Wow, I really am posting a blog w/ pics!

Well it's been a while! I don't know that I've ever gone this long w/out blogging. I do have a good excuse though...besides having a newborn baby. One day in the future I may even blog about it but it's too close to home right now. But, it has been a real rough couple months. I'm happy to say that we are on the other side of the mountain and hopefully things can get back to normal and we can focus on the fam and getting ready for Sydney's big trip to DC to lobby in congress for a cure. What a terrific experience! A friend did share a neat quote with me and I will share it with you, "Everyone wants happiness without any pain, but how can you have a rainbow without a little rain?" Ok, let me just do a quick little update...

The girls are all doing well. Syd had been sick and her blood sugars are all over the place. Hopefully they are starting to level out. Her last A1C wasn't great. It was actually the highest she has ever been at 8.1. (That is an AVERAGE blood sugar of about 210.) Her doctor said that's ok because we have had so much going on from my complicated pregnancy to her multiple strep throats and then getting her tonsils out then having the baby in the NICU plus the holidays...he said he isn't surprised at that number. Next month is her next A1C and I hope we see an improvement. I carry so much weight in the form of guilt when her A1Cs are not where I want them to be. Hopefully we have a lower one this next time. Sydney is doing terrific in school though and is excited for the summer. She hit her 3 year anniversary since she was dx w/ diabetes on Feb. 25. She wanted to "celebrate" with Chinese. I can't believe it's been 3 years.

Morgan is in preschool and loves it. She loves her teacher and has learned things so quickly. She is even doing little math equations now. She is a little lefty and so sometimes when she needs help with her letters it's hard to help her cause we are not lefties. Morgan is my little athlete and spends her days doing gymnastics all around the house. When she hits a wall she quickly says, "I'm ok mom and nothing broke." She turned 5 on Jan. 13. I can't believe how quickly they have grown up! But having older kids has been really helpful now that we have a tiny one again.

Hadlee is 3 months old now and is a dream baby. My kids have never been great sleepers but she will do 5-7 hour stretches at night and then go back to sleep til 7 or so. I've never had babies sleep in those big of chunks! We love it! She doesn't cry much unless she needs changed or fed. She is content to watch her sisters play. She loves to snuggle. She is about 9 1/2 lbs now. She gets her next RSV shot on Thursday and they will weigh her there. And, on an exciting note, Hadlee started giggling tonight. It was such a sweet little sound!

Now onto some pictures and I promise I won't wait this long to blog again. I have so much to write about and I need to catch up. And, most of these pics are of Hadlee but that's ok because she is the one that most people want to look at right now because tiny babies are so much fun! We are starting to take her out more now that she is getting a little bigger. She hasn't been to many places besides our house and grandmas. She seems excited that the world is bigger than our place. :) People still make me nervous because when we do go out, people want to touch her. We are starting to let more people hold her...but not a lot. Just close friends and family. There are still so many germs out there. She is doing well though and hasn't had any illnesses yet. Anyway...onto pics!

--Syd is SO brave with her blood draws! This was in January so don't mind me. I had just had a baby. :) The nurse had to keep wiggling the needle in and out to get blood to flow. Finally I said, just re poke the other arm. It will be easier than this cause I could hear Syd whimpering and stuff. Afterward Syd told me, "mom it was a lot easier to just get re poked." The nurse said they usually only have 1 shot with kids so re-poking is a last resort. Syd said, "Well I get poked all the time with my diabetes so I'd just rather have the other poke than the wiggling needle." It made the nurse laugh.

~We met up with one of Hadlee's NICU buddies. This is Brayden. He was born 8 weeks early at 3lbs 9 oz. He is doing well at home now. It was fun to see him w/out his tubes and wires.

~Hadlee always pulls her bows into her eyes. Syd and Morgan always had a bow on their head but, honestly, Hadlee spends most the time w/out one because this is how it always ends up. Here is she is sleeping but usually it makes her cry.

~Daddy napping w/ Hadlee.

~My dad and hadlee. One of the few pictures he is actually looking at the camera...but he wasn't happy.

~My Grandma Ruth, and one of my best friends! We went out for Sunday dinner yesterday and she got to see the baby.

~My dad's girlfriend Deb fell asleep after putting Hadlee to sleep.

~Grandma singing to Hadlee.

~Hadlee was smiling and cooing at Grandma. She just loved her!

~Hadlee in her nightgown. We call this her Cindy-loo-hoo jammies cause she looks like a Whoo from Whooville. :)