Heaven gained a beautiful soul

My beautiful Aunt Kathy went to heaven today, December 30.  She reached her goal to see her son marry his new bride.  She was a true inspiration to many and shared her journey of pancreatic cancer with friends, family, and many that she had not met.  She fought a tough battle and keep an upbeat attitude and strong faith over the past year.

I had many conversations with her over the last year.  From when she called to share the news to silly texts about her squirrel friend.  She always asked how I was doing and my mom.  When I shared the news we were expecting again she was so excited and would always ask how I felt when we talked.  She even joked once that she was glad she was not pregnant and throwing up.

She also was always sending us little gifts in the mail.  Brendan received a book, Lila got some official Ohio buckeyes, and  Jason and I an OSU/UM flag.  Sometimes it was a card just letting us know she was thinking of us.

She touched so many lives in the last year and now she can rejoice in Heaven cancer and pain free.

You will be missed Aunt Kathy. We all love you so much.

From the comfort of my couch...

I stayed warm while Jason played in the snow with the kids. I even asked them to play in the front yard so I could take pictures from the couch. What would playing in the snow and cold be if you didn't have hot chocolate after. Though Lila just took a sip and then ate the marshmallows.

A winter wonderland

The snow has given me something new to look at from my windows. Today it has been a softly falling snow. A nice change from the storm we had on Wednesday.

A little easier

We finally entered the technology age. My husband surprised me with an IPad for Christmas. I can now check email from my couch which is good for my bed rest. I was most surprised since he does not like to spend money:). I am still trying to figure it out. So far I got onto Facebook and downloaded some apps. Plus this blog post.

The kids had tons of fun opening presents. Each toy was Lila's favorite and Brendan kept hoping Santa was bringing him a nerf gun...except he never asked Santa for one! Luckily his uncles came through and he got two different kinds.

Lila got to the dentist today and we were referred to a pediatric dentist. She did amazing for her first visit. We will find out more in two weeks.

Brendan is being a nice big brother. Not knocking her down anymore.

Next doctor visit in the morning. 31 weeks which means I made it a week further than Brendan.

Look I even posted a few pictures I took with the IPad. The top two are from Christmas day and the last is from the snowstorm we had Wednesday. Glad I just had to watch it from the couch.

Just a little sibling love

So we thought we would have a low-key Christmas.  We don't travel anymore around the holidays because our out of town parties happen earlier in the month and this year I wasn't allowed to travel anyway.  Well our fun low-key party turned into a trip to the ER...

Brendan lovingly knocked his sister down while she was bothering him and her front tooth was knocked back.  Lots of blood, tears, several phone calls, and an ER trip later she is allowed to eat soft food until we get her into the dentist later this week.  It is good to have a good friend who is a dental hygienist and a best friend whose mother is a dental hygienist.  Apparently nothing can be done until the trauma to the tooth calms down and she'll have an x-ray to determine the extent of the damage done.  They may be able to save her tooth by pushing it forward or a baby root canal to not lose the tooth.  Hopefully she won't have a toothless smile for the next 4-5 years when that adult tooth would finally come in.

She's getting lots of attention and ice cream.  So basically milking this for all it is worth.

Oh sibling love...I can't wait until we throw a third one in the mix!

Merry Christmas Eve!  Hopefully no trips to the ER are in your future (unless you get called for transplant Mom...we'll make that trip for sure!)

Life

Life is not very exciting and busy when you spend the days resting on your couch.  Lila and I have to come up with ideas on how to stay busy while I'm moving around as little as possible.  We've played games, had tea parties, watched shows, colored, and played doctor's office.  This is her personal favorite.

I'm really only allowed to leave my house to go to my doctor appointments each week.  I did get special clearance to attend a family Christmas party over the weekend.  Plus I got two surprise outings in the last couple days.  First my mom was having some pain issues and was in the hospital for a few hours Sunday night so we had an impromptu girls night.  Oh how we can have fun anywhere, right mom:)  We even had a fun wheelchair parade to end the evening.  Then yesterday I had to pick Brendan up at school because he wasn't feeling well.  He's better now and back at school.

I've spent a lot of time over the last couple weeks thinking and praying for my aunt and family.  She's nearing the end of her journey with cancer.  Such a horrible disease.  I'm so thankful she is spending her days with my uncle and cousins.  She is so blessed to have such a wonderful support system.  They are taking the best care of her right now.

I'll be 30 weeks tomorrow.  My doctor was very excited at my appointment last week that I have not had any changes.  She said she'll be happy in a couple weeks and then by 34 weeks we'll be laughing about this.  I hope so! 

 Countdown to Christmas craft

 Pretty Pretty Princess

 Matching game

 Dr. Lila giving the baby band-aids.  He/she had a boo-boo.

 28 weeks in the hospital.  I was lucky and had bathroom privileges!

 My cuddle partner.

 Annual Gingerbread house decorating with family.

Brendan's finished house!

The icing on the cake...

So after my post on Tuesday about crazy little Lila, I had my doctor's appointment on Thursday.  This resulted in my doctor finding out I'm 1 cm dilated and I got to spend a fun-filled and all-inclusive stay at my hospital.

The good news...

• I'm not contracting.
• Baby is fabulous.
• My 2nd fetal fibronectin test came back negative which means I have less than a 20% chance of going into labor in the next two weeks.
• I received two doses of steroids for the baby's lungs in case I go into labor in the next several weeks.  This way they do not have to worry about rushing/stopping labor to get me these shots.
• I'm also on a medication that is supposed to calm your uterus from contracting.  This is also precautionary since I am not contracting and will likely just be taking this until Thursday.
• My doctors are on top of this and I trust them completely.  I'm glad they are so cautious.
• We've had lots of help and are so thankful for our family.

The not so fun news...

• I'm not really allowed to leave my house unless it is to go to the doctor.
• My poor husband has so much more to do now with everything around the house and working.
• He's also terrified I will go into labor.  I'm trying to reassure him:)
• I'm worried about being put back into the hospital if they notice more changes.  I'm only 28 weeks and there is a long time to go still.
• We were blessed with a miracle preemie before and now we know the reality of having a preemie and I cannot imagine going through it again. 

My mom did put things into perspective while I was in the hospital.  At least I didn't have to share my food with Lila:)