Our old CF Commercial that plays on MCTV. Still working on this years.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Good & Bad Day




Today was good b/c it was the first time Ayla slept through the whole night!! YEA!!!! I couldn't believe it! She went to bed around 8pm and woke up at 7am! Yup...11 hours!! She cried for a second in the middle of the night, but before I even got to her, she was back asleep! When she did finally wake up at 7am, I asked my husband if he got up with her at all. He said no. I hope she sleeps through the night every night now! Lil' Chris even slept to 11am! I guess my hubby really wore them out last night while I was at work;-)

It was also a bad day, b/c I just got back from the dentist:( I had 7 cavities filled! YUP...7! My mouth is all numb still. It wasn't so bad, but it did take almost 2 hours though. I told my boss at work that I probably got the cavities from all the hard candy I used to suck on all the time during both pregnancies. lol
M

Monday, March 30, 2009

R.I.P. Heather

R.I.P.
Heather Kirschbaum
04/11/89 - 03/28/09

I just saw on Kellee's blog that another CFer passed away. Heather was only 20 years old. It makes all of our hard work last night at our fundraiser all worth it.
WE NEED THAT CURE NOW!!!
Thank you to everyone who donated last night. We are getting closer and closer to a cure. We just need to keep pushing until that cure is found. I don't want to have to post anymore R.I.P. posts for another CFer again!
Click here to donate to find a CURE today!! Please don't wait any longer!!
M

Our Fundraiser Turned Out Great!!

We had a GREAT turnout at our fundraiser tonight at CiCi's Pizza!! We had SO much fun too!! When we first got there, we all put our pics of our kids together on a big poster that Alma brought...Thanks Alma:) I gotta say, this poster was the BEST, I loved it!! Here is a pic of it, you can blow it up by clicking on it...Jack(Alma son)is in all the corners, Daniel is wearing his sisters sunglasses, and of course Lil' Chris wearing his Vest...


Here is a pic of the table we had set up for donations, tips, raffle, candy, info about the walk, and Christi's handmade jewelry to sell. Thanks to Alma's daughter for manning the table;) Thanks Alma for the balloons too:)

Here is a pic of the info cards that Daniel's parents made to put on the tables for people to read about Cystic Fibrosis...Thanks Daniel's mom and dad;) You did a great job on them!!

I am reluctant to show this pic, b/c I still have A LOT of baby fat to lose...but here is a pic of all us CF Moms and even a new CF Mom I met tonight! Daniel's mom, Alma, fat me:(, and Heather... I don't know why I didn't get a pic of the dad's, maybe next time;)

Alma introduced me to Heather who she knows on Facebook. She has 2 children with CF plus 1 or more other children as well. I'm not sure exactly how old they are, but I think that her son, Jack is around 5, and her daughter, Allie is around 2 or 3 years old. They were recently diagnosed I believe. I didn't get the whole story yet, b/c it was busy when she was there and I wanted to concentrate on getting the donations. Once I get all the info I will let you know. So far all I know is that she is great at doing fundraisers for CF. I hope to connect with her on Facebook and learn a lot from her. Hopefully she will become a follower of this blog;)

Here is a pic of Heather's 2 kids with CF, they are soooo cute...
She is doing a Pancake Breakfast to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on April 25th at the Central Presbyterian Church in Massillon. It is $5 per person and kids under 2 eat for free. If anyone is interested, please email me at lilcmom@gmail.com.

Thank You to Daniel's dad for taking on all the phone calls that I was going to make to try to get corporate sponsors. I had tons of business cards from when I went from business to business, and he said that he could make all the calls since he was recently laid off from work(this economy stinks, doesn't it?) It's a big relief off of my shoulders with trying to cope with 2 lil' kids now and not getting a lot of sleep at night and still adjusting to getting back to work now. So Thank You so much!!!

We came up with 2 more dates to do more Dough Raisers at CiCi's Pizza...April 19th and May 28th from 5pm-8pm. I hope if you live in town that you will be able to make it=) For these, I'm going to get Kohl's involved so that we will get $500 each time. All I need to do is get 4 other people from work to come and help us buss tables for tips for 3 hours. I suggest getting a Kohl's store near you involved in every fundraiser that you do, and esp your walk. Email me if you have any questions or if you would like me to call the store and get it set up for you. It's an easy extra $500 towards a cure. My goal is to someday get EVERY Kohl's store to walk in a Great Strides Walk every year. I know we don't have that many walks all over yet, but someday we will. Kohl's is in every state except 2 and has over 1,000 locations. Wouldn't it be great to get them all involved in finding a CURE!!!

Thank you to Sherri, Vickie D., Anika, Barb, Roberta, Esther, Loretta, Shaina, and Abby who came to support me from work. I really appreciate all your donations towards finding a cure for Lil' Chris. I was very touched to see such love and support from my Kohl's family;) Thank you Vickie for buying one of Christi's handmade bracelets!!! Thank you Anika and Roberta for buying necklaces!! This money will go towards Lil' Chris' medical fund. BTW, I sold $42.00 worth of Christi's jewelry...Thanks Christi=) I may have some orders for you soon;)

I have to say a big THANKS to Alma, her daughter, her husband Paul, and to Daniel's parents.... You guys were AMAZING tonight!!! Thank you for all your hard work and for all that you did to prepare for it!! (Unfortunately my husband wasn't able to make it. He stayed home with the kiddos. Hopefully next time he will be able to join us.) Thank you Paul for getting the Indians tickets to raffle off. The 3 club seat tickets really brought in a lot of money, I think;) We sold 1 ticket for $2 and 6 tickets for $10. It got a slow start, but once we started talking it up, they really started to sell. It was a GREAT idea, thanks Paul for getting the tickets donated for all of our fundraisers and for the walk and for talking it up at all the table;) With all the donations, tips, and money for the raffle tickets, we made $315.00 towards finding a CURE!!! That is not including the 10% from all the receipts. I hope to find out that total tomorrow.

You all are AWESOME and I think we all made a GREAT TEAM tonight!!! I look forward to our next fundraiser=)
M

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Ayla is 2 Months Old!!

Wow!! Can you believe Ayla is 2 months old?? I can't.
Here is a pic of Ayla's first day in this world, meeting her big brother...


Here is Ayla and Lil' Chris today, watching TV together...


She has been smiling sooooo much lately! She likes trying to laugh and make noises too;) We've started to give her 5 oz of formula at night time, but still 4 oz during the day. She usually sleeps 5-6 hours at night. Not too bad. She loves to kick her lil' legs, which aren't so skinny anymore;) She also loves to stare at us, it's so funny. She likes watching our every move too. It's neat watching her turn her head when we walk away;) She has sadly grown out of some of her newborn outfits:( It's sad to have to pack them away:( But it is a good sign that she is thriving!!

She LOVES her big brother!!! In the pic above, Lil' Chris came over to her, gave her some kisses, and then just put his lil' head on her belly and stayed there and watched TV. Ayla loved it!! She even started to watch TV too! At least, that's what it looked like anyways;)

Well, pray that we have a great turnout at our CiCi's fundraiser Sunday night! I'm kinda nervous about going around talking to all the people and bussing for tips. I've never bussed tables before, but I don't imagine it will be that hard;) Wish us luck!!
M

Friday, March 27, 2009

Fundraising Update

He loves the outdoors;)

I did some more fundraising around town the other day. I went to lots of different businesses and didn't get anything right then and there, but hopefully I will hear back from some of them. A few seemed really interested. I got a lot of phone numbers and business cards, b/c by the time I got done work it was already 4:00pm. Usually the managers are either gone or getting ready to leave by this point. Oh well:( I'll start making some calls if the kids ever take a nap at the same time someday. lol

I did get a call back from our local Cable Company! They said that they would advertise a couple of thousand dollars worth for free!! Isn't that awesome!! They would just be one of our sponsors! Now I just need to come up with a 30 second commercial :0 Does anyone have any ideas or advice on how to do this??? I was thinking of getting pics from my walk last year and putting it in there, or taking video of Lil' Chris doing his Vest and getting pics of all the meds he takes. And then of course talk about the info for our new walk in our town this year. We'll see what happens.
I got the phone number to our local radio station too! I tried calling when I got home from work today, but it was too late. I'll have to remember to call back on Monday.

I saw one of the guys I had talked to on my rounds in my work today. He recognized me right away, I was surprised! He didn't seem interested at all when I talked to him, b/c times are hard for him right now b/c of the economy. He even said to me, "See, the lights are half off and I'm the only one here!" I think it was a real estate company or insurance company or something. I can't remember, I've been to so many places I can't keep track anymore. Anyway, when I saw him today, he said that he was reading the papers that I had left with him! Hopefully that's a good sign and he will donate. He didn't say anything else. If I were him I would definitely donate and get my companies name out there, b/c his business sits in the back of a building way off the street. I've lived here for 5 years now and never knew it was there. It would be smart for him to sponsor us and have his name advertised at the walk and when we put it in the newspaper. I gave him a whole bunch of coupons for Kohl's for the weekend before Easter when I saw him today. He seemed very appreciative, so hopefully he'll find it in his heart to donate to a great cause. BTW, if you want the coupons too, just let me know, all I need is your email address:) It's 20% off if you spend over $100, and 15% if you spend under $100.

I think I will give the Kohl's Friends and Family coupons to EVERY business and person that donates money for a cure, every time we have them. Which is quite a few times throughout the year. My way of saying thanks;)

BTW...I added the Great Strides link to the right of my page, so when you are ready to donate, just click it and it will go directly to our site. Oh yeah, remember when I said I wasn't going to be able to have a link this year b/c it is our first year.....well, Erica(our Great Strides coordinator) told us we could sign up for a walk close by, but change the info on our site. So that is what I did. If you join to walk, it may say Cleveland, but don't worry about that. I can let Erica know who will be walking at Wooster and hopefully she can change it on her end.

I also got a call from my neighbor, Jeff, who has his own photography business! He said he would love to help us raise some money by taking a day and having all the profit go towards our walk! Isn't this great news! He is such a sweetheart. We aren't sure exactly how we are going to do it, but we'll figure something out. We might do it on a day before the walk or do it at the walk. I know a lot of CF families would love to get their picture taken, esp a group pic of all their walkers:) I told him I think it will do really well, b/c I know I take pics all the time...Pictures Last A Lifetime...it may be all that I have someday, hopefully not though, hopefully we will find a cure in Lil' Chris' lifetime!!! See that's why you need to click to donate;)

I can't wait for this Sunday!! It is going to be so much fun! I have had a lot of people tell me they are going to go!! I hope we raise a lot of money! We are raffling off Indians tickets and an Indians t-shirt and some other stuff. I'm sure this will help bring people in. Thank you Alma for getting the Indians tickets=) Thanks to my husband who revised the CiCi's flyer to make it say that we are raffling the Indians tickets. Thanks Honey for all you hard work:) Thank you Alma and Daniel's mom for helping hand out all the flyers! I know our kids are going to benefit from all this fundraising some day;)
If you are in town, make sure you stop by CiCi's Pizza between 5pm-8pm this Sunday;)

I'll try to post Ayla's 2 month pics tomorrow.
M
PS. Thank you Traci Liberto for telling me about the Great Strides widget so I could add my Great Strides link to my Facebook wall! For those of you who want to add it to your Facebook wall, go to your Great Strides page and on the left click on the Great Strides widget. Then you have to just add the profile box(doesn't take long) and then copy and paste the code and that's it! It's really easy to do and it could get you a lot more donations! At least, that's what I'm hoping for;) lol

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Advice on Fundraising

First of all, I have big news....we got our FIRST donation today!! YEA!!! Thank you Christi and Dustin for your online donation! You guys have such great hearts. You have done soooo much for Lil' Chris. I'm so glad you guys were our FIRST donors!! Which reminds me...I sold $50 worth of the jewelry that Christi made to raise money for Lil' Chris!! YEA!!!! I'm still taking orders if you are interested;) Click here to see pics and prices of the jewelry.


Tonight I was a true CF mom!! I put my "Help Cure Cystic Fibrosis Because I Love My Son" shirt on, and of course my necklace that I bought from Christi, and hit the town to raise money for a CURE for CF!! Thanks to Alma(another local CF mom) and her husband who made copies of the flyers for our fundraiser for this Sunday at CiCi's Pizza from 5pm-8pm(sorry, I had to plug that in;) I went to a whole bunch of stores to give them flyers to put out. Some of them put it on their counters for customers to see or take, and others said that they can only put in their break room for their employees to see.

I wasn't just handing out the CiCi flyers. I figured, if I'm going to do this, I'm gonna do it right! So I talked about doing corporate sponsors first or donating at the store level, then lastly I would tell them about CiCi's and give them some flyers(except for stores already in the food business;). I stumbled on my words the first couple of places I went, but then I got settled into a routine once I realized what people needed to hear to make them donate.

So first I would introduce myself and then tell them I am raising money to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis for my almost 2 year old son. I then went on to tell them a little history about CF. That CF is a disease of the lungs and digestive system and how CFers produce unusual thick sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and other organs and how their bodies don't absorb nutrients. Then I would go on saying how 50 years ago, children with CF didn't live to see their first day of elementary school, but because of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and past CF moms like myself doing this kind of fundraising, my son's life expectancy is 37. My goal is to help find a CURE, or at least help the life expectancy to be 87 by the time Lil' Chris is 37 years old. I found that this key phrase helped a lot!

Then I would go on to tell them all the different options they had to participate in finding that cure. I showed them the sponsorship opportunities form that I had and how if they donated $125, we would advertise their store name or short message on one of the roses that we are going to use to make a "65 Roses Garden"(little rose stakes in the ground). If they donated $300, their logo would be imprinted on all walker maps and bulletins and be displayed at the halfway point of the walk, they would have a banner, and they could promote their company with their own decorations. It goes all the way up to $5,000 to be a Site Sponsor and get everything plus more, including a press release to area newspapers. If they seemed interested, I would give them my name and phone number to contact me. My husband actually typed my info on mailing labels so I could put it on the papers I handed out, so I wouldn't have to hand write it every time. He's so smart=) It had my name, phone #, site to donate on line in honor of Lil' Chris, and of course my blog site:) LOL

If they couldn't do any corporate sponsors, then I would ask if they could donate at the store level or make a team to walk with us, or donate a gift card or merchandise to help raise more money by raffling them off or something. So far, only JC Penny's gave me an Ohio State t-shirt and an Indian's t-shirt to raffle off. YEA!! I was soooo excited, b/c that was the first positive response I had gotten all night. Fashion Bug seemed really interested! They might do the Pin Ups, where they ask customers if they want to donate $1 to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis and in return they write their name on the pin up and they....well I think the name says it all....they pin it up on the wall to show their support. I'm really hoping I can get more stores to do this.

I went to every store in this little strip...from Elder Beerman to a Chinese Restaurant. I didn't care what kind of store it was, it didn't hurt to ask (and even if it did hurt, my son is well worth it;) I got better responses from the stores that I thought never would be interested! The Chinese Restaurant seemed to really like the idea about advertising their name at the walk. I don't blame them the way the economy is right now, advertising is key right now.

So, my advice...go everywhere, even to the places you think would never in a million years donate...you might just be surprised;) Be prepared with lots of copies of corporate sponsors papers, pin up papers, and flyers for your walk. I even carried a notepad and pen for those who gave me their corporate phone numbers to call or those who said to call back and speak to a manager. Also, for future reference, once I got outside of the store, I would write down the name of the store and what kind of response I got and what papers I gave them. That way I would know who would be calling me and what I had given them, and what the managers name was.

I hope this helps my fellow CF mommy bloggers;) If you have any other great fundraising ideas, I'd love to hear them=)

I'll keep you updated on the responses that I get,
M
PS. Click here to make an online donation.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

R.I.P. Baby Ethan

Today is a very sad day for me. I was just reading one of my fellow CF blogger mommy's blog and saw that their son, baby Ethan has passed away. Click here to read his story. This news really hits home to me. Baby Ethan had Cystic Fibrosis, amongst other problems, and was much younger than Lil' Chris. He was born in August 2008 and passed away on March 13th 2009. Please keep his family in your prayers.

This is the first time for me, that a CFer that I have been following for a long time, has passed away. Even though the life expectancy of a CFer is 37, doesn't mean that every CFer will live to at least 37. It is just the AVERAGE life expectancy. This is why it is sooooo important that we raise as much money as possible to FIND A CURE TODAY!!!!

They are so close to finding a cure and better treatments, it's just not funded like it is other diseases. Everyone knows what Cancer is, but not everyone knows what Cystic Fibrosis is. I had no clue what it was until Lil' Chris was diagnosed with it! That's why it's so important to spread the word and get people to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which is what our Great Strides Walk supports. Please, click here to donate to the CFF to find a CURE now, before it's too late.
Thanks,
M

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Comedian Lewis Black Supports Great Strides!!

Watch Lewis Black’s GREAT STRIDES message

March 20, 2009

Comedian Lewis Black helps kick off GREAT STRIDES with a video message about the Foundation’s largest national fundraising event and a call to sign up. Black, an honorary trustee of the CF Foundation, is a cherished friend who has supported the foundation through his participation in the Ultimate Golf Experience for more than ten years.


I never knew he supported CF! He's now my new favorite comedian=)

This week I am busy preparing for our fundraiser at CiCi's Pizza for next Sunday 3/29 at 5pm-8pm. There is lots to do and I feel like I have no time to do it anymore:( It's a little harder this year trying to get things done when I have a little baby that needs a lot of my attention, but I'll figure out a way to make it work! I can't let it stop me from fundraising for a CURE for Cystic Fibrosis! It's too important to our family.

I finally got our home page set up for our Great Strides Walk: Taking Steps to Cure Cystic Fibrosis! Click here to donate or sign up to walk with us! Please help us find a CURE in my son's lifetime!!!

Thanks,
M

PS. Does anybody have any suggestions for our walkers who have CF to wear on the day of the walk? A long time ago, someone mentioned that all the CFers at their walk wore beaded necklaces. I really like this idea, but I'm not sure if I will have time to make them, or if the male CFers would wear them. Do you have another suggestion? What do you do at your walks? How do you identify who has CF and who doesn't? One more thing...those bloggers who do have CF, how do you feel about this? Would you rather others not know that you have CF on the day of the walk?

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Ayla is 7 Weeks Old

Ayla is 7 weeks old today!! This week she has turned into a big girl:) She is now sleeping in her crib in her own room!! She is also sleeping a little bit longer too, about 4-5 hours at night, then bottle, then back to sleep for about 2 more hours. Not too bad.

Here is a pic of her first night sleeping in her crib...

She has also started to make lil' noises! It is so cute! She tries to laugh at her goofy parents;)

She is still drinking 4 oz. of formula about every 2-4 hours still. Although in the middle of the night, I think we are going to up it to 5 oz, b/c she sucks it down really quick!

Here is a pic of her Aunt Steph holding her this past week. I guess she doesn't like wearing dresses:0

She has been smiling soooo much lately!! I can't get enough of those cute lil' gummy's!

Her nose is not nearly as stuffy as it was. Her coughing is better too. YEA!!

Here is a pic of her from today. She was not a very happy camper when I was trying to get a pic. This was the best I could get...

M
PS. More pics to come of our visitors:)

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Dr.'s Visit, 300th Post, & 1 Year Blog Anniversary

Guess what?? Today is my one year anniversary for blogging!! My sister D started this blog for Lil' Chris exactly one year ago today on March 18th 2008! Thanks to her starting this blog and her encouragement, I have learned soooo much for Lil' Chris, and I have made soooo many new wonderful friends=) You truly are all like family to me now:) Thank you all for all your prayers over the past year. It definitely has worked as Lil' Chris had a GREAT year!! We can't thank you enough also for all the donations to our Great Strides Walk last year and to Lil' Chris' medical fund. It will all go towards good use! Speaking of Great Strides, we are doing a fundraiser on Sunday 3/29 at CiCi's Pizza from 5pm-8pm. I hope we get a lot of people to come, b/c a percent of their receipt will go towards our Walk. I'll let you know how it goes:)

Guess what else?? This is my 300th post!!! How exciting!!! For a shy girl, I sure can write a lot;) lol.

Today both kids had a well visit at the pediatricians. Lil' Chris weighed over 26 lbs. and is over 35 inches long. His weight is in the 50th percentile and his height jumped up, but not sure what percentile. He had to get one shot today:( Poor thing:( He did such a good job though, so we took him out for lunch and then to the park afterwards, since it is like 70 degrees out! He did such a good job in the dr.'s office! We don't let him touch anything and my husbands waits with him out in the hallway until his name is called. I got some good pics of him looking in the window into the waiting room where I was sitting with Ayla. It was so cute! He got weighed like a big boy on the big scale for the second time!! And he got to wear a gown for the first time! He looked sooooo cute! I took lots of pics of him in his "dress" as my husband called it:) lol.

Ayla weighed over 10 lbs. and is over 23 inches long. Her weight is in the 75 percentile!! Not sure about her height, it was good though. Here eye is all better, but the tearing from the blocked tear duct that she had last week could come and go over the next 6 months. That stinks! But we only have to press on the corners of her eyes when it keeps tearing a lot.

Here are some pics of the kids at the dr.'s, at Wendy's, and then at the park. At Wendy's, Lil' Chris was dipping his nuggets in Ranch dressing and sucking it off! Sometimes he would just dip his fingers in it and then suck it off! That lil' container was dry by the time he was done! I guess we'll have to do that more often! I'm so glad that he is eating more table food now. He'll eat luch meat, cheese slices, string cheese, meatloaf, pizza, nuggets, chicken, french fries, taco, yogurt, apple juice, sometimes chocolate milk or whole milk, cereal, crackers, gold fish, and I'm sure there is more I'm forgetting. So he is getting much better. What I do is give him this kind of food first, then give him baby food jars too(esp. if he doesn't eat a whole lot) to get more calories, as his lil' body needs them. The dr. said that this is perfect! Normally she would suggest just table food at this point, but b/c he needs all the calories he can get, she said to keep doing what we are doing.

Enjoy the pics=) Sorry it is unedited, I have to go to work now:(
M
Help save lives. Make an on-line donation to www.CFF.org

Monday, March 16, 2009

Update & It's Back To Work For Me=(


Lil' Chris' cough is doing much better. YEA!!! His nose has practically stopped running too! Thank you all so much for the prayers, it seems like the Ceftin has kicked in. Doing the Vest 3 times a day seems to be helping to. When his cough was bad, I did do his Vest for 30-40 minutes sometimes. But now that he is better, he is back down to 20 minutes 2-3 times a day. Now he is busy playing with his cousins...Tyler is 10, Nathan is 3, and Lincoln is 2. I took lots of pics, I'll share them later.


Ayla is doing better too! YEA!! She still gets a little stuffy every now and then, but it may just be the weather. She hasn't been coughing and sneezing as much lately, so that's good. She is smiling so much now! She's even started making little noises! So cute!


As for myself, my cold is completely gone! YEA!! Just in time too, since I HAVE to go back to work today=( =( =( =( I feel like it's the first day of school;) LOL It's been so nice having the past 6 weeks off with Ayla and Lil' Chris and Big Chris. I'm going to miss them terribly:( It's comforting to know we have a great babysitter though:) Thanks Deb!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Ayla is 6 Weeks Old, D's Visit Pics, & Clinical Trial Video


Wow, where did the time go? My lil' girl is 6 weeks old today! It seems like yesterday I was still pregnant! She is doing GREAT!! Thank God!!

In the past 6 weeks, we found out that she doesn't have CF and she is gaining lots of weight and is learning so much! When we went to the dr.'s yesterday, her weight was 10 lbs. 7.5 oz.!!!! She gained 3 lbs. in 6 weeks!! She is now drinking 4 oz. of formula only, since I have to go back to work on Monday 3/16:( and she still only sleeps 2-4 hours:(

I've noticed a lot of differences between her and her brother when he was her age, I guess b/c of the CF. I never realized what a spit up baby Lil' Chris was until I had Ayla. She doesn't hardly spit up at all!! We could never burp Lil' Chris over our should, b/c of the fear of him spitting up(actually, now I realize it was more like throwing up, lots of carpet scrubbing:(. Lil' Chris couldn't take powder formula, b/c it would make him throw up more. We always had to use the concentrated cans which are very expensive!! Thank God for secondary insurance! Ayla takes the powder formula with no problems. I never realized how much easier powder formula is either! Another funny difference, Lil' Chris used to pee all over us all the time, Ayla hasn't peed once while changing her, since we got home from the hospital that is!! It's kinda funny that Ayla got her first cough and cold way younger than Lil' Chris did, and he's the one with CF! Go figure.
They both have a lot of similarities too though. They both had great neck control early on, both love baths, both look a lot alike, and they both love to smile:) I've noticed sometimes when Ayla spits up, she spits up like Lil' Chris used to at that age...arch back, straighten limbs, spit up comes out of mouth and nose, and then the screeching lil' cry afterwards that just breaks your heart. Maybe all babies do this, IDK.

Here are some pics of Ayla and Lil' Chris today. Lil' Chris did a good job keeping Ayla occupied while I watched Y&R. LOL;) She loves attention from him and he loves giving it to her(although sometimes he can be a lil' rough;)




As for an update on how they are feeling, Ayla's eye stopped tearing and getting all goopy at about 10pm last night. So the pressing that the dr. did earlier that day really worked! I'm glad I called and took her in before it got worse and turned all red. Lil' Chris is still coughing. He doesn't cough all the time, but when he does, it's pretty nasty sounding. He didn't have such a good day today. I tried giving him a new high calorie drink today, and about 3 hours later, he started throwing up like he used to when he was little. We have connected all the dots and realized that all those times he used to throw up like this was b/c of trying these kinds of new drinks...and guess what they all have in common.....SOY PROTEIN! Yup, he must be allergic! So now we know to definitely stay away from it, b/c he throws up on and off for about 3 hours after drinking it. Right now he is sleeping, b/c he is so exhausted. It drains the life out of him:(

On a happier note, here is a great video of a CF girl who does clinical trials to help find a cure for CF. Is anybody else doing any trial? I was never sure how I felt about letting Lil' Chris do them, but this girl has such a great attitude about it! Plus Carmen, Charmain's daughter, has been a great inspiration too! I just hope Lil' Chris grows up to be as caring for others as these girls are:) Click here for the video. A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATE IN CLINICAL TRIALS TO HELP FIND A CURE!! If it weren't for people like you, our CFers would no be where they are today!

Here are the pics from when my sister D visited that I promised. My favorite pic is the one where Lil' Chris wanted to wear the clothes that D brought for Ayla. So I tied one around his neck and then I tied the pants to his one leg and then put a headband on him:) He loved it and kept it on the whole time we were going through the bags of clothes! Good thing I have a little girl now to play dress up, huh Honey?!?


Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Cough Update & Ayla's Eye Dr. Visit

Lil' Chris of course hates the Ceftin. It is soooo goopy! It takes forever for it to even flow down the spoon thingy to go into his mouth. And when I finally hold him down and force it in, it looks like nothing even came out of the spoon thing!!! It's so frustrating! I hope he is getting enough. The nurse had told me on the phone the other day that it would be 7 ml 2 times a day, but when we got the bottle it said 3.5ml 2 times a day(which makes 7 total for the day). So who is right??? I was going to call the clinic today to make sure, but just now remembered with everything going on today, and now they are closed. Hopefully he is getting enough and it knocks this cough out of him, b/c yesterday it seemed to have gotten worse, and now today it still doesn't sound good. Oh yeah, his nose is STILL running! My nose stopped running yesterday and I guess I just expected his nose to stop too since he got the cold before me, but it hasn't yet. Hopefully he'll be all better soon:)

As for Ayla, her nose doesn't run, but after laying down for a while, you can hear the stuffiness in her nose. Then we try to suction it out, but it's like there is nothing there! It's confusing. She also seems to have a little cough too. It's so cute sounding! I had never heard a newborn cough before! Anyway, I called the pediatrician this morning, b/c all day yesterday her right eye kept tearing. Then when she woke up this morning, she had goop in her eye and eyelashes and it was still tearing. So we had an appointment at 1:20 today and the Dr. said that she has a "blocked eye duct". She said that a stuffy nose can sometimes cause it. She gave me a prescription for some eye drops, but said not to use it unless her eye gets red. For now, all we have to do is keep the eye clean by wiping the gook out and also we have to press on the inside corners of both eyes once a day to help the blockage. Hopefully this makes it go away before it gets red and we have to resort to the eye drops.

Then...I had to play my Y&R trivia on fb;)...I told ya I was busy today...then I had to go to my OB for my 6 week check up. I can't believe it has been 6 weeks already!! She said all is good and I can go back to work. So unfortunately I have to go back on Monday:( I'm going to soooo miss my kiddos:( But I know we have a GREAT babysitter and she will take GREAT care of my kids:)

Tomorrow I will post Ayla's 6 weeks pic and my sister D's visit pics:)
Have a great day,
M

Monday, March 9, 2009

Cough & Cold Update

Lil' Chris' nose is still runny and his cough has gotten worse, so I called the CF Clinic to get an antibiotic before it is too late. The clinic just called back and said that they called in the antibiotic called Ceftin. Lil' Chris has had this one before, he just hates the taste! Which makes it hard on all of us. Hopefully it won't be so bad this time. He has to take 3.5ml 2 times a day for 21 days!

They originally asked me which antibiotic I thought would be best for him, and I told them that I thought the last time he was on Augmentin it didn't really kick his cough out completely. It had done that before too, so I'm glad that they took my advice and went with the Ceftin with no problems. We don't have to take him in to see the dr, but she said that they want him better in 5 days, and the cough to be completely gone after being on Ceftin for the 21 days. If this happens, than we can just keep our already scheduled visit for April 22nd. If he doesn't get better after the 21 days, then they will probably want to see him.

The nurse didn't say anything about doing the Vest more, but I have already started too. I had him do a double session this morning. I know what you're thinking..."40 minutes??? That's a long time for a kid!!" I usually never do that, but he just sounded sooooo junky this morning that I had to! Does anyone else do a double session or do you just up the number of times you do it in a day?? I'm also trying to do the Vest 3-4 times a day(don't worry, not 40 minutes each time;)

Here is a video of Lil' Chris coughing last night. I was actually getting video of Ayla when he started coughing and I realized I never got video of him coughing before. So here it is...






As for the rest of us...Ayla's nose was stuffy all night long and this morning too, poor thing:( I've been suctioning out her nose all day! At least she doesn't put up a fight like her brother;) As for me, my nose hasn't stopped running unfortunately since yesterday afternoon, so I had to cancel my dentist appt for today and rescheduled. Hopefully it goes away soon, b/c I'm tired of wearing a dr.'s mask and carrying my sanitizer around;) If I would have done this 2 days ago, me and Ayla may not have gotten sick. But I honestly thought he was just teething! The good news is...Big Chris hasn't gotten sick yet!! Hopefully he won't. He was so nice to get up with Ayla all last night even though he had to get up early to go to work. Such a good guy:) I trained him well=) lol
M
PS. Don't forget to read my last post about the new CF movie and spread the word!!!!

Friday, March 6, 2009

A CF Movie! Get the Word Out!


Max McGuire is making a movie about Cystic Fibrosis! YEA!! It is called "Salt".

I was on facebook(thanks sis for getting me hooked to fb;) and was checking out the Cure CF Cause part, when I came across a Discussion Board and saw that one of the topics was "CF Movie Being Made"! As a CF mom, of course I had to click into it and see what it was all about;) I started reading all the comments that other CFers and friends and families of CFers had to say. Then I saw a website for a synopsis of the movie. www.saltthemovie.com I checked it out and found out that Max has CF! His life is an amazing story, and he has an amazing story to tell through his movie! But he needs our help to get the word out there, so please pass this along to as many people as you can. I challenge every blogger who reads this to post about this movie on their blog as well. Max needs all the support he can get.

Here is a great quote that is in the movie...

"Doesn't matter if you live to thirty or three-hundred," she tells him. "Everybody thinks life's too short." So what are you going to do with the time that you've been given?

Thanks in advance for spreading the word,
M

PS. Please pray for Lil' Chris. His nose has been running practically non stop since yesterday. At first I thought that it might be b/c he has 2 more teeth coming in, but then I woke up with a sore throat this morning:( So maybe he does have a cold:( I hope not, I hope he is just teething. Although he has been coughing a lot more and has been very cranky. Do kids cough when they are teething?? My husband says that it is probably b/c it is dripping down the back of his throat. Please pray that he gets over this soon with no problems and no need of antibiotics. Also please pray that Ayla doesn't catch it if it is a cold.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT CHRISTI!!



We hope you have a GREAT BIRTHDAY =)

Love,

M, Big C, Lil' Chris, & Ayla


PS. My sister D bought 3 pieces of the jewelry you made to raise money for Lil' Chris!!! She said her kids LOVE them!! She said E wants to grow up and make pretty jewelry just like you =)

PSS. For those who want to see pics of the jewelry I'm talking about or would like to order some, click here. She can make them any size, any shape, or any color combination you want! She is working on green jewelry right now for March;) Help her have a good birthday by ordering your jewelry today!! (Prices include shipping)

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Ayla is 5 Weeks Old!!

Today Ayla is 5 weeks old!! Here are some pics I took this morning with her enjoying her new bouncy seat, thanks to Aunt D =) Look at her with her arms straight to her sides. She didn't move them the whole time she was in there:)




Ayla is amazing me everyday with all that she can do:) She loves to turn her head from side to side, loves to smile, loves to watch our every move, loves to grab onto everything, loves to stand, loves to get a bath, loves to swing in her new bouncy seat, and loves to get kisses and hugs from her big brother! Oh yeah, and she loves to push her lil' tears out when she cries.

I can't believe it, but she has officially graduated to the size 1 diapers!! Size 1 seems soooo big compared to the newborn diapers! I couldn't help but take some pics of her last time in newborn diapers ;)


Here is a pic of the double stroller that we had to graduate to! Thanks mom!




Tomorrow I will post some pics of my sister D's visit.


M


PS. I hope everyone is doing well, I hope to catch up on everyone's blog's soon;)

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Thanks Aunt D for Visiting Us=)

Thanks D for driving 8 hours all by yourself to come visit us and help us out! You did too much!!! Thank you so much for all your good home cooking, doing dishes, and cleaning, esp. Ayla's bottles:) Thanks for bringing all the girls clothes for Ayla and for helping me go through them. Thanks for all the toys you bought for the kids too. Ayla loves her bouncy seat and Lil' Chris loves all his Thomas trains! Thanks for the books with their names in the story too! That is so cool:) They are going to LOVE them when they get older! Thanks for getting up with Ayla during the night too, so I could catch up on some much needed sleep:) You're the BEST!! Tell S I said thanks for watching the kiddos so you could come out:)

I'm uploading the pics now, so I'll post them later.
M
PS. I noticed this weekend that Lil' Chris is getting 2 more teeth on top! YEA!!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

YEA!! D Is Here!!!

My sister D is here and we are having a GREAT time!!! She even babysat the kids tonight so Chris and I could go out on a date;) Chris took me out to dinner and then to a movie! We haven't seen a movie in such a looooong time! We saw "Paul Blart Mall Cop"! It was HILARIOUS!!!! It's a must see if you like comedies:)

Well, I better take advantage of D staying up with Ayla tonight and get some much needed sleep;) Thanks D!! Although, I must say thanks to my sweet hubby for staying up with her last night, b/c he had off today;) Thanks Honey!!
M