The Obligatory Halloween Picture Post

I really wanted to do something fun, creative, and Daddy made for her first Halloween but time got away from us and we ended up piecing something together. She turned out to be a cute little ladybug.

You can't tell at all we got home from the ER at 3 a.m the night before.

We trick or treated with these cuties (I mean scary zombies and a menacing Bam-Bam)

Our First ER Visit

We had our first ER visit on the night before Halloween. Shawn and I went to the Texans game on Sunday and were on our way to get pumpkin cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory when my Granny called to tell me Graysen had been throwing up. When we got home and saw what she had been doing for the last hour (projectile vomiting EVERYWHERE is a better description) I decided to take her to the ER by our house to have her checked out. I wasn't that worried until they put her on the scale and it said 15lbs. She had weighed 15lbs 2 ozs had her doctor's appointment SEVEN weeks before so it caused me to panic. When Shawn went to pick her up from the scale she turned very pale and stopped moving. The Doctor started shouting "I don't think she is breathing," and kept telling Shawn to stimulate her over and over again. They had us run with her to the back room and they got her on oxygen. Everyone from the office was in the room and they couldn't have made it more dramatic for an already frazzled set of parents. Her color returned after a minute on the oxygen and then the fun really started. They told us they needed to put an IV in her and get fluids going. I agreed with that. When he told me they might not be able to give her a regular IV and might have to put it in her femoral artery I looked at him and told him there was no way that was going to happen and they needed to find a vein. They did. Then he told me that might need to catheterize her to get a urine sample. I let him know that wouldn't be happening either. Then he said because he thought she had stopped breathing she needed to go to Texas Children's by ambulance. What!!! I haven't even had to call the pediatrician in our 5 1/2 months so far and the one time she is sick we have to go by AMBULANCE to a hospital 45 minutes away. I didn't have much choice so they came to get her. It was by far the most heartbreaking thing to witness. She made it all so much easier. She smiles through everything. After they got the IV in her and she calmed down, she just kept looking at us and trying to smile through her tiredness.

When we finally made it to the hospital the first thing they did was weigh her and she was 18lbs 4 ozs so the scale at the ER was wrong. Yes, I did go over there and let the office know in a very nice, calm way the next day. I can not believe they would have a scale off by that much. It made both of us so scared and nervous when we saw it say 15lbs.

We had to do lab work and an EKG and everything came back great. The basic assumption Texas Children's came too was she got dehydrated from throwing up so much in such a short time period. We are leaving today for our first trip away and it was all I thought about on the way home from the adventure. I am thankful she is in good hands but that wasn't what we needed the weekend before.

We were planning on adding some things to her costume that night but it didn't happen. She was still a cute little ladybug the next day and I will post those pics when we get back from Napa.

This little girl loves her daddy

I loved this series of pictures I took on my phone (picture quality isn't the best) last weekend and I wanted to share. I am not sure who has who wrapped around their finger more...

Lions and Tigers and Bears oh my

I love my sister-in-law. Shawn and I want her to move back to Houston so badly. I KNOW YOU ARE READING THIS MARISA. I love that we have daughters that are 4 weeks apart. I love that we have no competition between us and just want all of our kids to grow up with more love and support than they will ever need. I love talking to her about parenting and asking questions and hearing what she has to say....so I was very happy she came down for the weekend. It takes alot to travel with a 2 year old and a 6 month old alone, and I know the whole family was happy she came. We decided to take the kids to the zoo. Friday was a beautiful day, and the weather was almost perfect (and by almost perfect I mean 85 in October, and a serious mosquito infestation but it could have been much worse).

It took forever to load up...

She was so happy to be out of the car and in her stroller.

Cousin exploring

I was so happy she was good in her stroller. I have been worried about Disney but she loves sitting and watching.

The curly haired crazy one gets a lecture.

Cousin love

It was Leila's first time on the carousel.

Who knew there were such great slides at the zoo?

She loves her Aunt.

This would have been a great picture spot had we not been so tired.

Houston has paddle boats?

Daddy came home from work and got to see his niece too.

They still aren't tired.....

Pumpkin Pals

Aunt Marisa came to visit (more on that on another blog) and brought a pumpkin and a great idea she had seen with her. Before we got started with our photo session the girls had to play because they hadn't seen each other for a whole 12 hours.

The engineers got together to plan their pumpkin attack.

and Shawn gleefully went to work...

Pumpkin carving is serious work and the cousins needed to get a nap in before their photo session.....

Uncle Chris tested out the safety of our freshly carved pumpkin.

and photo time began...

"Does my hair look o.k in this one?"

"I need a potty break"

"Is this the pose you were looking for?"

Graysen to Tessa - "You know they just want this for blackmail when we are 18?"

Tessa to Graysen "Can you just look up so we can be done with this already..I'm hungry"

and a few of my favs....

Thanks Aunt Marisa for sharing your idea.

Avocados or Peas?...that was the question

Graysen had been eating cereal for a week so I decided to try "regular food." I couldn't wait to use my baby cook and baby bullet. I read 3 (yes, three books about baby nutrition) and decided to start with green vegetables first. I really wanted her first food to be peas partially just to torment Shawn who has a particular dislike for the vegetable. It stems from a childhood cousin turture session and he is more than happy to tell the story if you ask. I bought avocados and peas at the store and decided to go with the avocados first. Guacamole was my one pregnancy craving so I thought she might already like the taste. It took about 5 minutes for one avocado to make six servings of food.

Camera, video recorder, everyone gathered around, first bib out, and we were ready for the big moment.

and here we go....

hmmm.that is interesting

let me use my fingers to put more back into my mouth

the next morning I was lazy and just took her shirt off..she really got the hang of spreading it everywhere

After four successful days of avocados we moved on to peas. One bag made 10 servings of food. That is 75% less than buying jars of food which means I have more money to buy those bows some people complain about.

This morning she was helping the spoon in her mouth so I am very happy with the progress. Now the question is what to try next.