Holden will be uno año in a few weeks. First of all, OMG! I still can't believe it. In the middle of all his birthday party planning and mailing out invitations, we had yet another surgery. Now don't let me mislead you, my kiddo isn't super sick or have a super bad ailment, just had a few things we needed to fix. :) So let's rewind back to March, Holden was diagnosed with Plagiocephaly. If you haven't read my previous blog ----> Plagio-What check it out! It will tell you all about his diagnosis. But to keep you on track for this post, plagiocephaly is where babies have flat spots on their heads. So to make a long story short, Holden go this helmet in April 2013, and did swimmingly with it and got it off in August 2013. One month later after our 6 month visit in April, we were referred to a Urologist for Holden's undescended right testicle. We were told at 3 months that it had descended, so we didn't worry about it any more. By the time he was 6 months we had changed Dr.'s b/c we had issues with the doctor/staff at the previous office; and the new Dr. told us that no, indeed his right testicle was not descended and referred us to urology. Grrrrrrrrrreat! Well found out he needed surgery, but first available wasn't till September, so put that on the back burner to deal with life at is was. So after that visit, fast forward two months to June 2013. Holden had a frenectomy done. Holden, inherited one and ONLY one thing from me, he was born tongue tied. That little tiny piece of skin under your tongue, well his was super duper short and made it almost near impossible for him to stick his tongue out. That was one thing I noticed when I was nursing, he never got a good latch, because of his tongue tied. I wanted to avoid any chance of speech delay or speech impediments, so we got this fixed when he was little and wouldn't remember it. I however got this done as an adult in 2010. HORRIBLE idea. Honestly, I did it out of sheer curiosity because my tongue was super short and lets just say Kenny thinks I'm a much better kisser. Man I feel sorry for all my previous boyfriends......sorry for all the bad kisses dudes! ;)~ He recovered like a champ, was great! Now, fast forward again to 3 months later, it's now September. Holden's surgery was this past Monday he had an Orciopexy--a surgery to move an undescended testicle into the scrotum and permanently fix it there. Talk about intense! They do a small incision in the groin area and a small incision in the testicle. The pull the undescended testicle from the abdomen area and pull it down to the scrotum and suture it in place permanently. This little dude is my hero! He was quite cuddly/sore/tender/tired/mad all on Monday, but Tuesday you'd had no idea he had surgery. He slept through the whole night and took his normal nap time the next day. He was awesome, such a trooper!
We have had two minor surgeries and a helmet all under the age of one! You never imagine as a mother to go through anything but happy and fun time with your baby. I never in a million years imagined my son would have had those two surgeries and a helmet for 4 months. But it made me a stronger Mom, more educated and we bonded in a different way than any other mother and son could bond. I know Holden won't remember any of these things that happen to him, other than photos and Kenny and I telling him what happened. But I'm glad I experienced it, not glad that all that happened to him, but grateful for the positive outcomes we got out of them. Holden is now a strapping almost toddler who no longer has a flat spot on his head, who is no longer tongue tied and who has two testicles where they are supposed to be! Doing any kind of surgery on your child is scary, but when you have God in your life and you give your child to Him when they are going in for their procedure, you know everything will be O.K.!
Brightest Blessings,
Valerie
I'm a Mrs. I'm a Momma. I'm a daughter of Christ. I'm One Cool Chick on a Journey.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Friday, September 13, 2013
Sometimes Making Mommy Friends is Hard
So being a first time mom, I had a few handful of friends who were moms before me, or new moms just like me. I knew it would be healthy and beneficial for Holden to have some other interaction with babies his own age. So using the site meetup.com (which is a site that has a bagillion different groups from mommy groups, to photography, to book clubs--go check it out!), I searched for mommy groups in my area. I found a bunch, but two in particular caught my eye. One was a Christian Mommy group, and one was a Hip Mommy group. I had such high hopes, and RSVP to lots of meetups they had scheduled and got ready to make some mommy friends!
Well, without going into too much detail, I was kicked out of both those mommy groups! I know, can you believe it! I was dumped! The first group had WAY too many rules, if you don't un-rsvp in time, you get dinged; if you don't come to enough events you get dinged; if you do a no-show b/c your child is sick you get dinged! These moms just didn't seem very welcoming to the new girl in my opinion. I would try and join in conversation, and they would just barley acknowledge me. :( I would suggest a meetup, and they would just give me a half smile, and suggest what they thought was better. I have some pretty thick skin, and these momma's got to me. It's like they were sizing me up, that I wasn't good enough for their group. No bueno! So I got the email from the founder, telling me that they had dump me because I wasn't committed to their group. Whatever! Oh wait, it gets better! Then the second group I joined, the mommies were awesome! Very welcoming, pleasant and so sweet! And the kiddos were just as great, and lots of babies Holden's age! Well, then a few playdates later, I got the email from this founder dumping me saying I was "changing the dynamics of her group". I simply just suggested to have some baby play dates since all the playdates seemed toddler oriented, and there were quite a few babies in the group. This group I had made a few mommy friends, and was so sad to have been dumped, and was gonna lose them! It wasn't a good day for me when that happened. I felt like if they didn't like me because of my parenting style, and that made me question myself as a mommy. That's never a good feeling. I know I'm a good Mom, but geez man, can I catch a break!??!
Soooo, needless to say after getting dumped twice, I was a little bit in the dumps about being able to find new mommy friends outside of my small group of friends who had babies. I didn't want to feel like I had to put my best face on and sell myself to them. I didn't wanna get butterflies in my stomach showing up to a playdate wondering if I would fit in. I just wanted to be ME.
In light of all that, my sweet friend and close neighbor Candice and I wanted to start a mommy play date group. We wanted it to be Christian based and very welcoming to new mommies, to be mommies and all mommies! Candice and I had both been part of those two mommy group I got dumped from, difference is she didn't get dumped! ;) Lucky her! So we brainstormed one night, sent some emails back and forth and got the juices flowing. We know what we didn't want for our group, one with no rules, no demands, no judgment, just a fun group! So we came up with Moms of Faith. We invited the mommy friends we made in the other groups (take that mommies who dumped me! ha!) and they joined, and we grew like wildfire. We made a Facebook group and Facebook page, and spread the word every chance we got. That was back in June, now three months later we are 56 member strong!
We have awesome playdates, I have made life long friendships for myself, and for Holden. It's a great group, great camaraderie and it's most importantly FUN! We have a different play date scheduled a couple times a week, so moms can pick and chose which one is best for their schedule. Holden and I love our story time on Monday mornings and open gym time on Friday's. We are so proud our little group.
So if are looking for a mommy group, don't be discouraged! It takes some time to be the new girl and to make those friends. Just as nervous as you are, those other moms could be ten times more nervous than you. They just have a really good game face! So don't let those groups that dumped you or didn't let you in get you sidtracked! Go join another group, your mommy group is out there somewhere! Ask a friend, look within your church, or just talk that mommy at the playground or waterpark who is sitting next to you. We all have something in common, so when all else fails talk about the kiddos or pregnancy! :) Happy findings of your mommy group!
Brightest Blessings,
Valerie
Well, without going into too much detail, I was kicked out of both those mommy groups! I know, can you believe it! I was dumped! The first group had WAY too many rules, if you don't un-rsvp in time, you get dinged; if you don't come to enough events you get dinged; if you do a no-show b/c your child is sick you get dinged! These moms just didn't seem very welcoming to the new girl in my opinion. I would try and join in conversation, and they would just barley acknowledge me. :( I would suggest a meetup, and they would just give me a half smile, and suggest what they thought was better. I have some pretty thick skin, and these momma's got to me. It's like they were sizing me up, that I wasn't good enough for their group. No bueno! So I got the email from the founder, telling me that they had dump me because I wasn't committed to their group. Whatever! Oh wait, it gets better! Then the second group I joined, the mommies were awesome! Very welcoming, pleasant and so sweet! And the kiddos were just as great, and lots of babies Holden's age! Well, then a few playdates later, I got the email from this founder dumping me saying I was "changing the dynamics of her group". I simply just suggested to have some baby play dates since all the playdates seemed toddler oriented, and there were quite a few babies in the group. This group I had made a few mommy friends, and was so sad to have been dumped, and was gonna lose them! It wasn't a good day for me when that happened. I felt like if they didn't like me because of my parenting style, and that made me question myself as a mommy. That's never a good feeling. I know I'm a good Mom, but geez man, can I catch a break!??!
Soooo, needless to say after getting dumped twice, I was a little bit in the dumps about being able to find new mommy friends outside of my small group of friends who had babies. I didn't want to feel like I had to put my best face on and sell myself to them. I didn't wanna get butterflies in my stomach showing up to a playdate wondering if I would fit in. I just wanted to be ME.
In light of all that, my sweet friend and close neighbor Candice and I wanted to start a mommy play date group. We wanted it to be Christian based and very welcoming to new mommies, to be mommies and all mommies! Candice and I had both been part of those two mommy group I got dumped from, difference is she didn't get dumped! ;) Lucky her! So we brainstormed one night, sent some emails back and forth and got the juices flowing. We know what we didn't want for our group, one with no rules, no demands, no judgment, just a fun group! So we came up with Moms of Faith. We invited the mommy friends we made in the other groups (take that mommies who dumped me! ha!) and they joined, and we grew like wildfire. We made a Facebook group and Facebook page, and spread the word every chance we got. That was back in June, now three months later we are 56 member strong!
We have awesome playdates, I have made life long friendships for myself, and for Holden. It's a great group, great camaraderie and it's most importantly FUN! We have a different play date scheduled a couple times a week, so moms can pick and chose which one is best for their schedule. Holden and I love our story time on Monday mornings and open gym time on Friday's. We are so proud our little group.
So if are looking for a mommy group, don't be discouraged! It takes some time to be the new girl and to make those friends. Just as nervous as you are, those other moms could be ten times more nervous than you. They just have a really good game face! So don't let those groups that dumped you or didn't let you in get you sidtracked! Go join another group, your mommy group is out there somewhere! Ask a friend, look within your church, or just talk that mommy at the playground or waterpark who is sitting next to you. We all have something in common, so when all else fails talk about the kiddos or pregnancy! :) Happy findings of your mommy group!
Brightest Blessings,
Valerie
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Birthday Planning Full Speed Ahead
So Holden's 1st birthday is right around the corner! AAAAAHHHHH!! 1. I am not ready for my son to be one. 2. I am not ready for my son to be one!
So since I am such a bad procrastinator and put things off to the last minute, I got a good month head start on planning his party. We are having a Mustashe Bash! Oh yes, it's going to be epic! I will have so many DIY tutorials to make after this for all the stuff I made myself, it's gonna be awesome!
So stay tuned because I made......a mustache pinata, burlap birthday banner, neck tie goodie bags, photo booth setup, cupcake holder, mustache sign....that's all I made as of now. Who knows what will be made between now and October.
I had to make a entry for this month to get my butt in gear to get back on here more often....I love my blog, I just forget to jump on. Till next time!
Brightest Blessings,
Valerie
So since I am such a bad procrastinator and put things off to the last minute, I got a good month head start on planning his party. We are having a Mustashe Bash! Oh yes, it's going to be epic! I will have so many DIY tutorials to make after this for all the stuff I made myself, it's gonna be awesome!
So stay tuned because I made......a mustache pinata, burlap birthday banner, neck tie goodie bags, photo booth setup, cupcake holder, mustache sign....that's all I made as of now. Who knows what will be made between now and October.
I had to make a entry for this month to get my butt in gear to get back on here more often....I love my blog, I just forget to jump on. Till next time!
Brightest Blessings,
Valerie
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