4 months

Our little boy turned 4 months Monday. What a blessing he has been. We started him on cereal at 3 1/2 months and he has had bananas also. He LOVES to eat! At his appointment he was almost 16 pounds and 26 inches. He is laughing, cooing, holding up his head like a little turtle, scooting around and practically sitting up! Dr. Krishnan was shocked at how strong he is.
He is quite a mommy's boy. Not a real big fan of other people caring for him, especially in the evening! He had his first night in his crib Sunday and had the longest period of sleep in a bit. 4 hours! Yeah he is an eater. We are attending Mrs. LouAnn's music class and he loves it. The whole day after class he coos and sings. Much to my dismay he likes to watch cartoons with his sister. But it does buy mommy a few minutes to get things done.

Ashlynn is more amazing then ever. She is such a learner. Our little scientist. Her favorite show at the moment is Sid the Scientist. She loves to explore, to learn, to create, to sing, to dance, to talk, to listen, ....the list goes on and on. There is not much she doesn't like to do. We have been doing a lot of "Montessori" type activities and I am always amazed by her ability to focus and pay attention to a project. She has been practicing her letters and is pretty good at writing her name and wrote love on a picture she drew of her family today! She spends a good amount of time on the computer and today when I walked into the room she was typing her name. Crazy! I am excited for her to go to school but I know I will miss her terribly. She is so ready for it though.

I have spent a lot of time lately by myself at nights, with Steve's new job, and what I have realized is that we are so blessed. Our children are such incredible gifts from God and I am certain that all the trials and tribulations have guided Steve and I to a life full of love and endless possibilities. Motherhood is by far the best job in the world!

Memories

Steve and I just read through Ashlynn's first year blog. What a great way to preserve memories. Our computer crashed shortly after Ashlynn was born so we don't have any pics or videos from younger than 6 months except those that are on FB or our blog. So I am determined to blog more.

Elijah is almost 3 months old. He is a very active boy. He has been to the beach, hunted for Easter eggs, had a blast at his sister's pirate party, been dunked in the pool, and tagged along on many exciting adventures with his big sister.

At 2 months he weighed in at 12.9 lbs and 24 1/2 inches. He loves to eat, drool, sit up in his bumbo, put toys in his mouth, and yes he even likes tummy time. I am excited to start feeding him cereal because I still feel like he eats ALL the time. He smiles and talks a LOT! However, he is a mommy's boy. He is not a big fan of men but loves his daddy!! Ashlynn is a fantastic big sister. She loves to give him hugs and kisses, lay on the floor and play with him, and talk to him.

Having 2 kiddos is definately different but I am truely enjoying it. Sometimes dinner or naptime can be hairy but since Elijah will eat anytime he is presented with milk I just nurse while reading books, eating dinner, and patting bottoms.

Ashlynn will start a 2 day prek program in September. Although I am so sad, I know that it will be fantastic for her. She is sooooo smart. She is writing, recognizing and telling the sounds of most the letters in the alphabet. She has a wild imagination and loves to tell stories, play with her doll house and zoobles, go for adventures and recently she is addicted to Starfall and her IxL gaming system.
She is still a pretty good sleeper. Takes an hour to 2 hour nap everyday, goes to bed like a champ but has recently been coming in our bed in the middle of the night.
She is an incredible eater as far as variety. She loves peppers, cucumbers, carrots, all fruit, pasta, and such. She is not a huge fan of meat but does eat it. She is currently growing a vegtable garden and loves watering the plants and watching the changes.
It has been over 3 months since her surgery so at this point we are assuming that she is "cured", which is the most amazing event in our lives. When we talk about those early days, it almost seems surreal. I wouldn't change a day of it however. It made Steve and I, our family and closest friends so strong and perhaps our hearts are bigger because of her.

Big things are yet to come and I will try to keep this log of memories more up to date.

So much has happened! So blessed!

I sit here in my quiet house, 2 little angels sleeping soundly. I am excited to actually have a moment to sit down and write about the adventures and excitement that has filled our lives the past several months. I notice that my last blog entry was from July. Wow how time flies.

In that time, Ashlynn has grown from a baby girl to a little girl. We know that one day soon she will be grabbing her lunchbox and heading off to school. Last year, Ashlynn had a series of very scary events in relation to her WPW. The first was by far the most frightening event since she was a newborn.

In late November, Ashlynn caught a pretty nasty cold. She had a raspy cough and her cousin Lily had been diagnosed with croup, so we took Ashlynn to the dr. She gave her an inhaler to help clear up her wheezing. She received 2 doses and that morning around 5:30 she meandered into our room. Freezing cold and covered in sweat. She went back to sleep and when the alarm went off she was unresponsive. We tried diligently to wake her but after 5 minutes and a trip to the shower, we called 911. She was in diabetic shock and her blood sugar was 18. My world and heart shattered as I watched them attempt to revive her in the back of the ambulance. Her arms convulsing as if she was having seizures. That day they flew her to St Joe. Dr. McCormick was shocked by the event. He said that maybe once a year do they see this happen. We made a plan and headed home. He directed us to take her to the hospital the next time she was in SVT so that it was documented and then we would do the ablation. A month went by and the night before Christmas Eve she went into SVT. Reluctantly we took her to the hospital. Unfortunately, they could not break her SVT and after several frustrating attempts the put our angel in an ambulance and headed to St Joe. Once there, she broke out of the SVT. Thankfully Dr. McCormick got us home for Christmas and we scheduled Ashlynn's ablation. On February 25th, 2011 Ashlynn was admitted to St. Joe and they began mapping her heart. Less than 4 hours later, Dr. McCormick strutted into the waiting room and gave us the best news ever. "Surgery was a success. She was doing great. Treat her as if she never had an SVT." Thrilled and shocked we waited to see our brave princess.
It has been over a month and Ashlynn is SVT free, medicine free and can eat chocolate now too!
She will be 3 years old in less than a month and every day she amazes me. She will start school in August and she is very excited!

Ashlynn had another GREAT change in her life this year!!!! She is a big sister. Elijah James Richardson was born on March 25th, 2011 at 8:00pm. Our big boy was 10 lbs 2 oz and 21 1/2 inches long. He is absolutely incredible and Ashlynn is a fantastic big sister. She loves to help burp Elijah, get mommy diapers and sing to him when he is upset.

Elijah is a blessing and we are so in love with him. He is so strong and loves to eat. I can not wait to spend time with my 2 angels.