Things I'm Thankful For

Not much to report. Brittney's numbers from her most recent visit came back about the same, 2.9, which is wonderful. I realized today how much of my life I spent jaded and skeptical. In the last 6 months, I have found more to be grateful for that I could have ever imagined.

I'm thankful, mostly, for my beautiful baby girl. She's absolutely perfect in every way a baby could be perfect. She smells like lavender and sour formula. She waves to us and to herself. She's begun to say "Ba ba ba bbbbb." She's crawling and giving sloppy, open-mouth baby kisses. She's outstanding and I'm a thankful every day that she is in my life. Her PKU has been a challenge, but I have no doubt that it's made us better parents and better people. I'm thankful that God gave her to us, who have the means and the minds to take proper care of her. She deserves the best. I may not be the best mom, but I will do my best to be the best for her. She's an incredible little person. Did I mention she's amazing?

I am thankful for my husband. He's an incredible supporter of our family and an even more incredible dad. I know I can always count on him to get the job done when I can't be around. He puts up with my forgetfulness with a smile. I love having him around to laugh with. He's it. He's also amazing.

I'm thankful for my family who offer their unconditional love. On that note, I'm thankful for the close proximity of most of Brittney's family and for Skype.

I'm thankful for my friends, who make me smile and enjoy life every day.

I'm thankful for my job. I get to spend my days with the most amazing 8th graders in the world. Plus, it pays the bills (barely, but aren't we all in that situation?).

I'm thankful for the freedom to pursue my passions, I have our troops to thank for that. I'm also thankful I could get a loan to pay for that freedom. I have my bank to thank for that.

Right now, I'm also thankful for infant Tylenol. Teething bites. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

New Happenings

We are anxiously awaiting word from Vanderbilt about Brittney's most recent visit. It'll be interesting to see what the introduction of baby food has done to her Phe levels... hopefully not much. Our specialist didn't seem too concerned. In other news, she's about to start crawling. She's able to get up on all fours and rock. She also wants to eat my laptop... delicious! This will obviously be a short post as my attention is needed elsewhere, specifically the playful baby trying to hijack my computer.

Really I just wanted to share a few pictures from the holidays anyway. ENJOY!

Santa Baby!

Presents!!

Opryland Hotel

Playing in the snow!

All pooped out after an awesome holiday!

Baby's First Christmas

As we wrap up (or unwrap, rather) baby Brittney's first Christmas, I am faced with contemplative thoughts about what her diet will be like this time next year. I hate to admit it, but I have become incredibly analytical about the food our loved ones serve at holiday gatherings, and I have reached the conclusion that I will likely fix a dish to bring to most of these events. I would like to spend the next year testing PKU friendly recipes to share with our family. We are very blessed that Brittney's case is so mild that she will be able to enjoy many of the items on the menu; however, the traditional ham, cream cheese dip, and bacon wrapped green beans will probably not be an option. A delicious carrot dish with brown sugar would be wonderful! Or a low protein apple crisp for dessert... yummy.

One of my New Year's Resolutions, for Britt's sake, is to become a vegetarian. I know this will be difficult with the cuisine our families are used to preparing (everything has meat in it!), but I want to face those obstacles before Brittney has to so we don't wind up sitting at a get-together feeling guilty that Britt can't eat anything there. I also don't want to spend every get-together pulling out Brittney's separate lunch box, making her feel like she's completely different and isolated from everyone else. My diet can never be exactly like hers because our needs are different, and my body would not be well nourished on her diet, but she will not be able to eat meat, and that is something I can do without compromising my own health. I am also feeling very blessed that our family members are so open to trying these new recipes and are so in love with Brittney that they are bending over backwards to accommodate her.

Andy is still finding it difficult to come to terms with the fact that Brittney needs special accommodations. I feel like he is still in denial about some times. I worry about him a lot. She's very lucky to have a Daddy who cares about her as much as he does. She's his whole world.

What happened?

People ask it a lot: "Where did the time go?" And truthfully, I often thought that people who ask that question simply aren't being present in their own lives because when we are present, every moment has an opportunity to sink in and stick. That thought, obviously, ended promptly when Brittney arrived. Now I'm barely able to keep up with the laundry, much less the moments flying by. I was inspired to revisit this project (or more plainly remembered I had a blog) when I stumbled upon the blog of an old friend from high school. I enjoyed looking at the pictures of her family and can't even imagine that the girl who sat in front of me in Mr. Richard's physics class senior year has a husband and a four-year-old son. Even less comprehendable to me is the fact that I, too, have a husband, a 5 month old little girl, a career, a house, a car, a car payment. When did that happen? When did I become a responsible adult? Where did the time go?

To update, Brittney's phenylalanine (phe) levels have dropped to 2.7, and we've started feeding her green beans and, for the first time today, sweet potatoes. She isn't fond of either. She also tried to sit up by herself today, holding her torso weight with her arms for a second before toppling over onto her face. Her daddy felt bad that he got so excited about her new strength that he didn't think to put a pillow to cushion her if she fell. She forgave him by trying to eat his face, her idea of baby kisses. She grabs both sides of his (or my) face, sometimes the ears or hair, and pulls him in, grunting, for a slobbery smooch. Needless to say, it's ADORABLE!

Britt also got a letter in the mail today from a jolly ol' fellow who'll be making a visit at our house this year! It's postmarked 'Nashville,' so I imagine one of his regional elves really sent it, but we won't tell her that. **wink, wink** I still have a ton, as in all, of my shopping to do for the holidays. Maybe Santa could spot me this year and I'll hit him back on the next go round. ...No? Well, it was worth a shot.

Six Weeks Old!

People have been telling me lately to write everything down because it's amazing how quickly you forget how amazing a newborn baby is. With that, I decided to make a list of things I NEVER want to forget about Brittney:

1. How much she loves her hairdryer,
2. The way she shakes her fists when she's mad,
3. Her "crazy face" (Elvis lip, eyes crossed),
4. When she's hungry and tries to eat her clothes,
5. When she's mad and her chin quivers,
6. Holding my fingers when she eats,
7. Singing herself to sleep,
8. Talking to her bird,
9. How much she hates to poop,
10. Her "are you really my mom" look,
11. The way she waits until I lie down to scream,
12. When she throws her hands and feet in the air when she startles,
13. When she snuggles and 'kisses' my neck,
14. The way she chomps on her passy,
15. Spitting her passy into the air when she sneezes,
16. The confused face she makes when a sneeze doesn't come,
17. Her toothless grin,
18. When she wants her bottle (or passy) but can't figure out how to get her hands out of the way,
19. Squealing when she wants attention, and
20. The way she sleeps intermittently among babbles.

Number 20 is what she is doing right now... and number 8.

Good News!

Vanderbilt called with Brittney's most recent test results, and her levels have dropped to a 4.4! I wasn't sure what to expect because when we got there, they informed us that the information regarding the phe content of our current formula (Member's Mark brand) was outdated and there was actually a lot more phe in it that we had originally thought. That messed up the calculations they had done to determine the ratio of special PKU formula to regular formula, which could have affected the results. It was sort of a good mistake, though, because it means that Brittney's body can tolerate a lot more phe that we thought in the beginning. On the other hand, it may have kept her levels from dropping adequately with the added PKU formula. Luckily, we dropped below a 6 (the known "safe-zone" for phe levels), although our dietitian will likely adjust our formula to bring her levels down a little lower. Thank you all for following our journey!!

Photo Shoot

Brittney had her first photo shoot this past Tuesday, and it went great! Well... it went as great as anything does with a hungry newborn who hates having her outfits changed 12 times... She slept through the first few shoots and we wanted her to wake up, but when she finally woke up she fussed and made goofy faces for the camera. Figures... We got a good laugh, though! The photographer, Christy Nolin, was incredibly patient with us as we stopped to feed Brittney and change a few diapers. We had a wonderful time! For a preview of the shoot, visit http://christysstudio.blogspot.com.

In other news, school starts later this week, and even though I'll be on maternity leave, I am so not ready! I'll be teaching 8th grade math this year, which will be a challenge. I thrive on challenge, so I really think I'll do well. Planning for a new age and subject while taking care of a newborn has mentally taxing, so maybe getting into some sort of groove with school will be a good thing.