Ciara Lynn Anthony

A new year...

2011-12-29T21:12:00.000-08:00

Dressed up for Christmas eve service
and I had to share this one with you!!!! This is what we look like trying to get a good picture!

Ciara opening her Rapunzel doll on Christmas day.

I made the girls blankets for Christmas

It looks like I starve her, but I promise the child eats!

Playing with daddy's work light

Well it has been a long time since I last posted...I'm talking like a year ago. That's a long time! I had a gift given to me today and it warmed my heart so much that I felt like writing again. So here I am at midnight blogging. This gift will mean more to me than the giver will ever know and I can not even express my gratitude for it. They are a true blessing in my life. Yet I have never even met them...

God is good. He still shines his light through good and honest people in a world where it is unheard of to help someone you don't even know. God is good and we praise him.

We have been doing very well here in the Anthony household. Christmas has just passed us and boy did it fly by quick. The girls of course were spoiled with every present they asked for on their list and then some. I made sure to try teach them the real reason we celebrate this joyous season and why are thankful for God's gift of eternity. Again, God is so good.

Ciara is doing great and weighing in at a whopping 22 pounds! She is getting pretty tall and is ALL muscle. I mean ALL muscle. That child does not have an ounce of fat on her. She is very busy and never really sits still for more than a moment. She loves to dress up pretty and pretend she is a princess, but I don't know how long that will last. When she plays she is so rough and I have to remind her that I am not daddy and she needs to take it easy on me! I picture her becoming some what of a tough girl and getting into things that daddy likes. I see 4 wheelers and dirt bikes in her future! She enjoys the time that she and I have together on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays while Aaliyah is in school. She is fastly approaching her 3rd birthday so she will be graduating out of the Early Intervention program. She is going to be tested again on the 13th to see if she qualifies to be in the Headstart program. I honestly don't think she will qualify. The last time she was tested for Early Intervention she was not delayed enough to stay in the program but I had the option to keep her in. I didn't feel like her speech was well enough to discontinue therapy so I requested that we continue. It was a great decision. We have added speech therapy with our new friend Ms. Emily and our good friend Ms. Kathi still visits with us weekly. For the past couple of months we have been going to ITP in Dubois for our weekly sessions. ITP stands for Infant Toddler Playtime and it is kind of like preschool but only for 2 hours. I stay with her for the entire 2 hours. We have circle time that includes a story and some sharing, then we have open playtime and we encourage the children to play together, we have snack time, brush our teeth, and we end the session with some physical activity. Ciara really enjoys going and it has been very beneficial for her. She has a little friend, Jared, that she takes to and they seem to enjoy each others company. I know I will be sad here in a couple of months when I won't have these wonderful people in our lives weekly. We have been blessed with wonderful teachers and therapists.

Aaliyah is doing well and is thriving at school. Most of the time she is eager to go and learn. Lately she has been having some problems with some of the boys picking on her, but hopefully we have that resolved now. She is our little princess and can be found in a dress as long as she is allowed. Gym day is somewhat of a struggle getting her to understand that she has to wear pants and sneakers. She is finishing up her 4 year old preschool year and will be starting kindergarden in the fall!!! Can you believe it! Where did the past years go? When Aaliyah was born it seemed like everyone I met or talked to told me to enjoy my time with her because it goes by quick. I remember smiling and thinking I would enjoy her, but now that she is growing so fast I completely understand what they were talking about. It goes by way too fast.

Corey is doing well and is still working for Universal. I am also doing well and still selling Pampered Chef when I can talk someone into ordering or having a show for me. My mom and I started making jewelry and watch bands during the summer and find joy in it. We went to a couple of local craft shows and had a good response! I really enjoy the mommy time that I get making them and going to shows to sell. I wish we could find one coming up soon! We are kind of on a vacation right now!

I am still struggling with Interstitial Cystitis and this summer was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I have been going to water therapy at the hospital and it has been helping a lot. When the new year comes I won't be able to go as often though. With the start of the new year comes a new $500 deductible and I will have to pay cash at each visit. A session is $75 an hour. So if I continued to go 3 times a week I would be looking at an extra $225 per week until my deductible is met and then 20% of my visits after that. I just can't afford it! I will continue to do the exercises here at home and stretch as much as possible. They have been very helpful while I was able to go. I am having a hard time regulating my pain with my prescriptions. The side effects are horrible!! I was on one that really helped my pain, but I gained 14 pounds of water weight in 3 months. I just tried one where my heart rate shot up to 110 and made me feel like I was going to pass out. I would like to try some alternative therapies like acupuncture and massage and not rely so much on medication. At 29 years old I don't feel like I should be taking so many pills!

Well it is now 12:48 a.m. and I better get to sleep. Again, I am completely speechless and humbled by the generosity of some people. The Lord still does have angels among us and I thank him for blessing us with one of them.

MSPI troubles

2010-10-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

If all goes as planned this will be our new home.
Coopers Pumpkin Farm

Hay ride

petting zoo

horsey carriage rides!

woohoo!

waiting for the horseys

Well, things have been pretty good here at the Anthony residence. Ciara is weighing in at 16lbs 12 oz. You read right-she is loosing weight. She has not been feeling well lately with back to back colds and I felt she needed an antibiotic. For a while now her weight has been on a plateau at about 17 lbs. Well now slowly she is loosing. I asked Sharon if maybe it could be possible she had a tape worm. Sharon said tape worms are very rare, but she tested Ciara along with some basic blood work. All of the testing came back normal so she referred us to the GI specialists at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh. Our first visit was last Monday and it was very overwhelming. Dr. Goyal believes Ciara is allergic to milk and soy proteins. Because she is allergic to the proteins, and I have been feeding them to her, her digestive system is unable to absorb the nutrients. When the PA listened to her bowel sounds they didn't sound well and her bowels need time to heal. So we have her on a no milk no soy diet. This has been very trying for me and I have to completely change the way I feed my family. Before I gave Ciara whatever she wanted and I didn't mind that she wanted a cookie. Now I have to stand and stare at the label and make sure there are no ingredients that could make her belly hurt. I will eventually get it right, but right now I do get frustrated!

I went grocery shopping on Tuesday while Aaliyah was at preschool and it was very overwhelming. Pretty much everything I fed her before either has milk or soy in it. I have been checking out website after website finding recipes and advice from other mommies who have MSPI (milk soy protein intolerance) babies. After I got home from County Market, I asked Corey if he wanted steak or salmon for dinner. He looked at me weird and said "I don't even like salmon." I started to cry and said "I'm just trying to feed my baby-What do you mean you don't like salmon!" So needless to say I am a bit stressed out about this. As a mother I feel like such a failure that I have been pretty much poisoning my baby!!! She is so skinny and you can see her ribs. Please pray for Ciara. I want her to gain weight and feel healthy so bad.

Aaliyah is doing well and absolutely loves preschool. She has made friends and is always excited when I tell her it is time for school. She has been coming home with lots of germs and the girls have had 2 really bad colds since the beginning of September. Aaliyah does really well at fighting off the virus, but Ciara has a rough time. Aaliyah is learning a lot at school and is always eager to tell me all the new things! On Thursday they had a fire truck come to the school and learn about fire safety. She really enjoyed it even though she said she didn't want to go into the truck, but she did because her friends did. She is 3 going on 14 and cracks me up with some of the things she says! And her hand gestures and the faces she makes are so hilarious.

Corey is doing well and working like crazy. He has not had a week with less than 80 hours for a while. They have changed his schedule to 6 days on call and 3 days off so that has really helped to catch up on his rest and spend some time with us. The girls miss him so much and are always thrilled when he is home. Aaliyah cries for her daddy sometimes and my heart just breaks.

The big news is that we are buying a new home. Corey and I had been checking out real estate websites and trying to decide if we wanted to buy a different home or build. It was so much money to build so we decided we would keep our eyes open for a good home. Our friend Jodi's parents are selling their house and they told friends and family about it before they put it on the market. Corey and I fell in love. The house is on 3 acres and is very secluded. It is a ranch style home and is about 600 square feet less than our house, but it wouldn't take anything at all to finish the basement. Bill and Patti have accepted our offer and now we just need to get our house sold. We have been slowly chipping away at the list of things that need done before we want to put it on the market. It is so hard when Corey is never here and there is only so much I can do. Hopefully we will make some progress this week and will be ready to list it soon. Bill and Patti will hold the house until January 1st and if we don't have it sold by then they can decide to list their house or maybe we will be able to work out a deal for them to hold it a bit longer. We are really excited to live out in the country. We are not town people.

I can't believe it, but in 2 weeks we will be in Florida!!! It really snuck up on me and I can't believe it is time already! We will be flying in on October 26 and flying home on November 3. We are taking Aaliyah to Disney on that Friday and having lunch with the princesses. She is so excited and talks about Disney all the time. We have been talking with Nana on skype and she is excited to see Nana and Poppa Coach. We haven't seen Pat for almost a year and Corey and I have not been to Florida since we were dating. That was 5 years ago!

I have been doing well and am still selling Pampered Chef. I really enjoy it and it is such a wonderful way to get out of the house for the day and socialize with great people. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I pretty much just feel like a taxi driver! Aaliyah has school from 8:30-11 so it is not worth coming home and then turning around and coming back into town. So Ciara and I find something to do for a couple of hours. Then we head home and go back into town on Tuesday afternoons for soccer shots at school. I decided to sign her up because her friend Alyssa is also playing and I knew she would enjoy being with her. After a couple of sessions I feel like she is too immature for it. She pretty much just stands there and watches the other kids play. She won't stretch and she won't run..she just stands there. I feel so bad for coach Eric!! He is always trying to get her into the game and she is really not interested! Oh well. I ask her after every session if she had fun and she always says yes and looks forward to it every week. On Thursdays I drop Aaliyah off at school and then come home and meet Kathi for Ciara's therapy. Ciara attends much better and does very well at therapy when she doesn't have Aaliyah taking her attention. So after therapy we head back into town and pick up Lee. So like I said Tuesdays and Thursdays are not very productive for me!!!

I continue to praise God for my beautiful baby girl and pray that we have found the answer to her weight loss and she will begin to be a healthy little girl.

Remember me?

2010-08-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

Enjoying my birthday cake-even in her nose!

wearing her cousin Brooke's nighty

We had a family photo shoot

Hello! It has been forever since I last updated so lets get right to it!

Ciara is doing wonderful weighing in at 17 lbs 1oz. She has gained a little, but she is so busy that she burns off as much as she takes in! She is walking around everywhere and climbs everything in sight! She is such a little monkey. She currently has 4 teeth coming in so she has been cranky the past couple of days. It is so exciting that she is finally getting teeth. She has had just two up until now. She is doing well sleeping and generally sleeps 12 hours at night and takes a 2-3 hour nap during the day. Sometimes I get lucky and she takes two naps! She is learning new words everyday and loves to jabber on and on. We are still doing therapy once a week and we enjoy our time with Ms. Kathi. Ciara is doing very well and at her last evaluation she was only behind in self-help skills. She JUST qualified to stay in the program and since it does nothing but help her I decided to keep having Kathi come over and play with her. Ciara really enjoys her time with Kathi and gets sad when Kathi has to leave. She is a vibriant, healthy, very energetic little girl! We are so blessed to have her here with us.

Aaliyah is doing well and will be starting preschool on September 7th. She is so excited and I am so sick to my stomach about it! I just don't want to believe that my baby is old enough to go to preschool! Wasn't it just yesterday that I held her in my arms just seconds after pushing 1 1/2 hours to deliver her? Didn't I just bring her home? Where does the time go? She will be going to SSCD preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30-11:30. Like I said she is so excited. She is also extremely excited about our trip to see Nana! On the last week of October we are flying down to Florida to spend the week with Nana and GG and grandpa Gunther. We are spending one day in Disney and we have reserved a spot to have lunch with Cinderella in the castle. She talks about it constantly and asks if it is time to go yet! Corey and I are so excited to be able to take her to Disney. I never had the opportunity to go as a child and I am more than thrilled that Aaliyah can have these memories. Corey and I decided it would be more enjoyable for Aaliyah and us if we left Ciara with Nana for the day and just focused on Aaliyah. I had a hard time with this decision. I don't want Ciara to look back at the pictures and wonder where she was and why she didn't get to go to Disney with us. I know she will get to go eventually. We plan to visit Nana every other year. So I gave in and am happy with my choice. Aaliyah really doesn't get to do much with just Corey and me. It will be nice to focus on her. Aaliyah is growing like a weed and is in size 5 clothes. She is so tall now measuring at 42 1/2"! She is still wearing pull-ups to bed and having a wet one in the morning. This is honestly my fault. If she asks for a glass of milk before bed I let her have one. She is doing well during her naps though and has been waking up dry. I wasn't making her take a nap before, but I find she sleeps better at night and is less whiny if she gets an afternoon brake. Now if I could just get the girls to nap at the same time I would really have it made! This past week we attended vacation bible school in the evenings and grandma Benson watched Ciara so I could help Teresa round up all the little ones. We had so much fun and had a little program on Sunday morning with all of the songs they learned. Well Aaliyah decided she wasn't going to do a single thing but stand up there. She wouldn't sing or clap or wave her hands so all of the pictures of her are pretty uneventfull. She is such a stinker sometimes!

Corey is doing well and working like crazy. For the last couple of months he has been working 70-80 hour weeks. He pretty much just comes home to sleep and then gets called back in. We look forward to his days off and the girls miss him so much. Aaliyah has been having a hard time with him being gone so much. The other day when he got called out she started crying after he left and kept saying she was going to miss him so much. When she gets up in the morning the first thing she asks me is "Where is my daddy?" I love the days when I can say he's home and she can be with him! Ciara's face lights up when her daddy comes home and she loves to play and cuddle with him. Those girls love their daddy! He has not been here much to help me around the house so I have been taking on projects that I would normally NEVER attempt to do. Why just last night I put a new flapper in the downstairs toliet and was extremely proud of myself! The toliet was constantly running and all I could think about was how much money we were wasting! I also have been quite the mouse catcher and have emptied out the mouse traps on my own. It's not something I would have ever done before, but I have learned to get things done that need to be. My dad helps me a lot with letting me know what parts I need to get and how to fix things. I don't know what I would do without him.

I am doing well and keeping myself busy with being a mommy. I am still a Pampered Chef consultant and absolutely love when I have a show. I really enjoy getting some time to myself. I don't really have any set up right now and need to get on the phone and start filling up my calender! I have been watching the two neighbor children in the afternoons for some extra money and that keeps me busier than I want to be!!! Four children is a hand-full! I just keep saying to myself "My poor parents." You know by the time you realize your mother was right, you have a daughter that thinks you are wrong! And let me tell you Aaliyah lets me know what she thinks too! I celebrated a birthday on the 11th and can't believe I'm 28! I remember when Corey and I started dating he was 27 and I thought that was so old! haha!

Praise the Lord our family is healthy and happy! He is so good.

Not gaining...again!

2010-06-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

One of Ciara's NICU nurses Jill got married and invited us! Aaliyah wanted to get her picture by the cake!
Ciara and Lilly!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Walter

My nudest-DIVA

Cutie!

We went over to visit Gram Anthony. She is not feeling well and told us she is ready to go home to Jesus. Aaliyah over heard her and on the way home asked me how she could meet Jesus. She wanted to know if she could go with Gram and see him!

silly girl on Memorial Day

Filling up Grammy and Poppa Detwiler's pool

Cool baby!!!

Ciara is doing well weighing in at 16 lbs 3 oz. Unforuntely she has been this weight for over a month and a half. We were in to the doctor's office on May 28 to talk about her allergies. Sharon was a little concerned with her weight so she put her on a protein shake daily. I give her either a boost or a pedisure. She enjoys the boost, but she is not crazy about the pedisure! She is a fantasic eater, but she is a busy little girl!! I think she plays it off as soon as she gets it in. Hopefully she will start to gain a little soon. Her allergies have been bothering her and Sharon switched her medicine from Zyrtec to Singulair. So far it does not seem to be working. If this doesn't work then we may have to get her tested to see what medicine is best for her. Other than being tiny and having allergies she is doing really well. She is almost walking and starting to say quite a few words! She says "tank woo" (thank you) all the time. Even when she gives me something she says it! She is so precious. Ciara continues to have therapy every week and has an evaluation coming up in June.

Aaliyah is doing very well and is so bright. The things she says to me and Corey amaze me. She is doing well on the potty, but still wears a diaper at bedtime. Honestly, this is my fault. She likes to have a glass of milk right before bed and I always let her have one. So naturally she is going to have to go potty before morning. She is getting excited about preschool and asks me a lot of it is time to go yet. She is a good helper and loves to make her sister smile. But they are sisters so Aaliyah is always pushing Ciara away and telling her no. I told her that I hear her say no to Ciara more than I say it myself! Corey set up a blow-up pool for her and as soon as she gets up in the morning she is asking to go swimming.

Corey is doing great and is finishing up the remodeling in the living room. It is almost finished! We have to trim around the windows and it will be done. He has done such a beautiful job. He also put in a new door and screen door. I love the new screen door! Our old one didn't close and made this annoying sound when you would open it. So after we get the trim finished he will be taking down the panneling in the door way and replace it with new drywall. He is still working a lot of long hours.

I am doing well with my Pampered Chef business. I enjoy it so much!!!! It is my time to get out of the house and have a conversation with a grown up! And I just happen to make some money while I am doing it. My bladder has been ok and I had an appointment at Magee on Thursday. Dr. Sagan is about 90% sure I have Intersitial Cystitis. I have been taking Elmiron since March so we will decide in September which road we sould take next. There is no actual test to diagnose IC. You pretty much just rule out everything else and then decide that is what you have. So far I have all of the symptoms, but there are other diseases that have these symptoms too.

About three weeks ago I noticed a spot on my right breast that looked like a bug bite. I showed it to Corey and we decided that it was either a bug bite or a billed hair. Last week I just happened to look in the mirror while getting in the shower and noticed that the spot was spreading. A couple of days later it started to itch. So I made an appointment with my doctor and saw her on Friday. Well the morning of I noticed some discharge from my nipple and my breast was tender. She ordered a mammogram and ultrasound, but the hospital did not have an opening until June 9th. Unless they have a cancellation before then-I just have to wait. Lindy gave me a prescription for Keflex in case it is an infection. I am terrified and I just want to get this testing done to make sure everything is ok. I will keep you updated.

We continue to praise God everyday for our wonderful family and friends. We know that everything that happens is his will and he will see us through anything. I have been doing a lot of praying lately and I know he is listening. God bless.

A tooth!!!

2010-04-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

Ciara and I both share my Grandpa Barnoff's crazy hair!
Feeding Kissy

Remodeling the living room. This is what it looks like right now. This is a new window.

Corner TV stand

New front window.

Ciara finding eggs on Easter

Easter princess

The pile of rubble after living room demo

Nice wallpaper huh?

Mimi laying in the mess

Aaliyah climbing at the Big Run park

Helping daddy take the junk out

The living room before we started

Aaliyah pushing Ciara

Old Tv stand that needs a new home Aaliyah after the Big Run egg hunt. It was soooo cold.ready to find some eggs

Ciara got into her sisters basket

Princess Ciara at the birthday party

Playing with the parachute

We had so much fun

Daddy helping Aaliyah make a basket

MOMM!!!!

Aaliyah and cousin Mackenzie

Happy baby with Uncle Markie

It has been forever since I have last updated!!! Let's catch up. Ciara is now weighing in at a wonderful 16 pounds! On Tuesday she got her first tooth! We are so excited at how well she is growing. She is talking well too. Her favorite words are momma and dada, but she also says Elmo, nice, all done, and who's that! She is so precious and she amazes me everyday. She is so bright and wants to imitate everything that we do. She is not walking yet. But she is cruising around and standing on her own. She prefers to have me take her hands and walk with her so the desire is there she just needs to get the courage. Ciara continues to have therapy every Tuesday and loves when Kathi comes over to play. Ciara gets all excited and starts bouncing and screaming. We are blessed to have such a wonderful person in our lives.

Aaliyah is doing well and getting bigger and smarter by the second. She is really enjoying going outside to play and has made friends with the neighbor girl and is always begging me to go over or have her come over here. Hmmm...that reminds me of a two little girls who lived in Walston that couldn't go a day without each other!! I love you Kaylan! She is doing well being a big sister and is very helpful. The only thing she doesn't do well with is sharing. I feel like I am constantly yelling at her to share! She spends a lot of time in the corner! We will keep working on it. She is registered to go to SSCD in the fall for preschool and is so excited. She has been having some separation anxiety and does not want to leave me at all. This past week she refused to go to either of her grandma's houses and she usually can't wait to go. Hopefully this is just a phase. As my Grandma Detwiler would say "This too shall pass."

We have been remodeling the living room. Corey has been working every since minute he is not at work. It is absolutely beautiful. We tore down the walls to the planks, blew in insulation, re-wired everything, put in more outlets (because we only had 2), put up new drywall, put in recess lighting, and built in a TV stand. Corey just finished painting yesterday and he and Grandpa Long are going to finish up the wiring on Wednesday. All we have left to do is put up the trim and it will be done. The girls and I have been hanging out upstairs and watching movies in Aaliyah's room. We have everything piled up in the playroom so there isn't much room to play downstairs. We pretty much just come downstairs to eat and do the dishes. We spent our entire tax return on the living room and it looks wonderful! It's so easy to spend it. It is definitely worth it though.

We continue to praise God everyday for our wonderful family. God Bless

Nurse Lilly and Dr. Hassen love

2010-03-04T08:23:00.000-08:00

On Saturday the girls, my mom, and I stopped by the Dubois Mall because DRMG was having a women's heart health day of dance. Some of our NICU friends were there as well as Dr. Hassen. One of Ciara's favorite nurses, Lilly, was there and she was so happy, and weepy, to see us and her little angel. Dr. Hassen also got in a couple of squeezes and kept telling Ciara "I love you" We had such a good time and we love everyone at the NICU! Hopefully soon we will be able to visit the actual NICU. Right now they have flu precautions so we are not able to go inside the NICU. Spring is on it's way and we will definitely visit then!

Aaliyah and Ciara's birthday party is on March 13 from 3-7. We rented the Community Center gym and social room. I am going to mail out invitations today. I hope you can make it!

Happy Birthday

2010-02-25T18:53:00.000-08:00

So Aaliyah took Ciara's blanket that she got for her birthday and covered up Grandpa Benson with it. Ciara did not like that and went over and stole it back from Grandpa!!!

An Elmo blanket!!!

Her first Birthday cake!!

blowing out the candle

Sister love...for the moment!!!

Silly sister!

Yummmmm rigatonis

I made her an ice cream birthday cake and when I was writing I ran out of room!! Oh well-I tried.

Cool baby and her "thrilled" daddy. He hates to have his picture taken.

Aaliyah was going to the moon like Little Bear. She had her "gobbles" on.

Getting the camera

Here are some pictures from our baby girl's first birthday and a couple from the days before. Praise the Lord our baby girl is one year old!!!!!!!!! Enjoy!

Here is a video of her eating her birthday cake-she loved it.

One year ago...

2010-02-15T10:38:00.000-08:00

This is little Phalen Manners! Welcome home!
Aaliyah riding Phalen's sister Briar's horsey

Ciara helping daddy put a shelf together

Aaliyah and kissy taking a nap

Ciara watching Yo Gabba Gabba

Her first spagetti

Aaliyah eating spagetti

notice the noodle on her chin

Corey found her playing in this tote so he carried her around in it

Aaliyah loves to stand on the register and do a Marilyn Monroe

helping with the dishes

February has been quite an amazing month. On February 5th we celebrated the anniversary of what we thought was the day we were going to loose Ciara. It was an emotional day for me. I remember the fear and sadness I felt that morning when I felt my sac out of me. But this year on the 5th I included happiness as one of the emotions. I am so blessed and thrilled to have Ciara in our lives. She is a true gift from God. As a thank you to the maternity unit and Dr. Khan and her staff, Corey and I sent them both flowers. The maternity unit called to thank me and I told them that this would be our anniversary and just like a lover I will always remember to send flowers! I will never be able to thank them enough or repay them for what they did for me and my family. Dr. Khan and her ladies were like angels to me and I will forever be thankful. God truly blessed our family with Ciara, but he also blessed us by having these wonderful ladies to help us and be in our lives today!

Ciara is doing so well and at her last Synagis shot appointment she weighed in at 14lb 11oz. She is crawling everywhere and getting into everything. She cruises from the couch to the table to the fish stand. The other day she was playing with a toy and did not realize she was standing by herself not holding on to anything! It won't be long before she is off and running. Aaliyah is not too crazy about her sister being able to get into her stuff now. She is yelling a lot for me to come and get sister because she is in her space. If I can't get there when Aaliyah wants me to she just corrects the situation herself and picks up Ciara and brings her to me. I have told her a couple of times not to do that in case she would fall or drop her sister, but if Ciara needs to be moved-Aaliyah is going to do it! Ciara continues to have therapy once a week with Kathy and she looks forward to playing with Kathy. As soon as Kathy walks in the door Ciara crawls over to her and wants to be held. We are so grateful to have Kathy in our lives and I love the relationship and bond she has with my daughter. She too is an angel. Ciara is starting to eat table food and is doing really well. We get WIC benefits and they provide us with 32 jars of fruits and vegetable baby food per month. Well lately she pushes the baby food away and wants what I am eating! Anytime she sees that I am eating something she makes her way over to me and then wines until I give her some. She is growing up so fast. She will celebrate her first birthday on the 25th. Boy how time flies!!!

Aaliyah is doing well and is completely potty trained!!! She still wears a diaper at bed time, but has been doing well getting up and telling me she has to go potty. I am so proud of her. She got her first official hair cut on Friday and was scared to death. I have been trimming her bangs for her-which is pretty much a hack job-for a while now. Lately her hair has been in her face so I thought it was time to get it all trimmed. I needed a trim as well so I went first to show her that it was nothing to be afraid of. When it was her turn she clutched on to me and kept saying "I want to go home." I finally convinced her to sit on my lap and let Pam "brush" her hair. After the trim she looked at me and said "See mommy it didn't hurt!" I was so proud of her and we had to go to the grocery store afterwards anyway so I told her she could pick out a toy. When we got to Wal-mart we went straight to the toy section and she had quite a hard time deciding what she wanted. It came down to a cinderella barbie doll and a fur-real baby parrot. She couldn't decide so she told me she wanted both! I told her she could only have one and that her birthday was coming up soon and I was sure the one she didn't get today she would probably get for her birthday. I braced myself for a temper tantrum. Instead Aaliyah looked at them both and said "OK mommy I'll get the parrot." I tell you what my little girl is so good and sweet, I gave her a hug and kiss right there. So we continued to shop and she asked if we could go back and look at the fish. I took her back and they had all sorts of new fish since we went last. They had this really long, ugly fish called a dragonfish and of course Aaliyah was fascinated. She looked at me and said, "Mommy that is so cool, we need one!" I studied it for a while and commented how ugly it was. Then she said, "Daddy will love it." After some thought I decided she could get the fish who she has named Really Big Guy. She carried her fish to the car and insisted on holding it on the drive home. It is still living and the thing is so creepy and ugly but she loves it and that is all that matters. Corey by the way did not love it and he said it was the ugliest fish he had ever seen! She also continues to be a nudest and I have a hard time keeping clothes on that girl. Most of the time she is running around in just her panties and I am happy because at least she has panties on! Aaliyah will turn three on March 16. Where does the time go? We have scheduled a joint birthday party for the girls on March 13. It will be at the community center in Punxsy. It is from 3-7 and we rented out the gym so the kids can play. It of course will be a princess party and sometime around the time I mail out invites I will get to Wal-mart and register them. I find it is so much easier with a registry. That way everyone has a wish list and has ideas of what to buy. If you can't find anything to buy...batteries are always a good option!!! We go through so many batteries.

I am doing well and have started a down a new career path. I attended my friend Kaylan's pampered chef party in December and her friend Jenna was the consultant. After the show I was telling Jenna that I thought it would be fun to be a consultant, but I didn't know how I would find the time. After some talking with her over breakfast last month, I decided to sign on. I had my kick off new consultant party on Saturday and then my mom hosted a party at her house on Sunday. Both parties went well and I had a blast at my mom's. I remembered everything I wanted to say and was not nervous at all. I so far really enjoy it and I will probably do 1-2 parties a week. This way I am still hear for my girls, but I also am getting some mommy time. I desperately needed to spend some time with adults and what a better way to do it! So if you are ever interested in hosting a cooking or catalog show, please let me know. And if you ever want to order some products, you know where to go. After my mom's party yesterday she hurt her back so I went and bowled for her on her league. I used to bowl before I got pregnant with Ciara and loved it. I did awesome last night with a high score of 222! I have never been above 160 so I was absolutely thrilled. I had a great time. I am healing well from my hysterectomy and everyday I feel stronger. The amount of pain I don't have on a daily basis is wonderful. On the 4th I went to Magee Womens hospital in Pittsburgh and met with an Interstitial Cystitis specialist. She was wonderful and after a long discussion she feels I was misdiagnosed. This was music to my ears. I have been doing all the treatments and haven't been seeing results. I am scheduled to have an MRI of the pelvis and also to have another cystoscopy so she can take a look at my bladder herself. I do not know the dates I will be going in yet, they have to call me with those. I am excited to maybe figure out what is going on and help ease some of the discomfort. All I can do is pray and hope that God sends an angel to be with the doctor so we can get some answers.

Corey is doing well and continues to work long hours. He loves his job and never complains. His newest passion is plowing all the snow we have received the past couple of weeks. He has been plowing the yard into a big snow pile and turning it into an igloo for Aaliyah. I guess mom said the neighbors have been making fun of him because he plows the yard!!!! The things we do for our children. He also enjoys going down the sidewalk and plowing all of our neighbors out. He seems to like to plow as he is out there for 4 hours at a time! It is nice that he helps our neighbors, some of them are elderly.

Update on Phalen Manners: She is home!!!! She came home about 2 weeks ago and is now over 5 pounds. I took over some dinner for them the day after she came home and I got to cuddle her for a bit. She is so precious and it is hard for me to believe that Ciara was that tiny! The girls and I are going over on Thursday to visit some more. I will continue to give you updates. Please remember to keep her in your prayers.

God is so good and I praise him for the joy in our life. Prayer does work and Ciara is living proof.

Christmas, New Years and a whole lot more!

2010-01-15T15:18:00.000-08:00

My grandma Barnoff's 80th birthday party

Mama-what is on my head?

I got my bike, but I don't know how to ride it
Santa came

My train

My mom and dad's living room after opening presents

Nakky baby

Opening

Eating paper

What is this!

A microphone!

A scooter

Princess Aaliyah

Aaliyah was drawing with a pen Santa got her and she asks me if I want to see her tatoo. I know cute butt-right!

Things have been crazy for us this past month! I have a lot to update you on-so let's get started:

Ciara is doing well weighing in at 13lb 11oz. She was up to 13lb 14oz, but has been battling several ear infections and lost some weight. She is now crawling and pulling herself up to stand. She is really starting to play by herself and is absolutely crazy mad in love with her sister. Anything Aaliyah is doing is what Ciara wants to be doing. I feel Aaliyah's pain as I remember yelling for my mom whenever Ryan would want to be doing what I was!!! Someday hopefully they will be best friends and want to do things together. Until then I hear "Mom-sister is touching me, Mom-sister is playing with my toys, Mom-sister is looking at me!" Ahhh all I can do is smile. Ciara had a wonderful first Christmas and got lots of books and toys. I didn't get her too much because I went crazy for Aaliyah's first and she didn't even care. Ciara opened up most of her presents and then put the wrapping paper straight in her mouth. She has also started to talk more. She says da da and ba ba. If she hears me saying fish she will make the shhh sound and for kitty or kissy she babbles k k k. This is wonderful to see because speech was the only area she was behind in at her clinic appointment. Since having all these ear infections her sleep patterns are not as good as usual. I definitely need to get her back on a schedule. The past two nights she has been up till 11:30. Last night I did everything I possibly could for her and then just put her in her crib. She cried of course, so I went in every 5 minutes to comfort her and give her a binky. It took probably about 15-20 minutes for her to fall asleep. It was very hard for me to let my baby cry, but I learned my lesson with Aaliyah and that girl still doesn't sleep!! Ciara has been eating a lot more jarred fruits and veggies. She has 3/4 of a jar every four hours through the day so hopefully she will start gaining. She continues to go once a month for her RSV Synagis shoot. I am seeing that she is starting to get some separation anxiety. If she knows I am in the house somewhere she will not let Corey take care of her. She just screams until I eventually get her. If I go to the store she is good for him and lets him feed and bathe her. When I am home if she can't see me she cries until I am in her sight again. Oh my children. I just don't know.

Aaliyah is doing EXCELLENT with her potty training. She only wear diapers at nap time and bed time. She goes on the potty 100% of the time if she has no panties on, but as soon as you put on those panties she does forget. She is getting better, but she does have accidents with the panties. I honestly thought she would have accidents with nothing on, but she does awesome naked! I usually just put a long sleeved shirt on her and some socks and then she runs around the house with her bum out. She actually likes to be naked, so why not. She also had an amazing Christmas and got everything she asked for and more. We had presents at my mom's, our house, and Grandma Bensons all in 24 hours so the girls were exhausted. Actually she didn't even open up all the presents Santa got her at our house on Christmas. She had about 7 or 8 presents that she opened up a couple of days later. She just wanted to play with everything she opened and didn't want to take the time to open up anymore! Honestly I think if I took away half the stuff she got and wrapped it up for her birthday she would never know. Her favorite games lately are hide and seek and tag. She is constantly coming up to me and saying "Mom you go hide and I'll count." She also loves to go out and play in the snow. As soon as she wakes up she asks to go out!

We didn't really do anything for New Years because both of Ciara's ears were infected. We did go to Jim and Jodi Campbell's house for a little bit, but left when it was the girl's bedtime. Corey and I watched the ball drop at home.

I have been healing well from my hysterectomy and everyday I feel better. I had my 6 week checkup this week and I wasn't healing properly so I was cauterized to help. It did help because I can tell a difference. Corey is still working all the time and it has definitely gotten busier these past weeks.

Update on Phalen Manners: The last I checked she was up to 3 lbs and she was starting to "nipple" from a bottle. They are dressing her now and she has been moved from Pittsburgh to Dubois NICU. This is so helpful to her mom and dad. They can see her everyday now. Please continue to keep her in your prayers and praise God for helping this little angel.

Please continue to keep praying for Ciara. It is because of your prayers and God's grace that we have Ciara and are able to love her everyday.

Developmental Clinic

2009-12-13T12:55:00.000-08:00

Aaliyah and kissy above.

I went to get my hair done and Corey taught Ciara to hold her bottle while I was gone.

Some cute pictures of a happy baby

On all fours

Going through mommy's purse with a smirk on her face

Decorating the tree

Sister love

Aaliyah coloring her nails on the potty. Notice the crossed legs! Hilarious!

Putting the angel on

Building a "castle"

Aaliyah and her castle. We were potty training that day.

Ciara is doing well again weighing in at 13lb 6 oz. She has grown to 26 1/4 inches and is finally on the percentile chart for her head circumference and length. He length is the 7% and her head is in the 5%. She is still not on for her weight. So we are getting there!!! She had a check up on December 7 and everything looked good. She got her second round of synagis and her vaccinations updated. Aaliyah went to the appointment with us so I went ahead and got the girls there H1N1 shot while we were there. I was undecided on whether or not I wanted them to get one. After some talking with my doctor, who I have come to admire and trust because I worked for him, I decided to get it. Aaliyah was not too pleased and she cried and yelled "I don't want a pinchy!" She cried for a little bit and then was fine. Little does she know we have to go back in a month to get the second round. Shots are a part of life and although I feel horrible when she has to get them, I am saving her from some nasty diseases.

On Wednesday, December 9 we traveled to Dubois hospital to have our first Developmental Clinic appointment. The night before we got a nasty snow/ice storm, but the main roads were fine so we made the trip. At her evaluation they took her height, weight, head circumference, and details on her eating and sleeping habits. After the initial interview we went over to see the speech therapist to see how she was progressing. She did will with the speech evaluation but she is not quite on target for her gestational age. She scored at about 4 1/2 months. We want to see her around 5 1/2 months, because she would be that old if she came around her due date. Then we went over to see the physical therapist for her evaluation. Ciara did excellent in her motor skills and scored 6 1/2 months! She is about a month ahead. I was so pleased and excited. So their recommendations to improve her speech would be to talk to her more and read her more books. I have made an effort to do both of those things daily. We go back for another evaluation in June. We will go about ever 6 months until she is two. When she hits two years old they will expect her to be on track with her chronological age. I think we are on the right track and we will continue weekly therapy with Kathy as long as we need it.

Aaliyah's allergy medicine seems to be working. She would not take Claritin for the life of her so I spoke to the doctor and we tried Allegra on her. She says this medicine is much yummier and she gives me no problems taking it. She can breathe much better and I'm not constantly wiping snot from her nose!! We have continued to try to get her potty trained. Corey's Uncle Keith suggested that we let her run around naked. It worked when he was potty training his boys. So for 3 days she was naked from the waste down. And for those 3 days she did not have one accident. She went on the potty everytime. When we would have to go out of the house we put a pull up on her and she would not use the potty even though I hounded her. She was doing well then just this past week she regressed. She just got out of the tub and started yelling "I need a diaper." So I said well just go on the potty. She threw herself down and was having a major temper tantrum and refused to go on the potty. So I put a diaper on her and she peed. I have been trying since and she does not want to go on the potty at all. She just cries for a diaper. I will continue to try, but it is exhausting when she fights me.

Aaliyah is so excited about Christmas and she talks about Santa daily. There are a couple of presents under the tree and she has already asked me if they are for her. Her newest thing is spending the night with grammy. Usually once a week she spends the night with Grandma Benson and then on the weekend she spends the night with my mom. If we happen to be visiting on a night that she can't spend the night, we have a royal meltdown when we have to leave. She cries and sobs and pleads to stay. She is definitely a product of Corey and me. Corey and I used to cry to stay with our grammies and beg to be with them all the time. Corey actually used to get in the car to go home with his parents and then he would cry that he wanted to stay with grandma then once he got there he would cry to go home. There was no pleasing him even back then!!!

Ciara has started to get up on all fours and getting ready to crawl. She did get forward a little bit by moving her one hand and knee to get to the kitty but she hasn't figured it out since. She'll get up on all fours and rock back and forth and then she'll lift up her hand and fall. It is so awesome watching her grow.

My hysterectomy went very well. After I got out of surgery I was in a TON of pain and nothing seemed to work. I was pumped full of pain medicine and it wasn't touching the pain. I only had to stay the night because I was so uncomfortable I begged Dr. Cherian to send me home. The back pain continued and I never did have any belly pain. Dr. thinks it was gas pains and it might very well have been, but it was very painful. I did not go anywhere for Thanksgiving and Corey took the girls to Auntie Kay's house to celebrate with the Bensons. He brought me home a plate, but I did not feel like eating for days. I have been slowly recovering and I get better everyday. I still can't lift anything and whenever I have to take the girls somewhere I am really sore after lifting Ciara's seat in and out of the car. I had to lift Aaliyah into the car one time because she was really tired and I was in serious pain for a couple of days. I actually thought about going to the ER, but with rest I was fine. I have lost 14 pounds since the surgery and I am feeling good. I don't know if I was retaining fluid or what but the weight just fell off. It feels good to loose some weight.

We went to a benefit for Phalen Manners and had a great time. My mom came and got the girls after they were there for a bit to visit and then Corey and I had a date night. Corey made a beautiful shelf to be auctioned off and my grandpa Detwiler donated some spoons and spatulas and a cutting board. There were a lot of businesses that donated as well. Corey and I had a good time and it felt good to help raise some money for such a good cause. I have not talked to Sarah since the benefit, but the last update I got was promising. She was weighing in at 2lbs and was fighting an infection. Unfortunately somehow she got a lung infection and is on a 21 day stint of antibiotics. After talking to Luke's step mom I learned that they were contemplating giving her some more steroids to help the lungs. There is a possibility that the steroids could cause some brain damage so they had not decided what to do yet. Please continue to pray for Sarah, Luke, Phalen, and the rest of their family. I know that God can do wonderful things and he is with Phalen while she is fighting to breathe.

If I don't update before Christmas I would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas. We are quite excited about it this year and it is going to be a ton of fun with Aaliyah. But also remember the real reason for this season. Remember that tiny baby that was born in a stable that changed the world. Everytime I hear the song "Do you hear what I hear" I get teary eyed thinking what Mary and Joseph were going through that starry night. "He will bring us goodness and light" and he certainly has done that for me and my family. May God continue to bless you and keep you safe.

Trying to get Ciara to crawl! and Aaliyah jumping off the couch

Relief for mommy

2009-11-23T12:37:00.000-08:00

Aaliyah playing horsee with daddy

"Aaliyah go over and stand by your sister so I can take a picture of you" and that's what I got.

Wearing a Wendy's bag on her head

In her Cinderella costume. She LIVES in it.

Well hello

Silly mommy

Aaliyah sitting with her daddy watching TV

Jimmy Pierce got Ciara this shirt and she looks pretty happy to wear it.

We repainted the bathroom and Aaliyah got to help

Ciara is doing very well and I would guess probably weighing in around 13 pounds. She continues to do well in therapy and is progressing well. We did an updated assesment on her last week and she was only behind on one section. She does not turn her head to sound. She will turn her head to a voice if you call her name, but she won't turn for sound. I talked to the therapist about how she was constantly hearing beeping and buzzing in the NICU, so maybe she has learned to tune it out. Other than that she is functioning at a 5 month level! Praise the Lord!

Aaliyah is super excited about Christmas and she IS christmas spirit!! She loves the lights on the houses and the decorated trees. Today I had to take her to the pediatrician because she has been coughing for about a week and a half. I've done breathing treatments on her but they don't seem to be helping. The doctor feels she has allergies and maybe some asthma. But sometimes allergies will present asthma symptoms. So we are starting her on a daily dose of Claritin. If this clears her symptoms up we won't have to do anything else. If she continues to have symptoms she will have to go through allergy testing. I'm praying that this will work. I had to go through testing once and there are a lot of needles involved. After the pediatrician we stopped by Hometown pharmacy to pick up her prescription and there was a blow up snowman that spun around. She was so amazed by this and wanted to get one to put in our yard. Well, seeing as how the snow man was 50 bucks we didn't get one. I have a feeling that everytime we have to go there we will be standing and admiring that snowman. I think we stood there and watched it for about 10 minutes before I could convince her to leave. She loves Christmas! There was also a tree decorated with wrapped boxes underneath. She saw them and said "Look mommy presents!! Can I have one" I explained to her that they really weren't presents just wrapped boxes and she was fine.

I had an appointment with Dr. Cherian last Wednesday because I have been having some problems with bleeding and pain. Unfortunatley the ablation did not work. So I am scheduled to have a hysterectomy tomorrow at the Punxsy hospital. I am super excited and can not wait to have things removed. I do understand there is risk with everything, but after 13 years of pain I am ready!! My mom has the day off tomorrow and she will be going to the hospital with me. Corey is also taking the day off and staying home with the girls. He has been having a lot of promblems with his lower back and we felt it would be better for him to stay home and not have to sit waiting for me at the hospital. I am fine with it. As long as I have someone there with me I'll be great. I will have to stay overnight, but if there are no complications I can come home on Wednesday. I don't know how I will feel on Thanksgiving. If I am still in pain Corey will just take the girls to Auntie Kay's house and I'll stay home. We had planned on going to spend the day with the Detwiler's because last year we spent Christmas with them and we want to start Christmas at the Bensons. To be fair. But this has put a wrench in our plans!!! So if you don't get to see us, I'm sorry. We will get to see you eventually!

We are so grateful and thankful on this Thanksgiving. Last Thanksgiving I was a couple of months pregnant and raising a one and half year old. Just assuming that I would have a normal pregnancy and hoping I could keep this one in full term. Little did I know that this would be the most difficult year of my life!!! God has blessed our family so much and I sometimes find myself wondering what I did so well that he let me keep her and not have to burry her. I love her so very much and I praise Him and his glory for all that he has done for me. I wanted Ciara more than anything and I was willing to do anything to keep her. Even if that ment standing on my head. I ran into a nurse today who had heard of my story and said she couldn't believe what I had gone through. She said that is true mother's love to go through all of that. Honestly (up until the last couple of days where I cried all the time) I wanted to do everything I could to keep her. I didn't care that I was on my head. It did bother me that I couldn't be with Aaliyah, but I did whatever I had to do to keep my baby. True love is God loving me and blessing me with two beautiful daughters!!! God is good.

Baby Phalen is doing awesome!!! I have been keeping in touch with her parents Sarah and Luke. She was taken off of C-pap and put on nasal cannula, but then had a set back and was put on the vent. This is to be expected with a premie and I told Sarah not to get too upset. If you take two steps forward you will probably take one step back. Sarah's friend is holding a benefit for her and Luke on December 4th at the Walston Club. I have been donating and doing as much as I can to help her out. Corey is making a shelf to be auctioned off and I have been hounding businesses for money or products!!! If you are around the area on December 4th stop by and help this family and this gorgeous little girl out!!! The last time I checked she was weighing in at 1lb 6 3/4 oz.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and please continue to pray for Ciara and Phalen.

A forgotten thank you

2009-11-06T16:03:00.000-08:00

Ciara bounces herself to sleep daily in her jumparoo

look at all my candy

I'm concentrating
Cinderelly

Happy Pumpkin

Happy grammy

Hmmmm...whats this

asleep again

Aaliyah bathing Ciara

and again asleep

Ciara is doing wonderful again today weighing in at 12lbs 8 oz. She had her first RSV prevention shot today called Synagis. For those of you who don't know RSV is a respiratory virus that can attack Ciara's weak and vulnerable lungs. Because she was so premature our insurance company and her pediatrician are trying to do everything they can to keep her out of the hospital during these winter months. Ciara has a social worker from Highmark that calls us monthly to check on her and make sure we have everything we need for her. Now that it is officially cold/flu season Ciara won't be going out into public very often. I talked with the pediatrician today and she felt it would be ok to take her to church as long as I don't let anyone touch or be around her that is sick. Also I need to ask them to sanitize their hands before holding her. I am not a confrontational person, but I need to figure out a way to keep my angel safe. I won't be taking her to the grocery store or to the mall unless for some reason I absolutely have to get groceries and I can't find a baby sitter. I'm pretty sure between Corey, my parents, and Grandma Benson we'll be ok. The doctor also asked if Aaliyah was going to preschool or daycare. I told her that she does go to the daycare down the road occasionally to learn and be with other children. She advised me not to send Aaliyah unless I absolutely felt the need. When Aaliyah is around other children she brings home all the germs with her. So I decided that unless Aaliyah asks me to go to "school" I will just continue playing with her at home and working on our ABC's and so on. She honestly hasn't been there for a couple of weeks because she has had one cold after another.

After our visit to the pediatrician today we stopped by the Punxsy maternity unit to visit the nurses. These girls were an absolute life saver when I went into labor that snowy February morning. When we were told we would deliver our baby any minute and she would not survive, these girls were right there holding my hand, praying, and crying with me. There were a couple in particular that I really got close with and will have a special bond forever. Dawn Fulton was like my mom during my 2 week stay and I love her so much. She took care of me like I was one of her own and I really appreciate her compassion and love during that time. Candi Knox, who was my best friend in school, was also a nurse who I connected with. Unfortunately when I was on bed rest that meant complete bed rest and I had to go on a bed pan. At first it was REALLY embarrassing for me to have my friend wipe my butt!!!!! But as time went on it just became really funny. Who knew someday she would be doing such a thing for me. Ashley Parsons also has a special spot in my heart. That girl always made sure my hair was clean. She was so wonderful to wash my hair and my entire body!!!! I was not able to bathe myself either and those girls were my angels. There are many other nurses that I did not mention that did so much for me. Mrs. Lingenfelter ( I honestly can't remember her first name, sorry) on night shift had me laughing every night and Carol was so sweet to me always. These girls were sent from God to be there with me in my darkest hour and I thank him and praise him for such wonderful care takers that are now friends. Dr. Khan and her staff were also so so good to me. GeGe, Patty, and Lisa came down during their lunch breaks and after work to see how I was quite often. I had such love and support from everyone! I love you all!!! Even though I did mention during the interview with the Spirit how wonderful the maternity unit was to me and my family there was just not enough room for everything. So this is my personal ad thanking these girls. There are not enough words to thank you and show you how much I and my family appreciate you. God Bless all of you, and we love you dearly!!!

Ciara and Aaliyah dressed up for Halloween this year and we went trick or treating. Corey was on call that night, and my mom wanted to stay at my house and hand out candy, so my dad drove us from family to family so the girls could show off their costumes. Aaliyah had her costume picked out for months and new she wanted to be Cinderella, or Cinderelly and she calls her. I originally wanted to dress Ciara up as one of the mice from the movie, but I could not find a mouse costume that was brown. All I could find were gray or white. So I decided she would be the magic pumpkin. It was more than easy to find a pumpkin costume. On Halloween night we went over to Corey's cousin Tracie and Wayne's house for a Halloween party. Aaliyah got sooooo much candy that night and was in sugar heaven!! When we walked into the party there were several people with masks on. Aaliyah was quite frightened and I had to explain to her that they were actual people and that the masks were fake. Finally we just had to ask them to take off their masks for a minute so Aaliyah could understand. After that she was fine and told Corey and me "those aren't real monsters."

The day after the Spirit ran our story in the paper I received a message from Gwen Miller on facebook about her daughter in law Sarah. Unfortunately Sarah's water broke at 23 weeks gestation and was contracting every 5 minutes. I immediately called Sarah's cell phone and we talked for an hour. By then she had stopped contracting but was faced with a hospital stay until her baby girl arrived. She also has a two year old at home and was not sure how she was going to take care of her while being on hospital bed rest. After finding some further complications, Sarah was transferred to Magee Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh. When she hit 24 weeks and 3 days her daughter Phalan arrived. Weighing in at 1lb 6 oz and only 12 inches long she has a long and bumpy road ahead of her. So far she is doing great and the last time I talked to Sarah she was on the regular vent but had not needed to be on the oscillating vent at all yet!! Please put Sarah, Phalan, and her family in your prayers. I will continue to give you updates when I receive them. God is with them and they are praying everyday for a healthy baby. I know how good God is and I praise and thank him everyday for our beautiful girls. I know that he has a plan and with his love and will anything can happen. Keep up the good fight Phalan!!!

Please continue to pray for Ciara and also our new little friend. God is so awesome.

On the front page

2009-10-28T07:19:00.000-07:00

Ciara's story is on the front page of the paper today. If you would like me to get a copy for you, please let me know. I am so excited and Mike did an EXCELLENT job!!! If you check it out today the link is http://www.punxsutawneyspirit.com/

Premie baby’s mom uses Web to chart her remarkable progress

Front Page - Front Page Story
Written by Mike Ishman
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Ciara Lynn Anthony, held by her mother Tiffany (left), was born 16 weeks premature in February. Since then, her family has helped nurse her back to health. Tiffany has been maintaining a blog, documenting her daughter’s progress. Helping Ciara has been (from left) her father, Corey; her sister, Aaliyah; and her grandmother, Pat Benson. (Photo by Mike Ishman)

PUNXSUTAWNEY — Ciara Lynn Anthony, daughter of Corey and Tiffany Anthony of Big Run, was born Feb. 25 at DuBois Regional Medical Center.While that may tell you the bare-bone facts of Ciara’s birth, it doesn’t reveal the true gravity of the situation: Tiffany’s due date was June 10.The morning of Feb. 5, Tiffany woke up early not feeling very well. After calling her doctor and being examined at Punxsutawney Area Hospital, it was determined that Ciara was going to be born at 21 weeks, barely half of the normal pregnancy period. Tiffany’s amniotic sack had fallen out. “They told us my water would probably break within the day, and she would be delivered within the hour,” she recalled. “They told us they couldn’t save her because a viable baby is at 24 weeks gestation. She was only at 21 weeks.” After Tiffany was put on bed rest for several weeks in the Trendelenburg Position, she was transferred to DuBois Regional Medical Center. After six days, Ciara was born Feb. 25, weighing 1 pound, 8 ounces. “She was only given a 15 percent chance of surviving,” Tiffany said.Once she was discharged from the hospital, Tiffany began writing a pregnancy blog. “Corey’s cousin, Brooke, wrote a blog during her pregnancy and I thought it would be a great way to keep everyone informed,” she said.With all of her and Corey’s family reading it, Tiffany wrote 20 entries that first month, providing updates to how baby Ciara was doing. With each update came photos, showing how Ciara was progressing. One photo in particular showed how tiny she was. She had Tiffany’s wedding rings around her arm.Following several months in the hospital, Ciara was released May 18, 12 weeks after she was born. That was still three weeks before the original due date. Her weight, upon release, was 4 pounds, 8 ounces.Since her release, Ciara has been progressing at a nearly normal rate. “She’s doing wonderful now. No setbacks,” Tiffany said. Ciara was recently baptized and had her seven-month checkup, which revealed she was 12 pounds, and 23 3/4-inches in length, which is close to the percentile for infants her age.Tiffany plans to keep writing the blog, as it is one of the best ways to keep everyone updated. She usually writes the blogs while Ciara and Aaliyah, her two-year-old sister, nap or go to sleep. Tiffany and Corey count their blessings every day. They know how dire the situation was. “Our doctor had had patients in similar situations, and they had all lost their babies,” Tiffany said. On her first blog post, Tiffany wrote of how wonderful it was to hold her child, and how she didn’t want to put her down. To go back and see the progress Ciara has made since her birth, go to http://www.ciaralynnanthony.blogspot.com/
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 28 October 2009 )

Waiting for the paper

2009-10-25T15:21:00.000-07:00

Tearing down the living room wall
After trim is up

Our pumpkins

Daddys pumpkin

Ciara fell asleep while watching us carve

Aaliyah enjoying dinner

Daddy looking so happy

My parents bought me a pink terrible towel and Aaliyah was wearing it as a dress!

Ciara in her jumparoo that we borrowed from Uncle Greg and Aunt Kristy. Notice I had to put phone books under her so she could jump!

Aaliyah showing her how it works

Aaliyah helping me bath Ciara

Three generations: Corey, Ciara, Pat, Aaliyah, and Pat's father Papa Long.

Ciara is doing well again today and is staying right around 12 pounds. We have another appointment on the 3rd and I'll see if she has gained anymore. It is not unusual for a preemie to plateau for a little bit. She is doing great in her therapy and continues to progress well. The therapist gives us different things to work on each week (rolling, sitting, grabbing things dangling in front of her while on back) and we work on them daily. She is still getting massage therapy once a week. We have only had 2 sessions because the therapist got ill. It seems everyone is or has come down with something and the girls have been sick twice already this season. Yesterday Ciara had a nasty case of diarrhea. We went through at least 6 outfit changes. Everytime I turned around she had it up her back or down her legs!

The Spirit (Punxsutawney paper) came to our house two weeks ago to interview Corey and I. They are doing a front page story on her and telling the town how much of a miracle we where blessed with. Pat was here visiting from Florida when Mike was here and he included her in the picture of the family. I watch the paper daily waiting for the story to print. When I talked to Mike last he was under the impression that the story would be printed within the week, but I have yet to see it. We are thrilled and honored that they were willing to share our story.

Aaliyah has been too sick to go to daycare these past weeks. She got over her cold and then got another one so I haven't sent her. She continues to work on potty training but is very stubborn! She will have a day when she goes potty everytime and then the next day she absolutely refuses. I have tried bribing her with quarters and I even told her that if she went potty all the time and didn't use diapers that I would buy her a present. So far she is still not interested. She continues to be Ciara's little mommy and loves to help me with her.

This past week Corey knocked out part of the wall that is in between the living room and the dining room. We have a wood burner in the fireplace at the back of the house and none of that heat was getting to the living room. The hole has really helped and sometimes it is too hot!! We will eventually find a happy medium. Corey did a really nice job.

On October 14 Corey and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary. It was very low key. Corey had to work so we only saw each other for a few minutes before bed. He was sweet enough to buy me roses and I got him a Nickelback CD. Like I said low key.

On Thursday we carved pumpkins and Aaliyah had a good time. She was kind of disappointed I wouldn't let her carve much, but she was ok after I let her draw on the pumpkins. I made Corey do it with us and he enjoyed it! We bought a carving kit and they came out really nice. I just found out today that Punxsy is trick or treating on Wednesday. Aaliyah has Good News Club on Wednesdays so I think she will probably have to miss it. It is so silly that it is on Wednesday and not Saturday!!! I'm not sure when Big Run is having theirs but it is usually the same night. Aaliyah decided months ago that she wants to be Cinderella. My original plan was to make Ciara one of the mice, but every mouse costume I found was either white or gray and the mice on Cinderella are brown. So I decided to make Ciara the magic pumpkin. I had no problem finding a pumpkin costume!

Please continue to pray for Ciara and hopefully she will start gaining some more weight!! God is good! Please also pray that next Sunday we will all be well enough to go to church. We have missed two weeks in a row now.

"Let the children come to me"

2009-10-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

Her first cereal by spoon

Ciara and Pastor Maureen on Sunday

Poppa

Great Grandma Barnoff

Grandma and Grandpa Benson, Grandma and Grandpa Long, Jim and Jodi Campbell, Grandma and Grandpa Detwiler

Screaming after the water was put on her head

Aaliyah was break dancing in the aisle during the ceremony

The Godparents

Aaliyah jumping on daddy

Playing ball

picking up sticks for the fire

Aaliyah "helping" me make dinner. She ate half the can.

TWINS!! Tia Neal and Ciara

Yes, I know I'm not supposed to be in here

Praise the LORD, Ciara was baptized this past Sunday. The ceremony was so beautiful and I am so surprised I didn't cry!!! She did really well and the only time she cried was when the water was put on her head. I absolutely knew that was going to happen because she cries everytime I wash her hair. We had so many family and friends attend the ceremony. We are so blessed to have such a great support system. Jodi and Jim Campbell served as the God parents and did a great job.

Ciara had her 7 month checkup yesterday and weighed in at exactly 12lbs. She is 23 3/4 inches. She is growing wonderfully. She is not yet on the percentile chart for her age, but that is to be expected being 15 weeks early. She continues to have therapy once a week and is doing well with it. We also started Massage therapy once a week for 6 weeks. The therapist comes to the house and teaches me how to massage her. The concern was that her neck muscles were a bit tight. So far we have had one session and I learned how to massage the legs. She loves when I do it and just lays there and takes it in. Yesterday at her appointment she got 5 shots in her legs and then she drank another vaccine. In the 5 shots she got yesterday, the flu shot was included. At her appointment the doctor advised me that everyone that takes care of Ciara, or is around her should get their flu shot. I went to the checkout window to see when Aaliyah could get her shot and they had me come back in at 5 p.m. for her shot. So I had two cranky babies last night!!! Corey usually NEVER gets his flu shot but is going to this year, I'll make sure!!

We were given the go ahead yesterday to start feeding Ciara some cereal with a spoon. She already gets cereal in her bottle so I knew she would have no problem with the taste. She did really well for her first time and she ate about a tablespoon. The second time we tried she was really fussy so I just stopped and gave her the bottle.

Aaliyah started going to a daycare down the road from 9-11:30 two days a week. All of her friends went to school this year and she desperately wanted to go to school as well. I heard great things about this daycare and they offer learning time in the morning. Her first day was yesterday and she said she had fun. She did have one moment when she started to cry and asked for me, but the teacher read her a book and she calmed down. This will be good for her and when it is time to go to actual school, maybe it will be an easier transition.

We're still working on the potty training. She'll have a great day when she has no accidents and then the next day she won't use the potty at all. I'm not rushing her and when she is ready she'll do it. She got over her bronchitis very well and did not have to be hospitalized. Ciara did end up having a cough and runny nose but did not get bronchitis. She has started screaming in the evenings and most of the night. Aaliyah went through this as well so I was suspicious that reflux was to blame. Last Thursday I could not get her to calm down and she was running a fever so I took her to the ER. Her right ear looked a little red, but they didn't see anything else wrong. I brought it up at her appointment yesterday and her reflux medicine was increased. Hopefully this will give her some relief and help her (and me) sleep.

Please continue to pray for her good health and praise the LORD for answering our prayers!

Ciara telling me a story

Two sick babies

2009-09-22T11:53:00.000-07:00

Ciara has been drooling so much! Jesse Pierce bought her this bib. It says "motocross makes me drool"
Some pictures of Aaliyah holding her sissy

Ciara is doing well again weighing in at 11lbs 9oz!!! The big news around here is that the girls caught a cold. Aaliyah started with it last Wednesday night with a fever of 103. The fever only lasted for 24 hours and then she had a runny nose and cough. Ciara started having a runny nose on Friday and she only has a little cough. On Sunday night Aaliyah would cough until she gagged and her breathing was very shallow. I took her to the doctor yesterday morning and she has a bad case of bronchitis. Her pulse ox was only 92%. After a breathing treatment it did go up a little. The doctor had me call in this morning and give her an update. She prescribed a steroid and told us to continue the breathing treatments every 4 hours. She has another appointment on Thursday and if she has not shown an improvement the doctor would like to admit her to the hospital. She had thought about doing it yesterday but decided it would be ok for her to come home if I promised to do the treatments and call her if there were any changes. I was so glad she didn't have to stay. I would have to find a sitter to stay with Ciara so I could be with Aaliyah. And I'm sure she would be so scared and confused as to why she couldn't go home. I asked the doctor what I could do to make sure this cold did not move to Ciara's lungs too. So I also give Ciara a breathing treatment every 4 hours. It does not seem to be moving into her lungs, thank God. Aaliyah seems to be doing a little bit better this afternoon.

Ciara was supposed to have her Developmental Clinic appointment with our NICU friends yesterday, but I felt it was more important to get Aaliyah to the doctor. Her evaluation was reshceduled for December 9th. I know, but that was their first opening!

Another big event in the Anthony house came last week. I was upstairs cleaning the bathroom floor and I saw a water spot on the floor by the sink. As I was cleaning it up I noticed it was making the rag black. So I took a q-tip and rubbed it under the baseboard. When I pulled it out it was covered with black mold. I pulled the baseboard off and sure enough the drywall was completely rotted and there was mold everywhere. So Corey tore down the wall and found that the pipes to the shower were slowly leaking. I honestly don't know how long this has been going on, but I would guess a while. The floor was rotted and the 2x4's and all of the drywall. There was mold behind the shower and tub and on the floor as well. So we didn't have water on Saturday or Sunday while Corey and the neighbor replaced pipes, put up new drywall, and re-caulked everything.Then while making lunch today I looked up and noticed that there was water in one of the lights. Corey took down the drop ceiling and sure enough the water had leaked down to the kitchen and rotted the ceiling. I called our insurance company because it is going to be quite a mess and probably pretty expensive to tear down the ceiling and put up new boards. But because this was a leak that happened over time our insurance will not cover it. They will only cover water damage if there is a sudden burst of pipes and a sudden water damage. Corey and I weren't too happy. How were we supposed to know our pipes were leaking? She said we could try submitting the claim, but if the adjuster came and saw mold he would deny the claim. So we have to fix it ourselves. Today Corey got a chance to finish the drywall in the bathroom and put a coat of primer on the green drywall. We got the mildew resistant kind just in case this may happen again. Corey was gracious enough to let Aaliyah help paint!!! I could hear him up there telling her to "do it neat Aaliyah don't make a mess." Hilarious!!! She's two hunny. Here are some pictures of the damage and Aaliyah painting: (notice the paint in Aaliyah's hair)

rotted floor

I finally got a chance this morning to address Ciara's baptism invitations. I am planning on mailing them today, but who knows what will happen with the girls. They will get to you before Oct. 4!!!! Please continue to pray for Ciara's continuing good health and for my precious Aaliyah to feel better.

She rolled over!!!

2009-09-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

Aaliyah playing with her new fish
Pictures of the Indiana Fair. She was petting a baby goat
Playing in the corn

Milking a "cow"

Being a good baby

"OK we're ready"

Getting ready for church

My girls

Pictures from Johnny and Ashley's wedding

Mommy love

More mommy love. I think she is starting to look like me. What do you think?

Daddy's girls

Sister love

I forgot to post some awesome pictures that we got while at Johnny and Ashely's wedding and some from the Indiana fair. Yesterday while on her play mat Ciara rolled from her back to her belly! I started videoing her and then Aaliyah wanted me to read her a book. While reading to Aaliyah she did it!! Oh well I will catch her doing it one of these times. Please enjoy the videos of her attempt and Aaliyah being a ham as always!!

A fun filled weekend

2009-09-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

A couple pictures while we were doing therapy this morning.

These were from last night. I was talking to her and Corey got some great pictures!

This is Ciara and Jack playing. They were talking to each other and Jack kept grabbing her hands and would hold on for dear life!!

Grandpa Carlie

Sleepy Aaliyah

Grammy Benson and her sweetie

The Benson family

Ciara is doing excellent. I am still not sure of her weight, but we have an appointment with WIC on Friday and they will weigh her. I am anxious to see how much she has gained. Then next Wednesday she has her 6 month checkup with her pediatrician. She will get weighed and measured and also receive her 6 month shots. Her 4 month shots made her really gassy so hopefully these ones will be a little easier on her. Lets pray!!!

This weekend was a very busy one for the Anthony family. Last Thursday we attempted another ablation on me. It was a success, but my body didn't take it well. My uterus was cramping and contracting during the procedure and we were not able to control my pain. So of course I was admitted into the hospital for pain management. After three rounds of Demerol and Phengran (Because I could not stop vomiting) shots I felt well enough to go home. Luckily I did not have to spend the night. I was really worried about that because I didn't know what I was going to do with the girls. Corey took Thursday off because we were just expecting me to be fine on Friday. I had the procedure done in my Dr's office and most women are fine to go home and resume daily activities the next day. Unfortunately my body is never the norm!!! If this procedure does not help my pain and bleeding then I will get a hysterectomy. I have a feeling it is going to work though because I have not had any bleeding since the procedure.

On Saturday we went out to Greg and Kristy's house for a surprise 50th birthday party for Corey's Uncle Keith. We had a great time there and Aaliyah had alot of fun playing with all of her cousins. She especially enjoyed "her Hayden" as she called him. I of course forgot my camera so I wasn't able to get any pictures of the event. Ciara was passed around from Aunt to Uncle to cousin to Grandparents to friends, etc. She had everyone in awe of how much she has grown and how wonderful she looks.

On Sunday we of course went to church, but we weren't able to stay for Sunday school because Aaliyah was so very tired from the night before and was not behaving. She and Ciara were both napping by 11:30! After they got up from their naps we headed over to Dayton to my Uncle Herm and Aunt Dee Dee's house for a nice BBQ. All of the Detwiler family was there, except for a couple who didn't make the trip home. Aaliyah again had a great time playing with her cousins and didn't want to go home. I did take my camera to the BBQ but my battery was dead!!!! So again no pictures from this event!!! Ciara was the star of the show and she ate it up. She just loves to be talked to and played with. When it was time to go home Aaliyah decided she wanted to stay at Grammy and Poppa Detwiler's house so I just had one baby for the night. It was nice to be able to sleep in my own bed the entire night. Most of the time I end up sleeping with Aaliyah because she is convinced there are monsters in her room.

On Monday morning we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Benson's house for a cowboy breakfast. Usually we have it up on the hill over an open fire but it was raining. That didn't stop us!!! We just had the breakfast in the garage and prepared everything over an open stove!!! I was late getting there. Just as Ciara and I were getting ready to leave she spit up all over me and herself. It was pretty much the whole bottle so I marched upstairs and into the shower. After a shower and a clothing change we headed over. I remembered my camera this time and it was fully charged!!!! I got some good pictures of Ciara and Grandpa Carlie. This is the first time they have met. Carlie lives in Philadelphia and doesn't get to come home much. After the cowboy breakfast the girls went over to my mom and dad's house so I could go grocery shopping.

Yesterday evening we went up to Dubois to get some fish for Aaliyah's new fish tank. The neighbors got a bigger tank and graciously gave us theirs. We had the whole evening planned that we were going to go up to the NICU and visit, then go to dinner, then go get the fish. Well Corey was not feeling well and he thought maybe he would feel better if he ate something. So we decided that we would visit the NICU after we got the fish. Well by the time we left PetCo's parking lot Aaliyah was asleep!!! Instead of disturbing her and making her cranky we decided not to stop at the hospital and I will go up sometime soon and visit with the girls. So I'm sorry NICU ladies! I promise we will be up soon.

This afternoon I was supposed to have a follow up appt with my Dr who preformed the ablation. We were getting ready to leave and Aaliyah was helping me make Ciara's bottles. Just as I turned around to get some more rice Aaliyah fell off of the back of the stool and landed on her head. She gave herself a big red mark on her right eye and her belly was all marked up from the stool. By the time I got her calmed down she had cried herself to sleep. So I called and rescheduled.

We have been busy, busy, busy. I have two doctors appts tomorrow with my urologist and my family doctor so the girls are going to play at Grandma Benson's. We have a WIC appt on Friday and then NOTHING planned for the weekend. I'm sure the girls will appreciate staying home for a little bit!!

Some good news to share: I got a phone call from the NICU this morning and Ciara no longer needs her monitor!!! Praise the LORD!!! She did not have one single event this past month, so she is strong enough to be on her own. I will be so happy not to have to worry about that thing anymore!

Please continue to pray for Ciara's well being. She is doing so wonderful and I praise the LORD everyday for our little miracle. Also, I scheduled Ciara's baptism for October 4th at First English Luthern Church. I will be sending out invitations soon.

Please enjoy this video of Ciara during therapy this morning!

Photo shoot # 2

2009-08-29T12:41:00.001-07:00

Aaliyah and I had some fun last night during Ciara's bath picture taking. Here is an updated and much chubbier photo shoot. Enjoy!!

Here is a video of Ciara cooing and laughing. It is so much fun to watch her grow!!

Just everyday life

2009-08-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

Addison London, Alyssa Campbell, and Aaliyah swimming

Her shirt says "I make chunky thighs look good" How true!

Aaliyah and Ciara sleeping off their swim at Kalumet pool

Aaliyah twirling her dress at Kaylan's reception

Aaliyah after her bath she joined us back at the reception

Me and the bride

Sleepy girl

Corey and me

I was not around when this picture was taken. I'm not sure but it looks like he is offering Ciara a beer!

Ciara looks thrilled to be at the wedding

Mr. and Mrs. Eddy

Cry baby

The flower girls needed a rest!

Aaliyah having a talk with her doggy

Waiting for the bride

This is the puppy Aaliyah got for being a good girl and wearing her flower dress

Showing her puppy the river

Aaliyah and poppa

Ciara is doing very well and probably weighing in around 11-12 lbs! She is getting very chubby and I love it! She continues to have therapy every week and I try to do it with her everyday. She is now rolling up onto her right side! I haven't been able to catch her with the camera, but I will keep trying.

This past weekend Corey had some of his friends over from work for a cookout. We also invited my mom and dad, Corey's brother Greg and his wife Kristy, and of course our beautiful nephew Haden. We had a good time. I was not walking too well as I slipped a disc in my lumbar region on Friday night. Fortunately my chiropractor saw me on Friday night at 9 p.m. and worked on my back until 11p.m. It is feeling much better now and it continues to get better everyday. Aaliyah really enjoyed having her little friends over and they had a great time in our little pool.

In the past couple of weeks we celebrated my birthday and also my dad's. We had mountain pies on my dad's birthday with the newlyweds Mr. and Mrs. Eddy aka Lief and Kaylan. It was so nice to see them and spend some time with them after their honeymoon. I stole my mom's pictures of the wedding and have posted some of my favorites.

Two weekends ago we went up to Kalumet campground near Clarion for the annual Barnoff family camp out. I of course only took like one picture (some day I am going to regret my forgetfulness), but we had a great time. Aaliyah of course had a ball being outside 24/7 and having her cousins to play with. It was also nice to see my Grandma get out and enjoy some fresh air. Ciara seemed to have a good time as well and slept wonderfully. I really do believe the fresh air helps them sleep better.

This past Sunday I took Ciara to church for the first time since she was born. She did really well and we got such a warm welcome. Aaliyah spent most of the time down in the nursery which is ok with me because I can pay attention to the sermon! After we came home from church Aaliyah and I took a 3 hour nap and Corey watched Ciara. When we got up from our nap Ciara was extremely fussy and she would get so upset she would start to cough. So I said to Corey, if she got a cold on the first time I took her to church I am going to be so mad at myself. Luckily the fussiness was not from a cold but from her teething. She is drooling constantly and chewing on her fingers. She will also take her tongue and rub it on her gums. She gets really fussy every evening until about 9-9:30 and then she seems to calm down for bedtime. Corey and I feel so bad for her and wish we could do something to help. It's just one of those things she has to battle herself. She's strong, but cranky!

Please continue to pray for Ciara's well being and praise GOD for his blessings upon her so far. GOD is good!!

The Sykesville Fair

2009-08-13T12:43:00.000-07:00

Ciara came with us but she did her usual and slept.

Aaliyah petting a HUGE cow
These cows were hilarious. They would lick Aaliyah's hands.

Riding the cars. This is the only ride she would get on!

They had these in the petting zoo.

Petting the mommy and baby donkey

Horsey rides. She went about 3 circles and then told me "I done"

I, of course, walked beside her

Feeding the goats. She loved this.

She didn't want to stop petting this bunny. She really liked it.

Here are some pictures from our visit to the Sykesville Fair last night. It was threatening rain all evening, but luckily it held out until we left. Aaliyah had a ball and Ciara pretty much just slept the whole time. Enjoy!!

Make sure to visit www.courtneykatherinephotography.blogspot.com. There are some pictures of Kaylan's wedding and a couple of Aaliyah.

Busy, busy, busy

2009-08-10T16:38:00.000-07:00

Aaliyah and daddy fishing in Greg and Kristy's pond.
Petting a doe. She was very friendly and when Aaliyah would stop petting her she would come back for more!

Petting a BIG buck

Aaliyah passed out at the reception

This is right before we moved her to our room

Pretty picture at the rehearsal.

Holding hands.

Run through No. 1

Run No. 2

Kaylan and her dad in her awesome hat my mom bought her. Doesn't she look gorgeous?

Tired of standing

Run No. 3

Swimming in the pond

Ciara relaxing in the grass at the rehearsal dinner

The bride and bridesmaids. I look pretty stupid with my pants rolled up! I was in the pond with Aaliyah

Aunt Kaylan and Ciara

Ciara is still doing very well. She had a doctors appointment last Monday and she weighed in at 9lb 14 oz. So I am pretty sure she is up to 10 lbs by now. She is so chubby! It is wonderful.

This past weekend was my best friend Kaylan's wedding. Aaliyah was one of the flower girls and I was the maid of honor. I didn't have a chance to get a lot of pictures because I was so busy but my mom got quite a few. As soon as I steal them from her I will share them with you. Aaliyah did a good job, but she was ready for her nap by the time the ceremony started. She actually fell asleep while we were taking pictures and I thought for sure she wasn't going to want to wake up and walk down those stairs! But thankfully she woke up and cooperated. We did have one snag though. She refused to hold her flowers while walking down the stairs. She wanted to carry her puppy! So we finally just gave in and let her carry her puppy down the stairs. The ring bearer she walked with carried her flowers and his pillow at the same time. As soon as we got to the reception she passed out and slept for about 3 hours. Luckily our hotel room was on the first floor and Mom took her to the room and laid with her a bit. Corey went and relieved her as soon as the band started. He didn't want to dance anyway so he was happy laying in the room watching TV.

I had such a great time and was so happy to see my best friend happy. On our way home from Foxburg (where Kaylan and Lief got married) we stopped at the Double Diamond Deer Ranch so Aaliyah could see the deer again. They were very friendly with her and she got to pet a couple. She really enjoyed her visit with the deer. Last weekend was Lief and Kaylan's rehearsal. We drove up to Foxburg and Aaliyah did so great at doing everything she was told! Afterwards Lief's mom hosted a rehearsal dinner at the Baer pond and pavilion. There were kids there for Aaliyah to play with and she was able to swim in the pond. She had such a great time! She also had a milestone this past week. She pooped in the potty!!! I went in to check on her and asked if she was done going pee and she told me no. So I told her I had to go feed Ciara and for her to come in the living room when she was done. A couple of minutes later she comes running in the living room yelling "I did it mommy, I did it" So I asked her if she pee peed and she said come and look. I couldn't believe it!! I am so proud of her. I told her she could have a whole chocolate bar for being such a big girl. We still have quite a way to go, but we are making progress.

Ciara has been doing well with her therapy. I continue to do a little bit on a daily basis and she is responding well. She is moving her head a lot more and "tracking" her toys. She is also holding a play ring in her hand and she has started to bring her hands to her mouth. She is completely out of newborn clothes and I have busted out the 0-3 month outfits. It is neat to see her wearing Aaliyah's old clothes.

Corey and I have been doing well. Unfortunately we must have caught a bug because we were both sick yesterday and still aren't feeling well today. Hopefully it passes soon. I had to call mom to watch the girls a little bit last night because I felt so horrible.

I am exhausted from Kaylan's wedding and broke!!! I spent so much money to be a part of her special day, but it was SO worth it. I love her so much and I would do anything in the world for her. I am a bit jealous though that she is in Jamaica right now!!!!

We are going camping this weekend with the Barnoff family. Aaliyah has vacation bible school every evening this week and she is so excited about it. We are going to take her to the Sykesville Fair on Wednesday evening so she will miss school that night. They are going to have a farm petting zoo and I know she will enjoy that!

Please continue to pray for Ciara's health and well being.

The computer is back!

2009-07-29T09:05:00.000-07:00

Me, Kaylan, and my Mom at Kaylan's bachelorette party

Corey's dad, Charlie, came to visit the miracle.
Ciara all bundled up camping.
Aaliyah and her poppa looking at the spill way in Tionesta.

The spill way

Aaliyah swinging.

Ciara hanging out on the hammock

Aaliyah on the horsees.

Walking at the deer ranch The baby deer

Chubby, chubby in the bath. look at those legs!

Aaliyah felt she needed to sit in Ciara's bouncy seat!

Aaliyah and her kitty taking a nap

The computer is fixed and home! A lot of thanks go out to my brother Ryan for helping us out and fixing it. Thank you Ry Ry.

This is my second time typing this as Aaliyah thought she need to bang on the keyboard and delete my entire post! Needless to say I am not happy.

Ciara is doing very well and we continue to praise the LORD everyday for her well being. On Monday July 20 we went to the Dubois NICU and had her 12 hour sleep study test. It was so nice to see all of the staff and Dr. Hassen. They were pleasantly surprised how big and chubby she has become! She did not sleep very well in the NICU (neither did I) but never the less she passed her test. The apnea monitor company came last Thursday and got a reading from her machine. As long as everything looks ok we should be able to discontinue the monitor. I will be so relieved when I won't have to worry about that thing anymore. On her test date she weighed 9lb 3 oz.

A couple of weekends ago we went up to Tionesta to camp with my parents. On the way up there we stopped at Double Diamond Deer Ranch in Cook Forest. Aaliyah had so much fun. She loved how she could touch the deer and see them up close. It was so nice to see her so happy. Ciara went too but she just slept the whole time! After our visit with the deer we continued our journey to Tionesta campground. Aaliyah LOVES to go camping so she was anxiously awaiting our arrival. She and her daddy went fishing a couple of times and she really had a lot of fun. Whenever someone catches a fish she has to run over and look at it. And then when they release it she yells "Bye fishy." She also had a great time at the playground. Ciara seemed to enjoy the outdoors as well.

That Sunday we had plans to go over to Indiana for the Anthony reunion. Well Corey and Aaliyah were having such a good time fishing that we decided to camp as long as we could. Corey had to work that Monday so we left camp around 8 pm. It was so nice to get out in the fresh air. I too love to camp.

This past weekend was a girls weekend as it was my best friend Kaylan's bachelorette party. She decided to have it at the Waterfront in Pittsburgh. On Saturday we went shopping and got our makeup done at Ulta. Then we went to P.F. Changs for dinner. It was excellent Chinese food. If you ever get the chance to go there be sure to try the lettuce wraps. After dinner we went to the comedy club. It was a good show. After the show we checked into our hotel room and in the morning we did some more shopping. I went quite a while with no babies! It was so nice to have some mommy time. Corey had the weekend off so he kept the kids. He had every intention of keeping both of them but Aaliyah decided she wanted to spend the night with Aunt Libby and Gram Judy. Overall Corey did a pretty good job but he said he didn't hear the baby get up to eat for 7 hours. Believe me she has never slept 7 hours straight in her life! Oh well, she is fine. She survived. When I got home that evening I was cleaning up and I found an empty bottle of Hyland's colic tablets. We give these to the baby periodically for a belly ache. Well Aaliyah must have saw them on the counter and helped herself and Corey didn't realize she had. She ingested around 112 tablets. So I proceeded to call the poison control hot line. Luckily because they are homeopathic we did not have to worry. They did make her very sleepy which was kind of nice.

Corey has been working a lot lately especially at night. I don't think we have slept at the same time for a couple of days now. In fact he is sleeping right now. Aaliyah is still working on potty training but right now she doesn't really seem interested. I'm in no hurry. She'll do it when she is ready. She got a time out in the corner this morning because she kicked me in the face while I was changing her diaper. She kicked me so hard she made my nose bleed!!

Please continue to pray for Ciara. We thank you for your support and praise GOD for answering our prayers.

Chuby, chuby

2009-07-15T17:52:00.000-07:00

Ciara is doing well weighing in at an amazing 8lb 14oz!!!! She went to the pediatrician today and got her four month shots. She is very gassy and sleeping a lot. Typical post shot symptoms. She has been vomitting after her meals so the doctor changed her formula today. Hopefully it will help her. She gets really fussy after her meals and as soon as she spits up she is fine. They put her on Alimentum and it is so expensive!! Thank GOD for WIC!!! I went and got 13 containers of it and it was 113.00! I'm glad I don't have to come up with the money for it.

She and Aaliyah have been doing very well. We usually spend most of our days outside so Aaliyah can play with the neighbor kids. Unless it is really windy. Ciara gets colic from the smallest wind. Ciara is still wearing newborn clothes and diapers but I only think she has about a week left in them. They are getting small!! How wonderful.

Ciara has been doing really well with her apnea monitor. She is going on Monday the 20th to have a 12 hour pneumogram sleep study done to determine if she still needs to have it with her at all times. It may be possible that she could be decreased to only having it at bedtime. I am excited to go because I haven't seen the NICU girls since Ciara got discharged. They became like family to me and I find myself missing them.

I apologize for not including any pictures. My computer got a bunch of viruses and it crashed. My brother is currently working on it so I am updating from my mom's computer. Hopefully the next post will be at home and I can include some recent pictures.

I want to thank you for all of your prayers and support. There is no way we could have gotten where we are today without our friends and family. Please continue to pray for her growth.

Doctors for all

2009-06-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

Aaliyah playing in the pool while it was being filled.

Aaliyah was putting "lipstick" on it was actually a washable marker.

Aaliyah and daddy at the carnival.

One of my favorite pictures of all time.

and another...

bath time at grammys.

Ciara and great grandma Barnoff

This past week has been quite an interesting one, but we made it through! Last Tuesday night Aaliyah, Ciara, Grandma and Grandpa Benson, and I went up on Benson hill to have mountain pies. Grandma had brought a knife up to cut the onion and while no one was looking Aaliyah cut her left index finger down to the bone. We went up to the ER and she had to get 3 stitches put in. She was such a trooper though!!! She only cried a little bit but I think it was because she was scared. Afterwards the doctor gave her lots of stickers and she was happy as can be. She has to have a band aid on it at all times though. If she can see those stitches she freaks out! I have been trying to uncover them when she is sleeping so they can get some air. We went back to the doctor on Thursday to have the stitches checked and she got even more stickers then. She is in sticker heaven!

On Wednesday Ciara woke up with another horrible diaper rash. I called in to see if they could call in the cream that worked for her last time, but they needed to see her first. So I took her in when I took Aaliyah for her appointment. She weighed in at a wonderful 7lb 4oz. I was amazed. I got a refill for her cream and the rash is completely gone. The doctor wants me to put the cream on for a month and hopefully it will stay away. She is completely out of preemie clothes and we have moved on to newborns. She's growing fast! Praise the LORD!!!

I just got home from the hospital today. I went in yesterday to get my tubes tied and have an ablation done. Well when the doctor put the hysterscope in my uterus a small tear occurred. Luckily she was also doing a laparoscopy and she noticed the tear before she put the solution in my uterus. So she just tied my tubes and decided not to put the burn solution in my uterus to do the ablation. When the tear occurred I had some fluid build up behind my uterus and when I came out of surgery I was in so much pain I honestly felt like I was in labor. They gave me every pain medication they could think of. They did a CT scan to make sure everything was ok and the only thing they saw was the build up of fluid. I was in too much pain for them to send me home so they kept me overnight. I slept on a heating pad and surprisingly the only pain med that worked was Tylenol with codeine. I felt much better this morning and was able to come home. Corey took care of the girls by himself last night and he said it went very well. Aaliyah got up at 3:30 and asked him to rock her and then he just put her back in bed with him. He said Ciara got up at 2 and then not again until 9!!! Now either she had a really awesome sleep or Corey didn't hear her crying for a long time!!! Either way she is fine and they survived the night without me. I now have to decide if I want to try the ablation again. Everyone I have talked to really felt better afterwards but I am quite scared of what will happen. I don't want to be in that much pain again. At least with real labor pains you get a beautiful baby out of it!!! I got nothing out of that pain yesterday. I go back to see my doctor in two weeks I will decide then.

All in all everyone is doing fine. Corey has a cold right now but I know him and he won't be stepping foot in any doctor's office unless he is dieing!!!

An update on our friend Barbara. The last I checked she was still in Children's hospital and the doctors could not figure out why her heart rate keeps going down. Please continue to pray for her and her family.

God has blessed us so much and we continue to praise him everyday!!!

Growing, growing, growing.

2009-06-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

Ciara is doing very well. Last Monday she weighed in at 6lb 7oz and was an amazing 19 1/2 inches long! This past week has been like any other. We really don't go anywhere and if I have to go to the store I wait until Corey is home so he can stay with Ciara. Aaliyah is doing well also and she has gone pee pee on the potty three times now. Although...She thinks that she is Ciara's mother!!! Last week Ciara was on the floor just looking around and Aaliyah went up to her and tried to pick her up! Luckily we were right there and told her no. She came back with "I can hold her mommy she's not too big. I can do it."

Then a couple of days later Ciara was sitting in her bouncy chair watching Kissy play. All of a sudden I hear "No sissy, no look at kissy." She kept telling her sister not to look at Kissy and then she proceeds to say "No sissy, hey, 1....2...3." Then she went over to slap her hand. I immediately took over and told her that she was being a little too bossy and that I was her mommy not Aaliyah. She was all upset just because Ciara was looking at Kissy!!! She cracks me up. She does love her sissy very much but she is also turning into a vibrant two year old!!!!

This past Saturday was my best friend Kaylan's bridal shower. So I helped make chocolate covered apples on Friday night and then attended the shower on Saturday evening. My mom and Aunt Libby were nice enough to watch the girls for me on Friday and Corey had the girls on Saturday. She decided she wanted a wine tasting shower and had all of her bridesmaids bring 5-6 bottles of wine. I started off the evening with one drink and stopped after that so I could help with the shower. Well when the sun went down Kaylan and I hit the bottles pretty good. Needless to say I had to be driven home. My dad was nice enough to drive me the whole way to Big Run. Thank you daddy!!! Sunday I spent dragging and took a long nap in the evening. I am glad I don't do things like that often because it is so hard to take care of babies when you feel like that. But I did enjoy having some time with my friends. I do cherish my friends so much.

On Friday Ciara's roommate, Barbara Fisher, who was also born at 25 weeks gestation was sent to Children's hospital in Pittsburgh. She was having decreased heart rate and her parents were having a hard time keeping her stable. She is still in Pittsburgh and they still don't know why her heart rate keeps going down. Please pray for her and her family. I hope they get things figured out.

Please continue to pray for Ciara's health and growth. It is definitely working. God is good!!!

Happy Due Date!

2009-06-10T09:20:00.000-07:00

Aaliyah holding her kitty after she got declawed.

Aaliyah decided to put some eye shadow on while I was in the shower.

Yes, it has officially arrived. Today is Ciara's due date! She is doing very well. Last Thursday she looked a little pale to me so I took her to the pediatrician. Her hemoglobin was low so they sent us for some more blood work. The rest of the testing looked ok so we are just going to watch her. She has been looking well since then so hopefully it has corrected itself. She weighed in at 5lb 11oz at her visit! I was so pleased to see her gaining weight. I am still having a hard time with her diaper rash. The only thing I can think of is changing her diapers. They make sensitive diapers and I will try those. It will almost clear up and then all of a sudden come back with a vengeance.

We have been pretty much staying home. Yesterday we went over to Greg and Kristy's house to play with our nephew Hayden. Aaliyah had a great time. Then after we left Hayden spiked a 103 fever. Luckily the girls seem to be feeling fine so far. Hopefully they will stay that way. After we left Kristy's I was exhausted so we went to my mom and dad's house. They watched the girls while I went to my old room for a much needed nap. I honestly could have slept all night!!! I did feel much better afterwards, but then I was up every 2 hours with Ciara through the night so I am tired again. The cycle continues. Hopefully she will continue to grow and be able to hold more food. Right now she eats 2 hours from when she starts eating. So if she starts at one and eats for 30-45 minutes, then she sleeps until 3 and then we start again. So I get about and hour of sleep in between feedings. That being said I am so happy that she is home and she is definitely worth all the sleep deprivation. Last night she had quite the belly ache and I was up until 1:00 a.m. with her. She has been getting them pretty much every night around 10:30-11:00.

On Sunday the Detwiler family came over for a cookout and to visit with Ciara. They seemed very smitten with her, but it is hard not to be!

Please continue to pray for her growth and well being.

Photo shoot

2009-05-30T14:29:00.001-07:00

All wrapped up after the bath.

This one is my favorite. I used it for her birth announcements. They should be in soon.

Here are some pictures from Ciara's bath this morning. Enjoy!!!

A big, big girl!

2009-05-29T15:59:00.000-07:00

Aaliyah talking to her kitties.

Chubby, chubby cheeks.

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at an outstanding 5lb 4 oz!!!! The home health nurse came this morning and weighed her. I had her do it twice because I couldn't believe my eyes. She is adjusting well to home life but she still has her days and nights mixed up. Today she slept 3 1/2 hours but does not sleep longer than 2 hours at night. Oh well, she is home and that's all that matters. Right now she is suffering from a horrible diaper rash. It is actually bleeding. We have tried a lot of products for her. The pediatrician called in an antibacterial ointment today so hopefully this will work. She screams every time I change her diaper.

This week has been pretty uneventful for Ciara. She has not gone anywhere. She has been a homebody this week.

Aaliyah is doing well with her potty training. She has not actually gone in the potty, but she sits on it and reads. I am thrilled because she refused to get near it before. She is just like her mommy and hates change, so this is going to be a long process. I completely understand and I am a pretty patient person. When she is ready she will do it.

Thank the Lord our little one is doing so well. She is definitely up for visitors, so feel free to come and see her!

Her first cook out

2009-05-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

When I would kiss her she would suck on my lips!!!

Whoa!!

Aaliyah eating bubbles.

Aaliyah on the potty!!!!

Ciara and her cousin Jack. Jack is only 6 weeks old and he weighs about 11 pounds. Ciara is three months old and she weighs 4 and 1/2 pounds!! It was quite different holding Jack and Brooke noticed a difference with Ciara as well. I believe she said it was like holding a feather!

All four of the Benson great grandchildren-Hayden and his mommy Kristy, Jack and his mommy and daddy-Jeff and Brooke, Aaliyah, and Ciara with Corey and I.

Jack and Ciara again.

Ciara with her Aunt Kristy.

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 4lb 9oz. She had to go back to the doctor on Friday because she woke up with a runny nose. Aaliyah just got put on antibiotics on Thursday for a sinus infection. I called the pediatrician to let them know she had a runny nose and the insisted on seeing her. Fortunately the doctor thought she was fine and I have been cleaning her nose out to keep things flowing.

On Sunday afternoon we took Ciara to a cook out on Benson hill. We had mountain pies and visited for a while. She got to meet some of her cousins and got some really cute pictures taken. Of course I forgot my camera, so Aunt Chippy was gracious enough to share her pictures with me. Thank you Aunt Chippy!

On Monday morning the Benson's had another cook out on the hill and made breakfast over the fire. I did not plan on taking Ciara to it because she was out the day before and I didn't want to wear her out. But Aaliyah didn't want to go with her dad at 7:00 a.m. so I took her over when she got up. We did stay for a little bit and visit and fortunately Ciara tolerated it ok. Today my mom came over and stayed with girls while I went to Indiana to see my urologist. The girls were both very good for her and she even got Aaliyah to sit on the potty!!! Believe me I will keep trying with her. I am glad she will do it for my mom.

We have been enjoying the company and hope that you will be over soon to witness our little miracle. God is good!!!

She's home!!!!

2009-05-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

Aaliyah and I decorated the house for Ciara's homecoming.

Look at her folded hands.

On our way to her first doctors appointment.

I just wanted to show you how big a bib looks on her.

In her bouncy seat.

We went for our first walk.

Praise the Lord, our baby girl is home!!! Ciara officially came home on Saturday afternoon. Things have been pretty hectic around our house with a newborn here. We are absolutely thrilled to have her here with us. Although, I must confess I forgot how much work it is to care for a newborn. Also I forgot how many diapers they go through!!! I had to go to the store this evening to get more preemies. I tried a newborn diaper on her and she was swimming in it!! Ciara had her first doctors appointment on Tuesday and she weighed in at 4lb 8 oz. I was thrilled to see that on the scale. On Monday the home health nurse came to check on her and her scale said Ciara was only 3 lb 11 oz. I was flipping out!!! When she was discharged she weighed 4lb 3oz and I was so upset that she was down so much. Well it worked out that her scale was wrong. Thank God because I was afraid she was going to have to go back in the hospital. She is now 17 1/2 inches long she has grown 3 inches.

Aaliyah is absolutely in love with her sissy, but she is also jealous. She has a nasty cold and hasn't been feeling herself lately. Yesterday when I was breastfeeding Ciara she threw herself on the floor and started yelling "Put Sissy down" over and over. She wanted me to hold her instead of Ciara. I felt horrible but Ciara can't feed herself! She is slowly transitioning though. She loves to hold her sissy's hand. And lately the only way she will take her bath is if sissy comes up in the bathroom and watches her. She is really enjoying helping me feed, burp, and bath her. On Monday she asked me if she could give her baby a bath. So I put some water in the kitchen sink for her and she proceeded to make a huge mess. Oh well, she had a good time.

We really haven't had any visitors and I fear that it is my fault. I did not mean to discourage people from visiting with my last post. If you are feeling well please feel free to give me a call to come and cuddle our little miracle. I probably will not be going to any family functions this weekend because I think it will be too much for her. So if you are coming home for the weekend, please stop by.

She's coming home

2009-05-14T15:56:00.000-07:00

Her shirt says preemie princess. On of the NICU nurses, Lori, bought it for her.

Having her apnea test.

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 4lb 2oz. That's right, we have hit the four pound mark! The big news to share with everyone is that Ciara is coming home on Saturday!!!! We are so excited and cannot wait to have our family together. It is just in time too. Aaliyah is so tired of me leaving everyday. She is acting out a lot and is refusing to go to grandma bensons. She was supposed to go on a road trip with her today but would not get in her car seat. After about an hour of fighting with her I picked her up and took her back in our house. Well she threw quite the tantrum-kicking, screaming, and arching her back. I am so stressed about her feelings too so I began to cry as well. I just feel like this is all my fault. It is my fault Ciara is in the hospital, therefore I have to leave everyday to see her and it is making my other daughter upset in the process. I will be glad when she is home and Aaliyah won't have to go anywhere if she doesn't want to. I am also glad that she is coming home soon because it is very expense driving up there everyday and I do eat one meal at the hospital. And believe me hospital food is very expensive. It will be nice to not have those expenses anymore.

Ciara had a test done on Tuesday to see if she needs to come home on a monitor. I just kind of prepared myself for a monitor and I was right. She has a lot of periodic breathing so she will be coming home on an apnea monitor. I am going to stay overnight with her tomorrow night (that is if Aaliyah will let me) to learn how to run the monitor, mix her special formula, and give her meds. It is called nesting in and hopefully I will be able to take advantage of it. We will see what Aaliyah thinks of me leaving! Ciara had her hearing exam also this week and everything passed except for the last test on the right ear. So she will have to go back to the audiologist to be retested. She also went through a car seat test to make sure she will be able to breathe well while sitting in the car seat. She passed. Today she had her final eye exam and there is no signs of damage. Praise the Lord!!!! Please continue to pray for our angel. And when things get settled in we can start having visitors. Because she is still very tiny and very fragile I am going to limit the amount of visitors per day and she will still need long periods of uninterrupted sleep. But give me a call and we'll schedule a visit!

I also don't know how much I will get to update the blog after Ciara gets home, but I will try my best to do it once a week.

Preparing for baby

2009-05-09T17:15:00.000-07:00

"I holdin sissy"

All clean. She looks good in purple. Much to my surprise, I love pink.

Daddy love.

Hi there.

This bath feels good.

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 3 lb 13 oz. She is gaining weight beautifully. On Tuesday she decided that she did not want her feeding tube in anymore so she yanked it out. Luckily she has been nippling great since then and she has not had to have it back in. Corey and I have been preparing for her homecoming. Today we cleaned like crazy and put her crib together. We are still not sure exactly when she is coming home, but we want to be prepared. I got to bath her today and she really seemed to enjoy it. Afterwards she just laid there while I took a couple of pictures and then she fell asleep. She did have a belly ache when I first got there and a lot of gas. She was doing better as the night went on. Aaliyah visited her today with her Poppa and Mammy. She is so smitten with her sissy and wants to help me feed and burp her. She is so fascinated with the burping part. It is so funny! She told me she wants sissy to come home. While she was coloring she asked her sissy to color with her. I told her that she is a bit young to be coloring but someday they will color together. As you can see in the picture she got to hold her sissy and she was so happy! At first she didn't know if she was allowed to touch her but then she got used to her and gave her a hug and a kiss. Thank you for all of your prayers for our little girl. Please pray that she continues to do well so she may be well enough to come home with her family. God is good!!!

It won't be long now

2009-05-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

All snuggled after her bath

I made her the white blanket. It only took me three months!

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 3lb 8oz. She is nippling pretty much every feeding. She didn't use her feeding tube at all yesterday and she only used it once on Sunday. On Saturday the doctor told me that if she keeps doing as well as she is now, she might be able to come home in 2 weeks!!! How wonderful would it be to have our baby home! Now I am not counting down the days because who knows what the next 2 weeks will bring. But just the thought of having our family together is beyond explanation. Please continue to pray that she is strong enough to come home soon. I breast fed her yesterday and she got 15cc from me. It is so weird to me that it is easier for her to bottle feed than to breast feed. It takes a lot of work and use of the fat pads in her cheeks to get my milk out. Where on the bottle the milk flows very freely. You would think God would make the breast easier!!! Oh well, we will keep working on it and as long as she gets some of my milk I won't mind if I have to supplement when she gets home. Since my talk with the doctor Corey and I have been changing the spare bedroom into her nursery. I worked on it quite a bit yesterday and Aaliyah is going to stay at Grandma Benson's tomorrow night so I can get more done then. Thank you for all of your prayers. They are the only reason our little Ciara is doing so great!

Gaining strength

2009-05-02T06:51:00.000-07:00

Our sleepy angel

Wide awake after her bath

Pink booties

Our first onsie

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 3lb 4oz. She is currently allowed to nipple every other feeding, but I just called in for report and the nurse told me that she nippled every feeding last night. Yesterday I did not go up to see her because I had an appointment in Blairsville and then after my appointment I went to Greensburg and got some stuff for her nursery. Nurse Kathy, or "Katty" as I call her, took care of her. Every time she was allowed to nipple she took the entire bottle! If she continues to do well with her bottle the doctor will consider increasing her nipplings. I did breast feed her on Wednesday and she got an entire feeding from my breast! She would've kept nursing but she is only allowed to for so long and they make her stop. When I breast fed her on Thursday she only got 5cc from me and I gave her the rest with a bottle. I got to bath her again on Thursday and I put a onsie on her that one of the ex-NICU moms gave me. Her name is Kelly and her son Peter was born at 28 weeks weighing 2lbs. She ordered this onsie for him but by the time it came in he was too big for it!! It JUST fit Ciara and I got some nice pictures with it on. I also put on a set of knitted pink booties that were a gift. They also just fit and the way she is growing I don't know that they will be on for long! Please continue to pray for little Ciara. GOD is good!!!!

Doing well on breast

2009-04-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

My wedding rings on her arm two months ago...

My wedding rings on three of her fingers present!

"Mother what are you doing to me?"

Ciara is doing very well again today weighing in at 3lb 1oz. She had lost a couple of ounces but she is now on her way back up. On Monday I breast fed her during one of her three nipple times. She did not do so hot and I don't believe she got much. Then I got to bath her. Bathing her is so wonderful and definitely something you take for granted. When your baby is home you can bath her whenever you want, so I look forward to her bath time. My mom was there during her bath and she enjoyed it as well. After her bath we checked to see if my wedding rings would fit on her arm like before. Well we couldn't even fit four fingers in it! How wonderful to see her progress!

Yesterday I breastfed her again during one of her nipple sessions. This time she did wonderful! She got 15cc from my breast and then drank 12cc from a bottle. She is progressing so well. I am very proud of her. I do believe that we are going to start to let her nipple per ques. So whenever she is routing or sucking during her feeding time they will let her nipple. But we have to be careful that we don't wear her out. If she is sleepy or doesn't look like she wants to eat they will just put the feeding down her tube. Overall Ciara is doing so well. The prayers are definitely working!

Bottle and no oxygen!

2009-04-27T08:00:00.001-07:00

Aaliyah and grammy

holding on to poppa

Aaliyah and her daddy fishing

bath time

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 3lb 1oz! That's right she has officially doubled her birth weight. They have been weaning down her O2 from high flow nasal cannula to regular nasal cannula. She was at 21% at 1.5 liters yesterday. But today they took her oxygen out and she has been doing well. Praise the LORD!!!! On Thursday evening I asked Dr. Hassen when I could start giving her a bottle and he told me some time next week. Well much to my surprise when I went in on Friday morning they told me I could let her "nipple" two times a day. She could either take a bottle or breast feed. I gave her a bottle on Friday and she did so well. She also got her first tub bath on Friday and seemed to tolerate it well. I did not go up on Saturday because we had two birthday parties to go to. We had such a great time at both of them. Corey and Aaliyah went fishing in her Uncle Greg's pond and every time Corey caught a fish she got so excited! She would say good bye to the "shisshy" and then tell her dad to catch another! The nurses fed Ciara her two bottles on Saturday and she did great.

I did go up yesterday and when I got there the nurse had just finished giving her a bottle. As you can imagine I was quite disappointed I missed the feeding. But they let me breast feed her on the next feeding. She didn't do as well as she normally does because she was tired from the last bottle. She is not strong enough yet to nipple every feeding. But the doctor did increase it to 3 times a day. All other feedings she gets through her tube. My mom, dad, and aunt libby came up to visit yesterday and my mom and dad got to touch her for the first time. She latched right on to my dad's hand and I got some adorable pictures. She watched my mom and kept sticking her tongue out at her. Her nervous system is still immature so she does have some involuntary movement. Aaliyah came up yesterday too but she fell asleep and didn't get to see much of her sissy. Please continue to pray for our little one. She is doing so well.

Clothes!

2009-04-24T05:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from last night. They are dressing her now. Because she has clothes on they turned the heat off to her bed. If she can continue to keep her own temperature they will continue dressing her. I haven't recieved report yet so I don't know what she weighs today. Enjoy!

Sleepy girl

2009-04-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

Nakky baby!!

Sleepy baby

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 2lb 13oz. She was just recently taken off of her diuretic and they are carefully watching her weight gain. She has been gaining anywhere from 60-70 grams a day and they want to make sure it is not fluid weight. They have been slowly weaning her oxygen and today she is at 3.5 liters at 21%. They had her down to 3 liters but she required more oxygen. I have not been able to breastfeed the last two days because she slept through my entire visit. She must be growing! One of her nurses yesterday was going to let me bath her but she kept desating so she decided it was not a good day. Please continue to pray for our little angel.

Weaning the oxygen

2009-04-20T18:51:00.000-07:00

In daddy's hands.

Nursing session

Ciara is doing well today weighing in at 2lb 8oz. She is still on high flow nasal cannula 24 hours a day. She has been doing so well on 5 liters that they are slowly weaning her oxygen down. She was down to 3.5 liters today and they will decrease it .5 everyday as long as she keeps doing well. If she hits a spot where she needs more oxygen they will stop for a bit and let her body rest. I breastfed her again today and she did quite well. She was wide awake and nursed for about 10 minutes. Not continuously of course, but she kept latching back on. They are also going to start slowly weaning her off of some of her medications. They stopped her diuretic and they will carefully watch her weight to make sure she is not retaining fluid. After she was finished nursing today she kept choking and she would stop breathing. She did this a couple of times and then I called the nurse in. They believe she was refluxing and said it is very common among preemies. If it continues to bother her she may have to be started on some reflux medication. Unfortunately we are very familiar with these medicines because Aaliyah was on every single one of them. It took the doctors a long time to find the right ones for her. I know that it is in God's hands and he will take care of our precious angel. Hopefully, if they do have to put her on medication, they can find the right one for her. My milk production has been much better since I have been allowed to nurse and I am very thankful for that. Please continue to pray for our little girl.

Dinner with mammy and poppa

2009-04-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

Hello

Ciara on the breast.

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 2lb 7 1/2 oz. The big news lately is that she is on high flow nasal cannula 24 hours a day! No more CPAP for this one! There is always a possibility that she might have to go back on it, but let us hope that it is for good. I have been attempting to breast feed everyday. Yesterday she wanted nothing to do with it and slept through the whole session. Oh well. She is still getting fed through her tube at 9cc per hour so I wasn't too concerned. On Thursday night my mom and dad brought Aaliyah up to see her sissy. We all attended the bradysmile dinner that they have once a month. They cook a home cooked meal for all of the NICU families. It was very nice and my parents seemed to enjoy it as well. Aaliyah was her wild self and wanted to touch her sissy. Right now she thinks that sissy is great but I have a feeling that will change when she comes home! Please continue to pray for our little angel.

Breast is best

2009-04-15T19:42:00.000-07:00

Look at those cheeks!

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 2lb 6oz. Her feedings have been increased to 9cc every hour and is tolerating them well. Her nasal cannula time was also increased to 18 hours and her CPAP for 6 hours. Today was a special day for me because I got to breast feed her. My milk production is not the best, but I have been pumping now for 7 weeks with no infant stimulation. She did well for a preemie. She latched on a total of 4 times and sucked 2 or 3 times while latched. She was VERY tired afterwards and she desated and had 2 apneas. As long as she is doing ok tomorrow we will try again. It is very awkward holding her and trying to nurse at the same time. She is so tiny and I have to hold my breast just right so she can breathe and eat together. It was a wonderful experience for me and I hope I can do it again tomorrow. She did have to get a blood transfusion last night and hopefully that will be the last one she has to receive. Please continue to pray for our angel.

Bath time with mommy

2009-04-12T17:54:00.000-07:00

Nanna sent up a hat that fits!

"I find an egg!"

Sitting in her new swing eating chocolate from the Easter bunny.

Happy Easter!

Mommy love

Getting lotion

She loves her binkie

Washing her face

Giving kisses

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 2lb 2oz. She is still on rotating 12 hours of nasal cannula and 6 hours of CPAP. She is doing very well with the transition and is running on about 25-30% oxygen. Today was a wonderful experience for me. I got to bath her for the first time. It was so wonderful. We bonded so beautifully. I just talked to her and she responded by staring me down. Honestly I found it more enjoyable than kangaroo care. I do so very much love to hold her but I actually interacted with her tonight. We really connected and as a mother you yearn for those moments. Please continue to pray for our little Ciara and while you are praying praise the Lord for giving us this wonderful angel.

More alert

2009-04-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 2lb 2 1/2 oz. She is still getting 8 cc of breast milk every 3 hours. She is doing well on the nasal cannula and has been bumped up to 12 hours of nasal cannula then 6 hours of CPAP and they will keep switching them. I got to do some more kangaroo care today but only for about an hour and a half. The nurse didn't make me put her away but she kept desating so I wanted her to get some rest. The less stimulation the more she will continue to grow and thrive. And I want so badly to bring her home!! She is becoming very alert and loves looking at her visitors. Grandma, Grandpa Benson, and Uncle Keith came and saw her today and she just stared at her great grandma! She loves her already!! Please continue to pray for our little blessing.

Bath time

2009-04-09T16:13:00.001-07:00

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 2lb 2oz. She got a bath on Tuesday and they got some adorable pictures afterwards. She is now on CPAP for 6 hours then nasal cannula for 6 hours and they are alternating them. She seems to be tolerating them well. She is still receiving 8cc of breast milk every hour and is doing well. She had her eye exam this morning and everything looked great. Praise the LORD! She will have a follow up exam every 2 weeks. She is still reticking well which means she is making her own red blood cells. Her hematocrit was a little low yesterday so instead of giving her a blood transfusion they started her on an iron supplement. I got to do some more kangaroo care yesterday for about 3 hours. Ciara is getting more alert so it is really fun to sit and stare at each other! I love her so much and I praise GOD everyday for our wonderful gift. Please continue to pray for her.

PS the site was having problems uploading pictures I will try again later.

Gaining!

2009-04-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 2lbs! That's right, 2 lbs! Praise the Lord! Not much has changed with her. She is still getting 8cc of breast milk per hour. She is on the CPAP machine running at 26% oxygen. I did some kangaroo care yesterday but we only got to do it for about an hour because she kept desating. The nurse said it was probably because she was so comfortable on my chest and forgot to breathe. The nurse that I had today told me I could hold her again today if I wanted but I didn't have time. I had to pick Aaliyah up by six and I didn't get to visit Ciara until 4:30. I took some me time this afternoon and got my back adjusted. Aaliyah had her birthday party on Saturday and had a great time! Thank you to all who attended and for the awesome gifts! Please continue to pray for Ciara.

Rainy day

2009-04-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 1lb 15 oz. She gained weight!! Everything is pretty much the same with her. She is on CPAP running at about 30% oxygen and getting 8cc of breast milk every hour. I did not go up an see her today because Aaliyah has a slight fever. She could possibly just be teething but her birthday party is tomorrow and I just want her to rest today. I asked her if she wanted to go to great grammy's or if she wanted to stay home. She told me she wanted to stay home. So we're just hanging out inside on a rainy day. Please continue to keep praying for our little Ciara.

Not gaining

2009-04-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

Holding her while they changed her sheets

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 1lb 12oz. For some reason she has not started gaining weight yet. The doctor did not give me the impression he was worried though. He just told me I need to have a talk with her. I will do that! She is still tolerating her feedings well and is up to 8cc every hour. They had told me they were going to stop at 7cc but she has not been gaining so up they continue to go. On Tuesday night she decided to extubate herself so now she is on the CPAP again. They were going to take her off of the ventilator anyways on Friday, but she thought they needed help I guess. She was supposed to have her eye exam today, but when they called me with report they said she is de-sating quite a bit and did not want to stress her out any further. They will try to do it some time next week. Please continue to pray for our precious angel.

Off the IV

2009-03-31T14:42:00.000-07:00

She loves her binkie.

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 1lb 13oz. She is completely off of her IV's and is on only breast milk. They are fortifying my milk to add some calories. She is still intubated but she is not on the ventilator. She is on pressurized CPAP so she is breathing on her own but it gives her a little extra push. She will continue to be on this until Friday. She is going to get her eye examination on Thursday to check the retinas. The doctor says it is very stressful for the baby and it will help to keep her intubated just in case she needs to go back on the vent. It is common in preemies to have the retinas stop growing and get inflamed. If this is the case she will need laser surgery. The doctor does not feel that she is as risk and feels very good about the exam. There is another baby here born at 25 weeks and she did not require the surgery. She will have these eye exams every two weeks until her retinas are mature. Her heart rate is still elevated. They believe it is the caffeine. Some babies do not metabolize it well. They are going to try smaller doses and hopefully get it adjusted for her. She is getting 5cc of breast milk per hour and they are increasing it .5cc every 12 hours until they reach 7 cc and then hold it. She seems to be tolerating the feedings well. Please continue to pray for her.

Taking her care into her own hands

2009-03-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 1lb 13oz. She is growing! She is still on the ventilator, but she decided earlier today that she was going to extibate herself. They decided to let her go for a little bit to see how she would do but she got tired so back on the vent she went. They still plan on keeping her on until Monday. They started her feedings again this morning and she is getting 2 ml every hour. I'm sure she's happy to be getting fed again. I know I am happy. She seems to be doing well on the ventilator and hopefully she can go back on CPAP soon.

Another day on the vent

2009-03-27T15:36:00.000-07:00

Ciara is doing well today weighing in at 1lb 12 oz. She lost 4 oz since yesterday so my assumption of water retention was correct. She is still on the ventilator, but doing well. She is still not eating but they are going to start them again tomorrow. She is still on the antibiotics and she will continue to be on them for 5 days. Her blood cultures have all come back negative. Praise the Lord! They must be working for her because her heart rate was down to the 150's. She is such a trooper. She amazes me more and more every day. She is such a miracle and I thank God for such a precious gift. Please continue to pray for her.

Some trying times

2009-03-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

Sticking out her tongue.

Crying.

Ciara is having a hard day today. Believe it or not she weighed in at 2 lbs this morning! I have a feeling a lot of that is fluid. She had to be intubated again yesterday. She was having a hard time breathing on the CPAP machine so they tried her on a Sigh Pap machine. Which is just like the CPAP only she got 20 extra breaths per minute. She still showed that she was tired so the doctor decided she needed to go on the ventilator. She will probably remain on until Monday and then they will put her back on CPAP. They have stopped her feedings because they believe she has an infection. She was put on antibiotics this morning and started on albuterol treatments. She was wide awake for our visit this evening. The nurse told me that she doesn't know she's not getting fed, but I think she knows. Every time I put my hand in the incubator she tried to put it in her mouth and she just sucked and sucked on her binkie. As a mother I think she is hungry. Hopefully she will show some signs of improvement and they can start the breast milk again. Please pray extra hard for her tonight. It is definitely starting to get to me that I can't hold her or be near her. The doctor told me not to come up everyday that I will burn myself out, but I can't stand to be away from her. I don't spend all day up here, I only stay a couple of hours. But he is still worried I am doing too much. I keep telling Corey (because he agrees with staying away) he is not a mother and it's hard for men to understand wanting to be with your baby all the time. I miss her when I am not here, but I miss her when I am here too.