Comparison Pictures

Do my kids look alike? You tell me.

The first picture is Cadence, second Rory and third is Beckah. I think they look a lot a like as babies.

Life with my girls...

It is impossible to get them to all look at the camera at the same time. Rory is just plain goofy and Cadence forgets that she has to look at the camera while fake smiling and Beckah is, well, a month old. lol

So what have we been up to? Lets start with Cadence. My dear Cadence.

She is such a joy to have in our home! She is the best big sister ever. Rory follows her around like a shadow and Cady rarely complains about it. They are always playing some kind of game and laughing, laughing, laughing. My house is full of laughter. What more could you ask for?

Cadence is totally in love with Beckah. She is also old enough to understand that Beckah takes up a lot of time. She is always helping me care for her in any way she can. I love how much Cady loves to help. She is awesome about getting me anything I ask for or need when stuck on the couch nursing. Beckah smiled at Cadence today. Her first real smile. I was a bit jealous, but to be fair Cadence is always talking to her sister and trying to get her to smile. Cady earned that smile.

Rory. My sweet, darling, wonderful, goofy Rory. I love how much crazy is packed into her little body. I love how much love is stuffed in there too. She is sooooooo good! Despite everything we have been through with her health wise, she is always all smiles, goofy faces, and so much laughter.

I love how bright she is. She figures things out much to quickly and is growing up way to fast. We are slowly starting piece together the puzzle that is her health. She is currently off of all soy and milk products and takes Singulair to help with what we think are gastrointestinal allergies. She is starting to gain more weight, have solid stools almost every day, and is just plain doing better than she ever has before. She is a trooper through it all too. She always cooperates with the doctors. They always tell me how wonderful it is to have a 2 year old smile during all the check up things that need to be done. She is silly, chatty, and loves people and it shows in every encounter she has with others. I am super thankful that she loves food like she does. With all the changes we have had to make, things could have been very complicated diet wise for her, but she eats her "special" foods with no issues. It is such a blessing.

She is totally in love with Beckah. She loves to hold her, kiss her and touch her. She is always telling people that she is the big sister now and gets to take care of her little sister. She is always gentle, always kind. She will be just as wonderful of a big sister as Cadence is and I dearly hope that she will have just as tight of a bond with Beckah as she does with Cadence. Rory adores Cadence. She calls her "My Cady" and is terribly upset if Cadence has to be away from her. Cadence starting school this year should be very interesting.

My sweet Beckah. My pregnancy with Beckah was horrible. I didn't realize how bad it really was until after she was born. I realized then that my morning sickness had never really gone away. It had become bearable to the point that I was able to get used to it. My skin and hair was a mess while I was pregnant. I felt awful and ugly. The acne was insane (you notice I never posted one picture of my pregnant self online). After Beckah was born it all disappeared!

She is a wonderful baby. She has been a great sleeper and rarely has bad nights. She is very quiet. She is my first baby to take her time eating. Cady and Rory were always in such a hurry to eat and be on their merry way. Beckah likes the cuddle time I think. She loves to be held and we love to hold her.

She was born with a white mark on her forehead that turned red about a week after she was born. Her doctor has confirmed that it is a Hemangioma or an abnormal build up of blood vessels under the skin. About 30% of hemangioma's are present at birth. They may be in the top layers of the skin (capillary) or deeper in the skin (cavernous) or a mixture of both. Beckah's looks to be capillary right now, but we won't be sure for a while. It can, and probably will grow, much like a tumor, and can become very large. This can get complicated in the toddler and preschool years since they can bleed a lot if injured. Small, superficial hemangiomas often disappear on their own. About 50% go away by age 5, and 90% are gone by age 9. They can be treated with lasers and steroids, but if left alone she shouldn't have any scaring. We are lucky that it is on her forehead and not near her eye or on the eyelid as that could impact vision. I am a little concerned about other children teasing her, as we all know that people can be cruel, and we have already had people ask what is wrong with her head. I have found explaining what it is in a very detailed matter of fact manner has stopped people from being negative about it. I am hoping that we will be able to keep her from being self conscious about it. I am also hoping that it won't turn out to be cavernous, so it will just look like a birthmark. Honestly though I don't really see it when I look at her. It's just part of her beauty.

These pictures were taken before the hemangioma turned red.

I feel so blessed in my house full of girls. Brady often tells us how special it is to be the only boy, surrounded by his girls. All three of them are so special and I feel so honored that the Lord felt that I should be their mother here on earth. They each have taught me so much and I can't wait to see how they grow and mature. I feel like the luckiest mom in the world.