The Harris Life

the big girl

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Tiffany

I know I’ve been whining about this for a couple of months but….

howwwwwwwwwwwww can Rory be almost TWO?! Only 16 days! My heart can’t take it!

But OH MY WORD is she so much fun right now! We have had the best week together. She’s been so sweet and helpful. I mean, she’s still stinkerish, but its getting easier.

She’s been sick this week with the same ol’ crud we’ve been passing around. Tuesday she had to miss school because she woke up with a 102 fever. We loaded up to go to the doctor and she thought we were going to school. Poor thing kept singing, “school ‘day, school ‘day”, and she was heart broken when I finally told her we weren’t going to school.

Thursday she was feeling much better so I sent her on to school. I put a bow in her hair and she said “ohhhhhhhhhhh I CUTE mommy! Take a pikure!” HELLO! MUSIC TO MY EARS! She was very particular about where she stood and everything.

Oh my mercy, is this not the sweetest picture of the sweetest face you have ever seen?!!!!!

These are her “two” fingers. She’s been saying “I two!” for about… I don’t know… 8 months! haha! We are working on the finger issues though. ha!

Today I decided that while Ryder took her morning nap, Rory and I would bake some chocolate chip cookies from scratch.

That’s right, folks, FROM SCRATCH. Impressed?!

Rory was ADORABLE in the apron my mom made me. Its made out of my Granddaddy’s coveralls and Grandmother’s dress. I’d give anything if they could see my girls. Ryder has my grandmother’s expressions down and Rory is so spunky and fun that I know my Granddaddy and her would have been the best of pals.

And y’all. Don’t go commenting on how I let my daughter eat the batter and how bad it is. We always ate the batter of everything growing up and never got sick, so I had to give her a little taste! She LOVED it!

The other big girl related thing we are working on is the whole potty thing. I’m not going 100% yet because of our trip coming up, but we are working on the concept and she’s doing great.

For a while I didn’t think she was ready physically or cognitively. Sure, she stripped neeeekked to potty no less than a thousand times a day, but I still didn’t think she was ready.

But this week she’s been waking up dry in the mornings and at naptime.

And then the Stinker in her came out one day this week too…

I had tried to get her to potty and was wrestling Ryder (who by the way is THE MOST WIGGLY BABY ON EARTH) but she “tried” and said she couldn’t go.

Then about ten minutes later, I walked past her room and had to do a double take because Stinker was crouched over her PLAYHOUSE potty tee-teeing all over the place trying to get it in there. Note: the playhouse is one of the Little People playhouses and the toilet is about the size of my thumb.

So. Yes. She gets it.

Today she’s peed in her diaper once so far, and we’ll see if she’s dry at nap. So far, she’s doing great! I’m going to go cold turkey and do panties only during her Spring Break in March since we will have the whole week at home.

Well, I’m off to go enjoy the last 16 days with two kids under two! Have a great weekend!

Posted in Rory Eve | 2 Comments

The Faces of CHD – Pinterest Awareness Challenge

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Tiffany

When Ryder was born, I was so very unaware of Congenital Heart Defects and how common they were. Ryder was misdiagnosed with colic because she was fussy and wouldn’t eat. Come to find out, she wasn’t colicky at all- her heart was failing.

When the doctor first heard her murmur, even then it wasn’t treated like any big deal. He said most babies have murmurs. We went and had an EKG and chest xray done and I had to call about 20 times to find out what they saw. And I was told, “It can wait, its nothing major.”

On August 11, 2011, I finally had our cardiologist appointment. During that appointment we scheduled her first procedure for the next week. At that point I knew that even pediatricians are so very uneducated about congenital heart defects.

After a failed heart cath to open her Pulmonary Stenosis because it was actually helping her cause by restricting the blood flow caused by a large VSD (hole in the wall that separates the right and left ventricles of the heart), we were sent home on meds to try and help the hole close on its own. We tried to be hopeful, though we knew the chances weren’t good.

At Ryder’s 2 month well baby check up, Ryder hadn’t gained any weight, was a blue-ish hue, and was struggling to eat and breath with all her might. She got her shots, the doctor said it wasn’t a big deal to wait to see the cardiologist the next week and we were on our way.

I knew with everything in me that something was very wrong. I called the pediatrician several times over two days and was told to just wait. Maybe she had a virus, maybe she’s just having a bad reaction to shots, maybe….

I finally called the cardiologist myself and she rushed me in the next morning. Immediately she knew that Ryder’s heart was failing and we needed to do open heart surgery to repair multiple holes (ASDs), the VSD, and the Pulmonary Stenosis.

Ryder is 6 1/2 months old, and doing wonderfully. We had some major setbacks in feeding and finally found that she has a protein allergy on top of her acid reflux. The past two weeks have been amazing. She is her happy self ALL the time now, instead of only some of the time because of pain. We are so thankful to our mighty God for placing Dr. Pearse (cardiologist) and Dr. Mendeloff (surgeon) in our lives to help save Ryder. I’m so thankful for each nurse (even that ONE who was a jerk to me once and the other ONE who decided to tell me “you’ll be fine, I lost a kid once” and sent me into a panic attack). And I’m so thankful to my wonderful family and friends who helped me through that time and prayed so hard for us.

Did you know that CHD’s are the number one birth defect? Did you know that 1 in 100 babies are born with CHD’s?

I didn’t either.

How is it that the number one birth defect is so unknown? How is it that I hear things about autism, ADHD, etc, but NOTHING about Congenital Heart Defects when THEY are the #1 defect?! (Don’t get me wrong, I think awareness is very important for all syndromes, diseases, etc.)

Well let’s end that!

A blogger named Ruth has decided that she is going to change this by joining up with other moms for a Pinterest Awareness Challenge for CHD Awareness. One of the things that helped me so much (I mean SO MUCH) during the darkest days not knowing what to expect or what the outcome would be with Ryder was other heart moms who reached out to me. Becca, Hannah, Beth, Rachel, the list goes on. That’s why I am so excited to join in with these other moms and parents to help raise awareness and also meet new friends who have been through this as I have so we can encourage each other and lift each other up in prayer.

Knowledge is power. And parents should hold the power for their children, just in case medical professionals fail us. They are human too, and it does happen. Let’s get educated! Please join us on Pinterest to raise awareness for our sweet heart babies.

Posted in Ryder's Heart | 7 Comments

the Monday post

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Tiffany

Well today starts my “outage widow” week #1 of the year. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this a thousand times but I HATE when Andy has outages. He’s up there for long hours and so tired that he just crashes when he gets home. It isn’t fun for anyone in our house.

We had a wonderful weekend and I was so sad to see today come. On Friday we headed to Dallas to get a new mattress!

Y’all. This is embarrassing but its our first new mattress since we’ve been married and the mattress we had before had been handed down to us from someone who had gotten it as a hand-me-down as well. So it was TIME.

And OH MY WORD is it amazing. We slept so hard the first night that Rory got right on up in the bed with us without us even knowing… along with a couple of stuffed animals and her blankie. HA!

I mean, she did help pick out the mattress so I don’t know why I expected her to stay out of it when it got home!

(why is that picture so small??)

We also ate at the ChickFilA and who doesn’t love that?

On Saturday we spent time at the house and we all took huge naps (again, as soon as we hit the mattress we were out!). Saturday night was parents’ night out at our church and we have been counting down the days to it! Of course, not a single movie was showing during the time (all started before or too late) so we were totally bummed about that but we went to eat and rented a movie and had the best time getting to be at home without kids.

Sunday we all went to church and were so glad to be back after two weeks out with sicknesses. The girls wore matching outfits and looked so dang cute!

Today we got invited to a playdate at Kayla‘s house. Rory and Ryder had the best time playing with their friends and I had the best time getting to socialize with my friends!

PS: I owe Kayla approximately 6 oranges and apples, a lime, and a potato since Rory felt the need to eat all of the above RAW and unpeeled (but honestly is anyone surprised by this?!); plus cleaning for her carpet and pillows that my children spilled and spit up on. Sorry!

I stole these pictures from Kayla as well. So I owe her a lot.

Rory looks like she’s about to get into serious trouble in this next one…

Ryder played with her friend Daxton.

And oh my word, is she taking a toy from him?! Already?! She’s too young for this!

I totally am going to have another stinker on my hands with her.

So we got home and I thought Rory would immediately crash because thats what she ALWAYS does after playdates.

Nope. That heifer WOULD NOT go to sleep and then all of a sudden I went into her room and she’s passed out in her bed. Problem is it was after 3 so I’m pretty sure she’s going to be up late tonight and I’m totally going to regret letting her nap at all today. Dang.

And that sweet Ryder fell asleep playing on the floor today. I put her in the crib and she’s been asleep for 3 hours.

Dear Lord, let my children sleep tonight even if their days were messed up. Amen.

Posted in Everyday Life, Rory Eve, Ryder Amelia | 5 Comments

Happy 60th Birthday Papa!

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Tiffany

Today is a very, very special day!

Our Papa is 60 years old!

He is the very best Papa in the whole wide world! He loves to play with us and sings us songs. We have so much fun with him!

Papa, we love you so much and hope you have the best birthday ever! Wish we could be there to have “Papa coffee” with you and ride the horsey!

Can’t wait to see you in February!

I made an actual sign for them to hold up, but it didn’t work out very well.

Posted in Family, Holidays, Rory Eve, Ryder Amelia | 4 Comments

the best days

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Tiffany

I’m so afraid to talk about this, because I’m afraid I will jinx it….

but y’all, I can’t keep it in anymore!

Ryder is eating SO GOOD and you can tell that she is feeling SO GOOD.

Honestly, I am in tears right now because of how wonderful its been.

Its so hard knowing that your child is struggling even for a minute, but we have been in this same feeding struggle for six months. We have had a few good days here and there, but its always been a struggle and it has killed me.

I am praying with everything in me that we have found the solution in this new formula. Thank you Jesus for this relief!

So Sister (Ryder’s officially nickname) has been such a fun, happy baby this week! She has played and done things she’s never done before. She rolled across the room yesterday and today sat FOR AN HOUR and played with her toys and books. She’s also sleeping and napping so much better. HALLELUJAH!

Ryder’s favorite toy is Rory though. These girls are melting my heart every two seconds right now. They have played so hard together this week and its blessing my soul to see it. Its wonderful to see that they are already becoming best friends (and funny that they’ve already had their first fights!).

Yesterday, Rory had school and she chose her own outfit. Why does she look so grown up? How can I already be having attitude issues? Ha!

She has discovered her pockets and its been the highlight of her life.

Ryder and I had a great time playing while she was gone- its so rare that I get to really play with Ryder and I loved it. She woke up from her nap so happy. This reminds me so much of Rory… she always woke up the same way.

When Rory got home it was playtime! Rory’s favorite thing is playing peek-a-boo with Ryder because she laughs SO HARD everytime.

And Ryder’s favorite thing to do is pull Rory’s hair! Ha!

When Ryder woke up from her afternoon nap, Rory ran as fast as she could to go play with her. Hello, melt my heart!

These are the best days, my friends. They really are.

Posted in Everyday Life, Rory Eve, Ryder Amelia | 6 Comments

pictures and pringles sticks

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Tiffany

The sickness continues at the Harris house, but looks like its coming to an end, finally!

Besides being a little bit puny as a whole for us this weekend, we did have a good one at home together. We didn’t get to go to church because two of us were running fever, and I miss it so much! Two weeks away is too much.

On Sunday, Rory had a full day with her Daddy! They went grocery shopping, worked outside and cleaned up the garage. By the end of the day she smelt like a sweaty little boy. She had a blast!

It felt pretty good out, so I decided to try and get some pictures of the girls. And low and behold, Rory thought it was a great idea! …. and of course, Ryder just stared at me like I was crazy the entire time. Whatever, Ryder, whatever.

Well, I guess she did do her little half smile thing that she does. I think its so cute and hilarious.

Then it was swinging time! Ryder likes to swing, but not nearly as much as Rory always has.

Today I had to take Rory to the doctor because she started coughing pretty bad last night. So, I figured I might as well see what was up and if there was anything we could give her. She has a sinus infection and on an antibiotic so I’m hoping that means an end is in sight for all the sickness in the house!

Anyways. When we got there they kept talking about how “laid back” and “chill” Rory is and it made me laugh so hard. Obviously they have seen Ryder at her very worst a whole lot, ha! And obviously when people say, “oh my, you have your hands full!”, they mean it.

When we got home the girls both napped and so did I… it was GLORIOUS.

Then they woke up both ready to play together.

Do y’all know how much better life is now that Ryder is sitting up? It makes things so much easier. She sits up so so good and very rarely topples over. Rory is loving this too because now they can play together better.

Rory let Ryder play with her laptop while she went potty. That’s love, folks.

One of Rory’s favorite things to play with Ryder is tea party/cooking. She loves to bring Ryder plates and cups. Ryder loves it too!

I gave Rory a snack of Pringles sticks and some juice after she woke up. I was trying to pick up the living room because they had trashed it…

case in point- look at this pic.

Stuff everywhere in our living room.

Well Ryder, as we all know, is what I’d like to call a “high maintenance” eater.

I’ve tried giving her all sorts of things to eat and she hates and gags at everything.

Anyways, as I was cleaning I look over to find…

First of all, how guilty does Rory look? Ha!

So Ryder sucked on that Pringles stick until it was completely gone. What a little turd!

But I love that little turd.

Ok! Happy Monday!

Posted in Everyday Life, Rory Eve, Ryder Amelia | 3 Comments

the new adventure

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Tiffany

Well, folks, we’ve started a new adventure around here.

Cloth diapering.

Now, before you get all weirded out with me and stop reading, let me explain!

I decided to do this for two reasons:

1) to save money. Ryder’s formula is really expensive and there is just nothing I can do about that. But there is something I can do to knock off expenses elsewhere, which is changing to cloth.

2) Ryder’s skin is so sensitive. Its so bad that, if I’m touching her bare skin with my bare skin, she breaks out into hives. So, she has a permanent redness/rash where the diaper touches her. And since changing to cloth three days ago, the rash is GONE. Amazing!

So far I am really, really liking it. Its not nearly as hard as I expected and I have stocked up enough diapers, thanks to my friend, Amber,who gave me an awesome deal on hers and buying some on sale, that I don’t have to wash constantly. I’ve had one “bad” diaper and it was the first time Ryder has EVER had a big one in her life and even that wasn’t so bad. (That’s a true testament to how motherhood changes you completely.)

The biggest plus? Ryder looks ADORABLE in them!

I mean, could that booty be any cuter?!

Also, how did we end up with a child with fair skin, bright blue eyes, and blonde/strawberry blonde hair??? (Andy calls her his litle albino child, ha!)

I love it.

So stay tuned! I will be writing more about this as I learn all the tricks to making it easier! And a big thanks to my friends Erin and Rachel for giving me a ton of advice to help ease me into this new adventure!

Posted in cloth diapering, Ryder Amelia | 8 Comments

23 Months?

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Tiffany

Wait. No.

No no no no no no no no no no no no.

Rory CAN’T be 23 months because then that would mean she’d be two in a month and she can’t POSSIBLY be TWO!

(!!!!)

In honor of the almost-two-year-old I will do a Stinker Update for all of you.

1) Rory aka Stinker has been mighty bossy lately. If Ryder (“sisser” or “Ryyyyyydur”) touches something Rory doesn’t want her to touch she says, “no ma’am Ryyydur, I spankin’ you!”. All complete with a little finger waving in her face.

Side note: She gets the bossiness from the Davis side. Just FYI.

2) Stinker was a BIG stinker yesterday.

We have no idea how this happened. We just went into her playroom and found it and she said “ohhhh no”. Lovely. Who the heck knows. Oh well, its fixable and just a “thing”. But that explains why I’m not answering anything on there. It actually looks worse now, all the cracks ran over night so I can’t see anything at all. Stinker.

3) She has been escaping to the backyard quite a bit. Thank goodness its relatively safe out there. We are talking about Rory here though, so no where is 100% safe with her. Here she is enjoying her new found freedom, all decked out ready to go four-wheeling!

Is she not the cutest 23 month old you’ve ever seen?!

I had some big plans for her birthday this year and I’m so sad because Andy has a business trip so we can’t do what we had planned. But I’m also so excited because since he’ll be gone for 2 weeks, I’m going to TN to stay with my parents! Yay! And then my parents have offered to keep the girls while I fly up and spend some time with Andy at the end of his trip! Which means I GET TO SLEEP, PEOPLE! I’m so so so so excited! So if you want to see us while we are in TN, let me know and we will plan a playdate!

Posted in Rory's Monthly Posts | 3 Comments

grace

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Tiffany

We’ve all had the crud in our house for the past 5 days. It started with Rory and has now been passed to all of us. Exciting news, right?

Lately I’ve been feeling stuck. Life is going on, not as easily as I had hoped or envisioned when I was pregnant with Ryder, but I’m stuck.

My heart is still stuck at the hospital with Ryder before and after surgery. Its been almost 4 months since her surgery, but all I can do is think about that time. I close my eyes and I still see her sweet face struggling to eat and breathe.

And yet, my body is here. I am going through the motions of being at home with the kids but some days are blurry. I have moments of “how in the world did I get here? why is this my life? did I sign up for this willingly?”.

All of those thoughts give me so much guilt and shame. I should be living now joyfully, especially after all we’ve been through this year. I should be enjoying each new moment with my girls instead of wanting to flee as soon as I get the chance.

How did I stand so strong and with unwavering faith when Ryder was in the hospital and now I’m acting as though God turned his back on me?

I know many of you have gone through this or are going through this now. People don’t talk about it because its so shameful. But being a stay-at-home mom is hard. I’m not just a mom- I’m a secretary to Andy, a cook to everyone, a maid, a doctor/nurse, an errand runner, etc.

I don’t know how my life ended up like this where all I get are mom showers every other day and have constant snot and spit up on my clothes, but I do know that God is intentional with His plans for my life. Which means I should be intentional with the life He has given me.

Motherhood is nothing short of a mission field. I am raising my children to be able to go into the world with integrity. I am raising my children to be able to give others grace like Jesus has done. I am raising my children to be followers of Christ so that they may spend an eternity in Heaven and be saved from an eternity in Hell.

Wow.

And yet, I’m getting so frustrated I want to hit a wall because Rory deliberately disobeys me over and over and over again. Just as I do to Jesus every day. The difference between the two is that God gives me His grace to pick back up and try again. And I’m not always so gracious.

If you are finding yourself in the same place as me, know you are not alone. We all have those thoughts, though few like to admit it.

I’m so thankful for a fresh new day full of God’s grace. Now, to just use that grace on my family.

Posted in Everyday Life | 4 Comments

the mom shower.

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Tiffany

Someone dropped by today and I hadn’t had a shower yet and I was so embarrassed by how gross I looked. I mean, I hadn’t even looked at myself in the mirror all day and so I am pretty sure it was awful.

Good thing she’s a good friend so I got over it quickly. ha!

But the truth is. I don’t shower everyday. Do I want to? Absolutely! But there are some days where if the stars align and the kids’ naps are somewhat at the same time I have to choose between the following a) cleaning b) resting myself c) shower or d) blogging. And we all know that most of the time I choose to blog (you’re welcome but don’t smell me or my house! ha!). Its my hobby, my sanity saver.

Showering during naps is tricky too. If Rory wakes up she could get into so much without me knowing. And if Ryder wakes up crying really loud when Rory is sleeping it could be disastrous on many levels.

Anyway.

Enter “the mom shower”.

I have to set everything up perfectly to take a shower.

I set Rory up with Sesame Street or Tangled because it is THE ONLY thing she would ever sit and watch long enough without getting into trouble. I give her a drink, a snack, and the movie. With Ryder, I either put her in her bouncy or swing and pray she cooperates. (Well that was what I did until Ryder came into the bathroom carrying her because she got her out of seat.) Now I put her in her crib and let her play and put herself to sleep in the afternoon. Thats my only window to shower.

Is that not insane? I get a tiny window some days to shower.

And lets be honest. The mom shower isn’t a shower like other people take. Its goes like this: jump in after checking that everyone is still cooperating, soap up hair, peep out to check on everyone, rinse hair, peep out, soap up, peep out, rinse off, and exit. I mean, showers are 5 minutes around here.

But can I tell you how many times I’ve had to exit the shower mid-hair wash? I mean its crazy how many times I’ve had to question whether or not I even washed my hair.

Anyone else out there relate to this? Am I the only one with insane kids that can’t be trusted during showers?

Doesn’t Rory look so cute watching Sesame Street while I got ready today? Doesn’t she look SO BIG?!

She loves to dance and copy what they are doing on the show too. So cute. So big. And I’m so sad.

and then she dances and sings.