It was a great day, it was a long day...

Today was... is... a difficult day. I'm flying solo, I have a 2.5-year-old, I have a 7-month-old (who is mobile) and we are super busy." Need I say more? There isn't enough wine in the world to numb all the craziness around here, but the girls and I are managing. Sure, Bella and I ate $1.99 Happy Meals from McDonald's for dinner last night AND we ate leftovers for dinner tonight, but can you blame me? I have two children who can get from point A to point B in no time flat. If you're going to judge, then you probably have no idea where I am coming from. Your kids are perfect, you have two nannies and your husband is always around.

My husband is a very important tax professional. He is busy, he works a lot and he travels a lot. When daddy is out of town (a.k.a. OOT) we tend to spend a lot of money time outside of the house. Both of my girls do better when we are busy and out and about. After CeCe Rose and I dropped Bella off at school today, we headed to Target and spent daddy's hard earned money (on necessities of course, plus the extras).

When CeCe Rose and I went to pick Bella up from school, I spent some more of daddy's money on ADORABLE pictures of Miss Isabella Eve. Apparently the photographers the school hired were able to obtain ADORABLE pictures of my precocious toddler. When I say adorable, I MEAN adorable. In pictures, the child has not smiled in months, but she smiled in these damned pictures, bless her little heart.

It's nearly 8:30pm and Bella is still going strong... or so she thinks. The poor child looks exhausted and I am utterly exhausted. CeCe Rose has been asleep since almost 7:45 and I'm hoping Bella and I will be in bed soon, too. Bella keeps asking me to sleep in her bed and as much as I'd like to oblige her request, I will refrain from doing so because she is a creature of habit. Perhaps I can talk her into a lullaby and a back rub. She has been fighting bed time recently, probably because Pop has been in town and daddy is now out of town.

Tomorrow will be a busy day, so Bella and I should probably get to bed. Early to bed, early to rise.

Love always,
Ian, Kim, Bella & Cecilia

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Love always,
Ian, Kim, Bella & Cecilia

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Cecilia is 7-months-old TODAY!!!

My beautiful family, especially my two beautiful girls.

CeCe Rose with mommy and daddy. 

Oh my goodness, LOVE those beautiful blue eyes!

Sitting up, like a big girl.

Kisses from my big sister, Bella.

They do love each other.

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe I'm writing this post. This means we are more than half through CeCe Rose's first year of life and another month closer to her 1st birthday. I forgot how much these little ones grow and develop at this age and I'm amazed by her developments each and every day. Happy 7-month "birthday" sweet CeCe Rose!

We spent A LOT of time at the pediatrician's office over the past month, due to illness, so I have some quasi-official stats:

Height: 27 inches (she's an inch shorter than Bella was at this age)

Weight: 17 pounds 3 ounces (she's nearly 5 pounds lighter than Bella was at this age)

Sleeping Pattern: Despite RSV and a double ear infection, CeCe is still sleeping well. She averages about 9-10 hours at night and is still napping twice a day. Her morning nap is about 1-1.5 hours and is usually on the go while her afternoon (and longer nap) is 2-3 hours and is always at home. 

Eating Pattern: CeCe Rose is nurses or takes a bottle of expressed breast milk every 3-4 hours and has recently started eating 5-ounces consistently. She is also eating solids 1-2 times a day. Her favorite "food" seems to be peaches (at the moment).

Milestones: CeCe is amazing! On her 7-month birthday, she said her first word, "da-da" and we are so proud! She can sit up on her own and can actually go from the laying position to a sit all on her own. She is also crawling all over the place, which includes chasing the dog or following her sister. 

Friends: We've been MIA lately, but we've been spending time with CeCe's friends Kaylee, Evan, Avery and Connor (Bella is going to be so jealous)!

Current Events: The 2012 presidential election was held yesterday and unfortunately (yes, unfortunately) Obama was re-elected for a second term. Hurricane Sandy bypassed Florida and wreaked havoc on the North East. 

Happy 7-Month Birthday, Cecilia Rose!

Love always,

Ian, Kim, Bella & Cecilia

Down and out

Wow, so much has been happening with our little family but I haven't had a moment to blog about it. Let's just say that we've spent a lot of time in various doctors' offices and filling multiple prescriptions. We've been busy but unfortunately we've been down and out. Blah!

Before Halloween, Bella came down with an awful illness. She went down for a nap one afternoon, perfectly happy and healthy, and woke up three hours later with a fever of 103 degrees. Then the vomiting started and the fever spiked to 104. That's when we headed to the after hours pediatrics clinic. We were told it was a virus and that it needed to run it's course. So that's exactly what we did. Fortunately we had Bella's 30-month well check with our pediatrician a few days later. Bella was not getting better and her oxygen levels were a little low. The pediatrician diagnosed her with bronchitis and a double ear infection. We ended up bringing home a nebulizer and antibiotics. She is feeling much better but still has a slight cough.

Being the sweet and kind sister that she is, Bella shared her germs with CeCe Rose. She was hit and she was hit hard. Her fever spiked to 104 and refused to break. After a trip to the pediatrician (for the third time that week) it was confirmed that CeCe had RSV and a double ear infection. The RSV affected her lungs and oxygen absorption,  so she was prescribed a nebulizer to help open things up.  After about 3 days, her fever finally broke and her body began to recover. She still have a lingering cough, but the pediatrician said it would take a few weeks for the RSV to run its course.

Thankfully both girls are on the mend and I pray that we don't get hit with another bug any time soon. Been the antibiotics, fever reducers and frequent breathing treatments, I probably earned my nursing degree.

Between all the back and forth between the after hours clinic and the pediatrician, I almost forgot about our trip to the hospital for CeCe's renal ultrasound and VCUG. We haven't received the official results of the tests, but initial results were promising. It doesn't appear that she has reflux in either kidney and anatomically things look normal. It was a long day at TGH and CeCe was such a little trooper. Our pediatrician will receive the results soon and hopefully no news is good news.

And then there's me. I went for an MRI on my lower back a few weeks ago after months of lingering back pain. It turns out that I wasn't imagining the pain and I have a slipped disc that is partially torn. The primary care physician referred me for physical therapy, twice a week. We will address the injury and pain again after a few weeks of PT. I begin PT this afternoon, so wish me luck!

Tomorrow I'm meeting with a neurologist to address my chronic migraines. The medication my PCP prescribed works great, but it's not so much a maintenance medication. Our insurance doesn't want to cover it unless I'm under the care of a specialist. So hopefully the neurologist can get to the bottom of my headaches and convince our insurance that I need this medication. Here's to hoping!

I've got a lot to catch up on, including our 2012 holiday photo shoot and CeCe's first trip to Disney. There are a TON of pictures so perhaps I'll just devote an entire post to photos of what we've been up to recently. Until then...

Love always,
Ian, Kim, Bella & Cecilia