Memorial Day 2009...

Happy Memorial Day-

This Memorial Day weekend was great, and especially since the weather cooperated and the rain held off! The past few weekends have been busy for Miss Danielle! For mommy's birthday we took a day trip to Jordan Creek Mall in Des Moines. It was a perfect day for some shopping, a nice dinner and we even took the kids to their first Build A Bear Workshop, Danielle slept thru the whole experience so next time she will get to 'Build' her own stuffed animal and accessorize it too! She of course made out with a couple very cute summer outfits with matching head bands and some adorable little Crocks!

One of the newest most adorable thing about Danielle is that her hair is getting SO long, on top that is! We now put her hair in 'pretties' regularly. But when she doesn't have a pretty in, and she just wakes up she tends to get a case of 'bed head'. Daddy thinks that she has a perfect 80's Punk Rocker do, what do you think?!

Our friends Mike & Kirsten welcomed into the world their first baby, Lila Louise on April 18th. It was wonderful to have her out to our house for her first visit, seeing her in this picture in Danielle's bouncy seat really makes me realize how BIG our little girl is getting. She isn't such a little newborn anymore :) We are excited to watch Lila grow and her and Danielle to play together and be little girl friends!

This weekend was great. We were able to spend a lot of time outside and together. We ventured to Dubuque for the day. Dubuque has so much to offer for families and that is what we liked the most. We took the kids to the Fenelon Elevator Co for a Cable Car ride up the huge hill. Daddy was especially excited to do this since his Grandma used to take him there when he was little. Danielle was just along for the ride on mommy's lap and Dylan thought it was pretty cool. Mommy and daddy just tried not to look down on the way up!

We also ventured to the Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium. We toured around inside and once again Danielle slept the whole time! Dylan loved the fish and walking around outside to the boats and even the kids play area. He of course loved riding the bouncy ducky!

On Sunday we ventured to Cassie's Graduation Party! We are so proud of her and the kids surly LOVE her so much, she has taken such great care of them many times! Her and her family had a wonderful party and it was such a beautiful day. It was especially fun to see family and there were many that saw Danielle for the first time. There is nothing like great company from good family & friends.

We then decided to go back to Dubuqe and stay at the Grand Harbor Resort & Water Park for the night. Dylan loved the water and him & daddy had all kinds of fun. Danielle and mommy had our suits on too and just relaxed lazy river side! It was a great night. We went back to the room thinking that both kids would be all tuckered out, nope, it was time for Dylan to make himself comfortable in his own bed and baby girl snuggled with mommy & daddy!

On Monday we woke up, had breakfast and Dylan kept saying, 'water, fun', he was ready to go back to the water park and I think daddy was ready too! This time they again ventured down the big kid water slides, neither of us could believe that Dylan loved them as much as he did, they were definitely a BIG hit! Danielle and mommy sat around the water again and the boys did everything that boys do! The water park was a huge hit and we will for sure be visiting another water park soon. We can't wait until we can all do those fun water slides together, baby girl just needs to get about Dylan's age now and that will happen! But she is perfectly content in her cute little swimsuit hanging out with mommy or in her stroller, just taking in all of the activity!

We decided to take our time getting home so we decided to relax after such a busy morning, we stopped and had lunch at one of mommy & daddy's favorite places in Dubuque, Bricktown! It was wonderful as always and the kids were great. Dylan was pooped out and laid on daddy's lap most of the time and baby girl had a full belly herself and slept thru most of our lunch. We surly had a great relaxing weekend and really enjoyed spending 3 whole days as a family, there is nothing better than that!

After lunch we drove home and made one last stop..... at the cemetery. We can't forget the true meaning of Memorial day, to celebrate those who have given their lives for us. We especially remember Great Grandma & Grandpa Kinney, Great Grandpa Holub. The cemetery is always beautifully decorated with flags everywhere. We also celebrate the life of our first born, Dalton James. It is always very important for us to take the kids to the cemetery so Dalton knows that we will never forget him and to see the beautiful life he is living thru Dylan & Danielle. We said a family prayer and I caught a couple priceless shots of Dylan staring down at his Great Grandparents & Big Brother's grave, and even giving the flowers a precious kiss :)

Thank you lord for blessing our family. It was a wonderful weekend of togetherness and thank you for protecting us and our extended family & keeping everyone safe in their travels.~

Baby's 1st Vacation....

We just returned from a wonderful, relaxing trip; destination: Scottsdale Arizona. It was wonderful to getaway and have some fun in the sun! This was Danielle's first vacation and first time on an airplane. She did absolutely perfect, she was strapped to mommy in the Baby Bjorn for the flight and never made a peep. She is such a good baby and loves to be snuggled. It was very nice to meet Grammy for the week and have daddy's support to be away from home, with the kids for a week! We really missed daddy, but we look forward to our family vacation in a couple of months. Thank you for supporting us daddy!

We did lots of fun activities and got some much needed relaxation in as well. On Sunday we went to the Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium. We had already taken Dylan to the Phoenix Zoo for our last trip so we decided to check out a new one and it was great. There was a log ride that went thru the Aquarium and the Zoo had a fun playground, train that went thru the exhibits and an Australian Boat ride that went around the Australian Animals. There was a lift that went over the whole park and we even stopped at the Giraffe Feeding station to feed the Giraffe's. Danielle was perfect and was just along for the stroller ride and lunch at the Cafe. It was a beautiful day with a light breeze, perfect for the kids.

The rest of the week we went shopping and relaxed by the pool! I tried to keep the kids on their routines somewhat, in the mornings we would take a nice long walk then back to our suite for nap time, then lunch and off to the pool for the afternoon before out for dinner. It was SO nice to be able to spend a lot of one on one time with the kids, I have not been able to do that since Danielle came home from the hospital. It was very nice to spend time with my mom and have the kids have some fun Grammy time also! I could not have asked for a better baby, Danielle is just the sweetest little snuggle bug, she had no problem adjusting to new surroundings and slept great in the crib there also, it was great!

Mommy had fun dressing Danielle in her fun new summer clothes and swimsuit and swim cover-up! Girls are so fun to dress and Grammy and I even put her hair in her first 'pony pretty' it was adorable and it even stayed in. Danielle's hair is growing like crazy so 'pony pretties' will become frequent I imagine! Brad couldn't believe it when we sent him the pic on his cell phone, his little girl is getting SO big!

We also went to this super NEAT upscale toy store. I can't believe we have never seen it before since it is in the area we always go to, but it was awesome. It had EVERYTHING you could think of for kids of all ages. The neatest part is that it had a whole 'Eco' Section of Toys, all of the toys are made of Recyclable materials. Each of the kids got an 'Eco' Toy, made in the USA, and those can be very hard to find these days. Next trip to Arizona, this toy store is a must, on the list of things to do! They have a website so mommy will be shopping online I think before our next trip!

That is about the just of our past few weeks, fun in the sun and quality time together! Danielle had a Neurosurgery follow-up apt just before vacation and things went good. She had an MRI and will have another in about 2 months. We saw the world renown Neurosurgeon who is Danielle's doctor now and he is the BEST. We LOVED him, he even took the time to give us names of docs in the Scottsdale area for us to see if anything went wrong with Danielle's shunt while we were gone. That was such a piece of mind and he did it without us even asking, he said ' here are names of docs I want to see Danielle if anything comes up.' He is amazing and we are SO lucky to have him see our baby girl!

Daddy just finished the play yard/swing set for the kids and we are very excited to get them outside to play. The dry heat in Arizona was perfect for their little lungs, they are so sensitive to the humidity here in Iowa, so we will be careful. Danielle is eating like a little piggy and loving her cereal and fruit, now its on to veggies, mommy will be making home made veggies like I did with Dylan, that is the best for their little tummy's and what isn't as easy to make will be Organic baby food. Our little girl is now 10 months, wow, has time flown by! In just a few months she will be a year old. We cherish every single day with our little ones, we are SO fortunate God has blessed us with our beautiful children. Spending lots of snuggle time with them is so important and I am very lucky I got to do it for a week straight, it was fabulous. We love you baby Danielle, keep growing healthy and strong little one.~

Happy 1st Easter....

Happy 1st Easter baby girl!

Easter is such a great time of the year. It is a time for togetherness and renewal. Spring is in the air with bright fun colors everywhere, flowers start to bloom and the weather is turning consistently warmer!

This morning the Easter Bunny found our house! Dylan and daddy showed Danielle her Easter basket filled with new toys and bright fun jammies, a new book and a sun hat for our trip in a few weeks! We could tell she was excited to see these fun new things!

Mommy and daddy took the kids today to Indian Creek Country Club for brunch. We didn't really have any Easter plans so a few weeks ago we decided to take the kids there. It has special meaning for us because that is where our wedding reception was 7 years ago! And mommy's Grandparents use to take her there for Easter brunch when they were alive. It is nice to be able to continue those family traditions. Then we went to Menards and bought all of the items needed for daddy to build the kids their own play fort/swing set! We are SO excited to have this done in the next few weeks and we are sure the kids will love it too. Stay tuned for pics of 'project play yard for the Holub kids'!

Friday Danielle got her last RSV shot for this spring. She is over 15 pounds now and is doing great. We have been feeding her cereal and started to try some applesauce. Well that experience was too much of a good thing. Danielle was loving the applesauce so silly mommy kept feeding it to her versus taking it slow and stopping after a few bites and continuing the next day. Well after over half of the container she threw it up everywhere. Opps! Mommy then remembered that these things need to be taken slowly for their little tummy's. We are very glad she likes it though but its slow and steady from now on with new yummy foods for her!

A few weeks ago we took the kids for Easter pics. They turned out good especially considering that Dylan just didn't want to cooperate! They were able to get a few of them together and Danielle loved the camera that day and was a little star, so we were able to get some great ones of her!

She is now over 9 months old and my oh my has time flown by. Happy 1st Easter pretty baby girl. You are so precious and a very good baby. You are definetly becoming more vocal, cooing a lot more and giggling now especially when you are having play time on the floor. More and more things make you giggle! Mommy and daddy and your brothers love you so much and every day you sure bring lots of smiles to our face!~

9 months old....

8 1/2 - 9 month pics!

Our little girl is going to be 9 months old this week! WOW, where has time gone?! Last year at this time mommy had started her bed rest journey, we had hoped it would get us to 40 weeks gestation but our little girl has proved that 24 weeks was when she was coming and she has been fighting on ever since!

She's even getting enough hair now to put a 'pretty' in it!

Danielle is LOVING her freedom now and doing great without her oxygen. She has had many firsts these past few weeks. She has had her first bites of cereal and seems to be really liking it a lot. We are still trying to get it figured out but a little is better than none and she tolerates it just fine, we are sure she will like it more once we add the yummy stuff to it for some flavor! She is also getting her first tooth!!!!! This is VERY exciting news. Its right in the middle on the bottom and it is just starting to poke thru. She is starting to love to chew on things, including her fist. She is still rolling and rolling and beginning to love floor time more. She gets her legs under her when she is on her belly and scoots herself forward, and when on her back she does the same thing by burying her heels in the crib or floor and scooting upwards. She likes to watch certain toys and is beginning to like her swing more. She coo's at the darndest things! She loves her toys during floor time and she loves to be able to stretch out on the floor, but there still isn't anything like being snuggled by mommy and daddy, we get lots of snuggle time at our house!!!!

Danielle is weighing in at 15 pounds too, big girl! She is growing and growing and is getting very long too. She is sleeping thru the night and has been for quite some time now. She goes to bed about 8:30-9 and we wake her at 5am for a bottle during the week and she goes back to sleep until 7. The weekends she will sleep right thru until 7, it is great for everyone in the house to have a restful nights sleep! Dylan loves to go in with mommy and wake her up at 7. He stands at her door and knocks on it, and if I open it before he gets to knock, he gets MAD at me. So we knock then I pick her up out of her crib and he has to squeeze her toes and say' hey baby' before we start her day. Its pretty cute!

Today we took Danielle to IC for her ABR hearing test. Danielle had previously had 3 hearing tests and never did completely pass them before. She would pass parts but not the whole thing. So to make sure everything is a-ok, the Odo doctor wanted her to have this ABR test done. The unfortunate part was that she did have to be sedated for the test. They attached many electrodes to her head, laid her in a crib in a sound proof room and put little attachments in her ears that dispersed different sounds. Then the Audiologist in the other room monitored her brain waves during each noise. Mommy was very scared to have her sedated, especially because she just came off oxygen only 2 1/2 weeks ago. So daddy stayed in the room with her the whole time along with the nurse monitoring her sats. She did great, she PASSED all the way around! She even woke up just as the test was finishing like she just had a little cat nap. She was very hungry considering she had not been able to eat for the previous 8 hours. So tonight she was eating and eating up a storm. We never questioned her hearing ability at all so we were not at all concerned about that. But it is a little unnerving watching a baby go thru this and even though we felt she was fine we wanted that from them also. After all, the Otolaryngology Dept at the University is rated #2 in the US, this is why we go there. They are the best and take such great care of both our kids. She passed, all is great and we are holding off on tubes until her follow-up in August to see how she is doing at that time. If she has a few ear infections before August then we will do them sooner. Our doctor is very conservative and we love him for that. He also did Dylan's tubes and we felt just as comfortable with him then as we do now!

Things are great, our baby girl is such a sweet little thing. Here are some of her 8 1/2- 9 month pics. She is such a good baby and loves to snuggle with us. We look back at how these past 9 months began, it was a little scary, but we were then and remain optimistic. We believe in our daughter and we fight for her and pray for her every single day. We have been blessed with her as our daughter and not a moment goes by that we don't realize how fortunate we are to have her with us today. We love you baby girl, keep fighting, stay strong and we will all keep believing, you are our little star!~

BIG day.......

Today was a great day. Both kids had appointments in Iowa City and at the same time....together.....it was crazy! Starting with Danielle we were asked to take her off oxygen 4 hours before the appointment then they would test her saturation's at the beginning of the appointment to see where she was. Well mommy and daddy decided to take her off oxygen 5 hours before the appointment because we were pretty sure that she was ready to come off. So mommy took the canula off this morning and Danielle was extra happy. No tubing around her head, taped to her face, she was a new woman. When we got to IC there was a room full of people waiting for the kids. The PT and her student, the ARNP and her student, the doctor, the Care Coordinator, mommy, 2 kids and thankfully Grammie is here visiting and was able to go with and HELP! So the PT is wonderful and wanted to do her evaluation first, so they plugged her into the oximeter, I tried not to glance over but couldn't help it and was SO excited with what I saw, 98% after 5 1/2 hours! So the just of the day is that Danielle got to COME OFF OXYGEN!!!!! We are SO SO SO excited and happy for her. She is such a big girl and growing strong every day.

The PT worked with her for about 1/2 hour while they did the 'study eval' on Dylan. She was happy the whole time, loved being worked over, her sats never dropped, she never made a peep, just looked around and smiled. It was great. She is weighing in at just over 14 1/2 pounds now and is over 2 ft tall! She is following the growth curve very well, they are happy for her. They also told us that we could stop the Apnea Monitor but mommy isn't quite ready to give that up yet. Mostly because Danielle is now officially in her big girl room and sleeping in her crib. So it is so nice to be able to have that monitor as a little extra security, knowing it should alarm with any breathing issue or low/high heart rate issue. So they said mommy could wean that on her own time, when we are comfortable. But we will try and do it within 2 weeks.

So now that Danielle is sleeping in her room and her crib she is sleeping even better. She slept all night before but now we usually have to wake her up during the week for early morning feedings before daycare. It is great. She sleeps from about 8:30-9pm until 5am and the weekends until usually 6:30 or 7, she is thankfully adapting very well. She is liking all of that extra space and her room is nice and dark, just how she likes it and toasty warm. It is great.

She is continuing to love to be held. I mean ALL of the time. We are cherishing these moments though. She loves play time on her quilt but after about 10 minutes or so she will squeal because she wants someone to play with her, so that is what we do. She loves Bumbo time, the PT told us to get her a tray for it and put toys on the tray to encourage her to pick them up, so we will do. She loves her rattle and her rings and her musical toys too. She still loves music time in her crib and she really loves bath time with music as well. It is relaxing for her. She is a very happy girl and we couldn't be luckier to have 2 happy kids who love snuggle time! So we can't wait to watch Danielle thrive even more now that she does not having that tubing around all of the time. She had a very busy day today and is sleeping soundly tonight. Here are some before and after pics of our little princess, we are so fortunate God blessed us with her. We love you Danielle Marie!~