Your TWO

Happy second birthday Nuggies. On the day your were born I remember thinking "Will I get to see her grow up?" I remember being very strong for you and held your hand each day and told you to be strong with me. And, boy....you sure listened! You are one tough kid!

You have a mind of your own. You do things YOUR way on YOUR own time. NO one will tell you different! You learn things YOUR way and when YOU want! You do NOT take NO for an answer! This frustrates your Mommy, Daddy and big brother but we all have to stop and think that is why you are here with us today. You fought very hard..... but I am NOT going to give you that excuse much longer!

You can't talk yet. But, you try so hard to communicate with us. Your new sign is "ME" when you want something you point to your chest. So when you drop the toy over and over and do your cute little "ME" sign, we can't resist. You also communicate by biting, pinching and pulling our hair. This we do not find funny. I always have to be on guard. You will crawl up to me very quietly and take a bite out of my leg, then clap because you thought you did a good thing.....what that good thing is to you..... I am not sure! We put you in time out and you don't get it.....you will do it again and again two minutes later. You also bite your arm, Mommy doesn't like when you do this. I think you are very frustrated and want to talk. I hope your ENT can fix you.

TROUBLE! I think I use that word 2,000 times a day. Let's see, today you pulled the cat by his tail off the counter, his wet food came down with him and you both ate it. Then while I was cleaning that mess up, you pulled my camera off the counter and gave yourself a huge egg. Not even 10 minutes later you are no where to be found, we find you playing confetti with the cat litter. While Mommy was sweeping the mess, you thought it would be a fun idea to put your toys in the guinea pig cage. YES, Ailyn you are that naughty! ALL day long! I love you so very much but my goodness, you are making Mommy older by the day!

Then you give us this sweet lip and it's all over. Who can be upset with that sweet lip??  You are very cuddly and love to be held. You have to be held to drink your bottle, and we don't mind one bit! I love that cuddle time. You grab my arm and put it around you or hold my hand. We get a million open mouthed kisses a day. We used to have to worry about them turning into a bite, but you are getting better with that. You are also getting better with your touches. Before you would grab us hard, but now you can use a "gentle" touch.

Everyone thought you would be walking at two. It's OK that you are not, but we are trying to figure out why. You can cruise well but your balance is way off. Your eye doctor swears this should not hold you back. And, now we are thinking your large adenoids might be to blame also. You can walk with a push toy but prefer not too. When you do, you lean to the left, your stronger eye. Mommy and Daddy promise to fix this for you very soon! Until then we don't mind having to carry your around.....because I know once you learn to walk you will RUN!

You are very attached to me right now, and I must admit that is the best feeling EVER! I love that you scream for me when I leave. You know if I say "keep an eye on your sister" that I am leaving the room. I don't think Daddy is digging this new separation anxiety.

You sleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed every night, you have since the day you came home from the NICU. I swore up and down to the NICU nurses that I would not make the same mistake.....but I realized it wasn't a mistake. I love sleeping with my babies. When Camden was ready he didn't look back.  You love to snuggle up to me if you wake up, you crawl into my arm and drift back to sleep. I love feeling you fall back to sleep. When you wake up, you look up and smile and give me a kiss. It's the best way to wake up. I wouldn't want it any other way!

Your so teeny tiny! Last weigh in you were 19 pounds 3 ounces. People do not believe me when I tell them you are TWO. Then if they ask why, I tell them you have come along way from 1 pound 14 ounces! To us, you are huge. We love you just the way you are.

Camden loves you so much. He protects you and keeps a close eye on you. But, lately I do have to say, you are turning into that annoying little sister! If Camden is laying on the ground, you crawl up to him and pull his hair. Whatever Camden is playing with you have to see if you can get into it and wreck it. You know exactly where his Lego drawers are in his room and make a beeline to them if the door is left opened. Even though you can be a pain in the tush, Camden is starting to really enjoy playing with you. You have started playing back. You have cute games you play. I love the bond you have already.

As much as you are a Mommy's girl, You love your Daddy just as much. You get all excited when he comes in the door. The first thing you do is take off his hat and put it on you. You get very jealous when Daddy is playing with Camden and have to be right in the action.

Ailyn Rose you are an amazing "baby". There is no one else like you...believe me! I have to tried to find one!  You are always progressing, in your own way. You have a unique way of learning milestones. You fascinate me and I wish I could document your growth for research. A true miracle in every way, you are. Keep up the fight! Mommy, Daddy and Camden love you very much Strawberry, Rosie, Nuggies and Trouble!

TWO YEARS BLOGGING! Thanks for keeping up with Ailyn.

PS- To the NICU doctors and nurses, we will be coming to see you SOON!

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March Of Dimes Walk

THANK YOU to everyone who donated in honor of our Strawberry! We are very grateful for the many generous donations.

Thank you to all our walkers who did an awesome job at fundraising! CONGRATS to KIM for raising the most money!! You won the prize! Also, thank you for walking in the 80 MPH winds ;)

Besides the wind, the weather was great. It was nice to see the sun shining after yesterdays flash floods!

All the kids did great, they were all troopers! I am glad we all brought warm clothes and blankets.

Sweet Strawberry slept the entire walk!

Our NICU friends got up and told miracle Callie's story. Callie's story gets me teary every time!

Daddy gave Ailyn his sweatshirt so we could bundle her up. She had 2 sweaters on and the sweatshirt and her lips stayed blue for 2 hours after the walk!

Poor Callie looked so cold as well!

Thank you to Kim and Tara for traveling! Thank you Amy, Kacy and Kenzie for being with us today! We missed you Mommy and Becky! But, we didn't need Phili trying to come out during the walk ;)

Once again THANK YOU everyone for supporting a great cause. I saw a few shirts today that said they had angel babies in heaven. It made me so sad for those parents. Makes me realize even more how very close we were to losing our Ailyn.

The little girls shirts were made by Becky from Bows and Things. And, the adult shirts were made by Emily from MyEmmyBaby Fashions. You can find them both on Facebook or feel free to message me for more info.

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Hearing test

Today I took Ailyn for a hearing test. She had passed her NICU hearing test and her two follow ups. But, she is still not saying many words. She has been trying so hard to communicate with us. And, to be honest, I am sick of getting bit, scratched and pinched! She will get very physical with us. Pretty sure this is all out of frustration. I decided it wouldn't hurt to get her rechecked.

Over the past 3 months, Ailyn has had 4 ear infections. Her first one ruptured. We have been having to give her back to back antibiotics. Camden had tubes put in at 18 months, so we are well aware that Ailyn might have to get them too.

BUT! Ailyn also has large adenoids. She snores VERY loud! And, breaths with her mouth open. When Ailyn drinks her bottle, she sounds like she is very congested. It has been getting worse over the past month. We have seen the ENT and we have a sleep study scheduled.

The audiologist was able to do the test, which shocked me! Ailyn does not sit still for a second!! She sat very still on my lap. He said that Ailyn CAN hear in both ears BUT there is room for improvement. He looked in both ears and saw that both ears were red. Since Ailyn is on her 8th day of an antibiotic, he believes that the redness is not an infection but her adenoids causing the hearing loss.

Most likely the ENT will want to take her adenoids out and possibly put tubes in. The audiologist said we should see a huge improvement after surgery.

I got home and called out ENT right away and made the next available appointment. It's 2 weeks away :( but, at least I was able to get her in soon!!

I always want to "fix" Ailyn's challenges. It hurts me to see her struggle through all her milestones. Milestones that come very easy to an average child, come 10x harder for Ailyn. But, once she masters a milestone it's like she has been doing it forever.

So when I heard that we can "fix" Ailyn's issue today, I felt so happy that I help her master one more milestone!

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Graduation 3

GRADUATION DAY for CAMDEN at KARATE!!! He graduated from white belt to YELLOW belt! We are so proud of him. He has worked very hard for this.

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YA YA

Ailyn had her two year old Renal appointment today. At birth Ailyn's kidneys shut down to keep her body alive. She bled strait blood for 3 weeks. As a result, she has kidney disease. The only sign she has the disease is high blood pressure. We have to give her medicine twice a day. She has been closely monitored every 6 months to make sure everything is under control.

The appointment went well. Over the past year she has had blood work three times to check her kidney functions. Every time they are pleased with the results. Since there has been no change we are going to keep everything the same. We will go for blood pressure checks once a month and based on her blood work today we will see if she needs an adjustment in her medication.

The new mic-key button in going well. Now that I have learned how to lock the tube attachment I don't feed the bed ;) Ailyn is still pretty sore when we go near it but I think it's getting better. It is also still bleeding some. Renal wants me to call GI tomorrow and let them know. It's not much and the blood is not as red.... It is SO nice not having that annoying long tube hanging out of her clothes!

Meet "Ya Ya" Ailyn's new best friend. Camden has had a Froggy since he was two. Ailyn is very fond of Froggy. Our Nana bought this cute frog for Camden a few years ago, I just came across it and gave it to Ailyn. She is so sweet with "Ya Ya". I can tell they are going to be great friends. "Ya Ya" is Ailyn's new word.....or sound.....or Ailyn talk as we call it. Below is a pic of her saying "Ya Ya" :)

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MIC-KEY Button

Yesterday was a long day for us! Ailyn got her PEG tube removed and now sports a new mic-key button. It looks SO much better than the PEG. Much smaller. She can now wear shirts without having a huge bulge. No more long tube hanging from her belly. To remove the PEG is an outpatient procedure. They put a numbing cream on the outside of her skin. Then pull HARD and QUICK while I held her down. Hearing your child scream out in pain is honestly one of the worst sounds ever. Ailyn makes it so much harder by staring at me while she is screaming!!

Ailyn was very very sore after. I piggy backed Motrin and Tylenol for 24 hours. She woke in pain throughout the night. During the day today she was crawling around faster and seemed to be more comfortable. I am hoping tonight is better for her.

Ailyn also is getting over strep throat. It is going around Camden's class. He got it earlier in the week. I was lucky enough to get it too. So we are all on Amoxicillin. Fun times at our house once again!

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