Christmas Miracle

Here are some quick pics of Lexie Rae Ashe born on 23 Dec at 10:15 pm. She weighed 4 lbs 12 oz and was 18.5 in long. We're exhausted right now, so the rest of the story will follow later. She is doing great, they didn't even have to put a breathing tube in her even though she is 6 weeks early.

Christmas Pictures

Christmas Party

Close call!

Our newest addition seems to be very impatient and is trying to come out earlier than she is expected. With all of my pregnancies I have always had Braxton hicks so I didn't think anything of it when I got them Thursday morning. I thought they were just going to go away and started to brush them off. However, I started to realize that I was having a hard time breathing and I was having contractions every two minutes. By the time I got to the hospital, Eric was already waiting for me. Once inside and after being admitted, they started to give me medicine to stop the contractions and steroids to help her lungs in case she was going to come early. The contractions would stop and go but didn't seem to be letting up and I really thought as well as the doctor that she was going to be born. However, after getting the medication for two days the contractions finally let up and I was able to come home. Which I was extremely happy about because I missed my hubby and my kiddos. However, I have now been put on moderate bed rest and am not looking forward to it. Ethan and Gracie don't understand bed rest much less sitting rest so we are all going to have to work together to make sure that this doesn't happen again. Ethan seems to be understanding the situation but Gracie is having a harder time. As soon as I got home she wanted me to pick me her up. I felt bad telling her no but I really don't want to end up in the hospital again. Wish us luck!

Speaking of Gracie; she is now sleeping in her big girl bed. We were clearing out the office for an upcoming garage sale and decided to just put the twin bed in her room since she was gong to be moved in it soon and I already had her bedding. Well, once bed time came around she realized that we were putting her in the crib and not in the bed. We tried to tell her another time but she started to throw the biggest fit. She was screaming, throwing herself around, and throwing her leg over the side rail like she was about to jump out. Eric and I both looked at each other like 'What have we done?' Ethan was only one month older than Gracie when we moved him but a month is still a month. We decided we had no other choice and Gracie is defiantly one that you have to pick your battles with. After deciding to try it for one night, Eric went on the hunt for the bed rails. I thought she was going to get out at least 20 times before falling asleep but she fell fast asleep. The next morning I heard her over her monitor yelling, "Get out bed, Get out bed". I told Ethan to go and tell her she could get out by herself and I think she finally realized that she could come and go as she pleased. It has been about a week since she has moved and seems to be doing fine. She will get out and ask for a drink but normally she goes straight to bed. She even does well during nap times. I have to say that I am surprised, but we will see in about a month if it is still going so hot. I will have to post pictures later of her new bedroom.

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!

Ethan placing his ornament on the tree.

Ethan helping his sister with her ornament

Gracie admiring her ornament

Christmas Spirit shining through!

Christmas Extravaganza

This weekend we made our way down to Sea World for the Christmas Extravaganza. We went with some friends of ours and enjoyed seeing the Christmas spirit come alive in our little ones. We watched the Polar Express in 3D. All four little ones were enthralled with the movie. Even when the chairs started shaking and it got really dark, all four wouldn't take their eyes off off the big screen. The highlight of the movie is when the snow started to fall form the ceiling. Ethan was pretty surprised that it was snowing indoors especially since earlier in the day he was complaining that it doesn't snow in Texas. Even the two little ones managed to keep their 3D glasses on the whole time. While we were there we also managed to catch the Sesame Street Christmas Show. The kids really enjoyed seeing the whole Sesame Street gang but Elmo is always a favorite. I have to admit after the shows and seeing all the decorations, we are getting excited about the upcoming holiday season.

Jeremiah and Ethan waiting for the movie to start

Gracie, Ethan, Jeremiah, and Annalise before the Sesame Street Show

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed all that the holiday brings. For us it brought out my mother and brother for a quick visit. It was nice to see them and we were thankful that we had some family members visiting during the holiday. Ethan and Gracie both enjoyed the Thanksgiving feast. Gracie's favorite was the ham and Ethan's was the pumpkin pie. Gracie was eventually cut off from the ham, which she was not happy about and I found a couple finger traces in one of the pumpkin pies that looked at lot like Ethan's. As soon as I saw the pie I asked him if he did it and he said, "I made those ones Mom, but that one in the middle is not from me." He was talking about the mark I made with the knife to check if it was done. I was pretty amazed that he told me the truth about it, but what was funny was that he wasn't about to take the rap for the one that I did.

Little Turkey's

Eric being a dork

All that food made her sleepy.

The suspect with the evidence that has his fingerprints all over it.

Just for fun

Our little girl's update

These last two weeks we have been busy with doctor appointments all the while preparing for the fact that we have a new baby coming soon. I promise I have a ton of pictures of the kids to post but with things moving so fast, I am losing a little track of things. But, don’t worry because being the neurotic person I am will be back on track in no time.

Two weeks ago I had a Fetal MRI and yesterday we got the results. Despite her efforts on hiding from the technician, he was able to get the images that we needed. We always knew that Aqueductal Stenosis is the most common reason for hydrocephalus and yesterday our doctor confirmed that this seems to be the case for us. The easiest way I can explain this is that the 1st and 2nd ventricles in our brain pass fluid into the 3rd ventricle and in between the 3rd ventricle and 4th ventricle there is a straw like piece that is called the Aqueduct of Sylvius. This certain item doesn’t seem to be long enough which is causing the backup of fluid. Eric and I have been researching this and actually feel relieved that this wasn’t related to a stroke. We were also told that her cerebellum is present and is functioning properly. So, what we know now is that she has no spinal issues, no bleeding in her brain that could be due to pressure and everything in her brain looks present but just compressed a little. Therefore, yesterday was a pretty good day in our house but we have 12 more weeks to go…fingers crossed! Below is the ventricle measurement (fluid in mm) from when we found out to yesterday’s result. Just remember that anything after 10 is considered not normal/hydrocheplaus.

20 weeks- 14

23 weeks -24

26 weeks -24

28 weeks-24

I promise to keep you guys updated with any news that may come our way. I will be going in every two weeks for routine ultrasounds so we just continue to pray that the measurements either stay consistent or go down. Yet, if it goes up, it will not be the end of the world.

Happy Halloween

This year our little ones seemed to have been influenced by our Disney trip because they each were a Disney character. Well actually, Ethan had his costume picked out for two months and Gracie just wears what we put on her. However, Ethan looked liked a real superhero in his costume; the fake muscles really helped out a lot. Gracie looked really adorable in her costume too. I knew the ears weren't going to last but she still looked cute. They both had a lot of fun and got way too much candy. Of course, Gracie kept getting into hers while we were walking. The both walked the entire time and only really wanted to ride in the wagon on the way home so they could go through their stash. Now that Ethan is older he already knows the routine and what to say so I was just busy teaching Gracie the formalities of Halloween. When I would tell her to say trick-o-treat she would say "chucky cheese". To any other person beside her parents it sounds like trick-o-treat so she still got some candy. When they would ask her if she wanted candy she would say "YUP!" and then say "Ank you" when they gave it her. Part of me thinks she got more due to the cuteness of her vocabulary.

They are getting excited!!

Striking a pose

Mr. Incredible

Minnie Mouse

Were are ready to GO!!!

Eating some candy

I will just help myself, Thank you.