Santa came to Solari Hospice!

Our office manager, Jackie, dressed up as Santa for the Christmas potluck. She was quite the convincing Santa. Nobody figured out it was her. I really wanted Leilani to get a picture with Santa for her first Christmas but I didn't want to take her to the mall Santa. Call me crazy or overprotective, but I was afraid of all the germs Santa had on him from all the other kids. Anywayz, I told Jackie about my predicament in passing not expecting her to do anything about it. She went out of her way to grant my Christmas wish. Thanks Grandma Jackie!! In fact, double thanks for enduring the heat!!! Your a champ!

Merry Christmas

I'm going to get on my soap box for a second so bear with me (or just don't read this entry). It's really bothering me that everywhere you turn you see Christmas being marketed as presents. The pressure to spend everything you have and some of what you don't to make sure Christmas is perfect is crazy! They practically jam it down the our (the consumers) throats! "Get her the perfect gift" or "Get him what he really wants this Christmas". And every year it seems they market it more and more, and more and more people end up getting caught up in it all. Just a reminder that it's not about giving or getting the perfect gift, it's about giving from the heart and being grateful for what you have and those in your life who love and care for you. For me personally it's about God giving us the best gift of all, his only Son. So this season, try to slow down and really meditate on what the spirit of Christmas means to you. Thanks for reading my crazing ranting! Take it for what it's worth. Just my opinion, not meant to offend.

Much love and many blessings to all,

Heather Crosby

pictures

I can't help taking pictures of her, putting bows in her hair, dressing her up in different outfits. Poor thing, all she wanted to do was sleep but she was being so cute! She throws a fit anytime I put anything on her head, but bows and hats are so fun and adorable!

Play time with daddy! Yay!!!

She loves playing with the toys that hang in front of her. Her favorite thing is looking at herself in the mirror. She giggles and giggles. It's entertainment for at least 10 minutes! Then she usually falls asleep.

One of her many cute hats that I can't help but dress her up in!

Our small thanksgiving dinner

I worked on Thanksgiving day so we had our dinner the following Saturday. It was our first time cooking turkey and it actually turned out very yummy. Frank made fried corn and mashed potatos. I have to confess the rolls and gravy were pre-made store bought but still very good. And one of the perks of buying a turkey after Thanksgiving day is that it was on sale, only $6! I see plenty of turkey sandwiches in our future! Special thanks to mom (Cheryl) for funding our Thanksgiving dinner! Wish you were here to enjoy the food with us!

Thanksgiving

This holiday season we have so much to be thankful for. Our family and friends have been by our side supporting and encouraging us through some of the tough situations we have faced this year. We welcomed our beautiful miracle into this world on Sept 17. We feel so blessed to have her in our lives and cherish every day we have with her. She brings more joy into our world than could possibly be imagined. She was born with a congenital heart defect called tetarology of fallot. Because of this, she will need corrective surgery in a couple of months. However, she is doing well now and is working on gaining weight and getting strong. I don't know how we would be getting through this challenge without the love, support and generosity of our family and friends. Frank and I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has been there for us. Your love, prayers, and support are what has helped us through some of the hardest and emotional times we have faced so far and I know that's what is going to get us through the challenges to come. I wish I were better with words because I just can't find the right words to really say how truly grateful we feel.

early thanksgiving dinner

Frank's mother flew down from Utah to visit along with his Aunt Cathy and grandma from Indiana and aunt Mary from Arizona City. It was the weekend before thanksgiving so we decided to celebrate thanksgiving a little bit early. Joy and Randy, some long time friends of the family from Indiana that now live in Morristown, AZ, invited all of us over for a wonderful turkey dinner complete with mashed potatos, deviled eggs, green beans, rolls, stuffing and an assortment of pies and cake for dessert. The dinner was great and the company even better! After dinner we walked around outside and enjoyed the beautiful desert landscape followed by a breathtaking sunset. What more could you ask for?

Aunt Cathy and Mya enjoy some down time together after dinner

Great grandma Wyrick with dinner hosts Randy and Joy

Grandma and Mya playing after dinner

updated pics

Here are a few pictures of Leilani. Some old, some new. Either way she's super cute!!!

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Visitors from the North

Last week my Aunt Gay Ellen and her husband Clarence stopped by to visit for a day while on their vacation traveling accross the country. We haven't seen them since our wedding a little over three years ago. Before that I had not seen them in years. Since they live up in Fairbanks, Alaska, it's kind of hard to see each other very often. It was nice to just sit down and talk. I learned a lot about the family and even asked some questions about my dad (sorry daddy). They treated Frank and I to dinner when they arrived, and then offered to babysit while Frank and I went out the following evening.We were so grateful and needless to say, we took them up on that offer. Frank and I had our first night out since Mya was born. I thought I would enjoy it more but I couldn't stop thinking about our little baby girl. We stayed out long enough to get a drink at Starbucks and some supplies at babies r us, then we headed home. It was nice to have the break but I was glad to get back home. Now I understand what my friends were going through when they had to leave their baby for the first time. That's something I could not comprehend until I had become a mother myself. I am not looking forward to the day when I actually have to leave her for the day or even half the day. That will be a lot harder than I imagined. If anything I will be the one with separation anxiety, not her.

As for Mya, she's doing great. She's holding her head up, trying to stand when we hold her, and interacting more and more with her surroundings every day. She loves our daily walks, always looking around, taking in her surroundings. As far as a good sleeping pattern, that hasn't happened yet. I fear she's taken after her mother in that aspect :-).

6 week mark

So I've heard that babies usually settle into a pattern at around 6 weeks. My friends kept telling me it will get easier after 6 weeks. "6 weeks is the magic number" or "You'll be amazed. It's like a switch at 6 weeks. It will be so much easier after that." Well we've past the 6 week mark and I guess Mya has decided that no makes her agenda but her. Sometimes she'll stay up all day with an exception of a small 20 min nap here and there. At this very moment she's going on her 4th hour of straight sleep, hence me writing this entry.
I don't think I could handle this by myslef. Thank goodness Frank is so willing to help out when he's home. It's almost become a ritual. He gets home, washes up and takes over the baby care while I cook dinner. After dinner, we clean up and I take a nap while Frank watches Mya. When she feeds in the middle of the night, he gets up and preps the bottle and gets me a drink. Because he has to work the next day, I finish feeding her and get her back to sleep. All in all, I think we make a great team!

Mya "Squirmy Wiggly Butt" Crosby

BOO!
This is Mya no sleeping in the sleep positioner that I put her in. She just squirms her way out of it everytime. Even if she's swaddled or sleeping in a sleep sack, she always scoots out if it while she's sleeping. I have a feeling she's gonna be one of those kids that crawls into bed with you to sleep and then kicks you all night.

Who new that being the mom of a new born would keep you so busy?! I've been meaning to call/email/snail mail friends and family for a while now. But every time I sit down to do just that, our little angel decides it's time to wake up and play...or eat...or cry. By the time she's done eating and goes to sleep and i catch a few winks of sleep myself, she's up again and ready to eat. I don't think any magazine or book could prepare one for this experience. But despite the sleep deprivation and the pile of dirty dishes in the sink, I can honestly report that we couldn't be happier. She's totally worth it. She's doing great and showing no major complications with her heart problem. We also got a good report from the urologist. He said that the hydronephrosis was so minimal now that he doesn't feel a follow up appt is even necessary at this point! Our last appt with the pediatrician showed that she gained one pound. She now weighs 6 lbs 9 oz. She no longer has much of schedule or pattern with her eating or sleeping. Sometimes she wakes up after two hours and other times she'll sleep five hours. She keeps me on my toes. Hopefully she gets into a good sleeping pattern soon. What we've found helps sometimes is the bouncer chair with vibrations. It seems to calm her down when she's fussy. She's been interacting with her toys a little bit now and loves making eye contact. She'll watch us as we walk around the room. Mya is also smiling, but it seems pretty random. She also rolls on to her side and holds her head up for about 15 seconds at a time. Mya is quite the squirmy butt! She never stays in her sleep positioner. She squirms her way out of it while she's sleeping. And when we put her in the middle of the crib to sleep, she always seems to wake up crying in a corner with an arm or leg hanging over the edge. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to them. When she's awake she tries to crawl but it still isn't working out so well for her. She'll get it eventually though. Well that's our baby update! Hope all is well with everyone out there.

my first blog

So I just set up this blog and it's a lot easier than I thought it would be. I figured with so many friends and family scattered around the world, this would be a great way to keep everyone updated. I have a few friends and family that are already doing this, so I guess I'm behind the times.

Well I'm sure you all know that we just recently welcomed our daughter Mya Leilani Crosby into the world. Sept 17, 2008 at 12:55 am to be exact. She was 5 lbs 9.8 oz and 19in long. I went into the hospital Sat night because of high blood pressure readings. They induced me very early Sun morning. I was contracting but not dilating. On Mon my water broke but my labor was still not progressing. Because of risk of infection, on Tue they decided to go with a c-section. Early Wed morning our daughter was born.

She stayed in the NICU for monitoring. At first it was to monitor her heart (she has tetralogy of fallot). The ped. cardiologist said that things were great and if all goes well, they should be able to put the surgery off until she's around 4-6mo old! WOOHOO! We were so thankful for the good news. They did keep her in the NICU for 6 days though because she wasn't eating well, couldn't keep things down.

She's home with us now and we couldn't be happier! Frank and I are so thankful to have her in our lives. We can't stop looking at her. I swear her first word is going to be beautiful or cute because that's all we keep saying over and over. "Oh my gosh you are so beautiful!" "I can't believe how cute you are!" Thank you all for you support and prayers. I know my first blog was a long one but I tried to condense everything from the past month into a few short paragraphs. I promise the following posts won't be nearly as long.