New News, News, News!

There has been so incredibly much going on lately. I don't even know where to begin.

First off, WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!

This sounds crazy, but we have only seen the house once. But, when we walked in we both looked at each other and said, "this is it" and this is the first and only house that we can say that about. It's the first and only house that we both loved and we wanted to snatch it up before anyone else could. It has only been on the market about 10 days now and it's already been shown 9 times so I'm glad we jumped on the offer. And we had a very reasonable offer with the seller paying our closing costs.
It is charming and beautiful and southern. I love it. We love it! It looks like such a great place to raise our family. It's updated and very well maintained. We're very excited to have found this gem. If all goes well we will get the keys May 12th and move in that weekend!

Second big news, Den's dad came to visit this past week. This was his first time meeting little Lily Belle and they took to each other in no time. It was nice to have Den home to help out with Lily and we all just relaxed and laid around with no big plans made. It was relaxing and seemed exactly what we all needed.
I'm actually having a hard time getting back into the swing of things again! Isn't that always the hard part of taking a "vacation" (There's no such thing as a vacation for a mom, of course!)

And finally, our last big piece of news: Miss Lily Belle got some glasses!

We went to the ophthalmologist (I can finally spell that word without using spell check but let's just refer to good old Dr. Wright as the Eye Doc) last Friday and Dr.  Wright examined her and dilated (my southern heart wants to spell it "dialated" just for reference of how I sound in my head!) her eyes and found that she is far more nearsighted than she was last year. He suggested glasses in hopes that it will straighten her eyes out with having to resort to surgery. I am very thankful that he doesn't want to jump to surgery. I was also a bit overwhelmed because we were told last year that glasses would never help her condition. Which makes me wonder if she didn't have SOD would she still be nearsighted? Or has her underdeveloped optic nerves made her eye sight even worse? It's complicated and the Eye doc isn't the best at answering my questions. Luckily I have resources at Governor Morehead that helped me when I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything. They even pointed me in the direction to find glasses small enough for my Lily.
Without further ado, here is my sweet Lily Belle rocking her new pink glasses:

She doesn't seem to mind them too much. Every now and then she will attempt to take them off and get frustrated with them but I tell her, It's okay. It will take time to get used to them but you will see better with these on. And I fix them and then distract her with something else and she seems fine after a brief tantrum. So far it's happened 3 or so times today and it's now 2:30pm. So not too bad. The worst part is at meal times when she's attempting to eat and touches her glasses and smudges them up pretty bad. 

And now for the serious part of the glasses. 

1. I'm a little worried about how it's effecting her vision for close up objects. Since wearing the glasses she's been missing things she's reaching for. Things she pulls up on mostly or my hand when I'm holding out a puff. I'm going to try to give it a few days and see if it works itself out because maybe she needs to get used to the new and improved depth perception.

2. I know she looks cute. I know babies in glasses are adorable. But, there's a small part in my heart that aches when I see her wearing them. Just another thing to make her stand out, to show the world that she's different. I hate seeing her throw a fit when she's frustrated with them. I hate seeing her miss objects that she normally wouldn't without the glasses. 

I am hopeful that this is what she needs and I trust in our doctor to know what is right for her. I wonder in hope that she is seeing things in a whole new way now and I know my family wants to think that way too, it's just the skeptical mother in me that is holding my breath. And really, with everything we've had on our plates this past year, I don't blame myself for feeling that way. I think it's only natural to be a bit apprehensive. 

And onwards to the last thing, the not so happy news, that is of course about eating.

Still no breakfast. 

Lunch is hit or miss.

Dinner is thankfully usually a meal.

We had to fiddle with the sodium meds again because her sodium had shot up and she was waking up 2-3 times a night wanting water and waking up with soaked PJs and sheets. I still think it needs so more adjusting but only time will tell. 

We're also messing with her prilosec medicine in hopes that it will help her want to eat more.

If that does not work we are going to start her on an appetite stimulant. We hope it will of course, make her hungry, and be excited about eating at meal times and get her over this little hump she seems to be stuck on. 

It's frustrating and I've been having some breakdowns lately about it all. It's just really disheartening to feel like all this hard work and I have nothing to show for it. Though, our feeding therapist says otherwise since Lily has gained so much weight (back up to 20lbs 8oz!) but I know that is because of the concentrated formula she is chugging and loves to drink. I just wish she would eat. I am so tired of this struggle and my fear is that it's not going to get any better anytime soon.

Okay, okay, sorry to leave it off on such a negative nancy note so I will leave you with this sweet picture of our wonderful family:

Love