We have had a great summer! I am so glad that Mikaily is back in school now though. I can't believe she is in 2nd grade. Kyle starts Pre-K next week, so we gave him a haircut. Evan is still the "class clown" and is always doing something to make us laugh. Alaina is getting so big and is doing things like starting to roll over and she is giggling now. I made another montage of a bunch of random pics from the past couple months. Enjoy!

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Celebrity look alikes

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Different isn't bad, it's just different

Alaina is doing so well. She is growing so fast and she is sleeping through the night now. She has started to hold her head up better and has now started to roll over to one side. That is why I haven't been able to figure out why I am having such a hard time the last week or so. I seem to be in the "baby blues" rut a little longer this time I guess. I think that maybe I am feeling sorry for myself and for Mikaily. "Why?" you ask. I just have a hard time not feeling like Mikaily (and the rest of her family to a certain extent) has been jipped. She was so fragile when she was born and although she is doing amazingly well now, we have had to work so hard to get her here. We have been through more than 2 dozen doctors, 15 therapists, walkers, leg braces, breathing machines, hearing tests, vision screenings, feeding tubes, hand splints, trips to the ER (too numerous to count), blood tests, IEPs and AIPs, botox injections, and so many other things that a child should never have to be put through. I think that, since Laney is doing so well, it just reminds me of what a tough life Mikaily has had and what a long road we still have in front of us. So, whenever I start feeling sorry for myself I like to read this article called Welcome to Holland by Emily Perl Kingsley:

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.


I am sure some of you have read it before. I think it can be applied to many aspects of a persons life, but it hits the nail on the head when it comes to having a child with special needs. I hope that I can teach my daughter to understand that I love her MORE because she took me to Holland.

Different isn't bad, it's just different.

Grandma and Grandpa

Jason's Mom and Dad came to visit and meet Alaina this past week. We had a good visit. We went to the beach and the Florida Aquarium and they enjoyed going to the sponge docks and shopping in the little stores there. We took this picture out back behind our apartment by the little lake. While we were out there this family of a little mama duck and her four little babies swam by. We were watching them and how cute they were and all of a sudden we heard a loud swishing sound and saw a big splash. There had been an alligator sitting on the bank that none of us, including the family of ducks, had noticed. Luckily my littles were occupied with splashing in the puddles from the rainstorm that had come through earlier in the day and didn't realize what was going on. We aren't really sure if the alligator got one of the ducks or not. We could hear the mama duck calling right after the attack, but I am hopeful she might have been squaking at her little ones to high tail it outta there. I am gonna go with that theory because the other option is just really sad. So all in all the grandparents had a fun, and eventful, vacation and we are sad they have to go home. Hopefully they will be able to come back and visit again next year.

1 Month Old

Alaina got to go to church for the first time this past Sunday. She did really well....slept through the whole thing. I was somewhat envious.
We took her to the doctor for her 1 month check up and she is healthy and chubby. She is now in the 90th percentiles for her height and her weight. I guess that is what happens when a baby doesn't have reflux, huh?
I promise that I will start blogging about things other than the baby in the near future. She is my life right now, so there is really not much else for me to talk about. I had gotten used to being able to go anywhere anytime and that is something that is not possible to do when you have a nursing baby. Our entire day has to be planned around feedings. I am trying to savor every moment though, because I know she is my last. I sometimes wish I had a pause button or better yet a slow motion button so I can slow things down and she wouldn't grow up so fast. I know lots of people say they don't like the "lump of baby" stage, but I absolutely love it. I love their smell and I love how soft they are. I love when they put their little faces up against your neck while you are holding them and they just feel so snuggly and warm. I absolutely love little babies.

Summer Fun

We have been trying to stay cool here in the heat this summer. The older kids have been doing alot of swimming and Alaina just likes to hang out in her diaper. We love having her in our family. She is a perfect fit.

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Adjusting to Life

Hello all! So the last few weeks have been pretty crazy. At first I was like "Wow! This whole mother of 4 thing isn't so bad. I can totally do this!" Then, after about 2 weeks, the sleep deprivation set in. I ended up sick and not recovering nearly as quickly as I would like and it did not take my boys long to figure out that they can prettymuch get into anything they want when I sit down to feed Alaina and not get into trouble until I am done feeding her 40 minutes later.
I have been so worried about whether or not Alaina is getting enough to eat...a fear that all new moms share. We weighed her yesterday and were shocked to learn that, at barely 3 weeks old, she is already close to 9 and a half pounds. I guess I need not worry so much anymore. It is hard after having a baby that was special needs because, since that was my first expierience as a mom, I then expect something else to be wrong with all my others. They are too little and not thriving, too sleepy, cry too much or not enough, they are too relaxed so they must have muscle problems, roll their eyes back so they must be having seizures. I am constantly having to remind myself that everything is fine with Alaina. My boys even ended up medicated for severe reflux, so the fact that everything is going great with this one is so foreign to me. She is an amazing little baby.
Evan has learned to swim, all on his own, finally. He is still figuring out the breathing thing, but I think he will have that down soon. It is terrifying to watch your two year old trying to learn how to swim. After all, the only way to know if he can or can't is to throw him in and see if he sinks or floats. It is a must here in Florida though. There are lots of things that I am still trying to get used to here in Florida, but I have to say I absolutely love being able to have my littles swimming every day prettymuch the whole year. Oh, and I love having Tracy here. (I am glad you got to move here Tracy) Hopefully we will get to start doing fun stuff again in the near future, once I am fully recovered.