YIKES! Moldy tubby toys!

I always make sure that I squeeze out all of the water from the tub toys but the other night at the end of Alaina's bath I squeezed one of the toys out and ick! Black mold! For pete's sake, she chews on these things! I wanted to throw them away, but I called my mom and she said to wash them in bleach and water and squeeze them several times, then rinse them in plain water. So, I did it, but I am afraid to use them again. I mean, of course it's going to happen again. How often am I going to have to spend 40 minutes washing these things? It just doesn't seem worth it. BUT...my HUGE question is, why do they have a hole in them anyway???? What's the point? Can't they make them without a hole? Hmmm...off to Google hole-less tub toys!

Getting ready for Baby's Big Day!

I can't believe Alaina's birthday is right around the corner. We have her dress, her invitations, gift bags and the cutest gifts for the kiddies...all we need now is more room in our house!

half a year old already!

Alaina had her 6 month check-up yesterday. She weighs 14 lbs 10oz and is 24 inches long. Doc said she is the 50th percentile for weight and height. I asked, "is that for a 5 month old?" since she was 5 weeks early. He said , "no, that is for a 6 month old." She's caught up already! Amazing! She started eating sweet potatoes yesterday and will get bananas in a few days. The look on her face was priceless the first time she tasted the sweet potatoes. It went from confusion straight to delight!

Alaina's appointment with the Geneticist

Alaina had an appointment with a Geneticist yesterday. He was truly amazed at how healthy she is. Alaina just loved him! She was smiling at him and talking up a storm. She is developing perfectly on track. I learned that Situs Ambiguous with asplenia, which is characterized by ambiguous location of the abdominal organs and absence of the spleen results in affected patients having a 99%–100% prevalence of congenital heart disease. Alaina has a perfectly healthy heart. The Geneticist actually said that she is a miracle! I am sure that is a pretty uncommon statement from a man of science.
I was thinking in the car on the way to work this morning, that not long ago I was just devastated hearing about all that was wrong with my baby and here she is 5 months old and perfectly healthy. I never expected this. I could not be more happy!

My Angel was Baptized

Alaina was Baptized on Sunday May 24th. About the 24th....I realized a few weeks ago, my Wedding Shower was on the 24th of July, I was married on the 24th of September, Alaina was born on the 24th of December and was Baptized on the 24th of May. A neat coincidence. Anyway...everything went very well. I surprised myself at how much I didn't mind her being passed around from person to person. Of course she barely slept all day and was not so sweet when we finally got home. I will add pictures as soon as I can. I brought my camera, but was too busy to take any pics. Hopefully my parents took some good ones. Dad has a habit of cutting off heads!

Alaina has a new cousin

Madelyn Eve was born Sunday May 17th
6 lb 15 oz. 19 inches

Mom and baby are doing great and are going home today! Alaina and Maddie are only 5 months apart and I am sure they will be best friends with Maddie's big sis Meghan callin' all the shots!

The Present

Alaina came home from the hospital at two months old, almost three months ago. I am not going to say that all was perfect when she came home, it wasn't, but I didn't care. I had my baby home and I was not going to let go. She threw up some, maybe once a day for about two weeks, but it was so much better than every feeding ending up all over the floor, or my shirt. We spread blankets and sheets all over the floor, her swing...I only fed her in the kitchen. But, after a few weeks she stopped throwing up completely and never threw up again. Shortly thereafter she started sleeping through the night. How lucky am I?
I really can not believe to this day, that things turned out this way, so perfectly. I feel so blessed. I know that difficult beginnings do not always lead to happy endings, but I have faith and I truly believe that the worst is behind me and the future is bright for my baby.