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May 29, 2012

The many faces of Will!

I find myself constantly laughing at all of the faces Will makes! He is definitely an expressive little boy! Last night he was wide awake and making the most precious faces! I took all of these within just a few minutes of each other!

Half smile and sweet dimple.

Major side eye.

Big bright eyes.

Proof that Will does in fact have a neck under his cheeks and chins.



I just love this sweet boy so much!

And how about this expression? The way he is looking at Kate melts my heart!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

May 26, 2012

Full Heart


Our first official family picture.


The session was complete chaos.  Kate isn't looking at the camera.  I feel "puffy" and blah.

But my heart is full. 

My family is complete. 

I am blessed.

"Sons are a heritage from the LORD; children a reward from Him." Psalms 127:3

May 25, 2012

Kate's Thoughts...

Mom, could you make him a little bit more exciting?

Oh wait, I can put stickers on him?  Maybe we can keep him if I can keep decorating him!



I need some too since apparently brother and I need to match at all times...

Yep - we can keep him...but don't expect me to smile while holding him.

All joking aside, Kate is adjusting so well to Will!  She is seriously the best big sister ever - always wanting to help and such a little momma!  Any time Will cries Kate is the first to say "oh no, baby cry. Paci? Bottle? Rock?".  She also asks to hold him multiple times a day.  It really is the sweetest thing! 


Alex and I have really made an effort to each have one on one time with Kate daily so she doesn't feel like she has been pushed to the side because of a new baby coming into the house. I really beleive that is what has made our adjustment so easy!

This sweet boy (who has changed SO much since I took this picture over 3 weeks ago) is blessing our lives so very much!  I cannot imagine our life without him!

Hopefully I'll be able to catch up with blogging soon!  I have so much to share - sweet pictures, an insight to life with two kids under two, and the health struggles Will is currently facing.

In the mean time, we'd appreciate prayers for Will's potential donors.  Due to his health, we had to start the donor search earlier than anticipated.  Unfortunately Will's search has not gone as smoothly as Kate's did and we currently only have three potential donors in the entire world.  These three individuals are undergoing further testing and we are praying one of them is the one who will give Will many more years here on Earth.

May 17, 2012

What we've been up to!

We've been enjoying life while neglecting this blog!

We hung out with Lala (my sister) while she was in town visiting (and helping)!



Kate insisted on holding Will like mommy does while watching Mickey! Does it get any sweeter than this???



Sissy and bubba had deep conversations (plotting against me I'm sure)!



Hung out at the park with Colt and Natalie!



Went to the Zoo for the first time post transplant! And then went back again a week later and got to feed a giraffe!



Celebrated this sweet boy on his one month birthday! Post to come!



Took silly pictures with momma at the park!



Went back to the zoo and brought Colt this time!



Headed to the park after our visit with the "amals".



Wore more matching outfits (I cannot get enough of my babies matching/ coordinating - cutest thing ever)!



And while all of this was going on a certain little boy decided to grow a few precious leg rolls!



As you can tell, we've been busy! We're spending tons of time outside these days which has resulted in babies that nap and a momma that has a killer flip flop and tank top tan!

Will is sleeping like a champ and we are slowly getting into a routine. I'm hoping to be back into regular blogging again now that life is a bit more predictable! I have so much to blog about and catch up on!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

May 11, 2012

Birth Announcement!

I have been planning Will's announcement for months! 

In December, I got a beautiful announcement in the mail from the sweet SheShe!  I knew immediately that I wanted Sarah to design Will's announcements as well!  Thankfully Sarah was able to squeeze me into her busy schedule since she isn't doing design work right now as she anticipates the arrival of her baby girl!

We had Will's newborn pictures taken when he was 12 days old and I let Melissa, our photographer, know what kind of image I wanted for the announcement.  She agreed to send me the announcement file that week so I could get them out - I am in love with the picture and cannot wait to see the rest of Will's newborn pictures!

I told Sarah I wanted simple yet formal and that I wanted a specific verse on the back.  This verse is on the back of the canvases in Will's room (thank you Kimsey) and it is the perfect verse to claim for Will!

I had the announcements printed on linen paper and they are so beautiful in person!  These digital files just don't do it justice! 

Front:

Back:


You'll notice the spelling change of his middle name.  Long story short, Emitt is a family name on both sides (my paternal grandfather and Alex's paternal grandfather).  As we were filling out the official birth certificate papers we decided to use the Boggan spelling (verses my family's spelling that we were originally going to use).  Will is the last boy to carry on our line of the Boggan name (Alex and his dad are both only children) so it seemed fitting to use his great-grandfather's spelling to carry on tradition!

Thank you Sarah for such a beautiful announcement!  It was the perfect way to officially introduce Will to our family and friends!

May 9, 2012

Dimples!

Growing up I always wanted dimples.  I may or may not have spent many hours of my childhood cramming crayons into my cheeks in hopes of "making" dimples. 

One of the first things I noticed about Alex when we met ages ago was his dimple!  It's pretty subtle but it's there and I adore it!

I was overjoyed when Kate was born with a beautiful dimple!  It keeps getting deeper and deeper as she gets older!

Well, we hit the dimple jackpot with Will!  He has dimples in both cheeks!  I haven't been able to catch both dimples at once but, here is proof that he has at least one.

And this is just too sweet to not share - Kate loving on her baby brother!

May 7, 2012

Welcoming Will!

I am finally getting around to blogging and catching up on Will's birth!  Let's not talk about how he is nearly 4 weeks old!  Better late than never, right?

I have a mix of iPhone pictures, pictures from our point and shoot, and pictures I took with my big camera while in the hospital so be prepared for a nice mix of picture quality! 

Here's his birth story!

I was scheduled for a 7:30am c-section on Thursday, April 12 which meant we needed to be at the hospital at 5:30am.  I didn't get much sleep the night before delivery - I was anxious, nervous, excited, and worried I'd miss my alarm!

Thankfully, I woke up on time (at 3:30am) and we made it to the hospital!  I took one last belly picture and snagged a picture of Alex before they took me back to the OR!

We had to wait a while in pre-op because my doctor was running late due to another delivery at a different hospital.  Finally, around 8:15, I was taken back to the OR.  It was very weird being awake this time since I was under general anesthesia for Kate's delivery. 

We had no issues getting my spinal started but wow - having a spinal is the weirdest feeling ever!  Within seconds it felt like warm water was filling my legs and within minutes I couldn't feel anything!  Unfortunately, on top of numbing me, the spinal made me extremely sick to my stomach.  By the time Alex walked into the OR I was so sick and shaking pretty bad.  He was put on puke bucket duty but thankfully I never actually got sick. 

Everyone told me to expect pressure and tugging when Will was being delivered but I honestly don't remember feeling that.  It's probably because I was so distracted by the smell.  Yeah, having a c-section does not smell good at all.  No one warned me that the OR would smell like burning flesh.  It's pretty disgusting. 

After a few minutes of shaking, and feeling sick, Dr. Hare announced that we were almost done!

At 9:05am on April 12, 2012 William Emitt (yes - we changed the spelling of his middle name - I'll blog about it later) was born weighing in at 7 pounds 5 ounces and measuring 19 inches long!  It was simply amazing to witness his first cry!


I delivered at the brand new Texas Children's Pavilion for Women so everything was state of the art!  One really neat feature was the TV screen that they put in front of mom's face after delivery.  You can't see the warmer/ baby in the OR from the operating table so they have a live feed camera at the warmer which allows mom to watch baby get weighed, measured, have foot prints taken, etc while surgery is wrapping up.  It was so neat to watch all of those things!

Due to Will's diagnosis, there was a NICU team present at his delivery and they drew blood for a CBC within a few minutes of his arrival.  While in the OR, the NICU staff noticed that Will was grunting a good bit and having some troubles breathing.  Since his O2 stats were ok, we made the decision to give him an hour and see how he transitioned before taking any action.

After my surgery was finished, the three of us were taken to my recovery room.  By the hour mark, Will was still struggling to breathe.  We also got his CBC results back and learned that his platelets were extremely low.  These two issues landed him in the NICU. 

Alex went with Will while I wrapped up my time in recovery.  The Pavilion has private NICU rooms so Alex stayed in Will's room and I was brought up to my room.  Thank goodness for iPhones and picture texts - Alex kept me in the loop and sent sweet pictures to me all day!  Through out the day Will had more lab work that showed his platelets were still very low but relatively stable.

Around 6pm my nurse helped me out of bed and into a wheelchair so I could make my way down to spend some time with Will!  Please excuse how horrible I look - and remember that I had surgery a mere 9 hours before!  I was only allowed a quick 45 minute visit but those 45 minutes were simply amazing!


I'm not sure why but my recovery this time was so incredibly easy!  I was getting up on my own 12 hours post c-section and walking the halls relatively pain free within 24 hours of delivery.

Friday morning I was up early and ready to head down to the NICU.  I spent the entire morning in the NICU and thankfully the hematologist agreed that Will could be released to my room around noon on Friday!


My in-laws brought Kate up to the hospital to meet her baby brother a few hours after he was released from the NICU.  She was so precious when she met him!


When Kate met Will she kept saying "horsey".  We were all perplexed as to why she was calling her brother a horse!  Well, after a bit we finally realized that she would say "horsey" when she was touching his hair - which looked similar to a horse's hair in one of her touch and feel books!  It's crazy how toddlers associate things!

Saturday we had a few visitors and Kate came up again to see her brother!

And Will was subjected to his first of many photo shoots with momma!


We were discharged Sunday - and I was so ready to get home!  Sweet Will got all dressed up to come home!  I just love his sweet outfit!

My boys!

Will and momma!

Heading home!


I can't believe we've been home for nearly 4 weeks!  Things have been busy!  We've had at least one doctor's appointment a week for Will as his platelet are still extremely low and his CAMT has taken over much sooner than Kate's did.  Thankfully, we have been blessed with visitors to help as we transition to a family of four. 

Will is the sweetest baby ever!  He is a big eater (and growing so fast) and sleeps pretty good! We just love having him in our family and can't imagine life without him!  We are so incredibly blessed!

I have so many pictures to share!  Hopefully this is the start of me getting back into regular blogging!

May 1, 2012

Baby Orajel Naturals to the Rescue!




A monster has invaded our house--one that causes restless sleep, fever, excessive drool, lack of appetite, and most unfortunately, an incredibly fussy toddler.  My sweet girl has turned into this over the past few weeks:

We've dealt with this monster on a much smaller scale before but this specific breed is INTENSE.

It's not just the normal teething monster...it's the eye teeth monster.

Teething has always been hard on Kate.  It takes her ages to actually cut a tooth, and I'm certain the pre tooth-cutting stage is just as bad, if not worse, for her than actually cutting a tooth.  But man, these eye teeth are INSANE.  It is the most intense teething we've experienced to date and has lasted forever.

When I was contact by BlogHer and Orajel to review Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablet, the new, all natural teething tablets I couldn't say yes fast enough!

We've tried many different products to help with Kate's teething pain.  When she was not as strong willed younger, we were very happy with the Orajel that comes in the tube and is applied directly to the gums.  Now that Kate has a mouth full of teeth and a strong opinion, there is absolutely no way I can successfully apply the gel to her gums.

Baby Orajel Natural teething tablets are so easy and convenient to use!  Each tablet dissolves in your child's mouth in about 10 seconds.  Kate actually thinks it is fun to take a tablet from me, put it in her mouth, and wait for it to dissolve which means there is no fight to get her teething relief!  So much easier than pinning her down, prying her mouth open, and attempting to apply teething gel!

More importantly, these tablets are all natural!  Using Chamomilla as one of its key ingredients, Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablets are belladonna-free, benzocaine-free, dye-free, alcohol-free, and paraben-free and are the first, and only, homeopathic offering from the #1 teething brand, Baby Orajel!
Alex and I are very conscience about what we put in Kate's little body.  We obviously had no choice but to expose her to the intense chemicals found in the chemo she received and honestly, the hard chemicals in the medications were worth saving her life!  However, we try to avoid any unnecessary additives, chemicals, and preservatives.  I'm so thankful that Baby Orajel now offers a product that not only works, but is made of all natural ingredients!  It's a win-win situation for parents!

We've been using the Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablets for a few weeks now (not continuously, only as needed) and I am so pleased with the product!  As I've mentioned, they are extremely easy to use, but they also work wonderfully!

I can tell when Kate's teeth are bothering her--she gets fussy, refuses to eat, and tries to shove anything she can into her mouth.  Within a few minutes of giving her these tablets, she is much happier and visibly more comfortable.  I've also noticed that a few tablets before bed helps with her restlessness and sleeping when she is teething!  We've tried other brands of teething tablets, and I can say, without a doubt, the Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablets work the best for Kate!

Adios teething monster!  Hello Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablets!

As a new mom (can I still call myself a new mom 20 months in and 2 kids later?), it is always challenging to battle things like teething.  I know I still question if I should medicate, wait it out, etc. Knowing I have an effective, all natural product to help with teething pain helps make my hectic life just a little bit easier!  Seeings Kate smile, and return to her happy self, is one of my favorite things about motherhood!

What was/ is your favorite moment as a new mom?  Share yours in a comment below for a chance to win a $100 Target gift card courtesy of BlogHer and Orajel!

Rules:
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 You may receive two (2) total entries by selecting the following entry methods:
      a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt in this post
      b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
      c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
      d) For those with no Twitter or Blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.  Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.  You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The official rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/1- 5/31/2012.
Be sure to visit the Baby Orajel page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers' reviews and find even more chances to win.
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