Whirlwind Trip!!!

Our family has met several milestones since my last post. Mary Grace has been apart of our family for 6 weeks now and is just a joy!!! She has started to smile at the sight of her sister and the sound of her mother and father’s voices… we love it! We have called MG squeaks since she was born but now she is cooing and ahhing more purposefully it is so sweet to hear.
Kate came to visit during her spring break and we had a blast with her! That weekend we took Abbie to ChuckECheese for the first time and she loved it. All she wanted to do was play the games she would becon us with her little hand wave.
On to the biggest news that this mommy has been waiting for since Abbie was born... drum roll please Abbie finally has enough hair to pull into a little pigtail! I LOVE IT!!!! YAY!!!
The girls and I made our first trip out without daddy 2 weeks ago to have Abbie’s tubes checked by her ENT and since we were out in the direction we stopped by Carter’s to see what was new in the store. The ENT went well which is why I decided to stop at Carter’s; how bad could it be? Well it was bad… the store is too small for our double stroller so I carried MG in her car seat and let Abbie walk while holding my hand. Abbie ran off to pick out her own clothes (just like her mommy) and would not stay with me at all. When I finally got her to stand by the counter and play with the toys they have there to play with some mean little boy came over and pushed Abbie out of the way and she fell and hit the floor she hopped up and ran off again. Needless to say we left!
This family of four also made its first long car trip to Virginia for my grandfather’s funeral at Arlington National Cemetery and Nana Crabtree’s 60th birthday… we did not have much time to visit with everyone because we had so many family plans. My grandfather’s funeral was very sad but amazing… he would have loves all of the military traditions (21 gun salute, horse drawn caisson led by the color guard, and military band). I felt honored to be apart of it… Grandpa we love and miss you!
After the funeral we drove to Ohio on Friday to introduce Miss. Mary Grace to her GrandNana who was eagerly waiting to meet her. We also we able to celebrate my Uncle John’s wedding on Saturday which was a beautiful ceremony.
We finally made it back home on Sunday evening after this whirlwind trip and after driving over 1300 miles. Both girls were super troopers… in the car Abbie would watch her videos and take a nap and about every 3 hours she would say Mama, Mama (until I would look back at her) then proceed to pull on her car seat straps and say out…out! We tried to give her a break as much as possible so we would combined the break with getting fuel or a nursing break for Mary Grace. Abbie missed almost every nap during our trip and she did fairly well without them… I just heard more nos and mines from her. (I have decided that I absolutely despise those two words no and mine that is). Mary Grace was completely off any schedule that we had for her and she was much fussier then normal… I feel bad that her family did not get to meet her cute quite self!
Now that we are home sweet home both girls are on their normal schedule… it is great!!! Abbie had been going to her day care providers house while I have been home for a few hours each day to keep some normalcy in her life (she loves going to Corie’s and playing with her best friends Ella and Noah; who she asked for our entire trip. Mama where Noah? Where Ella?) However this week Corie had a family emergency and called me yesterday to pick Abbie up. Today was great Abbie was Mommy’s big helper all day long… we even ventured out on our own today with out daddy to Target and Abbie was great! She asked to sit in the cart and she stayed there the entire trip! Much better outing then last time.
I hope you all enjoy the pictures!!

Three weeks old!

Today Mary Grace turns three weeks and to be perfectly honest I cannot remember what our house was like before she entered our family! She fits right in! Abbie has her good days and bad days with Mary Grace... please let me share a little story. Abbie constantly asks to hold Mary Grace... she points and Mary Grace and says hold peesh. Last night I was sitting with Mary Grace on the couch and Abbie climbed right up and sat with us; she then asked to hold her. So and arranged the pillows and placed Mary Grace safely in her sister’s arms... Abbie did not like that way so I place Mary Grace between her legs and Abbie started to play with Mary Grace (stinky toes and we call in in our house). She was showing Kevin and I Stinky toes with Mary Grace and it was very sweet and then all of a sudden out of no where she started pinching Mary Grace's foot really hard and would not let go for what seemed like 5 minutes. It took Mary Grace to scream and daddy to yell no Abbie from Abbie to finally let go. Needless to say Abbie sat in timeout and then said sorry to Mary Grace and gave her a hug and a kiss.
I am hoping moments like these do not continue for long... but I know they must be somewhat normal for her age and for the fact that her world has been turned upside down.
I cannot remember if I shared in my previous post that Miss Mary Grace has torticollis... my diagnosis of course (poor kid to have a therapist as a mom). So since birth I have been stretching, positioning and doing tummy time; even Kevin is getting a handle on this! But she gets better each day.
Here are a few new pictures that I took today on her 3 week birthday!!

Mary Grace's Baptism

Mary Grace was baptized on February 22, 2009. Our families came in from out of town for the event. It made for a fun filled family weekend and allowed us to introduce Mary Grace to her Nana and Granddad Crabtree and her Aunt Christa, Uncle Barry, and cousins Tyler, Alyssa, and Ayla. Abbie really enjoyed playing with Ayla and she shared her space fairly well... there were only a few tears and tussles between the 2 two year olds!!
Enjoy the photos from our wonderful weekend!

It's a...... Girl!!!

Welcome Mary Grace Crabtree to the world! She entered our life on Wednesday February 11, 2009; weighing 6lbs and 7oz and she was 19.25 inches long. Miss. Mary Grace ended up in the NICU for 5-6 hours after birth with respiratory issues. This was very difficult for Kevin and I... I did not get to see or hold my new little girl until they released her from the NICU. Now that she is home and we have started our family of four it has been amazing!
Abbie has been a great big sister... most of the time. She really enjoys holding Mary Grace and giving her hugs and kisses... we do have to remind her to be gentle and soft with her hugs and kisses. She also has become quite mad at mommy for bringing this bundle of joy into our house hold... there has been many time-outs and I am sad to report that Abbie now has her pacie when she is out of her crib.
In general everything has been going wonderfully... my parents were a great help the first week and a half I don't think the transition would have been as smooth with Abbie if my mom had not been here but this week after Kevin's parents leave I guess we will truly see how been a family of four is! Thank you for all of your well wishes! Enjoy the pictures!

What a week!

It has been a very interesting week in the Crabtree household! Abbie has been diagnosed with asthma... which in not surprising given Kevin's history. Early Saturday morning, about 2.30am, Abbie woke up screaming and she was having difficulty breathing... this scared me a lot but she would calm down and she sounded better. Needless to say I just stayed up rocking her and listening to her breathing; I called the pediatrician first thing in the morning and got a doctor's appointment. When we got there our pediatrician listen very well to our history and then to Abbie's lungs; she said I was not crazy... she heard the wheezing and that Abbie was very congested. She loaned us a nebulizer and prescribed albuterol to open up her airways. She also asked for us to come back on Monday morning.

Over the weekend Abbie defiantly got better but we could tell when the albuterol affect started to wear off and it was time for another treatment! Kevin (the greatest daddy in the world) took Abbie to her appointment on Monday morning... we saw another doctor at our practice who also was great!!! She said that Abbie sounded much better form the report on Saturday; however she felt that Abbie still needed to continue her treatments, along with an antibiotic, and ear drops of her ear infection. So we are now the proud owners of a steel gray nebulizer. Abbie receives treatments every 3-4 hours and is such a trooper during her treatments!

Our pediatrician also suggested a particular allergist for us to go and see... Kevin and I decided we would try to get an appointment on Monday since he was going to stay home with Abbie. We were able to get an appointment at the allergist. Kevin took Abbie and he really liked him; he listened to Kevin's concerns, about his long history of allergies and asthma and to Abbie's recent history of shortness of breath on exertion and her reaction to Ella during Christmas time. He tested her for pretty much every allergy (dog, cat, pollen, mold, ext.) on her back and Kevin said she was a real trooper! We are happy to report that she did not have any reaction to the test and Ella can finally come home for good!!!! The allergist stated that he felt that Abbie does has asthma but with how congested she was (ears, nose, and chest) he wanted to see her back in a week to reevaluate her to determine the severity. He also prescribed a lot of other medication to help clear her airways up for next week.

The rest of the week has been great we have noticed a huge difference... we can put Abbie in bed at night without a coughing fit. Corie even says that she is able to play with all of the other kids without getting too out of breath! She is so happy and playful... we have been blest with our angel.











I cannot believe this is our last weekend of being parents to only one child... I hope that we can make the best of it with Abbie. I have to admit I am starting to feel a little guilty about bringing another little one into the world and changing Abbie's life so much! I have been told that is a natural feeling but I hope it does not last long. Have a wonderful weekend and we will post soon!