So It's been a Year

Apparently it's been a year since I updated this blog. I've gotten so used to using Facebook to update people on our lives, but part of me is drawn back to the blog. Sometimes I need more than just a status update to explain what's going on. In the last year, things have been crazy, tiring, but good. We had LOTS of visitors to our new home in Colorado. Uncle Kyle and Auntie Heidi, Uncle Rob and Auntie Kristy, Papa Alan, Mema and Papa, Tracie and the kids. It was a lot of fun!

We went camping on 3 different trips to break in our new trailer. Let me tell you, camping with a toddler and a preschooler is interesting. But we had fun and have 3 more trips planned for this summer :)

I (Lisa) also travelled to Kansas City and Tulsa to see my nieces and brand new baby niece Elsie, and California for my sister's baby shower. In October Mema and Papa came to watch the kids for a few days while Matt and I went to Washington D.C. on a much needed mini vacation!

Sprinkled in between there, Matt traveled to Europe a number of times (about every 6-8 weeks) and was gone for 7-10 days at a time, Emma started preschool in September, and the Ethan saga continued. Soon after his allergy testing, he started getting a number of ear infections and sinus infections. They were persistent and he wasn't responding to antibiotics, and the fluid on his ears was greatly affecting his hearing. So in January of 2014 he had tubes put in. It was life changing for him and us! He started cruising along furniture and using his little walker around his first birthday, but never took those first steps that every one waits for.

Between his 12 and 18 month appointment, he only gained about a pound. At his 18 month appt he still wasn't walking independently so we got a referral to an orthopedist who referred us to physical therapy.   We've been in physical therapy for about 6 weeks and have seen a great improvement! He still loves to push his little walker around, but now he practically runs behind it. He will push that thing for hours! But in the last week he has started taking a few steps here and there, and now it is much more consistent. His little feet roll inward a great deal so he has a harder time balancing than most toddlers. But he's starting to put a little bit more weight on and making huge strides in his walking, which we are so thankful for. 

I'll try to update more regularly, but for now, you are mostly caught up on things in the Lomicka household. We are having a great spring and getting ready for many adventures this summer! 

Allergist visit- take 1

Ethan has always had sensitive skin and eczema. His skin seems to flare up easily when exposed to a number of things (perfumes, detergents, dry air, foods, dogs, etc). We were told around 5 months old that he is allergic to milk and that we should put him on a special hydrolized formula called Alimen.tum. It is ridiculously expensive and smells like cat food, but it seemed to help. His skin still flares, but not as badly as before. We went to the allergist today and he was tested for about 30 different allergens including : dairy, soy, dogs, cats, peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, mold, pollen, wheat, and the list goes on. After putting him through all of that, the poor guy isn't allergic to dairy after all. At least he didn't have a reaction to it. However, he is apparently allergic to eggs. Eggs? That's not what we were expecting at all. We haven't ever given him eggs before, so I guess we wouldn't have known. Now we've been instructed to read all labels religiously, give him daily baths, and slather him in lotion or vaseline. We also must start carrying an Epi Pen and Bena.dryl.

 Apparently his skin is just very sensitive. However, his allergist doesn't want us to put him back on dairy based formula. If and when we do expose him to milk, she wants it to be in her office so that she can monitor his reaction. Thankfully his Dr. has been involved in a number of eczema studies and treatment programs so I feel like we are in good hands. Many children outgrow their allergies so lets hope he outgrows this one too!

The big 3-0

Yesterday was my 30th birthday and it was a wonderful day. Matt asked if I was sad that I didn't have a big party, and honestly, no. I'm not. The day was perfect exactly how it was. I got to sleep in, relax, and enjoy the day with our little family of 4.

The day started out with Matt getting up with Ethan and letting me sleep in. At 9:45 all 3 of them brought me breakfast in bed. Here's the remnants. There were pancakes with fresh berries and applesauce. Yum!

The kids bought me a Keurig! I love it :)  Ethan gets up around 7:45 and I am finding that I enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning. I don't need more than a cup, so a Keurig is perfect for me. Ethan appears to be taking full credit for the idea in this picture. His little face cracks me up.

After breakfast I found out that Matt had booked me a massage. It was 90 minutes of pure bliss. When I got home the kids were well taken care of and the dishes and laundry were done. My husband is amazing. Later that night we went out to dinner at Macaroni Grill. The kids were really good and Emma loved her spaghetti. 

Can't get enough of these 2!

 

When we got home Matt had a cake for me with 30 candles. It was delicious.

Then he gave me an incredible gift. This is a mother's necklace. The stones are Emerald and Diamond. Those are not Ethan and Emma's birthstones however. This necklace is to represent my mom and I.  As many of you know, my first mother Catherine (Emma's namesake) passed away when I was a toddler. Emerald is her birthstone and Diamond is mine. I do not have many items that belonged to her but the few that I do have are very important to me. Matt wanted to get me a special gift in honor of her memory. This is a necklace that represents her and I. It will be something that I can pass on to Emma one day. It will carry on a small piece of my mother's memory forever. It is a priceless gift. My husband has a beautiful heart. He made this birthday the best one yet. 

Emma is 3!

On Saturday Emma Catherine Lomicka turned 3 years old. She is a lot of fun and learning new things every day. 

At her 3 year well visit she was 39" tall and 39 lbs. She is in the 95% for both height and weight. They are guessing that she will be 5'7, but we'll see how accurate that is. The doctor thinks that she is a "lefty living in a right handed world" and wants to use her left hand but is still trying to figure it out. We are to watch her closely because she is very bright and we aren't supposed to let her get away with too much. Over all she is very healthy. No major concerns at this point in time which we are very thankful for.

Current Loves include;
Foods: apples, pretzels, and chicken with ketchup
Shows: Umizoomi, Dora, and Peter Rabbit
Toys: Her baby doll Bella, Minnie Mouse dress up toys, and dress up
Songs: The B-I-B-L-E, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and "the Emma song"
Clothes: Dresses, whether its 15 degrees or 80 degrees
Books: Dora books, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
Friends: Kaylyn

She is also now in underwear full time (except for night time). She still sleeps 12-14 hours at night. Soon we will be starting swim lessons and gymnastics for the summer and possibly soccer in the fall. We are so excited to see how she will continue to grow and learn. We love you Emma Catherine!

Finally, a Diagnosis!!

As many of you know, when Ethan was 8 days old he stopped breathing and turned blue after being placed on his back to have his diaper changed. It took about 10-15 seconds before he could inhale again. We called his dr. and were told to bring him to the ER if he did it again. Well later that evening, he had 3 "episodes" back to back after again being placed on his back to have his diaper changed. We called 911 because of the duration of the episodes and the lethargic way he acted afterwards. At the ER we were questioned by various doctors and nurses. He had an ekg, x rays, and various tests done. No one could give us a solid diagnosis and we were told it could be gas or just a severe reaction to reflux and to see his pediatrician that week. As his Mama, I KNEW it wasn't gas or reflux. But no one could tell us what it was. So we took him home, bought a breathing monitor, and watched him very closely.

He continued to have these episodes, but we just learned how to handle it better (Flipping him on his side, patting his back and blowing in his face to stimulate breathing).  It continued to scare me half to death, but we just "dealt with it". He was also a very noisy eater and would choke easily, and make scary wheezing noises as well. When he was 10 weeks old, we moved to CO and he got a new pediatrician. At his 4 month appointment his new pediatrician listened to his symptoms and told us she thought he had reflux and a weakened airway. However, we didn't know for sure and weren't given a firm diagnosis.

Just recently Ethan was at the hospital for a minor procedure and during his pre-op check in, his nurse listened to his symptoms and told us that she had been a NICU nurse for 15 years and that he had something called Malacia. After further consultation, we now know that officially that Ethan has laryngomalacia.  His airway was weak at birth which causes a number of symptoms including:

• Noisy breathing (stridor) — An audible wheeze when your baby inhales (breathes in). It is often worse when the baby is agitated, feeding, crying or sleeping on his back.
• High pitched sound
• Difficulty feeding
• Poor weight gain
• Choking while feeding
• Apnea (breathing stoppage)
• Pulling in neck and chest with each breath
• Cyanosis (turning blue)
• Gastroesophageal reflux (spitting, vomiting and regurgitation)
• Aspiration (inhalation of food into the lungs)

Ethan had many of these. We are so thankful that he is now doing well and only seems to have a few residual symptoms. The treatment for this is usually reflux medication, time to let the airway mature, or surgery. Thankfully we have avoided the major surgery. His first 4 or 5 months of life were pretty rough, but now he is a happy, pretty healthy little boy and we are so glad to have him in our family! 

Me Post

If you are looking for a post about the kids or our new home, you aren't going to find it today. Sorry. This post is about me and some things I need to process through. I (Lisa) tend to remember things for a very long time. Most of the time the things that I remember are either completely random/useless or it was an event that made me feel awful about myself. For example, I taught a marine unit in to my students in 2006 and I still remember some of the vocabulary words like "cephalopod" which means head-foot. A cephalopod is a marine animal like squid, octopus, or cuttlefish thats body is made up of a head and feet or propulsion mechanisms. Random, I know.

I also remember things people have said or done to me. Why is it that we remember the hurtful things more than the helpful things? I still remember the awful way that some people I thought were friends treated me one day at the beach while I was in high school. I remember crying on my birthday as a child and the way that people have made me feel self-conscious as an adult. I have a really hard time letting go of some of those events. I question myself all the time. What did I do to make that person say that? Why did she unfriend me on Face.Book? Did I say something wrong? What could I have done so that this didn't happen? Why doesn't she like me? Why didn't they respond?

Matt thinks I care too much about what other people think about me. In reality, I probably do. My problem is that I let these things bother me for a very long time and they keep coming back to me.  They replay over and over again in my mind, in my heart and eat away at me. I suck at letting stuff go. I admit it. I'm just trying to figure out how to deal with stuff and move on. As Emma gets older I am trying to deal with my crappy stuff so that I don't pass it down to her. I want her to rock what she's got and forget the mean people in the world. Because no matter how sweet and cute she is, someone is going to hurt her at some point in time and I don't want her carrying that with her the rest of her life.

Settling in

A lot has happened since my last post. Sorry about that. Moving, life with 2 small children, living in an area with no family, and a husband who travels for work have made things pretty crazy lately.

We bought a house in Littleton, CO. We are unpacked but still getting things situated and need to do some more painting. 

This little man has grown to 17 pounds and regularly sleeps 12 hours at night. 

We started ethan on baby food. He's not a huge fan so we don't push it. The fingers have become a favorite comfort item. 

This adorable girl turns 3 next weekend. I can't believe it. She's funny, sensitive, sweet and a huge talker! She's using the potty and really enjoys going to MOPS, sunday school and any where she might make friends. 

Mema and Papa came to visit towards the end of February. It snowed (as promised) while they were here and Emma enjoyed all of the extra love and attention she got. 

I promise I'll update more frequently from now on!