A few years older and wiser too

It's been a long time since I've blogged about anything. Life catches up and things have gotten hectic as we've added to our family. Dax was just a baby when I last posted. Now he's coming up on his 3rd birthday in a few weeks! And Liala has started Kindergarten!! Hard to believe we have a child old enough for school. Where does the time go?! Here's a little update with no pictures. I have to figure out how to find some more memory on this old laptop of ours before we can post any new photos. Kye Haven Berg was born into our family on February 23 of this year after a crazy pregnancy which included bedrest and a lot of hormonal roller coaster rides. Bedrest doesn't sound so bad at first but after about a week of laying on the couch or in bed, your mind does funny things to you and it's hard to stay positive. I was laid up for close to 4 months. Thank heavens for a wonderful family and a "SuperDad" husband or I wouldn't have made it through. I went into labor on my own around 2:30 in the AM 2 1/2 weeks early and he was born around 1:30 in the afternoon, I think. My brain cells aren't all functioning as they once were so I may be off a little :) He came through the birth canal so quickly that he was bruised pretty badly and was purple for about a week and a half after we brought him home. Because of this, we spent everyday for 7 days going to have his heel pricked to check his belirubin count. Eventually, his little body recovered from the rocket ride he took and we settled into life at home with 2 energetic kids and a baby! Thank heavens for family being close by because I forgot to mention that Ryan had to travel on business sometimes 3 days out of the week right after we brought Kye home. Anyhow, Kye has a story to tell and I'll get to all of that. He's kind of the reason I decided to start blogging again. I've been thinking about journaling and this seems like the best way to do just that so my family and friends can have the latest updates without my faulty memory getting in the way. Fact: pregnancy causes lots of brain cells to mysteriously disappear. When I get to the other side I'm gonna ask God why this was so! The best way to tell Kye's story is to start back in August when we took a family vacation to California. Ryan had a few business meetings lined up so we worked our vacation around this. We slept in hotels, ate out a lot, played at the pool, went to the beach, did Santa Monica Pier, visited friends, and finally made our way to DISNEYLAND!!! The day before Disneyland we were visiting with the Blank's at their house and it was after lunchtime when the kids went out to play in the sprinkler. Dax, being the curious 2 year old he is was on the cement slab and decided to see what would happen if he threw a ceramic pot. After the pot shattered, he went to step over it and the sharp edge sliced open the top of his foot. Hannah and I weren't sure what to do at first but then we looked at his cut and decided the ER was our best option. So I left Liala and sleeping Kye with her and took Dax to the ER to get an X-ray and 8 stitches. I'll post those pictures later. We were there for about 4 hours and Dax was such a brave little boy. He seemed so grown up and mature about the whole thing. After a few tears when they put him in the blue straight jacket thing, they stitched him up and he fell asleep right there on the table! After we got back to VA, Dax's stitches got infected so they put him on an antibiotic. He was scheduled to have his stitches removed on Friday the 17th. Ryan was out of town for a business trip on Thursday night of the 16th I had put Liala and Dax to bed. I had a few precious, quiet moments with just myself and Kye before we went to bed too. He was laying on a pillow on my bed facing me and we were just talking when I noticed that his left pupil was dialated almost as big as his eye while his right eye was normal. It threw me off a little bit and I spoke to Ryan, my mom and my mother in law that night after I put him to bed and they all said to mention at the doctor visit the following day for Dax's stitches. So while Dr. Nguyen was taking Dax's stitches out I mentioned this weird happening and told her that his left eye wasn't as dialated as the previous night but the pupils were different sizes. And do you know what she asked me?!! She asked if I had dropped him on his head!! Hello!! I would have told you if I had dropped him on his head! We'd be in here not only for stitches but for a head injury!! As Liala would say, "DUH!" So she looked Kye over and asked a bunch of questions. Then she referred us to a pediatric optomologist and said we needed to be seen as soon as they could get us in. That made me a little nervous. So I called and they fit us in on Tuesday the 21st. Dr Chaudri dialated his eyes, did a few tests, measured a few things, asked a handful of questions, measured again and then asked to see some recent photos. She and I then looked at older pictures on my phone and we realized that he's had this weird eye thing for some time. When I say "some time" it really doesn't mean much since he's only been alive for 6 months! We decided that he's had this noticeable difference since around 3 months of age. The Dr then told me she suspected Kye has something called Horner's Syndrome but to be sure she needed to do a Cocaine Eye Drop Test. Yes, you read that right! Cocaine! In my babies eyes?! What!???

Playing Catch Up

It's been a while since I've posted and so much has gone on. There are tons of pictures to show, so this post will be all about the pictures. Let's see....where do we start? We had family come to town to visit us for a week and we had a fun time going to the baseball game, driving to Amish Country, going into D.C. to see the Cherry Blossoms as well as museums and the Memorials. It was fun to have them here and we celebrated Ryan's Birthday, Easter and Liala's 3rd Birthday all at once. It was a fun time and we were glad to have them!!!

Liala turned the big #3 and she enjoyed her birthday celebrations. I can hardly beleive that it's been three years since she was born. Dax turned 6 months old and we took him to the doctor for his check up. Dax weighs 19 lbs 6 oz and is in the 90th percentile! He is 27 inches long and is in the 75th percentile. He is healthy and growing at a steady rate. Ryan has given him his official nickname: SMILES! He is seriously the most easy going, smiley baby I've ever met. Everyone's first comment is how happy and smiley he is. I just love it!!! We love seeing him so happy.

At gymnastics last week, Dax was literally laughing at the Coach. She would jump up and down and do the stretches and he was laughing a laugh that came from his gut. It was adorable!!! Liala is really enjoying gymnastics and we started preschool again this week. We've decided that she needs a little bit of structure in her days to help with behavior and so we're trying our hands at something new. We'll see how it goes.

I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but that's all I can think about right now. Enjoy the pictures.

The Princess and the GIANT

Dax had his four month check-up this week and he weighed in at 16 lbs 1 oz! He measures 25 1/2 inches long, and his head circumference is 17 inches. He is in the 75th percentile for all three! In comparison to Liala at his age, he is a GIANT!

There was a couple in the waiting room of the pediatricians office who were asking me about Dax and how old he is. They were amazed that he is only 4 months old and were making comments about how large his hands are and I think they called him "an adorable brute"! He is a happy, healthy boy and we are so happy that he's ours!

We took Princess Liala to see a local high school play this past weekend. It was so much fun because she got to dress up and even meet Cinderella at the end. We waited in the crazy line and when it was finally our turn, she froze. I think she was super tired from having missed her nap that day. And she was coming off of a sugar high as well. But I think she and Sienna enjoyed it!

That same weekend, we happened upon a Cinderella dress at the Disney store and we bought it for Liala. She wakes up every morning, and the first thing she does is put on her dress, gloves, and princess shoes! So adorable. These are some pictures to show you how adorable it is! I just wish it was glitter free. I am finding glitter in the fat rolls on Dax's legs!!

Christmas Day and the Princess Kitchen

All Liala wanted for Christmas this year was the Princess Piano Vanity that she saw one day during a commercial break. We, being new at playing Santa Clause, waited until the week of Christmas to purchase the vanity. To our surprise, it was SOLD OUT. HUH?! What other kid in the world wants a bright pink princess piano vanity?

Apparently, every other 2-5 year old girl in the nation did! Ryan spent many early mornings waiting in the parking lot of Toys R' Us to be the first one in the doors checking to see if they had a shipment come in the night before. Ryan even checked in West Virginia while he was on a business trip to see if they had the dumb thing. NADA, nothing, zero. So we ended up getting Liala a BRIGHT PINK Princess Kitchen instead! And she loved it! She even called Santa on her pretend phone on Christmas Day and said, "thank you Santa for my beautiful princess kitchen." How sweet!

The one thing about getting to Toys R' Us early is you get your pick of popular toys that DO come in on shipments. The ZuZu pet she got was a hit! Liala really enjoyed the little hampster she named "Hammy". We really enjoyed watching Liala enjoy Christmas this year. We even stuck to our new tradition and sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and ate some cupcakes in his honor. Christmas just isn't the same unless you have kids to watch. The joy on their faces makes the day perfect. It was a great holiday! Can't wait for next year when Dax will be crawling around getting into everything!

Just some pictures of Dax over the past few months. He is getting so big and he is a very happy, smily baby! Don't let the pictures fool you though- he is not a very good sleeper. At least since he got the swine flu. We've had trouble getting him back on a regular routine. At least he's not a cranky baby though. I will count my blessings. We just love having him in our family!

Just a few pictures from the beginning of December. We are big on traditions and have tried to implement a few good ones with Liala around the holidays. As you can see, we did the gingerbread house and Liala spent most of the time just eating the frosting. We never really got a good picture of the finished product. We also tried reading "The Night Before Christmas" book everynight before bedtime. We also got Liala her own Little People Nativity so she can have one that is not "off limits"! She really enjoyed setting Baby Jesus in the manger with Mary and Jospeph. We also took time to just relax during the month and we tried not to make it so hectic- so we could really help Liala understand the true meaning of the season! More pictures to come!

Emergency Room Regulars

Instead of spending our early morning hours sweetly snoring away, we were in the Emergency Room- AGAIN. We woke up with Dax around 1 am and his fever was 104. The pediatrician sent up straight to the ER for follow up. While there, Dax was tested again for the Swine Flu. He also had to have a cathedar to take a urine sample to test for a Urinary Tract Infection. While we waited for the results from the tests, he was given another breathing treatment to open up his airways. The ER doctor said he has "baby bronchitis" and then she returned with the diagnosis...... SWINE FLU.
We thought we were so good about keeping germs away. Seriously. We have been hibernating for the past 8 weeks! Sadly, we can't prevent everything. So we had to cancel Liala's surgery because the anesthesiologist does not feel comfortable doing surgery when her recovery would be in a home with the virus. So it has been rescheduled for later in the month. Agghhh. Have I mentioned that I HATE WINTER TIME?!! When will summer be here again. I need it to come quickly.