Cabin Fever

Yep, I has da cabin fever for which there is no cure. *hand to forehead* Whoa is me... I'm ready for yard sales and auctions and thrifting and crafting and creating and and and!!!! I do believe I'd be one of those idiots standing out in -12 degree weather at the only yard sale within a 100 mile radius with shifty eyes and shaking hands, jonesing for THE find of the day - if only another idiot would put their stuff out on their barren lawn of crispy, brown remnants of grass.

I blame my mother for this affliction. She is an enabler and my partner in crime and we fully intend to teach Amelia tricks of the trade starting as early as April when we plan to have our own yard sale. Now, that is quite opposite from our traditional rolls in the whole thrifting endeavor and THAT could very well be why we need to have a yard sale in the first place. We have tons of stuff, and truly, are only selling it to make room for more, new-to-us stuff.

I love all things vintage, another affliction for which Mummy Dearest can take responsibility for. (Boy, she's sure going to LOVE reading this! *waves* Good morning, Mom! Did you sleep well? Good..good..Glad to hear it. hehe) For years, if anyone needed a table or hutch or even a bedroom suite, the checked with me before going shopping. Sadly enough, I usually had it "in stock." My inventory has dwindled over the last few years but I still have a lot of, um, treasures to pass on to the next collector.

David and I are going to pick up my camera tomorrow and I fully intend to sneak in a trip to Hobby Lobby to pick up some stuff for a few projects I have in mind (mostly for Amelia!). I made tarts (wickless candles) and air fresheners this weekend and am feeling wonderfully productive. lol Nope, it doesn't take much but that's part of my charm. :-p

Since the name of this blog is Amelia Gracelyn, I suppose I should stop rambling about myself (I see another blog in my future) and mention The Wonder Preemie. She, of course, is beautiful, sweet, charming, cuddly, funny, happy, at times stinky, spitty, clingy, wonderful, joyful, and any other praising adjective you can think of! I swore I'd never be the kind of parent that went on and on and on about their kids because, well, because your child really is not as wonderful as you think.....But mine really is!!! lol! I'm kidding, sorta, but even when she's screaming for no apparent reason, I think she's absolutely fantastic.

David said something this afternoon about her being a handful because she wasn't happy sitting in her bouncy with me sitting in the rocking chair RIGHT BESIDE HER. If I dared to look at the TV for more than 1.5 seconds, she'd squeal and then smile as soon as I turned back to her. She wants my complete and undivided attention but I can't really say anything about it because I was the very same way! Amelia got tired of being half an inch from me and requested, in her own special way, to be picked up. That's when David said she was a handful. I just laughed and replied, "I'd rather her be like this than for something to be wrong and her be completely unresponsive."

I've said a million times that life is just a matter of perspective. Some would find it completely unacceptable that their child needed to be close a good part of the day. Not me. I think it's an fantastic miracle that she has the ability to know who we are and the ability to communicate her needs. I've decided to FINALLY make a wrap to carry her around in here at home and when we're out. I bought the fabric when she was still in the NICU, but as is the story for the last year, I just never got around to it. I hope to get it done tomorrow evening and start using it Tuesday. Hopefully, she'll like it and we'll be on the road to productivity! ;-)

If you've followed Amelia's story from the beginning, you know I grew to adore so many of the nurses we spent months with. One of those nurses had just announced her first pregnancy a couple weeks or so before Amelia came home. Her beautiful baby was recently born and I would like to ask for you to remember them in your prayers. Also, another lady I know had a premature baby a year or so before Amelia was born, and from what I understand, her precious miracle has been having some issues. Each time I pray for Amelia, I pray for her baby, and if you can, would love if you could pray for her, too.

Honestly...I've come to know so many ladies that have experienced the birth of a micro-preemie and I try my best to pray for them each day. This can be such a hard, trying experience and it takes the prayers and support from everyone around you to pull you through. God IS good and He DOES answer prayers. I find such infinite peace in that...

Amelia still takes a shower with either David or me but she hasn't really shown much interest in what was going on. Since we're leaving tomorrow, I went ahead and took a shower so I could bathe her tonight instead of risking getting water in her ears and taking her out in the cold in the morning. (Where did I get that idea from anyway? I don't remember anyone ever telling me that. lol) Tonight, for the first time, she actually turned toward the shower stream and ran her hand in and out of the water. awww! It was so cute! I love seeing the world again through her eyes. I dare say I'll enjoy it more the second time around than I did the first...

Just a funny picture...LOL



Various Christmas Pics - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050031&id=1378911125&l=bf5c86f7cc

January Pictures - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2049721&id=1378911125&l=aa37c8d1d0

Good night, Friends. Sweet dreams! ♥♥♥♥

What a week!

Aside from the severe sleep deprivation I experienced immediately following Amelia's home debut, this has been one of the most tiring weeks I've had since she was discharged. She had her booster and RSV shots on Monday leaving her feeling crummy Tuesday and Wednesday. As a matter of fact, she just hasn't seemed to feel well all week but not really sick. She didn't have a fever and wasn't coughing or anything, she was just whiny and even more clingy to me than usual (if you can imagine that!). Have you ever seen a baby smile and cry at the same time? I have.

David really tries to give me a break, but after a few minutes, Amelia just screams until I "save" her from him. She'll be crying one minute and the second she sees me walking toward them, she starts to smile. Yes, I know, it's sweet and cute and I secretly get a small kick out of it at times BUT sometimes I really do need to get something done around here. Our living room looks like a pink tornado has come twirling through and you would think we ALL drank out of bottles by looking in the kitchen!

Speaking of bottles, Miss Amelia has mostly graduated from small to big bottles! She often eats close to 5 ounces at a time now although that results in more spitting up. I burp her as usual but she still spits up. We're going up a little on her reflux meds and I think we'll probably try to thicken the formula a little more to see if that helps. At least it's not projectile! See? You should always find the silver lining? :-p

Amelia weighed 15 pounds, 14 ounces and was 24.5 inches long at her appointment last Monday. Her weight gain has settled down some since she started regular formula but she grew nearly an inch in length in just four weeks! She is rolling over from back to front like a champ but still gets stuck trying to get back over. She will stay on her tummy a little longer and is holding her head up!



David took Amelia to his mom's (Nana's) this morning to give me a break, although I told him I didn't need one. He disagreed saying if I didn't soon get a little time to myself, I would bite his head off. Of course, I'm just not sure what he could possibly mean by that... I really didn't want her to go! It has nothing to do with where she is - I know she's well taken care of. It just feels weird being home without my little girl. David even admitted to having a hard time leaving her this morning. I guess it just feels different when we leave Amelia with either of our moms for a little bit so we can run some errands. She'll be home soon and I'll be ready for her to go to bed in a few hours if she's still acting like she has the rest of the week! lol That's ok, though, because I can go in her room and look at her and even touch her anytime I want because she's HOME.

I know some of you are thinking, "Just wait. It won't be long and you'll be begging someone to come get her!" Trust me, those fleeting moments have already reared their ugly heads but we really and truly don't want to be away from her for any extended period of time. We wanted her. We dreamed of her. We prayed for her just as we do for any future children. We chose to have children to complete our family, to love and enjoy. Not just so we could say, "Hey! Look at us. We have a baby!" (Unfortunately, I do know some people like that. Bah!)

That being said, I do admit to enjoying my day of sleep today, though... *grins* That's right, I slept until almost 3:00 this afternoon, barring the times Mom and David called.

Amelia celebrated her 8 month birthday this week and I'm in full-on birthday party planning mode! The colors are bright pink and green and I even have her dress picked out! Y'all know I'm a planner. This is what I do. I plan, plan, plan. I spent the year before David and I got married planning and buying stuff to make all the centerpieces and table decorations although I didn't end up with any of it after the wedding because everyone snatched them for themselves! Hey, at least I didn't have to worry about packing it all back up! lol

Why pay someone else to create my vision when I'm the only one that can really SEE what it is I would like to have? I love making things and am feeling inspired to create for the first time in at least a year. I've been asked why I want to go through all the trouble for a party Amelia will never remember. I just smile and respond, "Because her very existence is worth celebrating..." Nine months ago, Amelia's fate was uncertain. Today, she is a beautiful, growing, thriving, smiling, giggling, cooing, crying, pooping, cuddly, precious, miraculous gift from God and we're going to celebrate the fact that she's here with us. (Besides, I like to do stuff like this! lol)

As far as we know, her party will be on Saturday, May 15th. Save the date because you're all invited! LOL! I wish there truly was some way for every single one of you that's prayed for Amelia and supported us through the last year to really be there to witness the result your answered prayers and healing thoughts. Y'all probably get tired of me going on and on about how grateful I am and how wonderful she is but I am constantly filled with such a spirit of gratitude and feelings of being truly blessed. It is said that what comes out of your mouth is what's in your heart and my heart is feeling pretty good these days. ♥

David just called to let me know he was at his mom's! Yayy! I'm really glad Amelia has such wonderful and loving grandparents that would do anything they possibly could for her but I'm ready to smooch the chubby cheeks of my cute little girl! hehe

Goodness, what a long entry. I think I should rename this blog to "The nonsensical ramblings of a sometimes funny, always quirky and usually blonde chick." Think there's enough room for that title? ;-)

Click here for the newest pics of Amelia! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2049721&id=1378911125&l=aa37c8d1d0

"See" you soon,
LaLa

Happy New Year!

Welcome to our new home. ;) I'm going to try this out for a while but may change the name to something else at some point. I can add pictures to each post and can change the look whenever I get the urge. woohoo!

Goodness, what a year 2009 was! Some would look at the last year and see trials, heartache, and hardships. I see abundant blessings, the gift of a new perspective, and contentment within my soul I've never felt before.

Amelia is wonderful as always but she's really bordering on the spoiled side. Fine, ok, she IS spoiled but y'all know how I feel about that - you cannot love a child too much. You can smother them but that happens later. lol In all honesty, she's just being a typical 4-month old. She's aware of new things each day and wants so desperately to get to them but she's not quite sure how to make it happen. That's where we come in. We are her little hands and feet for now but she'll be cruising along before we know it.

We're down to ONE medicine each day!!!!!!! Her diuretic was discontinued this week, leaving her with Prevacid and her multivitamin. We still give her gas drops as needed but that's really it. God is good!!

Amelia now rolls over from her back to her tummy but gets stuck, kind of like a turtle in reverse. As soon as she realizes she's on her stomach, she panics and pitches a fit. We are able to do tummy time with the help of her Boppy pillow, thank goodness.

Tummy time with Boppy:


and time for Tummy Time to come to an end:



On that note, I must go to bed. It's already very late but I wanted to play with our new blog. lol

Good night and sweet dreams. ♥♥