Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Go away, Tooth Fairy!

The tooth fairy made a fly by of our house this past week. Thankfully she was shoo'ed away and everyone still has all their original baby teeth.

It all started a few weeks ago when Claire took a spill on slide steps at school. She slipped on the steps and hit her mouth on the metal steps - there was a lot of screaming and a little blood - but no loose teeth, so we thought all was well. Two weeks later she was laughing at something and I did a double take - her front tooth had turned gray. Dr. Google explained that an injured tooth takes a couple of weeks to turn due to the nerve in the tooth dying.

I'll admit I was sad. I couldn't decide what was the lesser of two evils... a gap toothed child before her time, or a discolored glaring front tooth. Most people said the dentist would surely pull it - making me cringe the thought of pliers going into that sweet mouth. My vain side wanted her to remain with a perfectly white baby toothed smile that I loved so much. Kids do go through that awkward stage from ... say, 6 to 15 when they transition to baby teeth, to too large teeth, to braces to a nice smile. I did not want to rush into that stage! Every time I looked at her it was that tooth that I saw! All weekend I wondered what the dentist's verdict would be.


The verdict couldn't have been better. Not only is the dentist's main goal to keep the tooth in the mouth as long as possible, there is a very high chance that the tooth will turn back white as the body cleanses out the dead nerve. And if it doesn't, which is rare, the dentist does a simple procedure which creates a hole in the back of the tooth to get the yuck out, patch with tooth enamel, and viola! The white tooth has returned. Claire did have some pretty severe cracks in her enamel in both of her front teeth from the fall. X-rays showed no permanent damage to the root or the permanent teeth. Her permanent teeth, according to the dentist, were waaaayyyyy up there - not surprising since her first tooth did not show up until she was 13 months old and the pediatrician was threatening head x-rays if they didn't come in soon - "you know, to make sure she does have teeth in there."

So now we wait and avoid: biting hard food like apples, carrots, pizza (? that is hard?) and temperature sensitive foods like ice cream and soup. Yeah, right. I'm sure Claire is going to swear off ice cream for the next 3 years.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

The March of Dimes Walk for Babies

Rain or shine, the show goes on and the annual March of Dimes walk for Babies was no exception! It does seem to work out that we've had 2 rainy days for all of 2010 so far, and one just happens to be on this huge event that we've all been looking forward to - raising money for prematurity awareness and treatment.


Maeve & Claire



Maeve, Claire & Bailee - hanging strong!

Thankfully the rain held off for most of the morning and we were able to complete the 4.5 mile walk and enjoy some time with friends for a great cause. There were tons of people their and lots of great survival stories of babies who were born too soon.

Myers & Ethan

Bailee and her post walk cheetos

Jennifer & Myers

Sunday, April 18, 2010

She's not Terrible...

but she is Two! Today is Chloe's 2nd birthday. We celebrated all weekend long with friends and family with time at the lake and two cookouts and two helpings of cupcakes.

I thought I'd take a second to remember Chloe's past and first take a look at her, exactly 2 years and 1 day ago:

And now exactly 2 years ago:




April 18, 2008, 10:05 AM, 8lbs 5oz & 20.25" long

Chloe today:


About Chloe:

Weight - 26.0 lbs

Height - 32"

Sleeping Habits - Lots of it. 7:30 pm - 8:30 am is normal (weekends), 1:00 - 3:00 (or longer) for naps. Still in the crib.

Food - YES! Any and all. Favorites are yogurt, string cheese, cantaloupe and milk


Teeth - 12 in, 4 incisors coming all right now. (ouch)

Favorite Activity - riding in the Barbie Jeep

Favorite Song - "Poker Face," Lady Gaga. Seriously.

Communication Style - Some sort of foreign language that shares the word "NO" with English.


Thanks to everyone who spent time with us and helped make Chloe's birthday weekend a ton of fun!



Thursday, April 15, 2010

The Fight to Save our Babies

There is a killer out there that is stalking our babies. In fact, over 12% of all babies are at risk - a 36% increase over the past 30 years. This killer does not pick out people who make bad lifestyle choices or forgo their prenatal care. It can happen to anyone, at any time - like it did to Chris and Jennifer at 4AM while asleep in bed. Jennifer's water broke at just 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Statistics were not in baby Myers' favor that day, but the medical team at Greenville Memorial began administering treatments to increase his odds of survival - all based on latest medical research to save our smallest patients. Jennifer received steroid treatments to strengthen Myers' lungs and other drugs to squelch her impending labor. Thankfully the labor stopped and Jennifer remained in the hospital under close monitoring and testing. The Doctors watched for signs of dangerous infection and watched Myers grow on the ultrasounds - only now he was missing his protective amniotic fluid, a vital part of healthy lung development. Three weeks later, on May 22, 2009, Myers was born at 27 weeks 6 days weighing 2 lbs 11 ounces.

Myers - Day 2 (2lbs 6oz)




Myers spent the next 71 days in the Level III NICU receiving more lifesaving treatments, 49 of which were spent on the ventilator, and came home with his Mom and Dad on July 31, 2009 - 2 weeks before his intended due date.

Today, Myers is a smiling and healthy 11 month old - on track developmentally for his adjusted age.

Myers - Easter 2010
On April 24th we will join up with Chris, Jennifer, Myers and the rest of "Team Myers" to walk in the March of Dimes "Walk for Babies" at Greenville's ICAR campus in an effort to raise money for the prevention and treatment of prematurity. Without this research and other donations, Myers would not have received treatment that saved his life - like surfactant treatment, a protein that keeps small air sacs in the lungs from collapsing. We are grateful for and glad to support this cause that is saving these precious lives.



To support the March of Dimes and Team Myers click here

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend full of fun, family and beautiful weather as we did. The Easter Bunny did show up at our house last night - the only other night of the year (Christmas Eve is the first) that we can convince Claire to sleep in for the morning. After all, the Easter Bunny has a lot of houses to cover in one night, and if a kid interrupts his work he takes his eggs, candy and presents and leaves. So, it is safer to stay in bed until Mom and Dad come get you up to be sure the Easter Bunny has finished and left your house.

Chloe was not impressed with the Easter Bunny or getting up at 7:45 to find eggs, and she refused to participate. Sable also decided to sit this year out and stay in bed - last year she found one of the eggs and I nearly lost a finger getting it back from her.





Easter Baskets





After all the (real) eggs were accounted for, the girls had their breakfast of Easter morning champions - bunny ear shaped kit kats and one bite of a hard boiled egg. Now late, we hustled off to church.






After church, we went to Jason's parents house for a HUGE ham dinner that would impress any true Southerner. The girls and their cousin spent an hour searching for more eggs in the backyard - all the grown ups rubbing our pollen filled eyes. Chloe passed out in the car on the way home and now Jason and I are trying to figure out what to do with a bowl full of reese's peanut butter eggs.










Happy Easter!

Friday, April 2, 2010

A Good Friday

One of my most favorite times is in the spring and fall when I can sit on my back porch and do nothing but relax, and hear nothing but birds and crickets. When the weather is warm enough to enjoy the porch it is after daylight savings time begins and the kids are long in bed.




On an occasional night Claire is allowed to stay up for quiet time on the porch with me - not exactly quiet, and difficult to hear the birds out there. The time is still well spent - she cuddles into my arm and we take turns playing with each other's hair. Such a peaceful end to our day.





Tonight I sit on the porch alone - Claire (and Chloe) already collapsed into bed after a fresh air filled Good Friday. Jason stained the swing set today, so the girls and I took advantage of the 86* temps and play time with Claire's BFF across the street. After hours outside this morning, we made a Chick-fil-a run for Jason and Chloe sulked herself to sleep for nap time. Claire and I headed out for her special treat that I have been promising for two months - a real pedicure before Easter. She and I both got our toes done, and Claire even got her nails done. A nice fresh start for open toe season which officially kicks off on Sunday!




Claire was in princess heaven. They had mini pink chairs for her to sit in with butterfly wings and a Cinderella playing DVD player strapped to the chair arm. She watched in amazement as her toe nails were trimmed, cuticles cut, legs lotioned and massaged and her nails painted. She chose purple glitter for her toes, and a bright pink for her fingers. The nail tech topped off her fingers with several small flowers hand painted. She loved it! "Mommy, can we do that every day?"






Several more hours of play followed our salon trip. Before long, all the little girls were in bathing suits spraying each other with the hose and washing toys in a metal tub. Hopefully this means she will sleep past 7AM tomorrow.