Freakin' Awesome!

Like I said in my last post, we have started cloth diapering Weston and Rylee.  My sister in law told me about the system that they use.  I looked into it and did a TON of research and we decided to use the same system called Best Bottom Diapers.  It's a one size diaper that has inserts that snap inside.  Super easy!  And perfect for our busy busy family.  We put them in disposable for the couple hours they are at daycare everyday but when they are home, they're clothed.  We got them from a store in Middleton called Nicki's Diapers.  I mean this store is literally stocked FULL of cloth diapers, as well as other baby things.  It's a neat store tucked in a neat little strip mall area.  We decided primarily to start cloth diapering because of how sensitive their skin is.  Then after researching and seeing the cost, how can we afford not too?  I spent a little over $200 to get us started.  That's 2 to 3 months worth of disposable diapers.  So in 3 months, they have completely paid for themselves.  We have been doing this for just about a month and love it.  Yes it is a little more work but not a ton.  We have an extra load of laundry each day but with a family of 5, we have laundry every day anyway.  This system works wonders for our busy household.  Not to mention, reduces our carbon footprint!We got the following diaper covers for them (we got 2 of the white):

 Vanilla

 Blue Moon

 Chunky Monkey

 Cookies N Cream

 Key Lime Pie

 Mint Chocolate Chip

Strawberry Shortcake

Now over at Nicki's Diapers Blog, they are giving away a brand NEW pattern and the winner gets to choose the color they get...AND I WANT ONE! Isn't this so cute?

Onto other news, we may have a new diagnosis for Rylee!  We visited the GI doc on Tuesday.  Dr. N wanted to consult with her "superior" ("superior" asshole, he was!)  to see what he thought about have her "scoped" and biopsies taken of her bottom stomach and small intestine to test the enzymes and to look her anatomy.  This would require her to be put under.  The "superior" jerkoff decided that before they do that they should test her thyroid and growth hormone as well as for Celiac Disease and malnourishment.  Dr. N said she would call me if any of the test results we abnormal otherwise she would send a letter and see us in a month.  She called me on Thursday at work.  The Celiac Disease results were not in yet (at Rylee's age, it's not very accurate but they wanted to see what it said anyway, maybe retest at age 3).  The rest of the results were in, thyroid is fine, not malnourished BUT her growth hormone was "extremely low, practically non existent."  The next step is to see an endocrinologist, Dr N says RIGHT AWAY!  Turns out that we will see Dr. Connor on November 10th.  It was then or wait until February, nope not doing that!  Here's a link I found quick for you to reference and read a little about what it is, causes and treatment: Hypopituitarism.  We'll know more November 10th, which is a good day...my niece Lexie turns 7 that day!  Pray that this could be the answer to our prayers.  Dr. N said, "Mary, I think we found it, maybe we make this sick little girl a little more healthy, put some meat on those tiny bones."  I think we are also going to have a meeting with Dr. C and get some kind of weight check schedule set up and overall future plans set up.  We can't keep just skipping along, something has to be done.  That is what I feel in my heart.  I didn't listen to my heart the last time and she ended up with 2 unnecessary surgeries.

Tomorrow is Halloween.  We have a ship full of Pirates!  They're going to be so stinkin' cute.  I made their costumes 100% on my own.  Very proud of it.  I also made their treat bags.  Those a cute too.  I'll post pics soon!

We're still alive!

Holy Cow, I haven't posted in a while! We've been fairly well at our house. Weston just got over a cough but other than that we've been fairly healthy. The diaper rash was out of control at our house so we decided to switch to cloth diapers. We cloth diaper Rylee and Weston at home and use disposable when we are out and about or they're going to daycare. We're attempting some potty training again with Troy. He's doing alright but the problem comes when he is playing he doesn't want to stop to go potty so its a fight to get him in. Last night he took off his pullup and ran into bathroom saying "daddy I got a go potty" and he sure did! He will only use the big potty, STANDING UP! So you can imagine what the potty looks like after a day of Troy...YUCK! We took Rylee to visit the neurosurgeon a couple weeks ago. Her weight was 16 lbs, 4 oz! AMAZING. That's up 10 ounces. Since she was in the hospital, she hasn't really wanted Pediasure a lot bunch so we decided to experiment. Rylee hasn't gained any weight since February. At the end of August she was drinking about 24-32 ounces of Pediasure a day by bottle and that was pretty much all she was getting. She wasn't interested in pureed foods. We started to give her more table foods, by the speech therapists request. Mid September we started reducing the Pediasure and supplementing with Vit D milk and giving some table foods like cut cooked veggies and soft meats. Today, Rylee is not longer taking a bottle, drinking solely Vit D and eating table foods at every meal. This girl can eat. She eats more than Troy. She got mad at Kristopher tonight because she ate all of her biscuit and he was going to eat his, so he had to give her another one! She has been using a spoon. It's great! We also took Rylee to the Orthoped doc a couple of weeks ago. This was just to check her Surefits to make sure there were no tight spots or rubbing. There were a couple of spots that had to be popped out a little and he put some Teflon tape in the inside to help make moving a little easier. He said that she absolutely HAD to have shoes. They could not be Robeez, which are moccasin type shoes, because they do not have stability to them. He said tennis shoes. He also said that it didn't matter if we got her Stride Rites or Walmart brand shoes just whatever we could find. HA, that turned out to be harder than we thought. Yesterday, Kristopher took all 3 kids to Walker's in Lancaster where his mom works to look there. They came home with the cutest little white and pink pair of Nike's. She hates them but she'll get used to them. They're hers for a while since she doesn't out grown much very fast. She'll probably wear them out before she outgrows them! I asked the Orthoped doc if these braces will fix the problem or will this be a problem throughout her childhood and teenage years? The pronation of both feet is so severe that it's going to be a lifetime problem. There is nothing they can do to fix it. The braces are there to help but not cure. Rylee's incisions are nice and healed. There is one of her tummy that I don't really like the look of but the Neurosurgeon assured me that it looked fine. Her hair is starting to grow back from the surgeries and the rest of her hair is grossly long and constantly in her eyes. She needs to have her hair to be trimmed for sure! The orange dye is starting to come out but there is definitely still a tint to her blonde hair, she looks more like a strawberry blonde. My hair tends to pick up the red when I have it dyed so it maybe more in the genes. She's pulling herself up to everything! She's doing wonderfully! Weston is growing growing growing. He is 10 lbs, 4 oz. He still has all of his hair. His head control is awesome. And he smiles. True smiles. He gets all fussy and fidgety with Kristopher sometimes and all Kris does is hand him to me and Weston is a whole new kid! I just love him so much and I tell him that all the time. Bedtime tonight is coming early for Troy. He hasn't been a very good boy today. His ears aren't working today and he thinks its fine to pick on his sister and back talk to mom and dad so right now we're all listening to him scream to the high heavens. He's sure persistent, it's been a good 1o minutes. It's football season and we love our Badgers and Packers. Do you know how to Bucky?

2 of the fastest yet longest months ever

I took Weston to his 2 month check up today. That's right, this past Saturday marked Weston's 2 month "birthday". I can't believe it. I can't believe that he is 2 months old yet it seems like he was born ages ago! His stats at 2 months:

Weight: 10 lbs, 4 oz (5-10th%)
Height: 22.5 inches (25th%)
Head Circum: 14.75 inches (5th%)

I also am proud to announce: I GOT THE FIRST SMILE AND COO! Me...I never get the firsts, that's always Kristopher or others but this time I GOT THE FIRST SMILE. It was this morning and he was just staring at me as I looked down at him, a smile spread and a little coo escaped. I was thrilled! It made my entire week.

My grandma is still in the hospital. She's getting better. I need express that "getting better" needs to be used loosely. She's better today, who knows what tomorrow will be like. She's tired and ready to be home. Unfortunately for her, I don't think home will happen for quite a while, if ever.

A girl I went to high school with had a baby a couple of days ago. She's was only 24ish weeks along. Baby Cricket weighed less than a pound and passed away today. My heart goes out to her as she deals with this difficult time. Please pray for her. Her father just died a few months ago, now her daughter. And to make matters worse, she's doing this alone. The baby's father is not in the picture that I know of. I pray she doesn't reach that dark dark place that is easy to get into when this happens. It makes me think of Baby Samantha. Do you remember me talking about Samantha? I still pray for Samantha, but more so for her mom and dad. I know it's been hard for them and my heart breaks when I think about what her mom must be going through. So many people can be unkind and just don't understand, it's ridiculous.

Other news, we went to the apple orchard last weekend. We got 40 lbs of apples. I made 6 apple pies and 6 apple crisps out of about 20 lbs. We're not applesauce people. The kids like it but could probably live without it (well their bottoms can). So I made up a creamy caramel dip to sliced apples. Troy loves it and it's easy to make.

My boy is fussing. I think it's going to be an extremely long night. Have a good night all. Please pray for my Grandma, Sarah and Cricket, Samantha and Jamie, and for sleep for me, Kris and Weston!