Bella's Healthscare

Well, now that the scare is over, I feel like I should tell everyone about the scare Bella gave us. On Saturday, Bella found a peanut in Jonathan's room. Being the curious 10 month old she is, she put it in her mouth. She choked on it. Kerry called 911 and the paramedics came. They couldn't find anything wrong with her, but upon Kerry's insistence, the paramedics took her to Hinsdale Hospital. The ER doctors proceeded to send her home. She was lethargic and acting strange all day. By the time Jon got home, he insisted that they go back to the hospital. By the time she got back to the hospital around midnight, she was very sick. The ER doctors called Loyola hospital to see if Loyola could accept Bella because Hinsdale was not equipped to handle her. The peanut was lodged into Bella's throat. Loyola's doctor could not make it to the hospital until 2am and the ER doctors said she didn't have until 2 am. So the doctors called Children's Memorial and they would take Bella immediately. Bella was then transported via medivac (helicopter) from Hinsdale to Childrens.

By the time she got to Children's she had been intabated, and the peanut had got into her lung. The doctors at Children's were able to use a scope and go into her lung to extract the peanut. They then discovered that the peanut had torn a hole in her esophagus. By the time Jon called me Sunday morning (when we were on our way home from Florida), he was in hysterics and things were still touch and go. By early afternoon on Easter, Bella's breathing tube was taken out. She was still being fed by feeding tube so that the hole didn't get infected.

Jonathan was being bounced around from different family members and was very confused. By the time we got home last night, there was nothing we could do. Bella was breathing on her own but she was groggy and very upset. They did more tests this morning (Monday morning) with a dye contrast to find out how the hole was closing. The test revealed that Bella was doing well. The hole was closed. The next test was to give Bella a bottle and see how she tolerated that.

Meanwhile, we went and picked up Jonathan from his grandparents and brought him to our house. He talked a lot about how Bella was sick and in the hospital. He desperately wanted Mommy. He was very good for us and we packed a lot into a day while we waited to hear how Bella was.

At 6:30, Jon called to tell me that Bella had been released from Children's! They were on their way to come get Jonathan before they went home. Bella tolerated her bottle and didn't vomit any of it up. The doctors say she'll be hoarse & have a nasty cough for the next few days but she's back to her regular self. She'll go to her pediatrician Tuesday for a follow up but right now things look good.

Our family is grateful for all the prayers for our little girl. Thank you to everyone for all your support. We will forever be indebted to everyone for all the love and support. And just so everyone can see how Bella is, here's a little peak!

Happy Easter

Seeing as how this weekend is Easter (and we won't be home to celebrate Bella's first Easter), I thought the least I could do is post the super cute photo from our trip to the Easter Bunny! Neither of them cried this time! Bella was intrigued by the bunny and had no issues with sitting on his lap.


Although, she refuses to keep her socks on, she does not mind having a bow in her hair! The little girl is also crawling now. She likes to get into mischief, going where ever you don't want her to go (under benches, in-between fences etc.) That's my girl!


Bella also decided that it was time to show off her newest trick to Auntie.





But Jonathan got a treat as we were leaving. New monkey rainboots!

Happy Easter

Greetings from.....

Greetings! We have arrived here in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida! Thank goodness it's Spring Break. I don't know if I could have taken much more of the cold, snow and rain!! We got here this evening and it was in the lower 70's. I know, so sad! This year, it didn't rain while we drove through Georgia. Although Mom kept saying the whole time, "Have I said lately how much I HATE driving through Georgia!". We got stuck in some traffic, some construction and people just drive like maniacs around there. But we're here. I'll post photos after I have gotten a good nights sleep and taken some pictures of our view of the marina.

Happy Birthday Papa!

Well, Dad's birthday came and went. He's now 3/4 of a century old. He didn't ask for much. He wanted a funny card and a marble cake with chocolate frosting. Easy enough! But Jon & Kerry brought the kids over a few days later to help continue the celebration. Would you believe, we put Bella on Papa's lap and look what happened:




Nothing says "Happy Birthday" quite like putting 2 of your grand kids on your lap and getting your FIRST photo with the two of them. Bella didn't cry once for him. She was in awe of him at first and then she realized that Big Bird had joined her. Jonathan only smiles if you tell him to 'cheese the camera'. But I'm thrilled that Bella has seemed to get over her fear of Papa.

Now, will she still be fearful of the Easter Bunny? Only time with tell.

It's been too long!

It has been too long since I have last visited my playground. So, let me start with a re-cap. When I last saw ya'll, it was time for Christmas! We did LOTS of baking in the days leading up to Christmas. For the first year ever, I made thin mint cookies (yes, like the girl scouts but BETTER! and cheaper).

I also decorated Gingerbread people. Mom baked them, I decorated them. I only had to decorate about 40 of them this year (compared to 80 or so previous years). This year I made our people into family members.

This is Karen's Hawaiian dressed Gingerbread woman. Notice the big red necklace. Hehe.

This is Chris' Gingerbread Man in his Hawaiian swimsuit. Both Chris and Karen loved their personalized cookies. Mom made Whoopie Pies as well. I was not brave enough to try them, but they looked good.
Jonathan and Bella (plus the rest of the family) came over for Christmas. Jonathan had a great time, he was very cranky though. Not nearly enough sleep plus all the excitement didn't go well with him. Bella slept through most of it. I managed to get her to sleep right before dinner (only after she babbled through ALL of Papa's prayer and breaking out into a high pitch squeal at the end). She slept through opening presents but got up in time to open a few of her own.



I found the greatest shirt for Jonathan to wear on Christmas. It says: "Dear Santa, For Christmas I want: A puppy, A red fire engine, A blue bike and P.S. Put my sister on the naughty list." How could I resist?! I don't know how i'll top it next year, but everyone agreed it was darn funny.

Once Bella woke up, she was one happy little girl. A nap did her good.

Bella was chewing on everything! She was cutting 2 teeth on Christmas, bringing her total up to 4. She soaked her Christmas bib in drool, so her favorite Winnie the Pooh bib was put on. All day, she tried to get both her hands into her mouth.

Jonathan joined Mommy and Bella. I love this picture of the 3 of them.

The day wasn't complete without trying to put Bella on Papa's lap. She still screamed for Papa at Christmas. Silly girl.

New Year's Eve!



I rang in New Year's with Mark and some of his friends. It was a fun time. We played Wii, ate a lot, played Apples to Apples and had some general good time. I was, unfortunately, getting sick. I ended up falling asleep about 2am and sleeping until 3:30 in the afternoon. I spent the rest of my winter break sick and went back to work sick!

I rang in my 25th birthday on the 25th and had a great time. I spent it with the family. Mark came out to my big birthday dinner that we had on Sunday. It was the first time that Papa held Bella and she didn't cry!

And now, i'm working like crazy and find myself exhausted most nights. I'm excited to watch the Olympics, but it's making me think a LOT about my aunt and my cousins who are still live in Vancouver.

Alright, now you are caught up. I will try not to let it go so long.

Time to go see Santa!

Of course, every year we take a trip to Yorktown to see our favorite man: SANTA! This year, We all predicted that we were going to have some trials. Bella hates sitting with anything that is not a female. She cries for Papa, Daddy, Grandpa, Uncles etc. Can anyone see what is going to happen?

I get off work, run home and find my babies at home. After a quick outfit change for the babies, we were off to see the big man. We got there at 4:40, and got in line. It was quite a long line. At 4:45 Santa's helpers announced that Santa was going to go feed the reindeer at 5:00. Just our luck! So, Nana stayed in line and held our spot while the rest of us went and played.

Once Santa arrived at 6:00, we got to the big man. Chaos ensued!


Bella screamed and yanked on Santa's beard. Jonathan, for the first time EVER, cried and wanted Momma. This was the best photo that we got. The babies looked cute, but were obviously unhappy. Luckily, us adults found it hilarious. It's framed on the mantel and will be enjoyed for years to come. Ho Ho Ho!

Bella's First Thanksgiving

For some reason, I am struggling to keep up with posting. My apologies! Thanksgiving here was quite fun. I wasn't sure it would go well when after getting Bella out of her car seat she starts screaming at the top of her lungs. I thought we'd be in trouble. But, after something to eat, she settled. Jonathan was timid at first, unsure of Uncle Chris and Aunt Karen. But he warmed up and settled into doing his favorite thing: eating! Before we sat down to eat, we had to say grace. At one point, Jonathan and Bella were chatting so loud that hardly anyone could hear dad. It was quite hilarious. Once we started eating, Bella played in her saucer.



Of course, it isn't a holiday if I can't dress up the kids in an outfit. Especially since it was Bella's first, I love putting them in cute things. Bella didn't mind the hat at all. She was so cute. I loved her outfit too.
But after I got plenty of pictures of Bella in her cute turkey outfit, it was time to change outfits for the family holiday photo.


It took a few shots to get the right one but you will all have to wait for the holiday cards to see what the best one is! Bella didn't seem to mind her red headband/bow, her tights or her little red shoes! I got lucky that Bella will let me dress her up and not fuss. After the family photo, Mom tried to get a picture with Jonathan and Bella. But first, I got a photo of just Bella in her cute outfit.
She was so cute in her little red corduroy jumper with her red shoes and tights. I just LOVE this cute outfit.

But as I started taking photos of Mom and her grandkids, Bella started to wail! Of course, she was 2 1/2 hours past her nap time. She cried for about 15 minutes. I quickly realized it was time to get her changed back into her comfy clothes and get her to sleep. After 10 minutes of rocking with her dear auntie, Bella fell sound asleep.

The day wouldn't be complete without getting a photo of Jonathan in his cute outfit too. We got him a red train sweater with some red flannel lined corduroy pants. He was too cute. Of course, it wouldn't be a holiday if Jonathan didn't have a cookie (or 3). Once Bella was asleep, Jonathan was busy running around the house trying to find the bush monster. We have a friendly bush monster who lives in our house now too. If you see the bush monster, you must be very quiet.

At the end of the day, Bella & Jonathan got loaded into the car to go to Grandma & Grandpa Cabay's house. Luckily, Jonathan & Bella slept the whole way.