Miss Hiccup Gets Ready

I went upstairs to get dressed to go to the grocery store, and I came down to find that Lucy had the same idea...

A Fair Day

Yesterday, Lucy and I went with my mom to the California State Fair in Sacramento. We spent a lot of time going through all the exhibits and eating lots of high calorie food!

Lucy is no stranger when it comes to the salty and sweet combination of bacon and chocolate. She regularly eats Nutella and bacon sandwiches at home, so when we bought some chocolate covered bacon at the fair, she knew what to do! She devoured three pieces!


What kid doesn't like french fries? I don't know of one. Lucy had her batch of fries smothered in cheese!


While we were checking out the Fur and Feathers exhibit, Lucy was able to hold and wear a beautiful white and yellow Cockatiel. He was perfectly trained to open his wings for the perfect photograph. What a show-off!


In the horticulture exhibit, she stopped to smell the flowers. A lot. And even went so far as to kiss all of the veggies that were growing in rows. How very sweet of her!


And for the finale of this particular Fair post, we have a game of Where's Lucy? This game is similar to the Where's Waldo? pictures, but this takes place in the Toy Story 3 setting in the Animation exhibit of the State Fair.

Can you spot her among all of her favorite movie characters?

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

Lucy's favorite song used to be I'm Yours by Jason Mraz, but now it's the classic Beatles song in which her own namesake may or may not have been inspired.

Here is Lucy's own rendition of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds...

Terms Of Endearment

HONEY...

is the term Lucy has been using instead of calling me "Mommy."

She says things like,
"Can you help me, Honey."
or
"Honey, I'm hungry."
or
"Good morning, Honey"
followed by a sloppy kiss!

This girl learns fast as to what really melts my heart and makes me giggle, and has crammed it all into one little word. She may have even used this new term of endearment to get out of trouble. The "I love you, Honey" coming from a two year old's mouth really packs a sweet punch. I could never be mad at her for long!

As for those horrible tantrums she was having while we were camping...they're GONE! She does have the occasional toddler meltdown, which is completely normal and manageable. I am going to blame the summer heat and her sniffling, summer cold that she had at the time. I will try, but I don't think I will ever forget that tantrum in the camping trailer that day. About an hour of screaming and kicking, all over a fingernail trim, and then another that day about a poopy diaper change! I was pretty certain at the time that both of our heads were going to explode. That, too, passed.

I am hoping to never encounter the wrath of Lucy like that again with the head spinning, kicking and screaming, but I won't hold my breath.

For now, I'll just take it all in and enjoy being her "Honey" while it lasts!

The Nurturer

My own little nursling likes to pretend she is nursing her own babies.

"Mommy, I'm giving my 'murf his milk." -Lucy

NeverEnding...

...SUMMER!
I never want it to end, and I don't think Lucy does either, especially when we get to cool off like this! It's been in the ONE HUNDRED degree range for days on end here in our region of California.
Here is one of the ways that we chill out...

Flash Me! Friday: Artwork Edition

This Flash Me! Friday idea is the brain child of Jen over at The Groettum Family blog. It is a chance to take a peek into how other people live their lives without having to personally ask them, and without having to seem too nosy!

This week, Jen picked the ARTWORK on our walls!

The artwork in our house is always changing. Lucy loves to paint, draw and create new things. We have a specific hallway in the living room/dining area where all her art is on display.

Here is this week's artwork...


There is also a very special plaque in my hallway upstairs. I see it everyday when I wake up and everyday before I go to sleep...

Lucy Plays Tether Ball

Wordless Wednesday: Bed Sharing

An exhausted Mommy and a peaceful Lucy sleeping together at about a month after Lucy's debut Earthside (about one week after we took her home from the NICU).
After two and a half years, we are still cuddling together every night!

Court

Today, I went to court to get a child support order against Lucy's father.

I won't say too much about this here, but I will say that I filed for child support about a year ago, and only now is the case being solidified. Lucy's father has been disputing the monthly amount (among other things), as defined by the State of California based on both of our incomes and the amount of time spent with her. He claims that he should not have to pay said amount because he is "unemployed." And by "unemployed" what I mean is: working under the table so he doesn't have to pay anything, taxes or child support.

We went into court today, but never saw a judge (which was a good thing because the case was expedited quite quickly). We individually talked to the Child Support Department mediator who is neutral in the case, and is there to facilitate any paperwork and answer each party's questions.

The court order is now in full effect. They t's are crossed and the i's are dotted. They did rule in Lucy's favor. She should be receiving the back pay from the last year with interest, and the determined monthly support from her father.

This was not my idea of fun, and I'm glad it's over for now.

Two And a Half

Happy Half Birthday to my sweet Lucy!

30 months old now.

Why must time go by so fast?!
I am not ready for her to grow up quite yet, but I do love every milestone we hit.

She is growing up so fast...

Playing dress up,
Asking to drive my car,
Wearing cotton "big girl" underwear,
Trying so hard to swim on her own,
Training pants and potty accidents,
Reasoning with me when she's in trouble,
Saying "I love you, Mommy" when I tell her I'm mad at her (my heart melts),
Applying my Carmex chap-stick all by herself, and then saying that she's going off to get married,
Helping out in the kitchen to make her own food,
Brushing her teeth on her own when just 6 months ago it was a power struggle,
Knowing what she wants and when she wants it...and being able to tell me,
Being so independent when she plays: reading, singing and imagining all by herself for hours,
Pushing my buttons and testing my patience daily,
Jumping,
Running,
Climbing,
Scrubbing between her own toes when she bathes,
Singing The Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" at the top of her lungs in the back seat of the car,
Tantrums and power struggles that last for an hour,
Stubborn, hard-headed, and strong-willed,
Tending to her garden...and wanting to without prompting,
Recognizing where things are in town, like our house, daddy's house or whether we are going out of town for a doctor's appointment or visiting Grandma and Grandpa,
Singing songs to strangers in the supermarket or around the campfire,
Telling me my hair looks nice or how pretty I look,
Attempting to dress herself in the morning,
Reminding ME that she needs to do breathing treatments,
Loving her breathing treatment time because she LOVES to watch movies and Caillou,
Being able to remind me where exactly I misplaced my keys,
Making her own obstacle courses after watching Wipeout with me!

Today is also our 30 month breastfeeding anniversary with no weaning in sight...keeping her happy, well-rounded and healthy!
A very big milestone for both of us today!

I LOVE LUCY!

The Camping Trip

What a fabulous time we had while we were camping this weekend!
Four very warm days spent camping along side of the beautiful South Fork of the American River in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.

The days got pretty hot while we were there, reaching highs of 95 degrees Fahrenheit. The river water that directly flows down from the mountains from the melted snows of winter was so cold, at a brisk 58 degrees.
With the hot weather and cold water (that Lucy wouldn't step foot in for more than a few minutes) it was necessary to keep her hydrated while we played.
She loves to munch of ice in her down time, and I also added tons of salt to all of her food.


A lot of Lucy time was spent playing with this tether ball that was located right behind our trailer. She made up her own games, stacked rocks on the tire, and made up songs to sing while she swung the ball around the pole.
Hours were spent here...imagining!

Down by the river bank, she collected rocks to toss around.
The girl loves rocks.
Collecting rocks, throwing rocks, telling me about their shapes, sizes and comparing different colors.
In the two and a half years that I've known Lucy, and certainly after this trip,
I would go on to say that if she had to pick a future profession, it may be...
Geology!

Some very yummy calories were consumed while we were camping...one of my absolute favorite moments about camping and having an open fire pit...
S'Mores!
She gobbled up at least one marshmallow, chocolate, and graham cracker sandwich every night!

There were plenty of great ways to exercise Lucy's lungs while we were camping.
Her Grandma brought along some bubbles to play with...which Lucy is becoming a pro at!

The super luxurious part of this entire weekend was my Dad's camping trailer with complete electric hook-ups.
This means that we were able to do all of Lucy's breathing treatments, and had an air conditioned place to go if it got too hot outside!

I am going to end this lovely camping post with a side note about Lucy's attitude as of late. I will be elaborating more in another post about her terrible-two tantrums that almost put a damper on this trip! As if I didn't know already how stubborn and strong-willed she was already, but this trip proved that she really might be a fourteen year old girl trapped in a two year old's body!
We have been having some serious power struggles, and to say the least...
she has been testing my patience and pushing my buttons on purpose, just to get a rise out of me,
and some of these struggles have ended with both of us in tears!

Let's GO!

We're going camping!!!!

We will be leaving on Thursday morning and heading up to Ponderosa in Lotus, California. It's less than an hour and a half drive from our home, and it will put us smack dab in the middle of Gold Country California right next to the South Fork of the American River.

Trees, hiking, fresh, cool air, silence, and a beautiful river all enjoyed with my girl...what more could I ask for?

We'll be going with my Dad and his wife Rhonda in their fifth wheel trailer for 3 nights. They will have full hook-ups at the campground (electricity and running water), which is just perfect since I will be lugging along Lucy's Vest and nebulizer for the breathing treatment sessions. It's certainly not down and dirty tent camping that I just LOVE, but until I can get a portable nebulizer, it's nice to have electrical outlets!

I will be taking lots of pictures of all of our adventures in Gold Country, and it is quite possible that we'll take a gold pan to hunt for gold!

If we strike it RICH by gold panning, don't expect to hear from us anytime soon! We'll be on a much longer vacation!

Fourth Of July

Patriotic Piggies!

Cousin Breanne came over today for lunch and gave Lucy a patriotic pedicure!
Lucy always sits in awe of the work being done to her little piglets.
Every once in a while she has to be reminded not to wiggle, but she sits for her colors!

Then Lucy took a stab at it on Breanne's fingers!
She did better than I thought she would of "staying in the lines" of her cousin's nails.

The patriotic piggies:
My mom, Lucy and I...

Notice the scab on Lucy's toe...
She had a little accident poolside because she's a JUMPER!
Crazy little dare devil!
Lucy loves to jump off the side wall of the pool, but she likes to jump on the count of two not three!
Consequently, she skinned her toes on the way in.

100 Hours Of Vesting

Lucy has officially logged in 100 hours on her vest since we received it mid-October of last year! She wears it everyday for at least a half an hour when she is doing well and her lungs are clear. We up the treatment time if she is fighting lung infection or wheezing or coughing from allergies.

I can't even imagine how many hours she has logged on her nebulizer/mask, but that machine doesn't keep track of usage! If I were to take a wild guess, it would be in the 400 hour range! That makes for a whole lot of Barney, Caillou and Elmo movies!

54% BMI

Tuesday, Lucy had 2 doctor visits in Sacramento...

One was Lucy's Gastrointestinal 6 week follow-up appointment with Dr. Barad. Her tummy was looking good, but I already knew that. Since Lucy began taking Zenpep (the real stuff, not the generic, and then finally getting on the correct dosage) she has has less frequent poop, reducing from 8 times a day to 2-3 times a day, she is less gassy and bloated, and the complaints of stomach pain have nearly ceased!

At this visit, we found out that she had gained a pound in the last 6 weeks. She is now tipping the scales at 29 pounds and is roughly 37 inches, bringing her BMI to 54%. This is amazing news! 50% is average or median for her height and weight combined, and is compared to other children in her age group. 54% is completely proportionate! I am so happy with that number!

Since the GI clean-out and Zenpep, I have been able to decrease the amount of Miralax from a full cap everyday to a half cap everyday OR every other day. I make sure to pay close attention on the strain when she goes number two to make sure no rectal prolapses reoccur.

The second doctor visit was actually just a nurse's visit at the pulmonologist's office. I have to get Lucy throat culture done to be able to attend the CFRI conference at the end of July. If it were just me going to the conference, there is no risk of cross infection because I do not have CF. Lucy, however, will be on site, and she must be cultured for b. cepacia and MRSA before she can even enter the hotel lobby where the conference is being held. She will not be attending the sessions and groups with me, but even just being on the premises could be a risk to other CFers if she did have any of these germs in her lungs. She will be hanging out with my mom during the day while I'm filling my brain with more CF knowledge and meeting new people in the CF community. I just couldn't bear (and neither could she) going 72 hours without being together, so she is coming with me. As the conference quickly approaches, I become more and more excited! Now we just wait for the culture results for the green light....