It is the 8th annual worldwide Feeding Tube Awareness Week!
In order to raise some positive awareness, I thought I would share with you our feeding tube journey with Sayla. We get a lot of questions regarding her tube, especially from children. We hear questions like, “What is that?” “Does it hurt?” “Can she have chocolate milk in it?” “Why can’t she eat with her mouth?” We love answering questions and want to educate others as much as we can.
“Girl you my Hunny, cause you’re busy as a bee.” – P Diddy (the hubs)
January has been packed full of both exciting and scary stuff. This mama has been running nonstop. We finished off this month strong though with a day full of procedures for Sayla at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC).
Sayla had three procedures done under anesthesia. We are so thankful the physicians worked together and that the scheduling department was able to organize it all on one day! Below is a lost of her procedures and outcomes:
UPDATE March 2021: Affiliate Links added at end of post.
I kept it together on my son’s first birthday, but on the day of his party, I got a Facebook memory notification (dang you Facebook and your nostalgia) and I became an emotional wreck. Seeing the picture was a reminder of our long 2-year journey. This journey included an ectopic pregnancy/miscarriage, loss of a Fallopian tube, 4 rounds of failed IUI fertility treatments, and this miracle baby that God gave us naturally when we least expected it. Awesome reminder that His timing is perfect. Patrick “Pax” Stout Parker was born on January 19, 2017. “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31-1
We are so excited to celebrate our gift from God, and wanted to make his first birthday special. We were introduced to Little Baby Bum by my sister-in-law, and Pax has been obsessed with this show ever since. It started out as a YouTube channel that originated in the United Kingdom, and specializes in 3D animation of both traditional nursery rhymes and their own original songs. It is now available on Netflix and we watch it on the daily (no worries…we limit screen time, for you judgers). I only thought Little Baby Bum (LBB) appropriate for Pax’s first birthday theme. Big Mistake! No one has heard of this epic show, and there are VERY limited party supplies/decor online. Which means this momma had to DIY errrrthing. During the whole planning process, I kept repeating “I should have gone with dinosaurs.” But in the end, it all worked out! The theme was fun, and Pax seemed to really enjoy his party with family and close friends that we refer to as our “Kentucky Family.” Hope you enjoy the photos and short party prep VIDEO!
You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy self-tanner! Who doesn’t love a good glow? I am not a big fan of winter, and one of the ways I like to fight off those winter blues, is by having some color. (Side note: I also like to watch live beach cams and visualize I’m in the sand and not the snow.) I ventured out of my spray tan booth comfort zone last year to experiment with some self-tanners I could do at home. This was to save some moola, but mostly for time management. As a busy mom, I don’t always have time to get away to the tanning salon. I was super nervous to tan on my own, and did a lot of research on prep and products to avoid any serious fails. I got lucky and found an amazing product that gives me that all over bronzy glow. Below I will share with you my self-tanning routine.
How is my baby a one-year-old this week?? Everyone says “they grow up so fast,” and I agree, this is true. Except for the first 6 months when he refused to sleep through the night. That was not so fast. I feel like I had to learn how to be a mom all over again this past year. Raising a special needs child who is immobile and nonverbal is obviously very different from raising a typical child. As Pax grows and starts to play with more developmental toys, I had to do my research on what toys would be good for a one-year-old. His birthday is a few weeks after Christmas, so I wanted to make sure we got some things he could use and play with for the next whole year. So, I’ve compiled a list of our favorite gifts for a big timin’ one-year-old:
