Cara Fix-part 2

I figured that since I posted pictures of one daughter, I had better be fair and post pictures of the other.
Here are some current pictures of Cara, who turned 6 weeks (*gasp*) on Monday.


Can we say spirit fingers everyone?


Look at that face!


Looking so cool, calm and fashionable. (Taken at my brother's dorm room where we celebrated the many July/August birthdays in the family)


Cara @ 1 month. Excuse the carseat picture but, I wanted to compare it to another car seat picture from her first doctor's appointment to see how much she's grown.


The calming effects of the swing--works on the newest addition too.

The Dog Days of Summer-Literally

One of the best things about being at Grandma's house is the huge backyard (my parents have just under an acre) complete with wading pool. The downside, having to share it with a water-crazy four-legged friend...

Somehow, water from the hose always tastes better.

Caitlin shares her pool with Winston although, he would argue that it was his pool first!


Dog and child, cooling off.

Caitlin--down on the farm

Our "city girl's" first experience on a farm. One of my mom's co-workers has a gentleman's farm complete with cows, horses, sheep, ducks, chickens and turkeys. We took Caitlin one day and she had a blast feeding the animals and collecting fresh eggs from the hen house. We got a dozen to take home and let me tell you, there is a big difference between farm fresh and those from the supermarket.

Caitlin feeding and becoming friendly with the sheep. The family does 4H and these were prize winning sheep. I think Caitlin liked them more than they liked her!


Cowgirl Caitlin on her first horse--doesn't she look like a natural?

Blown Out of the Water

Okay everyone, are you prepared to be shocked? Take a deep breath...

On Sunday, my husband of almost 6 years asked me for a divorce! You're probably wondering what brought this on?! Honestly, I'm still not exactly sure. True, we had a fight but it was the first fight we had had in about 8 months. We have had some rocky times in our marriage, but this really wasn't anything out of the ordinary and I figured it was water under the bridge after it happened. After all, I got the impression that things were going quite well for us. We had moved back to the big city where my husband felt more at home, we appeared to be happy, he had a good job and we had just brought our second daughter into the world. Obviously, I must've seen our marriage through rose tinted glasses. So, you can imagine my shock when my husband announces his desire to end our marriage. The reality still hasn't hit me. Plus, I don't feel that I have the luxury of falling apart, I have two beautiful girls to raise. Anyway, my husband explained his reasoning--he stated that he had fallen out of love with me and that we had nothing in common. He simply wanted his freedom and felt that I was holding him back. After this spiel, he asked me to leave. Not being one who needs to be asked twice, I packed up some essentials for the girls and myself and began our journey west to the only other shelter I had--my parents' house. I am so lucky to have parents who will always love me unconditionally and help me out in times of need. My husband may see this as my weakness but, to me, it's a strength. You can't put a value on the love of a family. We spent Sunday night in a hotel where I spent a good couple of hours talking to a good friend of mine. You know who you are and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there for me. We got up Monday morning and continued the trek to Montrose and have been here ever since.

I am not entirely sure what the future hold for me or my girls. I just know that I need to establish some normalcy as soon as possible. Children thrive on routines and, unfortunately, Caitlin's routine has been greatly distrubed. I know that I need to start over and can't think of a better place to do it. I feel that I need to be close to my support system, so I can't imagine, at least not now, venturing far from Montrose. It hurts me to think about what I am leaving behind in Denver but I'm hoping to stay in touch with the friends I've made and get together when I'm in the area. I have also faced the music that I'm going to have to get a new job. My dream of staying at home where shot dead with the announcement of the big "D" word. I have put a feeler out with my old boss to see if it would be possible to get my old position back as a library technician at the correctional center in Delta. I am anxiously awaiting her response. Otherwise, I am not sure what I will do or where I will go. I would love to get my Masters of Library Science but, that would require relocating to Denver or Kansas. There are many unknowns at this point, I'm just trying to go with the flow as I pick up the pieces of my life.

I have also been doing some research into divorce proceedings and got my second shock in a short time when I found out how much it typically costs to get a divorce--$4000! Yikes! I am sincerely hoping that my husband and I can agree on the terms of
our divorse and just file the paperwork pro se. This will be quicker and save us a lot of money. People are surprised when I tell them how long it takes to get a divorse. There is a 90 day waiting period from the separation and then takes an additional 4-6 months (best case scenerio) to have it finalized. It is my hope to have everything wrapped up by my birthday next year. That is, if we can agree and go pro se. Otherwise, it will be awhile before I'll have thousands of dollars to throw away on a lawyer.

Am I scared? No doubt! I'm on my own for the first time in about 10 years and this time, I have two children to care for. Am I sad? Sure. However, I am starting to see that this could be a good thing if it allows for both of us to move on and lead productive live and be the best possible parents to our girls. I know that they are our only reasons for living, at least at the present time.

I just wanted to thank everyone who's been there for me during all of this. I don't know what I'd do without you! I love you all! Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers for awhile as this is not going to be an easy time in my life.

Cara Update

Cara had her 2 week doctor's appointment on Thursday and I'm happy to report that our little Peanut is doing so well. Here are her stats:
6 lbs 9 oz (rebounded from 6lbs 2oz two days after birth)
20 inches long

Her doctor was very pleased with her progress as was I. For those that might remember, we really had some trials with Caitlin when she was really little. For starters, she had trouble gaining her weight back after birth so we had to have her weighed several times a week, and then, there was the thrush incident that ended breast feeding at 6 weeks. Refreshingly, breast feeding with Cara has been a piece of cake, she took to it like a pro. I can also tell that she's eating enough because she has gotten quite the belly lately, it's so cute. I feel so good that I'm able to feed my baby without any problems and watch her grow and prosper. Dr. Quinn said that she should now gain about an once a day for quite a while...holy smokes! No wonder I feel like a cow...she eats every 3 hours like clockwork!

We are also thrilled that Cara's jaundice appears to be on the way out. When she was tested at the doctor's office two days after birth, her billirubin levels were elevated. We were told to have her re-tested (oh my gosh, what a story there is around that) a few days later and if it wasn't down, that they would do the "light treatment". We went to the ER at her doctor's hospital (different than where she was born, another long story) to have her blood drawn and we told we had to go to the hospital where she was born, University of Colorado Hospial. We did, blood was drawn and we waited for the results. Come to find out that her levels were still slightly elevated (15.3 for those familiar) and that the family medicine doctor wanted us to do the natural light treatment at home. Basically, we had to strip Cara down to her diaper and lay her in her cradle near a window that got lots of sunlight. We did this for a few days and then took her back to have her billirubin levels checked again. Thankfully, it was done quite a bit so they let us go without any further "treatment". Hopefully, everything will be back to complete normal at her 2 month check up. If not, it will be UV lights for our little Peanut.

Onto happier notes...we assembled the swing for Cara this morning and I think she was in second heaven. She loved staring at the little lion and mirror on the tray of the swing and was soon off to visit Mr. Sandman. We also assembled the cutest little floor gym for her, having somehow misplaced or gotten rid of the one we had with Caitlin. This one has a little bird on top that flies around. I think the parents got a bigger kick out of it than the baby...at least at this age. She just stared at something for a long time, I'm still not sure what.

I guess that's it for now. Pictures will come later.

Happy Birthday Little Princess!

Ginger the Giraffe
Princess Caitlin & her balloons
The Disney Princess Big-Girl Bike
Caitlin's 3rd Birthday Cake--all about the Princesses
Caitlin on her new bike

**Sorry for the delay in posting about Caitlin's birthday. We actually celebrated on the 27th**

It seems like just yesterday that we brought Caitlin home from the hospital and now, here we are, celebrating her 3rd birthday. She was actively involved in the planning, insisting that she have the Cinderella cake and party supplies that we found at Target a month or so earlier. Yes, the Disney Princess obsession is still going live and strong.

We celebrated here at home (with Ben, Cara & I along with Grandma Ogoe and Aunt Effie who were visiting from MI) after debating whether or not to go to Chuck E Cheese or somewhere else. Turns out that Caitlin had a blast regardless of the location...she was living up the moment. Ben cooked a big batch of his wonderful spaghetti, I made some french garlic bread and we had veggies on hand for a nice big salad. Caitlin's favorite meal (besides Tyson chicken nuggets) is Daddy's spaghetti, so dinner was a big hit. Afterwards, we presented her with her Disney Princess cake and she was so excited and ready to blow out the candle.

This year, Caitlin received, from Mommy & Daddy, a Little Tyke's easel complete with paints, crayons, marker, glitter pens, colored pencils, stickers, paint sponges...the whole nine yards. It has been a hit since she has been creating little masterpieces (and putting her creative mark on our off-white carpet) every day since we assembled it. On one side there's a big clip for paper and on the other side is a chalkboard. By far, the paints and paper have been the biggest hit.

Aunt Effie (and Uncle Kofi) got Caitie the cutest little Disney Princess big-girl bike. True, it only sits about a two feet off of the ground and has training wheels, but it's a big-girl bike nonetheless. We took Caitlin to a park up in Estes Park (pictures to come) and let her try out her bike the following day. She loves to sit on it and put things in the little backpack but...she's having difficulty pedaling because, unlike her tricycle, she cannot pedal backwards on this bike, when she does, it applies the brake, which frustrates her. So, we have some bike-riding lessons in store of her. No doubt that she will pick it up quickly with a little practice.

Earlier in the week, Aunt Effie took Caitlin to Build-A-Bear Workshop where Caitlin made a birthday giraffe named Ginger. Ginger proudly follows Caitlin just about everywhere wearing her Cinderella outfit. Caitlin had a blast picking out her animal (she wanted just about all of them and we had to convince her that she could only have one) and then dressing her up. Unfortunately, I didn't think to get any pictures from Build-A-Bear. She did, at one point, have a piece of fake hair on and she looked exactly like a little Beatle, no joke!

Anyway, enjoy the pictures! :)