Cousin Audrey's Birthday party!

So this post is just another reminder of how far Darryl and I have come on the journey to have children and how blessed we truly are. Last year my beautiful God daughter/niece, Audrey, turned one. Darryl and I wouldn't have missed her party for the world but as I sat there on the beach watching all the moms and dads with their children, it was hard to hold back the tears. Though we were surrounded by our loving family, I still felt left out and couldn't understand why we didn't have what everyone else did. I tried to remember how lucky we were and that God would someday make us parents but I also couldn't wait for what all these happy families had. However, seeing my niece so excited for her big day and all the work her Mommy and Daddy put into it made me a very proud Auntie.

Auntie and Audrey at her first birthday!

Audrey turned two this year and had a birthday party at her house. Our cousin Ryan snapped this picture and when I looked at it, I couldn't help but remember where we were last year and how far we have come. I think the smile on my face as well as my daughter's says it all. Darryl and I are finally able to experience the joy of parenthood and I wouldn't trade God's timing for the world!

Claire and her Mommy at Audrey's second birthday!

 Trisha's sister-in-law made these adorable rompers for the girls to wear at Audrey's birthday. The cousins look so cute and I can't wait to see what beautiful girls they will become inside and out. :)

Claire's First Visit!

Thanks to our good friends that work at Disneyland, we were finally able to take Claire for her first visit! Though Claire was too small for many of the rides, we still had a good time walking around, enjoying the scenery, and buying Claire her first Mickey ears!

Claire waving from the hat store!

"Whatcha doing Momma?"

"Look at me! I'm at Disneyland!"

"I said....LOOK AT ME!"

"Thank you!" :)

Yay Disneyland!

We were going to go on It's A Small World until Mommy realized she brought the good stroller and didn't want to leave it. Maybe next time! :)

Getting a little sleepy.

 

All tuckered out with her Minnie Mouse.

Thanks Tina and David for our fun day!

Sicky poo....

A couple of months ago, our baby was pretty sick. She got her first cold (probably from me and my germy first graders) and no matter how many times I told the doctor or anyone else that it was really bad, they made me feel like I was exaggerating. Well...it lasted a few weeks and the poor thing had fevers, congestion, and a pretty bad cough. Even my mom (who has had four children and owned her own daycare) has said she's never seen a baby so sick. We had lots of people praying for our little one because at one point the doctor was talking about admitting her to the hospital. Well all is good now! We took the doctor's advice of sucking her snot out (ewwwww) every chance we could, having her sleep sitting up, doing breathing treatments at home, and letting her sleep as much as she wants. Our baby is now much happier and the pediatrician said that one good thing coming out of this is that Claire has built up a stronger immune system. You go Claire Bear!

 At the pediatrician's office receiving her first nebulizer treatment. We eventually had to buy one and do treatments at home. Poor baby. :(

 Feeling much better!!!! :)

Claire's room

Sorry it's been so long since we've written. It's been a busy last couple of months but I have been keeping track of theposts that I want on my blog so here's the first. Claire's room! We painted it before we even knew what the sex of our baby would be. We figured green could go either way. When we brought Claire home and knew she was ours, that's when we went for the pink flower decor. The room is still not exactly the way I wanted but it does the job and I believe our little angel is fine with it. :)

RIP Baby Drama

Today was one of the saddest days Jen and I have gone through. We put our dog, Drama, to sleep. She was our 3 year old Pekingese. For those of you who did not know, on Wednesday this week, Drama suddenly became paralyzed just below her shoulders leaving her hind legs useless. We still do not know exactly what happened. It could have been an injury or an embolism. Drama was very active and jumped and hopped around like a bunny all over our furniture outside. She also would wrestle with our much larger German Shepherd, Ari. It also could have been a degenerative disc. X-Rays showed no fracture to her spine. The next step was to have an MRI and more than likely a very expensive surgery that may or may not have fixed her. The MRI alone was $1800. With a 4 month old daughter, Jen and I could not see spending that. Our vet had us try a mix of steroids, muscle relaxers and pain relievers in the hope that deep pain would return to her limbs. For those that do not know what deep pain is, the vet will take a metal tool and squeeze on their paws in the hope that the she would react. Drama felt nothing. On Thursday, Jen and I both went to the vet thinking she would not come home with us. We saw her and she had her personality and was excited to see us. We stole a treat from the vet's room and she downed it just like she always does. We couldn't make a decision when we could see she was still there. We took her home to see if things would get better.

I took her Saturday to another vet for a second opinion. He did the same deep pain test and saw the same results. He literally said, "Put her to sleep or see a neurologist." I was pretty upset over this. I took her home and we tried to care for her. Over the course of the next 16 hours, we did 9 loads of laundry, I had to change my clothes 3 times, and we gave Drama 3 baths. If you know her baths are the thing she hates the most. She was frustrated that she could not do what she wanted and Jen and I were exhausted trying to care for her and Claire at the same time. We both knew we could not keep this up. So this morning, we took her in and she was put to sleep.

Jen and I are pretty devastated right now. It would be one thing if she lived a long life and we could see this coming. She in our eyes was still a puppy and was so energetic. Who would think that something like this would happen so early? I thought we had at least 8 years before a decision like this would be necessary. And I always thought Drama would outlast Ari.

I have been feeling guilty thinking that we took our dogs for granted after we got Claire. Jen keeps telling me that while they didn't get as much attention as before, we still did a ton with them.

I am just glad we do not have to tell our niece Delilah that 'Baby Dama', as she called her when she was younger, is no longer here. I am going to leave that to my sister and Chris.

We miss you Drama. Hopefully you are having fun with Daisy now.

Here are a couple pics of our 1st baby before we had Claire:

First pics of Drama at the pet store





Drama in her bed


Drama in Claire's baby bjorne


Drama's last days:
I got to take her to work this Friday




Goodbye Drama!

CONVERSE!!!!!

I just had to post this pic of our little girl in her first pair of Chucks! D and I love Converse and so will little Claire. (We've already decided that for her!) :)

Daddy and Daughter Time!

 It's so amazing to see the wonderful man I married become a father! I've always seen how good he is with our nieces and nephews, but he was born to be a Dad! He loves our little girl so much and our Claire already has Daddy wrapped around her finger! :) I can't wait to see what the future holds and what's going to happen when Claire says, "But Daddy......I NEED a new car!" :) Hahaha! Love you babe!