REAL REVIEW 'KozyPal Cart Covers'

Obviously, with Robinson being so mobile now, I have VERY little time to blog. When he does take a nap (which is usually short and very rare), I'm rushing to throw in a load of laundry or unload the dishwasher! haha...our days have become very busy which I love and when he goes to bed at night, I'm usually too exhausted to even think about anything else.





I have decided, though, since so many of my friends are pregnant or have had babies recently that I would make a point of reviewing certain items that we've used and bought. This way you get to see what they really look like (via my pictures), plus you get a real person review and not some standard web site answer. I'm going to call them my "REAL REVIEW" posts.





My first "Real Review" is KozyPal Cart Covers. I had heard about these via a friend and wanted to check them out. They are shopping cart and high chair covers. You all know what a germaphobe I am, and with Robinson being a preemie, I can only say that I've gotten worse! The thought of shopping carts grosses me out, especially since Robinson wants to lick everything right now! ewww





I love this cover. It's so cute. You can pick your fabric and pick which add-ons you want (you can have a sippy cup holder, diaper holder, leg extensions, etc.) Plus, you can have it monogrammed. They also have ready made covers that they frequently put on sale when inventory is low. I can not recommend this cover enough. I've already washed it twice and it washes extremely well and holds its shape- which was my main complaint with other covers that I've tried. They either didn't hold their shape or the color faded, etc...they didn't last long at all. This cover is fantastic.





So, I encourage you to try it out! I'll have a link in this post and there will also be a link at the bottom of my blog web site. If you click on the link it will take you directly there AND if you buy a KozyPal from my web site- I get a little commission! That's right, I love these things so much that I've officially become a 'blog referral site'. So- buy one for you and your little one to put your mind at ease about germs in the upcoming Holiday shopping extravaganza!!

Here is Robinson in his KozyPal on our recent shopping trip.

Walking On Sunshine...

Robinson has 'technically' been walking for about a month now, but it was never more than a couple of steps--- until this weekend. Check out the little man, go!

We are so very proud of him!!

Don't forget to donate to our March of Dimes Walk!!

March for Babies

As we approach September, we are only about 50 days away from a very important event that is special to our family- the March of Dimes- March for Babies. This is an annual fundraiser/walk to help raise money for the March of Dimes. The March of Dimes is committed to helping find cause/cures for premature babies. The research that they have done has helped so many babies survive and we couldn't be more thankful for their continued philanthropy and dedication to the cause.

We feel so blessed to have Robinson in our lives. We feel committed to helping the March of Dimes so that hopefully another family might not have to experience the roller coaster of prematurity. This last year and has been both so rewarding, but also so terrifying at times. It has made us stronger and closer as a family and we are so grateful for all of the obstacles that Robinson has overcome.

There is a link over to the side of this blog. If you feel that you would like to make a donation in Robinson's honor, we thank you. All you have to do is click on his picture and it will take you to our donation page. Please feel free to pass along to family and friends. We will be walking on Oct. 24th. If anybody would like to join our team and walk with us that morning, please just email me and I'll let you know the specifics.

I normally do not feel comfortable asking for donations, however, this is truly a unique not for profit organization and I BELIEVE in everything that they are trying to accomplish. Thanks in advance for listening and always supporting our family. We truly could not have made it through this last year without the love and support of our family and friends!

1st Haircut

Robinson had his 1st haircut on Sunday, Aug. 23rd. We drove down to Rosemary's and she was kind enough to cut his hair for us. Rosemary is my brother's mother in law (aka Rachelle's mom ) :) She has done our family's hair for years and also did my hair for my wedding. She was so patient with Robinson and did a fantastic job. Robinson behaved really well- he just kept turning around wondering what she was doing back there! haha


He is officially walking, although only a few steps at a time. I'm hoping to get a video this weekend. His vocabulary is really expanding too. He now says "dada", "mama", "hey", "uh oh", and "dog"...he's also starting to say "no."- this should be fun :)

Enjoy the pictures from his haircut, and yes, I saved a curl of hair for the baby book...

We were cracking up at his facial expressions..

Look at all of that hair- we were OVER due for a hair cut, but Mommy just kept putting it off

The finished product. He looks so grown up!

Another Child? Adopt? Or One and Done??

This is sort of a Robinson related post in that the question of whether he will have a sibling has become a serious discussion. We basically have three options:

1. Have no more children and let Robinson be an only child

2. Adopt

3. Try to have another child- biologically

This is a very hard and serious discussion for Rian and I. The only reason I feel the need to blog about said subject is that I know other preemie and PreE/HELLP mothers who read my blog and you find strength, solace and justification sometimes in reading the thoughts of others.

I don't necessarily mind the thought of Robinson being an only child except that I had always hoped for a large family. Rian and I had always said definitely 2, maybe 3 children. We both come from families of 3 and have greatly enjoyed having siblings and large Holiday family gatherings. I feel like I would be depriving Robinson of the joy of having a brother and/or a sister. My brothers have brought so much fun and laughter in my life and I can not imagine a day without them...I would love for Robinson to feel that bond as well.

Adoption is a definite option. International adoption has become somewhat more difficult in recent years. Guatemala is not accepting any applications and Russia and China are accepting very few. Domestic adoption is an excellent option. There is always the cost involved, but there are thousands of children in this world that need good, loving homes and we feel like we have a lot of love to give. It makes no difference to me whether the child comes from my belly or someone else because they will most definitely be in my heart from the very first day.

If having a biological child were easily predictable, this would probably be our go to option. However, I just had my yearly physical with my OBGYN. My blood pressure was great 120/70 (and we all know how anxious I get at the doctor). I still am about 30 pounds overweight, which is difficult for me. They did A TON of bloodwork (4 vials!) and everything seems in order except my hormones are still kind of out of whack. My liver enzymes are finally back in the norm, etc. My doctor said that the hormones are probably delaying the weight loss and just to keep at it and it would come off. The good news is that I had lost ~15 pounds from my appt in Feb. so at least it IS coming off- although it's slower than molasses. My point of all of this is, it has taken me a loooong time to bounce back from PreE and HELLP. Much longer than it should have been. I probably pushed myself too hard at first. I was back at work 1.5 weeks after being discharged from the hospital and then would spend a couple of hours every night at the NICU and longer on the weekends plus wake up in the middle of the night to call the NICU and check on Robinson. It has obviously taken a physical and emotional toll on me. I honestly do not know if I can go through it again. If I were to get pregnant, I have about 75% chance of the PreE recurring. With my first time happening at 26 weeks, it's a toss up about how much further I could go. Most of the time, the onset is later, but seriously, later than 26 weeks could be 30 weeks- STILL very premature with lots of NICU time, etc. Not to mention, that I would be older. My blood pressure took almost a year to go down and I'm still on very low dose beta blocker. I don't want to end up with chronic hypertension or worse- I could have a stroke if it got high enough. I have Robinson and Rian to think about now that I'm aware of what could happen. Also, I would most likely be put on some form of bed rest- especially if I make it to the 3rd trimester. How am I supposed to be on bed rest with a toddler that is as active as my little man- there is no way. Plus, if we have NICU time again, that's time at night and on the weekends when one of us would be away from Robinson. I'm babbling, I know...I just need to get some of these thoughts out of my head. I'm having nightmares again- Robinson's 1st birthday was hard on me. It brought back a lot of memories and issues that I hadn't really dealt with before and I really don't know if I could handle them again. I'm a ball of anxiety just thinking about the situation.

So, as you could probably guess, we are leaning towards domestic adoption right now. We will revisit the subject next Spring- hopefully once I have lost this weight (being overweight increases the chances of recurrence) and get back to healthy again. I want to be off all medications and still not having any issues before I begin the thought process again. Although there is a part of me that truly believes this is God's will. I don't know that we would have thought about adoption had my pregnancy gone so well. Maybe this is God's way of pointing us in the direction of a child that needs us and that we need as well. I have dreams lately of a me running to try to protect a child that I can never find- maybe God is just showing me the right path.

And so to bring a little smile to your face...the latest picture of our little man- he is a handsome little guy!!

12 Month Appointment/Professional Pictures

Once again, I find myself apologizing for not updating the blog in a while! Robinson becomes more mobile each and every day and it doesn't leave a lot of computer time. haha Plus, we've been trying to get out the house as much as possible and we don't really have a lot of down time. Mommy is exhausted.. :)

We had Robinson's 12 month well baby check a couple of weeks ago. He was 22 pounds, 29 3/4 inches long and his head circumference was 46 cm. This puts him in the 50th percentile!!! woohoo...His pediatrician is beyond impressed with him and she told me to stop stressing about his weight- his good! This really was great news because at his 9 month appt, he was in the 30th percentile so he's jumped up quite a bit. That's huge news, especially for a preemie. Usually once they get on the charts, they are still on the lower end for a few years.

Developmentally, he continues to amaze us. He can stand un assisted now; cruises with just one hand lightly touching things and can take 2-3 steps all by himself! So I guess, technically he's walking, but I think it's more official when he can take several steps on his own- he's very close though.

Eating is going well. We started whole milk. He likes it, but prefers it in a sippy cup- won't drink it in a bottle (who would've thought). He gets milk in the morning and night now and then 1-2 more bottles of formula depending on how hungry he is. We still do a mix of table food/puree food, but he's getting much better. Breakfast is yogurt and oatmeal, or a blueberry waffle with pieces of banana. Lunch is cheese (his new favorite food) with some deli meat, and dinner is usually whatever we are having- he loves Mexican food! He still doesn't eat large quantities of table food, so I supplement with the purees for nutrition since he doesn't drink a lot of formula anymore. He loves a juice box and is so cute drinking out to the straw. I find that they are much more travel friendly and I can get them in little 4 ounce quantities instead of trying to carry several sippy cups around.

He communicates more now too. He says 'da da' and looks at Rian, so we think he realizes what he says. He goes "oh" and "hey"...and if he notices you aren't paying attention to him, he'll walk over to you and put his face in your face and say "HEY"...it's hilarious! He's quite funny and we think he's going to have a good sense of humor.

Here are some professional pictures that we had taken of Robinson a few weeks ago. They turned out really well and his facial expressions just crack us up! Rian says he gets that from me!


ENJOY!!

NICU Follow Up/Development Appt.

Today Robinson had his NICU follow up which checks his development and how well he is doing on his milestones. For preemies, they need to make sure that they do not need physical, speech or occupational therapy if they get behind on milestones. Obviously, you want to catch it quickly so that you can correct any issues. They have Robinson go to USA for the appointments every 4 months to re-evaluate.

Today was a little more intense than the last session. He had to sit across a table from a doctor and they brought out various toys and watched what he did with them and looked for certain things. He had to be able to pick up 2 block with his hand and then a third and put them down together; get the blocks out of cup and underneath a shelf; grab a rope; shake a bell; stack the blocks; pull pins from holes; point to items in a book; turn in different directions to sound; point out Mommy and Daddy; feed himself cheerios; crawl; stand; cruise; laugh, and talk.

Robinson did fantastic! They said he is completely caught up to his actual age (12 months) for all of his major milestones and is even ahead of the game of some gross and cognitive skills. She was really impressed that Robinson gives "kisses" when asked- open mouth, right on the lips! haha She said he was amazing and that you would never know he was a preemie. She actually thought she had read his chart wrong and couldn't believe that he was a 26 weeker.

They were also really impressed with his size. Robinson weighed 21.9 pounds today!! Seriously! I couldn't believe it...I think she was off on the height and head circumference b/c Robinson wouldn't hold still and according to the nurse's measurements his head and length would've shrunk from his 9 month apppointment! haha....she wasn't too thrilled with me when I just point blankly said "well, that can't be right, I know he hasn't shrunk". hehe....I measured his head and length when we got home and I think his head is around 46 cm and length is about 29 inches- but I'll be happy when we go to the pediatrician in a couple of weeks and get a confirmation on those. I remember their numbers were off when we went at 4 months, so I always trust my pedi's office more so than others.

Lastly, we had to go through his history over the past year and they seemed pleasantly surprised that Robinson has not had a hospital visit, antibiotics, any illness- not even a trip to the doctor that wasn't a check up! It was a very good visit and very good day...I will continue to pray that our little man gets stronger and healthier every day.

We love you Robinson!

Birthday Boy!

I can not believe that Robinson turned 1 year old today! This year has flown by and I can't believe how far we've come- We are so proud of our little guy. I just wanted to share some pictures from his party we had this weekend. We were originally going to throw this big shin dig and invite everyone we knew! haha But we finally came to our senses and realized it would be a little overwhelming for the little man, so we just had family over for cake and ice cream on Saturday. We had a wonderful time and it was perfect for his 1st birthday.

I loved his outfit I found him

The Cake

The Smash Cake

He was NOT a fan of cake- Robinson does not like sweet stuff, he'd much rather have his veggies...Rian said he gets that from me!

Family Picture

With his Poppa Jim

In his new Batman PJ's
After the party, my parents babysat and Rian and I went to a friend's wedding Mobile- it was so nice to have a night out with friends- but we were home by 9:30 pm because I missed the little guy!

4th of July

I am so sorry for the long delay in blog posts. We have just been so busy around here with my Dad's birthday, Father's Day, the 4th and drum roll please, preparing for Robinson 1st birthday!! I can NOT believe that this time next week our little man will be one year old. Where has the time gone?


Like I said, though, we have been really busy getting out of the house, visiting with family, etc. and having a grand time this summer. Robinson is *this* close to walking, I can just feel it. He's also trying so hard to talk these days and belly laughing a lot more. He's learned to 'wrestle' with you on the floor and has the best time laughing rolling around with you. This is a fun age for laughter!


Eating is getting better. He's back to loving his bottle (so I think the teething is what was bothering him before). He's taking about 24-28 ounces per day and he's getting better with the table food. He'll feed himself with puffs and cheerios and pieces of chicken. He likes cheese, blueberries, peaches, apples (soaked to make them softer), bananas, any kind of bread, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and he's getting better at pasta. The only hiccup is that it takes him FOREVER to chew some of this stuff, so he still doesn't eat enough of table food to constitute a full meal and giving up the puree, just yet. I think within the next few weeks, though, we'll make great improvements. Robinson has shown time and time again that he does things on his own time.

We have yet to find a sippy cup that he just loves. He'll drink out of them, but not more than ounce or so...he gets bored with them. I have to admit that's it's frustrating as a mom too. They either are so slow flow that it takes too much work to get any out or they just come pouring out and he chokes....I mean, isn't there a medium flow or faster flow sippy cup??! If you have any suggestions, let me know. We've tried 4 different kinds as of right now...I've heard good things about the Nuby ones, but I don't know if Robinson will like them since they are a straw....he has one that is a straw and he refuses to even try to drink out of that one. It's all trial and error...we'll see! :)

Here are some pictures from the 4th- I was so busy chasing Robinson and visiting, that I didn't take many pictures. I promise to do better as his birthday party!!

Robinson with Uncle James - who by the way is no longer an intern. He passed his boards and is officially a Family Medicine Resident- wooooohoooo!

You know I always have to get a close up of our handsome boy...

Kissing his cousin, Preston. He just adores him :)

Robinson and Preston

Robinson with his cousins, Peyton and Preston

CRUISIN

I've been tired this week. Not really sure why. Robinson has been a restless sleeper lately...more teeth trying to come through and it's rough on the little guy. Which means that I am not sleeping well, but I should be used to no sleep by now, huh?! But the 800 pound gorilla that it's in he room is the memories from last year. This time last year is when I started to feel a little run down, not like myself. My blood pressure was still fine, at the time, so I wasn't too worried, but I just felt like something was off. My face, hands and feet has started swelling and I was feeling weird...

So unbelievable to think that was a year ago...an entire year has almost gone by since Robinson was born (you do realize that our little charmer is 11 months old, right?!) It seems like yesterday to me...the memories are still so vivid. I can still actually smell the hospital and NICU smells. I hear a beep on tv and my mind flashes back to the alarms in the NICU at Robinson's bedside. I guess I'm going to have a lot of these flashbacks within the next month. I think it's probably only natural. Just humor me as I type them out for you leading up to Robinson's big day....I think it helps the healing process of letting people in on what's going on in my thoughts. I know I have not been the best at "sharing my feelings" in my lifetime, but I think that's something that I need to change. I know keeping all of these memories and emotions bottled up can not be good for me...I've already noticed that the past few weeks. I'm a little more anxious; a little more worried about Robinson- over the silliest things...I'm blowing things way out of proportion. And I think it's because this time last year everything was perfect and then it all changed within a blink of an eye...I'm just scared of it happening again.

As far as Robinson is going, he's doing great. He's moving along with his milestones and surprising us every day. He is trying to start to wave, although, I don't think he really gets it yet. He's eating table food a lot better- even feeding puffs and cheerios to himself! He's not liking the baby food anymore, so we are at a crossroads. He's not interested in table food enough, yet, to eat a substantial amount (or it would take us an hour per meal) but he's not really into the baby food anymore either. Any suggestions?? I'm thinking 'it just takes time' is the key and patience is my new friend and enemy!

The title of this post is "Cruisin"...that's because our little man is cruisin all over this house! I really think he is very close to walking and he's pretty fast crawling/cruising. Rian and I are having fun (and getting exhausted) trying to keep up with him. I also wanted to use the title because I feel like we're just cruisin right along...11 months has gone by just like that...it feels way too fast. My 'baby' is starting to look and act like a little boy *sniff* *sniff*

Here are some pictures and videos for your enjoyment-

I've been giving Robinson the spoon at the end of the meal so that he can start to learn to feed himself...I have to hold myself back from wiping him down every second. I guess I need to get used to having a boy, huh?!

Can you believe how tall he is getting? He could barely look over this thing a month ago and now he's head and shoulders above it. OH, and you can see his teeth!

Here's the video of Robinson speed crawling

And here's the video of him cruising down the couch