Long overdue update!

NICU CREW

NICU CREW plus parents

"Come on Baba"

We made it!

Happy family :)

Railroad museum visit (it was only 107 degrees that day!)

Daddy and Ellie having fun together

Ellie stalking the ducks...

up to no good!

Ready for a day out on the town

Picking flowers

Our beautiful view!

Ready to swim...and playing with the baby pacifier (no...she doesn't suck on one! I brought it for her ears on the airplane)

Cheeseball!!!

Cheeseball: take 2!!!

Visiting Bubba on Memorial Day weekend

Watermelon face Ellie Grace!

YUMMY!!!

Finally...


So, we made it back from vacation…and it was fantastic!

The trip there was so easy! I was dreading the travel time with a toddler, but the combination of a great little girl, mommy’s type A personality and having Daddy and Biddie with us made traveling a delight! Upon arriving at our resort we were told the property had 10 pools and a beach…WHAT…I knew right then I was in Heaven!

Brandon’s older sister, Courtney, lives in Surprise which is not far from Scottsdale. We had such a blast hanging out with her, visiting the Railroad Park and museum, shopping in Old Town Scottsdale, and eating at VERY, VERY YUMMY restaurants! Seriously, the best Italian food I have ever had! In Arizona…??? However, I realized that NO ONE has better mexican (alright...TexMex) food than Houston!

I tried to balance visiting and running around with hanging out by the beach and having some down time for Ellie. We wogged every morning up to Paradise Cafe to eat breakfast which ended up being about a 2 mile round trip. It was fantastic to have the quiet time to take in the mountains and the beautiful horticulture in Scottsdale. It was so cool to walk under key lime trees and beside the giant Saguaro Cacti. Things seemed to be going well until about the 3rd day there. Ellie was growing tired of the heat (it wasn’t below 102 any of the days we were there!) and it was hard to keep her occupied with not a whole lot of fun “kiddie” things to do. I think she was just missing her own bed and toys not to mention she cut another 2 year molar! We had a minor issue on Tuesday while Brandon was at his training. Let me just say that an entire pack of sanitizer wipes, two soiled pool chairs and hand washing a bathing suit later we were back up in the room with a super dose of Motrin so Ellie could sleep off her little tummy bug she seemed to have. Although, as time progressed Ellie continued to eat and I am pretty sure her little episode was a result of heat and teething…ugh…it was totally disgusting whatever it was!

The trip home was just as easy and it really makes wanting to travel in the future very appealing! We even took BOB and gate checked him…he was so wonderful throughout the trip! He even fit in the trunk of Auntie C’s brand new car! What a man!

The trip seemed to fly by and I would give my left arm to be laying out on the beach drinking another frosty tropical beverage…oh, those were the days! However, life goes on and we came back and had to get right back on track! Friday was our standing date with Rhys and Ms. Candy! We decided to change it up a little and head to Sugarland Memorial Park aka Bennett’s park! After walking the path two times (b/c we had two sleeping babies!) we were off to the mall for some lunch. After our fun day mommy came home to a sparkling clean house (thanks to our Heaven sent housekeeper!!!). Saturday B and I went furniture shopping. We desperately need new couches as our have become nothing short of dog beds for Gabbie and Bo…boy are they in for a rude awakening! Thanks to Ms. Candy, Brandon and I headed to Chic Warehouse. Holy cow! It was so much fun and I am pretty sure we found what we were looking for. I was in Heaven in that store! You can pick any style combination and fabric and they custom make your furniture…WHAT…I love it! So, this analtype A mommy has a few very big decisions to make in the next few days…B gave the thumbs up for whatever! So, now the big decisions…fabric and style. I am stuck between a sectional or two separate couches that will sit across from each other…any suggestions?


I must say that it was nice to come back to a three day weekend for Daddy. We have had a fabulous family weekend of cooking, movies, furniture shopping, baking and wii playing! But that’s not all…

The Friday before we left for our trip was a crazy, crazy day! Of course, we had our weekly play date with Rhys and Ms. Candy (as Ellie calls her!). We ran last minute errands on the way home and then it was out to visit Bubba and see his new headstone. For almost 2 years I have been waiting for that moment. I thought I would be overcome with emotion…but, as I looked at it I didn’t really feel anything. Maybe it’s because there was another foul up and it isn’t completely installed…it’s just sitting above my son’s grave…but, his name is on it…surreal.

From the cemetery it was on to dinner at Lupe Tortilla’s with our NICU reunion group (minus one family). It was so much fun to see Adam, Andrew and Rees! Adam and Ellie were “next door” neighbors in their pod, so it was awesome to see them together. I can’t believe how much they have all grown and what true miracles we have. Our babies were all born three or more months early and there they all were eating chips and queso and running around the water fountain…amazing.

I also got the results from my CT scan on Friday. They weren’t much of a surprise to me and I am very grateful for that. It showed minimal Bronchiectasis and no mucus plugs. My sinus CT showed a deviated left septum. Overall, my chest CT looks good! What a huge blessing! I go in on June 17th to talk with my Pulmonologist and get my medication routine planned out…it will be a breeze! On the other hand dealing with Ambry and LabCorp has been a NIGHTMARE! Seriously, why does blood need to come from a certain lab in order for insurance to CONSIDER covering it and how does a lab lose a person’s blood??? We found out late Friday that Brandon was going to have to have his blood drawn for a 3rd time in order to start the processing for the extended CF screen. Ridiculous! So, I will be counting down until results day. This Thursday will mark one week down…at least one more to go. Prayers for God’s patience to shine through me are being said as I type this (yes, I can do two things at once!). Also, we are meeting a new RE on Wednesday morning. Yes, I love our old RE (infertility specialist), but let’s recall the issue with the CF diagnosis (5 months b/w blood draw and results…beyond ridiculous) and all of the problems with his subpar nurse. I wasn’t going to visit a new RE unless we had to reharvest new embryos, simply b/c I thought we would have already done our FET (frozen embryo transfer). When I got the reminder call last week about visiting the new doctor I figured it was meant to be. This doctor comes very highly recommended from the genetic counselor and he has been ranked among the top RE’s in the nation. Oh, how I pray that next month we will be planning on our frozen embryo transfer…praying, praying, praying for an answered prayer!

Blessings,
Angie