May 2011-Amaree has a language Explosion!

Up to this point, Amaree has been behind in her speech. She has been working with DDI Vantage to get her skills up and in May we saw a huge leap in her speak development. It is so fun to listen to her talk. She tells stories and reads books and sings songs. Sometimes we still don't understand everything she says, but we enjoy listening to her talk anyway. Here is a little video of her reading Humpty Dumpty. I love the way she says Humpty Dumpty!

She also is saying things more clearly that she was stuttering over. She can now say "Chicken" when she used to say "chich-chichs". She can also put words into a sentence.

And she loves to pray. It is so funny. Andrew will say, "Please bless the food," and Amaree will say, "eye-a food," "Thank you for this day," "eye-a day", "In the name of Jesus Christ," "eye-a Jesus AMEN!" It cracks us up that she only says the last word of the sentence.

Another thing that I LOVE LOVE LOVE is that she runs up to me, puts her arms around me and kisses me on the lips and says, "I love you too!" My heart melts and puddles at her feet.

"I Love you too, Nana"

Andrew had a training in Midway at the Homestead Resort. I took some time off and went out with him. Amaree and I spent the day at the Discovery Children's Museum and shopping. We also went swimming. Amaree had so much fun. She loved it. Her lips were blue and we were trying to get her out of the pool, but she still wanted to stay.

At the resort, Amaree is ready to go shopping!

April 2011-Andrew gets his Masters Degree!

Andrew's Graduation Announcement

After three years, Andrew gets to graduate from Utah State University! Andrew has been in school for Amaree's whole life! A refresher - When Andrew started school, I had Amaree the first week of his school. Anyway, after nearly three years, Andrew will have his Master's degree! Andrew does have to finish the summer semester, but we are really close!

Andrew Receives the Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year Award

Andrew was honored at graduation as the Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year. He was also awarded the Masters of Social Work Graduate Student of the Year. He is graduating with a 3.9 GPA and we are so proud of him!

Amaree wore a new dress for graduation

March 2011-Haircut and Zoo

Amaree got her first hair cut! She has this mullet thing going on, from her bald spot finally growing out and then the top hair is short and the back hair is long. I wanted her to get a cute little bob with some bangs and her hair being able to be tucked behind her hair. I didn't get very many photo's of the cut, but I found a cute one with her riding on Lea. Amaree loves her Lea!We also went to the Zoo with the Cousins! Amaree loves, loves, loves the zoo! My sister and her family were going to the zoo that day and so I took Amaree out. She had so much fun with James and Aedan! She really loves James and talked and talked about him. We rented a stroller and all of the kids rode in it.As we were walking down the hill, Jake lost control of the stroller. Amaree and James were in the stroller and it flipped onto its back took off down the hill and was heading straight for the a huge crash into a fence. Rachel was at the bottom of the hill trying to stop the stoller and Jake was running down the hill trying to catch the stroller. I was just standing there with my mouth open. Just as the stroller was about to crash, it spun around did a full circle and then stopped. We all ran over to the stroller and were the perfect concerned parents. However, James and Amaree were both laughing so hard. They both kept saying, "Again, again!" They thought it was great and we were all trying not to have a heart attack. All in all, they had a great day at the zoo.

February-George

Amaree has discovered something on TV that she likes. She generally won't watch TV but she discovered George. She loves the monkey. We watch George a few times a day. I am not sure how I feel about George. I mean, he is always causing problems, but in the end he comes out the hero and everything works out. Life is not like that. What kind of message is this sending my kid? All in all, though, it is better than most shows on tv!

We have George books, pajamas, dolls, movies, and the show is always on our DVR. What would we do without it? Oh yeah, and did you know that they make Curious George Fruit Snacks? Yes they do, and Amaree loves them. We use them as bribery for many things...

January-Cows

Amaree cooking in her kitchen.

Amaree loves to go see the cows with Gwampa. All day she asks for gwampa and cows. He picks her up and they drive down to the field in the big blue truck and they would feed the cows. When ever she would hear the truck coming down the road she would run and get her coat and boots. One time, she was being very quiet and I asked her what she thought about inside her pretty little head. She answered, "Um, cows." I laughed at that.

This video shows her one night when they came home, they had just seen some deer. Oh my! She has never talked like this before. She was so excited!!!

Christmas

Gwampa brought this adorable hat from Russia for Amaree. She wore it almost everyday when he would take her to go see the cows.

Inside this massive box was a kitchen. Amaree loved this kitchen! She would say "I cook, I cook" and would use her snacks to cook food.

Amaree got so many fun things and had such a great time. She loves this monkey.

Halloween

Amaree was a wonderful Ballerina for halloween.

Amaree had just enough hair to pull up into pigtails. So cute!

Zoo and Tute

Amaree loves animals. Her first words were concerning animals, and she gets excited when she sees animals on TV. Because of her love, it was only obvious that we had to go to the zoo. I would show her animal books and she would stare at the animals she knew for hours, but the exotic animals seemed to mystify her. I was looking forward to this day for a very long time.

Andrew and Amaree look at some monkeys.

When we got to the zoo, Amaree didn’t quite know what to think. However, it wasn’t long before she was screaming to be let out of her stroller so she could get a closer look at all the animals. If Andrew or I fell a little behind, she would gesture frantically for us catch up. She would point to the monkeys high in the trees and stare in awe at the elephants. She loved the exhibits where she would run across the hallway. Back and forth over and over as she tried to see everything. She really enjoyed herself.

Look at me, Mommy!

Drama Is Brewing.

A few days later, I was getting Amaree dressed for the day. I had picked out an outfit with a cute appliquéd bunny. When I tried to get her dressed, she threw a fit. From what I could gather, she didn’t want me to put it on because then she couldn’t see the bunny and pet it. I put it on anyway and she rolled around on the floor for ten minutes crying and moaning.

The next Sunday, I tried to get her dressed, but she was very unhappy about it. Finally, Andrew was able to get her dressed in a cute little dress. She came into the bathroom where I was finishing my hair and she pointed to her dress and said, “Tute?” I thought she was pointing to the flowers and I said something about the flowers and she got frustrated, rolled her eyes, pointed at the dress again and asked, “Tute?” I finally got it. “Yes, sweetie, that dress is very cute!” She smiled and wondered off to play.

What is that smell?

A few days later she got upset with me because she thought the outfit I had chosen was not “tute”. She rolled on the floor and cried for at least ten minutes and didn’t eat breakfast because she was so upset about it. Sometimes she will ask if the outfit we have chosen is cute. Andrew can usually pick out clothes that she likes better than I can but if she doesn’t think it is “tute” then she is very upset with us. Oh, the joys of little girls…

"Is my hair tute?"

One exciting development is she is beginning to notice when she has to use the bathroom and likes to sit on her potty chair. She hasn’t really figured it out yet, but the fact that she is showing interest in encouraging.

If we have to live with her being tute, then we have it made. She is still one of the most well behaved children we know. She is so much fun and is such a wonderful helper. She makes our lives wonderful!

Summer 2010 update

Once again, time seems to fly by us. This summer has been a whirl-wind. The passing of my uncle has been hard, it seems to be surreal. Work has been stressful and full of changes. The biggest thing that happened though, was the accident.

The morning after the shooting.

Many of you know about it, but I will tell the story anyway. I was directing the play for Altamont Longhorn Days. On July 15th, I was coming home late and as I was leaving practice, I called my husband. "Hi Honey, I am on my way home." "Jessica" "Yeah, I will be there soon, what is going on?" "The gun just went off!" Click. Ummmmm....What the hell does that mean? So I called my sister to run over to my house and find out what was going on. I drove home as fast as I dared, still wondering what he meant. What does that mean? Is my baby okay? Is my husband okay? What on earth has happened?


When I pulled into the house, my sister's vehicles was sitting in front of my house with the flashers on. I lost it then. Some of you may not understand, but out here in the country, we have to turn on our flashers so the ambulance can find us. This freaked me out because my Aunt had left the house to turn on the flashers when her husband passed away. Pulling up and seeing the flashers in front of my house was overwhelming. My sister, Kerron, walked out of the house and said "Jessica, they have been shot, but they will be okay. The ambulance is coming but everything will be okay." I lost it and started screaming. Kerron said something to me about knowing how I don't handle trauma well, so deal with it outside. I started running to my neighbors house, still screaming my head off. I wish I were one of those people who remained calm in an emergency, but I now realize I am totally not calm. I burst into my neighbors house, screaming, "they've shot themselves, Andrew has been shot!" She tried to calm me, but I was a wreck.

Amaree found Daddy's wallet and phone!

We ran back to my house and walked into the kitchen. Eric was laying on the floor, with a towel around his leg. Andrew was laying in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room with a towel around his knee and moaning.


The living room looked like a crime scene. There was blood everywhere. The carpet was covered in blood, there was blood on the sofa, on toys, just everywhere. There were also two guns, laying in pieces and one lone shell.


I started yelling again, mostly at Andrew. "What the hell were you thinking! I can't believe you shot yourself! What is wrong with you!" He started yelling back. "Just shut up! Just shut up, okay! You're not helping!" It is comical now, but it was tense.


Eventually a paramedic showed up and started helping. The ambulance got lost and didn't show up for 35 minutes. My parents were on their way home from a vacation and saw the ambulance wandering around. They saw the lights at our house and thought that something had happened to Amaree. (BTW, she had been in the hospital just two days before with a breathing problem. It was so severe she was almost admitted, but she was able to pull through with some medication.)

Amaree during a breathing treatment.

My parents finally got the attention of the ambulance and pulled in. Just as they were pulling in, the paramedic walked out. They asked him what happened and he said, "They have just shot each other." They thought it was Andrew and me who were shot. Anyway, they walked in and saw our crime scene. They tried to comfort me. Amaree slept through the whole thing-the gunshot, my screaming, and everyone who was helping.

The ambulance took Eric and Andrew to the hospital. Eric was lucky. The bullet went through the fleshy part of his calf. He has a small piece left in there, but it has healed very well. Andrew had a more severe injury. The bullet went across his knee cap and carved a groove across the top. From the groove, there are five or six cracks. He has had to have a recovery process of rest and physical therapy. He is doing great now, and his limp is getting better all the time.

So what happened? Apparently they were cleaning the handguns. Andrew was showing Eric how to do it. They took Andrew's gun apart, cleaned it, and then he put it back together, put the clip in it, and then he put the gun in the holster and put it away. They took Eric's gun apart and cleaned it. Eric said, "Wait show me on your gun again." Andrew grabbed his gun, pulled the slide back, pulled the lever to release the top, then pulled the trigger. He forgot that he had put the clip back in because he had already taken it apart once. Anyway, we are all very blessed. It could have been so much worse!

Happy Birthday!

Amaree has been doing very well. She is talking so much and learning so many new words. She even said six new words in one day! Her birthday was great. It is amazing to see her reach milestones. She is starting to get more personality and likes to tell me "Don't Touch!"

Rendezvous was so much fun for her. She had a ball, and loved posing and having her picture taken in her clothes.


She is also loving nursery, she knows where it is and can't wait for us to leave her there. She is a star!


We did have to go in and have a sedated hearing test to make sure everything was okay. The procedure went well and she has great hearing! The post op was tough, she didn't like being woken from that drug! Once it wore off, she was fine.






Hopefully, things will calm down a bit more. Things were so crazy for a while, I was almost ready to be put in an asylum!

Amaree posing in her rendezvous outfit.

June 27, 2010

Amaree giving a big grin for the camera as she goes to open her favorite drawers and pull something out!

HOLY COW!! Time sure gets away from us we have not updated in months. Amaree continues to be the joy of our lives. Every time we look at her we count ourselves a couple of the luckiest people on earth to have her as our own. Amaree has enjoyed the spring and the summer months, she runs to the door to be outside whenever Mom and Dad will let her. She is getting a nice little tan from being outside so much. Mom is jealous because she can't tan, she just burns. The skin type is just one more way Amaree is Andrew's little girl.

Amaree has been wearing her glasses without any problems. She asks for them in the morning and wears them all day. She loves wearing them. Every where we go, people ask about the glasses. They are amazed a such a tiny person wearing them and keeping them on.

Amaree outside getting ready to play!

Jessica's new job has been stressful and hard. The best thing about the day is coming home and playing with Amaree. She is learning lots of animal sounds and other signs. She loves the chickens and can recognize their sound. When she hears them she starts saying ch-ch! ch-ch! and pointing towards the sound. She even stops playing if a horse or other animal is on the television. She loves animals.

Amaree is so helpful! She loves throwing things in the garbage and getting things for mommy and daddy. She also drags everything out of the drawers and spreads them throughout the house.


This past week has been very tough on the family. Jessica's Uncle Scott, who came to the rescue (with Cousin Alexaus) the day Amaree was born and with whom Amaree shares a birthday, passed away. He was so great at always taking care of us, and we are having a hard time adjusting to life without him. He will be missed, and Andrew is really going to miss their fishing trips.

Andrew and Amaree with the BIG fish he caught on his last fishing trip with Uncle Scott. The fish was bigger than Amaree (and we can see how she feels about that)!

February 25, 2010

Amaree is eating like crazy, we think that she is going through a little growth spurt at 18 months she is moving into 6 to 9 month old cloths. We picked up Amaree's glasses today we figured it would be a fight but she seems to like them. She has been wondering around the house exploring her new world with her enhanced vision. We were looking through the thick little buggers and they seem to be very strong, it is no doubt they help her see much better. We went a saw some of the nurses and ladies at the NICU that grew so close to Amaree they were all so excited to see how well she is doing they could hardly contain themselves. Amaree as usual was her flirty little self showing off for them. A part of us felt like we did not want to put glasses on her but they sure look cute on her. We are probably very bias but we think that Amaree can make just about anything look good.

Feb 4, 2010

Amaree strutting her stuff

Amaree trying to be like mom !!!!!

It has been way to long since we updated the blog. Amaree has been doing so great and life has been so busy we have lost track of time and updating the blog. Amaree has decided that she is done seeing life on all fours. She started walking about 2 weeks ago. One day she was crawling the next day she was taking a few steps between mom and dad and after a coouple days pratice she has become a pro, walking upright all over the house. Everyone that sees her walk makes comments like she is not big enough to walk, but those that know Amaree know that she has a spirit that will not allow her to body size to get in the way of what she wants. Jessica took a full time job working for Duchesne County doing computer repairs the first of this month and Amaree is adjusting to being at the sitters 4 days a week (dad watches her on friday's). We are so blessed she is so fun to be around and brings so much joy into our lives.

November 16, 2009

Amaree fell asleep and I put her in the laundry basket. She is so tiny still!

Amaree has been doing great. We have had a lot of drama, but it is life as usual. Since Amaree has learned to crawl, she has also learned how to climb up on things. This caused a few problems. First, her cradle had to be put away and we got out her crib. Because she can already stand, we had to have the crib lowered before we could put her in it. Now the drama-she HATES it. She acts like we are abusing her when we put her in there to sleep. It has been major drama but I think she is starting to get used to it.

This is the face that Amaree makes all the time. I had to take a lot of pictures to finally catch it on camera. She usually makes a snorting sound with this face. It is so funny.

We have also been through Sick Amaree 101. Amaree is normally a happy, flirty, inquisitive baby. She loves people and going to new places. When she is sick she just cries and wants nothing but to be held. Even to put her down causes major screaming when she is sick. She hasn't been really sick, just a virus and a cold and now her molars are coming in. She has eight teeth and more are on the way. Sick Amaree is a real trial for me. The crying is so constant. I like my Happy Amaree.

She is still so tiny. She weighs about 13 pounds. When people ask how old she is and I respond with "14 months", I get quite the reaction. It is kinda fun to see the looks on peoples faces.

Amaree in her Halloween costume-Little Pocahontas. This is the only one that wasn't blurry! She is so busy!

For Halloween, Amaree wore the buckskin dress that Andrew and I made her for Rendezvous. She was so cute!


Today is November 16, and Amaree came home from the hospital exactly one year ago yesterday. This has been such an amazing year. She has grown and changed so much. She has such a fun personality. Everywhere we go people comment on how inquisitive and attentive she is. She is so social and interactive that people are amazed when I tell them her story.

August 31, 2009

Amaree did great eating her cake!

Amaree turns 1! Yesterday was Amaree's first birthday. It was wonderful! It was nice to make new memories for this day and to spend time with family. Andrew and Kerron made a beautiful cake for her. I made a video of her first year and all we have been through. We also had a brick of cheese that showed how much she weighed. We had root beer floats and lots of friends. I am so grateful for our friends and family who supported us through the trial of her hospitalizaiton.

Birthday girl opening her presents!

We also went on vacation the first of the month. We drove to Washington state. We drove most of the night so she did okay, but it did get to her the last hour each way. We saw Mt. St. Helens, the Pacific Ocean and family.

Oregon coast and Mt. St. Helens

On the way back we saw the eye Dr. He is still concerned about her vision. It is better and it is improving on its own, but we're not out of the woods yet. We also got to go back to the hospital and see one of her nurses. it was awesome.

Amaree is getting all her teeth in at once! She has her two bottom ones, but she is getting SIX all at once. There have been some grumpy days, but she is often so good.

Amaree is crawling and getting into everything! She is so funny now. She loves exploring and following us around the house. Amaree loves getting up on things. She has learned not to let go, she had several bumps and scrapes from letting go and falling.

Amaree still flirts and is super cute with everyone. I cannot believe that it has been a year! This time last year was so scary and nerve racking. This is so much better and so wonderful!

July 25, 2009

Wow! Another month has passed and we have been so busy! Amaree was asked to be the Ambassador for the March of Dimes Eastern Region so we went to a few fund raising events and told her story. We did the jail & Bail events for both Roosevelt and Vernal.

The Jail & Bail event in Roosevelt

I was in a play for Altamont Longhorn Days and that was taking a lot of time. It was a fun little melodrama, and I have forgotten how much fun that can be! Here I am:

Vera Carlton and Hilton Hays, "He Ain't Done Right by Nell"

Amaree is so mobile now! Still not crawling, but today I caught her grabbing the carpet pulling herself while kicking her feet. She also rolls herself and scoots to get where she wants. Andrew has been trying to teach her to crawl.

Go, Go Go!

This is what it looks like. It is so funny to watch. Jake, my BIL says that it counts as crawling. But here is something that is truly remarkable. If you have ever seen anything like it, let me know:

Isn't that amazing?

Amaree did something today that she has never done before. I put her down to play with some toys while I finished getting ready for work. I was blow drying my hair and I could hear her crying. She was really loud so I turned off the dryer and went to check on her. She had followed me across the room and into the hallway. I think that once she got to the hall she was unsure about where I was. I was just so surprised that she knew where I went and then followed me across a room and into a hall.

Amaree has gotten herself into a tight spot!

The other fun thing that we did was we had portraits done. Amaree was so cute! If you want to see some of our pictures, you can see them at Heroes Photography. Not all of our pictures are there yet, but the ones that are there are really fun. There should be some more of Amaree and Andrew.

I also want to give a shout out to our Nurses from the NBICU. I have heard from a few of you and I want everyone to know how amazing you are and how I still think about you and still admire all the hard work you have done. Thanks again for all the work you do and for the miracles that you give.

June 21, 2009

I don't know how it happens that a month has past since I posted. *sigh* Everything is so crazy right now.

Amaree being silly with her pants on her head.

Well, first I will give a weight update. Amaree had her 9 month checkup and she is doing very well. She weighs an amazing 11 lbs, 11.5 oz. She is about 23" long. Can you believe that she is almost 10 months old?

Happy girl! Notice the wrinkled nose-it is part of the smile!

We have tried feeding Amaree some solids, and that has not gone very well. Amaree will eat some oatmeal and some bananas, but when we try and feed her anything else, she throws up, and throws up and throws up. We eventually called the pediatrician and asked, but they weren't very helpful, they said as long as she is having wet diapers she is okay. Um, that is not the problem! I called out to the NICU and they said that her tummy might not be ready for solids and so we are holding off a little on the solids for another month.

I have two teeth!

Also, I was cut back on my hours at work, and now I work two days a week, WITHOUT Amaree. This has been very difficult for everyone. Amaree won't take a bottle. She will clamp her mouth shut and turn her head. We were trying to get her to eat other solids, but she would just throw them up. The Andrew and Amaree bottle showdown is a show full of drama. Andrew actually brought her to me on Friday so I could feed her. Hopefully we can get her to eat more foods soon.

Sometimes I put Amaree on her back, and I will turn around and Amaree will be like this, looking at me.

Amaree is sitting up by herself. She will sit for quite a few seconds, sometimes even a minute before she falls over. She also is rolling and squirming herself around the room. I will put her down, and then I will look at her a few moments later and she is moved a long way from where I put her. I feel crawling is soon upon us!

Amaree is sitting up by herself!

Yesterday, Andrew and I were working in the yard. Andrew was working on the trimmer and it was really noisy. We look over, and Amaree has the seat cushion over her ears. She would move it when the trimmer was off, but when the trimmer would come on again she would cover her ears. She was doing it by her self, too. We thought it was really funny.

Loud noises, Mom!

Amaree is still a very happy and pleasant baby. She and I are great friends. She has been making these funny faces and I have been trying to get them on camera, but as soon as she sees the camera she starts smiling. I will have to keep trying to get some of those faces.

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!