Kyla's First "Sleep-Over"

This weekend we were lucky enough to be able to spend some time with our Niece Averi.  Kyla loves her being here and is almost a completely different kid with another playmate around.  Very cute; she watches everything Averi does and follows her around everywhere.  Friday night I went out with a friend for martinis and a movie.  It was nice to just get a little Mommy time, even if it was just 3 hours...3 hours was enough time away from my baby.  It is so funny, you look forward to those moments, but then when you get them, you still hurry home to your baby.  :)  Saturday I picked up Averi mid-morning and got ready to go boating with friends up to an island just past where I work.  We stayed there for about 4 hours before the heat wiped us out.  Averi had fun as did Kyla.  Kyla got her first face plant in the river (face first) thanks to her cousin pushing her in.  Averi is 6 and apparently did not understand why Kyla couldn't just get up after she got pushed in.  Luckily my hubby was right there and was able to get Kyla up soon after she hit the water.  Poor girl.  Averi spent the night Saturday and this was Kyla's first "sleep over."  :)  Sunday morning we all got ready for church and after church my Sister picked up Averi from us.  There were several occasions this weekend where Averi said that other kids on the beach were making fun of Kyla and laughing at her.  I didn't see it, but doesn't mean it didn't happen, it probably did.  I told Averi, "oh well, that's OK...."  Yesterday after Sunday School Averi told me that her class had walked by the nursery and saw Kyla and that other kids were making fun of her.  There is no way her class saw Kyla and was making fun of her, since she is in the nursery and you can hardly see the babies from the hallway.  I'm not sure why Averi felt that she needed to keep saying this, but it doesn't matter, maybe it's just what 6 year olds do.  Who knows.  There was another instance this weekend where Kyla's arm was talked about...  the fact that Kyla is just on the verge of being able to understand completely, means that I'm going to have to start putting a stop to all of this whenever it comes up.  Like any conversation about "Kyla's arm" isn't going to happen, doesn't matter if it's family that is talking about it or just some random person; there is no need to make a big deal out of it.  Being around other kids this weekend makes my daughter seem like an angel.  LOL, she really is super sweet...even if I say she has her moments, she is still a baby, but she has such a sweet heart.  I mean the kid isn't even 2 and she burps and says "excuse me" in her sweet little baby voice.  She says please, thank you, sorry...most of the time all on her own.  When she hits, she doesn't get away with it..., she is disciplined.  It's just funny seeing other little kids and then seeing her.  I think she'll be a very well manner child and that's what we want.  :)  This coming Wednesday I am taking Kyla to see Sesame Street, a touring play type thing with some friends and their kids.  We are getting a suite, so there will be 12 of us, only one poor guy is being dragged along and it's not my Husband :)  should be fun.  Friday we are going on a date to see Daniel Tosh with some of our friends.  He isn't my favorite comedian, but it should still be a good time.  I'll post some pictures of Kyla and Averi here soon, when I get some time.  For now I've got to get to cleaning, folding laundry and doing bills.  The un-fun stuff.

What is Meant to Be Will Be

I've been brainstroming this post for the past few weeks...  today's topic is on the things I did and did not do during my pregnancy.  There is one thing I did not do during my pregnancy that I hold some guilt for.  Although I'm not positive this contributed to Kyla's ABS, I don't think it helped any.

Kyla was not planned, but once I became pregnant, I knew that I was and put off buying a pregnancy test until I was at about 6 weeks a long.  As soon as I found out, I was very careful about what I put on and and into my body.  I didn't use aerosol hair products, only pump sprays, I did not wear nail polish or use nail polish remover, I did not dye my hair, I stopped using aluminum filled deodorant and switched to a natural product, I ate healthy and ate small portions of food on a frequent basis (which they say is good for baby because it provides them with a steady flow of nutrients to help them develop).  Although I was very sick my first trimester, I craved fruit and it was about the only thing I could hold down for a long while.  I remember making a trip to the grocery store one morning and buying tons of fruit, driving home and eating as much of it as I could, because I was so hungry, but couldn't eat anything else.  One evening I finally got tired of being so hungry, told the Husband we were going to IHOP, ordered a huge plate of breakfast type food and ended up hugging the toliet as soon as we got home.  LOL, the sickness was pretty miserable, but then again, the majority of the pregnancy was (minus the 2nd trimester).  After my first trimester the sickness stopped and my diet changed to less fruits and more of a balanced diet.  Back then I did not take a multi-vitamin because I hate pills, but I knew I needed them, so I tried prenatal vitamins but they made me very sick to my stomach, so I tried just half, and even tried just regular multi-vitamins.  Every vitamin pill I tried didn't set well with my stomach, so I was not good about taking them...  my first OB doctor didn't ask me if I was taking them either, so I figured as long as I was eating well, it probably wasn't too big of a deal.  Well truth is, it probably was.  Although I do wonder if by me doing this, I was the cause of Kyla's condition, but I am not convinced this is the case.  I even went as far as to research for countless hours about a Rh factor blood injection I had to get in my butt while I was pregnant with Kyla because my Husband and I's blood didn't agree with one another.  There was something about this shot that would make sure that Kyla was OK while I was carrying her and once she was born.  Since I'm kind of a freak about any kind of medicine (I make sure I know what I'm taking before taking it, etc.), I read up on the shot a lot before taking it and found that the injection typically given to pregnant women contains trace amounts of mercury.  It's not proven, but they say that Mercury is linked to Autism.......so I spent a TON of time finding a company that made an Rh factor shot that contained absolutely NO Mercury. I called hospital pharmacies, I called regular pharmacies and companies that manufacture the shot.  Since I live in a fairly small town I was told over and over that I should "just take the regular shot, there was nothing wrong with it, women get it all the time."  I didn't settle for that and eventually found a pharmacy that would order me the shot I wanted!!  Cost me $100.00 out-of-pocket, but I didn't care.  The shot is made of actual blood (although it's not colored) so I had to take it straight home from the pharmacy, and put it in my fridge and, straight to the doctors office where they injected me with it there.  A huge pain, but I felt like it wasn't worth the risk to inject myself with Mercury while carrying my child.  Moral of the story is, although I was very careful with what I was and wasn't doing (minus the vitamins, which was a big mistake and I won't do that again if I get pregnant in the future)...you can't control what does and does not happen.  You can try your best to do most everything right, but what is meant to be will be and what is not meant to be won't.

Sleeping Beauty

 

My sweetie's first time falling asleep on the couch since she was a little bitty baby.  She had been on the couch, jumped off to get her blanket that was on the living room floor, jumped back on the couch with her blanket, wrapped herself up in her blanket and passed out watching cartoons.  :)  I love her so much!

I did the photos this weekend for my brother-in-law and soon to be sister-in-law.  We did them in 100 degree weather because we both had busy weekends and they turned out very well...at least I think so, for being my first time.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Learning More

Hi All,

So I actually took today off for a "learning day" without the baby.  This weekend I am doing the shoot for my brother-in-law and wanted to feel more comfortable with my camera, so I've been practicing.  I realize this has nothing to do with Kyla or ABS, lol, but this is my blog so I can put whatever I want to on here ;)  So as you can see from the photos I am learning more!  I'm pretty excited....it's fun to do something sort of artsy.  I used to draw a lot back in the day but now I don't draw ever, so I actually do enjoy this photography stuff.  So here are some photos:

My focus point is off a little on this daisy one, but I still like it.

By the way, I had said before when I first got my camera that this stuff is cake....well that was spoken by someone who had really no idea what they were doing.  LOL...once you actually start to learn how the camera works and what does what it gets a little more difficult.  ha...or a lot more...but I'm catching on!  Woo hoo!

Figured I'd write a quick post on what happened this weekend. I'm currently sick and can thank my baby girl for that. She has been fighting a cold off and on for the past couple weeks but I always let her take sips off of my drinks (because it's funner to drink out of real cups as opposed to sippy cups) and every time I let her do it when she's sick I get sick and then can't seem to kick it. Urgh! This afternoon I am taking Kyla to a doctor appointment for a mysterious rash that has spread all over her body and comes and goes and has been for the past two weeks or so. This kid has serious skin issues. I'm starting to think she has eczema and I've tried all kinds of cremes and nothing seems to help too much so I'm thinking she either needs to see a dermatologist or I need a prescription strength creme. We'll see...

Saturday morning Greg and Kyla and I attempted to hike Badger Mountain trail. It was great, Greg carried Kyla and everything was going fine, until we got about 1/4 of the way up then Kyla decided she didn't want to be carried anymore and didn't want to walk up on her own, so after a crying fit we decided to bag it and headed back down the hill. Even though we only went a little ways up, my butt and legs were a little sore the next day, so I know it's a good work out....and it was fun and pretty too. So I'd like to go, but then we always have Kyla, so it most likely won't happen. One thing about becoming a parent is most of the time, things you would like to do, don't happen and that's just something you have to accept and realize it won't always be that way. Sometimes I get a little selfish and think it would be really nice if I just had like one day or something where I could go do whatever and not feel rushed to get home ASAP to relieve the Husband. It'll happen someday, there is hope! :)

Kyla and I went to church yesterday morning while Greg went 4-wheeling with some friends. I volunteered for two Sundays in the church nursery for next Sunday and another Sunday. Should be fun but interesting, lol..some of those kids sit at the gate and cry like crazy for their parents. I'm also a little nervous about changing other kids poopy diapers, because I've only ever changed my Niece and my own kid's poopy diapers and those are kids I love, ha, so we'll see how that goes, but our church really needs volunteers and I figure they watch my kid for me every Sunday so that I can take an hour out of my week to listen to God's word, and they should have that opportunity as well. I hope I get the little babies, but we'll see....I miss having a little baby (sometimes...just a little bit...).

Yesterday afternoon we went boating and I was able to wakeboard for a little bit...I didn't do too much because I didn't want to get my hair too wet, so I only went for maybe 15 minutes or so. This weird summer is killing me...it can be warm and sunny one minute and cool and cloudy the next.  So weird!  Oh I also forgot that we had dinner with friends Saturday night.  We have a group that all has kids around the same age that gets together at someone's house 1 time/month.  It is fun, feels like we're running a day care or something with 5 little kids running around  :)  I'll have to take a few pictures of the group of kids sometime and upload them here.  Except for 1 kid, they're all under 2 years old, so it's fun.

Kids Activities

I'm currently at work attempting to use a bum internet after hackers screwed up our systems last week. It is useless....so I
figured I would blog this topic. Topic being I need feedback on how and what activities I should get kyla enrolled in. I've been thinking about swimming lessons but for those who have already been thru this....how hard is it to learn how to swim with one hand? Also when I start getting her involved in things do I need to like make sure whoever is running the class is ok with her joining? Or just not mention it at all? I've been thinking about dance classes within the next year or not too long after.....I just wonder how this all works and would like some suggestions if anyone has some...please get in touch with me. I wonder if I put her in dance if other snobby mothers are going to make an issue over it.....or I was also thinking about soccer. Although I hate soccer kyla is pretty good at kicking balls and it would probably be a good sport for her. Kylas daddy was in some Olympic soccer training group when he was younger but had to stop due to how expensive it was...I know he would be able to teach her. Anyway if anyone can give suggestions on this topic, please do :) Thanks.

I feel like I've been neglecting my blog lately, but the fact is, I really don't have much to talk about!  I've been enthralled with this Casey Anthony trial and have been spending a lot of my free time watching videos from the hearing and keeping up on recent happenings with her and her family by watching the news.  This trial has obviously infuriated a lot of people and it seems the most infuriated are Mothers.  I am one of them....  I'm not like going crazy over it like a lot of women are, but it is very upsetting to say the least.  Soooo...that's what I've been doing the past few days.  One thing I can say is that once Casey is out, like I dunno, I would hate to be her, I'm sure there are quite a few crazies out there who are going to be out to get her.  If I were her, I'd probably rather stay in jail or prison; it will definately be interesting to see what happens, but I urge everyone to not support any interviews/book deals, movies, etc. that she could profit from.  If you watch some of the video clips of Casey, and the way she behaves, I'm pretty sure she's got some kind of mental issue and it's scary that someone like her is going to be let free into the general population in a matter of days.  Let's hope and pray that she doesn't hurt anyone else.

On another topic, my Hubby told me a few days ago that his partner he works with went to Silverwood Theme Park for vacation over the 4th of July Holiday weekend and came back to tell him that while he was at Silverwood he saw two or three people who had ABS and arms like Kyla.  I thought this was bazar that he saw so many like her in the same place and at the same time!  Just this past week Kyla has been calling her little arm what sounds like "armie."  I'm not sure why she is calling it this, but I'm wondering if maybe at daycare or something they call her arm that or someone she is around is calling it that....OR if she is just realizing that it isn't the same as her other arm/hand.  She has never called it a hand before, and has only ever called her one hand "hand."  I'm wondering if maybe she is just finally at the age where she realizes it is different.  I don't think it'll be too much longer and she'll be able to communicate with us more about her difference.  We'll see....but I think that hearing lately and seeing more people who are in our community who are like her will help me to be able to be more positive about her difference when she does ask me.  It's definitely a fear of mine - I feel like when she asks me I'm going to just break down in tears or something and not even be able to talk to her about it, which is the very opposite of what I want and need to do.  Most of the people I do know who are like Kyla aren't from around here, but obviously the past two weeks has contradicted that.  Which is a positive thing!

One other thing....my Dad has been on my case lately about not putting Kyla's prosthetic on her.  Well...I'm not sure how else to tell him, other than repeat myself over and over that she doesn't want it and all she does is pull it off as soon as I put it on.  Very annoying...like I feel like by him being on my case about it all the time he's kind of like telling me I'm not being a good Mom or something.  Out of all of the people I know with arms like Kyla's, only one kid wears her prosthetic and even her Mom told me she doesn't want to wear it sometimes.  Well the kiddo just woke up from her nap, so I'm off! 

July 4th

We celebrated Independence Day yesterday by boating most of the day and then went down to the river in the evening to watch the fireworks show.  This was Kyla's first time seeing fireworks and she loved them, lots of jaw dropping and oos and awes.  She was not scared one bit and wanted more, which was kind of surprising to me since she is afraid of things like cars driving by.  I asked my Mother-in-Law to snap a photo of our family, please excuse my miserable looking husband!  He fried himself like a lobster earlier in the day while boating and as you can see Kyla did not want to sit still for a photo! 

On Saturday I saw a little girl at the grocery store who had an arm like Kyla...same arm and I didn't notice any other limb deficiencies.  I did not have Kyla with me, but it was nice (might sound weird but it was) to see a young girl like my daughter in our town!  Just made me smile seeing her.  She was arm in arm with two other little girls and happy as can be! 

Hope everyone had a good 4th and did something fun.

1st Real Time Boating

Today was Kyla's first "real time" boating.  Meaning we were on the boat for about 4 hours rather than just a quick dip in and out.  She did awesome.  She's got Bumgarner blood in her for sure!  :)  Look at how cute this little chicken is!  She is my heart, love this little girl.  In addition to the photo of her I also took a couple pictures of some bridges around town just for fun. 

I think we are hitting the water again tomorrow and this time Mama is going wakeboarding!!  I can't wait.