A S#itty Morning!!!

"Why, O Why is there a pot of boiling letters on your stove?," you ask. Well, thank you for your concern. As a matter of fact, it is indicative of the kind of morning I have had. S#!tty! I woke up to Vivia grabbing her diaper saying "Mommy, take it off." With poop on her hands because she was trying to take it off herself. GAG #1!
I say with much excitement "STOP!" and I proceed to remove said diaper. She begins to squirm and freak out~ apparently because she had a bit of diaper rash, and knocked the diaper out of my hand onto the floor where the poop rolled out! GAG #2!
I then say, "You know what, we are going straight to the bath!" Back upstairs to draw her a bath. I get her in there complete with her toys and bubbles, and run back downstairs to grab something. Now, before you call Social Services on me for leaving my 2 year old alone in the tub, I ask, "Have you ever made a mistake?" I have. It happens. So, once downstairs, I see where my poor, neglected dog has pooped on the dining room floor because she hasn't been taken on a proper "poop walk" for days. GAG#3
I begin to hear Vivia from upstairs calling to me, and then I hear the THUD THUD THUD of her running around. I know she must be dripping wet and naked because she can't reach her towels.
I run up there to find a pee spot on the carpet outside the bathroom door, and a naked Vivia dripping wet, saying "I'm Cold, Mama." I ask her "Did you pee on the floor?" And she says, "Yep., And I pooped in the tub!" OMG! NOOOOO...
Sure enough, I go look, and there is a floater, disintegrating in the water amongst her foam alphabet that she was playing with in the tub! GAG#4
Baby Rio begins squawking from the other room, doesn't he know that I have to clean this mess up? I go in there to get him, I immediately smell the familiar, strange odor of baby poo. YES, he has BLOWN OUT his diaper in the bed, my bed! I honestly cannot believe this is happening!
I will spare you the details of how I retrieved the poop from the tub, flushed it down the toilet, (retching the whole time), scrubbed the tile floor in my dining room, and bleached the crap (pun intended) out of everything.
But now you know why there is a pot of "alphabet soup" boiling on my stove...
That's just the kind of morning I had with "Baby making Four".

Name Boards for my dear friend

She finally received them in the mail, so I can post the pics now. Every new one I do becomes my new favorite. These two are brothers who's mom did their room in a camping theme. See pics here of their room.
My camera didn't get the best photos in the world- but enough to get the idea.
Click on the photo to see it larger.

Twitter...

TWITTER
Check it out here. The latest and greatest way to stay up to date with your friends. And you can do it when you are out through a text from your mobile phone.
I love it.
Think "Facebook" What are you doing right now?
Us hip moms have to stay up on the coolest and newest.
If you sign up, look me up and "follow": freedomg12
FROM THeir website below...

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

Why use Twitter?

Why? Because even basic updates are meaningful to family members, friends, or colleagues—especially when they’re timely.

• Eating soup? Research shows that moms want to know.
• Running late to a meeting? Your co–workers might find that useful.
• Partying? Your friends may want to join you.

How does it work?

With Twitter, you can stay hyper–connected to your friends and always know what they’re doing. Or, you can stop following them any time. You can even set quiet times on Twitter so you’re not interrupted.

Twitter puts you in control and becomes a modern antidote to information overload.

Tea- cool stuff

I am a sucker for good marketing. Republic of Tea has come out with a line of teas that they are packaging according to symptom. Teas do have medicinal and preventative qualities: And it is getting cool enough to enjoy a cup of hot tea. Check them out!
My faves are the "Get Charged". and "Get Soothed".
They are also Kosher- in case you're practicing...

Pics from Abuelo's visit: MORE Later from his baby dedication

Last Weekend Abuelo came to meet PRCM for the first time. "Smitten" doesn't even describe it. He kept calling him wonderful names like, "Champion" and "Warrior". He even made up a song for him. Imagine the tune of "Copa Cabana".
"His name was Rio...
He was a doctor..."

Bathtime for the Rio, and revelations...

Rio is a water baby. Who would have thunkit. I can't even begin to explain the love I feel for this new little person in our life. I don't know what it is. It is so different this time than it was the first time around with Vivia. Maybe because of everything we went through with him already, I really appreciate and truly cherish every second: even the late-night feeding marathons! I am not playing favorites, but I know the relationship I have with my son is so completely different than the one I have with my daughter.

I haven't written about this yet: but the weekend we asked everyone to pray and fast with us for the tests, THAT weekend, I ran into a woman that I had met while I was pregnant. She had also been pregnant and at the time, we talked and discussed how she was having a boy, and I was hoping I was having a boy too, b/c I didn't know yet. She was so sweet! So full of excitement! It would be her third child.

So, the other day, I had my 2 week old son with me, and ended up at this house for a garage sale selling all this baby stuff- SCORE! Coincidentally, right? I didn't know this was where she lived. We recognized each other, and I immediately hugged her and said "hello". Where was her baby? Her little baby son had died. All this stuff she was selling was his. He was born without the frontal part of his brain and only lived a few weeks after being born prematurely at 30 weeks. They were selling all of his things. She was upbeat, but I could just sense the aching of her heart as she asked to hold Rio. She said she wanted to load all of his things into our car. I didn't let her do that, but I bought a few things from her. And she told me to come by anytime and knock on her door to say hello. I will definitely follow up on that in the future.

But, in that moment, God gave me the answer to that which my soul was seeking in the fast. Perspective.
He has already taught all who have met him, to see.

Saturday, TOT at Sea World.

We have a slew of season passes as we live in the "Theme Park Capitol of the World." And we do use them all the time. Especially this time of year when the crowds have thinned out and the weather gets gorgeous. Sea World has this really fun halloween party on the weekends in October where you come in costume and go "Treating" through the park which began with a bubble trail. Here are a few shots from our excursion yesterday. For those of you who know Terry Yip, look really closely at the yellow seahorse. And of course, Vivia had to pose with her favorite, the "Sticky Hock-A-Puss"

Friday...

We visited "Maggie Make." Vivia's friend Maggie Mae who lives in Celebration. This little town goes all-out for halloween, as you can see from this one house near the Martell's.

A walk in the Park

We decided to go for a walk to the park to get out on this beautiful windy day. As I was leaving Vivia grabs her stroller from the garage and puts her Mickey Mouse in it. So together, with our "babies" we walked to the playground! When we got there, she took Mickey down the slide, up the rocks, even on the rings. But then sat him on the bench for a rest.

Until Curious George is over...

... that is how long I get to write. This is one of the reasons I haven't written much in the last four weeks. As I type, I have my brand-new baby boy strapped to my front in a baby bjorn- he's napping. And Vivia my 2 year old is watching Curious George while eating her dinner that consists of chicken nuggets and applesauce and goldfish. Yummmmm. I have a lasagna in the oven, but of course, it won't be ready for an hour at least- and she's hungry NOWWW>
I feel like since the day I got home from the hospital, I have hit the ground running and haven't been able to stop since.
So, back to my new life:
1. 2 kids
2. Lack of sleep
3. 3 dirty diapers a night
4. Sleeping in different beds b/c my husband needs his sleep for work and school
5. D's (ohhhh yeah!) lol!
6. Not getting out b/c it's too hard to get them both ready
7. Cleaning out my garage to make more room IN the house because my mom is moving in for awhile
8. Trying to stay hydrated
9. Frumpy Nursing wear
10. Wondering if my tummy will ever go back to its original size
11. Or if I will ever be able to wear a 2-piece again
12. Waking up in cold sweats- drenched
and I could go on and on and on...

The last four weeks have been one big blur!
We are definitely settling into our new life as we know it. And we are relieved to know that our son will live a FULL life and does not have anything major wrong.
The first few days of his life were full of tests and questions and information overload!

Thanks all of you for your prayers and thoughts, the worst is over. God is good.
Things are not as bad as they were "preparing" us for.
The worst of it is that Rio will only have sight in his left eye, until science or God change that.
They told us all the wost case scenarios- which included cancer and tumors, and a malformed brain etc etc. None of which were the case. And the tests he had on Monday, the ones we were praying and fasting for... showed us that. Even though Gabe and I knew he didn't have it!
He has a little tiny cleft in his lip (barely noticeable). And his left eye has micropthalmia. A fancy word that basically means 'little eye'. It is 50% smaller than the right eye and has a lot of scar tissue and a small cataract in it. The doc did not recommend surgery on the eye (thank God) because he said that there really is not enough sight in that eye to try and develop it. That it would be better for him at this age to just get on with his left eye developing. At this young age, his brain will basically teach his eye to compensate for the lack of the other, and his vision will be better that way. More so than someone who has always had sight in both eyes and then was to lose it.
Look at the photos of him on my blog and you will see that he does not really open it all that much. His prognosis will include wearing a hard contact lens in that eye in order for his skull to develop symmetrically. And they say that he will live a completely normal, full life- and the prosthesis (contact) will be barely noticeable by the time he is 5 or so.
Blah blah blah...

They don't know what causes it. It is connected to the little cleft in his lip because they are both considered "midline". So, there was some kind of accident in my womb at the time that that part of him was developing so it didn't completely fuse and form. That is kind of how the doc described it. Since it was midline, that is why all the tests and MRI's that he had to have. To make sure that other "midline" organs and parts did develop correctly. Which were all normal! And his genetics tests were completely normal too! Which means it is not connected to any type of "syndrome" that might come back and cause problems in the future.

As we learn more, I will update. Until then, I have found a cool online support group for people affected by PHPV, and am learning about it as much as I can. It really could be so much worse!
I am so blessed by him- He is so precious. And I know that he will leave an influential mark on this world! And all of this will be a part of his testimony and God will get all the glory!!! Gabriel and I are becoming more used to our "normal". And we are over the shock of it, and the disappointment, and we are ready to face it and make it a part of our daily lives. He is positively perfect just the way he is- and no one's going to be able to convince him otherwise- ir tell him there is something he can't do!
:)

For those of you who were kind enough...

For those of you who were kind enough to say that Rio looks like me, I would like to play a little game.
Out of the three pictures below, guess which one is Gabriel, which one is Vivia, and which one is Rio.
Leave a comment with your guesses- the person who guesses correctly will win a new car!
Ok, well not really, but I want to see who can guess... It's like it's the SAME CHILD! All three of them!

My church is off the HIZZZZZZooooook!

More pics...

More pics...

Update

To our family and friends:

Paolo Rio Chaim is undergoing 2 pretty invasive tests (under sedation) on Monday so the Ophthalmologist and Retina Specialists can get a good look in his right eye. Many horrible things have been spoken over him since the day he was born- things I am not going to repeat, because I do not agree with them, and Gabriel and I believe now is the time to activate our faith.
We are asking that you would stand in unity with us - beginning tonight - in a specific way.
We are dedicating this weekend to pray and fast for his healing.
We will be fasting in order to seek the hand of God to move on his behalf to see a miracle.
We are believing for the doc to see that his eye has grown and there is sight. We want to see the doc's words canceled out by what he sees.
We will begin fasting tonight at sundown until sundown on Sunday.
If you don't receive this email in time, feel free to join at any time during the weekend.

If you choose to join us in this prayer and fasting, it is up to you what you will fast. Is between you and God.
But we are asking our family and close friends to stand in belief with us and to pray for Rio.
The more praying, the more angelic warriors are sent on our behalf.

Gabe and I love you very much and appreciate all the support we have felt so far, and we really are believing God and His word, and his promises, rather than the wisdom of Man.

Thank you and we are believing for a good report on Monday!

Let us know...

PS- I wish memaw were here right now...
:)

Fun with Photobooth... Rio and I

He's such a sweet boy, such a cuddlebug. :)
He's going in on Monday to have tests done on that eye that is closed.
Pray with us as we believe this weekend that it is nothing...

Two More Pics. Precioso!

THis is what he does: SLEEP and Sleep and slee...