Let Me Count the Ways

How, oh how can I procrastinate from packing? Let me count the ways (so far):

1. I played with Julianna
2. I chatted with my sister-in-law (I multi-tasked, ate lunch and chatted)
3. Search Craigslist for useless things
4. Wrapped a present to send to our friends in SC who just had a baby
5. Cleaned out my inbox (both e-mails and text messages)
6. Looked at some pictures I came across while "packing"
7. Organized my sewing basket
8. Wrote to my cousin in Hungary (via Facebook)
9. Deleted watched shows from the DVR
10. Sat down and wrote this blog post

One box is packed...only all the rest to go.

A Milkshake a Day...

Julianna had her 18 mos check-up on Monday and all went relatively well. The only area of concern is her weight gain (which for preemies can be a constant battle). As everybody knows, Julianna weighed 2lbs 11 oz when she was born (if you didn't know that, then you must have been living under a rock for the last 18 mos). She put on weight at a miraculous speed! The nutritionist at the NICU follow-up clinic would always tell us that she was not a typical preemie when it came to weight. She caught up to her actual age in a matter of months and even reached the 50th percentile by her 1st birthday, weighing in at 20lbs even.

But at her April check-up (15 mos) she had only gained 12 more ounces. Dr. M wanted to keep an eye on her weight, but wasn't too concerned. Now on Monday, she had actually lost weight, only weighing 20lbs 10 oz. It actually broke my heart to see she is now in the 6th percentile for weight. As other preemie moms will confirm, seeing your baby go up in percentiles is such an awesome thing!! Seeing them go down, especially this far, is disheartening.

Julianna eats like a mad woman! She is a virtual bottomless pit! So, Dr. M has decided to up her calorie intake. We get to supplement her food with all kinds of things. Her milk now gets Carnation Instant Breakfast added to it, she gets extra things added to her everyday meals, and I think the best thing is...she is supposed to have milkshakes every few days! That is by far her favorite change.

We go back in 6 weeks for a weight check. Dr. M said she is now concerned because even though Julianna's weight gain should be slowing down at this age, there is no reason for it to be so slow or for her to stop gaining.

I have a feeling I may be the one to gain weight...I can't buy Julianna a milkshake and not have one myself.

Julianna eats most of the hours she is awake...I'm not kidding. (check out the molars that are finally through!)

Friends of Maddie

Back in April, I wrote about Maddie, a little girl (17 mos old) from California who had been a 28 week preemie. Sadly, when I wrote about her it was because she had very unexpectedly died.

Sweet Maddie

Her story evoked an amazing response from the internet world. Heather's (her mom) blog crashed due to high traffic, Team Maddie (March for Babies) raised $60,000, and people from all over the world sent their heartfelt well wishes, gifts and money.

Recently, Heather has made 2 exciting announcements on her blog. The first is that from the incredible support they received, her parents have decided to use some of the money to form the non-profit organization Friends of Maddie.

This organization is to help support families going through the NICU experience. For a $25 donation you will help give a family a tote bag filled with supplies to make their NICU stay slightly less stressful. Their goal is to eventually get bags in every NICU in the country. Please consider visiting their website and making a donation!!

The second big announcement that was made was that shortly after Maddie died, they found out Heather was pregnant. This is such an awesome event for them, and she is working VERY hard to avoid the problems she encountered with Maddie's pregnancy. It is also extremely sad, since Binky (the name the baby has been given so far) will not know his/her big sister. I wish Heather and Mike all the best an that she has a blessedly uneventful pregnancy and can avoid another NICU stay!!

Mad Skills

Check out my new spoon skills...I now eat applesauce and yogurt by myself (with minimal mess even!).

Mmmmm

Yummy mac-n-cheese!

Heló!

For the past few weeks we have had some relatives from Hungary visiting. Misi and his wife Augi and his two girls Zita and Helga (Helga is the only name I may have spelled right). Helga is my age and way back in the 80's (I know that was so long ago) Misi (pronounced Meeshee) came to visit and said that I looked like Helga...not so much anymore.

Anyway, we had a big picnic this past Sunday to get the family together. It was very nice to hang out. Unfortunately, my grandpa(Opa) is the only one of any of us that speaks Hungarian, so there wasn't a lot of conversing with Misi, Augi, Zita, or Helga. If I have this right, Misi is my dad's first cousin (my grandpa is his uncle). Augi is his wife, and Zita and Helga are Misi's girls (not sure what # cousin that makes them to me). I am always glad to meet our family from Hungary or Germany. Not many people have first cousins that live in other countries.

Well, here's some pictures from the picnic.

Ian, Erin, Julianna & Oma(my grandma)

Julianna & Oma

Augi & Helga playing cornhole

Julianna, me, Oma & my Mom

My cousin Katie fooled everyone with her glasses.

Ian & my dad

My mom, Julianna & Zita. Zita has two little kids back in Hungary.

Misi, Opa & Augi

There were so many cameras you inevitably got at least one pic of someone taking a picture.

Don't they look excited

The whole family(well most of us-those of you who know my family know its REALLY big)

Thank you to Stephen! I stole some pictures from him to post here.

Splish Splash

When we bought our "old camper" the people left behind a really nice sand table. Well, since we learned on vacation that Julianna HATES sand, we decided to use it as a water table and she LOVES it!
She has learned she can fill cups and other things and then dump the water all over herself. (Check out her awesome farmer tan!)

Since we don't have a lot of outdoor toys still, she has some of her bath toys at the table to play with. This table is the best thing ever...she plays at it all the time!

Coming Up Next on Our Ordinary Stories...

Because I know I won't be online for a few more days, here's a quick preview of what to expect the next time I get to post:

Julianna's derby car...ooooooh, it's Larry the Cucumber!

Picture Monday...on some other day

Our family visiting from Hungary...going to a picnic to meet them today (well, I already met 3 of them, but not the last one yet)

And I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures of Julianna...simply because she's so cute.

Molars

What does teething (molars no less) do to my beautiful little girl?

First, this happens.
Then, it escalates a little into this.

Next, we get this.

And eventually, this is what I have instead of my happy little girl.

*Time elapsed: about 45 seconds

I'm Still Here!

So it has been weeks since I've been online...ok, I lied...it's been like one week...but it feels like weeks! We have been staying at our "super-duper" camper for almost a month now and although it is filled with modern conveniences (satelite tv...now that's camping...haha!) it lacks the one thing that would make it truly awesome...the internet.

I swear I have been going through withdrawl. I am, as my husband calls me, an internet junkie. I have no problem admitting my problem. I love to check my e-mail, get on facebook, search Craigslist, read blogs, and post to my own. I can handle the lack of online contact most of the day, but when Julianna takes her nap or goes to bed, and I have cleaned the camper (which doesn't take long), I sit down and think about all of the things I could be doing online instead of watching baby shows on TV (I know...another ridiculous addiction...it started when I was pregnant with Julianna).

What good deals am I missing out on? Who has e-mailed me or posted to facebook and is now thinking that since I didn't respond in the last 12 hours that I don't like them anymore? I mean this lack of internet could totally cost me friends. People will begin to write me off as lost to the great unknown. DON'T DO THAT! I'M STILL HERE! I may not be here frequently *sigh* but I will be here. Please bear with me during my time of internet loss and someday I will be an internet junkie again.

The End is Near???

We have been working on our house for just over 3 months now. I know, I know, that is ridiculously long. Ok, so maybe only I think that is ridiculously long, but when we bought it our plan was to be in in one month. Our first deadline was May 1. Then, we extended it to Mother's Day weekend. Then, to before we went on vacation the end of May. And lately, we said by July 4th weekend. Now...we say in 2 weeks...

We are down to urethaning the living room floor (we already sanded it down and stained it), one more coat of paint in Julianna's room, painting the kitchen walls, painting the hallway walls, and to finish stripping that evil wallpaper in out room and painting the walls and trim. But trust us, the house will be sooooo far from done at that point. That will just make it capable of being lived in.

We've already taken a bunch of stuff off our "to have done before moving in" list and added it to our "to do after we move in" list. We can hardly wait to be in our own place again after a year and a half.

Julianna's New Teacher

Last Wednesday, Julianna got to meet her new teacher from Eastgate. We had applied to Eastgate in May and didn't think we would hear from them for quite awhile. But we were excited to get a call about 2 weeks ago, saying she had been accepted. Her PVL (due to prematurity) qualified her for the school.

Regina, her teacher, came out to the apartment and did a routine interview. That was just a questions and answer session about her daily routine, things she likes, things she dislikes, and about her development. She'll come out again next week to do a more in-depth assessment of Julianna's needs (although she said she probably won't recommend her for any therapies right now since she is doing so well). And then in January, she will hopefully start toddler classes at the school.

We are so excited that Julianna was accepted to Eastgate. Right now we aren't really concerned about anything, but wanted to make sure we stay on top of things in case any she has any difficulties later on. By her attending Eastgate, we know there is a whole team of people there to help catch any problems should they arise. It is a nice bit of piece of mind.

Strolling in the Park

Our mom's group is in full swing!! We have been meeting since the middle of May and have such great turn outs now. It has taken off so much faster than I (or I think Mallory even) anticipated! We have kids from just a few weeks old all the way up to 3 yrs old. Every Monday during the summer we decided to meet at a park to walk and then have a picnic lunch and finally let the kids play on the playground. This has been really successful. I know I really look forward to getting to talk with other moms and let Julianna "socialize" with other kids. Yesterday, we had quite a few moms and kids come and I took some pictures.

Julianna filled Ellie's stroller with mulch.

She is walking so well!!!
Danielle & Alleigh-Alleigh runs around & is so good at sliding!

Morgan is a little thing, but such a cutie!

Ellie is always all smiles

Braxton had a blast!

Ian was so happy to not be the only "big kid". Jayden and he had a lot of fun playing together.

Leah even got in on the picnic lunch, but everything was so interesting she didn't want to eat.

AJ enjoyed relaxing.

Picture Tuesday: Independence Day

Happy 4th of July!

Running around the camper
Oooooh

So cute!

What do you mean the cornhole board isn't a slide?

Hanging out with Grandma K