Another Great report from the cardiologist!

This was the day we brought her home from the hospital. We found out about her heart when she was two days old, but had no idea how bad it was until she was a few weeks old.

Libby, Aunt Kim and baby Cassie. She was just a few days old here.

Here's a good one of Cassie. She still sleeps like this!

Kevin and I took Cassie to her annual cardiologist appointment on the 30th. We were thrilled that her EKG didn't show any signs of SVT. Cassie was born with a hole in the center of her heart, and suffered from SVT as an infant. She took two medications when she was an infant. One to slow her heart down and the other to get the fluid off her lungs and help to close the hole in her heart. At one checkup that I went to when Cassie was about a month old My mother in law and I were told that Cassie would most likely have to have open heart surgery to correct her hole. Mi Mi just didn't' believe the doctor, and was sure it would close. Well, the hole did close and her heart rate corrected itself also. She will continue to see this doctor until she is about 16. SVT can return with certain growth spurts and can show up again at puberty. I really don't know where the last 4 years have gone. Cassidy continues to grow and thrive. I have no idea how she is growing considering the amount of food we can actually get her to eat! Cassidy had jaundice as a newborn and then it came back when she was 3 weeks old. She wasn't gaining weight and I was told that my breast milk didn't have enough calories. One doctor actually told me if I didn't get her off my milk she would die! What a jerk! So we supplemented with formula until she was 6 weeks old. I couldn't take all that stress and at 6 weeks I stopped feeding her the breastmilk and switched to formula. Well, that's when the little turkey started to gain weight! She liked junk food better when she was an infant too!!!! I wanted to post some pics of Cassie when she was first born, but I couldn't find the ones from the hospital.

I am just thrilled how well Cassie has done. Now she is hardly ever sick! She hasn't missed on day of school this school year. We were so blessed that I could stay home with Cassie until she was 18 months. Thanks to Kim for letting work for her. I'm sure I was the worst proofer ever at Inviting Smiles. I really wasn't good at it all!! The only job I can ever see myself doing is being Mom to Cassie and a teacher.

After this appointment Cassie and I met Libby and Kim at North Park Mall. Kim was such a great support to me when Cassie was born. My parents, brother, sister in law Mundy, and Kevin's parents were also a huge support. I also had a ton of friends and co-workers who prayed for Cassie, and I truly believe that is how her hole and SVT were corrected. She is my little miracle child and I love her so much!!!!

The Last Sleepover for 2008

We had our last sleepover of the year on the 27th. It was a little different than some of our sleepovers in the past. Kevin and Shane went to a friends house to play poker and left Kim and myself with the four kids. They were wild and really didn't want to sleep at all. Bennett did the best. He fell asleep in the pack and play right when we put him down. The three girls had other plans. I finally took Cassie out of her room around 11:30 and she fell asleep on the couch with me. When Shane and Kevin got home Kim and Shane took Bennett home. The next day we met them at Six Flags. Cassie was extremely tired, and very fussy. We all had a great time! The pictures below are a little out of order :)
Jumping on the air mattress.

Cassie, Emma, and Libby. Jackie loved Emma. It really made me happy to see Emma holding her. I hope she sits on Cassie lap like that when she is Emma's age. The girls were waiting for their pancakes, eggs, and sausage I was making :)

Emma, Bennett, Cassie and Libby

Emma read all of the bedtime stories. I didn't know what to do with myself. I just watched, and tried to help with the search and find book. She is such a great cousin and wonderful big sister.

Libby and Cassie.

Ready to go to Six Flags. The girls let me curl their hair. I enjoyed this because Cassie won't let me do anything with her hair. She will have the bob cut until she grows out of this.

Eating PBJ's before hitting six flags. As you can see Cassie won't eat PBJ's at all. The only bread she will eat is a soft pretzel from the mall, and it has to be a cinnamon one!

Inside Six Flags. All the kids with tweety. Do you see that big kid with the Joker mask? That's Uncle Shane. He wore that all over Six Flags. He made most of the employees laugh, but a few were a little scared.

Emma waiting for a ride.

Cassie was a huge mess. I had to take a picture of this. Every time we got in line for a ride she wanted to be held. This line was long and it wasn't cool at all. She just refused to stand in line.

This was a few minutes after the fit. She slept in Kevin's arms for about 20 minutes in line, and the entire ride. It's a boat ride that is inside a cave with all the looney toon characters. After her nap she did a little better.

Bennett has such a sweet personalty. He doesn't talk much, but he understands every word you say. I miss the days that Cassie didn't talk much. I was so worried about her speech when she was his age, and know she rattles on non stop.

Cassie and Bennett rode rides together in Looney Toon Land. She loved this! I think Bennett liked it also!

Cassie and Libby with Scooby Doo

Bennett and Cassie on the swings.

Christmas Eve with the Wells, Browns& Hendricksons!

On Christmas Eve we spend time at the Wells home. I think this is the fifth year we have done it there, but I'm not quite sure. I think it's really cool that my whole family including my brother and his family and my parents are invited. The adults do a Chinese gift exchange, and the kids open gifts as well. We had so much fun. Poor Bennett threw up, and the party was cut a little short. I think we left around 10:00 pm.
Uncle Shane, Kevin, and Uncle Jeff pretend to be rock stars!

Mi Mi and Pa Pa

Grandpa and Gi Gi. My Dad loves to sit in this car and take in the night. It's a very comfortable chair and I can see why he likes sitting in it :)

Bennett and Kevin

Pa Pa and Kevin. We got Pa Pa a MP3 player that also has a radio. Kevin loaded some music on it, and taught Pa Pa how to use it. I think it was a big hit.

Kevin and Shane

Cassie and Bennett. The Wells children are so tall! Cassie is about a year and half older than Bennett and they are almost the same height! I think they look alike. Not in this picture, but in other pictures they do. When you get all the cousins together you can tell they are related. My goal next year is to get a picture of all six of them! I bet they will LOVE that!

Dean pushing Bennett on his car. In my opinion these are the two cutest boys on the planet!

I love to see Dean smile. It's scary how much he looks like Jeff. They are such sweet boys.

Libby and Emma. I wonder how much longer they will let me take their picture together?

They are such beautiful girls.

Pa Pa and Emma open gifts.

Lynn and Cassie. Lynn is super smart and one of the coolest little girls I know. When I think of her I just crack up. She may look like Mundy but she is all Jeff. (Mundy pointed this out to me the other day and she is so right.)

Libby in her pretty dress. Libby and Emma had the same dress on ,but I wasn't able to get a picture of both of them in it together before they put on their comfortable clothes!

Aunt Kim and Emma playing Big Trouble. This was our gift to Emma. I hope she enjoys playing it.

Jeff taking pictures

Aunt Mundy and Uncle Jeff

Kim and Myself taking it all in.

What a busy week!

Happy girls! They had so much fun!

At the Hendrickson's we take turns and have to wait while each person opens a gift. This was so hard for Cassie and Lynn. They did a great job but it was hectic. Here they are waiting.

Jackie with a new bone and her new balls. She was a happy dog today!

The big carriage is from her Mi Mi and Pa Pa. We got her the small one, and she LOVES them both!

Christmas Day at our house. She is holding what Santa brought her. Her stocking contents are on the floor:) The two gifts behind are from Mom and Dad. A Fisher Price Camera which was a big hit, and a small horse and carriage.

Cassidy making a snow angel in leaves. She thought of it not me. I don't want to think of what is in those leaves! YUCK!!!!

This week has been very busy! I couldn't wait for the two week break, and already I'm exhausted! Cassie has had two play dates. One with my close friend Alison and her son Carter. Cassidy LOVES Carter! The other play date this week was with her cousins Lynn and Dean. She adores both of them, and we met at Chuck E Cheese. Really what's better than that to an almost four year old! I spent all day Christmas Eve raking leaves (13 bags!) That was my Christmas present to Kevin. The neighbor girl across the street came over and played with Cassie while I raked. She was a big help, and I told her to come over anytime, and I hope she will take me up on the offer. Christmas Eve was spent at the Wells. We had a blast, and made it home around 10:45. We put Cassie to bed and woke up the next day to presents. I made breakfast and a dish to take to my Moms and we were off again. We had a lovely ham dinner at My Mom and Dad's and opened more presents. Kevin and I left Cassie with my parents to spend the night and we headed back to Arlington. We hadn't been to an adult movie in awhile. I begged Kevin to see Marley and Me. I think raking the leaves really helped me get my way because he HATES chick flicks. Let me warn all the dog lovers out there that this is a TEAR JERKER! I LOVED this movie. I cried my eyes out and couldn't wait to get home to my first born child Jackie. As some people know Jackie is very special to me. I love her like no one else does, and I know she is a hyper jack rat, but she means the world to me. Sad, I know because I do have a real child who means the world to us also. I highly recommend this movie to all! Although, I wouldn't take small children to it. Cassie wants to see it so bad, but has no clue what it's about. Jackie got out of our front door this week and was loose for about 10 minutes, and Cassie was hysterical about it. So, I'm not the only one who loves Jackie I guess. Tomorrow, I'm going back to Flower Mound to shop with my Mom and take Cassidy home. Next week will be just as busy, and then I will be ready to relax at work again:) The pictues from Christmas Eve are on another camera I will try to post a few of those pics later this weekend. I must say that I have some of the cutest nieces and nephews around, and that is why I love to post pics of them!

New Big Girl Bed

Cassie in her new bed. This is an early Birthday gift.

No more baby stuff!!! We finally got Cassie out of her toddler bed. She had been sleeping on the same mattress since she was born. It was the last piece of baby equipment that we had in the house. I love this new bed. Kevin put it all together. I'm so proud of him! I'm not going to lie it all came from Big Lots, and the bedding is from Target. It has storage under the bed which is really cool. I stored all of her summer clothes in one drawer and she got to put stuffed animals in the other. She knows that one drawer is Mommy's and the other one is hers. She can put stuffed animals in the headboard too which she likes. It's pushed against her window seat which has more stuffed animals! The sad thing is she has more on her bookshelf and even more in her closet! Kevin's sister gave us all of her bedding before she was born. I'm keeping the valance and window seat cushion she had made, and the cute pillows. She also gave us two beautiful paintings which will stay. Basically, I'm letting Cassie pick out her bedding but she can't touch the walls :) I know they don't go with the princess stuff, but I don't care. I want to hold on to all that stuff as long as I can. I'm a little sad that Cassie seems to growing up, but she is so much fun right now. Tonight she told me, "I'm not going to call you big butt tonight Mommy I love you" She knows it's mean we have had long talks about it. Another thing I love about the new bed is I can sit on it and play with toys and read with her. I was afraid to sit my big butt on the toddler bed! Enough about the bed!

Spending Time with Family

Lynn and Cassie at Gi Gi and Grandpa's House

Lynn and Cassie

Gi Gi and Dean (Aunt Mundy in the background)

One of Cassie's all time favorite things to do is spend time with her Gi Gi, Grandpa, Aunt Mundy, Uncle Jeff, Lynn and Dean! Dean has to be one of the sweetest little boys that I have ever met. These pics were taken on the 13th. We love spending time at my parents house. Mom has the house decked out this year, and it was fun watching Dean explore around their house. She has a ton of breakable things, and nothing has gotten broken! I think that's pretty awesome with three little ones running around. I love that they all only about 45 minutes away from us, and we can see them quite often.

Ready for Christmas Break!

Cassie hanging ornaments on our little tree!

She loves to take the ornaments off the tree and play with them in her room and all over that house!!

Well, Cassie and I have almost made it to our Christmas Break. We will both take 2 weeks off, and I can not wait. The last two weeks have been very difficult at my school. We haven't had a lot of time to do fun things at all. It seems like we have had mostly TAKS practice which isn't a whole lot of fun for them or us! I did get to read Rudolf The Red Nose Reindeer, and I helped some Resource students make a reindeer out of a nutter butter cookie, m&m's, pretzels and frosting. They really loved that, and the best part was watching some of them eat it! Two of the girls took their cookies to their Gen. Ed. teacher. I thought that was so sweet! I will help the class that I teach Inclusion in do the same project tomorrow. Christmas parties are tomorrow, and I know the kids will be out of control. I'm looking forward to it :)

I finished all of my Christmas shopping on the 13th. That was really late for me. Ideally, I try to finish it up before Thanksgiving.

Cassie is really into Santa this year. Kevin and I figured out last week that if she is misbehaving we can get on the phone to Santa and have him put her on the naughty list. We were a little slow in figuring this one out.

Cassie will turn four on the 7th of Jan. and is getting very bold. Two naughty things she said this week really cracked me up. The first one was to me, "Get out of my room big butt" I was dancing in her room to a Dora song and I guess she didn't like my moves!! Then, at school she told one of her friends to, "shut her mouth". She has a sticker chart for good behavior, and seems to be loosing more stickers these days! We both can't wait for a two week break! Kevin doesn't have the time off so we are scheduling lots of playdates.