It's a GOOD thing my baby has a helmet, really it is!

Well, it's been almost a week since Tatem got her cranial remolding helmet.  I have to admit, it was quite an adjustment for me!  On one hand I know she needs it medically, but on the other, I want to see and touch my baby unhelmet-ed!  When we were at our (2 HOUR LONG) appointment to get the helmet, the lady put it on Tatem and left us alone for a bit to see if it was putting too much pressure on spots.  Tatem was tired and crying, so I faced her towards me and tried to snuggle with her little head under my chin.  Instead of sweet, warm, soft baby skin I was met with cold, hard plastic.  I started bawling.  She wears it 23 hours a day, and she's wearing it for 2-5 months, so I've just decided that I need to embrace it and make the best of it.  I can choose joy or choose to cry everyday because this was not what I had envisioned for my baby girl.  I chose JOY!

SO, here it is.  The

"Top 10 Reasons why Tatem's Helmet is a GOOD Thing!"

10.

When Tatem's doing her tummy time and Landrie is dancing around the room, I don't worry nearly as much about Tatem's head getting stepped on!

9.  

I remember from Landrie that Tatem's about to enter the phase of pulling her bows/headbands off.  I'm attaching bows to her helmet now, so they are nearly impossible to pull off!  

8.  

The stink that comes from her plastic-covered head is sure to keep the boys at bay a little while longer.  She's awfully cute, so Mark won't have to get the shotgun out quite as early. :)

7.  

We met our out of pocket maximum for Tatem this year during the 2nd week of January.  A year of free medical treatment will be great!!  (Especially for all those expensive physical therapy sessions!)

6.  

When we are out an about, I'm pretty confident that the pink helmet will prevent any strangers from accidentally calling Tatem a boy!

5.  

Tatem will learn how to sit up while she's wearing the helmet.  I'll still rush across the room when I see that slow-mo classic baby fall start, but I'm glad she'll have extra protection for her noggin!

4. 

 It tastes great!

3.  

Even if her name tag falls off in the church nursery, they won't have any trouble remembering her name!

2.  

As my friend said, "After this, she'll have a ponytail-perfect head!"  That will be one less thing for us to worry about one day when I've got 2 teenage girls getting ready each morning!

1. 

 Her brain can grow correctly, her jaws won't be misaligned, her ear canals will be in the correct position, her eyes will be able to work together and a long list of things like these!!

Often I'm reminded of how to act by kids.  When Landrie saw Tatem in the helmet, it went something like this:
"TayTay helmet?"
"TayTay helmet PINK!!"
(lots of touching of the new helmet)
"TayTay CUTE!"
Then she promptly leaned over and kissed the open spot on the top of Tatem's head, as if wearing a helmet was the most natural thing in the world!  Well, then later that day she did lick it.  So maybe I should say I'm reminded of how to act by SOME of the things kids do!  haha!

Is there something in your life you've learned to embrace?  I don't know about you, but when things don't go according to MY plans, it really can throw me for a loop.  I'm constantly learning to trust God and rely on the fact that His plan for our lives is perfect!

Before Landrie's birth mom Brianna started back to school (she's got less than a year left before she's an RN!), we got to spend the day together!  We usually meet  at one of our homes and go out to eat.  Last time was a BIT crazy so we decided to just hang out at our house for the day.  We had 3 very happy little girls!  It was much better than trying to go to a restaurant with a 4 year-old, 2-year-old and a 4 month old.  Whew.  That makes me tired just typing it!

I borrowed this one from Brianna's facebook page because mine, well...  I got the girls all set up making their cupcakes.  They were sharing a chair so they were tall enough.  Landrie stands in that chair all the time to help me.  I'm sure you've already guessed the end to the story.  Brianna took this picture, and I came around the counter to take one too.  Who wouldn't want that adorable shot??  I asked for a hug, and in total slow motion they started to lean and scream.  It was awful!  I tried to reach across and catch them and couldn't!  I've never seen Landrie cry so much.  Both girls got bumped and bruised.  :(  

All that trauma made the after-lunch cupcake decorating that much sweeter!!  Landrie scooped the frosting off her plate and into her mouth as fast as I could put it on the plate.  I think Brynn ended up with more sprinkles than frosting!

The girls love to play together and had a ball in the backyard!

They blew tons of bubbles...

...shared a ride on a purple unicorn...

...and even watched a little Diego while Mark watched some football. :)

Wow!  Look at those three beautiful girls!  As always, we love our visits with Brianna and Brynn!  We will never have to have "The Talk" and reveal the secret of her adoption.  We have talked with her about it since she was a baby, and as she grows and understands more, we'll be able to talk about any questions she may have.  For now, Landrie's just happy to have more people who love her!!

Fixin' my Melon!

Well, from the time Tatem was a few hours old, the on call pediatrician told us her head was not symmetrical and she might need a helmet.  We assumed the doctor was referring to the same asymmetry that most newborns have, and that it would even out on its own.  4 months later, it looks like he was right!  We've been to three different appointments at two different places, and all confirmed that Tatem needs a helmet to reshape her sweet little head!

Tatem has two factors making her head uneven.

#1  My uterus was always about 5 weeks behind in size, and Tatem's head was waaay down very early.  Both of these caused her to be more squished than an average baby.

#2  Her torticollis (neck tightness on one side) means that it's much more comfortable to turn her head in one direction all the time.  As her brain grows so quickly, it grows in the direction of least resistance.  She's sleeping with her head on one side, so as her brain grows, it pushes her skull out in the other direction!

Here are some pictures that Cranial Tech took that really show it.

The left one was when she was 3 months, and the right one was at 4 months.  You can see it getting worse as she grows!  See how the right side of each picture bulges out more and the left side is flatter?

Again, the first column was at 3 months and the 2nd one is at 4 months.  Look how much better her torticollis is!  The bottom picture shows how her head is flatter on one side and much "curvier" on the other. 

This shifting of her skull can cause many different problems for her, so we are thankful to get it taken care of at this young age.  

The good news is that  we live in a big city and we were able to find a company that takes our insurance who makes these!  Each case has to be sent in for approval, so please pray that we have favor with our insurance! They said that ours is usually a good one. :)

By the end of next week, Tatem should be decked out in her her helmet (of course I ordered a pink one!) and I'll post pictures.  They said she'll wear it for 23 hours a day for anywhere from 2-5 months.  Hopefully she'll be done before we hit our usual 100+ degree days!

In case you happened to land on our blog looking for info on this, or in case you're just curious, check out this website a lot of families use to "Bling their band!"  They have some pretty funny phrases you can put on yours!

4 months old!!

Well, time sure has flown by!  Our precious little Tatem turned 4 months old on New Year's Eve!  Let's see what she's up to these days. :)

Well, Tatem, most of your day is occupied with looking adorable. :)  

Here's a rare shot of you on your back!  Per your doctor and physical therapist's orders you spend as much time as humanly possible on your tummy!  That means no swings, bouncy seats or sleeping on your back.  We've got to strengthen your muscles to help with your torticollis and work on rounding out your head.  :)

You are SUCH a joy and delight, and you give out your smiles to everyone!  You especially light up at your sweet big sister, who LOVES to give you hugs and kisses and gives me constant reports on you all day long.  "TayTay filing!!" (smiling) "Her burped!"  "TayTay covers." "Her AWAKE!!"

Oh, you are in love with those fingers and your thumb!  You don't came which one ends up in your mouth, but they are almost constantly in there.  Once you figured that out, you were so much happier!

I am so thankful that we hardly ever see this face anymore!  You really only cry when you need something.  Your colic miraculously started getting better around 3 months!   Although I don't see it much during the day, I still hear your cries at night!  You're eating every 3 hours during the day and every 3-5 hours during the night.  Whew!  I'm not quite ready for sleep training though.  I'm savoring that sweet time with you, although I do get pretty sleepy some days!

You may like to eat around the clock, but you are a great sleeper!  You wake up, then eat, exercise and play.    Like clockwork, after about an hour you rub your eyes and fuss a bit.  We swaddle you up and you go right to sleep for about 2 hours.  Then we start it all over again!

Want to know a few stats?

-You've flown through the diaper sizes and already wear a 3!

-You wear 3-6 month clothes.

-I weighed you at 3 months, and you were 14.5 or 15 pounds every time over a 2 day period.  I had to weigh you a lot because I didn't believe it!  That put you almost in the 90th %!  That's quite a jump from being in the 10th at birth!  The huge growth spurt explains why you only wore size 2 diapers for about a week!

-At your 4 month checkup, you were almost 15 pounds (57th%) and 24.5 in. (58th%).  You are healthy and perfect in every way!

-We went downtown for physical therapy for your torticollis every week from the time you were 2 months to 4 months.  You're doing great and now go just every other week!

-We've been to several appointments about the shape of your head, and the good news is that by the time you're old enough to read this, your head will look so fabulous you could get a haircut like your daddy's if you wanted. :)  (This topic will get a whole separate post soon!)

Tatem Rose, you are such a precious, beautiful baby girl!  We absolutely adore everything about you!

NEW Years with a NEW born...

This New Year's festivities were the classic "We're getting older and have 2 kids" variety.  No sparkly eye makeup, no new outfit, just comfy time with the ones I love.  It was perfect!  Tatem's still a bit unreliable in the evenings, so we knew we couldn't leave her with a sitter that long!  I didn't want it to be just another night though, so I did some serious idea stealing. :)

The first one I stole from my friend Bethany.  She, Dave and their little guy, Isaac, stopped by on their way home from this activity to rescue me from a broken water main in our front yard while Mark was on the men's retreat.  They were just glowing from their fun family day, and I tucked it away as an idea to do later.  If you live near Fort Worth, I bet you will too!

We took a 45 minute train ride through Trinity Park in downtown Fort Worth!

Our cute little train reminds me of the kind they usually have at the zoo. 

Landrie and her daddy:)

Precious Tatem went right to sleep in my arms.  This is such a dreamy stage of babyhood!

Halfway through the ride we stopped for 10-15 minutes, and Landrie and I went and ran in the leaves!

There were a ton of leaves!

She had a BALL!

Want to go too?  Check them out here.  Everyone loves a train ride!

The second one I stole from my other friend, Pinterest.  Perhaps you've met her?  If you have, you love her too. :)  She's the kind of friend that after I've spent time with her, I look up and can't believe how much time has flown by.  If you haven't, allow me to introduce you to her.  Click here. :)

My intention was to make bags of activities for every hour 5pm -midnight.  That didn't actually happen.  I was not to sure how my non-cheesy husband would like this, so I didn't plan a huge thing because I was worried it would flop.  He LOVED it!  We only ended up doing 3-4 bags, but they were fun.  :)

Here is one example of the Countdown Bags that I did.  Only mine were a bit more last minute and I just used a lunch sack.  I did write little poems for each hour though!  If you want cute ones, click here for her free printables.  This mom had cute ideas for her kids too. 

I just thought of easy things that would be specific to us.  

Most of the ideas were fun stuff to do together, but one hour I changed it up.  Mark had been off a lot and had mentioned how he couldn't watch all his recorded shows!  He likes this DEA show and some crime shows that are too much for the girls and me. :)  One hour went something like this:

This one's not his and hers towels,

But his and hers HOURS!

I know you'd like to watch your shows

And I need to give attention to my toes!

For the next 60 minutes, you will complete separate activities.

HIS

-Watch any show you want!

-Eat a sweet snack (I had a bag of gummy bears in there with sappy things written on it like "You are BEARy cute!"  "Life would be unBEARable without you!" etc.)

-Munch on some popcorn (Yup, microwave popcorn that he loves was in there too.  No notes, but that would be easy too.  "There's no one BUTTER than you!")

HERS

-bubble bath

-pedicure!

I also wanted to interview Landrie with something like this:

I thought we could keep them in with the Christmas decorations and do it each year!  Maybe I'll still do it. :)

Ice Painting would have been a big hit too.  Good thing Landrie can't read the blog yet!  She'll love it when we do it!  :)

On weekends we like to cook a big family breakfast.  New Year's Day was no exception!  Well, there was just one little twist!

How cute is she??  Lately she's been insisting on sitting in this big girl booster seat, and she always wants a plate or bowl and a fork or spoon.  She's getting so big!  

I hope y'all are having a very Happy New Year!

Christmas Whirlwind!

After a great celebration with Mark's family, we headed to Houston to my parents' to celebrate with my brothers and their families.  I'm so thankful that this year we were able to celebrate with our parents, all of our siblings and all 12 nieces and nephews!

I know you've all been worried about if Santa remembered her Dora bike. :) We doubled checked with Santa many times to make sure, since every time she saw a Santa, she said, "DORA BIKE!!"  It was a big hit.  Notice the Dora doll Aunt Megan gave her the day before (she slept with it and carried it down to do presents) and the Dora band aid on her leg (she was thrilled to finally have a microscopic scratch!).  She's in love!

Tatem was just happy chewing on her little fingers and hanging out with her P-Pa. :)

Then she saw that this BIG gift was hers!

GranJan and Tatem (looking oh-so-thrilled) with her new swing!  I know the girls will get hours of fun out of this gift!

Everyone got fun gifts...like Christy's new dishes!

And my dad's new grippy things!  clamp set?  braces?

Adelynn is our shy niece...haha!  I think I have 20 pictures of her modeling outfits.  She is WAY excited about anything from Justice!

My parents did a recordable book for Landrie.  They found a Dora one!  Landrie just squeals every time she reads it!  If you are a grandparent, or aunt or uncle, go buy one now!  I looked here, and they have lots of sweet books, plus Elmo, Cars and Thomas the Train. :)

Tatem got to meet and snuggle with her Aunt Melissa!

Oh my goodness!  Braiden Beam!  How is it that you are already 13!!?

Kevin and Christy

My parents

Making dressing is a family tradition!  Everyone cuts and mixes it all together.  You never know how it's going to turn out...but this year was a good year. :)

Landrie was right in the middle of it with her pal, Abbie!

The kids all went down to the woods/pond at the end of my parents' street.  It was misting and cold!

YUMMY Christmas dinner!

the wild and crazy kids' table!

Both Christmases were a bit cold and rainy, so Eric, Landrie and Bennett found a way to burn off some energy inside.  :)

Oh, how cute is she?!  Her hood has tiny ears. :)

Okay, I don't have Photoshop so I had to just do some creative editing to get a good one of all 8 grand kids! Anna, Brooke, Braiden, Abbie, Tatem

Adelynn, Landrie and Bennett

(all the "A" names are Kevin's and all the "B" names are Eric's)

The original 5 Beams:)

Eric, me, my mom and dad, Kevin

And just because this one makes me laugh...:)

My parents have been doing family pictures with their Christmas card since 1967, when they got married!  Kevin was showing the kids why we took a picture of the 5 of us and what we looked like at their ages.  If you've known my parents a long time, you might recognize some of those shots!  :)

Bennett is 5, and he was reading numbers this long.  Ummm....I'm not kidding!  He kept asking, "What comes next?"  I stopped at "quadrillion!!"  He's such a cute little smartie. :)  Tatem was obviously in awe too. :)

We are realizing that you never quit being a parent.  Right now, Mark and I are in the middle of diapers, teething and being up all night.  Our brothers and sisters have older kids, and are dealing with totally different issues, like homework, GIRLFRIENDS?!?!, and sports.  Our parents may technically have empty nests, but we keep them hopping with lots of visits and they do such a great job taking care of us. :)  My mom added a few rows onto Tatem's hat because she already outgrew it. :)  Our families are growing and changing so quickly.  We are so thankful that God has blessed us with these amazing families!!