Isabel Louise Reinberg... discovery, birth to 4 weeks.. etc

I dont know where to start...
Pregnancy- 18 week ultrasound.
My thoughts:  3rd baby, been there done that, no need for Beau to come- so sure, he can go to Canada for a bachelor party, no problem,  I will take my mother-in-law and two kiddos to see the baby for the experience and we'll get lunch after.. sounds fun!
The US took FOREVER.  This was way longer than I remembered.  The tech was totally stoic and I remember stating at one point as she was looking at the heart... "everything looking good?!".  She kept saying she just needed a few more pictures of the heart. 
When she was finished, she didnt tell me I needed to stay, so I gatherd the family and left, thinking my dr. would tell me about it when I saw her the next week.  We got to Bread Co. and ordered and as we sat down I got a call from the dr.s at Mo Bap.  He asked if I was still at the office and I told him no, but did I need to be?  He said they found something wrong with the heart... words you never want to hear.  Still brings tears to my eyes as I recap the moment in my mind.  Frantic.  That is how I felt.  I said it out loud to Linda who was just sitting down at the table with the food... "We have to go.. there is something wrong with the baby's heart, we have to go back". 
I sat in the office waiting for the dr.  Alone.  I had called Beau and txt him that it was an emergency.  He listened over the phone as the dr. explained.  It looks like the baby has a heart defect.  AND... the nasal bone is absent which both are strong markers for Trisomy 21.  BOMB.  At least that is how it felt at the moment.  The heart defect felt like a breeze compared to the Trisomy 21, as bad as that might sound. 
Truly I was devastated.  Weird to say now, looking at this beautiful baby girl.  I dont feel any of those feelings that I did during my pregnancy now that she is in my arms.  I can only empathize with the me of 6 months ago.
Dr. visits, so many... fear, anger, sadness... that is what I felt until December 1, 2014.  That is the truth. 
December 1, 2014, 10:10 pm.  6lb 14oz, 19 1/2 inches.

Izzie Lou.

 

 

Here we are!

We moved!  Living in U City is better than I could have ever imagined.  HONESTLY, who know this neighbor would be so wonderful?  Al has 4 little boys on the street that he plays with every weekend, the church/school could not be more friendly and we now have a YARD!  I have made some good friends on the street and a great workout partner!  Jenny might be even more dedicated to exercising than I am which is great motivation.  I feel really blessed to be where we are right now.

 

Hope is 4!  She is 99th% for height and 75th% for weight.  Both kids are the tallest in their grade... so crazy.  Albert is in kindergarten and doing well... we are debating on whether or not to send him back to K next year so he will be in his dorrect grade or push him forward into first grade.  I hate this decision.. consumes my mind! 

I want to list all of the events that have occurred over the past year that I have not blogged, just for documentation sake, but that would be a BOOK. 

 

RESOLUTION:  write more

March Madness

So many great things have happened over the past month. I feel blessed even in when difficult things happen. For starters we found an amazing house, got a contract, then discovered it had some not so favorable "issues". We are waiting to hear from the seller on continued negotiations, but I fully believe what is supposed to happen will and it is out of my hands- as much as I LOVE control. :)
So good stuff- Al and Hope love their new school. Albert got chosen to be Jesus in his Atrium program for Passover. He really amazes me how mature he is even being the youngest in his new class...






He also had his first singing debut... Being the tallest he had to be in the top row which made for a bad picture, but cute still. They sang 15 short songs and signed the words at the same time, quite impressive. Oh, and he had to speak his full name and birthdate into the microphone when he walked in- it was a quick- "I'm Albert, birthday is August"... Being the first was slightly terrifying- lol.




We then had an unexpected visit from our Wisconsin cousins! Went to the city museum and Magic house...









And finally, our fantastic first family trip to the mountains solo.
The kids loved skiing- didn't cry one time at ski school drop off. I was so scared they would hate it bc I did when I was little. By the end Albert skied a Blue run!! He couldn't wait to get up every morning. Hope can't quite get "pizza" to stop so she hung out in "the yard" but she didn't mind. She was one of two 3 year olds so she got lots of attention. Not to mention that they no longer have to go through the torture of side stepping up the bunny hill each time to get to the top bc they have a luxurious conveyor belt they stand on to bring them up... Man that would have been nice.






Ryan met us on Friday and stayed for a Saturday run at Vail- awesome double black back bowls... Hilarious fall memories.


That is beau and Ryan trying to get down the bowl--- can you see them??! It was huge! Look at the 12 inches of powder!


Al is in the brown outfit with yellow vest on the left...

Hopie coming up the hill...she is the one in all pink.

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Hope 3 Year Stats

So for the record books:
Height: 40 inches (97th percentile)
Weight: 33 pounds (70th percentile?
BMI percentile: 14th....

The dr. casually asked me if she ate alright... Lol. Little did he know what this girl can put down.

She's pretty perfect!



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Sacred Heart Villa

Well true to form, Beau and I make a decision and run with it. Deliberation is not a word in our vocabulary. Hence we found a great school, why wait?! The kids started asap which was this week. Sacred Heart Villa gives us the community feel and targeted education that we wanted for our family and we are super excited.


Bonus is uniforms! They are loving it and have not shed a tear at drop off. New school, new viruses, so Hope is already home sick but I'm sure will make a swift recovery.
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Happy Birthday Hopie: 3 years!

Well my charming baby girl turned 3!


The flowers were a gift from dad since he couldn't be here.


Her only wish was tinker bell gummies, chocolate cupcakes, and gaba-gaba cookies (never figured out what those were!). Can you tell she likes sweets?
She wore her pink princes dress to school in true fashion. She loves to sing, dance, say silly phrases that make me cringe like "doodie head", give hugs and kisses (to anyone), antagonize her brother, play with her baby "Siya" (she stole the name from her birthday twin Rose), and she always always makes me laugh.

At Hope's request we had Mexican food with the fam on Sunday.
And then friends joined us for Mac n cheese, cake, and pj story time at the library on her birthday- a perfectly enjoyable evening...





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Holiday Season 2012

Well, here we are at the end of another Christmas season- it always blows by in a whirl wind of parties, cookies, presents and family events.
It began with a visit from Nana, Papa and Auntie Kristi before thanksgiving- Al dancing in the street, Hopie doing hair, and a trip to see the wild famous Rocketts- the perfect start to the season.








Then came the trees- one for them and one for me.






And what would Christmas be with out a visit to the MAC- for some Santa, gingerbread, and face painting.





















But wait, there's more!
The new Central library opened with Tuesday night pajama story time...





And of course- a Marak family sugar cookie tradition.





Then came the gifts. But often the box is even better than the loot. And other fun December times...






Bakugan toys...


Bikes...





First class on our trip to TX...






Night out with my cousins... With a 48 hour headache reminder.


And a trip to the Children's museum with Nonnie and Aunt Dedee.









Happy New Year!!!

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