Two Parties are Tea Parties!

We have a little party animal. We went to three parties last weekend. We took Nayeli to all of them. We told her we are going to two parties and Nayeli kept saying "tea parties". The next day when we were going to the third party we said there will be kids there for you to play with she said "go see kids". I guess she really liked the third party because she is still asking to see kids as of today. She had fun at every single one. We never thought we would be a normal family. A year ago we avoided crowds and didn't go out and were on winter lockdown. This year is so different. We are still paranoid when we here someone coughing or sniffling we run the other way. We are just trying to enjoy going out as a family during the winter months. She tried ice skating a few weeks ago. She loved it! Twinkie and Max! I love this picture! This is how we look every night while we are watching Barney or Gabba before tubby time. I am trying to picture the twins and how I am going to juggle them in here too. I keep telling myself I can do it! I am also praying alot and asking God to help me. We have a comedian in our hands. The other day when we were driving in the car Nayeli said "ewww fart" "roll down window". She farted and it was a stinky fart.Shane and I laughed so hard. She is so funny! She has the cutest little voice. I love hearing her talk. When she wakes up she will start yellling "Mommy" several times. Then it will be "Daddy". She hates getting dressed in the morning so we let her stay in her jammies when we have no where to go right away. She also hates diaper changes in the morning. Just today she has been saying she needs to go potty. So I think she is ready for potty training this weekend. I have been reading books that some potty trained children will regress after a sibling arrives. I am expexting that to happen and will know why if it does. She loves going on the computer and seeing pictures and blogs. She is very vocal on what she wants and what she dislikes. She is following simple instructions and she is a great little helper. I ask her to clean up or put toys away and she will do it and put things away and loves to do it. Since I am having a hard time bending over she is a great helper in getting things for me when I can't bend over. We are so happy that we can listen to other music other than hers in the car again. She will actually say musica and more if the volume is too low or we have a CD on and waiting for the next song. She loves to play with Twinkie and he seems to be ok with her doing things to him that Molly won't allow. She will dress him up, wrestle or hug him and put blankets on him. We got her a Yo Gabba Gabba music CD. She loves it! Here is a video of her dancing. She loves to dance and run around when she hears this CD. She has become more independent. She wants to do things herself and will say "I do it". I will look at her eveyday and it's truly amazing how fast she is growing up. She is so sweet and loves to cuddle. I hope that we will continue to have one on one time with her when the twins arrive because it's so important to me and I am sure it will be for her too.

We took her to get a picture with Santa. She was serious the entire time and didn't smile once. When she was done she went straight to the ducks and was so happy she laughed non stop. She loves animals and will say each animal sound. We have video of that back during the summer but I will make a new one soon. She will go around and pretend she is a bear or lion and make a roaring sound and ask me if I am scared. I say yes I am so scared. She giggles and continues to do it. She will do something and ask if I like it or will ask Shane if he likes it. Sometimes we have to say no because it's something like pulling my hair or squeezing my breast. Not fun! Other times it will be her brushing my hair or putting a blankie on me. That I do like. We turned her car seat forward facing a few weeks ago and she loves it. She will say "careful mama" when I am driving or "come on people". She likes to say that when there is also hockey game on. She is a great Kings and Sabres fan.

We decorated the tree last week and she had so much fun putting up ornaments. She received her first gift from her nanny who she calls "Nina". She wanted to open it but we told her she would have to wait until christmas. She has been really good and hasn't touched any of the gifts that we have wrapped. I went to my high risk Dr. today. He said everthing looks great. He said it's ok for me to travel and to go to LA. I am so happy! He did have me go on a preterm birth watch. It's sounds scarieer than it sounds. I am 26 weeks this week and I have been put on preterm birth watch. Basically they are just monitoring me a little closer. I get a call from a nurse once a week on a Tuesday morning. They want me to lay down for one hour once a day and feel for contractions. I am just glad I am not on bed rest and things are looking great. Thank you GOD!

My Dr. has to check my cervix each visit with this device not fun. Shane made him laugh during this picture. Here is a picture of the twins heads I made a short video of the funny and cute things she is doing. I wish I had a candid camera all of the time because she will sometimes stop doing something when she sees the camera. She will say "see it" and wants to see herself.

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2 year checkup and more!

I realized that I never posted Nayeli's 2 year check up that she had in late October. The check up went well she weighs 25.6 lbs and is 36 inches long. They had to measure her twice to be sure. She had her flu shot and didn't even cry. She is tough! Here she is giving her Dr. a stare like "what are you going to do with that?" She was so happy when she received a book from the DoctorThree little monkeys! My parents came to visit at the beggining of the month while Shane was in NY running the marathon for CDH research for UCSF. He raised over 3k. I am so proud of him for doing what he did. He now is addicted to marathons and is running his next in January. My parents were awesome! They cleaned the house, cooked dinners for me and spoiled me rotten. The greatest thing was Nayeli loved spending every minute with Granma and Granpa. Here is my mom and Nayeli having a tea party. Nayeli is so cute she told my mom to sit down and then tried pushing her chair in.On the steam trains! My mom knitted this beautiful sweater for Nayeli. She loves it and wanted her hood on the entire time. She looks adorable!Nayeli giving Grandpa a kiss and a hug. Our little girl is so amazing she is talking, singing and dancing non stop. Her vocabulary has expanded so much it's hard to keep up with her new words. She calls a purse a pocket. She is always requesting Gabba and Barney. When something is on the way she will say "its coming". She loves looking out the window at the Garbage truck. She dances to anything that has a beat. She has empathy towards animals or her stuffed ones. When Twinkie and Molly decide to get her Teddy or doggie stuffed toys she gets upset and takes them away and immediately gives them a hug. She is putting sentences together more each day. She will say "Here it is", "a hold you" "go kings" "I bring it" "I got it" "Tutti (twinkie) get squirrel". She has a great memmory. If we are driving past a landmark she knows such as the Doctors office or the place she had her basketball classes during the summer she will call it out "Doctors" "Basketball". She tries to sing "Twinkle little star and ABC she makes up words if she doesn't know the rest of it. I will try to get it on video. She is funny when we film her. Sometimes she hates it and other times she doesn't care.

Her bottom back molars started coming in at the beggining of the month. She would chew on her sleeves or her fingers. She had a slight fever twice. It also caused her to wake up a few times a night. We gave her tylenol a few times at night to relieve the discomfort. We also noticed she was very clingy and moody. She is back to her normal self.

Fingerpainting on a rainy day She got a cough for the first time last Friday. She got over it fast. The first two nights she gagged and puked. We elevated her mattress, gave her honey, lots of fluids and got a humidifier for her room. Her cough was gone by Monday. We are so glad it didn't last and it wasn't serious. She has gotten back in the habbit of being rocked before bedtime. Our routine for bedtime is reading a book everynight and she drinks milk in her sippy cup. As soon as I put her in her crib she will say "hold you" and is standing up with her arms reaching out to me. If I am standing and holding her she will say "sit down". I am a sucker because I can't say NO. I don't rock her for a very long time just for a few minutes. Then I put her back in her crib give her a kiss and walk out. She falls asleep right away. She has only done this to Shane once. She also prefers I put her down for her nap or bedtime. She will sometimes cry when Shane takes her. I thought we were passed this phase. I guess its a mommy thing. I love this momment with her because I know it won't be for very long she will soon phase it out.

My belly is geting big! It's sometimes hard to hold Nayeli on my lap. She will say back and wants me to sit back. I am but she thinks I am not. My belly sometimes bumps Nayeli's head because she will be standing right next to me. I am starting to have a hard time sleeping because my back and hips get sore from laying on my side. I don't remember being this sore with Nayeli. I am feeling more movement and it's great feeling it! Nayeli kisses my belly and will say "hi babies" she still wants me to open my belly so she can see them. We take her to the Dr. appts and she loves seeing the babies on the U/S. I bought a few books to help her understand about being a big sister and bringing a baby home in our case babies. I also bought a book about juggling twins. We are sure it will be a challenge we are ready and excited.

I had a great time having dinner with a friend. We had to compare bellies. She is 33 weeks here and I am... well I look huge! Nayeli is kissing my belly We went to see Yo Gabba Gabba live. Nayeli loved the show. She hardly sat down and stood up danced the entire show. She was so excited she kept telling the people sitting in front of us Gabba, Gabba! It was great seeing her face light up when she was watching the show. After the show was over she said "see Barney"
We had a nice Thanksgiving. Shane had to work that evening so we ate before he went to work. I was thankful I didn't have to cook. We are thankful everyday for Nayeli. We are thankful that God has chosen us to be parents of twins. We are excited and so happy! Yesterday we took Nayeli in to have her hearing tested. The Doctor told us that she would have to have her ear wax build up removed before the test. She said it was alot of wax in the back of her ear that it would cause for a bad test. We had a Doctor see us right away. He told us if she cant hold her head still he would have to probably surgically remove it by anesthesia. I quicky got my cell phone and tried putting Barney or Gabba on. No service! So I tried the next thing. I put videos on I have saved on the phone. It worked she didn't move her head at all. The Doctor took out the ugliest piece of wax from her ear. It was the size of a finger nail. We were shocked! Off we went back to get her hearing tested. Nayeli did great and passed all of the tests with flying colors. She doesn't have to go back for another year. As a disclaimer we clean her ears regularly. The ear wax was build up so far back in her ear that it would probably would have never come out on it's own. We hope this doesn't happen again.

We are going to try to start potting training in two weeks. I have been reading and getting helpful hints on what to do. I am torn between using Pullups during the day or just having her wear underwear and cleaning up the mess each time. During the night it would be a nighttime pullups. If you have any suggestions we would love to hear them. Thank you!

2 year photos

We had our 2 year photos taken a week ago. I decided to make a video since there was so many to post.

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I had my level 2 ultrasound today. I was so nervous about it I lost some sleep. Yesterday Nayeli distracted me by having her terrible twos meltdown. I think it was her way of helping me keep distracted on not think too much about today. It worked!
The sonographer took over 2 hours to examine the twins. I kept asking him questions but he said he is not allowed to share any information with us. I kept trying. When it was over I tried again and he said he didn't see anything wrong. The Dr. came in and said everything looks fine but she needs to check a few things. She took over an hour and concluded the twins look great and there is no CDH. I had tears of happiness. Thank you GOD! I am so glad to hear those words. We are continuing to pray that my pregnancy remains healthy.

Nayeli Faith is 2

Nayeli turned 2 on the 22nd. We had her birthday party the week before. We are so glad we did because it rained this entire weekend. She had so much fun playing with her guests and meeting Strawberry shortcake. Her favorite was getting her face painted. When it was time for her nap she was out within a minute. We are so glad we got to see our friends we hadn't seen in a while it was a very special day. For her actual birthday we had a photo shoot with our photographer and took her to dinner to her favorite place Red Robin. They sang happy birthday to her and she ate a sundae.

Opening presents after her nap the day of her birthday party.Opening presents the morning of the 22nd.She made a table and chair out of her boxes that her presents were in. I guess I know what to get her next. Video of dinner at Red Robin

She is talking non stop. It's great that she is able to express what she wants and feels. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what she is trying to say but we tune in and after the third time she says something I understand. It's almost like a different language. I can see it in her face that she is so happy when I get it. She stopped breastfeeding at the end of Septemeber. She started by refusing BF during nap time then shortly it was bedtime. I was sad for a few days. I prepared myself ahead of time and new that day would come. I don't blame her since I was dry and nothing was coming out. She is very happy with getting milk in a sippy cup before nap and bedtime. It's great that she stopped and now I feel like I have a little more freedom for a short while before the twins get here.

My parents came up at the beggining of the month. We held our first bingo fundraiser for the foundation and it was a successful event. We showed the guests a video of our story and educated them about CDH. Nayeli would yell her name when she would see herself it was so cute. Nayeli left with my parents and it was nice knowing I didn't have to go home and BF. The following week we made plans to go out with some of our good friends. It was great getting a babysitter and not having to BF and put her to bed. I really had a hard time leaving her before but it's easier now that I am not BF. I had a Dr. appt on the 22nd. It went well. I had been nervous up to that day because of what someone said to me two weeks before that. I am sure they never meant to hurt my feelings but it sure bothered me until my appt. The Doctor told me again that it looks like baby A is a girl and baby B is a boy. We saw them and they are so active and look great. My Level 2 ultrasound is next Friday so I am sure I will be nervous and anxious as it gets closer. I am praying for a good appt.
Our cat Max always likes to keep us on our toes. A week ago he woke up and looked disoriented. He was bumping into things and was walking all over Twinkie and Molly and couldn't see them. We took him in after a $700 bill it turns out he has high blood pressure which caused his retina detachment. They gave him medication and he is alot better. We don't know how much of his eyesight he got back but he is looking out the windows again. He now has a heart problem, kidney problem and high blood pressure. You would never know there was anything wrong with him. He is one strong cat. His vet bill adds on to our bills that we can not afford but are struggling to get by since the Dr. took me off of work and my short term disability got turned down. I am appealing it so I am praying it will get approved. God always takes care of us and we are healthy which all that matters to us.

We went to UCSF ICN reunion yesterday. It was great seeing all the Doctors and nurses that helped Nayeli during her battle with CDH. We got so many ideas and input from them for our foundation. We hope to be able to accomplish all of it for them. Here are some pictures.

"Babies Open"

We are sad summer is over especially since we didn't have alot hot summer days. I guess today we got lucky and had a warm day. Looking back we had a great summer. We went to LA twice, Lake Tahoe, Colorado and Disneyland. Nayeli likes to travel. During the summer I had her enrolled in wee hoop a basketball class, gymnastics, swimming and kindermusik. She loved it all. For the fall I signed her up for Gymnastics, Kindermusik and the new sport Soccer. She thinks it's basketball and says "basetball". She loves all of her classes. Gymnastics and Soccer end at the end of October and Kindermusik goes through December. I can't believe we are actually going to take her into a room full of children during the cold/flu season. The instructor is really good about disinfecting everything and knows about Nayeli so I am not too worried. Nayeli was turned down for her RSV shot this season so she will only get her flu shot. A few weeks ago she kept coughing everytime she would take a nap or go to bed at night. She almost gagged a few times. It was scary to hear her when she would wake up cough and gag and then cry. She would immeidately fall asleep. When I spoke with the nurse at her Doctors office she said it was nasal drip and she was right. She had no fever and had a runny nose during the day. It lasted for 3-4 days. She showed us how her body can fight something. So we hope to make it through this cold/flu season.Nayeli was so happy to see Barney Live at the Kids Expo

I am enjoying my time at home with Nayeli. We have so much fun. Every morning when she wakes up she says "wake up" or will yell "hey". She is full of energy and sometimes doesn't want to take a nap and will fight it until she is in her bed. Then she is out within 5 minutes. She loves playing with her toys by herself alot more. She will come and grab my hand and say "sit" if she wants me to play with her. If I leave she gets really unhappy. So I basically leave everything that needs to be done until her nap time. She will call Twinkie "TOOTIE" and loves Molly and says her name right. She is glued to Barney when we put the DVD in. She likes Mickey Mouse in the morning for 30 minutes. and Barney and Yo Gabba Gabba at night for 45 minutes. She is fascinated with stickers she puts them all over her body, on me, teddy or anything she can stick them on. She loves going to the park. It's funny to watch her because she just stops and stares at the big kids and wants to participate with their games. When it's time to leave she will say "bye guys" I don't know where she got that from. It's very cute! She says hi to everyone including people that ignore her. She keeps saying hi until they respond. It's funny because I do the same thing.

One funny thing she did while we were driving in the car is she said "come on peoples lets go". I guess she is picking up on our vocabulary. She is such a fast learner. She will repeat everything you tell her. I have been trying to speak to her in spanish alot more. I think she understands. She loves her wooden puzzles and gets frustrated when she can't get it right. I am always right there telling her it's ok I will help you. My favorite thing I love is when she hears music and grabs my hand and wants to dance. She has this big grin on her face when you twirl her around. It makes me so happy to see her this way. She cracks me up when she grabs my belly and says "babies open". She wants everything opened so I guess my belly is included in this. She gives us so much laughter and happiness. We are grateful for her to be in our lives. I can't wait to see what she will do and teach the twins.

I went for my NT ultrasound earlier this week. I was a nervous wreck before going. I had sleepless nights. We prayed everyday and kept faith in God. The appt went well and we were so happy. My mom came up from LA to watch Nayeli while we went to the appt. I was so glad she was here. On my way to pick her up I was alone in the car and I just bursted out crying. I had to release my emotions. I am thankful for the appt going well and I pray the Level 2 appt goes the same way. They weren't for sure on what the sex of baby A is possibly a girl but the sonographer said baby B is a boy and she said she is 90% on this. Please keep us in your prayers.

* This note is for Sarah, Noah's mommy. Will you please email me nayelifaithfoundation@gmail.com thank you.