Medical Mystery!

About two months ago, Danielle started complaining that her tummy was hurting. It would hurt whenever she was eating, when she wasn't eating, and even after having a glass of water. I took her to her Pediatrician and she put her on Prevacid. It didn't seem to work too well. The Dr. wanted to get some blood work done so we went across the hall and she had 4 tubes of blood drawn from her little body. I could see the color drain out of her. She complained that her head hurt then she passed out. I was concerned at first because I couldn't do anything to help her. The nurse got her to wake up after a minute or two it seemed and then carried her into another room to lay down. All the blood work ended up coming back normal so the Dr. ended up sending us to a pediatric Gastrointerologist for further testing. He suggested she get an upper endoscopy to take a look inside. So, this Wednesday, we took her in to have the procedure.
We had to be there by 7:00am so Brent and I took Danielle in and she was so good about this whole thing! She didn't seem scared at all! She was allowed to bring in her blanket and a stuffed animal but I think she would have done just fine without them!
waiting for the Dr. to do her procedure.
After the procedure. She ended up getting more blood drawn while she was asleep and she was not thrilled to find two band-aids on her arms. She was happy to have had an orange popsicle though.
Results from the endoscopy also came back normal but we are still waiting on the blood results. We should know more on Monday.
She also thought it was pretty cool that she got to ride in a wheelchair all the way to our car!

The Dr. is watching her to see if she may be experiencing Migraine headaches now. She could be feeling nautious in addition to her head hurting and because she is only familiar with this symptom, she is complaining about her tummy hurting. She has been having headaches alot lately but the tummy pain and headaches don't seem to be at the same time. It's kind of a mystery!

Hannah's 10th Birthday party!

This year when I started talking to Hannah about her birthday, she was thinking she wasn't going to be able to have a party since the baby was going to be here on her birthday so I gave her the option of doing it a month early...pre-baby! She jumped at the chance, of course! We decided that having a swim party at the Natatorium here in Allen was perfect. And the price wasn't too bad either. We invited her closest friends and every single one of them came, even though it was the first weekend of Spring Break!
Hannah invited 8 girls to her party. She loves to be center of attention and in this picture you can see them all rallying around her...she's in heaven! (She is in pink & purple)
Danielle and Brent swam together while Hannah had fun with her friends. I was going to join them but my ankles have swollen so badly, I thought it best to keep them hidden! I didn't want to embarrass them or myself! These two had a blast anyway!
So proud that she is finally tall enough to go down the BIG waterslide at the Natatorium. This is at the bottom when she was getting out of the pool only to do it again!
Hannah and her cousin, Courtney who drove 3 hours to come to the party. They are only 6 months apart! Man, they are growing up FAST!
Hannah and two of her friends, Emma and Elena.
yes, they have matching swim suits. As much as Hannah dislikes it, I think it's still fun.
Danielle going down the mini-waterslide
Girls at the top of the big waterslide: Lucy, Emma, Gabrielle, Melanie, and Hannah
Courtney, Melanie, Emma, Hannah, Elena, Micayla, Gabrielle, Lucy, and Finley
The party went from 1:30-4:00. I thought the girls would be hungry after swimming so I had a fruit salad waiting for the girls to eat since this was a pool/hawaiian party.
The Birthday girl requested lemon cake for her party and she picked out these crazy candles.
In 4th grade this year, Hannah and her friends have been collecting and trading "squishees". They are little squishy animals and sea creatures that are really hard to find. Hannah and I found a website where you can buy them so I ordered a bunch and had one for each girl to take home. They were a hit!
After hearing Hannah did not have an American Girl Doll, back in October, these two girls, Gabrielle and Lucy started saving up their own money to buy Hannah a doll for her birthday. These girls are so sweet to do that for her. I would never have spent that kind of money on a doll. It really touched Hannah (and me) that they would do that for her. As her Mom, It makes me happy to see that Hannah has so many friends that care about her and love her for who she is.

Baby Shower

Yesterday was my Baby Shower. It was so fun and it was fun to share that with all my girlfriends who are just as excited for this baby to arrive as we are! I truly have the BEST of friends!
All the decorations were in pink and green, just like my Nursery colors. So adorable!

Here are some of those BEST of friends I was talking about. Liz, Teri, Lindsay, and Rene'. They along with Sheree hosted the shower for me. (Sheree wasn't at the shower yet when this was taken.)
As my friends were arriving we had so much delicious food, especially that green salad, and the pasta salad, Snickerdoodles and the Cadbury Egg cookies, well...all of it as a matter of fact. YUMMY!
Lindsay, Brooke's Mom, (who just got into town) Brooke, (so happy she could come before heading to the hospital to be with her preemie baby) Liz, and Teri.
Teri, Xela, Tresa, Emily G, Emily R, and Raquel
Opening gifts.
Suprise gift from my Mom who couldn't come out despite my begging and begging. She made a carseat blanket and another blanket for Summer. Thank you again, Mom! I didn't cry too much during my shower because I've done enough of that this week but this gift sure pulled at my heart strings. I think it was because it was such a suprise that she managed to pull it off without me knowing and the fact that she cared to be a part of it even though she couldn't come out for it.
My friend, Dawn made this diaper cake for me. It was covered in bath toys, bibs, hair bows, and little white blessing shoes. THANK YOU Dawn!
When I got home,we all had fun sitting in the nursery and going through each bag. Summer is going to be one cute baby with lots of cute clothes and people who already love her! Lucky girl!

We finally have a Nursery!

It's not perfect yet, but I'm happy with it.

"S" stands for "Summer." We love the name we have chosen for our baby girl and can't wait to see what she looks like. I can picture a brunette and a blonde since I have one of each. The girls ask "What if she comes out with red hair?" I joked with them that if she came out with red hair we better name her "Autumn". "Summer" just seems right and the name even has the double letters like her sisters. That wasn't a requirement, it just happened.
The rocking chair was Brent's Dads...
Her crib...all washed and ready for her to sleep in!
Target's Simply Shabby Chic bedding. The toys in her crib are from the girls. They can't wait to give them to Summer.

Pretty in Pink

This dress was a birthday gift to Danielle. She loves twirling around in it. We also gave her Gymnastics classes and she had her first class on her birthday. She LOVES it and can't wait to go back. She even talks about wanting to make a countdown chain till her next class, even if it's two days away. Silly girl!

Danielle turns 6!

On February 27th we had Danielle's birthday party at the bowling alley...again! She sure doesn't like to try new things.
Showing off that she is the "Birthday Girl"
Friends at her party: Andrew, Caroline, Amelia, Hannah, and Hannah's friend, Elena.
Jackson, Lydia, Caleb
Isabelle, Jordyn R., Jordan A., Leah, and Kate
"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to"...she took a good fall and skinned her knee. The party went on and she soon came around and finished the party with a smile.
Eating her birthday cupcakes.
"We can't believe our baby is 6!"
March 1st is her actual birthday, again we had more cake!

Valentine's Day

At the beginning of February I had the girls decorate these mailboxes and through the two weeks prior to Valentine's Day they were used for loves notes to each other. It was so sweet to see the love and kindness expressed to each other. Danielle was really concerned that Brent and I didn't have mailboxes so we found love notes found on our nightstands, desks, and bathroom counters. She is the sweetheart in the family! Always thinking of everyone else.
I wanted to make this day special for us all and since Valentine's was on a Sunday, I made a nice breakfast and a really nice dinner of one of Brent's favorite dishes that I make, Lasagna. We sat in the dining room and even used our CHINA dishes. Hannah claims she has never eaten on them before. I told her that when I was little, I never got to eat on them either. Such is life. Anyway, we gave the girls little gifts earlier in the day but right after dinner I gave Brent and the girls LOVE COUPONS. They consisted of things like "Breakfast in bed", "one on one time with me", etc. Danielle told me later after looking through her booklet that this was the BEST gift she has ever received. And it only cost me $1.50. All 3 of them have used their "breakfast in bed" coupon and LOVED it.
Brent really suprised me this year with his expression of Love for me. He is an amazing man who makes me happier and happier with each passing day. He is so sweet to me and I am so lucky! I LOVE YOU, BRENT!

The girls were really sad when I washed the car. They enjoyed it too!

More snow...

On February 12th, Brent stayed home from work and school got cancelled because we got so much snow. It was like a good old Utah snowstorm! This was our 4th snowfall this year and the girls played in it for two days straight! (first thing in the morning to sundown) They had a blast making snowmen, having snowball fights(which I started) and burying each other in the snow. We loved watching them just be kids!We drove around the neighborhood the next day counting how many snowmen we could find. 23! And those were the ones found in the front yards. Who knows how many were made in the backyards. Some got over 8 feet high!

Bookworm!

Hannah has an addiction. At any given time of day or night, she has her nose in a book! This picture is of her doing her chores. She is suppose to be dusting! At least it's the "good" kind of addiction.

Big Sister Class

On February 6th we took the girls to the Hospital where I will be delivering for a Big Sister class. They have been looking forward to this day since Christmas as it was one of their Christmas gifts. They got to make a craft (below), watch a video on how to be a Super Sibling and also took a tour of the Labor/Delivery rooms and nursery where they will get to come meet Summer for the first time. It was really fun! They even got to see new babies in the nursery!

The girls made these pictures to put on the baby's bassinet while in the hospital. Can you see how proud they are to be BIG Sisters?
Brent trying to teach Danielle how to swaddle a baby. Can you see Danielle's interest? This is all foreign to her!
Hannah doesn't need any help, she knows how to swaddle the baby all by herself. She is so excited to help out with the baby when she comes!