the one about Lily

I just sent an update to my family and some close friends on Lily's health. I figure those of you who read this care about me and my sweet girl, so I'll put the update here for you as well. I'm grateful for Lily, for this journey we've been on, and for all the rich lessons God has taught me as we've walked it.

 Here's Lily eating-yay! She'll be 16 months Sept 2.

I thought I'd send an update on Lily since it has been a while. During May and June Lily met four times with an Occupational Therapist from the Bell Center. The OT helped incredibly with Lily's refusal to eat solid foods. She also saw some problems with Lily's ankles and recommended special shoes. Within two weeks of getting her shoes Lily went from not standing at all to cruising around the furniture! As far as her eating is concerned, she is making real improvements.

We saw Lily's GI specialist today. I went in fully expecting this to be our last appointment. Although there are no longer any signs of reflux, the GI specialist said she isn't going to release Lily as her patient until she is at a healthier weight, walking, and eating more. She is doing this for my benefit, because whenever we meet with her we also see a Nutritionist. They advised me to start Lily on Pediasure to help her gain weight. They also referred her to a Physical Therapist at Children's to start meeting to help teach her to walk.

Overall, Lily has made big improvements since May but still has some more obstacles ahead. However, all it takes is a 3 hour doctor's appointment at Children's Hospital to humble me and remind me that our problems are so small compared to many other families!!!

Here are a few bullet point concerns for Lily for you to keep in your prayers:

1. Lily needs desperately to start drinking from a cup. This would help her drink pediasure and whole milk and make her eating times more independent.
2. Lily needs to start eating more foods-especially nutrient rich foods. Other than strawberries and bananas, she currently will not eat any fruits or vegetables.
3. Lily needs to sleep through the night!!!! (I'm not sure how much of an effect this has on her health, but it has a huge effect on mine!!!)
4. Pray for her ankles and hips as she starts to walk, and for the strength to reach this next milestone.
5. Finally, pray for wisdom for Adam and I as we meet with different doctors and therapists, pray for patience for us-getting through a meal time with Lily can be very frustrating, and pray that God would continue to provide for Lily's care financially (as He always does).

Thank you so much family and friends! I am grateful that you care for our baby girl!

the one with the same

 same age, same onesie, same kitchen. same fraggle rock hair.

the one with pictures

My life is fuller than its ever been. I have lots to say. I have no time to say it. So, here are a few facebook albums that I put together tonight. I haven't even been taking the time to do fb albums, but somebody made a comment this weekend about how we aren't doing for the second child what we did for the first and it made me mad so I spent an hour making albums. Ridiculous, right?

general springtime cuteness

thomas the train day of fun

spring break

my brother got married!

the one for Lily

Sweet girl, this month you are 6 months old. I am so grateful to have held your life in my hands for half of a year. You have been a blessing to me. I am particularly blessed by your smiles and the lessons of patience, grace, and humility your life has taught me.

You have the most beautiful smile I have ever seen. You love to be held and cuddled. I think you have your mommy's temperament, because you are happiest when all of the attention in the room is focused on you. You love to be looked right in the eye. You sleep so well in your crib, although you have yet to master the art of sleeping through the night. At home you are generally a happy and content baby. Your favorite things are to be held and cuddled, to eat, and to lay on the floor rolling around and playing with your toys. Away from home you are not so happy, although you are getting better. You love to pull hair. Your grip is pretty strong; sometimes you pull your sissy's hair and she does not like that at all. You are finally getting old enough to interact and play with your sissy, and this has been a very good thing. She is falling in love with you again after a brief little period of jealousy.

You are beautiful. Everyone says so. You have a beautiful smile, have I mentioned that yet?

We are so grateful for your life. You have taught us many lessons in patience, grace, humility, and dependence on the Lord. Because of your life, Mommy and Daddy are more in love with each other than ever before. We're so glad you are in our family, sweet girl. We love you.

the one where I scream, THIS IS HALLOWEEN

the ones about Lily #5

Last week was Lily's last week at dayschool. It had been a really rough experience for her. I think little Lily just has a hard time away from Mommy and Daddy. My theory is that she was in so much pain the first few months of her life that despite her pleasant temperament, she's developed into a "difficult" baby. She doesn't really sleep anywhere but her crib, she has a hard time taking a bottle, and once she starts that crazy screaming it's hard to get her to calm down. At school she didn't sleep, didn't eat well, and yelled her head off.

So she's done with school. We're praying and trusting the Lord to provide for our family. Please pray with us. I'll keep you updated.

the one where they're the same

People always tell me that Lily and Chloe Belle look just alike. Normally I don't agree.

This weekend Lily had rice cereal for the first time. yay! When we uploaded the pictures we went and found the pics from the first time CB had rice cereal.

Lily's in orange, Chloe Belle's in green.

What do you think? Just alike, or totally different?

the ones about Lily #4

I'm so glad that Lily has joined our family. When we were a family of three, it was hard to imagine loving anything like I loved Chloe Belle. We knew we wanted more kids, it was just that I couldn't imagine having enough room in my heart for all that love.

(she's so little she looks like a baby doll!)

But now that she's here, I just can't imagine life without Lily. I'm the kind of person who has favorites. I have a favorite everything. A favorite movie, book, way to sleep, smell, cookie, pizza toppings, whatever. You name it, I have a favorite (it's the sanguine in me). I was joking with my sister the other day and telling her that when I'm alone with Lily I whisper in her ear and tell her how she's my favorite, and I couldn't possibly love anything more than her, and that she's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Of course, I turn around and whisper the same thing to Chloe Belle!

My favorite part (bahahaha-I wasn't even trying to be ironic with that one!) of having Lily in the family is watching Chloe Belle be an awesome big sister. She loves her sissy so very much. First thing in the morning she goes to the swing to say hello to sissy. She brushes her hair, attempts to get her to drink from her sippy cup, she wipes her mouth with the burp cloth, and in very special moments she even gives Mr. Bear to sissy. I love watching them together. My heart bursts at the thought of the years that stretch out ahead of them where they'll get to live life together.

So glad Lily is here and a part of our family. We weren't complete without her.

the ones about Lily #3

This past Sunday, October 9, was Lily's baby dedication at our church. Last Thursday our Preschool Ministry hosted a dinner for the parents of the babies. We had dinner and the guest speakers were one of my favorite couples at our church: Mark and Lynn Garnett. Other than making us laugh, Mark gave one piece of advice that I just loved. Speaking to the fathers, he said: "There are three questions you can ask your grown child to see if you created the right home environment. Did you feel loved? Do you feel like I love and treat your mother the way that I should? Is this the kind of home you want to provide for your children?"

I loved these three questions. It immediately made me think about my amazing husband. He is an incredible father. My girls are so lucky to have him leading them and loving them. I know that they will leave our home knowing and feeling that they were loved and with a beautiful example of how a husband is to love a wife.

So grateful to dedicate Lily to the Lord. She is all His, and I pray that I will be a faithful steward of her little life until it is time for her to follow Him on her own. I know He will use her to bring Himself great glory.

the ones about Lily #2

Even before we got to her 2 week appointment, we knew Lily had reflux. I had several friends whose babies struggled with reflux, so I knew what to look for. At two weeks old Lily was put on medication. Things didn't get much better-I think little Lily screamed for the first 8 weeks of her life.

When Lily was 10 weeks old we took her to Children's ER because she had what looked like seizures. The ER doctors saw it, but didn't know what was wrong. She was admitted to the Special Care Unit for 48 hrs. No diagnosis was made. Thanks to a YouTube video,* we self-diagnosed her with Sandifer's Syndrome. Two weeks later (two very hard weeks where she was having "seizures" multiple times a day) we saw a Pediatric GI specialist and Lily was put on some new medication. She started in improve! Eventually we saw a Pediatric Neurologist for an EEG to see if Lily was having infantile seizures. He diagnosed her with Sandifer's Syndrome (YouTube knew all along). Her EEG was great-normal baby brain!

Lily's reflux is very atypical. She rarely spits up, rather her spit up comes to her throat where she chokes on it (we did have this confirmed with a barium swallow xray). Because the reflux just sits in her esophagus all day long, she is in severe pain, which is why she started having the Sandifer's episodes.

Today Lily still struggles with her reflux, general fussiness due to discomfort, and sleeping through the night. She also had a rough first 8 weeks on her medicine; one side effect of her medicine is diarrhea-we even had a totally unnecessary and unproductive trip to the ER because of bloody diapers! However, she has greatly improved and we are thankful. We still go through rough times - this past week she projectile vomited out of her mouth and nose 5-6 times a day and has had several more Sandifer's episodes. But on the whole little Lily is doing well. Her sweet sanguine personality is now shining through her pain. Instead of crying 24 hours a day, she smiles most of the time.

*If you watch this video, it may seem like it's not such a big deal. The seizures were HORRIBLE for little Lily. She would scream afterwards in intense pain and distress.

the ones about Lily #1

I haven't done a great job of keeping up with this blog. It's something I want to do, but I simply just don't have the time. I realize I haven't told you much about Lily, much at all. I've mentioned that things are hard and things are stressful, but I haven't told you why. So, I'm going to donate a series of blog posts to little Lily.

Lily is 5 months old. She is little bitty and beautiful. Lily's actually even smaller than Chloe Belle was, she's hanging in around the 5th percentile for height and weight. I think she has the most beautiful smile I've ever seen. She is definitely more like me in her temperament-she's an extrovert just like her mommy. She loves all the attention she can get and she flourishes in the presence of others. She likes to play on her play mat and swing, but is simply the happiest when being held and played with.

Lily has slept through the night a few times, but it's certainly not a habit for her. She takes naps pretty well and is active during her awake time. Lily's a great nurser, which makes mommy happy. On the other hand, she still hasn't gotten comfortable with a bottle-it's hard on her every time. She likes to sing songs to herself, chew on her toes, and she roots 24 hours a day, which always makes us laugh.

She's lovely little Lily, and we love her tons!

the one with changes

just thinking the other day about how life is different after giving birth to two baby girls:

1. my feet are definitely a half-size bigger. the result: all my shoes hurt but who has the money to replace a closet full of shoes??

2. i have baby bangs. this is when the beautiful hair that you grow during pregnancy falls out and then little hair regrows. i have inch-long bangs now. the result: ponytails aren't really an option for me these days.

3. my right eye is permanently paralyzed. ok, that one sounds extreme. i had bells palsy with both babies, and my right eye is just never going to fully recover. the result: i'm super self conscious about my pirate eye.

4. i am permanently late. i was late before chloe belle, then she made me really late. now with two babies i am LATE. the result: i have left the house for work several times in the last two weeks after 8:00. (i'm supposed to be at work at 8. it takes 45 min to go from home, to dayschool, and then to work. late.)

5. i find myself being a disaster all the time. case in point: last thursday they call me from dayschool because lily is out of control, i go get her, she throws up all over bethany's work clothes, and then i forget her carseat. the result: i am a crazy person (but very thankful for good friends like bethany).

6. my life is absolutely busting at the seams with joy. i simply never could have imagined that my little life could contain so much joy, so much laughter, so many smiles, so much happiness, so many cuddles, hugs, and kisses.
the result: bliss.

happy moments with two babies:

two babies deciding they love each other.

chloe belle correcting answering the question, "where is sissy's nose?"
poor sissy.

chloe belle making sure that sissy gives Mr. Bear his night-night kiss.

the one when I'm up all night

For those of you new mommies, you know that the question you dread is, "are they sleeping through the night?" For those mommies whose kiddos slept through the night at 8 weeks, they wear it around like a badge of honor. For those of us whose kiddos are still waking up at 13 weeks, it's the mark of the beast.

Last night I was up all night, and I want to tell you why I love it.

9:30pm: I feed Lily around 10:30 each night. Usually I don't go to sleep until after she eats but last night I was exhausted so I fell asleep with my husband, which is rare, around 9:30

10:20pm: Alarm goes off. Somehow my husband knows I don't want to get up [maybe it was all the groaning and fussing?] and he rolls over to whisper sweet encouragement in my ear. I love my man. I go to feed Lily. I love pulling her up from the crib when she's in a deep sleep. I love how she stretches and smacks on her little hands without ever waking up. She's a cutie.

10:45pm: Luckily my little Lily is a champion eater, so I'm back in the bed.

11:15pm: Chloe Belle starts crying. I remember that she's cutting teeth bad and I forgot to give her motrin before bed. I get up, get the motrin from the kitchen, and go into her room. I pull her up from the crib, give her the motrin, and sit down on the edge of the bed [cb's room doubles as the guest bedroom]. She snuggles up to me, wraps her little arms around my neck, and lays her head in the crook of my neck, falling asleep. I hold her for a few moments, praying I'll always remember what that feels like.

3:00am: Chloe Belle is crying again. This time sweet husband goes in to comfort her. He tells me later that he laid down on the bed with her and could have stayed there all night. I love how he loves her.

5:15am: Lily wakes up. She's so close to sleeping through the night! One of my favorite things about feeding her in the middle of the night is how when she's done she rolls back, stretches her arms and legs reeeeaaaal far, belly bulging, and then curls up in a little ball against me. Chloe Belle did it exactly the same way. Even if its 3 am I love to just sit there for a few minutes, holding my sleeping sweet baby, and adore her precious little life.

5:45am: back in bed. Chloe Belle is crying again. I hold hands with my husband and listen to him say how sad he is that she's in pain. He closes his eyes and I think about how much I love him. Then I close my eyes and think about how much I love my girls.

6:10am: Time to get up and start a new day. Today I go back to work/church for the first time since Lily arrived. I love my job/church.

So you see, waking up in the middle of the night isn't so bad after all.

the one with my beautiful baby

she may not sleep through the night, but she's one good looking baby.

the one with my family

the one where we're alone

Adam's mom came and got Chloe Belle on Monday and took her back to Beulah for a week. I'm so grateful for her because we really needed a break. It's funny, though. We desperately needed the peace and quiet, but I have to say that both mommy and daddy are desperately missing their little girl. So sad not to see her playing around the house all day long.

I miss Chloe Belle.

But, we are so happy to have a few days with just Lily. With your first child you take for grated all of the undivided attention you are able to lavish on them the first days of life. This week I've had lots of goals, from cleaning the kitchen to paying bills, but I'm trying to soak up each moment I have to hold and love on Lily. It's been super nice to be able to give her all our love.

We like her. I think she's for keeps.

the one with pictures

added a new album to facebook of the two kiddos. check it out. here are some photos that didn't make the fb album, exclusive here for the three friends of mine who read this blog...

the one with Lily Beth

I have so much to catch you up on. Really, so much. I have taken to writing blog posts in my head, but due to the insane life schedule I've kept for the last three weeks, they are all still just in my head and not here in blogosphere. Oh well. The most important thing you've missed in my life?

The long awaited Nugget has arrived. Lily Elizabeth Keel was born Monday morning May 2 at 7:20am. She weighed 7lbs 13 oz and was 20.5 inches long. I wept tears of joy when Adam told me it was a girl. I'm just so thrilled to have little sister here. I love my little family and I am beyond grateful to a gracious God who has authored this life for me. I simply cannot imagine it being more full. I have a good Father.

meet Lily Beth...