elyssa was a beautiful princess. It was so cute seeing our little princess go up to each house and say “trick or treat” and “thank you” for all the candy. By the end of the evening she had the whole idea of trick or treating down to an art. We also went to a Halloween party at Aunt Lisa’s house. It was so much fun getting dressed up; playing games and Aunt Lisa even had a haunted graveyard walk in her backyard. She did hay rides in her wheel barrel and had lots of pizza to eat. Aunt Lisa eve n took us to a Fall Festival at the Rec Center a week or so before Halloween where Elyssa go to play games, jump in bounce houses, walk through a petting zoo, and of course eat yummy snacks. Elyssa had so much fun!

November was not only a Thanksgiving celebration but also the kick off of the Christmas season! We spent Thanksgiving at Nana and Pops in Lufkin TX. Elyssa got to stay in a hotel while we were there and she loved it. Her cousin “Eban” (Ethan) even got to spend the night in the hotel with her and she thought that was just wonderful. The day after Thanksgiving Nana and pop took us all the Lufkin Zoo. We all had a really great time and Elyssa just loved running around looking at all the different animals. We even got to ride the “choo choo” train around the zoo. A week before Thanksgiving Elyssa asked to see Santa. Now everyone remembers that last year, Elyssa would not go near Santa. This year, she not only wanted to see Santa, she sat on his lap on multiple occasions. I was just so proud of her. Aunt Heidi also came to visit in November. We had a wonderful visit with her and wished she could have stayed longer. We went to the Gaylord Texan Resort with her and Aunt Lisa to kick off some Christmas spirit. They decorate the entire resort in a Christmas theme and it is amazing to see.

December was filled with Christmas fun! We even had a playdate with her friend Jamie where we made Sugar cookies and let the kids eat all the cookies and icing that they wanted to. Hey, kids are only kids once sooo I say let them eat cookies!! We went to the Bass Pro Shop’s Christmas celebration with her friend Jamie as well. We took her to the Wylie light up night to watch the parade, but it was soooo cold we did not stay very long. She even got to see Santa at Wal-Mart and got her picture taken there as well. There were so many wonderful things we go to do this year with her for Christmas. We went to Richardson’s Santa’s village and got to see all the holiday lights and walk through some really cute cottages as well. In school (MDO) Elyssa put on a Christmas program. It was so cute! The kids all got up on stage in the chapel and sang songs. I was such a proud mommy that day. She stood up there and sang and did all the motions for the songs. Of course I took hundreds of pictures and a video of it all. Afterwards she came to me and said “mommy, all I see was daddy taking pictures and more pictures and more pictures!” I almost died laughing, she knows her mommy and daddy well! For Christmas Eve we had a Mexican Fiesta at our house for all the family and Aunt Na-na & JT. Christmas morning was incredible and magical. Elyssa really understood that she was going to get toys for Christmas this year and was so excited when she came down Christmas morning. Santa had been very hard at work Christmas Eve putting together a new red tricycle and a new princess 3 wheel scooter. She got so many wonderful things that as of today there are still items still in plastic waiting to be opened and played with. I’m in no hurry, it can be a new Christmas next week! We spent Christmas day at Aunt Cheri’s house in Irving with all the family including Nana and Pop!

That brings me to today. New Years Eve 2009. Tonight we are spending it with some friends. A small gathering of people close to us to bring in the New Year and reflect on the past. I am hoping Elyssa is going to stay up for the New Year, in fact she is still napping right now in hopes that she will be able to stay in and ring in the New Year with mommy and daddy….

Happy New Year from our house to your!

Remember me? Can I? Why? Love you more…

Yup, those are Elyssa favorite new things to say. She will look at me with those big inquisitive eyes and ask “mommy, daddy remember me?” I try not to laugh and say “Of course Daddy remembers you”. Of course she answers this with, “why mommy?” and the day begins….

I sometimes think that Elyssa talks just to hear herself talk. It is truly amazing to me but I think she could amuse herself all day long just talking to herself! I remember saying that I could not wait till she talked and we could carry on our own little conversations, now, sometimes I wish I had a good set of ear plugs!

She certainly is learning how to push buttons with the phrase “Can I?” She will ask if she can do something and I will say “no, Elyssa”. She will answer this with “Can I?” I will say “no”, she will again ask “can I?”, and Again I will “no Elyssa” a bit more firmly. Does this stop her, of course not. She will yet again ask “Can I mommy, Please!!!” I look at her and ask “Elyssa, what did mommy say?” she then will get these adorable pouty eyes and whisper “Sorry, mommy, sorry”. I honestly think she thinks if she asks the same question multiple times she will get a different answer. And this scenario will play out about 20 + times a day with the same routine. I sometimes start to wonder about Pavlov’s theory…..

The sweetest thing she says and of course I could listen to her say it all day long is “love you more, mommy”. I can’t even imagine 3 sweeter words that she could ever say. She is just changing so much and growing up way to fast. I know I’ve said that a million times but it is so true and there is just no way to stop time.

Well it is official, Elyssa is 100% “poopie in the potty” trained! No accidents for about 2 and a half months now. Of course the “pee-pee” in the potty is a whole other story. Isn’t #2 suppose to be the hard for kids to get and #1 is the easy one? Well we think that Elyssa really has no control over it at all. The last time we had her VCUG for her renal reflux it had progressed from Stage 2 to Stage 3 so it was not getting any better. The dr agreed to allow us to wait till she was 3 to do the surgery (in case we could get her potty trained with the hope that it might help) but it appears my little girl is ready to be all the way potty trained and because mommy and daddy don’t want to do the surgery she is unable to “hold it or feel the urge” to go. In fact when I ask her where does the “pee-pee” go and she will reply “in the potty mommy”. So I ask her why is it in her diaper, she looks at me and says “no fair mommy, not fair”, so I ask her again and she tells me “hush your mouth mommy”! So, I think we have decided to call the urologist and see if we can go ahead and do the surgery and pray for the best.

Elyssa has been enjoying the fall. We went to the TX state fair where Elyssa got to see, pet and feed all kinds of animals and eat her first Corny dog. We took her to pumpkin patches, fall festivals, Six Flags Fright Fest and 2 Halloween parties. I don’t think there was anything she missed out on. She even went Trick or Treating on Halloween. It was her first time and she did great. She said Trick or Treat to everyone who came to the doors and held her bag open. She of course kept asking to “eat candies” all night long as well, and of course we let her. What else is Halloween about ….CANDY!!

Right now I have flooring installers at my house installing new floors downstairs. I am so excited, no more carpet on the first floor. Next is the upstairs!!

Pumpkin Patch 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

TX State Fair~ Oct 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The amazing Jumping Bean..

Elyssa loves to jump. I guess all kids love to jump, but I just think Elyssa is sometimes obsessed with jumping. She even at 2 years old wants to jump rope. I hold the jump rope for her and she will jump over the rope. Now I only hold it about an inch off the ground but the girl loves to jump. Recently, on one of our many trips to Collin Creek Mall, Elyssa notices a new play object. They have something new that allows a person to be strapped into a harness and jump as high as they can. Elyssa of course when she first saw it, begged to go on the “jumping bean”. Jumping Bean is what she so loving calls anything she can jump on. The first time I saw it I told her no that she had to be “bigger” to get on it, to me it just looked a bit to dangerous for a kid her size and I honestly did not think they would allow her to go on it. So she was happy to do what we always do; ride the train, play in the play area, and ride the coin operated cars on the way out. Well the next time we went a few days later daddy was with us. Of course as soon as daddy saw the new “jumping bean” he was intrigued. As Elyssa was riding the train (it is in front of the area where the train is), he walked over and talked to the gentleman who was running the “jumping bean”. He found out that Elyssa was no only big enough they had actually allowed kids smaller than her to jump. Apparently the weight limit on the “jumping bean” was 20-150lbs and Elyssa is 30lbs. So after the train ride we walked over to the “jumping bean” and discussed what to do. As Eddie and I debated whether or not to allow her to jump Elyssa was standing beside me pleading “want to mommy, want to, please mommy want to” so of course as I looked into those adorable blue eyes and could not refuse..she got to ride the “jumping bean”. I won’t lie, I was scared to death that she would start bawling and hate it, but my little Elyssa was a real trooper. She not only did great, she loved it. The gentleman who ran the “jumping bean” was great with her and helped her the whole time. She was giggling and laughing as she jumped at least 10-13 ft in the air. All I could do was laugh with her and of course take a ton of pictures and videos of her first amazing experience on the jumping bean!

Of course since that first time jumping on the “jumping bean”, we now have to ride on the jumping bean every time we go to the mall, but I have to say her giggles and laughs make it all worth it…