Graduation Party!

Happy napper

Our primary NICU nurse, Rachel

Our primary NICU doctor, Dr. Krueger

It's been a bit since I've posted. It seems daily life with a toddler makes the time fly twice as fast as usual!! Since being back in Nashville, Amelia has been recovering from her mysterious illness that started with a fever in Michigan. I took her to the doctor when I noticed a peculiar diaper rash and a really red throat. It seems she contracted Hand, Foot, Mouth disease during our travels in Michigan. Poor bugger. For those of you who have not experienced this "disease," it is merely a common virus that young children contract easily as it is quite contagious. Being a virus, there is nothing you can do for it except make them comfortable until is goes away on it's own. Thankfully, she had a very mild strain, and showed no symptoms on her hands or feet, in fact, she acted perfectly fine aside from one night of fever. She is pretty much back to normal aside from a bit of a suppressed appetite. She had her 12 month appointment today and she lost a 1/2 pound in one week! Nothing to worry about said the doc, just due to the illness and sore throat. She is still in the 50th percentile for weight at 21 lbs, and 75th percentile for height at 29 3/4 inches and her head circumference is off the chart! She has several teeth coming in. She is growing in every way and she's healthy from head to toe!

In other news, this past weekend we attended Baptists Hospitals' NICU graduate party. It's a party held once a year and is attended by NICU doctors and nurses as well as NICU patients/graduates from years past. It was a wonderful experience, and an emotional one for me, to be able to take her back there to see her wonderful nurses and especially her very special NICU doctor, Dr. Kreuger. I was unable to hold back the tears when I saw her, and I was so grateful for the opportunity to thank her for her wonderful care she gave as well as her immense optimism regarding Amelia and her condition. As you know, because of the rarity of this condition, the outcome remained to be seen and it seemed most medical professionals that we were in contact with right after her birth seemed to be preparing us for the worst, except for Dr. Kreuger. She held a quiet confidence and remained quite calm and focused throughout the ordeal, I will not forget her peaceful demeanor and her reassuring words. Little did she know at the time, how much hope she had given me while I struggled emotionally with what was happening. Ford and I swore, she must have been angel.
It was wonderful to reintroduce the staff to her and to see the looks on their faces when they saw her and her perfect skin. It was also a chance to give big hugs and say thank you a year later for the wonderful care we received during our two week stay at Baptist following her birth. I keep in touch with Amelia's awesome primary nurse, Rachel. She too was a great source of comfort and optimism during our stay in the NICU, just knowing she was there to tend to her every need, and knowing she prayed for her... If you remember, Amelia was only to be removed from the humidified "Giraffe" twice a day, it was crushing to me that we could only hold her during those two brief releases and that she could not be held the rest of the day/night. Rachel, however, "broke" her out on a few occasions in the middle of the night, when Amelia would wake crying while her mommy was 5 miles away at home sleeping; she snuggled her, rocked her and gave her love when I could not. I was so very grateful for this and grateful that she bent the rules. We got to know her well, and she us, during that time. A friendship I hope will continue for years to come.
I remember the day we left Baptist Hospital to take Amelia home last year at this time. I remember it being a very confusing day. I wanted only to be happy to be able to finally take my beautiful baby home with me, where she belonged. But I also remember feeling a bit angry that we had to go through what we did for the past 2 weeks and mostly, I remember how scared I felt, how part of me wanted to take Rachel and the nurses and doctor with me into the weeks and months to come...looking back now, that's exactly what I did. They remain a part of our lives just as I know they remain a part of the lives of all of the NICU families they've care for.

What a wonderful group of people God has placed in our lives and hearts forever.

Michigan Recap...

What could be cuter?

Love this one.

Me and momma on my first birthday.

Rock-a-rock-a lion...aahhrrrr...

I LOVE MICHIGAN SUMMERS!!

Well, we are back in Nashville after a very long and very fun trip to Michigan. We stayed almost 3 weeks and our visit was jam-packed...we did so many fun new things and visited with so many friends and family. Among the highlights was Amelia's first trip to the beach; it was her first encounter with the Great Lakes and I loved introducing her to one of my favorite places on earth! What a big place it must have seemed to her...the waves and sand (the sand was not her favorite) and blue water and bluest sky that goes on forever and ever... She spent some time at Whirlwind Campground "camping" with her cousins in tents in their backyard. She played in the grass as much as she wanted!!!! She took her first wagon ride. She turned 1! She got to eat cake for the first time. She had her first birthday party at the beach with lots and lots of friends and family...so fun!! She saw Grandpa and Grandma Loto's house in Hessel and took her first boat ride in Grandpa's boat. She got to meet Great Grandma Amelia who lives in Escanaba (Upper Peninsula of Michigan) for the very first time and went to her first State Fair...so many animals, including a 4 horned sheep. Hmmmm. She got to visit the Bensingers' ranch in Gaylord, MI...equipped with cows and baby cows, horses, and best of all...barn kittens!! She took her first ferry boat ride to Mackinac Island, rode in a horse drawn taxi and had a blast with all of our Mackinac friends.
And since being in Michigan, she has officially graduated to walking, sometimes running...everywhere and nonstop. She had much to explore and I think this motivated her retire the crawling and kick it up a notch! She was certainly busy. She also spent more time in the car than ever before! She was a trooper. Unfortunately, she also had her first real fever at the end of the trip...thankfully with no sickness to speak of. It only lasted a day and luckily she was herself again before our flight back to Nashville. We did so many other wonderful things, too many to speak of. But for all of your facebook members, I'll be posting many more photos of our fun trip, hopefully this week. For those of you who aren't facebook members...join!! It's a great way to keep in touch and share photos.
So we are back to Nashville, Ford is back to work and I have to say, it was nice having such a long break from the Nashville heat. Amelia seems so much older now compared to 3 weeks ago before we left. She is seemingly glad to be home and was sooo happy to see Mister (although he seemed a little mad at us for a bit there). I think she had her fair share of traveling for a while. Needing to run a quick errand today, I asked her if she wanted to take a ride in the car with mommy, she shook her head with great determination and flat out said "no." Alright then, home we stayed.

Happy Birthday, Amelia.

I'm 1 today.

Amelia Sava Turrell
Born: August 7, 2007
Time: 6:50 am Central
Weight: 8 lbs 10 oz
Height: 20 inches

Wow, what a big day. I can't believe how fast the time has flown. We get to be in Michigan to celebrate her very first birthday! We have moved around a bit since arriving and Amelia has had a few moments of confusion when it comes to sleep...this morning she awoke at 5:00 am and ended up in sleeping in bed with us, (I was not ready to begin the birthday that early). However, as she fell fast asleep, curled up between us all snug and warm, I found myself unable to go back to sleep. As I lay there, listening to the rhythm her little breath and staring at her sweet sleeping face, I replayed the event of her birth over in my head, hoping I would be able to remember it all...a little sad when I realized that some of the details had left me. I can't help but feel a little overwhelmed today; a strange feeling, I realize, on such a happy occasion. My friend Dana sent me an e-mail a few days ago commenting on how emotional she felt on her son's first birthday, for obvious reasons of course, it's a quite a big milestone! Before her e-mail, I had only been thinking about what a big day this is for Amelia, and about how much she has grown but she also reminded me that being a first time mother for a whole year is quite an accomplishment. Thinking about all of the things that I've learned, sorting out all of the new feelings...so many new ones, and settling into this new identity called "mama." And though this day is not about me, I feel so blessed just to be here, to be able to watch her turn one, literally...
I watched the clock while she slept... 6:00 am... 6:30... 7:00... waiting for 7:50 am (6:50 Nashville time) to sing Happy Birthday to her. She woke up around 7:30 ish and we played and talked until 7:50 when I hugged her and told her happy birthday and that one year ago at this exact moment she came out of mommy's tummy and into the world, I proceeded to sing the whole Happy Birthday song to her...she listened, smiled at me and then pointed toward the door...
Onward into year two...

Some nice ones.

Whaw...whawww.

A bit of a Debbie Downer in this one.

I love my babies' eyes, they open and close and open and close...

Rock-a-rock with all my furry friends.

Amelia is afraid of Daddy's glasses.

Wouldn't you be?

Nice candid of Ford, don't worry, he's alive...creepy.
Nice downward dog, yes?

Grilled Cheese, Denim and Little Miss Bossy...

One of my favorite books.

Trying on some big girl jeans...

What do you think of my onesie?

About to get mad at the area rug for hindering my mobility...

I think it's safe to say Amelia is now a toddler. Somehow, I was able to make the transition in my mind, just today, when I fed her a grilled cheese and she attacked it with reckless abandon. :) A far cry from her scrunched up face when trying to swallow pureed kale and lentils. :) She loved it. Of course I took great care in preparing it just right, organic cheese and bread, and not too much butter cutting it up into tiny pieces for her to manage. I have to admit, I've been a little neurotic about what goes into her body...but I pride myself on this as well, it's one thing I can do for her during this important stage of growth. I've made homemade organic baby food since she was 5 months old. (However, I figured out quickly that she did not care for the homemade green veggies. Had to go with the organic jarred stuff...whatever works).

Anyway, she's totally into finger foods these days, so I've been trying all kinds. She loves green peas from a can. It's fun to watch her explore new foods with her hands. She's an inspector. She goes through a filtering process with the peas as she looks them over one by one and tosses the unfavorable ones to the floor. She's got her own grading system. Who know how it works but she's very serious about it.
Back to the grilled cheese...it was one of those bittersweet moments that I experience sometimes. Grilled cheese = Big Girl. I'm sure she could've had a grilled cheese before 11.5 months...why rush things? :) Being a first time mom, it was hard to know when to transition to the big girl foods. But as I introduce them one by one, she is letting me know that she's tired of the mushy baby food. She's ready for more...she likes curry for crying out loud (mild of course).
Next, the denim. I mean just look at her standing there in her jeans and her "Genuine Ford Parts" onesie. (How hilarious is that?) She's ready for a night out at the movies with her pals. Well, maybe not yet. But there's something about seeing her walk around in a pair of jeans...
And thirdly, another marker signifying toddler-hood...bossiness. Yes, she's taken to bossing us around a bit. When she's working out on her walker, back and forth and back and forth, she likes to yell and point to where she likes us to stand, usually somewhere in front of her where she can see us. She grunts and clenches her fists in order to communicate this to us. She even yells and grunts at the area rug where her walker gets held up (every single time) while she's doing her cruising. We have to watch it because admittedly this display is really quite funny at this point. It's that stage in her little life where her comprehension exceeds her ability to communicate. How frustrating that must be...hence the feisty attitude. But it shows that she's got spirit, that's what we like to call it (for now anyway)...she's spirited. :)
Who knows toddler years will bring, how her personality will unfold...she may be nothing like me, or Ford for that matter, or maybe she'll be a combination of us both. All we know is that she's morphing into her own little person...the person that God made her to be: Amelia.

Get Well Soon, Grandma Claudia

Just a note to ask everyone to take a minute today to pray for Amelia's Grandma Claudia (my mom). She's having surgery to remove part of her thyroid this morning. Praying for a smooth and successful surgery and a quick and easy recovery! And praying she wakes up feeling good as new! We love you Grandma!

First steps and she's a hard worker...

It's been just over 2 weeks since I last posted. I hope you faithful blog checkers haven't given up on me. We've had visitors!! Uncle Manny, Aunt Jamie and cousins Genessi, Lily, Sofia and Kate made the long trip south to attend Camp Nashville for a week. Despite the less then desirable conditions: i.e. chigger infested grounds and quiet time twice a day during our youngest camper's naps, everyone seemed to have a great time and Amelia loved playing with her cousins! Every morning when I'd get her out of her crib, she'd squirm and giggle with excitement when I asked her if she wanted to go play with the kids. What could be better than 4 live in playmates?
While the Vazquez family was here, Amelia took her first official steps. It started with one step and ironically, I was the only one here to witness it. Of course she's been testing out her new upright mobility, but only a few steps at a time. We are working on her confidence and she has since built up to 4 consecutive steps. I'm guessing she'll be in walking mode by her birthday. Here are a few photos of Amelia doing her very important "work." The kid is obsessed with straps and buckles; car seat straps, high chair straps, stroller straps...she works her way around the house each day and finds them and diligently does her "strap work" as we call it, like she's getting paid to do it. She also loves herself some mail, so here are also a few photos of her doing her mail work...she sorted these pieces of mail for approximately 20 minutes. She means business.