Water Fun

My apologies if you have the "Motorboat" song in your head by the end of this video.

A Perfect Weekend

This was a pretty darn good weekend. Grandma Streett caught a ride down south and joined us on Thursday evening and stayed through the weekend. Friday was a pretty low key/normal day. Saturday was when the fun really started.

I joined six guys from the neighborhood in the Ninja 5k challenge. This was a fairly last minute decision for me but I'm so glad I tagged along because it was amazing. It was 3.1 miles of killer hills with 15 obstacles scattered throughout. I'm excited to see if there are any pictures of us on the course but I'm pretty disappointed that I couldn't handle the monkey bars.

For the most part we all hung together as a group with the bulk of us finishing just shy of 60 minutes. We would have had a much better time had we not had to stand and wait for 15 minutes to complete one of the obstacle of the four vertical walls. I was pretty much worthless once I got home. I was exhausted! My leisurely jog around the Cary Park Lake 1-2 times a week doesn't compare to the Ninja 5k.

Saturday afternoon was loaded with water fun. We filled up Willa's water table and also pulled out her splash pad for the first time. Willa wasn't quite so sure about the splash pad the first time I plopped her in the middle but she definitely got used to it as the afternoon progressed. I also enjoyed being a lady of leisure after my strenuous morning (hopefully a video will be posted shortly). Grandma Streett played lifeguard as she was stationed just outside the baby gates.

Grandma Streett had to hit the road early on Sunday morning to meet back up with her ride to Pennsylvania. We sure enjoyed your visit and can't wait to see the entire Streett clan in July.

Twenty Pounds!

That title is not a mistype. At 19 months old Willa has hit 20 pounds according to our home scale. I wish we had an idea of how tall she is but we don't have another doctors appointment  until the end of June. I hate the fact that the majority of what Willa eats is baby food but our doctors are very focused on Willa gaining weight and the baby food is definitely working. One new food for Willa is cheese puffs. Those things are straight calories. Only one problem with cheese puffs, I'm eating 3-4 puffs in the amount of time it takes Willa to eat 1. I don't need the extra calories.

Last weekend we hosted a cornhole tournament in the neighborhood. We had 24 teams sign up and the games started at 1pm on Sunday. Somehow, Willa must have sensed the impending chaos and decided to take an early nap. Willa went down at 1230pm and didn't MOVE until 330pm.  Her timing was impeccable. I was sure that Daren and I would dominate the tournement during Willa's nap because we could be 100% focused on the competition. So not the case because we went 0-2 and barely even made a showing. It was a great day with neighbors and friends even if we didn't win.

Hoop Star

Endoscopy

Thursday was Willa's endoscopy. We had to be at UNC Hospital at 630am and the procedure was scheduled for 730am. It was a fairly painless morning (I hope Willa agrees). Willa was all smiles for the various nurses, anesthesiologists, and doctors. She showed no fear. Also, there was a TV in our room so Willa go to watch Peppa Pig while chilling in her hospital gown and super big socks. The doctor let us know that the procedure would take about 10 minutes and we would be updated shortly after.

The short versions of the results is everything was normal. The medical findings are as follows -
1. No gross lesions in the entire esophagus.
2. No gross lesions in the stomach.
3. Diffuse mucosal flattening was found in the duodenal bulb.
All three areas were biopsied and we are awaiting the results. The final pathology report should be back by the middle of this week.

I went back to recovery to get our little girl. She did wake up crying and didn't like the IV that remained in her hand. We did some singing and drank some apple juice. I think most of Willa's crying was to get attention from the hospital staff.

We were released and headed home just before 9am. Willa handled the anesthesia so well that we brought her to daycare and Daren and I headed to work.

We have yet to speak with our GI doctors about the findings of the endoscopy. Nothing found during the procedure explains Willa's frequent gagging and throwing up. I'm not sure what the next step will be but we will keep plugging away and trying to keep Willa's weight gain on the upward swing.

I have some more cute photos to share from this weekend. We've had lots of rain in North Carolina so our plants (and weeds) are very happy.

Mother's Day

I had a fairly uneventful Mother's Day. Went for a run at 715 am with neighbor Kathy (this is our routine on Sunday mornings) and then headed to church with the family. While driving to church I mentioned to Daren that it would probably be packed at our service. Boy was I right…I think almost every seat was taken and extra chairs were even brought in. Need to remember the craziness for next year and get to church extra early for 2015.

We tried to take some pictures of Willa sitting in an old rocking chair of Daren's but Willa still needs to work on sitting still. Maybe we need to take more pictures and give Willa some more practice. We had a family afternoon nap and then took a trip to Sam's Club once Willa woke from her 3+ hour nap. The goal of our shopping trip was to buy Willa a water table. We were successful and pictures will hopefully be taken this weekend.

It wasn't exactly a perfect weekend. We had some major struggles with trying to get Willa to eat. The only thing we got Willa to eat all weekend was hummus. That is not an exaggeration. There was also plenty of puking. Tensions ran high. Hoping to get some answers on Thursday when we head to UNC Hospital bright and early for an endoscopy.

This little girl often makes me want to pull my hair out one minute and overflows my heart the next. Is this the part of mothering that people forget to mention?

What is Happening Now...

Remember how I was super stressed out when we were told that Willa needs to get 900-950 calories per day for weight gain? Well, it isn't quite as tough as I thought. We are surpassing 900 calories about 3-4 times per week. That calorie mark plus all her magic potions which increase Willa's appetite/add calories had little bean gaining one pound during the month of April. That is a HUGE weight gain for us and Willa is now over 19 pounds at 18 months of age.

Last week I had a root canal. It wasn't awful and it made me realize how much I favored the left side of my mouth. Thankfully, Willa took a brief break from giving me "love pats" to the cheeks.

Do all 18 month olds think that anytime is the right time for a somersault?

Willa loves to be outside (we need to get her saying this on video). The pinwheels purchased from the Target $1 bin might just be my best buy ever. We've had them for at least three weeks and Willa still loves to play with them. More than likely if  she is outside running wild there will be a pinwheel clutched in her hand.