The Sitras

2010-11-10T19:26:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween
A little Daddy lovin...

So excited to have Harper home!

Sisters meeting for the very first time. Makes mommy cry every time she sees this picture!

Early on in the NICU. We loved Harper's nurses. We miss them all!

Long time coming...

2010-11-10T18:37:00.000-08:00

And it's gonna be a long one...

I hadn't realized how long it has been since I last posted, until I saw how short Morgan's hair was. (We have since cut off about 10 inches and it is still much longer!)

So, a lot has happened since my last post. But most imporant, we had another baby girl, Harper. Harper decided to join this world 8 weeks early, and the day after we moved back into Lake Traivs. (We hadn't exactly planned it that way!) We knew we wanted to be closer to family and the hospital, but didnt think we were going to be needing those two things so quickly. The morning after the movers left, I had asked Sandy Casey Staleski to come over and help me unpack my kitchen. Not only did she show up, but she brought her troops. John, Lindsey, Sean, Hailey and Kenley joined her in operation unpack the sitras! After being uncomfortable for a little while, Sandy started timing my "uncomfortableness" (if that is even a word). They were exactly 5 miutes apart. After 3 of them, Matt loaded me in the car and off to the hospital we went. Matt stopped at every yellow light and argued with me about where to even enter the hospital. I KNEW where I was going! When we arrived, the "uncomfortableness" was about every 2 minutes.

As soon as I was checked out, I overheard the nurse on her phone saying, "we are complete in triage three, heading to LD 2. Call the on call doctor stat." At this point, both Matt and I hit a state of shock and proceeded to turn ghost white and began speaking a foreign language. Actually, Matt turned white when Sandy told him to call the doctor before we even left the house. I was encouraged not to push until the on call doctor arrived.

Within 5 minutes of my water being broken, sweet baby girl Sitra was born. 4 lbs 4.5 oz and 17 1/2 inches long. Did I mentioned I didnt have time for the epidural? She came out screaming and her apgar scores were 9 & 9. Absolutely amazing for a 32 weeker!! We were able to snap a quick picture before she was escorted to the NICU. We were both still white and speechless.

About 2 hours later once she was stabilized, Matt and I made our first of very many trips into the NICU. This is where my first actual breakdown occurred and Rylee (Baby Girl Sitra's neighbor for a few weeks) and her parents were there to witness it. There is nothing more painful than watching one of your own struggle for their life. There were so many tubes and wires. The feedings and apnea is what ended up keeping her there for so long.

I was released 36 hours after having BG Sitra, and finally naming her. We had several names we liked, but hadn't picked one yet - we still had 8 weeks to decide on that name! Matt and I both liked it, so it was Harper Teague Sitra.

After almost 6 weeks in the NICU, Harper was able to come home. She was still under 6 lbs and it freaked us out. Matt wouldnt let me leave Harpers side, and he wouldnt let her out of the house. She had a bit of a choking issue and scared everyone to death. Once we were realesed from the NICU, I was the only one to feed her for over a month. Every 3 hours, I was up feeding for almost an hour! HELLO sleep deprivation! Did I mention that Morgan was 2 1/2 at the time???

Speaking of Morgan, she has been great through the whole process. Not only moving into a new home, but also not having the attention she was used to. Morgan wasn't able to enter the NICU due to her age, so they were able to meet through the exterior windows in the NICU. Have no clue if she could even see in! But, she loves "baby Harper". She makes her smile all the time. Morgan has even spoiled Harper - Harper will only sleep in the car of her hand is being held. Harper screams bloody murder until her hand is held and then she is out. Harper just adores her big sister Morgan.

Needless to say, my hands are full. We are blessed with two precious babies and I think we are done! I am not sure we could go through what we went through again. I am going to post a few pictures to get caught up. Harper is starting to look just like Morgan as a baby. Morgan
occasionally comes across pictures of herself as a baby and says, "baby harper and boo boo on head!" But it is really Morgan with her hemangemioa. At Harper's 6 month check up, she is in the 25-30 percentile on the growth charts for head size, weight and height. She is growing faster than most babies. I literally boxed up the newborn clothes yesterday.

It is my goal to be better about posting on the blog. Not making any guarantees though. The one night I decided to update the blog, Morgan has been throwing up and I managed to flood the laundry room. Never ever turn the sink on and walk out for a second! And today was a GOOD day! ha

New Big Girl Table

2009-05-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

We bought Morgan her very own big girl table and chairs and as you can see, she just loves it!

Easter

2009-05-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

These are just a few highlights from Easter 2009. Morgan participated in the Easter festivities at ACC and we had our own little fun at the house. She just loved the fact that there was actually stuff in those silly eggs that she had been collecting!

Morgan ate the buffet out of macaroni and cheese

Nana & Gramps

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

2009-03-25T16:47:00.000-07:00

In addition to purses, Morgan just loves jewelry. I just happened to catch her with several pieces on yesterday while I was trying to get dressed. I am so glad I caught it - chocolate drool on the shirt and all!

2009-02-22T13:01:00.000-08:00

I came across something today that I was hoping was several more months away for Ms. Abby's sake. Morgan has decided that riding Abby is her new favorite hobby!

Getting bucked off :)

Around the house

2009-02-07T13:42:00.000-08:00

We had a little fun today playing around the house. Who knew a diaper box could be so much fun! Here are a few of our pictures from today. By the looks of her shirt, we just might be teething. 16 down and 4 to go...

She actually enjoyed wearing the boots, but can't yet walk in them :)

Quite the climber

Still enjoying sitting on the box

Coming to a doorstep near you!

Purse Fetish

2009-02-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

It's official - Morgan has a purse fetish! It is hard to take any decent pictures of her because she is always on the move and usually in the complete opposite direction from me!

Goin' Bananas

2009-01-22T20:06:00.000-08:00

Today Ashley, Leslie and I took the kiddos to Goin' Bananas for a little fun. We were there all morning and then ate lunch. I believe all the kiddos had a blast on all of the jumpers. Morgan was sound asleep before I could even get out of the parking lot. She slept for a little more than 3 hours! We will be going back...

Shauna & Morgan vs. Leslie & Lucy

Lucy climbing out of the boat

Truman working on his flips

Morgan having so much fun

Morgan worn out :)

Morgan bouncing

The gang hanging out

1st Bloody Lip

2009-01-17T13:24:00.000-08:00

Morgan and the office chair had a fight today and as you can see the chair won. I haven't figured out if the chair actually won, or if she was just exhausted and let it win! Needless to say, a little chocolate milkshake and she had forgotten all about it.

Working Hard

2009-01-08T19:40:00.000-08:00

You can't tell by these pictures, but Morgan is walking by herself extremely well. She start walking right after Christmas, but she prefers to shop around the house with her baby stroller. She has quite an assortment of goodies in her stroller. (I can spot a power bar, play fry pan, bowl and mug.) I think I am going to purchase a minature vaccum for her so she can help me tidy up the house. She looks the part!

Curly Q

2009-01-08T19:34:00.000-08:00

Clearly she gets the curls from her daddy

Sneaky Chef

2009-01-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

I recently purchased the Sneaky Chef cookbook because Morgan decided that she would rather feed the bottomless pits (our dogs) her veggies. Matt nearly threw up at the smell of spinach, peas, broccoli and ground beef meatballs. I must say they didn't smell that great, but with some pasta sauce on the them and some noodles, Morgan had no problem throwing them down. Needless to say, her system is working quite well.

Raw Meatball Mix

New Year's Eve 2008

2009-01-08T19:11:00.000-08:00

We had such a great time on NYE this year with the Goodsons. We were all asleep before 12! I had a blast trying to explain to Alex what NYE is all about. Don't worry - it is Sparkling Cider.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-08T19:00:00.000-08:00

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year. I think it was our last calm Christmas for many years. Morgan is still enjoying all of her goodies that she received.

Our "Little Richard" Simmons

One of Santa's toys

Watching Santa on the radar on Christmas Eve

Peer Pressure

2009-01-08T18:57:00.000-08:00

I have finally decided to create a blog! I am dedicating my first blog to Ms. Amy King who told me that I could do it almost 2 years ago. Everyone I know seems to have a blog, so I will give it a shot.