Happy Halloween!

Haven had her annual costume party last night but ended up sleeping through most if it! :) Her sleep/eat schedule has been a little off since she had her 4 month shots last week so she fell asleep right as guests were arriving and then woke at 10pm. Oh well...

Costume contest winners: Laurel and Ben (Cinderella and Prince Charming), Mike (may have been rigged since he also tallied votes), Aunt Amanda, Uncle Sean, Katie Swafford. Thanks for coming everyone!

I HATE pampers!

I realize the CEO of Pampers probably doesn't read my blog but I needed to get that out. Haven never wears them and she wore one DryMax diaper and now has the most awful burn on her little butt. I googled DryMax and found MANY parents who have had the same experience. I called the "contact us" number and the first prompt says, "If you'd like a complete refund for DryMax diapers, press 1." I rest my case.

Anyways, here' a new photo of Miss Haven. Other than the raw butt, she's doing great!

She goes for her 4 month check up tomorrow which will mean a few shots I'm sure. Last weigh in was 11lb 7oz and that was about a month ago so we'll see what the scale says tomorrow!

another before and after

I'm big on looking back at these photos because I'm still amazed at the change. I will always love and miss the old smile but Dr. Polley did a better job than we could ever have imagined...

Look at my pumpkin!

So....nose stents are a joke. I can now get them in and taped and by the time I reach to get the no-no's for her arms, she is holding the stents in her little hand and smiling at me like, "you're an idiot."

Dr. Figueroa said to do our best and not to worry if she doesn't keep them in for a long time. We can continue to put them in and try to keep her hands away from her face but she is clearly smarter than us...we're losing this battle. :)

Her scar looks good-they say that it will be the most noticeable at about 6 weeks post-op and Monday will be 4 weeks. It should get more red ( is "redder" a word?) and then start to fade. We go back on Nov. 9th to get the scar ointment and to learn the massage that is supposed to break up the scar tissue so it sits flat and is less noticeable. I laugh every time I say "scar massage" because I'm guessing it will go something like the nose stents situation. It's worth a try...

Here's what the nose stents would look like if she kept them in:

4 month old photos!

4 months old!

We were running a little late to get Haven to Aunt Amanda's today so I'll take photos tonight and post them. Grammy picked her up from daycare yesterday and was the first person to hear her giggle! Mike and I tried over and over last night to make her laugh but....nothing. :) Have a great day everyone!

OH! p.s.--Blitz jumped in the pool last night...while it was covered. :)

GREAT photos!

This was an interesting weekend...we ALL ended up with the flu--except Haven and Arlene. Not sure how we pulled that off but we're very thankful they didn't get sick. After everyone was feeling better, the girls went to pick out pumpkins and spent some time with the family. BIG thanks to Grandpa Gary for fixing our mailbox and Grandma Juanita for spending time with Haven when Mike and I could barely stay awake let alone entertain the baby. SO happy to feel better!

Grammy got Haven and Arlie really cute light up Disney pumpkins for their rooms! We're really excited about our upcoming Disney trip and this is something the girls can look at every night before they dream of Mickey and Minnie! I can't believe it's only been 3 weeks since Haven's lip surgery-she looks awesome. We go see Chris at Rush tomorrow to help us with the nose stents. I'm guessing the photos in the next few weeks of posts will involve tape again. :( At least we got a few weeks with her new smile and nose before we need to cover it up again.

My new blankie!

Thank you to Aunt Katie and Uncle Matt for my awesome new blanket! I LOVE IT!

Happy Birthday Aunt Amanda!

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday Aunt Amanda...

Happy Birthday to YOU!

Thank you for taking such great care of me at your daycare and for being such a fun aunt!

I love you!

Love,

Haven

jogging with mommy and daddy

We took a little jog tonight and Haven rode in her stroller without her car seat for the first time. It's so much easier and less bulky so that's an exciting step. I didn't get a photo of it but our black lab, Blitz, ran past our mail box and somehow got his leash caught and pulled it right out of the ground. SO, if you're looking for our house, it's the one with the big mailbox laying in the yard. We started feeding her a little cereal in her bottles at night and.....she's back to sleeping all night long! Mike and I couldn't be happier--I'm not nearly as crabby in the mornings now. :) Still no luck with the nose stents so Dr. Polley's office said we need to come in as soon as possible to get them figured out. Haven was pretty tired from all the fresh air...

What's new?

We went to dinner tonight for Aunt Amanda, Uncle Sean, and Grammy's birthday which was really fun. Nothing much new....new smile looks great. We're having trouble getting her nose stents in which is a problem-they don't seem to fit properly and she screams like crazy which makes me think they hurt her. I have to call tomorrow to see if we can get an appointment soon to show us what we're doing wrong. We're SOOO proud of cousin Laurel! She finished the Chicago Marathon today in 5 hours and 25 minutes WITH tendonitis! Daddy watched Haven all day on Saturday while I was at a Make-A-Wish event and then the Provena St. Mary's Gala that night. Ms. Yvonne gave Haven an adorable gift..."A Hare & A Spare". It's a cuddly blanket to keep at home and one to take with her when we're out. SO CUTE!

milestone today

Might not seem like much but our big girl grabbed her first ring today! She has been staring them down for days now and she was finally able to focus and grab one....her mom might have been a little sleep deprived and shed a few tears. It's ok to laugh at me. :)

Stitches out...

Well yesterday was quick and easy. They did have to bring her in the OR and put her under but it was only about 10 minutes and coming out of it was a lot easier than last week. They took her in at 10am and we were in the car going home by 11am so that was good. She came home with a small piece of steristrip tape on her lip that they said would fall off on its own-which it did today. I'm enjoying seeing her pretty smile before we have to start the nose stents which she will wear for 3 months. Her schedule is still off--she was up about every 2 hours last night again. We took for granted that we had a baby who slept through the night EVERY night from 5 weeks old. I'm hoping we can get back to that point soon.

Happy Birthday Grammy!

"Grandma always makes me feel like she has been waiting all day to see me....and now her day is complete."

2 years!

Today is our 2nd anniversary and Grammy's birthday! We went to breakfast after church with the family which was really nice. It's funny to think about how much has changed in 2 short years....Arlie wasn't even born yet--which seems crazy since we just can't imagine life without her! We bought a house ( and sold one ) and had our little angel of course. Life has been a little hectic the last few months and that definitely changes the amount of time Mike and I spend together but we wouldn't change any of it. We now look forward to date nights since they are rare! :)

Haven's stitches come out tomorrow at 8am--we have to be at Rush at 6:30am because she has to go through the whole surgery process again. This time she will only have a small amount of anesthesia so she will come out of it quickly and we're told that taking them out will only take 15 minutes. She is dying to suck her thumb (mommy and daddy are looking forward to having her built in pacifier back as well) so hopefully all will go well tomorrow and she can go back to normal life. Her smile is awesome and we are excited to get this next step behind us. Check out the cute bib that a friend of Aunt Debbie's made!

Before and After (so far)

Doing GREAT!

Haven is now 4 days after surgery and doing great. Her sleeping and eating are random and not back to her old schedule but she's SOOO happy every day and started officially smiling today!

We are in love with how great her face looks even though we miss the old "wide" smile too. This is a new part of her life and we're so pleased with how she's healing. She goes Monday to have her stitches removed-scheduled for 8am. We have to go through the entire check in process again because they put babies under to have them taken out so they can't resist and squirm. These last few days home with her have been really fun...I'll really miss her when I go back to work. Thanks again to everyone who has been calling to check up on her! :)