WHY????

Today is one of those days I ask WHY????  Why my baby girl??  Why us and my family??  What did we do??  I am having a hard today and I am not sure why.  It just hurts so much to see Jalinn go through all she has already under the age of 2.  I know she is strong but why does my baby have to be so strong.  I know that we are luckly to have her and what she has brought to our lives but still it hurts.  I look at her all the time and wonder why us, why were we chose to be her parents.  Don't get me wrong I would not change a thing but I do wonder "WHY".  I am so grateful to everyone in the POLP and LP community that I have meet in person and over Facebook.  If it was not or you all and my family I don't know how I would have gotten through the last year and half.  It has been hard but also a enjoy to see Jalinn grow stronger and do as well is she has done. 

 

The not so fun sleep study

Luckly I was told before Jalinn's sleep study that they are not fun and to make sure you get sleep before the study so I took my POLP advance and I did get a small nap in before the study.  We had to arrive at Children's Mercy Hospital and hour and 15 minutes before her bedtime just to get checked in and to get her hooked up to everything.  When we got there Maddox and Katy where there to for his sleep study so the kids got to see each other and we were able to talk for a few minutes.  I will have to say if it was not for Katy this past year and all my POLP I would be lost.  I love you all so much, you all have a special place in my heart!!! 

Jalinn was able to play for a little while before they started hooking her up.  She was so happy at this point.

The nurse we had was wonderful and they even had a child life specialist come in to help with Jalinn as well.  It helped a little bit.  The nurse started by putting the wires on each of her legs there was 4 total and they started on her chest and tummy.  There was for 4 or 5 on her chest and tummy plus 2 belts on her tummy. She did fine for these but was more upset once she got to her chest.  Then it was onto the head.  She was pissed and I don't blame her.  I hated it for her.  I just hate that our kiddo's have to go through all this.  It is not fair.  It since like there were a million on her head but I think it was around 10 or so.  Once she got all the wires on her head she wrapped it so she would not be able to pull them off durning the night.  Oh, I forgot they do put a nasel cannon on them as well.  Jalinn hated it!!!

Once that is all done it is time to start.  Jalinn was so pissed off at this point that even holding her didnt help.  Light off which means that you lay there with nothing to do but try to sleep.  Jalinn is a very light sleeper and the slighest noise will wake her up.  If the nose cannon or a wire would come lose the nurse would come in and fix it and it up her up.  I think she finally sleep for about 2 hours solid and then after that she was up off and on. 

 

 

Finally when morning came which felt like FOREVER we were able to take all the wires off.  They use this red marker and white sticking stuff to keep the wires down it was gross looking.  It does come off pretty easy with warm soap water so I was happy about that.  It will take 2 to 3 weeks for the results to come back in.  Also, since her legs moved more than 5 times during the study they had her blood drawn to check her iron.  Hopefully all looks good and we don't have to go through this again!!!  It was NOT FUN!!!!

Snow Days

Here are a few pictures from the kids playing in the snow....

Per Taylor she is the Queen of the snow world!!

Jalinn's first time in the snow. 

Ear Tube Time

The time has come that Jalinn needed to get ear tubes.  She had it done on 12-30-10 just before the New Year.  The reason she mainly needed to get the tubes was due to the fact that she has fluid in her left ear all the time and with the fluid always there, there is a cause it could have caused damage to her ear.  When we were waiting for Jalinn to go back to surgery she was so happy she even found the oxygen tube to chew on and have fun with.  The surgery was to take about 20 minutes but of course Jalinn has to be different...it took 40 minutes.  There was alot of infection and fluid in her left ear that they has to get out before they could place the tube.  She did great through the whole thing.  She is our little trooper. 

We noticed a difference with her with in 24 hours, her eyes stopped draining green coup and she seemed more happy.  It always helps to know you did the right thing when there is a good change after surgery.  Now we just hope these tubes stay in and there will be no more surgeries. 

Jalinn's 1st Birthday

Yes, I am a little late getting this blog out but better late then never. 

We had Jalinn's first birthday party on 12-12-10 and it was great.  We also celebrated by sister's birthday that day too.  It was a fun filled day all around.  Jalinn was not sure to thinking about all the present and even the whole family singing to her but she LOVED the cake. 

I can't believe it has already been a year.  We are so thankful to have Jalinn in our lives.  She has opened the door for us to meet so many new people that I am happy to say that they our friends.  People say that Jalinn is lucky to have us as parents but I believe we are lucky ones.  I would not change a thing about her in any way.  She is my sweet baby girl!!!  I love you so much Jalinn!!! 

Our First LPA Chrstmas Party

Last weekend we attended our first LPA Christmas Party.  We had so much fun.  It was a BBQ Potluck Lunch with all the side dishes and wonderful desserts.  All the kiddo's were able to play and us adults where able to visit.  It was wonderful, we got to meet families that we had not meet before.  It is so nice to have other families to talk to about things that are going with the Jalinn.  We have a wonderful LPA family!!!

Santa and Mrs Clause showed up to visit with the kiddo's.  Hunter was so excited to see Santa Clause that he followed him around the room.  It was so cute!!  He told Santa that he wants a BIG dump truck.  I really think he wants a real dump truck. Jalinn even sat on Santa's lap for the first time.  She didn't even cry.  I was a little worried because she has been going through the stranger anxiety stuff lately.  She just keep looking at him like "who is this holding me". I think she wanted to pull his beard off.  Taylor and Kaylie would not sit on Santa's lap this year...I guess they are to big. 

At the end of the party we were able to get all the kiddo's together for a group picture. 

I can't wait for more of our LPA events in the future.

Thanksgiving 2010

As always for Thanksgiving we visit all the family.  I will have to admit as I get older, I think that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  I just love being around the whole family. 

This year as always for the past 5 years I had to make 10 lbs of mashed potatoes and it is not the instant kind.  Yes, I peeled 10 lbs of potatoes.  I will be okay not to see another potatoes for a while. Once I got the potatoes finished we left and headed over to Grandma Rough's house to see my dad's side of the family.  With Jalinn and Grandma just have their surgery's it was a little more special this year.  We had so much to be thankful. 

Once we finished up eating and stuffing our self's we took pictures of the kiddo's. Taylor and I shared the wishbone and I broke the biggest piece...so we will have to see if my wish comes true.

Then it was off to Grandma Lamar's house (mom's side of the family). This is the crazy house.  There are more of us so it gets really loud but we all love each other.  It is so great to be around all my cousins and Aunt and Uncle's.  With the craziness I did forget to get the camera out.  

Check out pic's on my Facebook page as my computer will not allow me to upload any :(

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving like we did!!!!