P.S. I know most of the time she looks like Jason, but I think my family would agree she looks a lot like me when I was little in this picture
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Trouble to Come!!!
Signs of things to come? I guess she figures if she can beat a 50% chance of living she better live life to the fullest. I turned around after putting something away to find Ms. Emma here and just laughing away. I think we will have our hands full!
P.S. I know most of the time she looks like Jason, but I think my family would agree she looks a lot like me when I was little in this picture
P.S. I know most of the time she looks like Jason, but I think my family would agree she looks a lot like me when I was little in this picture
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Easter 2011 in pictures
We woke up this morning to see what the Easter Bunny had left for the girls. The big present they got was a big pool and it will make for lots of fun this summer. We then had a yummy breakfast that Grammy and Pop Pop brought down before heading to church. After church we came home and Nana and PawPaw were waiting for us. We spent time outside playing and enjoying each others company. Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Hillary joined us for our Easter cookout. We then spent more time outside and then called it an evening. Sadly this is my last day of Spring Break, back to work for me in the morning. Daddy, Cloey, and Emma will be hanging out together tomorrow until I get home from work. What a wonderful Easter we had today!
The treasures that the Easter Bunny left for the girls this morning.
A family picture after church
One of Emma's I am too tired meltdowns, but aren't the dresses my Grandma Swersky made them for Easter adorable? We are lucky to have someone with so much talent!
Walking, walking, and more walking(with help).
Planting flowers that hopefully I can keep alive.
An 8 year old who mastered riding her bike with no training wheels.
Fun time outside with each other.
One tuckered out baby with her blankey blanks. She refused naps all day, but finally gave in after a long battle.
The treasures that the Easter Bunny left for the girls this morning.
A family picture after church
One of Emma's I am too tired meltdowns, but aren't the dresses my Grandma Swersky made them for Easter adorable? We are lucky to have someone with so much talent!
Walking, walking, and more walking(with help).
Planting flowers that hopefully I can keep alive.
An 8 year old who mastered riding her bike with no training wheels.
Fun time outside with each other.
One tuckered out baby with her blankey blanks. She refused naps all day, but finally gave in after a long battle.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
1 year stats
Emma had her one year well baby check-up this past Thursday. Her stats are in and it is offical she will be our little peanut forever. She now weighs 15 pounds and 9 ounces and 27 and 1/2 inches long. She was making a curve on the growth chart even though she wasn't really on the chart, but her own curve has suddenly flatlined. We are trying some Pediasure with her, but she isn't very fond of it. We will be talking with her speech therapist and the people at her neonatal follow-up to see about attending a feeding clinic or possibly meeting with a nutritionist. She ended up getting 3 shots and we did a little switching around of which ones she got this time and which ones she will get at 15 months because she had been sick and we didn't think it would be smart for her to get the live ones this time. She handled the shots well. The most exciting part of the visit was how impressed Dr. Bob was over the progress she has made in the last year. It was funny to sit in her 1 year check-up a year to the date of her surgery. Wow what a difference a year has made in our house.
After her visit we headed to lunch with Grammy and then ran some errands before heading home and relaxing for the rest of the evening.
After her visit we headed to lunch with Grammy and then ran some errands before heading home and relaxing for the rest of the evening.
An Exciting Surprise!
I had been pretty upset that my brother Adam and his girlfriend Angela weren't going to be able to make it to Emma's event or her 1st birthday party. Much to my surprise on Friday night when Mom, Dad, and Grandma came to for pizza on Friday evening Adam and Angela walked through the door with them. They had flown in on Friday to DC and Dad picked them up on his way back from New Jersey and then they flew back on Sunday after Mom and Grandma Swersky dropped them off in DC on their way to spend a few days sightseeing. It was such a nice surprise to have them here for our special event. It is hard having my brother live so far away and I am thankful that my Mom and Dad aranged for both him and Angela to come down for the weekend even if it was a short visit. Our family is very important and we are thankful that Grandma made her way over from TN with our special shirts and that Adam and Angela came from MI to support Emma on her big day.
Birthday Party!
Well Emma's 1st birthday party was a nice time with family and some close friends. The party made for the end to a busy and crazy day. Emma's CDH Awareness Day was from 11-1, which we got there around 9:30 to set up. We then brought everything in to the house and turned around and had her party at 3. It made the most sense to have it right after her event because we had family from out of state in for the event and Cloey was with us as well. We made it a short and sweet birthday party, presents, cake and ice-cream, and some time chatting. Emma got lots of great presents this year and it almost looked like Christmas again in our house. After most of the party goers left for the evening we enjoyed a Chinese feast with Grammy, Pop Pop, Grandma Swersky, Peppy, Angela, Brit, Cloey, Daddy, Emma, and I. It was nice to kick back our feet and enjoy some yummy food. It was the first time we had slowed down for the day. After dinner the rest of the family had to leave so Peppy and Angela could head to DC with Mom and Grandma to catch their flight the next morning. The Mazingo household called it bed time early after the long and busy day. Emma decided to continue with fevers throughout the entire day, so we had put a call in to the Nurse's Hotline and found out at about 10:30pm that I needed to take her in to the office on Sunday. Took her in Sunday afternoon and found out that she had the start of a common cold. Thankfully she has gotten over it for the most part and the fevers only lasted 5 days this time. All in all it was a great birthday party.
Presents!
Emma had a Safari themed 1st birthday party
The main cake
Emma's Cake in the middle of the cupcakes.
Yummy Cake!!
Messy Face!!!
Cloey was busy during the party playing with Hunter and Brittany. Brit and Cloey stopped to do some crafts, but it was hard to nail Cloey down for any pictures.
Presents!
Emma had a Safari themed 1st birthday party
The main cake
Emma's Cake in the middle of the cupcakes.
Yummy Cake!!
Messy Face!!!
Cloey was busy during the party playing with Hunter and Brittany. Brit and Cloey stopped to do some crafts, but it was hard to nail Cloey down for any pictures.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
March 31st
Thursday morning we woke up early and got dressed in our turquoise to celebrate CDH Awareness Day. We also were celebrating Emma's 1st birthday as well since they ironically fall on the same day. Emma woke up in a very happy mood and we were glad since we were headed to my work for a group turquoise photo. It was touching to see all of the turquoise that everyone had on in honor of Emma and CDH Awareness Day. The school ended up raising $400 that was added to Emma's donation total for Emma's CDH Awareness Day that took place on Saturday. Before we headed to my work we watched the news to see Emma's birthday announced. Her face lit up when she saw herself on tv.
Turquoise Day at Mommy's work
I got off work at 11:30 - I had decided I would take a half day personal to spend time with Emma for her birthday. We had to head to the hospital to get a repeat CBC to check her white blood count. After we were done at the lab, Grandma Swersky had arrived and we picked her up for a yummy birthday lunch at Cracker Barrel. I ordered Emma her first kids meal - scrambeled eggs and a piece of toast - and she ate almost all of it. After a diaper blowout that led to a quick washing of her CDH Awareness Day outfit we headed to C-Ville to feed the Ronald McDonald House Families in honor of Emma's birthday. We laid out the spread talked with a few of the workers and then headed to Sam's Club to pick up her birthday cakes. It was then a quick trip home with a pit stop at McCalister's Deli for dinner.
Daddy,Mommy, and Emma ready to deliver the food for the families.
Emma's sign made the famous C-Ville RMH wall of thank yous.
Emma with the sign, pizza, salad, cupcakes, and pop we took to feed the families at the RMH.
One year later and we are thankful that the hospital is in the background and we have our healthy baby girl in our arms.
Once home(at 10:00) we watched the DVR'd 5 pm news since that was Emma's big tv debut. It was a wonderful piece and we are so thankful that it was broadcasted. I will try and post the link later for everyone to check it out. I need to still see if it is on their website.
We finished Thursday up and geared up for Emma's CDH Awareness Day and her family birthday party that would take place on Saturday. More on those events to come.
Turquoise Day at Mommy's work
I got off work at 11:30 - I had decided I would take a half day personal to spend time with Emma for her birthday. We had to head to the hospital to get a repeat CBC to check her white blood count. After we were done at the lab, Grandma Swersky had arrived and we picked her up for a yummy birthday lunch at Cracker Barrel. I ordered Emma her first kids meal - scrambeled eggs and a piece of toast - and she ate almost all of it. After a diaper blowout that led to a quick washing of her CDH Awareness Day outfit we headed to C-Ville to feed the Ronald McDonald House Families in honor of Emma's birthday. We laid out the spread talked with a few of the workers and then headed to Sam's Club to pick up her birthday cakes. It was then a quick trip home with a pit stop at McCalister's Deli for dinner.
Daddy,Mommy, and Emma ready to deliver the food for the families.
Emma's sign made the famous C-Ville RMH wall of thank yous.
Emma with the sign, pizza, salad, cupcakes, and pop we took to feed the families at the RMH.
One year later and we are thankful that the hospital is in the background and we have our healthy baby girl in our arms.
Once home(at 10:00) we watched the DVR'd 5 pm news since that was Emma's big tv debut. It was a wonderful piece and we are so thankful that it was broadcasted. I will try and post the link later for everyone to check it out. I need to still see if it is on their website.
We finished Thursday up and geared up for Emma's CDH Awareness Day and her family birthday party that would take place on Saturday. More on those events to come.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
1 Year
Dear Emma,
Wow!!! We can hardly believe that tomorrow you will be one whole year old. So many things have changed in the last year. By the time you are old enough to read this letter you will have a clear understanding of the eventful way you made your entrance into this world. The day you were born I saw the miracle of life happen right before my eyes and the next thing I knew I was praying for a miracle to keep you alive. It still brings chills to me when I have to think back to filling out the birth certificate information before we were allowed to leave for UVA. The doctors had told me you might not make it through the night and through tears as we filled out your birth certificate that lump in our throats reminded us that we could possibly have to fill out a death certificate all in the same few hours. Thankfully Jesus knew you needed to stay on this earth and would be one more child to help spread awareness here on Earth. We find it ironic that you were born on CDH Awareness Day - I guess that means you will do big things one day. Maybe one day you will be on a medical research team that helps figure out why this birth defect happens or maybe you will become a pediatric surgeon who performs life-saving surgeries like the one you had. What ever you become one day we will always be reminded of the blessing and miracle that you are in our lives.
The last year has been a busy one. For months we average 3 appointments a week between weight checks, surgery follow ups, and therapy. We would have been fine with 100 appointments a week because all the appointments were to help you get stronger. It was a family effort with therapy. We often laugh when we think of Cloey at just 7 years old helping you out with tummy time because that is what your physical therapist said you needed. You have taught us to turn to family, friends, our church family, and the community to get you the help you need. At such a young age and when you were such a tiny person you were moving mountains.
Now you have reached that milestone of turning one year old. To us it will be a day of happy tears because the reality is that 50% of children born with CDH don't get to see their 1st birthday. You have changed so much in this year and proved so many people wrong. These days you let your personality shine through and can be quite the talker. You favorite person is by far you Sissy and your face lights up the minute you see her. Mommy and Daddy aren't have bad either in your book. You are getting quite the vocabulary, but love to say dog and Tucker. You continue to have eating issues, but we are learning to live with the fact that you will always be a peanut and as long as you are healthy that is fine with us. They said it could be a year before you crawled and you proved them wrong and started crawling at 9 months. Walking doesn't seem to interest you right now, but why would it when we can easily carry you around. Bubble Guppies and Barney are two shows that light up your face and can easily dry your tears. You are in to everything as I am having to stop and chase you down the hall every few seconds as I type this, but you laugh and crawl away faster because you like that game.
I will always remember how I had "dreams" of what life would be like when you were born. How I would get those perfect newborn pictures, and I did get LOTS of newborn pictures they just involved lots of tubes and wires. How we would come home after a few days and get very little sleep. Well our home became the Ronald McDonald House and we did get little sleep because we didn't have you with us at night. How your sister would hold you and be amazed, but she had to wait nearly 6 weeks to even meet you. How I would lay in my hospital bed and just hold you for hours, but instead we waited 16 days to hold you. Regardless of the fact that our "dreams" didn't come true in the way we wanted them to, they were still full filled. You taught us early on that you would do things your way and when you wanted to and all that we ask is that you continue to fight and never, ever, ever give up that fight you were born with one year ago.
God blessed us with you for a purpose and that purpose is to spread awareness. Today you made the front page of the paper and tomorrow you are on the news. Saturday we will hold the 1st Annual Emma's CDH Awareness Day and this is only year one of the awareness you will get out there. You have forever changed our lives and made us better people in the process. We thank you for the joy that both you and your sister bring into our lives.
We Love You to the Moon and Back - Forever and Ever,
Love,
Daddy, Mommy, and Sissy
Emma 1 day old in the NICU
1 month old
1 year old
Wow!!! We can hardly believe that tomorrow you will be one whole year old. So many things have changed in the last year. By the time you are old enough to read this letter you will have a clear understanding of the eventful way you made your entrance into this world. The day you were born I saw the miracle of life happen right before my eyes and the next thing I knew I was praying for a miracle to keep you alive. It still brings chills to me when I have to think back to filling out the birth certificate information before we were allowed to leave for UVA. The doctors had told me you might not make it through the night and through tears as we filled out your birth certificate that lump in our throats reminded us that we could possibly have to fill out a death certificate all in the same few hours. Thankfully Jesus knew you needed to stay on this earth and would be one more child to help spread awareness here on Earth. We find it ironic that you were born on CDH Awareness Day - I guess that means you will do big things one day. Maybe one day you will be on a medical research team that helps figure out why this birth defect happens or maybe you will become a pediatric surgeon who performs life-saving surgeries like the one you had. What ever you become one day we will always be reminded of the blessing and miracle that you are in our lives.
The last year has been a busy one. For months we average 3 appointments a week between weight checks, surgery follow ups, and therapy. We would have been fine with 100 appointments a week because all the appointments were to help you get stronger. It was a family effort with therapy. We often laugh when we think of Cloey at just 7 years old helping you out with tummy time because that is what your physical therapist said you needed. You have taught us to turn to family, friends, our church family, and the community to get you the help you need. At such a young age and when you were such a tiny person you were moving mountains.
Now you have reached that milestone of turning one year old. To us it will be a day of happy tears because the reality is that 50% of children born with CDH don't get to see their 1st birthday. You have changed so much in this year and proved so many people wrong. These days you let your personality shine through and can be quite the talker. You favorite person is by far you Sissy and your face lights up the minute you see her. Mommy and Daddy aren't have bad either in your book. You are getting quite the vocabulary, but love to say dog and Tucker. You continue to have eating issues, but we are learning to live with the fact that you will always be a peanut and as long as you are healthy that is fine with us. They said it could be a year before you crawled and you proved them wrong and started crawling at 9 months. Walking doesn't seem to interest you right now, but why would it when we can easily carry you around. Bubble Guppies and Barney are two shows that light up your face and can easily dry your tears. You are in to everything as I am having to stop and chase you down the hall every few seconds as I type this, but you laugh and crawl away faster because you like that game.
I will always remember how I had "dreams" of what life would be like when you were born. How I would get those perfect newborn pictures, and I did get LOTS of newborn pictures they just involved lots of tubes and wires. How we would come home after a few days and get very little sleep. Well our home became the Ronald McDonald House and we did get little sleep because we didn't have you with us at night. How your sister would hold you and be amazed, but she had to wait nearly 6 weeks to even meet you. How I would lay in my hospital bed and just hold you for hours, but instead we waited 16 days to hold you. Regardless of the fact that our "dreams" didn't come true in the way we wanted them to, they were still full filled. You taught us early on that you would do things your way and when you wanted to and all that we ask is that you continue to fight and never, ever, ever give up that fight you were born with one year ago.
God blessed us with you for a purpose and that purpose is to spread awareness. Today you made the front page of the paper and tomorrow you are on the news. Saturday we will hold the 1st Annual Emma's CDH Awareness Day and this is only year one of the awareness you will get out there. You have forever changed our lives and made us better people in the process. We thank you for the joy that both you and your sister bring into our lives.
We Love You to the Moon and Back - Forever and Ever,
Love,
Daddy, Mommy, and Sissy
Emma 1 day old in the NICU
1 month old
1 year old
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