Callie turns ONE!

Callie  Bug's birthday has come and gone, my angel is now officially a year old.  I wanted to write down a few things, including all about her big party, before the details slipped my memory!

Her birthday party was Saturday, May 11, 2013.  That morning, around 3:30 am, Josh woke up with a righteous stomach ache.  At 6:00 I couldn't sleep any longer.  There was too much on my to do list and not enough time "to do" it in.  When I got up I realized that Josh still wasn't feeling well.  I told him to stay in bed while I got some things done and went into full on mommy mode. 

Luckily my two incredible friends had planned on coming in early to get some extra Callie time and help set up for the party.  Looking back, I wouldn't have been able to pull it all together if it hadn't been for them.  I finished prepping the decorations and laid out all of the stuff for food and then quickly scurried off to take a shower.  Lucky for me, Callie is a great napper and was busy snoozing away in her swing while I got everything done.  I realized after my shower that Josh was going to be completely out of commission.  The poor guy couldn't even move from the bed to the bathroom to throw up and was getting no relief from said throwing up.  I've never seen him like this, he was literally green in the face.  At this point I called for backup... my lovely momma.  She was able to leave a little early and run by the store for some last minute items, and once again, saved the day. 

The rest of the morning is a complete blur. I think I had two panic attacks realizing that there was a lot that wasn't going to be finished before guests arrived, but my lovely friends, Jami and Angie, reassured me and reminded me that no one would know, and this was all about Callie anyway!  I seriously count my lucky stars for the incredible friendships God has blessed me with.  Looking back, the party was a great success.  Josh was able to muster the strength to come out for about 30 minutes before he had to retreat back into hiding, it was so hard to see the pain in his eyes knowing he was missing his daughter's first birthday party... my heart broke for him. 

We had about 30 or so guests over to our house for food (caprese burger bites, grilled cheese, pigs in a blanket) and dessert (cupcakes, animal cookie truffles, chocolate covered pretzels).  We blew up a kiddie pool and loaded it with balls for a makeshift ball pit which was a HUGE success with all of the kids.  The canopy was thrown up in the back along with some seating and a picnic table.  It turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day, we couldn't have asked for better weather! 


Callie had so much fun watching all of the people talk and play and enjoyed her first taste of Miss D-Berry's punch!  After a while we let her go crazy opening presents, which she actually loved!  She'd open it up, pull out the treasure and then look at me to give her the next one.  Typical woman.  :)  Once presents were opened we made our way outside for the cake smash. 


Now, I had this great moment planned out in my head; I thought we'd put the cake down in front of Callie and she'd go bananas trying to shove the delicious, sugary treat into her mouth... That so didn't happen.  The bad thing about plans is that they usually don't go the way you want them to. She loved everyone standing around her singing happy birthday, but when we let her go to get into her cake she wanted nothing to do with it.  My little princess dipped her pointer finger into the icing and then promptly tried to shake it off.  Little miss doesn't like to get dirty (just like Momma).  We attempted to put the icing in her mouth, which just resulted in a lot of drool and a sour face.... Eventually we gave up and called it quits.  Maybe next year she'll be more into the sweets. 


On her actual birthday we met up with family for dinner and celebrated, just the three of us, at home before bed.  The year completely flew by and I can't imagine life without her in our lives.  She has made our marriage stronger and given me the one thing I've dreamed of since I was a little girl-the chance to be a mommy.  No words will ever be powerful enough to describe my joy, thankfulness, and pride in my daughter. 

 Callie on her actual birthday May 14, 2013

 Right before this picture (below) was taken, Callie looked up and saw her very first bird!  She watched it and then threw her hands up over her head when it flew over her... It was hilarious!!!

 Callie and Mommy at her birthday party

 My beautiful grandmother

 Two of the best friends anyone could have ever asked for

 Loving all of her birthday gifts!  Yes... this was all from her party!!!!

 Callie on her actual birthday (morning)

 Birthday pancakes mommy made!

Callie's Pink & Chalkboard Extravaganza

After months of planning, fervently searching Pinterest for inspiration and hours of prep work, Callie's first birthday party has finally come and gone. I'd love to say that it went off without a hitch, unfortunately, as my luck would have it, I cannot say such.  But more on that later.

I had so much fun over the past year decorating Callie's chalkboard with her monthly stats and tracking her growth each month.  Looking back it is such a wonderful miracle to see how she went from a 5.8 lb teensie tot to an almost 17 lb toddler.

Everyone kept asking what the theme for her birthday was going to be and to be honest, I wasn't aware that there was an expectation for a theme at a one year old's birthday.  I mean, let's get real here... The girl has a great personality and is so very smart, but she doesn't watch TV, isn't into any type of book or cartoon character and is way to young to have picked out any hobbies, so a "theme" was very difficult to generate (unless you can classify hiding toys in boxes a theme).  After a little thought I decided to incorporate two of the things that were most prevalent over the first year of her life; chalkboards and pink.  Yep.  It was that simple.

Here are a few of the decorations from little Miss' birthday party!  For putting this all together by myself (again, more on that later) I am pretty proud, however, some things didn't make it to fruition and that makes me a little sad.  I guess there is always next year!

{Dessert Table}

{Animal Cookie Truffles <-- delish="" p="">

{Glittered wine bottles vases}

 {Tower of Delicious Cupcakes}

 {Animal Cookies - For the Kiddos}

 {Chocolate Dipped Pretzels} 

And yes, I am fully aware that I misspelled pretzel... I am not perfect.

 {Smash Cake}

 {12 Month Stat Chalkboard & Note Station}

 {This was actually a huge success... Can't wait to give them to her someday!}

 {Closeup of "chalkboard"}
**You can now find a tutorial for the chalkboard here**

 {Box for predictions/notes to Callie}

 {The 12 months of Callie... She's so stinkin cute. I can't handle it}

 {And of course, my little Birthday Girl!}

 

{I also created a book with all of her monthly pictures and a little note to hear for each month.  What an incredible keepsake!  It turned out so much better than I could have hoped for}

{For more fun and pictures you can follow me on Instagram nickilynne15}

Stay tuned for more party pictures and details about the big day!!  Thanks for stopping by. :)

Flash Backs

My baby sister just attended her first prom... I am officially old. 

Athena is a Junior at NCA and will be 17 next week!  My heart is filled with joy when I think back on the 17 year old version of myself.  Josh had entered my life and was taking me on our first date (my 17th birthday) where we went downtown to see The Lord of The Rings (I think the second one) where he even let me wear his coat!  The fun thing is, he still gives me those butterflies today! 

I spent the evening with my sister and her friends snapping photos to help preserve those precious memories for her.  Here are some of my favorites! 

Typical Athena...

 Had to make them do a "jumping pose"

 Athena and her date

 Friends

 Oops, how'd this get in here (hehehe)

 The boys

 Athena's date.... and they are just friends! (but he's adorable)

 In front of the limo

Callie Kisses

Little Bit has really been showing her love for Mommy and Daddy this month.  We finally got her to give us "kisses," which are more like open mouthed licks - but I'll take em!

One afternoon after work I had Callie in her pack and play (which is now loaded with pit balls for hours of entertainment) and was attempting to get some party prep done while using my super human mommy skills to simultaneously play with my little girl.  At one point I got really close to the mesh of the crib and asked her for a "kiss kiss."  She promptly leaned in and gave me a big wet one through the material.  Dying with excitement on the inside, I grabbed my open laptop and snapped a video!   Just had to share!  Enjoy...

11 Months... Wow!

11 months... That is mind blowingly weird to say.  My tiny, 5 lb 8 oz baby girl is just 3 weeks shy of being a toddler.  Let me tell you, I am SO not ready for this. 

Birthday plans are in full swing and invitations finally went out this week.  I'm just having an incredibly difficult time processing the reality that it has already been a year since Callie blessed our lives.  But more on that later... I'm not really looking to bawl my eyes out quite yet. :)

Callie's 10th month of life has been the most fun we've had thus far!  She is finally starting to "get" things.  Now when she throws drops something she looks at us and says, "Uh-Oh!" Unfortunately for me it has now become a game, but Little Bird wont get the last laugh - Buy Buy Baby sells toy and drink straps so every time she "uh-oh's" something I can pull it right back up with no problem.  Muah ha ha ha. 

She has also figured out how to fake laugh which is the cutest thing.  We will be driving down the road just fake laughing our tushies off back and forth... Makes the afternoon drive home from work much more enjoyable.  As does her beautiful singing voice!  I can sing in a high pitched voice and she will mimic me... Nothing fills my heart more.

Callie is weighing in at 16 lbs 5 oz and is 28 inches tall (20% and 25%).  I swear we are feeding her... She nurses in the morning, has 5-6 baby bullet jars of food + organic puffs + water + 3 bottles and sometimes crackers/cookies/yogurt! 

She celebrated her first Easter this month and had her first post-NICU ER visit as well.  Poor thing can't get a "normal" cold because of her asthma.  One afternoon I picked her up from daycare and she was having a really difficult time breathing.  By the time I had made it home her breathing was so strained she couldn't even cry.  We calmly drove to Cook Children's where we ended up spending the remainder of the night giving her breathing treatments and steroids.  But let me tell you... Cooks knows what's up.  Every staff members carries around BUBBLES!!!  Why don't all hospitals have bubbles?!  It makes the wait time much more bearable and actually makes you smile.  Genius.  While we were waiting, bored out of our minds, Callie finally figured out how to clap.  She was so very proud of herself.

On top of all of the other fun changes like her desire to start walking with just one hand being held, giving hugs and cuddles, and her ever expanding vocabulary, her personality has grown leaps and bounds and our hearts even bigger with the love we have for her.  Check back soon for her birthday updates and a health update for me! 

 Bath time has never been so much fun!

 This picture is just very Callie...

 This is her "cheese" face

 She hates the grass... but if you leave her alone she'll tolerate it just to come find you!

Yes, my daughter is a vampire... But she sure is a cute one, don't you think?

Tired Of Bad Luck

For those of you who know me well you know that my health record is less than stellar.  I tend to fall in that small percentage of cases the doctors tell you about before and after procedures. 

Last Thursday I could feel myself coming down with something.  An incessant cough and stuffy head were nagging at me all day.  Since the following day was Good Friday, I was able to get myself into the doctor where they diagnosed me with a sinus infection and sent me home with some antibiotics.  I spent most of Saturday in bed hoping to recover before church on Sunday.  That night I woke up at midnight in a pool of sweat and after checking my temperature it was at 101.5.  The next morning, after waking up every hour on the hour, I was still burning up and felt horrible.  I had to call and tell our worship leader that I wouldn't be able to make the Easter service and cried realizing that Callie was going to miss her very first Easter Sunday because her mommy was sick.  Somehow, we still managed to make lunch at my mom's house, but had to make an early departure as my symptoms were growing worse. 

I spent the entire afternoon in bed where my fever grew to 102.9.  I called the doctor to see what I should do and after hearing my symptoms he suggested I go straight to the ER to have a spinal tap to check for meningitis.  I was petrified and as soon as Josh returned home from grocery shopping we headed to the hospital.  The evening was spent with me hooked up to an IV, chest x-rays, blood tests and eventually, a spinal tap.  The blood tests showed my white blood cell count was low and my liver enzymes were off but the spinal tap looked great.  They sent me home saying to keep on my meds and that I would get better soon. 

Monday was spent lying down because a new headache had appeared, and if I was anything but prone it would feel as if a 600 lb man was hulk smashing my brain into the ground.  Josh had a work trip scheduled and after coming home to surprise me before his departure he was reluctantly on his way.  My mom was able to come and stay with me to help out with Callie, thank the Lord. 

Tuesday the symptoms intensified and by early morning I was doing something I very rarely do, asking for help...  Even lying down my headaches were so severe that I couldn't breathe or move.  My mom drove me to the doctor where I waited for what seemed like an eternity to be seen.  After a quick assessment they sent me over to the ER once again.  The rest of the morning/afternoon is a complete and total blur as I was in so much pain that nothing mattered but getting relief.  I was put on an IV where they gave me morphine and a few other medications.  An hour later the pain was less intense but as soon as they sat me up the headaches reared their ugly head and the doctors made their decision.  I was diagnosed with a post lumbar puncture headache.  Basically, your brain sits in a sac of fluid with a tail that travels down your spine.  When I got the spinal tap on Sunday it punctured the sac leaving a hole where spinal fluid was leaking out into my back. This slow leaking of fluid causes an imbalance in the fluid your brain sits in, causing excruciating headaches.  As a solution, they preform what is called an epidural blood patch... This is where it gets fun, ladies and gentlemen.  As if it wasn't enough to have my spine poked with a large gauge needle once, they needed to do it again.  This time, two anesthesiologists came in, one to put in the epidural while the other drew blood from my arm (yes, at the same dadgum time), once the blood was drawn (20-30 ccs to be exact) it was then injected into my spine via the epidural.  The blood clots and works its magic and somehow closes the hole... Well it worked and they sent me on my merry little way with strict orders of bed rest to recover. 

I truly thought that one day would be enough to recover from all of this and boy was I wrong.  I woke up this morning to get ready for work and was rudely reminded of the pain I had experienced as the headaches started to return.  In some cases the blood patch has to be repeated... So here I am, lying in bed STILL, and as frustrated as ever.  The pain has been so intense that I haven't been able to eat much and have lost weight as well.  As long as I'm able to tolerate the pain I'm going to handle it because eventually the hole will close and the leaking will stop. 

With all that being said, it has been a less than phenomenal week for me.  I haven't been able to go to work and see my coworkers or kids, I haven't been able to pick my daughter up, change her diapers or even give her baths and on top of it all I'm left with anxiety of a looming headache that keeps threatening to return full force and send me back to the emergency room.  Your prayers would be greatly appreciated- mostly for God's will to be, and for a quick, pain-free recovery.  I am officially out of sick days for work and each day I miss is now being deducted from my salary.  It is an all too familiar reality that we dealt with last year as Callie arrived earlier than expected.  I know that God is the ultimate healer, and that He knows my path and has a plan for my family.  My faith is ever stretching as I walk side-by-side with Him, but it is not an easy path to follow.  Thank you for your prayers... I'll be sure to post an update soon.