Jennas Surgery

We made it through Jennas surgery - woo hoo!! After all was said and done I think it was definitely worse on Dan and I than it was on Jenna. Early last week the surgeon called to let us know he had a morning cancellation and would we be interested in moving up the surgery from 10:15 to 8:30. Hmmm, let me think about this - yes, please! So we were up and out early and at the hospital before Jenna even realize she hadn't eaten. She was so cute in her little hospital gown and kept all of the nurses entertained as she ran around the waiting area giggling. The surgeon came to visit us before his first surgery and asked about the two cysts (I had called him earlier in the week letting him know I thought there were now 2). He took and look and said it definitely looked like two, but he had never seen that before. Interesting.... Shortly after 8:30 they came to get Jenna and I was able to suit up and carry her back to the operating room and stay by her side until she was knocked out with the gas mask, which she took surprisingly well. I gave her a kiss and headed back to wait and wait. It was probably a good 20-25 minutes before the surgeon showed up to let us know that everything went well, but it was only one cyst. His exact words were - the cyst was huge. We're not even talking black olive size, it was the size of an eyeball and it is a very good thing that you had it removed now. He said there was no doubt in his mind that it would have eventually burst, so I am very very glad we decided to have it removed sooner rather than later. A few minutes later the nurse came in and I heard Jenna crying down the hall. They led us back to the recovery area where we were able to be with Jenna. I think she looked great, but she did not enjoy coming out of anesthesia at all. She still had the IV in her foot and the little sensor on her toe. She sucked down 3 bottles of Pedialyte and then alternated between very fussy and sleepy. The nurse eventually gave her some Morphine and she fell asleep for about 30-40 minutes. Just as she was waking up again they wheeled us back to our room in the waiting area and she was back to her normal self and running around. We got our discharge instruction and we were off, dermoid cyst free :-) 

Surprisingly, her little hands have no interest in touching her eyes or pulling at the stitches. We are supposed to keep it moist and put on some ointment twice a day for a week and she does not mind at all. Thursday she was bruised pretty badly and had a little swelling but everyday since it has decreased. We are so pleased with the results and can't wait to see how it looks once it heals completely.   

Heading out to the hospital

Jenna is not quite sure what all the fuss is about

Heading back for anesthesia

In recovery - finally calmed down with the help of some Morphine and her bunnies

Headed home from the hospital

Sunday afternoon nap - 4 days post surgery

When her eyes are open - you would never know she had surgery :-)

Watch out Washington Street

Claire has a new bike and she is still learning to use the brakes!

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Claire in Action

Claire performed wonderfully at her end of the year show - I think she wins for most enthusiastic!

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Great weekend

For our wedding, Dan & I got a gift certificate for a registry of bed and breakfasts. We always knew it was there, but we never got around to using it - knowing that it expired on our 7th anniversary. Well, as we approached that anniversary last year I was super pregnant or wrestling with a newborn so just before the 7 year expiration hit I called them up and begged for another year - success! That extra year was coming up again so Dan and I started researching and picked last weekend to go away. We drove to Saratoga on Friday night for the Zac Brown Band concert - it was fantastic! Nana & Pipere graciously took the girls for the weekend so we stayed in Saratoga Friday night and then headed for the bed and breakfast in the Berkshires on Saturday. After hitting the Lee outlets and realizing how much easier it is to shop without kids, we checked in and headed out for dinner. Our inn keepers recommended a little restaurant in town, which was absolutely fabulous. Dan had duck and I tried soft shell crab. We walked around the town that night and slept for a long time, in peace ad quiet, before being treated to a nice breakfast Sunday morning. We drove back to WS to pick up the girls and and after a very relaxing weekend made our way back to Hoboken with two very tired kiddos. Not sure what Nana & Pipere did to wear them out, but they sure were exhausted.

But you do know nothing goes as smoothly as planned. Fast forward to Monday morning when I wake up at 2AM and notice red dots all over my stomach. I didn't think much of it and feel right back asleep until my alarm went off at 5:30 and I woke up to a rash all over my stomach, back, neck, arms, and legs. After getting ready for work I came to my senses and decided that I needed to have this looked at before I brought it to work. So I dropped Claire off at school and headed right for urgent care where they diagnosed me with an allergic reaction to a medicine or something I ate. I have never had allergies to any food or medicine and I don't have sensitive skin so I was a little lost. But we moved forward with a prescription, some Benadryl and a shot in my @ss to start a Monday morning off right. After almost passing out in the doctors office, I slowly made my way to work and watch my rash begin to fade while pondering what caused this allergic reaction. Now I think I might have the answer - did you know that when you eat soft shell crab you eat the whole crab, shell and all. And the shell contains something called chitin that causes a lot of people to have a reaction. So I don't think I'll be eating soft shell crab anytime soon and I will stay away from eating bugs because the chitin is what makes their shells hard. Whew - what a start to the week, it can only get better, right?

Jennas 1 year post

Oh, my little Jenna-bug. I cannot believe it has been a year since you graced us with your presence. You bring so much joy into our lives and we can’t remember what life was like before you were born. You are like your sister in so many ways, yet so different in many other ways. You hit your first birthday with 7 teeth, pulling up and cruising and having taken your first step. In the week since your birthday you found your balance and now walk much better. At your one year appointment, you were 18 lb 5 oz, 28.25 inches long, with a 45 cm head circumference. In other words, you are still a little peanut. We just finished packing up your 9 month clothes, although some of them still fit. You are still wearing a size 3 diaper, but it is almost time to move up. You got multiple shots at the doctors, and you were not a big fan. Although you only cried in the office for a few seconds, we heard it from 10:30 that night until 3:30 the next morning  - it was the worst night we have had EVER with either child. Mommy & Daddy said we were going to drop the bottle and formula the day you turned one, but that didn’t happen – Daddy was concerned with that transition. You are not thrilled with the sippy cup yet, although you know how to drink from it. We have started mixing half milk and half formula in your bottles, you get 3 a day. And you get milk in a cup with dinner. You are only interested in eating a few things – the cheddar cheese puffs are your favorite, although you take down a lot of goldfish and crackers as well. For breakfast you will eat cinnamon bread, a waffle or a pancake. Like your sister, you love your yogurt and will eat that all day. Once in a while you eat some meatballs and you love turkey kielbasa. Pasta doesn’t really interest you – I thought all kids loves macaroni and cheese. Claire can make you laugh and any time – you are absolutely enthralled with her and her antics - your eyes follow her every move. Unlike your sister, your sleeping pattern leaves a lot to be desired – you have no set nap schedule. Sometimes you fall asleep for a nap as early as 9 and other days it is not until noon or later. An afternoon nap is hit or miss unless we are out in the stroller or driving around – both knock you out. Bedtime has become quite and chore and we are going to fix that soon. You, my friend, cannot put yourself to sleep. You have always fallen asleep while drinking your night time bottle, but that has started to change and the days you don’t fall asleep on the bottle, Mommy & Daddy battle with you. When we put you in your crib, you scream and scream – jumping up and down and not letting yourself calm down. We have let you go as long as 20 minutes but you show no signs of calming down. You are warm blooded like your Daddy and you are always sweating. If we pick you up after your screaming, sometimes you pass out instantaneously so we know you are exhausted. Just let yourself fall asleep – I promise it is a good thing. Sleep training is definitely in our near future. Mommy better bring the ear plugs home for that one.  The doctor did show a little concern for the fatty deposit that has found it’s way under your right eyelid. She recommended we see the eye doctor to make sure it is not affecting your vision or making your eye lazy. Fingers crossed that everything is fine and the bump is not hurting you – we will find out soon enough. We hope you had a wonderful birthday celebrating with such wonderful friends and family. It was certainly fun watching you rub frosting all over your face.

Happy 1^st Birthday Jenna Marye !

*Update* -  We took Jenna to the eye doctor and got both good and bad news. She was diagnosed with a dermoid cyst over her right eye. Dermoid cysts are benign and just a cluster of cells that developed in utero and ended up landing where they did. The good news is the cyst is not affecting her vision at all - no astigmatism. The bad news is the doctor recommended that we have it removed. Being located where it is - we have to see a plastic surgeon who specialized in work around the eye. There is no rush to have it removed, but we were reminded that the younger we have it done the less she will remember. So that will be added to our to do list. 

And - we let Jenna cry it out tonight. She didn't fall asleep on her bottle so we put her in the crib and let her cry. After one hour and 25 minutes, one diaper change, and one clothes and sheets change because she worked herself up so much she threw up - she is finally asleep. Here's hoping each night is better than the last! 

Watch out world

Jenna has found her feet!

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A Night With The Sniders!

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Zac Brown Band

OK cousins and aunts, who would be interested in seeing Zac Brown Band at Champlain Valley Expo on Sunday, September 2nd? I absolutely love his music and he put on a great show when we saw him last year. Who is in?

11 months

Where does the time go? Yesterday, Jenna turned 11 months and we can't believe it. She is still crawling as fast as can be and is into EVERYTHING! I think Andrea thought we were kidding when we told her to clean her living room, but she realized soon enough that we were right. With Claire, we never had to babyproof anything but Jenna is already into the pots and pans, tupperware, trash, and any other cabinet that she can get into - and she looooooves to eat paper of any kind. Jenna pulls up and cruises anywhere she wants to go, but isn't walking yet. We have noticed her getting a little braver lately and letting go for a second here and there. A few weeks ago she figured out how to "chew" and now loves to try new food. Her favorites have been goldfish, crackers, and the Gerber cheddar puffs. She has also eaten turkey kielbasa, meatballs, and sausage which she enjoyed. She will try anything, but is not a big fan of pasta or vegetables. She is eating baby food fruits, but mostly table food. And just like her sister she steers clear of anything green.


Claire and Jenna get along great - Claire loves to play with her now and can always make her laugh. Claire is starting to get a little rough and likes to pull her around the house. But I can tell you there is no sweeter sound than listening to the two of them interact and luagh at each other.


We had a great trip to California last week - we flew out on Sunday and despite Claire waking up very early every morning we had a great time. We walked the piers, went whale watching, and of course hit up Disneyland for 2 days. That was an absolute blast, but very tiring. Claire enjoyed most of the characters but Jenna was freaked out by anything with a "perma-grin" as Dan would say. But they were troopers on our trip - we made it the first day from 8:30 - 7:15 without a nap, but we paid for it that night when Claire lost it on the shuttle ride home and proceeded to scream while we drove to dinner. Lucky for us, she passed out in my arms and laid in a booth face time all through dinner, slept on the ride back to the hotel and never woke up until the next morning. We hit Disneyland and California Adventure on the second day and made it 8:30-8:00 with one quick trip back to the hotel for a much contested 1 hour nap by Claire. I will post pictures, but don't let your eyes decieve you - Claire did wear the same shirt the entire time we were there. Wednesday at the parks, Wednesday night to sleep and again to the park on Thursday. We got it off long enough to wash and she wore it another 2 consecutive days and nights before we were able to pry it off her. That was the best invested $5.50 we ever spent at the Disney Store!!

Hope you all had a great Easter - we missed everyone!

The childs imagination

Where in the world did this weather come from? It has been so nice this week, of course just in time to change for the worst before the weekend arrives. That's OK - I should really spend the weekend packing anyways.

The other day after school Claire and I were sitting on the stoop enjoying the weather. She was climbing up on the railing, which has a 10' drop on the other side and I told her she needed to stop before she fell.
C: (always pushing the limit) What will happen if I fall?
M: You could get really hurt Claire and then we might have to go to the hospital
C: What else could happen
M: You could get hurt really bad and die, then we would all be very sad
C: Like Mimere died - did she fall down too?
M: No Claire, she died from being old. But now she is in heaven
C: Where's heaven?
M: Way up in the sky, past all those clouds
C: Oh, OK

And she goes back to playing for a little while before stopping....

C: Which cloud do you think Mimere is in? (of course I point to a random one)
C: Do you remember when I was really little like Jenna, Mimere used to hold me all the time.

And with that we both continued playing with a smile on our faces and kisses blown up to the clouds.

2 more teeth

I may or may not have started Jennas baby book and this blog may or may not be the way I keep track of what is going on, but when I picked Jenna up from daycare today she had two more teeth on top. She now has her 4 front teeth up top and bottom 2 teeth. Can we stop the growing already?

Love

After Jenna was born, I won a photo shoot and a few pictures from a local photographer. Although Jenna was not so happy when we left for the pictures, she quickly turned things around and we got some great pictures. Yesterday I received an E-mail from the photographer letting me know that they featured the girls on their blog yesterday, so I thought I would share. We took Jenna for her 9 month check up yesterday and she is doing great. She weighed in at 15lb 10 oz, 26.5 inches long with a 42.5 cm head circumference. At least she is proportionately small in the 5th percentile for weight, 10th percentile for length and between 5th-10th percentile for head circumference. I asked the doctor how much she should be eating and she just started laughing and responded with - this kid, she can eat however much she wants!

Jenna still has the same tricks - laughing at Claire, clapping, pulling up on EVERYTHING, getting into EVERYTHING, and crawling and cruising. She loves the vegetables that Dan is making for her - sweet potato, squash, lentils, cauliflower, tomato, celery, onion, basil. But God help the person who tries to put a green vegetable in her mouth. She squeezes her little lips together so tight and closes up the feeding station. And good luck gaining her trust again after that! As far as fruits go, she will eat bananas although her stomach can't really handle them and after that she is not loving any other fruits. We have made some and bought some and haven't found anything she will eat on a regular basis so we aren't forcing the issue. The girl loooooooves her yogurt - she can devour 2 bowlfuls at a time. We have been giving her plain, vanilla and Stonyfield's Banilla (banana & vanilla) which I highly recommend, it is delicious!! She has no interest in the sippy cup and is still taking 4 bottles a day and sleeping from 8ish until 7ish when Dan wakes her up.

Claire continues to be sweet as ever with everyone at school and her sister but sure gives us a run for our money at home. She is so smart and knows how to manipulate us big time! Without a doubt our most difficult time of the day is bed time. She is a master staller as soon as we start our potty, teeth, and book routine. And once she is in her room she colors and writes and colors and writes for a loooooooong time before she decides she is ready for bed, which is normally between 9:30 and 10PM. This week we had our parent teacher conferences and Claire got an excellent report. Her teachers are impressed with her writing and her memory and have started working on initial sounds with her. They said she is like the big sister in class and helps to get all the kids involved and Claire loves to read and answer questions. And of course she is talking great. We asked them to stop napping her during the day in hopes that she will go to bed earlier at night - time will tell.

Happy Valentines Day!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Valentines Day!

Claire and Jenna both had little parties at school and then we had a little Bruno Mars dance party once we got home :-) Don't worry - Jennas arms are still attached !

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Picture Preview

You can check out our pictures here



The password is my last name and FamilySession. Keep in mind it was super windy during the shoot and Jenna wanted nothing to do with picture taking. She wanted out of the sun and wanted to take a nap. Nonetheless I think they turned out great and the more I see them the more I love them. Now to narrow down the choices.

Puerto Rico

Once again, we had a blast in Puerto Rico - 9 days of fun in the sun. It truly was a relaxing vacation, spending most days at the pool or the beach, the guys went golfing 3 times, Andrea twice, and one day Kristin, Andrea, Dan, and I took an adventure to go zip-lining. It was super fun and ended up being 4 hours of zip lining. There were 8 lines and one additional where you lay on your stomach and zip about a mile across the mountains. Andrea was a little worried about that one, but other than the take off it was awesome! We arrived a little late and missed out on the handing out of the water, which meant we almost lost Kristin waiting for the last zip line. She was wheezing a little from the hike up and then got super pale. There was a good amount of climbing involved and Kristin was feeling a little dehydrated (add in the sympathy pains from the hurting Grandma in our group). I have no shame and asked the couple behind us if Kristin could have some water and that did the trick. Good thing, because I'm not sure how she would have made it across the line.

Claire seemed the perfect age to enjoy the trip. She is still skeptical about the ocean and the waves, but at least she didn't scream when her toes touched the sand. Jenna on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the sand touching her feet or putting her toes in the water. It took her a little while the get warmed up to the idea of swimming in the pool, but she got it by the end of our trip. Claire kept getting braver and braver in the pool. We started with her Puddle Jumper vest and then she decided she didn't want anything on. Although she can't swim totally on her own, she is very very close. We asked someone at the pool to borrow their swimmies to see how she would do with just those and she was off swimming on her own and jumping off the side. She lost interest in those as soon as I bought her a pair and was back to trying to swim with no swimmies at all. I'll take a bet that she is swimming on her own 2 weeks into summer camp!

Jenna enjoyed her vacation, walks with Pipere every morning, and naps by the pool. She wasn't exactly herself while we were down there, had a slight fever on the way down and took a couple days to clear that up. I kept saying she must have been teething pretty badly and sure enough we picked her up from daycare on Friday and she had her two front teeth broken through the skin. She now has 3 teeth, which is so much earlier than Claire. Jenna also started cruising on the furniture while in Puerto Rico. I think it's time to slow things down a little - it's all going too fast.

I'll try to post pictures soon - we are still waiting on the proofs from the photographer we had come meet us at the beach. Should be interesting since Jenna was in absolutely no mood and it was super windy. Here's hoping she got some great shots - we had a blast working with her.

Claire at her best :-)

Hope this gives you a good laugh or two - the second video is by far my favorite, you can probably tell by my ridiculous laughing in the background.

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What Jenna is up to

The holidays have come and gone and I have been super slack once again. Jenna has been up to lots, but I feel like I am losing track of it all. Jenna started crawling in the middle of December - a few days after we realized she cut her first tooth on the bottom right. I had no idea she was even teething until I caught a glimpse of her tooth popping through the gums. At least I know it wasn't bothering her or keeping her up at night. The diaper rash on the other hand, was awful and now we know why. Claire was exactly the same with getting a horrible diaper rash right before cutting a tooth. But other than that, the girls are so different in their developmental milestones. Jenna sat up way earlier than Claire ever did and followed that up with crawling (do you remember that Claire NEVER crawled, only butt scooted across the floor?). Now Jenna is a crawling machine, getting into everything and putting everything in her mouth. She also started clapping and is making a whole lot more sounds - many of which sound like Mama and Dada although I don't think she has any clue what she is saying. At her 7.5 month check up for the flu shot, Jenna weighed in at 14lb, 2oz - 2.5 lbs less than Claire was at this point.

We were slow to get started on the food but she is now eating anything that is pureed. So far we have made sweet potato, squash, carrots, green beans, peas, pears, applesauce, and bananas. I think this weekend we might expand some more and see what else she can try - she is enjoying yogurt though, and Claire loves sharing her yogurt with Jenna. Making baby food is so easy and definitely cheaper than buying it. Daycare game me a thumbs up for making it :-) We tried the Puffs but Jenna does not like the consistency at all.

Jenna started her New Years off with a bang - literally! On New Years Day Claire, Jenna, and I were playing on the bed and next thing I know Dan was yelling an expletive as Jenna was falling off the bed. Lucky for us she only ended up with a tiny scratch/cut on her head and only cried for a few minutes, but it certainly scared us. The next day she got out of her Bumbo seat and crashed onto the hard wood again this time landing on her cheek. I'm sure daycare was happy to have her back in their care ;-)

Next Saturday we are off to Puerto Rico for a week of fun in the sun - and more family pictures!

Picture overload

**Don't forget to check out the pictures of the beach after reconstruction

Another catch up post from the Sniders. Daddy hanging out with his girls

Jenna trying to decide which sport she enjoys most - she was dressed up to support the Clemson fooball game, but she was enjoying playing with the basketball.

Hanging out at Thanksgiving with Great Grandpa


Showing off the hats they each made at school.

Saturday after Thanksgiving Jenna was baptized - it was a beautiful day and we were so lucky to celebrate surrounded by family and friends - thank you to everyone for joining us! Jenna was a little ham during the baptism and just stared at the priest as she was christened. Jenna's baptism gown was originally my grandfathers gown - 93 years ago! What an honor that she was able to wear the same gown, which I wore and Claire as well.

Once we got back from Thanksgiving, we took the girls to the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. Claire was so excited - we visited Daddys office and then headed over for a 5PM show. Claire was in awe and loved watching the dancing. Jenna fell asleep 10 minutes into the show and woke up when the music stopped playing at the end. Claire is still talking about it and loves running around the house kicking her legs.

Since the weather has been so nice lately we have been trying to get out to the park a lot. A few weeks ago, Claire took Jenna down the slide for the first time. Jenna seemed to love it - maybe she will be more of a daredevil than Claire is.

Andrea picked up this little diaper cover for Claire - it is sequined and says I <3 Santa. Of course I had this vision of putting her in it with little leg warmers so I went ahead and picked some up from Etsy - they might be the cutest little things ever - I think all little kids should sport leg warmer, especially with faux fur :-) Doesn't Jenna look thrilled? She might never forgive me for this one

This past weekend, myself, Dan, and Andrea travelled down to Birmingham for a friends wedding. We had a great time and from what I hear Claire and Jenna were pretty spoiled spending the weekend Nana & Pipere.

The pictures you've all been waiting for

It's kind of hard to believe

Catching up once again

Sometimes I feel like I spend my life catching up, but nonetheless here we go....

In October Dans cousin got married in Ohio so we took a trip to Columbus. It was Jennas first flight and she did great. She slept both flights and Claire kept the flight attendants entertained. She actually entertained the whole plane while we were boarding and she yelled really loudly - but Daddy the lady in front of me won't move! But that was better than when she asked a woman at the wedding if she had a baby in her belly...Anyways, Claire and her cousin Gretchen were flower girls and, besides looking beautiful, they did great!

Gretchen and Claire took different roles walking down the aisle. They both walked but Gretchen made it rather quickly and Claire took her time stopping at about every pew to hand out flowers. Dan eventually came behind to hurry things along, but at least they both made it down the aisle and no one freaked out. Jenna behaved herself and enjoyed her first time with a babysitter while we took Claire to the reception.
Meet the Snider grandchildren - Jenna, Claire, Gretchen (4), Benjamin (1.5 months), and Savannah (1.5 years)
While most people who read this blog spent Halloween trying to stay warm without power, Claire and Jenna got dressed up and enjoyed trick or treating. We went to a friends condo building and walked the halls which was nice because we stayed warm. Both girls had parties at school and got to wear their costumes there too - Claire is Belle and Jenna is a cupcake.
Jenna is getting bigger and bigger everyday. Not sure where the time is going, but she is growing up before our eyes. Developmentally, she is grabbing at things and rolling over from side to side. She doesn't like to play with any one thing for too long and she goes between her exersaucer, the bumbo, and playing on the floor. She has started making a lot more sounds and is generally a happy baby. She is taking (4) 6 oz bottles and sometimes a 4 oz bottle somewhere in the middle. The time change messed her up for a few days and I think she working through her tired period and caught her second wind once it was bedtime. We had a few nights where she didn't go down until after 9. Her normal bedtime is 8PM and she sleeps until I wake her up to feed her at 6 and then goes back down until Dan wakes her up around 7. Her napping is all over the place and she tends to take quick cat naps with the exception of one longer nap late in the morning. And while I'm rambling I'll add in that I believe Jenna will have Mommy's hazel eyes. Time will tell
One of my favorite things is watching Claire and Jenna interact. Claire listens to everything we say while tending to Jenna. She repeats it all in context and takes excellent care of her sister. Jenna watches every move Claire makes. She stares at her and just giggles and laughs. No one can make Jenna laugh like Claire can :-)
Daddy took Jenna for her 6 month appointment and she weighed in at 12 lb 10oz (below 5th %) and 24.5 inches (5-10%) She is very close to sitting up on her own - right now she stays upright for a bit before falling over - she is way ahead of Claire on this milestone. And can you tell Jenna loves the bath?
At 6 months the doctor gave us the OK to start rice cereal - Jenna is not so sure about it, but in the 3 times she has had she has gotten much better each time.
Now we are looking forward to heading to Massachusetts for Thanksgiving. Please join us on Saturday, November 26th for Jennas Baptism. The baptism will take place at St. Thomas church at noon followed by lunch at my parents. We're looking forward to seeing everyone soon!