Ear Infection

I took Natalie to the doctor Friday for a weight check and found out she had an ear infection. She did not have any signs and was really not that fussy, so thank goodness we had to go to the doctor for a weight check otherwise we may not have caught it so early. She is 14lbs 7oz! Can you believe it? She is getting so big, yeah!

We also took her to the Amarillo pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Luckstead this week. He was great and we really like his staff and himself. She had an x-ray and EKG. They wanted to get a baseline on Natalie in their office, in case there is ever an emergency or she gets sick. We will be going back and forth between the Dr. Luckstead and his partner Dr. Kershy (he diagnosed us here in Amarillo and I am pretty sure I am spelling his name wrong, sorry) and Dr. Zellers (Dallas) every couple of months for check ups.

Even though Natalie has an ear infection, she is still a happy girl. We were finally all over our stuffy noses to go visit Grandma today! We have been home a little over a month, but it seems that between Grandma, my two kiddos and myself, someone has been sick. Natalie did wonderful and we had such a special afternoon. I have posted a picture of Grandma and Natalie together.

We have also had some pretty big things happen in our household this past week:

Natalie is really sitting up by herself for long periods of time now

Natalie also rolling over a little bit more

She is also adding a few more vowels in her vocabulary

Carter is finally peddling on his bicycle! This is huge, because he has been using his feet on the ground instead and we have gone through so many shoes...He turning into a Big Boy!

I have really started to try and balance my time between housework and the two kids. I am not sure how all you mom's out there do it, but I am trying. I have started trying to do something special with Carter when Natalie goes down for her morning nap. We normally play the Wii, which Carter loves, but we also painted a few Dora pictures this week as well. We had such a great time hanging out together and after about three pictures he told me we were done.

Great Weekend

We had a great weekend! Gran and Papa (Larry's parents) came in town for a visit. Papa took Carter to Chuck E Cheese and McDonald; all the wonderful and necessary places in Carter's mind. Natalie loved all the attention she got from Gran.

Amarillo weather once again is crazy! Thursday was 70 degrees outside and Friday night and Saturday morning, it snowed! We made the best of both. Carter, Natalie and I played outside all day on Thursday. We are trying to get Carter to actually peddle on his bicycle instead of using his feet on the ground. He will peddle for a few minutes and then back to the feet. I think it is because he can go faster with a little less effort...we will continue to encourage him to peddle.

Saturday, we got Carter got all bundled up, so he could play in the snow. He had so much fun driving his jeep in the snow and laughed the whole time.

Natalie is developing every day. She can sometimes feed herself a Gerber puff now, when we put it on her chair. She struggles, but can get in her mouth 50% of time. She is talking a lot more and her new words are "baa baa." She is also sitting up really good by herself. She is such a big girl!

We go this week to visit the pediatric cardiologist in Amarillo. We are keeping Dr. Zellers in Dallas as our primary pediatric cardiologist, but want a doctor here in town, in case of emergencies or if she gets an infection. She also has a weight check with Dr. Scott, our pediatrician and her second half of her flu vaccine...shots, yucky.

Natalie is 8 Months Old

Natalie is 8 months old today! If she can put it in her mouth she will. She has also started really sitting up by herself a lot more. She is just such a happy girl!

She does like Dora, which is a good thing, because her brother is obessed. She was smiling and laughing when the map came on to sing his little song.

Sitting Up

Natalie is such a happy girl. If you did not know, you would never know she has undergone 3 open heart surgeries. She just smiles at you and is super ticklish like her brother.

We have been working on sitting up by herself more. She does really good for a while and then starts to reach for a toy and falls over. She has also rolled over a few times! We are just now able to work on tummy time so she is a little behind, but not too bad.

We have been working on the baby food. She loves vegetables, but not to found of fruit still. I did give her a few Gerber puffs last night and she loved those. She kept opening her mouth for more.

Carter is finally feeling better. He still has about a week left of one medication, but I think he is finally well. He is so funny, we have been working on being a big boy here lately. He know wakes up in the morning and puts his shoes on by himself first thing.

He came home from school the other day and we were playing in his room. He started singing "Jesus Loves Me, " way too cute! If I can, I will try to catch it on video and see if I can figure out how to upload videos to the blog.

I hope everyone has a great spring break! I am off to put a tired little girl down for nap.

13lbs 10oz

We have been home a little over two weeks now and I think we are finally adjusted for the most part. Natalie is doing great! We had a weight check yesterday with our pediatrician, Dr. Scott. Natalie weighs 13lbs 10oz and her O2 levels are awesome for her! She does have a little eye infection, but we got drops for that so hopefully that will clear up soon.

Natalie is really starting to develop. She is trying so hard to sit up by herself. She can for a minute, but then normally falls to one side or the other. We go next week back to the doctor and meet with a physical therapist. We just want to stay proactive on her development, so she does not fall too far behind. She has only rolled over once, but I can't blame her. I would not want to roll over either onto my chest if someone cut it open.

If she can put it in her mouth, she will. Her two bottom teeth have broken through the gums finally. She is doing so much better on the baby food. It is so funny to me, Carter hated to get his hands dirty when he was little, if Natalie could she would stick her whole hand into the food bowl. She is going to be a messy eater.

Natalie is also sleeping through the night, which is a super blessing for me. We were waking her up to feed her to get the extra bottle in, but since it has been 7 weeks post-op, we decided to try and let her sleep through the night and so far (knock on wood) she is doing great!

Carter has been battling a sinus infection off and on for the past two months. Our pediatrician has gotten pretty aggressive, which I am so happy about. He is on two different medications and we do a breathing treatment at night before bedtime, to help the coughing. He has only been on everything for 3 days now and seems to be better in my eyes.