Christmas Fun 2013!

COKER NURSERY SCHOOL'S 

ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PERFORMANCE

Retta practiced in the car before her first school Christmas performance!

"One little, two little, three little angels"

"rocking baby Jesus!"

Here she comes!

Retta sitting front row in the classroom buggy with her jingle bells!

She did great signing her way through most of the songs...it took her a while to warm up to such a large audience, but she didn't cry!  She even spotted us sitting on the 5th row and started blowing us kisses! 

COKER CLASSROOM CHRISTMAS PARTY

On party day, I made sure to arrive towards the end of the party - to make sure NOT to upset Retta again.  When I got there she had just polished off her entire plate of snacks. Her chubby face looked extremely full and happy.

CHRISTMAS EVE

"What has my Mama making me wear in my hair!?!" 

Christmas Eve finger painting...

...and a few steps to Mom...

..before tackling her.

To carry on the tradition I grew up with of always having Shirley Temple style curly hair on the evening of Christmas Eve...I rolled Retta's hair in Velcro rollers that morning. She sported them around the house just fine - so I thought she would be able to nap in them as well. Unfortunately, 30 minutes into her nap she woke up screaming...Szymon and I proceeded to try and pry the rollers out of her hair, which only made matters worse. So much for nap time. Mommy lesson learned....but she had beautiful curls none-the-less!

Singing and signing Christmas songs while waiting for her pierogi at Bapja and Jaja's house. 

CHRISTMAS DAY

Retta woke up for her nap when Grandma and Grandpa arrived on Christmas day, but was still a little sleepy so after saying "Hi!" She decided to go back to bed to make sure she would have lots of energy for opening presents after dinner...or maybe it was because she was sleep deprived from no nap the day before?

"OK, I'm ready!"

"Are you guys coming?"

And once again, signing along to "Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer," one of Retta's favorite Christmas songs as she could sign her entire way through it!

"Merry Christmas!"

Hospital Turkey

Monday after Retta was discharged, I woke up feeling a bit nauseated myself...but I tried to convince myself that it was nothing. That afternoon I called Szymon to come home FAST....the stomach bug had hit! As soon as Szymon stepped in the door...he too went down. Not fun for both adults to be out of commission while caring for a two year old. I wasted little time and had Jaja drive me to triage at the hospital. Szymon weathered the storm at home while caring for Retta.

Just a few hours in I was already dehydrated and much to my surprise, started having contractions. It was all a blur, but I was admitted on L&D and started on IV fluids and medications to stop the vomiting and contractions. Grandma and Grandpa left work and drove in right away all the way from Houston for much needed support and help with Retta.

I continued on mag-sulfate for several days to reduce the contractions and to provide neuro protection to the little turkey inside of me...should he decide to come sooner than later.  So much for going to Houston for Thanksgiving. I was finally tapered off the medication on Thursday (Thanksgiving) and transferred to the antepartum unit. By that evening (a good 12 hours off the mag-sulfate) my appetite returned and I finally could eat! Szymon, Retta, my mom and I had a make-shift Turkey dinner in my hospital room.

Grandma dressed Retta up to come see me at the hospital!

She was a little "Pocahontas Turkey" and about the only thing that could bring a smile to my face!

(A few pics from my phone)

I was discharged on Friday with instructions for strict bed rest in hopes of keeping Baby W in for a few more weeks. ....which was all the doctors were hopeful for.

However, after two weeks of tearful bed rest at home my perinatologist gave me permission to resume moderate activity! (She could tell that the bed rest was causing me a great deal of distress). Her thought was if Baby W was to come early...laying around wasn't going to stop him. 

 (I am back-dating this post) so it is safe to say, despite all the worry and tears...at this point, it looks like we might just make it to term. Repeat C-section scheduled for Wednesday, January 8th!

But, we'll keep taking it day by day!

Stomach Bug = Hospitalization

Poor Retta came down with a nasty stomach bug early Saturday morning. Despite all attempts to keep in fluid at home...we ended up going to Methodist Children's ER.  We had consulted with our pediatrician by phone earlier in the day and were told that if it was a virus it may take up to 12 hours to run it's course. 

However, new mommy lesson learned - I will never let a baby go longer than 4 hours vomiting. There is absolutely no point for a baby to have to suffer for that long. 

By the time we made it to the ER that afternoon, Retta was moderately dehydrated and I felt absolutely horrible for not bringing her in earlier. After reviewing Retta's GI history, the ER doctor wanted to admit Retta to rule out a stomach blockage. So Dad stayed the night while I went home to sleep for 3 hours...it was a long day.

By Sunday morning, Retta was ready to party...Dad was ready to sleep! 

I returned to the hospital at 6:00AM to catch the physicians rounding early...however, being Sunday, we didn't see the doctor until that afternoon.  X-rays and sonograms ruled out a blockage. Chronic constipation was the culprit (my guess). 

And by then, Retta was ready to EAT!  Here she is so happy to eat a cracker!  She was so hungry, she shoved an entire piece of toast into her mouth before we could stop her...and proceeded to choke on it. I practically pulled out her IV trying to get her to cough it up. 

She was feeling much better.

They wanted to keep her for another night to make sure she continued to tolerate her B.R.A.T. diet, but I rebelled.  Instead, I asked if the hospitalist could consult with Dr. Brigmann (the pediatric GI doctor we have been waiting to get in with for quite some time) to see if Retta could be seen earlier.  And it worked! We were in the following week!

Complications were ruled out..

Retta was back to acting like herself...

we were going home!

.......

...or so we thought.

All Saints Day!

Fabulous friends from Holy Trinity hosted a super fun All Saints Day Party for our little Saints in the making! Retta and I rushed over after PT to join in on the fun!

Retta quickly found the snack table and started signing for a cracker!

Retta dressed up as The Blessed Mother Mary (the primary patron saint and Queen of Poland) and her baby doll "Rosco" dressed up as Baby Jesus. 

My Little Angel!

She was hungry after PT!

Lourdes, Retta, Caleb and little Samuel in the background!

It was impossible to capture a picture with everyone...

Retta and Lourdes chatted about their Baby Jesus' for quite sometime.

It was great fun!

Halloween Fun 2013

Retta officially helped carve our Halloween pumpkin this year!

And even had a Halloween party at Mothers Day Out! (kind-of)

 Here are a few pics I took with my phone on our way to school!

What does a friendly ghost say?

"Boo!"

Being the over-eager mother I am...I went a bit early that afternoon to help out with her class' Fall Party. (Parents received an invitation by email to attend). However, I was the ONLY parent that attended Retta's classroom party...which apparently was quite embarrassing to Retta. As soon as Retta saw me she started crying and waving her hands "no, no, go away!" There was nothing her teachers or I could do to get Retta to calm down, it was completely out of character for her...so we left early.

It set the mood for the rest of the evening...

 Even Retta's friend and our sweet neighbor, "Walker" and his super powers couldn't stop Retta from crying.

So we made it across the street to say "Hi" and returned home.

 Trick-o-Treating wasn't for us this year.

Retta was all smiles once she made it home. 

She was more interested in reading books about Trick-o-Treating...

..and handing out candy at the door.

"Are more coming? This is much more exciting than getting a bath!"

2013 Pumpkin Patch...Attempt.

We met up with friends from our Mothering With Grace group at Love Orchard Pumpkin Patch in Medina, TX this year for some fall festival fun!

It wasn't exactly what we were expecting, (I think we were a bit spoiled by our pumpkin patch experience in Connecticut last year) but we enjoyed what we could and the time spent in the car together.

Retta did not want to take pictures with the pumpkins this year...they made her cry. 

She was a bit confused as to why we would set her down with a bunch of pumpkins and expect her to smile.

So we sat and listened to a story teller tell silly stories and sing songs instead.

This picture sums up what Retta thinks about walking these days...it's a lot of hard work!

But she LOVED the petting zoo! 

She could have stood at the fence for hours watching the sheep and goats.

And this is Retta posing to show how tall she is this Fall 

(actually 31.5 inches to be exact/ 24.5 lbs).

Two years old at Love Orchard. 

Poor baby did NOT want to stand for a picture.

Pumpkin Patch October 2012

Bishop's Orchard, Connecticut

Pumpkin Patch October 2013

Love Orchard, Texas

....OK, we're going home!