Is It Still My Birthday?

Hmmm...the streamers and banner are still up in my house! I think Mommy and Daddy left them up because I liked them so much. But now I've gotten kind of use to them, so since I've lost interest, Mommy will probably take them down tomorrow. Or she could leave them up until Daddy's 30th birthday in May. :)

My circus party was a lot of fun, and I hope you all thought so too! Here are just a couple of pictures from our day of clowning around...

Happy Birthday to Me!

When I woke up this morning, my house had streamers and balloons! I found it very funny, and I personally think it should look this way every day. Mommy tried feeding me my favorite Trix yogurt for my special birthday breakfast, but I was laughing so hard at the streamers, I really didn't feel like eating!

Four years ago yesterday Mommy was in labor at her baby shower. Here's her belly at 8 months, just a few hours before I was born.

Here's Mommy having a contraction while she was opening her presents!

And here's little me, about 30 minutes old. Look how sweet I was.

Mommy says she can remember it like it was yesterday! And now look at me! Still sweet and even more beautiful!

Can't wait to see you all soon for my party! Rain or shine, it will be fun!

What a Fun Weekend!

Well, most of the weekend was fun for Mommy. She was getting over the flu, so Daddy took care of me on Saturday so Mommy could rest. Then my Grandma Candy came over to play, and we had fun! She got me lots of new clothes for my birthday. Mommy's favorite shirt said "I love my world" which is perfect for me! On Sunday, my Papa came over to play all day while Mommy and Daddy went to the Daytona 500. That was Mommy's 5th/10th anniversary gift for Daddy (married for 5 years, together for 10). Papa and I played outside and took a wagon ride to see the ducks at the lake. We had a lot of fun!

Mommy and Daddy had a lot of fun too! Mommy said the race experience was "indescribable" and that it was one of the most amazing things she's ever experienced. Besides have me, of course. The cars went super fast, and they were so loud. Mommy and Daddy were sitting in the fourth row, so they were really close to the action. Mommy was standing on the bleachers when the cars came by the first time, and when she turned to smile at Daddy (he said the look on her face was priceless), the wind from the cars came so fast that it knocked Mommy over! She fell right on Daddy! So she had to hang on to him for the rest of the race if she was standing up! Lots of people had to chase down their hats after they blew off their heads. I don't think I would have been too happy there! So I'm glad I got to stay home and they brought me a little Dale Jr. shirt instead!

Here are lots of pictures from Mommy and Daddy's day out:

A Short Shoe Story

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who needed new shoes. Her mommy bought her pretty pink and white ones with big girl shoe laces.





It wasn't long before the little girl figured out she could chew on the shoe laces. She found this very humorous, and therefore chewed on the shoe laces as often as she could. All the way to school, all during school, and all the way home from school, she chewed, chewed, chewed.




Two weeks later, the little girl's shoe laces looked like this.


The End.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Heart Day to everyone who loves me...I can't name them all because there are sooo many! Thank you all for caring about me so much. Great Grandma gave me the best present of all (well, maybe second to Papa's balloon). She sent me a card with a Spike doggie on it, and it sings "Who let the dogs out?" when I open it. It was so funny!

Picture Perfect

Mommy and Daddy took me to get my pictures taken for my fourth birthday this morning. Usually they go to Target to get my yearly pictures, but we go to Picture People for my Halloween and Christmas pictures. Those always turn out so nice and they always seem to get a smile out of me. I'm just more comfortable there. So we decided that's where we are probably going to go from now on. They are a little more expensive, but the pictures are ready in just a few minutes and the photographers are so great. They don't pose me. They just lay on the floor and snap away while I do my thing. The photographer took 40 pictures of me today! Mommy and Daddy narrowed it down to a few, and some how they got out of there without spending an arm and a leg.

You'll have to wait until my birthday party to see the pictures! Then you can all take one home!

Try and Try Again

Mommy and Daddy tried for two nights to put the CPAP machine on me, but as you probably guessed, I won both nights. :o) They waited until I was asleep so they were able to get it on me, but then they both had to bend over the crib for 45 minutes while Mommy held my hands and Daddy blocked my legs from kicking her. Then they gave up, which I knew they would do and that's why I was holding out! I can outlast them any day. The second night was worse, because I didn't go back to sleep right away. So there I was, wide awake, after sleeping so well for two hours. Needless to say, Mommy has not put it on me since then. She wants me to sleep well for school. Or so she says that's the reason! Right now my nose is really dry, so we are definitely not using it any time soon.

I had picture day at school yesterday. They won't be ready for a month or so, but Miss Maria said that I was all smiles! Of course, that was after she had to bring in the funny toys from my classroom, because the photographer's toys just weren't funny enough for me! Remember last year when I tried to stand out of my little chair and I whacked my forehead on the table? I had the HUUUGE bruised bump on my head that actually split the skin from the swelling. That happened about 10 minutes after I got my picture taken last year. So Mommy thought about that ALL day, and she was just waiting for another phone call like that one! There wasn't one thank goodness, because I'm a pretty good stander now!

My New Doctor...and The Results Already!

We saw the craniofacial surgeon this morning. He is probably the nicest doctor I've ever had! He was very thorough and Mommy's glad we went, because he basically echoed the same thoughts we were all having. He said I do have a small bottom jaw and he definitely thinks he can do a successful surgery to move my jaw forward and open up the airway. But he said he'd like to talk to my ENT a little more to find out what percentage of the apnea cause is nasal, in my throat, or from my jaw. Because if he said my jaw placement only accounts for like 20% of the cause, then he doesn't see a need to put me through that surgery. But if it's like 60% or 70%, then it's something we need to talk about. If or when that time comes, he said, he'll sit back down with us and talk all about the surgery, recovery, before and after pictures of previous patients, etc. He did mention (really not sure there was a need to, but whatever) that worst case scenario, the surgeries would not fix it enough and sometimes there's a need for a tracheotomy, since that would bypass all of the possible apnea problems. Yeah, thanks but no thanks! There's no way I would ever leave it in! I don't mess with my g-tube button much, but it's a part of me, so I'm used to it. It's always been there. Plus it's fun to spin. But a hole in my throat?! No way! We're not even going to keep think about it though, because Mommy won't let that happen unless it was an emergency.

He explained that obstructive sleep apnea is like someone keeps putting a thumb on your windpipe. It can be hard on your lungs, which in turn can make your heart work faster. Unfortunately, that can lead to heart failure. So obviously we know this is a big deal and we have to do what we can to make it better. We are just taking it one day at a time! Now we just wait for him to discuss me more in depth with my ENT. Also, during my exam he said to Mommy, "So when was her cleft palate diagnosed?" Mommy said, "Excuse me?" We knew I had a high arch, but not a cleft palate! But then he explained that I have a sub-mucosa cleft palate, where it's not a complete hole and the skin is still there. He said 73% of kids with that type never need surgery. So he said it's not even an issue until I start developing speech and possibly sound nasally. But I talk now a little and don't sound nasal, so we're probably okay there.

The medical equipment company called today and said they had orders to bring a CPAP to me. Mommy gave them our information then immediately called the sleep study office. She told the nurse, "If they have orders, then someone has the results!" The nice nurse gave her the results over the phone of Wednesday's sleep study. They gradually turned the air up while I was sleeping and at a level 8 (not the highest, but definitely not the lowest), all of my apneas went to zero. So it definitely helped. The CPAP lady came today and I was not happy to see her. I was giving her the evil eye as soon as she walked in because I just knew she was here for no good. She was a VERY large, tall woman, but still it took her and Mommy over 45 minutes to try and get the mask strapped on my face. It still wasn't on just right and as soon as they let go for just a second to look, I ripped it right off! I was extremely mad!

The lady looked at Mommy and said, "What are you going to do? You can't do this every night like this!" Mommy said, "Yep, I know! That's what we've all been saying!" She was going to just take the machine with her because it's pretty much a given that I won't tolerate it all night, but Mommy said leave it for now. That way she can honestly say she gave it her best shot and that we really tried. Even the sleep study nurse said if I just absolutely won't wear it, at least we know that we have cut the apnea levels in half by doing the tonsil and adenoid surgery. The CPAP lady told Mommy about another client she has with a CPAP. The four year old boy hates it so much that he has been taking small parts off of the machine and hiding them so that it's completely inoperable. I would totally do that if I could. Maybe I'll just blow bubbles on it until it shorts out!