My Daddy made it through his surgery good. It was LONG but they feel confident they got it all.

Bayley just had her EIS evaluation. We wont know the official results until Tuesday but the lady did tell me that Bayley was significantly delayed. She observed Bayley for about an hour and asked lots of questions. She said that what we perceived as Bayleys fits arent just temper related. She said that a lot of it comes from frustration because she cant get her point across. She said that she has to imput her evaluation adn then we would be able to get the official results on Tuesday. She said that we would probably meet with a speech person next and then they would tell us what all exactly Bay will need. I will keep you posted as we find out more.

Anyway, we are hoping Halloween looks up. I will post pictures later.

Big catch up

Ok here are the highlights of what has been going on with us.

Oct 21st I took Bayley to daycare and got to meet all of the teachers that will be in her big girl class. I liked them all. I really LOVED one of them... she is technically in the class above Bayley's but they kinda work together. She is a foster parent and last year had 3 preemies at once (a 23 weeker, 27 weeker and a 29 weeker) so I felt GREAT about her being around. October 22 was supposed to be Bayley's first full day in big girl class (12-18 months) but we both ended up sick. I stayed home from work and went to the doctor and while I was there the daycare called and said Bays cough had gotten worse. So after I left the doctor with 2 shots and 4 Rx, I went and got her and we went to see Dr. McDaniel. Bay weighed 18 lb 3 oz and she had early croup & a sinus infection. She got 2 shots and 2 Rx. In total we spent $138.00 in prescriptions and $60.00 in copays....UGHHHHH! I stayed home with Bay Wednesday & Thursday. Poor Syd was sick too with a cough that wouldnt go away so luckily I had enough antibiotics around to go ahead and treat her too.

Syd took this pic of Bay & Brian. too cute.

Oct 25th We went and shopped some for halloween costumes and decided we were better off just making something ourself. Gail has helped us out with Syd's Pebbles costume. I think it will end up cute! We ended up just watching movies and goofing off all night.

Oct 27th was Bayley's first official full day in big girl class. She did great!!! Believe it or not she slept 2 1/2 hours in a cot WITH HER PACI! :) She played with the big kids like she has always been in that class....and she ate a ton! I have to say that I predict our next doctors visit with Bay she will have a BIG weight GAIN!!! Im telling you she is heavy now. Im scared to put her on our scales at home because I dont wanna be disappointed but Im telling you she even has a lil belly. She has been on steroids for a week and it is like she has had the munchies! She is cracking us up!

Oct 28 Bay had another good day at daycare. She slept 3 hours and ate good again! woohoooo.... After work we headed to Gails to check out progress on the pebbles costume and then we went to the thrift store to get a few things for Syds outfit. After that we ended up meeting Cindi for dinner. Bay was so excited she loves her "EyeMomma". lol We had a good time and then we ran by Cindis to pick up a few things she had gotten together for Syds outfit. She ended up finding a neighbor with the perfect thing for Syd to borrow...Gotta wait til I post the pictures to find out what it was. Anyway, we ran to Target & then home just in time to get Bay to bed.

School is going good for Syd. She went to an AP Biology study session yesterday. She said it was Super Boring but she got extra points for going so believe me Im glad she went! lol

We have had a scare going on with my Daddy this past week. I was scared to post anything because some of our family didnt know what was going on nad there was no need to get everyone excited until we found out more. Basically my Daddy had several skin biopsies done a week or so ago. They came back that he has a squamous cell cancer on his left cheek and the place on his right jaw area came back that it could have possibly been a metastisis from a different cancer. After comparing a previous biopsy from that spot, going to see Dr. Goldfard, and having a head and neck CT they have decided that they think this is another squamous cell. Daddy is going to have surgery on Friday at St. Vincents so we will know more then. This certainly appears to be a better diagnosis than they first feared and for that we are very thankful. Please keep my Daddy in your prayers on Friday.

Oct 29. Today was good. After church tonight we had Trunk or Treat. Didnt my "COW GIRLS" end up cute!!! Bay was the cutest cow ever and Syd decided last night that she wanted to go as a cowgirl to go along with Bay being a cow. Cindi had a neighbor that had the cow print cowboy hat & the black boots! They were perfect!!!

You gotta love her smile!

I dont know where to start. Lets see...Oct 14 I took Bay for her 1st Synagis shot of the year. Bay had a whopping weight of 18 lb 2 oz and her length was still 29 1/2 inches long. She was up 1 lb from 6 weeks ago. We were really wanting her to be between 18 lb 8 oz - 19 lb but Dr. Tindle said it was a gain so we will take it. The weight gain was good EXCEPT it threw her in a higher Synagis dose which meant they had to split it into two different shots - one in each leg. OUCH! Dr. Tindle checked her over good and said she thinks her cough is just allergy/viral. Her blood work looked good so no meds for Bay. We talked A LOT about Bays talking. On a daily basis Bay says Dada, Bite & Woof...and that is it. she has said other words in the past but doesnt use them on a regular basis. Dr. Tindle said she felt like it was time to get a EIS (Early Intervention Services) evaluation just to see what they say.


I called and have gotten the EIS evaluation process started. I have dreaded this for months and months but after talking to the EIS coordinator Im not as worried! Shocker I know. She said 70% of all the kids evaluated dont qualify for EIS Services/therapy. You have to have a 25% deficit in one or more areas in order to qualify. Long story short...after doing the questionnaire she qualified for evaluation based on slow speech and she has several markers for autism. I am trying not to worry and hoping that she will be in the 70% that end up being just fine. It will be atleast another week or two before they do the evaluation. Say a lil prayer for Bay...although my gut says she is gonna be fine prayer is always good!

We have been getting ready for Bay to swap classes in daycare. She is still in the 9-12 month class now and needs to move up. I went today and met the teachers. They were all nice. We are just a little shocked because the next class they sleep in cots and they have a NO PACI rule...well that is getting changed because Bayley is getting her paci during naptime...rules were made to be broken and no body is taking my girls paci at this point...maybe later but not now! This will be a big change for Bay (no morning nap, no morning snack, only 1 cup a day) I am really dreading the adjustment period. The class she has been in has been wonderful to basically feed her all day everyday but this next class they just dont do that so I am a lil concerned that it may hurt her weight gain...keep your fingers crossed!

PG just had homecoming last week. My friend Cindi came over and we took Bay to her first football team Brian wouldnt go :( We had a great time. Cindi (Eye Momma to Bay) spoiled Bay rotten letting her climb all over her and get away with murder! lol Bay LOVED the Band and clapped along with them. it was so cute.

Syd is doing pretty good these days. Teenage years are filled with constant ups and downs but somehow she always ends up on top. We are so lucky with her she is such a good girl. She has just done FABULOUS in school the last few weeks!!! Forgive me of my proud momma moment and check out Syds 1st 9 week report card!

Report Card Grades
Grading Period:
9-12) 1ST NINE WEEKS Dates: 8/13/2008 - 10/16/2008
98 GEOMETRY ENGLISH, MARILYN
94 HEALTH PNAZEK, KURT C. A PLEASURE TO HAVE IN MY CLASS GREAT STUDENT
90 ENG 10, HON PRE AP SHALABY, YASMENE F. A PLEASURE TO HAVE IN MY CLASS
87 US HISTORY HON PAP ERRECA, MICHAEL J.
91 BIOLOGY AP MCLEOD, SHAWN W.
92 CHEMISTY HON PAP MCLEOD, ANGELA M.
100 ATH G 9-12 FALL WILLIAMS, ALEXIS

WOOO HOO!!!!! Im telling you that AP Biology 91 is an absolute miracle considering a few weeks ago she had a 50 in his class!!!! Go Syd!

Well that is about it for updates....more later.

I will just say that things could not have gone better for Mary and Kakeiria! Go read Susans last few blogs for a complete update! God is good! Please continue to pray for both of them!

PS - My friend Cindi is having some additional tests done today. Please keep her in your prayers also!

Mary Update x 4

UPDATE # 4: I just got a text from Kim (4:42). They took Mary into surgery about 30 minutes ago! Please keep Mary in your prayers and also the lil 2 year old baby that is getting the other portion of the liver. PRAY PRAY PRAY!

UPDATE: I just talked to Becky and she just left UAB (3:30) and MARY IS STILL WAITING!!! Bless her heart! They have the liver. They are splitting it now. Hopefully surgery will happen around 4. PRAY PRAY PRAY.

UPDATE!!!!: Kim just called me at 2:15 and said Mary is still in the surgery holding. They were supposed to have the liver about 1:30 and Kim had just seen Mary and she is still waiting. Kim said Mary had held up really good but they have given her some "loopy" medicine and are ready to go. Kim said it looked like it would be around 2:45-3:00. UGH what a horrible wait for all of them. PRAY PRAY PRAY

Kim called Katie about 1;15 and said they had just took Mary back. Katie said they are expecting about a 6-8 hour surgery so it is going to be a LONGGG day. PRAY PRAY PRAY!!!

Update on Mary

Just got a text from Alex. Marys surgery has been put off until 2 today. The liver isnt here yet and then they will have to split it which will take about an hour so they are planning to take Mary in for the surgery at 2. PRAY PRAY PRAY!!!!

WOOO HOOOO for Mary

Mary Courington just called me at 2:10. She got a liver!!!! She said they are splitting a liver between her and a pediatric patient. She goes in today at 4pm and they will do the surgery tomorrow morning. PLEASE START PRAYING NOW AND DONT STOP!!! Pray that this will be a true match and that the surgery will be sucessful and that Mary will be able to finally be out of pain and misery. I love you Mary and will be praying for you constantly!

15'ers and RSV

My Babies.... the last day they are both 15.
Bayley Lauren 15 months ...Sydney Meghan 15 years!

Everyone should start their day with a lil Gerber baby Cheese puff Breakfast!
Things have been sickly around our house lately. I have had a crazy cold /laryngitis for the last week. Two doctors appointments and many many dollars later I am better. Bayley was up coughing for awhile last night. I am hoping she doesnt get this mess. Brian has it now but we are hoping that since he started antibiotics early it wont be that bad. Bayley coughed more than we would like last night and Ms. Anita from daycare said Bay hasnt eaten good for them in two days. She was even refusing snacks which is odd for Bay.

The other night we were eating Chicken Speghetti bake (YUM) and Sydney decided to help me get a picture of Bayley's new teeth. As you can see we had several failed attempts.

Yes I know this next picture is blurry but if you look close at the bottom middle you can see her two pretty teeth. If you look REAL close you can see the one that is almost ready to come in.

Saturday me and the girls went and met Devin, Terry (his dad) and Duran (his brother) for lunch at Logans. It was good. Bayley was too cute and put on quite the show for them in the parking lot. Devin & Syd let her walk around and she sported her cute hat Syd got her. She is a mess.

Syd has been studying like a crazy person these days. She had major tests this week so lets hope they all went well. Honor Society this year is doing a lot more which is fun for her but also time consuming. She has to go help clean up at he school Saturday morning from 8-12... no sleep for her. They are also doing Teacher friends and some kind of can good trick or treating. O - also Sydney drove on the interstate for the first time Saturday. She did pretty good except I found out the hard way she is afraid of 18 wheelers...I told Brian that is his project to work on!

The only other news I have is yesterday started RSV season! YUK YUK YUK
I got my phone call from Dr. Tindle's office advising us to begin using antibacterial again RELIGIOUSLY! We were also caustioned to limit her exposure which is hard considering this year she is in daycare...so how much do you isolate her considering she is already exposed to everything in the world in that place. I am very torn over it and will probably just wait and talk to Dr. Tindle more at our next visit on October 14th. Also we got our schedule. O the Joys of Synagis. So once a month from now until April Bayley will get her Synagis shot to the tune of $1500.00 per shot billed to the lovely BCBS. I will gladly pay my $180.00 in copays instead of the $9000.00 bill that they pay. So far we will only scheduled to do the short course which is 6 months but that could change to add 1 additional month depending on her weight, overall health, and the RSV season itself. So if you see Bayley walking around church or daycare with a Purel bottle hanging around her neck dont be shocked.

Ok Before I start on the girls...I have a prayer request. My baby cousin Lacy's best friend (Christie Satterfield) finally got a double lung transplant on this past Saturday. Christie has battled cystic fibrosis since she was 18 months old. Her transplant went great and she is overall doing really good although she did have a bad night last night and is in a lot of pain so PLEASE keep Christie in your prayers. Here is her web site. She loves to get new comments in her guestbook so feel free to leave her one and let her know you are praying for her.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/christiesatterfield

In big news at our house....Bayley has another tooth and a 3rd that you can see under the skin that hasnt broken through yet!!! Sydney spotted her 2nd tooth last night and Devin saw the 3rd tonight. This was out attempt to get a picture of her two teeth!

Bayley is such a booger and refuses to let us get a picture of her pearly white teeth but dont worry...I will win in the end! Bayleys tooth coming in explains the last few weeks of dealing with a fussy Bay, bad appetite, runny diapers, runny nose, diaper rash...this isnt just plain diaper rash...this is bleeding for days. It has been rough but she is better right now.

Bayley had really started playing a lot. She LOVES her toys. I think maybe even more than Sydney did. The other night I was putting a cloth diaper over my face and playing peek-a-boo tickle monster. Bay loved it. The next morning when she saw me she reached behind me grabbed a real diaper and stuck it on my head ...she wanted to play. Such a sweetie. SHe is really loving her WOOFs these days. She LOVES dogs.

Bayley has a new obsession. She LOVES shoes. At any given point you will see her dragging around a random shoe. It is hysterical. Sunday afternoon she was in the bedroom with Brian and she came to the living room dragging his dress shoes and put them right in front of the recliner whihc is where he sits to put her shoes on!!! She is brilliant. She doesnt say but 4-5 works, she cant point out a body part, she has no clue what we are talking aobut half the time but my baby knows where Daddy puts on his shoes!!! Victory for the Baybay!

In even more exciting news. Im scared to even put it in writing...but for 2-3 days BAYLEY HAS STARTED SLEEPING BETTER. She slept all night in her bed 1 night and last night she slept in there til 5:30. WOOOHOOO!!!!!!!!! We are so proud of our lil baby girl.
Ok on Sydney news, She is just as silly as ever!

Syd's knee is still hurt. She is having to go to physical therapy on her knee twice a week. She is has a tight hamstring. I cant tell that PT is helping that drastically. Hopefully she will get some relief or else soccer is going to be miserable.

School is HARD! The new AB schedule is really kicking everyone's booty. Having to juggle 8 classes instead of 4 has definitely proven to be a challenge. She is doing really well in a few classes, keeping her head above water in a couple of others and DROWNING in AP Biology. She has a 99.54 in Geometry (YAY SYD!), a 89.99 in Pre AP Chemistry, a 86 in PreAP English, a 82 in Pre AP History, and drum roll a 50 in AP Biology. Yup my honors student is STRUGGLING! She has studied like a mad person for this class and she has a 50. In all honesty, I have only found a hand full of students who actually passed the 1st test. They dont get points on HW so they have no way to pull their grade up except for tests so say a prayer that those test scores go back up. Syd is really working on study habits but if anyone has any helpful hints feel free to leave them.

Driving for Syd has been an adventure. So she has only scared the life out of me a few times. I need to get an emergency brake for the backseat so when Im sitting back there with Bay I can save us. Lets hope time improves her skills. lol

Anyway, that is all I can think of for now. I will try to not wait as long before I post next.

LONG post but IMPORTANT QUESTION AT THE BOTTOM!!!

Sydney's 15th birthday went really good. She had a great day complete with the perfect cake for her. She doesnt like cake at all normally but several weeks ago she tried a cake at Pam's Devo and she fell in love with DQ ice cream cake. So she got her wish and had an DQ Oreo Ice Cream Cake. Fatty loved every bite! lolAnd Sydney was VERY upset with the people who doubted her permit getting abilities.
HA Just kidding. She PASSED on the first try!!!! WOOO HOOO! She was THRILLED! I was so proud of her and terrified for myself! We came straight to PG and she drove for the first time. I have to say it was every bit as bad as I had feared. But she did get a little better the longer she drove. Brian took her out last night and let her drive and he didnt think she was that bad. I guess she got her terribleness out on me. In other news, We temporarily have custody of Sunkist Steel who is the puppy that Devin & Syd rescued several months back. She was living in pitiful conditions when they got her and Devin has kept her at his house and as you can see she has grown a ton! She is approximately 7 months old and weighs somewhere around 55-60 lbs and GROWING! The vet said she is a golden retriever, lab, great pyrenees mix. Sunkist is such a sweetheart & Bayley LOVES her. She is so gentle with her. Sydney is loving having her big baby at her house...Brian is doing better than I thought with it. lol

How could you not fall in love with that face?!?! Bay & her Bub doing what they do best...being silly! (Bay calls Devin Bub because Devin was too close to DaDa and the very first time I heard her attempt his name I said NOPE...Bub it is!)Tuesday after the permit test & dangerous driving, We went and got Bay, took Syd to the dentist and then we went and had lunch with Brian. It was fun. After that we took Bay to the doctor for her 15 month check up. It was pretty good. She was down in her weight 17 lb 2 oz from 17 lb 5 oz (but remember that was with her clothes on... so it isnt too bad of a loss) She was 29 1/2 inches long which is great and puts her in the 50th % of 12 month olds (her corrected age). WOOO HOOO. She is still not on the chart at all for weight. Dr. Tindle said we would see what kinda weight she gains over the next 6 weeks and go from there. We start Synagis shots in October (YUK) I just cant tell you how much I dread Synagis and having to go back into semi-lockdown and becoming the antibacterial queen again. Bayley is behind on being able to identify where here eyes, ears, mouth etc are by pointing and/or attempting to say the words. Also she should be able to say Dada when you point at Brian, etc. She isnt doing any of those things or even attempting it. Dr. Tindle said one thing Bayley has taught us is to just sit back and wait for her to do it when she decides it is time. She definitely dances to the beat of her own drum. lol She said we would just talk about it again at 18 months and see how much progress she has made. Bay is still carrying the failure to thrive diagnosis. That is just so hard to believe considering the baby eats so good and has even gotten some fat on her little legs but its just not where she needs to be. We need to gain some serious weight fast to avoid the FTT testing. I have been watching her progress at home and as you can see I have my own CBC growth chart on Bay. I definitely prefer the corrected-age chart. You can see the best on the 2nd chart the Corrected weight chart what is concerning about Bay's weight. She had a good growth curve going and she has dropped that curve significantly. Even with being a preemie Bayley should be on that chart. YUK. BUT...Make sure and check out the 3rd chart...Actual Length 23rd percentile which is stinkin awesome...my tall stringbean.We are fixing to cut out her two daytime bottles and swap to total cups during the day. We will still do her morning and night bottles for awhile to try to get more calories in her. Dr. Tindle was thrilled that Bay is walking so good. She said that was a VERY good sign. YAY Bay!
Bay turned 15 months Wednesday. Can you believe I have a 15 year old and a 15 month old?!?!?! Scarey!!!

Poor Bay had a bad afternoon yesterday. Apparently the MMR shot or possibly teething (could it be) gave her a runny diaper. It was as sometime between leavin daycare and getting home. Within an hour of being home I changed her and she has HORRIBLE diaper rash! Probably the worst she has ever had it. She just screamed. Even after a bath and the prescription medicine she was just miserable. She seemed better this morning but I did call the daycare to make sure they were putting cream on her and changing her diaper more often today.

I know you were all just as excited as me to see the 90210 premiere!!!

We all watched the two hour premiere Tuesday night. Even Brian watched and was captivated by the train wreck that it is! lol It was so exciting to see Kelly & Brenda back on the tv...man Ive missed my friends! lol (yes I know I have issues!)

Ok an important question to all the moms out there. I am getting conflicting information. Bayley is 15 months, 17 lbs 2 oz and 29 1/2 inches long. Her feet do touch the back seat when she is facing the back. I had a friend tell me that because her feet touch the backseat I needed to turn her. But other people say NO WAY that she has to be 20 lbs before it is safe for her to face the front. What do you think and/or what did you do?

More later..

Happy 15th Birthday Sydney Meghan!!!

Can you believe my 1st baby is 15 years old!!!! It seems like yesterday she was running all over the house with that paci in her mouth loving Barney!


Sydney Meghan - 15 years ago today was one of the two happiest days of my life. You were FINALLY born almost two stinking weeks late and we were all sooo happy to see you. You were absolutely beautiful & perfect...and you still are! I hope this is the best birthday ever. I love you so very much! You are so smart and I am so proud of the woman you are becoming. You are going to do great things in this world. I am so happy that you remain strong in your faith and such a good girl. You are a wonderful daughter and the best big sister in the world! You are so sweet with Bayley and I am so glad that you always make time for her. You always make us laugh even when we dont want to. I love you goofy sense of humor. I love that you have such a tender heart and always want to take in every stray dog that we see (she literally cried because I wouldnt pick up a stray on the side of the road in Fairfield...she kept saying but it is just a puppy..the thing was HUGE and looked like CUJO!) You are such a good granddaughter, cousin, girlfriend, and friend. You have so many people in your life who love you! Me & your Daddy are so very proud of you! You amaze us with all that you do. We look at you and still see our little Ough Boo Girl. Happy Birthday Fred! Your Daddy, Mommy & BayBoo love you so very much!!!

Watch out world....the roads are no longer safe!

Big 15 Eve

It has been a busy few days. 1st I will say that Brody is doing MUCH better. After another Rocephin shot and more antibiotics, it appears they have the staph infection under control. YAY!
We went to the River Saturday to celebrate Syds bday. It was exciting and fun. We took advantage of a pretty day and Brian, Devin & Daddy cleaned out one side of the lillypad bed that they inherited. (My Daddy would have NEVER let it get that bad!) It went really good. Although I will say that my Daddy scared me completely to death. I wont give details on here but trust me ... It took a year or two off my life. whew. Anyway, lunch was wonderful of course. Then we went on a hour long boat ride and took Devin/Sydney intertubing. It was a great day. We went by and saw Brodyman on our way home. He was just too cute. Bayley LOVES him and followed him around facinated with him. It was too cute!
Today was church of course. Everything was good there. We went to Don & Gails for Syds bday after church. It was fun. Corra & Becca are both too cute. Corra is so big and cute. She is 5 months and 19 lbs (according to Syd weighing herself with Corra) It was a good day.
Today is the eve of Sydneys big 15th birthday! Im so excited for her! I will be posting again in a few hours just for Syd.

OK just a quick update. Last week was a lil crazy. Brian was sick with a fever/pain virus but he seems to be better. Poor Sydney had it the last few days but appears to be getting better. Me & Bay have both escaped so far. Bayley is a wild woman! She is into everything and keeps us on our toes. She is really starting to like her sippy cup better so we will start weaning her off her daytime bottles soon. (She is still on 4 a day as of now.) 15 years ago on August 25th was Sydney's due date. I cant believe she is fixing to be 15. She is BEYOND excited...and actually about to drive us all crazy with anticipation of DRIVING! Im just o so happy that I can medicate now cause Im definitely gonna need it! Another update: My moms kitty "Chunk" had good results and he is all negative! He is back to enjoying the good life at the river spending most of his time eating and sleeping happy as can be. Please keep my sweet little nephew Brody in your prayers. He has had a horrible week. Sunday he had what Chris said looked like maybe a pimple on the back of his leg almost to his booty. It was a little tender and red but they didnt think anything of it. Well Monday morning he couldnt even walk and was in horrible pain. THey didnt make the connection but thank goodness my brother took him on to Dr. McDaniel because he thought he might have a hernia. Well he didnt have a hernia but Dr. McDaniel said it was a boil on the back of his leg and his white blood cell count was sky high. Brody has a MRSA staff infection. He has been running 101-102 fevers and has also been throwing up some (but we think that is nerves bc of all he has been through). They have lanced the boil 3 different times which you can imagine is horribly painful. He has had 3 Rocephin shots and is on his 2nd oral antibiotic with little to no improvement. Dr. McDaniel told them today that it is a little better but it is just not responding like they want it to. They go back to Dr. McDaniel at 9:30 in the morning and she said that if there was not a good bit of improvement she would refer them to Childrens ER. As you can imagine Chris & Alan are beside themselves with worry. Brody has been a little trooper and has profited through TONS of attention, balloons, new movies & many a trip to Walmart for a prize to help him deal with this. Keep in mind Brody just started 5K a week or so ago. So anyway, please keep little Brody in your prayers and say a special prayer for him tomorrow morning that they will get good results and be able to stay out of the hospital. Tene loves you Brody Man and I will be praying that you get good results and you dont have to go back in that room with Paulette any more! I will update more tomorrow & attempt to put some pictures up.

Just a quick update. Bayley's slight fever Saturday escalated into a 2 day temp-o-thon where she kept 102-103 fevers. We did good if we got it down to 101. We put Bay to bed like normal Saturday night but she was up at 11ish unhappy so I just crashed on the couch with her. Well Bay woke up at 12 sick as a dog....and of course I was covered :( Bless her heart she was miserable. She never got sick again but continued to battle the fever and just being an unhappy lil girl. We went to see Dr. Tindle yesterday morning. Bay's left tonsil was inflamed and her left ear is infected. Dr. Tindle put her on Amoxil for 10 days. I am happy to say that Bay is already lots better. The only good news we got was a HUGE weight gain .... 17 lb 5 oz!!!! (I must confess that was fully clothed with a big ole wet diaper and shoes on but who cares it is still 17 lb 5 oz!!!) We were thrilled. Dr. Tindle was so impressed with her. I gave Pudding Cups all the glory as that is Bayley's newest obsession! lol The only bad news we got was that we will have to do the Synagis shots again this winter...YUK YUK YUK and Bayley will be the most unhappy with this as those shots hurt something terrible. Apparently even with her huge gain we still fall short of where she needs to be so Dr. Tindle said it was a MUST. So if you need me the 1st Tuesday of every month from October - May you know where to find me...Kiss $240.00 in copays goodbye although I will take it since the big bill of $12,000 will be paid by BCBS!

In other news, Syd is loving school ...so far! She is couting the days til the big 15!!! Start praying now....we will need it!

Also, if you are a cat lover...say a prayer for my parents adopted river kitty "Chunk" he hurt his foot and had to go to Dr. Kahn. Apparently the foot is just an infection but Dr. Kahn thinks Chunk has leukemia or feline AIDS. They are running the tests now and will know tomorrow. You can imagine that my mom is quite upset as is my daddy. Say a Kitty prayer that Chunk will get good results.
More later

Long blog but full of Eventful Info...some good some bad!

Ok here goes my update for now:

July 29th - I registered Sydney for school. Can you say BROKE! $266.00 ... I bought died! Sydney's schedule was about what we expected. They are doing this modified block schedule with A days and B days which is wierd. This is Syd's schedule:

A Day

Geometry with Ms. English

US History Honors Pre AP with Mr. Erreca

AP Biology with Mr. McCloud

Soccer

B Day

Health/Drivers Ed with Mr. Pnazek

English Honors PreAP with Ms. Shalaby

Chemistry Honors PreAP with Ms. McCloud

Soccer

After registration Syd had a dentist appointment. It went good and luckily was quick. Overall it was a decent day.

Here's a pic of Baybay and her favoite person "DADADADADA"

July 31st - Syd had a doctors appointment and had a test run which was fine. Then we flew to Jasper to eat lunch with Becky Rae & Emily and then headed to Daryls for eye appts. Sydney needed glasses to use when driving and to use in class at school. One eye is near perfect and the other is just barely bad enough to need correcting. She picked out some cute frames. After that we headed home for a few minutes then to Pams for a Devotional. It was fun. Syd got a good laugh out of Pam's Boo Sign. lol Bayley had a good time walking around and eating Susan's Birthday Cake! It was YUMMY!!! Sydney doesnt even like cake and she loved it!

August 2nd - We headed out and went to Maddie Randall's 1st birthday party! She is a stinkin doll! Bay had fun playing with her. Joe had grown up so much and was too cute. Kelly and I used to work together and we ended up both using Dr. Stradtman and we were only 2 weeks apart on our due dates. Who would have ever thought that would happen!

After Maddie's party we headed to the Galleria to shop. It was fun but SOOO busy! Syd got a good bit of stuff which she definitely needed. We tried out Bay's umbrella stroller that April & Jason gave us as a shower gift and Bayley LOVED it! She stayed in it for over an hour which was amazing for Bay! It was a fun day.

August 5th Bay LOVES her soccer ball that Syd got her for Christmas. The harder you play with her the better she loves it!

August 8th - I did a mini photo shoot in the front yard trying to get an end picture for a video I was working on. I wouldnt call it a huge success. lol

Here is a shot of Bay and one of her bestest friends PupPup.

Can you tell that she was done?!?!!

Our Big ole BayBay!August 9th - This was the big Duke family party at the River. It was so much fun. We ate probably the best ribs of my life. Mother changed the way she cooked them and they were OUTSTANDING! Bay ate Fantastic. Aunt Kaye had gotten the pulled pork and it was soooo good! Bay ate a good bit of it which was so funny to see. She also loved the watermelon and strawberries! YUM. Anyway after all the food we loaded up the boat and headed out on a ride to Howtons to go on the rope swing. That ended up being hmmm stressful to say the least. Alan ended up going off it first because no one has told him he is OLD!?!?! Then Devin took his turn. By this time Me, Chris, Kaye, Syd, Bay, Alana & Bro were floating around like crazy in the boat because none of us knew how to drive the boat to move it out of the way so we were up against the bank and Chris kept saying she saw a huge bird which i never saw (was it her imagination or real??! who knows) This whole time Bay was being the best baby in the world asleep or laying awake being super quiet which was amazing. Anyway if this story seems crazy believe me it isnt near as crazy as it was to be there. Ok it was Lacy's turn...now if you dont know Lacy she is my precious baby cousin (19 years old) who stole my thunder in life by becoming the youngest granddaughter...Im not bitter anymore, anyway she was also a gymnist for YEARS and a cheerleader in highschool, and a bit of a daredevil. So we didnt think anything of her deciding she was going to go off the swing. Ok I have to say that there were a couple of HUGE rocks at the base of the hill and the whole bottom of the river there is filled with rocks. So Lacy goes off the swing and lost her grip and fell WAYYYY before she should have. She ended up hitting water but where she went in was only maybe 3-4 feet deep and totally rock lined. We about had a stroke. She ended up being ok other than being majorly scraped with severly bruised ribs. The nut even got up and said she was going to do it again...My Aunt Kaye very quickly convinced Lacy to get in the boat. Man...talk about scaring us to death...she was SOOOo close to hitting her head on that big rock...I love you and am so glad you are ok Lacy Duke and dont even think about ever doing that again!

Syd & Devin acting like NUTS!

Aunt Kaye & her BayBay

I finally got a picture of Chris with Bay when Chris' eyes are actually open so I wanted to put it in here! lol

Sydney & two of her favorite boys!
O and as we were all leaving Mother & Daddy's Bay said "Bye" for the first time! She said it over and over. It was so cute!

August 12 - This was a good day. Sydney had an appointment at Childrens' for her kidney issues. We got what I consider either nothing we didnt expect and just really good advice. Ok so to the enlarged kidney... they said that her right kidney is enlarged but this is also the kidney with two uretors and they said the whole right system looks abnormal which is what we expected and the best scenerio. They said they didnt think it was anything to be alarmed at. We went over tons of reason why Syd could be getting UTI's and learned TONS of stuff. I have to say it was a very informative visit. They put her on a couple of different medicines and we go back in 3 months. We were super pleased about the visit.

August 13th - This was a very eventful day! Today was the first day of school. 10th grade!!Sydney has had a few VERY LATE NIGHTS listening to Gone with the Wind on tape trying to get ready for the first day. She looked super cute and had a really good first day. She liked her A Day classes...that is gonna be hard to get used to. lol Today was also Bayley's Corrected 1st Birthday!!! Bayley was due August 13th and medically she is followed based on this date. When I got home from work we had a little fun with Bay. The night before Brian got out Sydney's little tykes cube for Bay to play with. She was hysterical. We had to put socks on her to keep her from going head first. Once she caught on she LOVED it.

Today was also Brody (and Addi's) first day in Kindergarten. We talked to him tonight and he said he liked it. He rode the bus home which he was especially happy over. We love you Brody Man and cant belive you are growing up so fast!

We celebrated Bay's corrected 1st Bday tonight with her favorite thing..A LEMON PUDDING CUP. She loved every bite of it. You have to love all the Lucky Charms around it. She only eats the marshmellows by the way! lol

Anyway our day went MAJORLY south after this! My neighbor Tammy called me to tell me that one of my neighbors pled guilty of Sexual Abuse of a Child less than 12 years of age on Monday 8/11. I just cant tell you the panic that went through my head. Mr. Jordan lived across from us and two houses to the left. He was on disabiltiy and always home. We had a casual relationship with him and he did watch our house for us and tried to "keep our neighborhood safe." wow that is a stretch! To be safe I called the Sheriff's Department and spoke with a Detective Reach with the Sex Offenders Division and verified all of the following information. Mr. Jordan was charged in January 08 with two counts of sexual abuse of a minor child. He apparently missed a court date and was escorted to court on Monday where he pled guilty. He received 10 years suspended sentence and will serve a maximum of ONE YEAR but with good behavior he could be out in as little as six months. This was VERY concerning with Det. Reach telling me that it takes approximately six months to even get letters out saying you have a sex offender in your area. The good news is we live within 2000 feet of TWO daycares and therefore he will not be allowed to return and live in his house as this will violate his probation. I have to say Sydney was Right!!! She has said for years that Mr. Jordan gave her the creeps! If you havent already you need to be checking the Sex Offenders web site and warn your kids about not just talking to strangers...unfortunately these days its just about everyone because according to Det. Reach it is most commonly someone the child is very familiar with.

And last but not least .... 436 Days have passed and my time of feeding Bay has come to an end! WHEW! I cant tell you what it has meant to me especially when she was so little and I couldnt touch her much less do anything else for her. It has been a blessing to be able to pump this long. Although we did start supplementing at 10 months to try to increase weight gain I still pumped for the enzymes until Bays corrected 1 year. I will not miss carrying this bag and a freezer bag with me everyday! Goodbye little black bag...you served your purpose well and I would like to say you will be missed...but I dont wanna lie!

August 14th - Bayley said Sissy for the first time tonight! Sydney was thrilled. Syd and Devin had Bayley and Devin must have said Sissy Sissy Sissy a thousand times and she finally said it. I think she said it just to get him to shut up but either way Syd was thrilled.

August 16th - Today has been a good and lazy day. Lots of naps and tv watching. Only bad news is that Bayley has a fever very slight just 100.3 we are hoping it is just teeth...cause she still has NONE of those!!! More later.