Erin's new trick

Sometimes things don't change

How's this for a random comparison?


Erin at 3 weeks

Erin at almost 14 months

Blink

The last little while I've been an avid reader of a blog written by a woman who lost a daughter shortly after birth due to birth defects. While some might think that, for me, this would be "dwelling" on my own loss, I find her words very uplifting. She is avidly Christian, and even though we are not of the same church, I feel that we are of the same Faith.

Her latest blog entry tells a story of one of her older daughters telling her it was too bad she didn't have a camera, because she just made a pretty picture in a moment with the youngest daughter. She told the older daughter that she would just have to blink and hold the picture in her mind.

I love that idea, and it got me thinking of all the wonderful little mental pictures I have. As I was reading this, Erin scooted up to me from her pile of toys, wanting to be up in my lap. And then she just laid there with her arms around my neck and her head on my shoulder. It was such a great moment. She doesn't do that often anymore, and I know it's just going to become more and more rare. It got me thinking of all the small moments that I have missed out on because I have been so consumed with how horribly sick I feel. I admit, I've been selfish, and I've been pushing Erin away, and she really doesn't deserve it.

Childhood is full of small moments, and I want Erin to think back on the small moments in her life and know just how much I love her, and how much I deeply enjoy her. Right now she's pushing her walker around the room, and she'll pause just to look up at me and grin. I hope she never has a question in her mind how much her mother loves her.

So, I guess, I'm going to do my best to provide those small moments, no matter how I feel.

Chicken enchiladas

So, I've been craving chicken enchiladas for the past few days, and finally broke down and made some. I really like them, but I was a bit worried about how Erin would react. I shouldn't have been.




She ate TWO WHOLE enchiladas! Well, minus the two bites you can see still on her tray. She's been a piglet today. Maybe a growth spurt is coming on?

Anyway, here's the recipe if you're interested:
1 can chicken breast meat
sour cream
grated cheddar cheese
sliced olives
tortillas
enchilada sauce


Mix the chicken with enough sour cream to make it the consistency you like. Add cheddar cheese and sliced olives to the amount you want. Spread the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking pan with a thin layer of enchilada sauce. Spread a thin layer of enchilada sauce on a tortilla. Put some filling on one end of tortilla (sauce side) and roll. Place in pan. Repeat until you run out of room or filling (about 10 enchiladas). Spread the remaining sauce on top of enchiladas. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350* for 20 minutes. Remove aluminum foil, top with more grated cheese, and place back in the oven until cheese is melted.

(if you don't like sour cream, you can use cream of chicken soup)

Enjoy! We did!

One of those hard mommy moments

So, at Erin's 1 year checkup on June 9th, they gave me an order to take to the hospital lab to check for blood lead levels and cdc (not sure what the cdc is). Anyway, I haven't gotten around to it, but my friend Aubrey was taking her little Myla in today for the same thing, so I went with her.


I knew it was a blood test, but for some reason I didn't realize that it would be a real blood draw, from a vein in her arm. >_<


Unfortunately my poor little girl has my veins, so they couldn't get it on the first try. She was screaming so hard, and I just had to hold her still. She looked at me like I was betraying her...it was so hard. I know it was a good thing to do, I mean, I really do want to know if she's getting exposed to lead. But I wish it could have been easier on her!




She got free ice cream from the hospital cafeteria after, and that made it better. She doesn't remember it. But I sure do.

Just a little late....

I finally made Erin's birthday video montage! I had to upload it to youtube, since nowhere else would do it.

Enjoy!

Saturday's ultrasound

We have a HEARTBEAT! Yay!! I always get kind of nervous just before ultrasounds (I blame that on the fact that I once had a very bad one), especially since I'm obviously not feeling movement yet, and therefore have nothing to reassure me.


So, here is Reeses



I was measuring 7 weeks and 5 days (instead of the 8 weeks and 1 day I thought I was) so my due date was moved from February 27th to March 2nd. I really hope Reeses listens to me and is born in February. We don't have any birthdays on either side in February!

And if you are interested, here is the video.

Erin tells a story

It takes her a little bit to get going...

Say "please"

I was eating ice cream, and so, of course, she comes over and wants to share (she is my child after all!). So before I gave her a bite, I'd ask her to say please. I just started this consistently this week. I give her a bite if she says anything really, just so she gets the hang of saying something.

So I'd say "say please" and she'd mumble something. It's cute.


Anyway, I had ONE last bite, and I said to her "say please," and she smiled big at me and then said "glee?"


It was SO CUTE!!

The Splash Park

There's a little water park thing at Porter Park here in town, and my friend Aubrey and I have been having Wednesday lunchtime playdates there. The babies LOVE it. Erin gets so excited when we walk up that I have a hard time keeping her sitting and eating lunch.

Matt came with us today. Even though he didn't get wet, he did take some pictures!