6 month DA & teeth!!!

Marleigh had her 6 month check up on Thursday. Dr. Williams said she looks great. She is 11lbs 8oz & 24 inches. She is actually on the normal infant growth chart for length now! She's in the third percentile, but she is closing the gap! We're so excited. Marleigh talked up a storm & gave Dr. Williams tons of smiles. She really likes him!

The past few days, Marleigh has been drooling like crazy & biting on her pacifier. She's been putting everything in her mouth. We assumed she was teething. Then, last night, Daddy say two little teeth trying to poke through! I can't believe she's already getting teeth! She has been such a good girl for teething.

The longest, shortest six months of my life.

I can't believe that I had the girls six months ago today. It was the scariest, happiest day of my life. So much has changed over the last six months. Marc & I have changed so much. We have had so many blessings, but immense heartache as well.

Many people have said that they don't know how we made it through all of this. Some have told me that "God won't give you more than you can handle." I kind of disagree with that one. I know that by myself, I wouldn't have been able to get through the last six months. At the time the girls were born, all I could see was how beautiful & strong our daughters were. I focused on the positives. Other than being micro-preemies, they were healthy. Now, I can't even look at some of the pictures from when they were in the hospital. All I can see are ventilators, IV's, & feeding tubes. No baby should ever have to fight that hard just to live. Marleigh has some scars on her hands from IVs, & a light scar on her cheek from where the tape was for her vent. I tear up just thinking about it. Then our worst nightmare happened. Natalie Grace became an angel in my arms. That's when I know God was carrying us. We had to get up the very next day, & go right back into the NICU to be there for Marleigh. That was probably one of the hardest days. But, Marleigh needed her parents. She needed our love & support. I relied heavily on my faith. Looking back, I know it is what got us through. I think instead the saying should be, "God won't give you more than HE can handle."

I look at the beautiful little girl laying in her crib sleeping so peacefully. She is so amazing & incredibly strong. She truly is a miracle & I thank God everyday for her. She has overcome so much. Two different infections, five blood transfusions, MRSA, a hole in her heart, an allergy to milk, seizure diagnosis. I hope she knows how proud of her we are & how much she is loved!

My sister gave me a sister daily calendar that has sayings everyday. I really like today's:

"One's sister is part of one's essential self, an eternal presence of one's heart and soul and memory." -Susan Cabill

Marleigh rolled all by herself!!

Marleigh was on her tummy tonight on the floor. All by herself, she rolled to her back!!! She did it at least three different times! We are so proud of her! She is so amazing.

Tomorrow Marleigh will be six months old. It doesn't seem like she could be that old, but in other ways, I can't even remember life without her. She has her six month check up tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes!

Marleigh met Logan!

Wednesday night we loaded up in the Tahoe & headed for Logan's house. When we got there, he was eating. He didn't have any oxygen on & was satting 99! He looked so good! Both he & Marleigh didn't seem too interested in each other. Logan promplty fell asleep after eating & Marleigh was so tired. She was a little bit fussy. It was so good to see Logan, as well as Cory & Jatim outside of Ronnie Mac & the NICU.

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The past few nights Marleigh has slept 6-7 hours straight! Woo Hoo! Almost 6 months old & finally sleeping more than about 4-5 hours. She is so strong, she gets out of blankets when you swaddle her, yet she still needs to be swaddled because she wakes herself up. So, we got out our kiddtopotomus (sp?) snugglie (thanks Clint & Lynn). It is a miracle worker!!! That thing is like a staight jacket, but it helps her to stay asleep longer!

We've got a scooter! (sort of)

Daddy gives Marleigh a lot of tummy time. He puts her on her tummy on his tummy. She has been really working her legs & holding her head up really well. If Marc puts his hands down for her to brace herself, she'll scoot! It is so cute. He puts her down on his tummy & she scoots herself all the way up his chest! I can't believe how strong she is. :)

In the past few days she is noticing her hands & reaching out to grab toys! She has some colored rings & loves to hang on to them. She also loves to watch the TV! If we would let her, she would sit & watch it for hours. If she's looking at it & you stand between her & the TV, she leans to try to look around you. It is pretty humorous. It's bad that I already have to limit her TV time! I have to turn it off during play time.

Marleigh is now 10lbs 14oz! Still averaging a little over an ounce an day. Pretty impressive.

Brinley Lorraine Harris (& Marleigh update)

Marleigh is a big cousin again! Brinley Lorraine Harris was born at 5:02pm. Both Brinley & Megan are doing well! Congrats to Chewy & Megan! She was 8lbs 1oz & 20 inches long. We can't wait to meet her!

Marleigh's reflux has really been bothering her lately. We took her to the dr. again yesterday. She is now 10lbs 8oz & 23 inches long! She's growing at an insane rate!!! But I'm not complaining. She has a lot of catching up to do! They prescribed her some prevacid & we can already see improvements. She slept for 6 hours straight last night. A new record!

Another minor change... I'm now a stay at home mommy! :) Marc & I have thought about it since before the girls were born. I'm so looking forward to my time with Marleigh. She is so expressive & so much fun! I'm sure at some point I will go back to work, but am looking forward to my mommy time! Since I'm no longer working & my old cell number was a bank number, my new cell phone number is 285-1225.

Happy Belated 4th of July!

We had a nice weekend! Thursday night we finished up with harvest for the most part. We have one more circle to cut, but it has to wait until tomorrow. It was nice to have Marc around for a few days!

Aunt Monica & her boyfriend Phil came out to see us on Friday. We have a great picture of Aunt Moni & Marleigh. It was good to see them!

This year, fireworks were legal within the city limits. Let's just say that Marleigh is NOT a fan. Friday night I had just gotten her to sleep & the neighbors started shooting them off nonstop. Marleigh woke right up. We turned up a radio & thank goodness she went right back to sleep.

Saturday, Marleigh wore her 4th of July dress that Crazy Grandma bought her. She was so cute. It says on it, "Miss Independent". Isn't that the truth!!! I've got some good pictures of that, too! I'll have to get them uploaded. Saturday night Marc & I went out for the second time since the girls were born. Crazy Grandma & Papa Bob were nice enough to come in to watch Marleigh. We went out to dinner, then stopped by Jaeson's house for a few minutes to watch the fireworks. I am very proud of our little town's fireworks display. Especially since Great Bend didn't even have fireworks this year.

Today Aunt Myra & Kurtis came in to see Miss Marleigh. She was awake for the first few minutes, then slept through the rest of their visit. How rude! Ha ha!

I hope everyone had a happy & safe 4th! Thank you to all our service men & women & their families for their sacrifice & service in order to keep us safe! God bless you all!

Mom is a klutz!

We had a bit of a scare last night. I was home alone with Marleigh & I was taking her downstairs to her room to rock her to sleep. I had her swaddled tightly & we were almost to the bottom stair. My feet slipped out from underneath me & I fell... hard. Thank the good Lord that I held on to Marleigh. I knew I was hurt, but checked Marleigh over. All it did was scare her. Within 10 seconds she had calmed down & was smiling at me. I crawled to Marc's office & called both Marc & Grandma. They rushed in. I called Dr. Randy Schmidt & he said he would stay open. I have a slight compression fracture of a vertebrae. Thank you so much, Dr. Randy!!! It could have been much worse. He said it should heal on its own. If it would have been worse, they would have to cement it together. We were really lucky. I cried most of last night just at the thought of what could have happened to Marleigh. I didn't sleep much. I just watched her monitor, which has a little pendulum on it that shows her breathing (I think I hypnotized myself). This morning I heard her cooing in her crib. I went into her room & she was wide awake & all smiles. It was like she was saying, "Mommy, I told you, I'm just fine." I know that Marleigh's little sister was looking out for her. I just can't even bear to think about the possibility of hurting my sweet little girl.


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Aunt Shannon emailed me this morning. When they were here this weekend, we would tell Luke, "shhhh... the baby is sleeping." I guess the last couple of nights when Shannon reads him his bedtime story, he says, "shhhhh... baby is sleeping." How cute is that?!?