2 Bad Weeks turned into 2 Wonderful Years!

2 years ago, Mark and I experienced possibly the worst two weeks in our lives, to present day. It was October 26, 2006 and I was on my way to a check-up. Everything was going as planned and nothing was out of the ordinary. My check-up was the same as usual with the exception of taking a trip upstairs for monitoring and a dose of steroids. After being there for about 2 hours my day turned sour. I found out that I would not be going home that day, or any time soon for that matter. Mark was gone on a det on the ship, Austyn was at Laura's house and Taylor was at school. I frantically started calling people, and had to send a Red Cross Message to Mark. By the time I started making phone calls, I had already been on a heavy dosage of magnesium to stop labor. Anyone who's ever been put on it knows that it's no walk in the park. The drug is awful in every sense of the word. Laura said I sounded like I was drunk. I felt like I was drunk. I was nauseated, but I still had most of my muscle functions. The Red Cross person kept repeating his questions because he obviously had a hard time understanding me. I had a friend get Taylor from school, and before long, I was on an ambulance headed for Fresno. That is the first time I have ever been in an ambulance, and if you have never been in one, let me be the one to tell you that it really isn't all that exciting! lol. The ride was unbearable. You feel every pebble on the road, and when you are already in pain, it doesn't make it any better. The stretcher is not comfortable either. Lay on a piece of plywood for 1 hour, feel every bump in the road and feel every little twitch of the wheel and tell me how you feel! haha. Anyway, we finally made it to the hospital where I would be spending the next week. I was angry, upset and scared to death that I was there. None of my other pregnancies were to this extreme. My blood pressure was elevated, (I'm sure from the stress of the situation). My heart felt like it was going to beat its way out of my chest and I felt sick. Before the end of the day, I had lost all muscle control. I couldn't even open the wrapper on a straw. That's how weak I was. I had visitors, but didn't realize it. I vomited a million times. I couldn't sit up, and I couldn't get up to use the bathroom. I pretty much slept the whole time, and every time a nurse would come in I would ask when I would get to go home and when they would take me off of the magnesium. I was on that dreadful drug for 2 1/2 days. I wasn't allowed to have more than an ounce of drink at a time, and I couldn't exceed a certain amount. They were angry because I wasn't eating. I was angry because the food was disgusting and even if I did eat, it would come right back up moments later. I was angry that they wouldn't let me drink anything. When they finally decided to take me off of the magnesium, I went into labor less than 12 hours later. I had to make a frantic call at 4am to Mark. He rushed the boys to a friend's house and he made the trip to Fresno. He got there around 7AM and Ryleigh was born around 7:31AM. I was relieved that Mark was able to make it there in time. I wasn't scared when she was born. This wasn't the first time one of my babies was born early. I didn't get scared until I found out how much she weighed and saw her for the first time. She was a tiny little thing. She was 17 inches long and she weighed in at a whopping 4lbs 3 oz. Her face was starting to bruise when they showed her to me. I didn't get to hold her or even touch her. They showed me this tightly wrapped bundle with a pinkish purple face staring out at me and they said here's your baby. With that, they whisked her away. I spent the day recovering, and when I finally did go in to see her, I was not at all prepared. She was in the NICU. I've been in a NICU before, but not one like this. There were 8 rows of tiny babies in there. When Taylor was in the NICU, there were only 2 other babies there. Anyhow, I walked in and scrubbed my hands, and they showed us to her crib space. There she was, laying there. This itty bitty little girl. She was only wearing a diaper and oodles of wires connected here and there. She was in an incubator. I cried when I saw her. Her entire face was black and blue. She looked like someone had beat her up. I was never expecting that. The nurses told us how she was doing and asked if we had any questions. I just wanted to hold her. Her skin was so soft, and I could literally hold her in one hand. Mark and I would swap off visiting her because we didn't want to take the boys into the NICU. We didn't think it was appropriate or safe. On Halloween, I had my tubal ligation surgery. That recovery wasn't any fun at all, and let me just say that I would never wish a c-section upon any woman! My incision was only 1 inch long, so I can't imagine an incision from a c-section. Ryleigh did great and was making really good progress until about the 3rd day. She caught a stomach virus that was going around. Mark felt guilty because Taylor had it, and then he had it, so he thought she must have gotten it from him. I never blamed him. That was a very scary time because she was suddenly very very sick. They had even more tubes on her and had her on caffeine to keep her awake enough to not drift into sleep apnea. That was so scary. So, for 2 whole weeks, Mark and I took turns driving to Fresno to visit with our girl, until the day they said she would finally get to come home. I was so excited and nervous. I've never had a baby this small or fragile, much less of this gender. Since the day we brought her home, it has been wonderful and it has definitely been a blessing. We have learned so much from Ryleigh. She is so different from the boys in every way I can think of. She's extremely shy and introverted. She loves to play with all kinds of girly things, but she also likes to get down and rough house with the boys. She is such a great girl, and I feel so lucky to be her mom! Fast Forward to today and you don't see a premature baby in her, with the exception of her size. She is 32 inches tall (almost 3 feet!), she's about 25 pounds and she wears a size 2T! She's pretty normal these days. She sleeps all night, she feeds herself. Her biggest and most exciting milestone is that she is POTTY TRAINED! She is well ahead other babies her age. She started potty training soon after her first birthday. She doesn't talk much, but she gets her point across. She learns words that she wants to learn. For example, she learned how to say "Cupcakes" the very first time I said it to her. lol. She loves and adores animals of all shapes, sizes and species. She especially loves her dog dog and kitties! I often catch her hand feeding Roscoe his food rather than letting him eat it on his own. Or I find her sneaking him cookies from his treat jar. She's still very shy, but she has come a very long way. She's very deliberate about who she will say hi to or smile at. Yesterday we were at Wal-Mart and there was a little old lady in an electric shopping cart thing, and Ryleigh was so fascinated by her. She kept saying hi and waving to her with a great big smile. It put a smile on the lady's face, and that made my heart melt. She's such a lover. She gives hugs and kisses all the time, and if you are hurt she will give you a kiss and rub your back just to make sure you are okay. She loves music and she really enjoys dancing. Sometimes she will 'sing' along too. She still has her hemangioma, but it is doing good. It has lost a lot of color which is an excellent sign that her body is starting to absorb it. So, you see, those 2 short weeks of hell have turned into 2 of the most wonderful years of our lives. I hope you enjoy this slide show of Ryleigh's life thus far!

The Weekend Haps

The weekend was a long, busy, fun filled weekend for all . . . or at least I hope it was. =o) Friday we had a Fall Festival at Taylor's school. I love that we have to call it a Fall Festival to be politically correct even though they encouraged everyone to come in Halloween costumes. Anyhow, that was fun, and it was a lot bigger than last year's event. That night, Bonnie (Mark's mom) flew in for the weekend to celebrate Ryleigh's birthday.
Saturday morning we all kind of relaxed and enjoyed the calm. Then Mark and Taylor's team, the Dynamites had a game at 11AM. Their team colors are red, black and white. His team did awesome! They are a little more relaxed and calm on the field than I thought they would have been. They did score a goal, however they did lose the game by 5 points. BUT, its all about having fun!! First games are always a learning experience with a new team. You always learn what exactly it is that you need to work on. They did great, and everyone had a great time.
Then at 12:15, Austyn and I had a game. Our team is the Stingers because we are yellow and black. Our team did great. We scored a few goals in the right goal, and Austyn scored one in the opposite team's goal. Oops! And as I said before, all first games are a learning experience. I learned that we need to work on stopping when we hear a whistle. The kids would keep on going and going and going. We also need to work on no pushing!!! We did have a few hand balls, but that wasn't really an issue. At practice today we are going to play red light, green light. When I blow the whistle 2 times that means its a red light, and when I blow it once it is a green light. Hopefully the kids will catch on and the next game will go smoother in that aspect.
After the games, we headed home for some much needed lunch and naps before Ryleigh's big event. While the kids napped, we decorated with cobwebs, garland and cheesecloth. It looked cute. Not over done, or scary, but just enough for the kids at that age.
The party went great! We had a couple of people flake out, but it wasn't something we didn't expect. We had a farmer, a survivor, a Princess riding a Unicorn, a Cowboy and his horse, Superman, 2 scary boys, Mr. Incredible, Jack-Jack, a witch and Barney Rubble at the party. Ryleigh refused to wear her new tutu, and she was a little bit of a grump. She covered her eyes the entire time we sang 'Happy Birthday' to her. It was kind of cute. She refused to blow out her candles, or eat any real food. Don't worry, she devoured her cupcake! We played Pin the nose on the pumpkin, which even the older kids enjoyed, and then we opened gifts. She really wasn't into it at all. I think it was overwhelming for Miss Shyness. She did start to get excited towards the end when she saw a baby doll and a pony! She loves all of her gifts and she plays with all of them. Today she played dress-up with earrings and a necklace while Austyn was at school. I'll try to get thank-yous in the mail before the end of the week. Enjoy the slideshows of pictures. The first is from the Dynamite game, the second from the Stinger game and the third from the party!


Just as a side-note, I have another blog that I just started today. The link for it is http://VMHFAM.blogspot.com
It stands for Visit My Head For a Moment. I am starting this to write about my views and opinions about things going on around us in society and the world. I'm sure it will ruffle a few feathers at times, but hey, that's what opinions do! So, anyway, if you want to check that out every so often, please do so!!!

6 More Years!

Another guaranteed 6 years of being a Navy wife is in my future. Mark reenlisted for his 2nd time around yesterday afternoon. He has been in for 10 years now, and will be in for 16 by the time his next reenlistment comes around. I of course went to show my support and excitement for him. I was all ready with the camera and everything, and all was good . . . until it was time for the ceremony to actually begin. People started piling into the Ready Room and Mark had to hand Ryleigh over to me. That was not a good move, because the demanding little angel just had to have her daddy at that very moment! She started crying and screaming and throwing a very well timed 2 year old temper-tantrum. I had to leave the room with her and we stood in the hallway during the ceremony. I did catch the last 30 seconds of it, and managed to make it in to have a letter of appreciation presented to me. In order to receive my letter, I had to hand her over to Mark, and yet again, the sweet, innocent, angelic daughter of mine was not satisfied. She did get over it relatively quickly this time, and she was able to sit very quietly, and happily during the end of it all. During all of this time, I enlisted the help of a very opportunistic child who has a knack for getting pictures of the surroundings. Taylor was in charge of taking pictures. The pictures he took weren't exactly of what I asked him to take pictures of. He was snapping photos of everyone in the room, things on the wall, a fake bomb on the ground, the table. You name it, he got it. He did manage to get a couple of pictures of Mark, so I'll give him credit for that.lol . The room was filled with mostly officers and chiefs with about a handful of enlisted people. Not to worry, there was an adult in the room actually taking pictures, so once I get those, I'll post those. =o) It was nice to see that so many people cared to be there for his ceremony. A friend, and co-worker bought an ice cream cake for the occasion. I heard it was fantastic. I wouldn't know, because the dang thing had chocolate in it!! Mark did ask her not get chocolate, but she did anyway. Not because she didn't care or anything like that. She didn't realize that chocolate makes me sick, and she thought, huh, a little fudge in the ice cream . . . what sane woman wouldn't love that! Right? Wrong! I am sane, but no chocolate for me. =o) She did apologize. The kids loved it and everyone else thoroughly enjoyed it. It was nice, and I was happy that I was able to be there to support Mark . . . even if it was from the hallway!


Enjoy the slide show and commentary. =o) Click "View all images" to see larger pictures.

And these are just for fun. If you ever wondered what the boys would look like as blondes, your curiosity is cured!!

Cobb Ranch

We have visited Cobb Ranch every year since we have lived in the valley. A friend told us about it when we first moved here, and we've been loyal goers ever since. We go there twice a year to pick out pumpkins for Halloween, and to pick out a tree for Christmas. The kids love it because there is so much to do there. They have a corn maze, a train ride, a hay ride, the pumpkin patch (of course), the Christmas trees, animals and so much more. Last year was the first year we tried the corn maze. The kids had a blast, so we decided to do it again this year. There were a lot of people that were lost and asking us for help. We ended up helping a couple of ladies with a pack of kids. They had no clue where they were going. I suppose that's what happens when you let the kids lead the way. haha Ryleigh kept saying she wanted to touch the corn so we stopped every so often for her to feel the corn stalks. We made it out in no time at all, or so it seemed.
After the maze, we ventured over to the hay pyramid where the kids goofed around a little before we headed over to see the animals. Ryleigh was such a grouch that entire day, until we got to the animals. She has this natural draw to animals. Its amazing, and she's not typically scared of them either. I think she would have been in heaven if she could have hugged them and been right next to them. She did feed some goats. The boys loved the animals too. Taylor marveled at the Shetland ponies and Austyn liked the goats. My fave always has been, and always will be JJ the alpaca. He's just so cute with his little fro on top of his head. I didn't get a picture of JJ this year, but I do have one of him from last year. I'll have to find it.
Now we were set to find our pumpkins. Austyn picked the first one he saw, and then proceeded to change his mind about a million times after that. He did exchange it for a different one. After that, I made him stick to his choice. His pumpkin is short and round. Ryleigh found her pumpkin next, and it is completely different. All of our pumpkins are really fat and round. Her pumpkin is tall and more oval shaped, and its more yellowish orange than orange. But she was happy with it and very excited about it. Mark, Taylor and I picked our pumpkins from the Pumpkin Korral (that's how they spelled it!)where they have "the best looking pumpkins." Or so it seems. The pumpkins in there were by far the largest, smallest and probably they best shaped ones. I don't think we have ever gotten pumpkins this big before. They are probably a good foot and a half wide by foot and a half tall. They are big, but I think that makes it more fun. We love carving our pumpkins. We won't do that until a few days before Halloween though.Well, that about sums up our bi-annual trip to the Historical Cobb Ranch. Enjoy the slide show, and again, to view all of the images in a larger format, click on "View all images"

Thanks!

I just wanted to post a quick blog to say, "Thank You" to everyone who supported Taylor's school fundraiser. It may seem fairly meaningless to most, but to a 7 year old boy, it means the world. He is very excited to receive his prizes he has earned. Again, thank you all!

Our Family Tradition

Since last year, we have adopted a new Halloween tradition. I first saw the idea at Target, and it was a great one. I wish I could take credit for it, but its one of the few things that I can't take credit for. Anyway, its the tradition of "Booing!" Some of you know what the tradition entails, but many do not. So, I'll explain it. Its fairly simple and the kids love it. You gather up some Halloween goodies of any sort. You put them together in baskets or bags, and you drop them on a neighbor (or a friend's) doorstep. You ring the doorbell, and you take off running as fast as you can. Its more fun at night, and its an added bonus if the people are actually home! Taylor has the most fun booing people. No one has booed us this year. :o( Last year we were booed 3 times. So, we started the booing this year. We booed 4 people instead of the traditional 2. 2 of them weren't home, but the other 2 were. Austyn was excited, but after his first boo he was scared. Taylor and Mark finished up the booing. We still have 2 more neighbors to boo, but we are waiting for them to be home so we can actually go over and wait at the door, so that we can introduce ourselves. I think its weird to boo them if you don't really know them. Anyway, so that is our newest Halloween tradition, and I think we will keep it up every year from here on out. I was trying to come up with a clever Christmas tradition similar to the "Boo," But the only think I could come up with wasn't exactly appropriate. HAHA. It was "I've been Ho-Hoed!" So, for now, we'll stick to "I've been Booed!" Well, here are some of the latest pics in slideshow format.
**Click on View All Images to see them larger!**

Just a Quick Update

We haven't been up to much lately. Taylor starts soccer next week, which Mark will be coaching. We are all excited about that. I will be Team Mom....DUH! haha. I will also be coaching Austyn's soccer team. I think it will be lots of fun, even if I don't know a whole lot about soccer. At this point in the game, his age group is just learning the fundamentals, which are kicking the ball, not touching with their hands and kicking it into the right net. So, it'll be fun. Wish me luck! Ryleigh is just being her girly self. She still loves having her nails painted and her hair fixed, although she rips out her barrettes and ponies seconds later. I've given up, and I just scrunch a little mousse in her hair so it isn't all frizzy and nappy and slip a barrette in to keep her bangs out of her face. These days she's into dressing up and pretending to cook. She's a crack-up. Taylor's still doing phenomenal in school. He's reading books that are on the 3.9 level...which is almost 4th grade. Can you believe that!??! Austyn is also doing great in school. He looks forward to it, and he enjoys it when he gets homework. Odd, but he likes to be like Taylor. =o) The kids are busy watching Iron Man this evening. Mark is out paint balling....lucky guy. I signed him up for a guys night out with our housing community. They sponsor all kinds of activities at random times, and tonight was a guys night out, strictly men. In bold print it said, "No women or children allowed!" I kind of felt like a kid again with the 'no girls allowed' sign. LOL. So, he's out enjoying a night out. I hope he has fun. Well, here are just a few random pictures I took of the kids today. Enjoy.Taylor in his "Elvis" glasses as he calls them. He bought them at the Eagle Buck Store from school.

Austyn after getting sprayed by the sprinkler.

Ryleigh cheesing for the camera.

They LOVE each other...most of the time!

Last, but not least, I think Ry is feeling a little left out these days. Here, she is wearing Taylor's first pair of cleats, from when he was 3. They are about oh, I don't know, 5 sizes too big! LOL. She insisted on wearing them and she was going to play soccer and then she saw me with the camera and she kicked them off!