My baby is getting a nose job!

Weirdest title for a post ever, huh? Except it's true. Kind of.

To catch up, read my "Mother's Instinct" post.

When we were in the hospital the first time, Anna was diagnosed with choanal atresia. In a nutshell, it is the complete blockage of the back of the nasal cavity by bone and/or tissue. Babies can have it on one or both sides. When it is bilateral, it is diagnosed at birth and must be treated immediately. When it is unilateral, like in Anna's case, it can often go undiagnosed for some time, because the baby can breathe out of their good side. Or, in my case, it goes undiagnosed because of some whack-ass pediatrician who refused to see what was right in front of her smug face. But I digress.

The biggest indicators of unilateral choanal atresia are 1) a constant stream of thick mucus coming out of the affected side of the nose and 2) feeding difficulties and 3) the inability to pass the "mirror" test. For this, you stick a mirror under the child's nose. You should see fog on both sides. If you don't, this could be a sign of a blockage on one side. A sign that I told my pediatrician about and she dismissed it. No, I'm not bitter. 

I write the above because when we went nearly 4 months with Anna being constantly congested, with record-breaking amounts of snot coming out of only one side of her nose, I turned to Google. I never found much, but what I did find on one random forum was the term choanal atresia. A term I shared with my pediatrician, who again said that No, Anna didn't have this condition. Bitch. Ok, I'm done.

We had a follow-up appointment with the ENT at Children's Hospital on Monday, and he scheduled her for surgery tomorrow! I say this with an exclamation point, because although I loathe the idea of spending more nights in the hospital, I cannot even imagine how Anna's quality of life will be improved. 

All of this brain stuff has been going on since the end of August, but the nose thing has been her entire life. Think about having a stuffy nose for 6 months. (Think of all of those cookies I skipped when I gave up dairy to try and help her). Think about how crappy you feel at night when you have a stuffy nose and you can't breathe. Poor Anna has had that feeling all day, every single day.

Ever since surgery #2, my sweet Anna has been back to her happy self. She's just HAPPY. The only time she's not happy is at night, when we lay her down, because obviously she can't breathe very well so she gets up alot to tell us she's mad about it. I have to clear out her nose before every middle of the night feeding, and neither of us enjoy that activity.

She has to spend a minimum of 4 nights in the hospital to make sure she doesn't develop an infection (boo), but once we get home, I am wishing on every star that my sweet girl is done with major medical procedures, and she can go on and live her life like the beautiful, carefree angel that she was destined to be.

Wish us luck! And kudos to you for making it to end of this partially gross story. 

 

And all that jazz!

Just a quick post to show that I still have a social life! 

Me and the hubs, 1920s style

On Saturday, my good friends Heather and Jess were treated to a "Goodbye to your Roaring Twenties" birthday party. Since they both have birthdays around Halloween, they love hosting Halloween parties every year. But this year, the tables were turned on them and their friends picked the theme. And what cute theme for a 30th birthday, huh?  

It was so nice to get out of the house, spend time with my friends, and laugh, dance, and be ridiculous for a few hours. It wasn't my birthday, but it felt like I had more to celebrate than the birthday girls themselves!

Shawn and Jon, taking selfies

 Happy birthday Heather! And yes, that's a jazz musician in the background. They thought of everything!

And happy birthday Jess! Love you both - so glad you were born!

 

Oh, Ohio

On Sunday, we went to the Columbus Zoo. I wore a sweater, no jacket, and wasn't chilly at all. It was the perfect sunny afternoon with family.

Today, it looks like this outside:

  

Ok, just kidding. But seriously, it's snowing. In October. 

It's too bad everyone and everything I love is in the Midwest, otherwise I'd quit my job, move my family to Florida, and fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming a Disney princess. Only I don't meet the height requirement. I'm 5'6 and 1/2 and you have to be 5'7. No, I didn't look into that for real or anything....

Review: The SleepEasy Solution Online

You guys!!!

If you've read my blog for awhile, you know about my obsession with sleep training. Well, obsession might be the wrong word. How about my "passion for teaching my children how to be good sleepers and set them up for a lifetime of good sleep habits." Sounds legit.

The Sleepeasy Solution absolutely, positively changed my life as a parent. Read more about that here.

We used the Sleepeasy method 18 months ago with Emerson and it's STILL working. She is the easiest sleeper. Anyone can lay her down at naptime or nighttime and she either plays around and falls asleep or conks out immediately. No crying. No begging or pleading her to sleep. No bargaining. Nope. The girl just loves sleep. This is VERY different from her first 5 months of life, and I completely credit the Sleepeasy Solution for that. It is my #1 recommended baby item, hands down.

You have no idea how liberating it is to be able to lay my child down at night and know that she loves her crib, will be asleep for 11-12 hours, and will wake up rested and ready to face the day. It's been especially critical these last few weeks with Anna being sick. Emerson has had a lot of babysitters, and she lays right down no matter who is at her bedside. It was one thing I knew I didn't have to worry about while I was gone. Good sleeper = happy mommy = happy family. Everybody wins.

So you can imagine my utter delight when Jen from MomAssembly contacted me to review their new online course for the Sleepeasy Solution. I seriously felt honored, because this is one product that I can stand behind 100%. How often can we say that?

The review I wrote about the book is by far the most viewed page on my blog, which tells me there are a TON of sleep-deprived parents out there. Don't worry, new friends from Google! I was/am one of them!! And I am here to change your life! *Well, they are. They're the ones who developed this system, after all. I'm just here to tell you about how they changed mine.* 

Even though I've read the Sleepeasy Solution cover to cover more times than I care to admit, it was so fascinating to watch the creators of this method explain and showcase it in even greater detail. I didn't think there was any way I could learn more from it, because I swear I could recite the book from memory, but I was so wrong. Lots and lots of new tips and tricks came out of the session, as if Jennifer and Jill were in my living room, coaching me through the process.

One big takeaway for me from the online course was the reasoning and rationale behind sleep training. Sleep training of any kind can be somewhat controversial. The part that sold me the first time was knowing that every night, Emerson cried for probably a total of an hour every night from wake-ups, resistance to sleep, crying before bed, etc. If that was still happening, she'd have cried for 540 hours over the last 18 months. Using the Sleepeasy Solution, she cried a total of less than 5 hours over the course of 5 days, and now it's over. 5 or 540? 5 days of struggle for a lifetime of good sleep? I'll take it.

As Jennifer and Jill explain, this is a behavioral-based sleep training program built on a foundation of love. We train our kids to ride their bikes and tie their shoes; sleep training is just like that, but it's even more important because sleep is such a critical component of the health of a young child. It's just as important as food and water because it restores their cells and allows them to grow. And don't forget that good sleep for the child means better sleep for the parents, which in turn makes a happier, healthier family.

They go over the entire process step-by-step, answering any little questions along the way, and giving you a visual demonstration of their techniques, which was SO helpful. And when we're ready to sleep train Anna some day, I can re-watch the course anytime so I can re-focus myself, knowing I am doing what I believe is the best thing for our family.

I mean, just look at these well-rested babies. So worth a few tough nights, amiright?

The online course is perfect for anyone out there who wants to watch the series and come away empowered to take on sleep training. I dare you to take the course and come away from it thinking anything other than "YES! I can do this. WE can do this, and pretty soon, that long stretch of sleep from my childless days will be within my reach."

To sign up for the course (for yourself or for a fellow sleep-deprived zombie), you can go here:

Sleepeasy Solution Online Course

While you're there and feeling motivated, you should also check out some of the other MomAssembly courses. Because once your well-rested baby gets a little older, you have other battles ahead. One word: Toddlers.

Please let me know if you have any questions - I am always happy to help with this because, for the millionth time, this book changed my life.

Friday and Funnies

Who else is breathing a sigh of relief that the week is over?

I am, not because I dread the work week, but because we survived  this week. And Anna is feeling and looking better every day. Woot woot!

I hope you all have a great weekend. I know I will, because my big brother is getting MARRIED!! In beautiful Hocking Hills, Ohio. They are literally getting married in this cave. How awesome is that???

 I'm also excited because I get to introduce my two girls to their future husbands, also known as fellow blogger Emily's adorable sons. If you're keeping track, that's now at least 20 young men that I have promised Emerson's hand in marriage to. What will happen when they all come to cash in at once? Whoops.

 

To start the weekend off with a giggle, here are some of the funny pins I've found on the interwebz this week:

Silly mommy

Every morning

Who knew they were so terrifying??

This is probably a documented condition

 

Drives me NUTS!!!

 

And this song is in your head in 3...2...1

 How I would act if I still went to bars.

Master Bedroom Makeover

Another room we finished a while back but I've never gotten around to posting is our master bedroom. 

This room was pretty easy. It just needed a fresh coat of paint, white trim, and our decor. And just like in the rest of the house, we're also replacing all the outlets and outlets covers (going from pale green to white) and the door knobs (from brass to oil-rubbed bronze).

I'm not showing you the master bathroom, because that's one of our "big" projects for this house. There are only 3 - yay! Master Bathroom first. Then finish the basement. Then build a deck. No big deal. Since we spent 5 years renovating every single room in our old house, 3 projects seem reasonable to me. Call me crazy.

Without futher adieu, here is the spot in which I lay my head!

Before:

(No disrespect to the previous homeowners, but their taste in bedding... yikes on bikes.)

After:

And if anyone has tips for getting that freshly made bed look whilst using a duvet cover, let me know. It's comfy as heck, but the bed never has the crisp hotel look. Yanno what I mean? 

 

 

Anna's Nursery

 When we bought our house, I had a vision for Anna's nursery. I even bought paint in April even though we didn't move until May. I KNEW what I wanted for her room.

Until I saw it all come together, and I hated it. It just didn't feel like her.

So about 6 weeks ago, we decided to scrap the original plan and go with something different. The room I had envisioned was too dark, and her room is not dark. She's got amazing windows and a cute little window seat, and I wanted the room to feel bright, fresh, airy, and princess-y without being too princess-y. Like Princess Kate instead of Princess Sofia. Toddler moms can feel me on this one.

In the midst of Anna's sickness, the nursery plans obviously took a back burner, but toward the end of our first stay in the hospital, I decided it had to be finished. So I sent Jon home for a day to hang things, and my mom stepped in and finished painting. And the result? A soft and bright room for our sweet girl to lay her head. It's simple but it's perfect. 

And just for fun, here is the before picture from when we bought the house:

 And here it is today: