memory lane part 3...Rylee and my mom!

I am dedicating this post to my mom! She is NOT doing well. She wants nothing more than for me to complete school so I am starting my externship Oct. 25 and praying that she holds on long enough for me to get back out to California. I am overwhelmed with "life" right now. With everything going on with my mom, the woman who kidnapped Rylee, trying to find the "right" psychologist for Rylee and hoping to start with a great woman myself soon (Blake Hickerson's mom....if you know her, she is wonderful). BUT, there is more. I have been worried about Rylee's eyes the last year because she is having a hard time learning her colors....she is too young to "test" for sure but there is a good chance that she is colored blind. I know that being color blind is NOT the biggest deal in the world but it is just one more thing that I have no control of, and one more thing that is pushing me closer and closer to my "limit".......thats about it for now, enjoy the pictures!

my mom's first time to hold Rylee, she was 5 days old and we were about to leave the hospital!

GiGi and Rylee bonding

GiGi is so funny!

:) how precious is this!

this is one of my all time favorite pictures!

Rylee taking a nap just before the party for her 1st birthday! My mom ALWAYS kisses Rylee's hands, I think this is the only picture I have of that

they had not seen each other in 5 months, still the bond is there!

Rylee LOVES my mom's bracelet....one day it will be hers!

jammin out on the carousal at the Parks Mall August 2009

happy again!

Rylee always goes to my mom for "lip gick"

April 2010, just after my mom was diagnosed with lung and brain cancer.

silly GiGi, wearing Rylee's hat at the Living Desert animal show in Rancho Mirage, California

the two of them primping!

I have a few more pictures of Rylee and my mom from our trip in August/September but they are not the way I want to remember my mom so I will keep those private. All the prayers for ease of pain and suffering would be much appreciated. Thank you!!!

That's about it for now!

Memory Lan.....part 2

here are pictures from March and April 2008, mainly from her lip repair surgery and recovering. Some of the pictures might be hard to look at just warning you. ALSO....she started to figure out different ways to make us laugh....that is why there are soooo many goofy pictures!

2 months old....3-4-2008

lookin good!

FINALLY got a smile on camera!

what a change in just 2 months!

12 weeks....one of my ALL time fav. pictures

lol

shocking

 

 

 

the following are from the day before Rylee's surgery, day of the surgery and recovery

=)

the redness is from the glue/tape that we had to change every 12 hours BUT LOOK HOW GOOD HER LIP LOOKS!

her nostril and alveolar cleft ridge really came together quite nicely! She still has the alveolar cleft ridge (separation in the gum line).

I miss that gummy wide smile!

her last picture taken with a cleft lip!

surgery tool a little longer than expected. She was sooo swollen =(

lethargic

trying to come out of the anesthesia

my sleeping beauty, less than 12 hrs. post op and the swelling had gone wayyyy down!

proud mommy!

this is how we had to feed her for 2 weeks......such a pain in the butt, but soo worth the results we have now

we were soo tired, but we got us a family picture!

she was not a big fan of the "NO NOs" (arm restraints) she had to wear them for 3 weeks so she wouldn't hit herself in the mouth

going home

back to making silly faces!

sleeping beauty

hehe...more silly faces

hahaha, she also learned how to blow spit bubbles within 48 hours of surgery and for the first time she could make a lip smacking sound so needless to say she was getting spit everywhere.....but it was soooo cool for us to watch her figure everything out

she wanted her arms to go above her head but the arm restraints would only let her get them to the "baby Jesus" position so this is how she slept!

one week post op, stitches came out!!! That was such a heart breaking moment because they had to put her on a mummy wrap board and it took 3 nurses to get them out because she was so pissed that she couldn't move =(

lookin good my LOVE!!!

Well, her was another installment in my walk down memory lane....more to come int he near future!

A trip down memory lane....part 1

I have been talking about going through all of my pictures that are saved onto discs/flash drives that I have not looked at in a LONG time....I figured I would share with you!

20 weeks....we found out we were having a GIRL on the day this picture was taken!

   

36 weeks 6 days, she was here 2 days later

was sooo nervous and excited all at the same time!

I

4:34am January 4, 2008

she was so grey, took her over 2 minutes to breath on her own

  

she was 6lb 11oz and when we took her home 5 nights later she weighed 5lb 14oz

she was about the same size as George's hand

our first family picture

her nostril was so flat....but MAN, food had no problem coming out of it when she tried to eat!

soooo mad

she was under the "billy lights" for 2 days before we were able to go home.

 

they had to use the vacuum on her head because she was so wedged in my pelvis. made an ugly bruise :( 

 

she still sleeps with her hands up like this!

 

my froggy baby

 

she was sooo tiny :(

 

I was sooo tired all the time

 

her levels started to go up again so we did some sun therapy for her jaundice

10 days old, got her NAM device today! (we both cried) and she was above her birth weight again! yay

and she got her ears taped...that was a PAIN but she only had them for 6 weeks

waiting on Dr. Supakit and Dr. Park to come in and fit her for her NAM

on the way to get her NAM....makes me sad to see how tiny she still was

Daddy, baby and big brother Roger

Roger was always sooo protective of her

6 weeks old...I loved those pink corduroy overalls 

(this one is a little out of order) you can see the severity of her cleft here

about 4 weeks after using the NAM and her nostril could stand on its own!

hehe...I love her

8 weeks old!! Her lips were already stretched to where they could touch!yay

okay, that is about it for now!