A Letter from "TF"

Madison lost her first tooth in kindergarten. She was so excited! Until she put her tooth under her pillow and discovered the next morning that this thing called a Tooth Fairy - a total stranger - had actually come into her room in the middle of the night...when she was all alone, violated her personal space and then took her tooth. This near brush with death was hardly worth the money left behind by this thing called a Tooth Fairy.

And, I have to admit, if you look at it from her from her point of view, it is kinda creepy.

So, soon thereafter when she lost her second tooth...she did not even tell Joe or I. She had been hopeful if she kept it to herself, that crazy fairy would not come. Of course, if your daughter is missing her front teeth, it is next to impossible not to notice! To appease her fear, we convinced Madison that Tooth Fairy's do not just visit at night, they will come anytime of day. So that afternoon, we put her tooth under her pillow and then went out to play. When we checked back a few hours later, low and behold her tooth was gone and in it's place was money.

She was finally able to relax about the whole Tooth Fairy situation and enjoy loosing her teeth. And boy did she loose some teeth! During kindergarten, Madison lost EIGHT teeth. Most of that year, she looked like a Jack-O-Lantern with the odd tooth here or there.


Seeing as how she was loosing teeth left and right in kindergarten, Madison went almost three years without loosing another tooth. She has matured a lot in that time.


While now she is still not quite comfortable with the Tooth Fairy visiting her room at night...She did set up a bed with her American Girl doll outside her bedroom door. And she put her tooth, along with the following note, under her dolls' pillow:



She is obviously feeling more comfortable in her relationship with the Tooth Fairy - she even had the nerve to ask for more money! By the way, I felt the Tooth Fairy was being more than generous in leaving $10.00 in the past. But, being the astute business person that she is, Madison requested more.

To which the Tooth Fairy replied:

Dear Madison,

Thank you for your note. My name is “The Tooth Fairy” but my friends call me “TF” for short. Over the years children have given me other names such as Flossy, Winkle, Sparkles and so many more. I don’t mind at all if you want to give me a special name. But I’ll always be the Tooth Fairy. If you want you can just call me TF. If you have a special name for me, please leave me another note to let me know.

I do not have a picture with me, but, what do I look like? I am not tall and I am not short. I have nice skin and nice hair. My eyes are very pretty and I have an enchanting smile. Sometimes I wear my wings, and sometimes I do not. If you close your eyes and imagine what I look like, you just may be able to see me looking back at you. When I was just the youngest fairy, I learned that children’s laughter made my wings move faster.

I will leave you $15 this time. But please keep in mind the amount of money I have to give for teeth changes all the time. I can sometimes leave more money, other times I have to leave less. There are several secret and loving adults that have a lot of money. They give money to me so I can trade it for your lost teeth. One time I had such a generous donation to Tooth Fairy Land that I was able to give out $100 for a very special clean and white sparkling tooth, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do that again. Please remember that loosing a baby tooth really isn’t just about getting money. It is about the magic you share with your friends and family. It is about the magic moment you realize you are getting just a little bit older. Be sure to always remember this time and to cherish the people you love and that love you the most.

Love Always,
TF

Madison immediately noticed that TF's handwriting looked very similar to Mom's. I quickly pointed out the the Tooth Fairy writes in all capital letters, something I never do. Luckily, that explanation appeased her.

I'm amazed at the wonder, joy and unconditional belief that a tooth fairy actually exists. But I'm sad to realize that this utter innocence will not last much longer.

Isn’t there some way that we can slow down this growing up business?

Toddler Time

Kyle started walking last week! Which officially makes him a toddler. He was into EVERYTHING before, I can only imagine the fun we're about to have!



Sorry about the poor video quality...I'm not sure what happened when I uploaded it to You Tube.

Although we are obviously so proud of Kyle, this milestone is a little bittersweet. I already miss my "baby" boy.

Maybe I need to start putting a bug in Joe's ear about having a third baby? You know, since we had such an easy time with this one and all!

Preemie Adventures

Matt, owner of Red Sparks is starting a new preemie segment on The Playpen entitled “The Preemie Adventure – Then and Now.” The series will feature a picture of premature infants at birth, along with a photo of the child at present day and a brief story from the parents describing their personal experiences with preterm birth.

He has chosen our story to kick-off the series. Here is the article and pictures that I submitted:

During a family vacation to Disney World, I was diagnosed with Preterm Premature Rupture of the Membranes (PPROM)...which is a fancy way of saying that my water broke VERY early. I was 22 weeks pregnant and was told that there was very little chance that the baby would survive.

We were devastated as they went over the statistics. My due date was still 121 days away. We had a 90% chance that the baby would die in the delivery room. If he beat the odds and survived, it would almost surely be with severe disabilities and a very poor quality of life. We were even offered medication to speed up the “inevitable”.

Thankfully, I lasted almost two weeks on bed-rest, which gave the baby some much needed time to develop further. At 24 weeks and 5 days, Kyle was born weighing 1 pound 6 ounces. Again we were warned that his chances of surviving, let alone leading a quality life, were not good.

We were devastated when we saw how small he was. And it was not a tiny, cute little baby kind of small. He obviously was very sick. Despite all the problems on the inside - things like his lungs and heart not being developed - we were struck by how different he looked on the outside. One of his eyes was still fused shut. His skin was transparent and covered with hair. Even his ear lobes had not yet developed cartilage and just hung there.

You will hear many parents of preemie’s state that their NICU stay was a rollercoaster ride and this description is so true.




During Kyle’s 119 days in Florida Hospital South’s NICU, while he had some good days, he also endured heart surgery, 69 days on life support/ventilator, Cytomegalovirus (CMV), anemia, bilateral hernias, Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD), Chronic Lung Disease, bilateral renal calculi (small kidney stones), jaundice, aspirations, Respiratory Distress Syndrome, 3 bouts with pneumonia, hyperglycemia, 11 blood transfusions, high blood pressure, numerous infections and Stage 3 Retinopathy of Prematurity requiring Eye Surgery.

Thanks to many answered prayers, today Kyle is a happy and healthy 18 month old (14 months adjusted age). He is the happiest baby and loves to be the center of attention. He is close to walking on his own and is adding new words to his vocabulary weekly.

If there is one remnant of Kyle’s extreme prematurity, it is the slow rate in which he has grown. Although it is finally starting to get better, since the day we left the hospital we have received comments on Kyle’s small size. An automatic question of strangers seems to be, “How old is your baby?” When he weighed 7 pounds and I would answer that he is six months old, people would look at me like I am crazy. Kyle is now almost 19 pounds, which considering his start in life, is amazing to me. Still, I feel like I always have to defend his small size and am looking forward to the day that he is actually on the growth chart!

We had a great appreciation for Kyle even before his prematurity because I had such a difficult time getting pregnant (he is an IVF baby), so even his conception was nothing short of miraculous to us. But everything now is even more precious to us and we take nothing for granted. We have learned some valuable lessons through this trial and we’ll never be the same. When I look at Kyle now, it is hard for me to imagine that he once weighed just 18 ounces. I am amazed by the accomplishments he has made, he truly is our miracle baby. "This is the Lord's doing, it is marvelous in our eyes." Psalm 118:23

I think this series is an excellent idea! When Kyle was in the hospital, I would scour the Internet for information on preemies. While I was able to find a lot of medical based information, there was nothing like this "Now and Then" series. This may seem callous, but as parent looking at Kyle when he was just one pound, I wondered if he would ever look "normal".

Anyways, if anyone is interested, The Play Pen is looking for other preemie parents to submit stories.

Back to School, Back to Blogging

Yikes. It has been over three weeks since I have last posted.

I never really had aspirations or even a desire to start a blog. But I did start one, completely on a whim from my hospital bed. In the beginning, the purpose was solely to keep everyone up to date on Kyle's health and to post specific prayer requests. That was easy and did not take much thought.

But now, with Kyle healthy, and the purpose of the blog no longer there, I have really struggled with what to post. As a result, I have debated whether or not to even continue with the blog, or in what capacity.

I've worried about who I am writing the blog for. There are some people that check in just for updates on Kyle. There are others that I have met through the blogger world that probably really don't care how many teeth my baby now has. I have begun worrying who my audience is and how I can please them.


Ultimately, I've decided that I am going to write this blog for Madison and Kyle. So that someday, when I am gone or old and senile, they will have a keepsake from me. So that if their spouse ever asks them, "were you dropped on your head as a kid" (like my husband asks me on a weekly basis) they will know the answer. Starting this week. Back to school for Madison, back to blogging for me.

As this is sort of the end if summer, I thought it would be appropriate to give a shout out to two special young ladies who became an important part of our lives this summer.

First, my cousin Elanor was in town from Australia for a few weeks. She is an absolutely gorgeous girl that is full of spunk. Madison idolized her and has been trying to act sophisticated by talking "Australian" like her older cousin. You know, using words, like lollie and fairy floss.


Elle and I would have had a blast had we actually been able to go out sans kiddos during her trip. Well, scratch that. I would have had a blast. She would have probably felt mortified hanging out in a club with her cousin who is 15 years older.

Last but not least, Amy, a young woman from church who was home from college for the summer babysat Kyle and Madison while I was working. She was awesome. If there was any way I could have convinced her not to go back to Grove City College for her senior year, that she would have a much better life babysitting for us, I would have tried. I never could get up the courage to give her the pros and cons of poopie diapers and puke, instead of say, her sorority.

At any rate, Elanor and Amy, we miss you both so much already. Our summer would not have been the same without you!

Oh, and to go along with my new blogging attitude....I've got a new blog-lift. You like? Hilary designed it for us. She is a dream to work with. If anyone is in need of a blog makeover, she is your girl.

Beach Bums

We've just returned from Hilton Head. What an incredible place!


This was our first road trip as a family. You see, all of our other vacations we have flown.


In a way, this trip was reminiscent of my vacations from decades ago. When my family would all pile in the station wagon for road trips. It was the late seventies, early eighties—before car seats and seat belts were all the rage. On long drives, my sisters and I rode in the back, seats folded down, unbelted amidst piles of blankets, pillows, toys, books, and discarded shoes.


Just like trips of decades gone by, Madison and I played the license plate game. Although this trip we also had a DVD player and an awful lot of texting going on as well. And thank God - no station wagon.


And Madison's favorite part of the vacation? The twelve hour drive to and from Hilton Head. Go figure. She thought driving somewhere through the middle of the night was just the coolest thing ever. We lucked out with Kyle also. He fell asleep soon after our trip began in Ohio. And did not wake until we arrived in Hilton Head in the morning. We were so thankful!


Okay, I digress. Hilton Head was an absolutely beautiful place.


During the day, we spent every possible minute at the beach or the pool. My favorite kind of vacation!
















During the evenings, we went out for yummy dinners with the two other families we were vacationing with.



Madison lost a tooth while we were on vacation. Big news to an eight year old! Especially an eight year old that has not lost a tooth in almost three years.

And speaking of my sweet, innocent, eight year old daughter. There were several pictures of this dude on my camera:

Nobody I know. Apparently my sweet, innocent, eight year old daughter thought he was cute. So she took several pictures of him. I am in so much trouble when she is older!

It was the perfect summer vacation. Kyle fell in love with the ocean. Madison fell in love with crab legs. And I fell even more in love with my family.

Wordless Wednesday

We're in Hilton Head and having a blast!




By the way, Operation Baby Fat is not going well at all this week. Unless sand has any caloric value?

Luau Time

As you've probably gathered from my lack of posts, this blogger has been a little lazy and lax about posting. I wish I could say I had some fabulous excuse for my laziness, but the truth is I've just been enjoying summer with the kiddos.


But alas, I am FINALLY getting around to posting about Kyle's party.




We had such a wonderful time! Almost 100 of our nearest and dearest joined us for a luau.


The kids seemed to have a blast and really got into the theme.




The adults seemed to get into the island spirit as well. My Mom won the prize for best tropical dressed:

Of course I'm only teasing! Just trying to provoke a comment from my loving Mother, since she still reads the blog but has not commented since forever.

Anyways, back to the Luau. We had barely finished with the Limbo when the torrential downpours started.

So we had to "sail" inside:


Okay, that was a very poor attempt at a joke. But, I just loved this picture of Kyle and needed an excuse to post it.

Once inside, we sang "Happy Due Date" to Kyle and let him dig into his smash cake. For someone that refuses to eat most days, he certainly enjoyed his cake:

As always, Joe was looking HAWT:

And I owe a HUGE thanks to Kyle's Godparents, Terry and Leanne.

I was so busy playing hostess during the party, I did not have time to take any pictures. They surprised us with all these wonderful photos of the party.

I especially like these two of Kyle and Madison:

Despite the rain, it really was a wonderful party and the perfect way to celebrate all that has happened over the past year.

Happy Independence Day!

Hope you have the loveliest 4th of July possible!




A little flashback from last years Fourth of July...

Despite being almost five months old, Kyle was still not big enough to fit into newborn sized clothes.

So, Madison dressed him up in her Build a Bear clothes.

I am pretty sure someday Kyle will not be happy that I let his sister dress him up in doll clothes!

Happy 4th of July!

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Unhappy Birthday

The day Madison was born was one of the happiest in my life. Her birth was just like the movies. Well, except for the 51 hours of labor before she was actually born. Joe cut the cord and the doctors laid Madison on my chest. Immediately after she was born, right there in the delivery room, Joe and I spent time cuddling and admiring our baby girl. With a full head of hair and big blue eyes, she was the cutest baby ever.

Madison at five days old:



I cried tears of joy. Instantly Joe and I went from being a couple to a family. Life was perfect.

The day Kyle was born, on the other hand, was the worst of my life.

After my water broke at 22 weeks during our family vacation to Disney, I had been placed on bed rest in a hospital 1000 miles away from home. And I was okay with that. We were just so grateful that the doctors had been able to stop my labor.


At this point, I had been on bed rest for two weeks without any signs of labor being immanent. With people praying for us around the country, I was optimistic that I could last on bed rest for a couple months. But, the doctors had warned me that at some point labor would come, and it would come quickly. I however, was not prepared for just how quick they meant.


On February 20th, at a little after midnight, I got up to use the restroom. I did my business then laid back down in bed. It was only then that I realized something was terribly wrong. I literally could not put my legs together because the baby was falling out of me.


I frantically screamed for a nurse. She took one look at what was happening, and paged the delivery area to prep for an emergency. While this was happening, I grabbed my cell phone that was next to the bed and called Joe to alert him. The time on caller ID said 12:08am.


I was whisked down the hall and into the operating room which was full of people who were preparing for the delivery. The doctors discovered that it was actually the sac that was holding Kyle and his feet that were falling out of me. While Kyle's chances at survival were not high to begin with, with him being breech the doctors felt he certainly would not survive a vaginal delivery. So, the decision was made to try and push him back inside of me and then deliver him via c-section.


Kyle was born at 12:48 am. When he came out it was not as if you could hear a cry (the doctors later told us his lungs were the size of a lima bean) and everyone is happy and declares "it's a boy!" Instead the NICU team was there waiting and they went into overdrive trying to save this little life. Not knowing what his state was at birth, I just kept yelling "Is he alive???" until someone finally told me he was.

While I was being sewn up, a neonatoligist came to speak with me and let me know that they would do everything medically possible to give Kyle a chance at life, but there is only so much that can be done.

Until anesthesia wore off, which took a couple hours, I was not allowed to leave the recovery room to see the baby. During this time, I just laid in a bed all by myself and cried. I was so worried that Kyle would die before I ever got a chance to meet him.

In the meantime, Joe flew down to Florida. When we were finally able to go see Kyle together, we were shocked at how small he was. And it was not a tiny, cute little baby kinda small. He obviously was very sick. Despite all the problems on the inside - things like his lungs and heart not being developed - we were struck by how different he looked on the outside. One of his eyes were still fused shut. His skin was transparent and covered with hair. Even his ear lobes had not yet developed cartilage. I've never saw anything like it, but his ears just sort of hung down like Dumbo's. (Sorry Kyle, as I am sure you will read this someday!).


Kyle at five days old:




Unlike the day Madison was born, there was no cuddling and family bonding done with Kyle when he was born. In fact, it would be 69 days before I was even allowed to hold him wrapped in a blanket like a newborn.

Kyle was a fighter and after 119 days in the NICU, we were allowed to take our precious, healthy baby boy home. THAT day was one of the happiest of my life. I cried (okay I bawled) tears of joy as we made our way to the car with Kyle.

And it is THAT day that I want to celebrate.


Madison and Kyle the day he came home from the hospital:




When Kyle's birthday 1st birthday came around this past February, it just did not seem right celebrating with a big party in Ohio. So instead we headed back to Florida for a quiet reunion with our NICU family.

But, it has now been exactly one year since Kyle came home from the hospital and we are celebrating the occasion with a HUGE party for family and friends this weekend. And I couldn't be happier!!!

Mommy and Me Trip

Well Kyle and I survived our trip to Orlando together! In fact it was FABULOUS! It was just the two of us since Joe was attending a friends bachelor party in Las Vegas, and Madison flew out with him to chaperone stay with her Grandparents and Aunt Katie who live in Vegas.

Kyle did wonderful on the plane and it ended up being a breeze getting through the airport with him by myself.

Look mom, our plane is here!




On Saturday, Rylee and her mommy came to our hotel to swim. I was a little apprehensive about how Kyle would do in the pool. Memorial Day weekend we went swimming and Kyle hated being in the water.

I think having Rylee around must have helped get him acclimated to the water because he ended up loving the pool. In fact, we were able to get some swimming in everyday of our vacation and Mr. Kyle was a little fish in the water.





After swimming, the kiddos played. It was very cool to see them interact with each other. They have come so far since this time last year when they were both still in the NICU together.



Sunday was the NICU Birthday Party sponsored by Florida Hospital. It was awesome to be reunited with the amazing staff that took such good care of Kyle during his hospital stay.

Kristin (in the middle) was one of our favorite nurses...



Kyle with his Level 3 NICU neighbor...



And his Level 2 neighbor...

During the party, Kyle played in a bounce house with Rylee...


Bowled an (almost) perfect game....



Met his first clown...

And even did a little dancing...


It was a GREAT party, well worth traveling 1,000 miles to attend!

I debated whether or not to take Kyle to Disney, but ultimately decided that I just couldn't miss not taking him when we would be so close. And I am so glad I did! Seeing Kyle smile and wave at Mickey Mouse made it all worth it.

We arrived at Magic Kingdom just as the doors opened. Although I am NOT a morning person, I love being at the park early as you can walk on just about any ride with no waiting.



I have to admit, I was a little anxious about traveling by myself with Kyle. This does not sound very nice, but sometimes you just need a little break from a baby. Kyle and I would literally not be out of the same room as each other for five days. Would I go crazy?

As it turns out, this was such a special time for Kyle and I to bond. As Madison was an only child for seven years, I had lots of "alone" time with her. After the success of this trip, I am going to try and make it a priority to spend special one on one time with both Madison and Kyle. Maybe Madison and I will take a trip to American Girl Place later in the summer...

We caught up with special friends, played in the sun, went to Disney, laughed together a ton, and came back relaxed and refreshed. All in all, our trip really could not have gone any better!