A Week Of First's...

This week has been a week of firsts for Chayse! It started off with her FIRST EAR INFECTION, which was actually a double ear infection causing her fevers of over 105. She was not a happy girl for a few days but she is feeling much better now!

Chayse went to the BEACH for the first time this year...

Chayse sat on the POTTY for the first time, although she has no idea what she is supposed to do with it once she is on it...

Chayse played with BUBBLES for the first time, at her first VISIT to her Great Aunt Gracie and Great Uncle Temus's house...

And she added "ALL DONE" to her vocabulary this week!!

12.5 month stats on a growing girl!

At Birth: 7 lbs 14 oz, 20.5 inches
At 2 months: 11 lbs 10 oz (60%), 22.5 inches (45%)
At 4 months: 14 lbs 3 oz (50%), 24.75 inches (60%)
At 6 months: 15 lbs 7 oz (30%), 26.25 inches (60%)
At 9 months: 18 lbs 2 oz (30%), 27.5 inches (35 %)
At 12 months: 19 lbs 7 oz (20%), 29.75 inches (65%)

As her pattern has shown, she continues to be a longer, skinner baby on the curve! She burns sooooo much energy and sooooo many calories a day walking around... and now running!!! She gets going so fast it is hysterical to watch. Because of her teething causing the running nose, which caused a double ear infection (which has been causing the fevers), Chayse did not get any of her one year shots today. We will have to go back at 13 months and have those done once she is over this double ear infection.

Chayse...

Baby girl has been a sick little thing this week so I have not been on line very much. She has been fighting a fever that has been right at 105 several times. We go to the doctors office again on Monday so hopefully we will know more about what is going on once we go. If you would, please say a prayer that she gets over whatever this is pretty quickly as she is not herself at all and I miss my baby girl!!!

We did make it out to Duke toward the end of last week and took them a CAR LOAD of toys! They were very grateful and most of the toys went to use as soon as they were taken out of the box. We were very pleased with the toy drive and the Camp K outcome. It was a wonderful way to celebrate Chayse's first year of life!!! Duke sent us a very sweet thank you note this week for all of the donations so from Duke to us to you, thank you!!!

Other than that, not too much has been going on. We had a wonderful Mother's Day. It was quite but fun. Nathan and Chayse got me a new camera and I LOVE it! Now I just need to fugure out how to use it!! It is a canon 50D and is a little over my head still but I am learning how to use it! Chayse and I played outside in her little blow up pool. We set it up three weeks ago and she LOVES it! She thinks it is the neatest thing!! I thought about Hope a lot that day and how different our life would be had she lived. It is hard to soak in Mother's Day... I am so lucky that my mother was able to go into remission from cancer and that she is still here with me so that I can celebrate her. I wish Nathan was able to see his mom on Mother's Day but the distance makes traveling so far with a little one and being pregnant a little difficult (it is too far to be from my doctors at this point) so I felt bad for him not to be able to see her on Mother's Day. I love that I was able to spend my second Mother's Day with Chayse and how special that was. I was sad that Hope was not here with us. Mother's Day was the last time that I saw my Daddy as my Daddy... his brain tumor started bleeding just two days after Mother's Day and he was never of the same mental status again. It is just a flurry of different emotions and it is hard to sort them out. I know time makes things easier but there are some days that are just plain hard and Mother's Day is one of them.

The toy drive for Duke

Sunday was the big day for Chayse's first birthday party, which meant not only were we celebrating her birth, we were celebrating her life. And what a fun first year it was been! Instead of toys, friends brought toy donations for Duke Children's Hospital as well as partaking in a quilt raffle fundraiser. And gosh, did they ever answer the call for our cause! The toy drive for Duke Children's Hospital was HUGE!!! We had lots of toys donated and we raised $761!!! We split the money up into two piles... one for more toys and one for Camp Kaleidoscope. Nathan, Chayse, and I all went Target last night and purchase over $700 in more toys (we matched the toy money donation in order to be able to get that many toys) and we put $300 aside from donations to send a child to Camp Kaleidoscope!! IT WAS SO MUCH MORE THAN WE EVER DREAMED IT WOULD BE!! I have to be honest though, it has been such a high to know that we are doing something so good for so many children and families. I cannot image what it will be like when we actually take the toys to Duke Children's Hospital later this week and deliver the check to send a child to camp!! Here is what the final toy pile looked like before I boxed it all up...

The Cake Never Stood A Chance....

We celebrated Chayse's birthday at home with family on Friday night and it was so much fun. It is amazing how much Chayse has changed and grown in the last year. We grilled out and had her favorites for dinner and then Chayse took on a small strawberry cake, made just for her! She loved it!!!

Her actual birthday party was on Sunday afternoon and we had such a good time with family and friends... the weather was perfect and it was a great afternoon for a party! All in all, we ended up with over 100 people and it was so much fun! We had tents in the yard and a blow up bounce play house for the kids to play in...

Not a fan of grass...

Miss Fearless wouldn't get off the slide! Here she is with her Uncle H!

And we had a great success with the toy drive... more to come on that in another post!

A Letter For Chayse...

My dearest Chayse,
My beloved child. So much has changed in the last 365 days since you entered into this world. The pages of time are going by so quickly. One year ago, a miracle of God’s doing met us face to face at 2:56 am. It rained that day, and I held my breath as I pushed you out. You entered into this world quietly but you were ever so ready to face the world. Our eyes beheld you and nothing has been the same since. From the first moment I saw you, my precious daughter, I knew you were special. I honestly cannot believe that it has been a whole year since we were finally able to see your sweet face and were able to hold you in our arms. I was in total awe of you right from the first breath you drew. The first time I looked into your face, I knew I had been given something far better than anything I ever deserved… a precious and wonderfully made gift, directly from God. I was given you. My dearest Chayse, you have helped heal both of your parents and mend broken people. You see, when your big sister left this world, she also left us with broken hearts. I was not sure that they could ever be mended. My pregnancy with you was a sweet dream with no troubles or trials to overcome. As much as I worried about heart defects and Down Syndrome and kidneys and stomachs, I knew that no matter what, all of my worries would be worth it… the reward was at the end of the delivery… it was you.

Chayse the moment I saw you, I cried and I am sitting her crying now as I think about how much you have changed me. I used to sit every night and look at Hope’s urn sitting on the fire place and every night, it was all I could do not to cry. I would sit and stare at her for hours for it was all I could do. She was not here for me to be a mother to. With Hope, we missed so much and we you, we have grown so much. Learned so much. Loved so much. I know that Hope is so proud of you and loves you just as we do. You could not have a better guardian angel than her.

You have been such a treasure to watch every day and I am the luckiest person in the world because I get to spend every day with you. Leaving my career was the best thing I ever did, next to having you and Hope of course! The changes you have made over your first year of life have been amazing to watch. The new things you learn excite us every day. It has been a blessing to be able to watch you grow from a newborn into an independent one year old! Chayse you complete me in ways that I did not know that I needed to be completed. Watching you has been better than anything I could have ever thought of in my wildest imaginations. You make me a better person just by being in my world. I love you, sweet girl. I love you without needing anything from you in return... I just love you. I am so proud to be the one you call Mama. I love being your mother, your teacher, your healer when you hurt, your comfort in the night when you cry, your friend when it is playtime… I just love you.

Chayse Nicole, I pray you know how proud of you we are. You are a wonderful person and I am so glad that God chose me to be your mother, and for you to be my daughter. I would not change a thing about this past year. While I know that I am not a perfect person or mother, always know that I love you and will do anything I can to make your world and life as good as it can be. I cannot begin to imagine what you will learn and accomplish in the next year of your life. I look forward to many conversations with you. I look forward to seeing you interact as a big sister! I look forward to watching you accomplish many things in your lifetime. I pray every night that the Lord would bless your Daddy and I both with one more day with you, one more year, one wonderfully full lifetime with you. I love you to the moon and back sweet baby girl. My cup runneth over Chayse Nicole, my cup runneth over.
With love always,
Your Mama

Chayse Nicole Burgess

May 1, 2008

2:56 AM

7 pounds, 14 ounces

20.5 inches

Babies...

Baby Girl: I can hardly believe it but this time 365 days ago, I was almost 7 hours into labor... a labor that would last over 24 hours and would leave me with one of the best blessings in my life, Chayse Nicole! I can hardly believe that she will be 12 months old tomorrow, ONE YEAR!!! Tomorrow will be a wonderful celebration around here!!!

Baby Boy: I went to the doctor on Tuesday and had my monthly check up. I am now at 23 weeks!! The baby's heartbeat was in the 150's every time it was checked and he seems to be happy in there from all outwardly appearances. He is no longer the size of a tiny little bean... he is getting big and he is VERY strong. He makes my stomach move all the time. It is no longer little flutters inside that only I can feel. He can make my whole stomach rock n' roll when he gets going. My weight gain hit the 5 pound mark this check up, which is not bad for being 23 weeks pregnant. When I go back next month, I will have my hour long glucose test done. I failed this test with Chayse and had to have the half day test done (which I passed) so I am praying I have no issues with it this time.

Helping Babies: Other than that, life is good. I have been reading lots of blogs lately, several with very very very sick children, and I find myself praising God more often for the healthy miracle we have in Chayse. We have started getting toys in the mail from friends and family for the toy drive and we are also several hundred dollars into the raffle drive for the quilt. It will be amazing, and I am sure very emotional, to be able to give back to Duke Children's Hospital in this way. I miss Hope every day of my life and I thank God for this little girl Chayse that I get to see everyday. She is my friend, my daughter, my partner in crime. I love watching her learn new things every day... she is amazing and I pray that the children who use some of the things we plan to donate will be able to make some of these same memories with their parents! For those of you who have given me advice as a parent of a hospitalized child, thank you so much. We have gotten some great ideas and plan on adjusting some of our purchases to include mobiles and mirrors for infants in cribs, a wagon (if the life reach coordinator says we can take one), as well as games for some of the older children. THANK YOU ALL so much for your input on this... if you have any more ideas, please, let us know!!