Did I hear a Niner

This first picture was definitely the money shot. I loooove it. One of my favorites of the year even. She looks like a littleangelstraightfromheaven, yes she does.

So we are at nine months now. Let's see what this month held for Davy....

*Davy is weighing in at 16 pounds 4 ounces(7Th percentile) But she is 28 inches long which puts her in the 57Th percentile. She is our little string bean.

*she got her third tooth(actually it's really her 6Th, but the first three fell out)The third is on the top right of her clefted gum line. It's a pretty dang huge tooth too.

* It's seems like forever now that I have been fighting with my insurance to, 1. get tubes in her ears(done today) and 2. get her into occupational therapy to go along with her physical therapy. Finally....finally we got her in for OT. She is being seen 3 times a week. Once for PT and twice for OT. I have notice so much improvement already. I am excited to see all the new tricks she is gonna learn. But mostly we are excited for her to learn how to eat. Scott stresses that she is not eating solids yet. But her GI doc told Scott to chill out(his words.) And that we have to realize we are not on a quick fix of a couple of months. We should think of it more as a 5 year plan. I have to say this really took the stress off. I now am able to relax a bit. I am not so sure about Sir Scott though.

* Speaking of PT, we have been doing this for 6 months now. We are actually in the middle of her 6 month evaluation. Her therapist has a checklist of tricks and either Davy is doing them or she is not. This is how we know how far behind she is in certain areas, Well during the eval she asked if she was able to rollover front to back. Which I answered no, it's only been back to front. As soon as I said it Miss Davy rolled on over to her back! I was in shock. I think she really likes to make me look like a liar. She has been trying to do it again but she always gets her arm stuck, so she doesn't' quite make it over. But she is on her way and I can see her trying.

* She is in love with her johnny jumper chair. She used to hang out in it with an occasional Beyonce bounce. Now she's jumpy jump jump jumpin all over the place.

* I am sad to say this was Davy's first Christmas and I some how did not take one picture of her!!! Really, not ONE!!! How did I forget this?!! Can I recreate Christmas? Is that crazy talk? I guess these pictures will just have to suffice. I have to admit this is killing me.

* when you hold Davy, she likes to do 2 things. 1. she likes to look at your face and caress it. and 2. she holds her arms out in a W. The above pic is kinda showing it. Seriously she is always in a W position. I've tried it for myself and it's not that comfortable Davy, I don't get it.

* Are you ready for her greatest trick? Well take a peak below. Tu- dah!! We have been working every feed with a bottle first. It's a pretty messy affair. I would say about half goes in and the other half goes out. I usually have her wrapped with a bib and a towel. But what is even more a crazy is that she reached up and tried to hold the bottle.!! She did it for like 30 seconds. So cool huh? She really tries to bat at it a lot too. But we are just so happy that she is showing any interest at all. Davy has had an oral aversion, but I think those days are coming to an end. Now we just have to teach her how to suck and swallow right. And then i think we will be seeing a lot more of these pictures.

*I think Davy is going to be either a cheerleader or a referee when she grows up.

GOOOOOOOALLLLL!!

*On a side note* Today's procedure went great. Tubes are in! She has been a little fusspot today, but nothing I couldn't handle. Tylenol and a walk in the stroller. I'm so glad the sun was out today!!!

Merry Christmas to all

We hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas!! This is the Schultz Christmas card. I was pretty lazy and just found pictures that I had already took. I was not in the mood to take a family picture. I still need to lose the baby pudge, ifyouknowwhatImean. So it was a strictly kid only card this year.

For the past 10 years Scott and I have made a Christmas mix CD for our friends and family. It's been a fun tradition. Now Scott and I also make one for our kids. I am currently burning them to CD. So since I am at the computer, I'd thought I'd say a quick hello.

This is what was on my mix this year. I was pretty happy with it. It's songs that I have been listening to this year or songs that remind me of the season. I was pretty jealous of some of the songs Scott put on his mix. Whateves.

Holiday - Vampire Weekend

Sprawl II - Arcade Fire

By Your Side - Beachwood Sparks

Evening Kitchen- Band Of Horses

What Story (Yo Gabba Gabba!) -Dr.Dog

Check Yo Self - Ice Cube

All Is Love- Karen O & The Kids

The Summer - Coconut Records

Love- Nancy Adams

Dreams - Passion Pit

Home- Edward Sharpe & the magnetic Zeros

This Is The Morning- Club 8

The Tree- Blitzen Trapper Feat.

Shadow People- Dr. Dog

Count Your Blessings -The Lower Lights

Baby- Os Mutantes

Laura - Mates of State

Winterlong- Pixies

Pure Imagination- Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory

Runaway- Kanye West

Igloo- Karen O & The Kids

Ok, now go to bed, so Santa will come!

Rain Rain go AWAY!

It 's been raining for DAYS here....days. I am lost. I have no idea what to do with 3 crazy boys and sickly baby. My house is wrucked. I had thoughts of fun activities with my men but we had 2 Doc appointments for Davy. So nope nothing Nada. I think Harper ate a whole pack of gum, dumped all of speeder's fish food in his bowl, which caused an Ollie drama queen meltdown. It was pretty sweet. I needed to leave this place fast, only to walk out into a monsoon. Rain...... stop, I don't like you anymore. You are messing with my Christmas break. How do you ladies in Seattle and Portland handle kids in the rain? What do you do? What would you do if your baby shouldn't be exposed to a ton of kids? Where do you go? I feel soggy all the way up to my brains. Soggy brains...maybe that's my problem.

Well on a better note. We FINALLY got Davy into an ENT. This has taking me months. Months of insurance mumbo jumbo(that can be it's own post.) We are scheduled to put tubesy in her ears on the 27Th. The DOC said It's pretty mild. The do put her under but it's a pretty quick procedure, so no worrying here. I am just excited for A Davy with no ear pain. I hope this will make her a happier little bird. We shall see. Anyone have tubesy? How are they? Are they worth it? I have been told that most cleftys get tubesy. So I have been expecting this.

I'm faking it

Do you watch Modern family? I love it. I just watched the last episode and Phil, the funny dad of 3, was talking about the circle of life and how your parents faked their way through parenthood and then how you fake your way through it and that hopefully you don't raise a serial killer. This had me laughing, cuz I AM faking it. Especially tonight. I have one child who complains about e v e r y t h i n g I make for dinner. Really, his pickyness is over the top. I have A three year old who has to be stapled to his chair to eat and is still currently in said chair 30 minutes after dinner. He will not open up his mouth for one bite. He is currently yelling at me, please get me out, I'm busy..very busy mama. What is going ON! I need to watch TV. I have a baby girl, covered in snot(she is sick again), crying in her bed and a boy in the tub making various fart noises. At least one is bathed, right?

I think we(society) have raised the bar to high when it comes to parenthood. There is a lot of pressure to have perfect kids who are polite and only nutritious dinners. Then the pressure to be an uber mom who does fun crafts and outings while juggling homework, sports, church and a clean house. I am not even gonna throw a special needs child on the list. Just the basics are hard enough. So thanks to Phil, I am on the - as long as my child is not a serial killer- plan. My bar has been lowered. The pressure is off. Who's with me?

15 minutes

I have been asked if Davy is a an easy baby(despite health issues.) I would love to answer yes, but I have come to the conclusion that she is not. She wants to be held and also wants you to entertain. So I am holding, talking singing, tap dancing just to keep this girl happy. Sometimes it's a joy, cuz you get a big return, one dimpled Davy grin. But if I want to get anything done like, clean, cook, the boy's homework it is an all out war. A war that I lose, a lot.

So today was the day I was cleaning out my closet. I've been meaning to do this for about a year now. I put Davy on my bed and was rapping and dancing to her but she was not amused. Then she got a hold of some tissue paper on my bed. Whoa.....It was like the best thing that has ever happened to this child. She was in heaven, I was in heaven. It would have been a very productive 15 minutes if she weren't being so darn cute. I couldn't focus on the task at hand. Looks like she won again...darn her.

8 MONTHS

I would call Davy's 8th month the recovery month. She went from surgery to ear infections to teething to colds to more ear infections. This month has been brutal, so I can't blame the girl for not learning any new tricks. It seems like Davy has a pattern for doing a lot one month and then chillin the next.

* She did however get 2 new teeth with a possible third coming. She has one on top and one on bottom. I think they are keepers too.

* I think Davy has a wicked sense of humour. She completely sabotaged this photo shoot by

up-chucking on her shirt, right before the very first shot. Classic Davy.

* She grew some dimples. We noticed them after her surgery. Maybe Dr. J put them in. She has one on her chin and one in her smile line. They are so cute....I love them.

* I am very sad to say that Davy is NOT a cuddler. This makes me so sad. She prefers to be held face out so she can see the world. Some times I try and force it on her but it usually ends with her crying and me crying on the inside.

*speaking of crying, she has taking this to a whole new level. Her cry is still on the soft side but now she has started to arch her back when she cries. It's a cute little Davy tantrum.

* The girl can not keep her shoes on. She always manges to kick them off. I have a beautiful collection of shoes going to waste. Not to mention all the shoes we've lost. She started the shoot with some cute grey booties(see picture 3)
So long last month, you will not be missed. Here is to a better, happier month for Davy.

Davy's first ER visit

We knew sooner or later we'd have an ER visit with Davy, and in true Davy fashion, she made it extra exciting for us. Scott, Ollie, Davy and I were in on an airplane on our way to Seattle to see friends and go to a Yo Gabba live show. About 30 minutes before we land I hear Scott whisper-scream, RUUUUTH! I look over and I see this

This is Davy's Mic-key Button. That little marble looking thing is supposed to be inside her. We have been told that this would happen. So I was kinda expecting it, just not on an airplane. Our lame-O ex GI Doctor was supposed to teach us how to put it back in, but she did not. We made one attempt to put it back in and she started screaming, so we stopped.

So you basically have like a half an hour to put the button back in or it starts to close up. And if it closes up, that means it will be surgically placed in. We still had to land, get our bags and rent a car, then find a hospital. SO we were pretty muched screwed. I cried for like 5 minutes, then I just stopped, laughed and thought....only us. I don't know why we didn't think to ask if there was a Doctor on board, I think we were in shock. I kinda regret that, cuz how cool would that have been to yell, is there a Doctor on board!

We went to a children's hospital and they helped us right away. The started off by putting a really small tube in her to keep it from closing and then kinda stretched it out a bit. 5 hours later and we were done. I was so proud of Ollie for being such a good boy, he didn't complain once. He had all the nurses wrapped around his finger, giving him treats.

We had only one day in Seattle for sight seeing and it was spent in the Hospital...booooriiiing.

Super Hero Birthday Party

Let me give you a tip, throwing a double birthday party with a close friend(Sarah) is the only way to throw a party. It makes planning way more fun, it's way less work and money.

Every time Harper plays at Franco's house their favorite thing to do is dress up like super heroes and march around the living room to super hero theme songs. SO it was pretty obvious what the birthday party theme was going to be.

The party was at 3pm at hillside park. We served some super hero munchies and had some fun things planned for our heroes. First when you arrived, you could decorate your own mask.

Then we got all the super heroes and played freeze dance to super hero music(of course.)

Next up..Learning how to fly. All the super heroes flew(ran) down the hill to save the day. This was the hit of the party. The kids kept running up and down the hill.

Then we sat the kids in a circle for a quick Happy Birthday.

Followed by a game of pass the kryptonite. When you got out, you got to eat your cupcake or cake pop. So that way there were no sad losers.

Of course it's not a party unless you have a piniata. We got a pretty tweaked looking spiderman one. That thing would not go down though.

It ended up being a low stress, way fun party. Harper was in heaven. Now every time he puts on his cape he tells me, OK mama lets go to my birthday party.

Thank you everyone who came to celebrate with us.

Harper turns 3!

On November 5th Stinky turned 3 years old! There is so much to tell you about this boy.

We call him the polite terrorist. He will always say his please, thank you and your welcomes. But he is the first to tackle, hit, bite and jump on your head. When you walk in the door, he gives you the hero's welcome. He screams your name and runs to give you a super hug.

Harper has a mesh cage around his crib, don't judge, he sneaks out at night and parties with the neighbors. No cage=no sleep. He has to have his muno and brobee pillow, 2 blankies and a binky(not for long) in order for him to go to bed. When I say, I love you Harper, he says I lub you too mama. That will never get old....never.

Harper loves super heroes, Toy story and Yo gabba. He loves to eat yogurt, peas and blublerries. He weighs 35 pounds and is 3 feet 2 inches.. He loves going on "adbentures" with Dada and we all know what a daredevil he is. Last time Scott took him skateboarding he tried to drop in on the ramp.

Harper loves his friends. I know he loves someone when he calls them MY. MY Winny or MY Franco, MY Clyde. He loves to joke and be funny. I think this gets him into trouble sometimes.

This is a picture of Harper's crazy rash that he had(impetigo). If there is a weirdo sickness, he will get it. He has chipped both front teeth a couple of times and he always has scabs on his knees. He is ALL boy and I love it. Harper can definitely be a handful but he is MY handful.

sick sick sick

Don't I look lovely. I am so, so sick, Davy is so sick, Scott was sick and Harper had some crazy infectious rash. So life has been A W E S O M E! I still have to play blog catch up, but on another day. In the meantime I'm gonna kick it on the couch with my lil' bird and watch adventure time. Oh, and I greatly appreciated my Diet Coke Heather. You really know how to treat a girl.

finally

I have so much to catch you up on! I know you are all wondering about Miss Davy, so I will start with her. Three weeks after surgery and Davy was still crying ALL the time. Even the long walks were not working. I was beginning to think that maybe there was something more going on with her. So we took her to our pediatrician and sure enough, massive double ear infection and teething. At this point the news was a relief. I didn't want it to be her surgery making her feel this way for this long. I kept thinking about how many more surgeries we still have to do and that I would like to put them off for as LONG as possible.

But I am happy to report that she is finally back to her old self. I kinda forgot what she was like pre-surgery. Was she always crying and needing to be held? Did she ever sleep? I really could not remember. Welp she is sleeping, smiling and snorting again. It is so good to have her back. But that turkey still loves to be held all the time.

7months(and 14 days)

First things first, How cute is this little bee?!! My mom crocheted this puppy in about an hour! I was just sad I couldn't take her to the Halloween party to show her off. I will have to make due with bragging on the blog. Do you think it would be too much to have her sport this look as daily wear?

Davy actually was 7 months the day after her surgery. I didn't think she was down for a photo shoot at the time , so I held off until she was a little bit more chipper. There has been some definite improvements in her the past couple of days. She is becoming more like herself.

I feel like this was another big month of changes with Davy. For instance......

* she is waving Hi. OK, not really but doesn't this picture look like she is. She IS actually opening up her hands a lot and not keeping them in a balled up fist. That may seem insignificant but it's something we've been working on with her therapy.

* this a a biggie, she can support her on wait on her feet. She would always blob forward when we tried to pull her to a standing position. She loves her jumper, even though she isn't quite jumping yet. It's more like the homeboy clubbin bounce.

* she has pushed out and lost that third tooth finally. I actually think she is teething for real now, Hew bottom gums are swollen and she is drooling more. Not the best timing on this one, recovering from surgery and teething. Or maybe it's better to do the suffering all at once. Either way I really hate the whole teething business. I wish that they just got all their teeth painlessly in one night.

* she is starting to babble. It's like music to my ears. It's pretty much her going aaaaaAAAAaaaahhhhh. With a couple of squeaks here and there. It's so cute, I love it.

* Remember her fixation with her hands? Well she has added her left foot into the mix. She kicks it up and stares at it for days.

* her hair is starting to grow in thicker!!! It's growing in as a faux hawk. I think that's due to the fact that they kept shaving her sides in the NICU. She is looking like the cutting edge fashion baby like Gwen Stefani's or a Pitt- Jolie.

* we all know she had the first of her cleft surgeries and while it hasn't been easy on her, she is my hero for her strength.