Easter Bunny!!

I took the kids to see the Easter Bunny tonight. They did wonderfully. Emma was very enthralled in the lights from the flash, and Landon was happy as could be to sit there and hold the yellow Easter egg while smiling and saying cheese. I am really thrilled they had so much fun, I was curious to see if Landon would be scared of this creature with an abnormally large head as my cousin Andrea puts it! We went and played in the play area of the mall after wards and then had dippin dots (rainbow sherbet of course) once Landon was all played out! We hope everyone has a good holy week. We are spending it with our family and friends, and hope you are able to do the same!

New badge

My friend Lindsay made this badge for Landon. Feel free to steal it and use it, but please just give her the credit for it. I am so stinkin' excited about it. It's the mito ribbon and then of course the VLCADD part is Landon's disorder. I really hope to spread it around and to hopefully be able to use it to spread awareness for Landon and other's with VLCADD and Mito. Thanks Again Lindsay, you rock!

Food Post

I am not one to usually say anything or talk about brands when it comes to products. But, I am going to make an exception this time. I have found some amazing stuff that I believe will be helpful to my VLCAD friends and well anyone looking for loq fat snack or food options. It is always exciting to find a snack that is within Landon's calorie to fat ratio set for by his metabolic nutritionist (1 gram of fat per 50 calories), but it's even more exciting to find ones that have ZERO fat!

I was wondering through Sam's last night with my mom looking for snack options for Landon that he could have on a regular basis (not an easy task, let me tell you...or usually a cheap one). But, we stopped at these pretzel chip/cracker things. When I checked the fat on the backit was ZERO, I was so excited. Not only does Landon LOVE pretzels, but they are usually really hard to find within his fat ratio. These pretzels have 0 fat and only 110 calories. I literally did a small happy dance in the middle of aisle at Sam's. So, i took a picture so you could all see them and hopefully find them near you. I have only seen them at Sam's, but they may be else where and I just haven't noticed.

I know most fat free foods  have no taste, but I always taste things when I give them to Landon. That way if he doesn't like them I will know why, and also just out of curiosity. I am not a pretzel eater by any means, but even I can't put these suckers down...they are really that good. I think with a little cheese (we will probably use laughing cow, and just a small amount) they would be even better!

My other food rave of the day is powdered peanut butter. I have searched high and low for this stuff and wasn't able to find it. My dad and I wandered into this little store right by his office a week or so ago. They had a sign all lit up that said they sold fat free foods (I was skeptical, but figured why not?). They had salad dressings and what not (things Landon clearly is not interested in yet, but could be used for marinades down the road), and when I was asking about their pastries (it's apparently a bakery too but only gluten free, not fat free...urgh), I saw on the counter the powdered peanut butter. My dad thought i was nuts that I was so excited over something so odd...but I quickly educated him on the facts. Powdered peanut butter has 85% less fat than regular peanut butter. This kind (see pic below) has 1.5 grams of fat and only 45 calories, clearly within Landon's ratio!! Regular peanut butter has 16 grams of fat and 190 calories, NOT in our ratio of acceptable foods. The store also had it in powdered peanut butter with a little bit of chocolate, which sounds yummy and I may get next time for him...but at $8 a container I couldn't justify it until we needed more.

Playing at the Park

I took the kiddos to the park today. Landon had a blast playing, sliding, running, and swinging. Ms. Emeline had a great time snoozing away in her sling! The weather was beautiful today so I figured it would be nice to get Landon out to play and burn off some of his energy...I truly wish I had half of his energy, I could get so much done! We had fun and then came home and ate lunch and are about to take a nap. Have a great day everyone!

Ready, Set, Go!!



This boy loves to slide!!

Brave Boy! He accidentally got stuck like this and bravely slid down this way. I caught him at the bottom and we celebrated how brave he is!!

He is getting so big, I  love it but at the same time wish it would slow down just a bit. And yes, the Binky thief was at it again. It was confiscated right after I took the picture.



Recent pics & update!

Sorry for being MIA (again). It has been a complete whirlwind since Emeline was born. With the holidays and my mom coming to visit for 2 weeks. Then after all of that slowed down and we were getting back to "normal" I was rushed to the ER in an ambulance for extreme and excruciating right side abdominal pain. Spent 2 days and 1 night in the hospital to find out I needed Emergency Gallbladder surgery ASAP, and that I had a small amount of fluid around my heart and lungs (from having E, it happens in some women) and I am not to have any more children...good thing we were done. So, I had my Gallbladder removed on 1/10/11 and my Aunt came to stay with us for a week to help out. Then Landon turned 2 on 1/19/11 and we left for Dallas on 1/20/11 (we drove) to surprise my mom for her birthday on 1/25/11. We are still in Dallas visiting and having a great time. We've played in the record snow they have here, and celebrated lots and lots of birthdays and the grandparents are having a blast with the kiddos.

In good news Landon has not been hospitalized in over a year, in fact it's been 14 months!! I am so happy. He is doing really great! At his 2 year well check he was 37 inches (tall!) and 29.8 pounds. We see the Geneticist in March (after having our appt rescheduled buckoos of times by them), so I am interested to see how he is doing from a Metabolic stand point. I am expecting great news like always!!

So here are some new pics of the kiddos and a few from Christmas that were taken by our good friend Garry and his dad...thanks guys!

Emeline in my Christening gown the day she was baptised!

Love this!

Playing 'Toddler Teasers' with Landon waiting for the pictures to start...oops. I love this picture though.



**It's not letting me add the other ones right now, so I will add them tomorrow when I get the chance (read: nap time!).**

Emeline's 3 Hour Birth Story!!

Saturday 12/4/2010


I woke up at 1:30 a.m. with contractions that were like horrible period cramps. They would range from 6-15 minutes apart and were about 30 seconds to a minute long. I switched sides I was laying on, but nothing stopped them. Finally around 3:00 a.m. they slowed down enough that I was able to fall asleep. At 4:30 a.m. I woke up again because they were back in full force, but this time mostly in my back. Again they were anywhere from 4-10 minutes apart. I rolled around trying to get comfy and eventually ended up in Landon’s room on the bed in there. Again, they slowed down enough at about 6:30 a.m. that I was able to fall asleep until Landon woke up at 7:15. So, I got up with Landon and we did our normal routine. The contractions continued all morning long, mostly in my back and ranging from 6-10 minutes apart. I played with Landon, ate, did some laundry, picked up the house, etc. Scott and Z went to the grocery store and came home. We all had lunch, although I was so nauseas by this time that I let Landon eat my lunch and I had just water and a few bites here and there. Contractions were still mostly in my back, and I wasn’t convinced this was real.” After lunch Scott and I called everyone in the neighborhood to call off the cookie exchange the next day just in case, and then we headed to the bakery where my mom had ordered us cookies for the party to pick them up. On the way out there and while out and about and on the way home my contractions were 4-6 minutes apart and became more intense, but still mostly in my back. So, I called the OB. They told me to go to L&D to be checked and see what was going on. So, we got home, got Landon settled and down for a nap and Carey and Sean came up to watch him for us. We headed to the hospital and checked in around 4:30 p.m. They monitored me and I was contracting 4-6 minutes apart, but they weren’t as intense as they wanted to see them. They checked me and I was 3.5 cm dilated and 50% effaced…up from 2 cm at my appt on Thursday. They sent me walking the halls for an hour to see if I would progress. Scott wasn’t feeling well so he went to his mom’s to rest until we knew more about what was going on. They checked me at 6:oo p.m. after my hour long walk, no progress except my cervix had moved more posterior. Still contracting every 4-6 minutes, so the nurse called the OB and told them what was going on. They knew I was in early labor and with this being my second baby and the fact that we live 45 minutes from the hospital with no traffic they decided to admit me. They were going to watch me over night and if I hadn’t made significant progress on my own by morning they would induce me then. So, I called Scott and he came and helped me get settled in to L&D and then he went home to be with the boys. After 4 stabs and no luck trying to get an IV in, they called Anesthesia to do it…ouch, but they got it the first try. So, I settled in and took my Ambien and slept on and off all night long.

Sunday December 5, 2010

I woke up around 7:00 a.m. and talked to Landon and Scott on the phone for a few minutes before using the restroom, getting settled in to start the Pitocin. Pitocin was started at 8:00 a.m. once Scott had arrived and my contractions I was still having became more intense almost immediately. They were doable at first, but went to extremely intense and painful very quickly. I was checked by the OB when she came in around 8:30 a.m. and was 4 cm. She broke my water, which had Muconium in it, so they had to put in a catheter to flush fluid through my uterus to get as much of it out as they could before she was born…ouch is about all I have to say about that. Contractions became even more intense and unbearable after my water was broke and the catheter was placed. I asked for an Epidural because I was crying through contractions and they were coming every 2 minutes! After getting the Epi I had to be rolled around because it was working on my left side, but I was still crying through contractions since they were in full force on my right side. About 5-10 minutes later and lots of rolling, I was finally unable to feel them and to relax. Well, then Emeline’s heart rate would drop into the 50’s come back to the low 100’s and repeat for about 4 minutes…things got hectic at this point. They flipped me to my left side and gave me oxygen and called in more nurses. At this point I could feel her coming, the pressure in my bottom area was so intense I swore that’s where she was going to come out. The Catheter was being pushed out with all the pressure, and that hurt like heck, but the OB had to be the one to take it out so I had to deal with it. Every contraction that came I swore she was going to come out on her own, the pressure was that intense. The OB finally got there and got everything all set up and we started pushing. 3 short pushes and her head was out, and a very small 4th push and she was completely out…less than 10 minutes total. Emeline Arley Heise was born at 10:47 a.m. weighing 7 lbs 8.3 oz and was 20.5 inches long. They whisked her away immediately due to the Muconium and the NICU nurse and Doctor worked on her for about 30-45 minutes. They had to suck out her lungs, mouth, nose, etc with a intubator suctioner since she had Muconium in her lungs. She was also born with her cord loosely wrapped around her neck, so they had to check her for that too. They were able to just pull it off, so it wasn’t serious, but still scary.

She is doing great now, feeding is going well and the boys love having a sister. Here are a few more pics!!
**Updated with the Zach picture**

Hi Pretty Girl!

First Photo with Mom and Dad

Landon came to visit at the hospital! Unfortunately Z was sick so he couldn't come.

Taking a nap with daddy. So cozy!!

Loving the vibrating chair!

Zach and E

Miss Emeline is here!!!

Ms. Emeline decided to choose her own birthdaey and make her appearance yesterday, December 5, 2010at 10:47 a.m. after only 3 hours of  labor!! She weighed 7lbs 8.3 oz (a whole pound and a half smaller than Landon!!) and was 20.5 inches long. She looks just like her big brother, but has blonde hair!! Everyone of course is smitten with her. Breast feeding is going well so far, I think having done it before really helps with staaying calm and not getting frustrated as easily. I will post a birth story when I get more time, but for now here are some pictures!

shortly after birth.

She looks exactly like Landon did as a Newborn to me, except he had WAY chubbier cheeks!