How do you eat an Oreo?

It's no secret that Oreos are Beckham's favorite treat, and today I decided to spoil him a little bit. Plus, I just love watching him pull them apart and eat all the cream out of the middle!

Even the dog loves oreos!

"uh... can I have one?

It's about time..

Well, I'm back!

Forgive me for leaving this blog to shrivel up and die for the last 6 months... I've been busy!

Raising 2 little kids with a husband in medical school is no easy task.

So to try and make it all up to you, I am going to give you an update on my two favorite little munchkins and what they have been up to.
Because, let's face it...

My kids are way cooler than I am.
Here we go!

Beckham:

As of today, Beckham is 22 months old!
He is growing up so fast and he gets funnier everyday.

I can't believe he is almost 2!

Beckham's stats:

(Beck won't go to the doctor again to get weighed and measured until he is 2 so 

this is according to my scale)

Weight: 30lbs

Height: 34" (ish)

Head: Ginormous!

Beckham's favorite things:

-iPad (games, puzzles, & movies)

-Reading books

-Any kind of animal. He is in heaven every time we go to the zoo!

-Our neighbors cat. That poor cat gets mauled every time Beckham sees him.

-Bath time

-Coloring

-Facetime with family

-Talking on the phone

-His pillow & Spartacus the sea horse

-Disney movies

-Counting

Beckham is so much fun to have around and we love him so much. He is so sweet to Emmie (most of the time) and he is so smart. He wears us out everyday but it's worth it!

Emmie:

Emmie is 8 1/2 months old!

She is the biggest sweetheart and she is so much fun to dress up.

I can't believe how fast she is growing up, it feels like just yesterday that she was born!

Emmie's stats:

Weight: 15lbs 10oz (13th percentile)

Height: 25 1/4 inches (5th percentile)

Head: (50th percentile)

Emmie's favorite things:

-Puffs, yogurt melts, & cheerios

-Crawling

-Pulling herself up on EVERYTHING and starting to cruise along the furniture

-Playing with her big brother (even though it makes him mad sometimes)

-Jabbering at anyone who will listen

-Chewing on anything she can get her little hands on with her 8 little teeth

-Her Daddy

-Stuffed animals

-Bath time

-Breastfeeding (she HATES bottles)

Emmie is so sweet and so sassy all at the same time. She has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger and it melts my heart. She is growing so fast and I am just trying to cherish everyday with her!

I love being a mom to these sweet little kids and I am so lucky to have them in my life!

March 2012

March pictures!

March was also a month spent at home with the occasional doctors appointment.

We played lots and napped even more.

Made a fort and watched a movie for family night.

Beckham jumped in the tub with his clothes on and colored pictures for Mimi and Bop.

March was low key but lots of fun, Enjoy!

February 2012

Here is a quick recap of February through pictures.

We spent lots and lots of time at home so Miss Emmie could rest and get healthy, and Beckham acted like she didn't even exist. 

We had lots of meltdowns, naps, treats, and movie nights. 

And we were even brave enough to even take Emmie out of the house a couple times so we all didn't go stir crazy!

Beckham loved going to the aquarium to see the "shish" and then going to feed the "burbs" at the pond.

Enjoy!

Splish Splash!

A few nights ago Logan and I experienced one of those parenting moments where all you can do is laugh.  

We were were having a nice night at home and it was almost bedtime for the kiddos. Beckham had been bathed and had a clean diaper and pajamas on, and I was in the kitchen warming up some milk for his nighttime snack. Logan was helping me out by getting Emmie's pajamas on and we were really looking forward to some peace and quiet in the house once the kids were asleep. That's when we heard a puzzling noise.... 

SPLASH!!! 

Apparently I had forgotten to drain the bathtub and Beckham thought it would be a good idea to hop back in! At first we didn't know how to react but then we looked at each other and laughed. This will be one of those moments we will look back on to remember that we can't always be in control! 

Hooray for the joys of parenthood!

NICU pictures

Emmie has been home with us for over a month now and she has made our home such a special place. But not a day goes by that I don't think about where we all were almost 7 weeks ago. As you all know Emmie has had a bit of a rough start and she spent the first 15 days of her life in the NICU. Those were the longest days I can remember and I'm so glad they are over. Here are a ton of pictures that chronicle her NICU journey. 

Vapotherm/oxygen and Feeding tube.
She was so swollen! Her hands and face were so puffy from the delivery and her IV fluids.

So tiny!

Finally getting to touch my sweet baby

The syringe you see by her head was attached to the tube in her stomach and was used to suck large amounts of air out of her stomach. Her poor little stomach would be huge and round and the nurses would pull the air out for her to make her feel better.

Tiny feet!

Snuggle time

Holding Mimi's hand

Daddy time

Mimi's (Grandma) turn!

Bop's (Grandpa) turn!

Tiny hands and teeny feet

The wonderful nurses made Emmie's cute name tag for her room, and this is the board where all of Emmie's information was posted everyday.

IV and oxygen monitor on her feet.
Emmie kept ripping her IV's out so the nurses had to keep changing them from her hands to her feet all the time!

I love my girl!

Emmie has her daddy wrapped around her teeny finger!

Emmie's tanning bed. AKA Bili lights.

We all called these her "Movie star shades"
(She HATED them!)

Bop snuggled her while she took a feeding through her feeding tube.

I brought her some cute clothes to wear instead of the hospital clothes.

So pretty! This was a few days before she got to come home.
You can really see how much healthier she looks.

Daddy's girl. He is seriously smitten with her!

So sweet!

Car seat test.
She passed with flying colors!

Finally got the news that she could come home!
I was so tired but so so so happy I wouldn't have to spend another night away  from her!

Now that Emmie is home she has been doing so well. We go to lots of doctor's appointments and it seems like I am always worrying about her little heart, but I know that she is getting better every day. More pictures of this pretty girl and her big brother are on the way.

We are so blessed!

Samoa Brownies

A few days ago Logan and I went grocery shopping with the kids and some sweet girls were sitting in front of the grocery store selling Girl Scout Cookies. Usually I am a sucker for Thin Mints and Samoa's but I was feeling strong and told them "No thanks" when they asked if I would like to buy some. I'm working on trying to lose this baby weight and I was so proud of my self for saying no. 

The whole time we were shopping I was feeling good about refusing those delicious cookies until it was time to leave. I didn't realize that I had used up large amounts of my will power the first time I said "No". I practically had to run away from the sweet little Girl Scouts in front of the store yelling "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!"

When we arrived home I was ruined. I couldn't stop thinking about how I just ran away from my favorite cookies! As soon as the groceries were put away I logged onto Pinterest to try and find something to curb my craving. 

Whoops.

I found these delicious morsels that I whipped up and consumed as soon as they were ready!

Samoa Brownies

So much for my diet... my butt didn't appreciate them but I sure did!

Make them tonight... you will thank me for it!

Emmie's Story

 This handsome little guy would like to introduce you all to his 

new baby sister!

Little miss Emmie Marie Cooper!

Born January 6th, 2012

at 11:07pm

5lbs 15oz

18in. long

On Tuesday January 3rd I went to the doctor for my normal belly check appointment around 3:00pm. Everything was measuring and looking normal until the doctor went to listen to Emmie's heartbeat on the doppler. I could tell that something was up because the doctor was spending a lot longer than usual listening, and even I could hear that something didn't sound quite right. The doctor explained a few minutes later that she could hear an arrhythmia in the baby's heartbeat and she would like me to get an ultrasound to make sure everything was alright with the baby. I was scheduled for my ultrasound later that week on Thursday at a hospital across town because it was the only radiology clinic with an opening that week.

Thursday rolled around and I dropped Beckham off with my sister-in-law and headed to my appointment.  Logan had a long break from class that morning so he was able to meet me for the ultrasound. To save some time I'll jump to the end of the ultrasound where we were told that the baby's heart was beating WAY too fast  and they thought that the top part of her heart was beating differently than the bottom half of her heart. I was sent immediately over to labor and delivery for observation and to be seen by a high-risk doctor. They just confirmed what we had seen in the ultrasound and sent me to a different hospital to be seen by a pediatric cardiologist. 

The cardiologist did another ultrasound and diagnosed the baby with an Atrial Flutter. The upper left quadrant of the baby's heart was beating up to 500 beats per minute and the rest of her heart was trying to keep up at around 220-270 beats per minute. I was admitted to the hospital to be monitored and for the doctors to decide what the next step would be. The doctors were considering 2 options. 

1. Begin administering medication through me to slow the baby's heart

or

2. Deliver the baby and treat her heart condition directly

After about 12 hours of observation the doctors were very worried that the baby's heart wasn't slowing down on it's own. They weren't sure how long she could sustain that high of a heart rate and were worried that she may go into heart failure at any point. Because I was almost 36 weeks along we all decided that it would be best to deliver her and deal with her premature lungs at the same time as her heart condition. 

A few hours later I was all numbed up and ready for a c-section. With Logan by my side Emmie was delivered a few minutes later and we got to hear that wonderful first cry of a newborn. Logan got to cut the cord, I was able to see her cute face for a few seconds and then she was taken to the NICU.  I sat in the recovery room for the next couple hours while Logan came back and forth from the NICU to give me updates. Emmie was stable for the moment so the nurse brought her in to see me and it was the best surprise ever! She couldn't stay with me long but it was so wonderful to see her beautiful face for those few precious minutes, and to give her as many kisses as I could before they took her back to the NICU.

Emmie was placed on a medicine called Digoxin to slow down her heart. She spent the next 15 days in the NICU battling irregular heart rates, eating problems, and the side effects of the Digoxin. It was a very hard and emotional time for all of us. We were so blessed that my parents were able to fly down the day Emmie was born to help us with Beckham and to help me recover from the C-section. I cried the day they left but we were blessed yet again that Logan's mom was able to come stay to continue to help us.

Emmie came home on January 21st and she has been such a wonderful addition to our family. She is the sweetest baby and she sleeps and eats like a champ. She loves to breastfeed which is awesome until we have to give her a bottle. She has to have extra calories added to my breast milk at least 3 times a day so I have to pump, and she has to eat from a bottle which she is NOT fond of! We have a long road ahead of us with her and her fast little heart but we are so lucky to be living here in Phoenix where the are so many wonderful pediatric cardiologists and specialists.

Logan getting to cut the cord

Her first EKG minutes after delivery

 A special few minutes together before she headed back to the NICU

Emmie loved the heaters in her incubator!

Skin to skin time... my favorite!

(UPDATE: Since writing this post Emmie has been to the cardiologist again and has been diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome. She has an extra little electrical pathway in her heart that is pushing the blood through her heart the wrong way. Her medications were changed  and upped to 3 times a day, and we also monitor her heartbeat several times a day. She is doing really well on her new meds and we take her back to the cardiologist next week.)

A kink in the plans

I know it has been way too long since you all have heard from me, but I can explain. We have been so busy! Between weddings, Beckham's first birthday, vacations and Christmas in Idaho we haven't had time for much else. This isn't going to be a long update... I just dont have the time for that right now. Tomorrow I will be 36 weeks pregnant and there is a good chance that this little girl will be making her debut sooner rather than later. I was admitted to the hospital yesterday because of an issue with the baby's heartbeat. After hours of testing we discovered that our baby has a condition called Atrial Flutter. Basically her little heart is beating around 220-270 beats per minute and that is way to fast. More testing will be done today and the doctors will decide soon whether to deliver her today to be able to treat her condition directly, or if they will postpone delivery and try to medicate her through me. We have a lot of questions right now and not a lot of answers. We appreciate the support from our friends and family, and we will try very hard to keep you all updated as soon as we get more information.