C's Developmental Clinic... at Home!

Cecilia had another developmental assessment today by consultant, Terri Daniels, from the Forrest General Hospital NICU. She had her first assessment at the hospital at 8 months old and scored 11/11!! Today was her follow-up. We missed the scheduled visit at the hospital, so the consultant graciously agreed to come by our home. And before I give the results, must I say how awesome this consultant is - She has published neonatal clinical materials which are being used in 16 countries and currently provides clinical training for pediatric healthcare professionals. She also directs a recreational camp for children and adults with cognitive disabilities... so basically, she's seen it all. And while I'm boasting about all the wonderful resources right here in Hattiesburg (who knew!?!), I have to say how fabulous our FGH NICU is. I never knew what a resource we had here in our facility and renowned neonatologists until I had to use their services. A few quick facts about the FGH NICU are below.;)
*The FGH NICU has been dedicated to serving their smallest of patients since 1976.

*The new expansion of the NICU will allow from 9 to now 23 state-of-the-art beds.

*The lowest birth-weight baby treated at the FGH NICU was 14 oz. This child is now 21 years old, active and healthy.

*The FGH NICU admits approximately 250 newborn babies per year, with an average length of stay of 17 days. This beats the national average by one week.

*The FGH NICU gets over 60 transfer newborn babies from across the state of Mississippi and surrounding areas.

(I should work part-time in their marketing dept. Ha).

Anyway, Cecilia passed with flying colors!! We were supposed to attend next month's FGH NICU assessment, but after today, Terri said she has "graduated" from the NICU. She no longer needs to come for follow-up visits and is doing wonderfully. We emailed a bit after the visit and she said "Cecilia's development is perfect. Solid. Milestones are all in place, quality of skills is EXCELLENT, progressing beautifully, no concerns."

YAY for our sweet baby!! Below is a picture after the busy morning of performing her "tricks" for Terri. And check out that hair!!

Moving Day!!

Things have been crazy lately, and we just got back up and running in our new home... so I can finally hop on the computer before bed. We found this super cute, fun house a couple months ago, and things happened fast. After praying and... thinking, we were packing up boxes before we knew it. I am sad to leave the home we built and first moved in after we got married. That was also where we brought our sweet Cecilia home to. We will also miss our wonderful neighbors!!!!:(

Now for the continued unpacking... while watching Cecilia. Fun, fun. Fortunately, Jonathan's family has been a HUUUGE help, and we got a lot done this weekend.

Just a few random pics from moving day...

Our movers. Who knew Nick's Ice House had professional movers!! Well, they do and they did a GREAT job.

MDO!!

I finally gained the confidence to register Cecilia in a Mother's Day Out program, even though I'm at home with her. They opened a new class, and we got a spot! Yay! She needs to be around other children more and get those normal kiddie germs! Of course, I can't help but like those few hours of "me" time as well. I totally forgot to get a quick snap of her before I left the church, but luckily my friend Maurie was able to capture this after she dropped off Ella to the class next door.

Overall, Cecilia did fine for her first day. She got a little fussy, but she probably did better than I did. I went home and fought back tears until I picked her up (30 mins early). I know once she gets adjusted she will love it (and so will I) --- says all the Moms who are pros at this. Let's hope we are adjusted sooner than later!

Daddy's Home!!

So, do any other Moms feel a little like Daddy's life keeps on ticking when babies arrive, but Mommy's life changes significantly? Maybe that's my own fault. Of course, I've made efforts not to drastically change "me," but after all, babies do change a few things... for sure!! I wouldn't have it any other way though. But it does bring me to this post (I just had to give Daddy that jab). He left us to venture on a week-long dove hunting trip in Argentina. A "work" trip he dubbed it. Ha. Ha. Ha. Anyway, he's back and we are excited!!

Poor Daddy having to go on this "work" trip. We felt so sorry for him.

Adventures in Babysitting!!

We started our next bible study tonight, and we decided to get a sitter (other than our Moms and Jonathan's sister). This is a HUGE step for me!! I got several recommendations from people and ended up using a recommendation from my good friend, Jennifer Payne. Thanks, Jenn! Our little sitter was absolutely precious (a Tri Delt at USM - elementary ed major, works part-time at a daycare and knows CPR... perfect!!). Cecilia was a sleeping angel when we arrived home. Success!!

Not only did we need to start using sitters, hello, but Jonathan's Mom couldn't cover tonight anyway. His parents had dinner plans, as today is their 42nd wedding anniversary!! Congratulations, Mrs. Roxie and Mr. David!!

Another quick note - I LOVE our bible study group. I look forward to seeing these friends more often!! I miss them!

The First of Many...

Well, Cecilia officially has her first runny nose!! I am actually a bit excited about it; we need to build her little immune system. (She has given me her runny nose, of course.) She has been a trooper and doesn't even act sick. Let's hope she stays spunky through this cold. This is a short, quick post, but at 13 months, I had to document her first cold!!

We did it, we did it!!

I've mentioned this in my other posts, but Cecilia was premature - by 10 weeks. She was 3 lbs, 5 oz at birth and is now ~21 lbs. She is doing GREAT, great, great, but Mommy has still kept her a bit sheltered. I'm getting better... slowly. Anyway, our BIG time outing this week was to WALMART!! I thought I wouldn't take her in that germ infested pile of bricks until she was at least 5. Well... we did it. We did it!!