A very important moment...

As I sit in a heated home with a full belly, surrounded by beautiful gifts and a happy and healthy family, I am struck. This is not the lifestyle of everyone, this is not even the lifestyle of most. I am consumed by thoughts of getting the tree down, deep cleaning the house, rearranging the playroom to make room for new toys...very shallow concerns when the world is filled with such need. And then suddenly I am saddened because for a moment, I had lost the big picture for it was "filler" that I was consumed by.

All at once, I am so in tune to so many people hurting around us. Those who have lost precious people in their lives, those who will or are struggling and fighting to see another day, those who have heavy hearts and such sadness to bear. Please say a prayer for them all, that their sadness will lift and that peace will find them.

Father, for all of our dear sisters and brothers who are struggling, hurting and are full of despair - for those who have lost themselves to addictions, depression and even the haste of the world today - for the children in need - for those who have not found You-for those whom are already with You - hold them all near Your heart. Show them You are here and love them. Protect their hearts and forgive their sins. Help them all to live their lives in Your name. Shed grace and mercy upon them. Heal their hearts and renew their souls.

For those of us who have temporarily gotten wrapped up in filler, bring us back to what is important. Help us not to lose sight or take for granted the things that really matter and most of all keep us with You. Thank You for all of the blessings You have bestowed upon us and gently remind us that YOU have been present for each and every one. Help us to love and forgive in the same way that You do. Show us that simplicity and wholeness is healing and remind us all that 'filler" is not what we are all about. Bless us all as we pray in Your name. Amen.

The Splonskowski's very merry Christmas

Christmas is such a busy time. I love being with family and having all of our mini-Christmases but also look forward to a Christmas when it's just us..... playing on the floor until evening and never getting out of our jammies! I think next year we'll plan one day like that. On Christmas Eve we went to church and then to my aunt and uncle's house for Christmas dinner. We go there every year...I love that my whole family gets together on the holidays...Grandma, parents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins. SO much fun!!

On Christmas morning we went to my parent's house and did our family Christmas. Ayla was excited and...well... let's just say that santa was very good to her. I'm calling this the "Christmas of excess"!! When we got home a bit before noon, we did our own Christmas and once again, Santa was very, very good to her. This certainly is a little girl who is in need of NOTHING!

It was so fun this year. She hated Santa(as you all know from your Christmas cards) but loved the lights, decorations, music, presents and the birthday party we threw for Jesus complete with a birthday cake. I'll post some videos when I get the time to catch up, they're pretty cute too.

At my mom and dad's Ayla started off with a candy breakfast from her stocking(so NOT my doing!!) I suppose it turned out okay because she followed it with ham, eggs and pears. This year we were blessed with my SIL's family also. Her mom, sister and BIL joined us along with their precious baby...ETHAN JAY! He's precious.

This was the Christmas of Dora for Ayla....pj's, robe, slippers, bath stuff, doll, toothbrush, toys, playhouse, backpack, trike and dvd's. Holy cow! We might just change her name to Dora!! Of course she loves it all. This is my dad and my brother Tom putting together Ayla's Dora tricycle.

Ooooooo, and Dora bath gel, lotion and bath fizzies!

Prpoerly dressed in her Dora robe and slippers...I really try to keep the character clothing to jammies and panties. That way she gets her fix and I donm't have to take her out in public looking like a goofball!

Boston boy! Doesn't he just look like trouble?? Surrounded by trash and he didn't even do it...this time. Santa brought him and Gracie treats, bones and toys. Blue cat got some treats and a feather toy.

Our happy little girl playing with her new baking set

I hope everyone had a Christmas as fantastic as ours.

Catching up

Ayla is feeling much better although the amoxicillin didn't quite take care of all of the crud she had so we started another round of antibiotics today. This time we're on Omnicef...it's a powerhouse so I suspect that she'll be doing perfectly well within a couple of days. Ayla was "Fixing tools like daddy" in this picture I just loved this little winter snowflake dress, tights and her fake uggs from Target
Although Ayla is feeling much better we've been taking it very easy until she's back at 100% It's been FREEZING cold here in Omaha so we've spending lots of time at home. A few nights ago we watched Polar Express in 3D, she thought that was pretty fun

Please forgive her hair, this was at the end of the night after rolling around on the couch and playing on the floor. Her bangs are almost grown out enough to keep them back but by the end of day this is her typical look, poor little ghetto baby! Geez, her mother should do something with that mop!! Haha.

Rough week at the Splonskowski house!

Litte Miss Ayla was sick this week. Other than her NICU stay, she's never really had more than a cold or some other random viral thing that's gone in a day or two...until now. She started 'school' (Mother's day out program at the church) in September and has had a runny nose on and off since. I know that is to be expected with all of those germy little toddlers picking their noses, coughing on each other, 'sharing' sippy cups and rarely washing their hands. This week though, on Wednesday Ayla had a fever and cough. I was sure the cough was croup so I took her in that afternoon and she was diagnosed with her first ear infection, a sinus infection and croup. YIKES!! They tried to give her an oral dose of steroids for her lungs but she proceeded to throw that up all over the doctor and myself for a good 3-5 minutes...dry heaves and all. Then she looked up with her watery little eyes and said 'puke' to the doctor. Poor kiddo. The doc had warned that it was a nasty, nasty medication. We decided to take it as an injection instead. She is also on an antibiotic.

This morning she finally woke without a fever and has seemed well all day and even ate a decent lunch and dinner. I think(hope) we're past the worst of it. I have never seen her act so sickly before, it was really sad. So for 3 days she and I hung out on the couch watching Dora and Curious George. That part was actually kind of fun for me, I got more cuddles and hugs from her than I normally get in a week! Although, if I have to hear 'Dora, Dora, Dora the exploreeeer' one more time....

This is sick little Ayla on the couch, I was able to make her smile a little bit, but she wouldn't even lift her head

These are from tonight. She is acting like her old self again, silly little girl

What do you think of this fab little hairdo?? She just had her pigtails taken out

This was after her bath. We had read her story and were saying her prayers. We have said the exact same prayer every single night since the day she was born "God bless Mommy, Daddy, Ayla, Boston, Gracie, Blue and all of our family and friends. Amen" The only exception is when we add '...and special prayers for...' when someone we love or care for is in need of prayers. She says it with us because it is familiar but recently she has started saying 'Oh man!' instead of Amen. That is what Swiper says on Dora. In this picture she was telling me that I was wrong, it isn't Amen, it's Oh man! Funny little girl!!

Congrats to Holly, Jeff and Caleb!

Cadence Grace Wendt! Beautiful bright eyes

Princess to princess love

I am so in love with her

Aww, a family of four

Holly's c-section was today and Cadence Grace Wendt was born at 9:08am ,weighing in at 6lbs 11oz and 19 inches long. She's tiny and gorgeous, I am completely in love! It's amazing how a newborn makes you feel...I love the way she smells, all of her little squeaks and sounds, her feathery soft hair, the way she spreads her toes when you touch the bottom of her foot...

My heart is full of thanks to Holly and Jeff for allowing me to be such a big part of their day. I spent the whole two hours in recovery with Holly and got to go with her to see Cadence in the NICU as soon as she was able to go. It was such an exciting and emotional day.

Cadence stayed in the NICU for about 4 hours, just to transition, as she had meconium in her fluid. She did great though and is just perfect. Congrats Holly, Jeff! and Caleb!

Here comes Santa Claus

We went to see Santa at the mall today. It went very much like the Easter Bunny did a few months back....I even brought a little present for Santa to give her thinking that would buy me a tear free pic, no luck!

Thanksgiving weekend pics....

This was while we were at the park waiting for the lights Riding on Daddy's shoulders

Us

Us again....Sabrina actually emailed me this one

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving was uneventful this year, all around a nice day. Darren's parents were in town. They came on Wednesday and left Sunday afternoon. It was nice to have them for more than just a couple of days.

We spent Thanksgiving day at my mom and dad's house - we ate too much and spent the day relaxing and talking. My bestest friend Holly was able to join us and I was quite grateful. It was fun to just be able to sit and chat. Her husband, Jeff was at work and her son, Caleb went to Colorado with his grandparents.

That evening we went downtown for the official "lighting" of the park's holiday lights. There are over one million lights in the park and it is gorgeous every year. Ayla loved seeing them come on and even cried when we put her in the car to go home, she wanted to stay and look at the lights.

We shopped a little bit on Friday and Saturday. Friday, Darren took his dad to the Husker game. Believe it or not, I DID willingly give up my ticket. It was a great game too(a CLOSE game John)....GO BIG RED!!! While I would have loved to have gone, it was nice that Darren and John were able to spend that time together. It doesn't happen near enough for them. Darren's dad even went out and bought a couple of husker stocking caps for himself and Darren. My father-in-law in a Husker hat definitely made me smile!

Ayla really enjoyed having John and Carol here. In the past, she's been a bit leary and had to warm up to them as she doesn't see them very often. She saw them about a month ago at her birthday party so it was still fresh. She calls John silly and has fun with them both. They left 3 days ago and she is still asking about them.

I hope you all had a great holiday!

My baby isn't a baby at all....

Sooo, we painted Ayla's room last night to go with her new big girl bedding and when her new furniture showed up today, it made me a little bit sad. No bottles, no diapers, no crib....no baby!! Yes, I need to get over it and I am but, wow! I was saddened to realize that I never took pics of her "nursery". This pic is from the first time she pulled herself up to a standing position all by herself. This was before vacation this past summer....You can see her crib and bedding, pink walls too.
This was while we were painting last night, it's her armoire. She also had a white dresser/changing table.

Ayla helping Daddy put her bed together...

Big girl bed!!!

Chest

Dresser. I didn't get the mirror that went with it because I want to get a round mirror with a silver frame, still have to find one though.

Obviously, we still have to get some things for her walls but it turned out really cute. She napped in there today and had no problems, she didn't try to get out at all. I know better than to think that will last but I'll enjoy it for now.

Reflections....

When Ayla was born, she weighed in at 2 pounds 9oz and was 15 inches long. It's hard to remember that size when I see a 7 or 8 pounder now, because they seem so tiny. Anyway, I ordered a doll that matches Ayla's weight and measurements. The head is bigger than hers was because the hat in the picture didn't fit Ayla until she was 6 weeks old. It's so strange seeing her hold the baby who is the size she was at birth. Talk about proof that she's grown!

On another note, Ayla had her last NICU follow-up last week. She ranked in the appropriate actual age for everything, even above in some. The doctor was really funny and said "Well, about her speech, you'll soon find if you haven't already that she speaks all too well", they ranked her at a 36 month level in speech. They test fine and large motor skills, speech, cognition etc. She saw a physical therapist, occupational therapist, nurse, speech therapist and neonatologist. The were floored by the fact that she's potty trained...she's the first preemie ever to come into their clinic for a 2 year follow up and be potty trained - that of course was a proud moment. As much as I'd like to take credit, all praise here goes directly to God!

Happy Birthday Ayla AND Happy Halloween!!

How does it even happen, how do they grow soo fast? It sounds cliche, I'm sure, but it's just so hard to wrap my head around. I don't have a baby, she's barely a toddler.....I have a....kid! She talks and walks, uses the potty, and even makes clear what she likes and wants(and of course what she DOESN'T like and want). Wow!! We went to my grandma's in the afternoon and then my parent's house in the evening.

We did dinner and birthday cake at my parent's house and then Trick or Treat too.

Ayla was a monkey....she loves Curious George so she was "George". She got the hang of it quickly as she had a practice run last week at the mall. They did an indoor Trick or Treat that we went to with my Inlaws, they were in town for her birthday party.

Couldn't quite reach the doorbell....hahahaha!!! She's such a little shrimp!

Going through all of her "loot" at the end of the night....

Yeah, that glazed look in her eyes is a sugar high. From 3pm or so I think she had 4 suckers, 3-4 other various pieces of candy and birthday cake. Believe it or not, she did eat a good dinner in between!

Pumpkin Carving!

Carving pumpkins was so much fun this year. Ayla is starting to understand and get excited about the holidays and makes them even more fun! I didn't think she'd be a fan of pumpkin "guts". She doesn't like having messy or sticky hands, but she went in shoulder deep! She thought it was a lot of fun cleaning out the pumpkins. We did a Winnie the Pooh kit and had four pumpkins - Pooh, Eyore, Piglet and Tigger. She couldn't tell what they were until we put them outside in the dark and lit the candles. She really loved them when she could tell what they were!!

Ayla's birthday party...

Today was Ayla's 2nd birthday party....what a day! I can't get over how exciting things become again when you have a child of your own. It really feels like it did when you were a kid - so exciting and fun. It kind of catches you off guard, like suddenly I was 7 and it was the best day of my life.

We did a Curious George kind of theme. "Topper" the clown came to visit, he was GREAT! We had a bounce house, face painting, balloon animals, pinata....it was just so fun! We were so busy that we never even got to do the craft project or games. I think all of the kids had a great time.

Ayla made out like a little bandit - lots and lots of very fun toys and art supplies, she's going to be busy with them for a very long time. I'm going to have to clean out the playroom and get some of the toys she's outgrown put away - it's scary to think that Christmas is only 2 months away.
Blowing out her TWO birthday candles, the cupcakes were decorated to look like little cups of popcorn - hers had George too.

Busting into the George pinata

Helping "Topper" with a very magic clown trick!!

TOPPER!!

Relaxing in the bounce house

Clown hat - everyone got their picture taken with it and a big red and white polka dot bow tie. I'm going to include the pictures with her thank you notes.

Happy birthday Ayla!!!