Catch'in Up

It's been a busy few weeks. Arm restraints came off, Mia sprouted a new tooth - on the roof of her mouth no less, we went to a friend's niece's quincenera (sweet 15 type of Mexican party), and now we are battling the "icks". So, here's the past little bit in photos:

This is one of my silly favorites - my new phone screen saver.

Mommy and Mia - quick break from the arm restraints at the restaurant.

Who's that cute little mouse?!?!  :) Costco was selling these huge Mickey and Minnie stuffed animals.

  

We had a fun time ripping paper.

Decided to start trying to climb anything and everything.

Went for a wagon ride with my friend.

Decided to climb some more and give mommy heart failure.

Was super sadness so we went for a walk to check the mail.

Was still super sadness. - She was breakin' my heart! Super snuggly and fussy and so incredibly sad. She hadn't been this sad an inconsolable in a long time.  :( 

Ice cream helped a LITTLE, and that's when I got her to let me take a quick look in her mouth and I spied that darn new tooth on the roof of her mouth - through her newly repaired palate. Sigh...  Apparently it REALLY hurts and for quite some time. My poor sweet baby!

"All you need is love." Mia's new outfit from Great Uncle Harold and Great Auntie Charlotte, as part of a post-surgery care package made us all feel better.  :)  Thank you!!!

Papa and Mia at the quincenera Mass - she loved her shiny black shoes.  :)

And then one with mama and her pink favorite pink blankie.

Family photo at the quincenera reception hall.

Mia LOVED the cumbia music that the band played and was bopping her head along to the music. Here she is clapping away with papa - a huge old grin on her face. We were glad she enjoyed the music, but she just could not wind down - not only because of the music but because of all the people-watching there was. (She is her mother's daughter on that one!)

She finally passed out around 11:30 pm, but unfortunately it was a 30 minute power nap and then she was up until 2 am. Next time we go to a quincenera, mama and Mia are leaving at Mia's bedtime.  :(

More on the over-the-top quincenera that was probably in the $20-30 grand price range later. Yeah, crazy price range!!! I kept telling Mia, "Don't even THINK about it honey!"  Hopefully she won't remember it by the time she's turns 15!  :)

One more day!!!

One more day until the arm restraints come off!!!  

Okay, so I just read that, and had the thought that someone who'd never read my blog before might get the wrong idea of what kind of blog this is!!! 


The restraints I'm speaking of are the ones that little Mia's had to wear for the past two weeks to protect her little mouth after palate surgery from not only her fingers, but from her toys and anything else she manages to grab and stuff in her mouth before someone can run interference and or intervene. We've made it 13 days and tomorrow WE ARE DONE!!!  HOORAY!  (I must admit, though, to being more than a little terrified to suddenly take them off and turn her loose without them.)

Of course, THANKFULLY they don't seem to bother her much.

Nope, not bothered one bit!

Couldn't be happier!

Chilling in the car up front with the AC while we wait for our friend to get home.

Mia LOVING the front seat and chilling with mama.

They don't interfere when playing with a friend...

...or when helping mama go grocery shopping...

...though she has tried on multiple occasions to try and undo the Velcro. Which, would explain why she now has leg warmers on her arms over the restraints so that she can't get to the Velcro.

Thanksgiving and Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving all! 

Today I'd like to take a moment to list a few things that I'm thankful for:

• I'm thankful for my wonderful husband - for his understanding and caring, for what a good husband and father he is, for helping me be a better communicator, for knowing me better than almost anyone and for loving me in spite of it.
• I'm thankful for my beautiful, happy little girl Mia - she is such a mild, easy-going and joyful little soul and she brings so much happiness to our lives. 
• I'm thankful for my amazing family, extended family, and for all of my amazing friends.
• I'm thankful for my home and for the opportunity I have to be a stay-at-home-mom.
• I'm thankful for modern medicine - for our wonderful doctors who have treated and taken care of Mia and I during pregnancy and beyond.
• I'm thankful that we've made it through two weeks post surgery.
• I'm extremely thankful that today we could finally take off Mia's arm restraints!
• I'm thankful to have been able to spend Thanksgiving with some of my family, even though many of them are far away.
• I'm thankful for modern technology that make it possible to keep in touch with family that is scattered all over the globe.
• I'm thankful for my life and all that I've learned thus far.
• I'm thankful to live in this free country.
• I'm thankful for Shriner's hospital and for the great care they've taken of Mia and at no cost to us.
• I'm thankful that Mia's lip surgery
• I'm thankful for my comfy bed.
• I'm thankful for my contacts and glasses that help me be able to see the beautiful world that I live in.
• I'm thankful for so many other things that I can't even begin to mention them.
• I'm thankful.

I love my little family!

Look - no arm restraints on today!!!

Earlier this week:

Even WITH the arm restraints my silly little goose somehow finds a way to push her face against, get her mouth on and/or lick SOMETHING!

 And when we move something out of her way, she'll find something ELSE to gnaw on.

...or she finds ANOTHER way to get at it.  :)

Cousin Freddy teaching Mia how to text.

Thanksgiving Day:

Tia Bertha working on the stuffing.

Comadre Lupe helping keep the dishes under control.

Getting caught up on folding loads and loads of laundry while Freddy tries to wake up from his comfy night on the Love Sac and works on selling Zeus's tickets to the UT vs A&M football game.

While we were hard at work, Zeus's brother Tuco - pronounced Too-ko - (who'd gotten into town around 2 am) was sleeping peacefully in the guest bedroom.  His step-daughter Chayo who's 7 years old decided to sneak in the room and take a picture of him with her stuffed puppy while he was asleep.  This is the photo she took on her Nintendo DS.  Just so you know, Tuco is an ex-Marine.  :)

I smell blackmail!

Mia and I with Chayo and her infamous stuffed puppy.

My sweet baby girl and I.  I love her to pieces!!!

My drooly little girl - I think she may be teething... again!

She drools all the time now and we go through at LEAST 4 bibs a day.  Plus, she loves rubbing the underside of her tongue over her two bottom teeth so her tongue is flashing in and out of her mouth CONSTANTLY!  Oh, and she's in her cute 1st Thanksgiving bib that Zeus got for her before she was born.  :)

Zeus's sister Bertha and her son Freddy.

Zeus's big brother Tuco and his wife Lupe.

The Moreno Clan (minus Danny and his kids and Tuco's daughter Jessica).  Grandpa Tin (Teen), Freddy, Bertha, Zeus, Mia, and Tuco.

A good chunk of the extended Moreno clan, and our group forThanksgiving, minus our family friend Vaughn who was taking the photographs.  (Thanks Vaughn for telling me that I had funky hair sprouts on each side of my head.  Jeeze Louise!)

I am so very thankful for all of my many blessings!

Modesty Schmodesty

So Mia had on the most adorable outfit today - a little dress outfit that I think we got from my friend Amy.  So I decided I just had to get some photos of her before it doesn't fit her anymore, which will probably be like...tomorrow!  It was actually around 80 degrees today so she could actually wear something out that wasn't long sleeves and pants, which is great because we have a TON of cute shower gifts and hand-me-downs that are 3-6 month size but more fitted for warmer weather. 


Here's some photos of my silly goose which were the motivation for the title of this blog today.  :)

Hey you!  For crying out loud, put down that dress and get your hands out of your mouth little goose!!!  :)

MIA... what, are we playing peek-a-boo or hide my face so my mom won't see that I'm trying to get my hands into my mouth?!?

And my all time favorite silly picture from the day:

Wooooooo whooooo!  lol  Such a silly little girl.

Oh, and Mia's apparently learned a new trick.  She's such a smart little cookie:

Feet together? Check!  Hands together? Check!

So, two more days until we are done with arm restraints!!!  Whoooooo RAH! 

Getting her "shop" on :)

Mia and I stopped by Ross today to pick out a baby gift for friends of ours who just had their first baby early Sunday morning.  They waited until the baby was born to find out what they were having - I don't know HOW they waited, I know I couldn't.  They had a beautiful little a girl, so we had fun going and picking out something pink for little Isabella.  :) 

Mia's not quite able to sit up on her own completely yet, but we are working on it now that she has more head control.  When we go to the store, if there are high seat belts on the cart, I put her in and buckle it up under her arm pits and it holds her up.  She loves being able to look around and seems to think it's cool that she can reach the bar across the front and occasionally on the side.  Luckily, the arm braces and seat belt combo keep her from leaning forward and trying to EAT the bars.  lol  So, today when we were at Ross, I buckled her into the shopping cart and she looked so dang cute and so flipping happy that I just had to take a picture with my cell phone.  Man I love this little girl!

My happy little shopper!

So we are 12 days post op now (including surgery day since it was in the morning).  We've trimmed the steristrip down and can now see a few stitches under her left nostril.  Apparently they made two horizontal incisions - one under each nostril and she has little black stitches there.  I'll try to get a picture soon.  There's still "stuff" in her nostrils.  I'm not sure if it's blood, ooze, slobber, mucous, milk, or a combination of all of the above. 

They are SO not lovely to look and I would SO like to mess with them and help them on their way out, but I'm worried that they are firmly attached to stitches and would hate to mess up anything, so am staying clear of them.  I worry a little that the nature of the scabs being so large might leave divots in her little skin and lip area when they finally do fall off.  I'm not sure if it's normal or if it's from when she bumped her face on Zeus's shirt a few hours after surgery.  I guess we'll have to wait and see. 

We will be done with arm restraints after Thursday and I'm surprised to say I have mixed feelings about it!  I thought I'd be SO glad to have them off and be done with them, but now suddenly I'm paranoid that once they are off, she will do damage to the surgery site.  She had just started sucking her thumb and I worry that she'll pull her cheek with her thumb and tear open her little lip.  I also worry that she'll somehow get a hold of the steristrip that's still attached over her middle lip area and rip it off, and in so doing rip out the stitches there.  I feel a conundrum approaching.  Do I leave them on a little longer until the steristrip comes off?  Do I leave them on PART of the day still or maybe put them on her only at night?  Ahhhhhhh!  I know that when I first take them off, I'll be watching her like a hawk.  Jeez, it nearly gives me indigestion just THINKING about worrying about it... 

Man, this mama stuff is hard business!  :)

One Week, and then some, post op

Well, we made it through the first week. At points we never thought we would, but we did. Hooray! 

This past Thursday we made it to one week post op. Yay! Less than one week more of arm restraints - who-flipping-rah!!! Next Thursday we will burn the suckers! :) Just kidding. We are going to save them for her memory box so that she can see how tiny she once was, especially at the time of her lip surgery when she could even slip out of them.

Thankfully the swelling and bruising have subsided and Mia's feeling more herself for the most part, now that we are nine days post op. Here are her one week post surgery photos when she was rocking the pink and white and ruffles. We've done a bunch of pink and purple lately so her arm restraints don't clash with her outfits. Also, that way they look more like an accessory than a necessity.  :)

One Week Post-Op photo shoot

Seriously mom - MORE photos?!?!

"Toots" and her toots - thank goodness she can still reach them with her arm restraints on or things could have gotten real ugly real fast!

Awe... that's my sweet baby girl. But wait, what's wrong with this picture...???

...ah-ha! Someone is missing an arm restraint - it's there, right above her head in the crib - which is hard to see in that sea of "pinkness". Thank goodness no damage was done!

Ten Days Post Op - Saturday, November 20, 2010

This morning I trimmed her steristrip.  It was still attached to her cheeks, but had a gap on either side of her mouth. 

Mia's new little steri-strip moustache.

At certain angles, Mia can still reach to "help" with her bottle.  On rare occasions she will just lay there and tiredly eat.  Some times she is pure helpfulness and wants to help with both hands, while others she wants to play with her feet.  When both the bottle AND her feet catch her attention, what's a girl to do????

SUCH a conundrum.  Bottle or feet, bottle or feet?  Good thing she's got TWO arms so she can do one of each!

A little later I trimmed up the steristrip when I realized that the one side had a lot of unattached tape area.  I carefully trimmed it a little more so that the loose sides wouldn't get caught on anything and rip off with her stitches and cause a major catastrophe (not to mention heart failure on the part of her parents).  Fortunately it went safely.  Unfortunately, Mia's smaller little tape moustache, she bears a "slight" resemblance to, uh, Hitler.  Oh no!  Between that and the arm restraints that keep her little arms straight, it's probably a good thing we aren't currently visiting family in Germany!

Hie!

Little Adolf, I mean Mia, hanging out in her "exersaucer" - thanks to Auntie Mish not having room to take it to the UK with her.  So glad she's finally able to sit up enough to use it.

Zeus's brother Danny and his family came into town this morning.  We had to get some update photos of Mia and her baby cousin Dahnia.  Dahnia is almost two months old and Mia is almost 5 months old.

Dahnia and Mia - aka Monchichi and Toots

Two cute little cousins!

Chilling in their sunhats from Tia Bertha.  :)

Only five more days of arm restraints!!!