Mariah in 2 Years!

On November 5th 2009 at 1:55pm a beautiful baby girl was born.. Mariah Valerie Gray, 6lbs 4oz and 18 inches.
                                                                            2009-2010

I'M ONE!!!

November 5th 2010

I'M TWO

November 5th 2011

Scariest Day of My Life

As a mom, being a mom sometimes can be hard. It is always hard for us to see our children hurt,in pain or sick. We want to do everything in our power to help them feel better.. even by wishing we could take their pain and deal with it ourselves.

On 11.11.11 Mariah scared us to the fullest. Being parents now for almost 11 years, I do not think we have ever been more afraid and freaked out as we were that evening.

It all started 11.10.11 at night when Mariah started to get a fever. We didn't think anything of it much as we thought just a fever from teething as she had been putting her fingers in her mouth a lot more then normal. Gave her Tylenol before bed and in the middle of the night since she felt very warm. The next morning before heading into the office for work I gave her a dose of Tylenol before leaving. She had been acting a bit off while we were at the office. On TWO separate occasion's she had fallen down without any idea as to why. She had been extra clumsy and even her brothers were wondering what was wrong.

We got home in the later afternoon from work. We had some snacks and decided to go upstairs and mess around in her bedroom. At this point I had not checked her temperature but I know she was not burning up as she was the night before. (I should have checked). I turned my back to her for no more then 2 seconds while she was playing with some clothes I had just pulled out of her closet. She let out a cry and I turned around...and then it happened...

I went to pick her up as she was laying flat on her stomach and face. I at this point thought she had just fallen on the pile of clothing. I pick her up and she was stiff but shaking from her arms and her face was just lost. I screamed for my husband who was in our bedroom sleeping from a long day at work. I swear it seemed like forever he came in but he ran in right away. At this point I had laid her on the ground and yelled to him "OMG I think she is having a seizure, what do I do, call 911? "

I swear I couldn't figure out my phone that I use daily . Pure panic took over.. I called 911 and the dispatcher let me know how to have her on the ground (my husband had her in his arms at the time). We layed her down on her back with her head elevated. We sat there and watched her go through the seizure.. that hardest thing we as parents have EVER had to witness.

She was bubbling from her mouth, her eyes were like going back into her head, as her little body was shaking. Her lips began to turn blue. The dispatcher had me very calm though and kept reassuring me she was OK and that help was almost there. What seemed like the longest wait of my life was only 5 minutes of their arrival at our home.

By the time they arrived she was already coming out of the seizure. Not coherent enough, just laying there in a complete daze. They checked her temperature which was at 103.5. They checked her blood sugar level which was perfect (thank god). They stayed there for awhile with us to make sure she was OK enough we could transport her if we choose to. Of course we choose to go to the hospital.

Within an hour after the seizure she began to come back and start to act like the Mariah we all knew. Happy and smiling little princess, First thing she did was play peek and boo and give us happy girl smiles. The BEST smiles I have ever seem from her. I have never been so happy to see such a beautiful smile from my little princess!!

She is 100 % healthy and the reason for the seizure was what they call a "febrile seizure". which is caused from fevers. I will NEVER look at fevers the same. Till Mariah gets to be about 4/5 we will have to continue to monitor her fevers very close as to now she could be a candidate to getting them again. This mom will never let her fevers get that high ever again and we will nip it in the booty asap.

Please make sure to always keep an eye on those fevers. If you can prevent this from happening I will advise to do it. This was an experience I wish to never have to witness again or anyone I know have to with their child/ children.

Give those babies an extra hug and kiss every day!!

Birthday Planning

I know I have 4 months to go still but we all know how time just flys by these days. 4 months will be here before we know it, like it or not. Our baby girl will be 2..yes 2 in November. Just the thought of it makes me sad. Our last baby isn't so baby anymore.

I have figured out the theme for her 2nd birthday party.. We are going to go with a Lady Bug theme. Lately she has had a little obsession for Lady Bugs.. she calls them 'Bugs". Now if she finds them in person she might not care for them as much as she does on her clothing, toys or books.

I am excited to plan her birthday. Her 1st birthday I didn't really plan it out and it was more last minute. It was a skulls theme.. Yes I know not your typical 1st birthday but it fit her perfect and us. It was cute..

Now that I have chosen I need to pick a location.. Date will be on her actual birthday since it will be a Saturday this year (yay). I would really love to do it at a park but we just never know at that time what the weather will be like here in Vegas. My sister is moving into her own place soon, hmm maybe she loves me enough to have it ha ha j/k Valerie.

Stay tuned for the birthday planning by yours truly and actually with the help of a few sites who will be featured in reviews/giveaways. If there is any other sites who would like to be featured and help my little princess have a fun 2nd party email me at (francine_gray at yahoo dot com). We will love to host a review for you!!

* If you have any cute ideas for decorations, cakes, foods, etc I would love any suggestions!

Allergies

Last night I decided to take Mariah to the doctor for her horrible cough she seems to get a least once a month. It is so bad that she coughs so hard that she ends up vomiting all the phlegm and what ever other contents were just consumed. I have insurance on her so I figure I might as well use it right..

Well turns out it is just her allergies kicking her butt yet once again.. breaks my heart watching my little peanut having to deal like this monthly. She is on singular right now for the allergies but they just don't seem to be doing their job right. So next week at her 18mo check up we will be asking the doctor if they can change her onto another allergy medicine, as well as maybe giving her something to help with breathing and the coughs to help deal.

However besides the allergies the doctor said she looks very healthy, which is always a plus. She weighed with clothing & shoes 23.5lbs. To me she is teeny tiny but we shall see what the doctor says next week at her appointment.

Anyone have any quick fixes, help relief for allergies?

18 Months old... ALREADY

So on May 5th (Cinco de Mayo) Mariah turned 18 months old. Yes 18 months old..

She amazes me everyday.. she is so smart and learns things so quickly. You almost have to be extra careful because she watches and listens to everything you do and say. Her smiles lights us up daily, and her laugh is so contiguous that if you were having a bad day you wouldn't even remember why.

This little happy girl here was 6 months old last year at this time...

Some taken since turning 18 months

• She is ALL girl, ALL the way.. She loves all things girl.. She already has more clothing,shoes,jewelry,and purses then I.
• She doesn't exactly run yet but she sure moves quickly.. her fast walk is just about a run.
• Her vocabulary has really bloomed, she tries to copy things I say. Words often said are.. (Mommy, mama,Dad, help me, bye bye, hi, dog,ball,book,baby,diaper,shoes,more,nee nee(for mommy milk), and many more to name them all.
• You can ask her to get an item and she knows exactly what you ask and will go and get what ever item you wanted her to get.
• She knows almost all the body parts and facial features (eyes,nose,teeth,mouth,ears,hair,belly,fingers,toes,feet, hands, butt)
• She knows exactly what to do to get what she wants from her brothers, although not sure I really like her way of thinking (screaming at them) I only hope she can get more vocal to them to stop it soon. Although I am sure they will not like it when that time comes either ha ha.
• She knows who are more strangers and who are people she knows and sees most often. With people she doesn't know she takes awhile to warm up to them but once she does you will become a best friend.
• She LOVES to eat. We feed her just about everything now. Of course cut into smaller portions for non choking.
• She loves to have her toe and finger nails painted. ( told you all girl)
• Potty training was suppose to have been started on her 18 month birthday but with lots of things going on lately we have fell behind on training. Hoping to get back on track starting fresh Monday.

I know I forgot many things or milestones she is at right now. She has her 18 month check up next week we are excited to see how she is doing on the growth chart. My guess is at least 24/25lbs and at least 32 inches tall. We shall see how close this mommy is.

Breastfeeding/Weaning

16 months ago I was so nervous that I wouldn't be able to nurse my daughter. With the boys I let other people with no knowledge influence me to stop nursing them. Even when I nursed I still used formula with them. Now I totally DO NOT have any problem with formula at all. My boys are perfectly healthy and have grown into quite the young men with being formula fed. This time I wanted to give the excusivly breastfeeding a shot.

I have had so much support from family,friends and twitter. I think that is key to becoming a successful breastfeeding mama. I have had a wonderful 16 months of nursing my baby girl.

But as all good things must come to a close sometimes..I think our time has come to wean.. I have been back and forth about weaning. I kind of feel selfish about it because I am not sure my daughter is 100 percent ready to give it up but part of me is ready to have my body back. Does that sounds bad? Also I am afraid if we keep going to that it would be even harder to stop nursing even more then it is now.

I know that some choose to nurse until baby is ready on their own. I do not see anything wrong with you who choose to nurse for how ever you and your baby choose too.

We are on day 2 of weaning.. So far we have cut out all day time weaning and have only nursed first thing in the am and at night before bed time. Last night was a bit hard in the middle of the night as she looked to nurse but I held my own and she went back to sleep ok. I think we will keep the am and night feeding for a few days and then try to break those. I have heard day time feeding are the best way to go first then break the night and am feeds. Wish us luck.

I think this is best for me and my baby girl..



Mariah- 16 month update

How did my baby get to be 16 months old already? Only 2 months shy of being a year and a half.. I know everyone hears time flys but I think when you become a parent the days fly by even faster. I am just happy that I can enjoy my children daily as a SAHM. I have been able to witness all of Mariah's firsts.

These days she is 22lbs and 31 inches tall. Still amazes me that even at 16 months she still is not the size her brothers were at just 12 months. She is such a joy every day!!

Some of her many words these days:

•  Bah for Bye
• Mommy or mum is for me
• Dada or Da for Daddy
• Ugh for anything she may thing is gross
• Dog
• Ma Ma for Grandma
• Papa for her Grandpas
• What's that?
• Ball
• shoes
• yah

Couple other things she is doing:

• Waves
• Claps
• dances to everything music
• hums and tries to sing along to nursey ryhmns
• Kick a soccer ball..better then most soccer players
• Loves to pose and make cheesey smiles for pictures
• Walks very fast..not quite running but getting closer
• loves to play with her kitchen and baby dolls

In the next few weeks I plan to attempt to potty train her. Not exactly sure how well it will work out but I figure it can't hurt to give it a try and introduce to it all. So we will buy a potty seat to place on regular toliet and some cute undies.