There's actually an update!!

Hi Everybody,

So many of you have been wondering what's going on with us... sorry!! I've been so exhausted and the time I do have, I can't seem to get out of the chair I've fallen into!

We're all doing well. Robert has been busy in Las Vegas working and remolding our kitchen to get it ready to rent. There's no way we'd be happy if we left it the way it was. We just wish we could have made those changes (adding more cabinets and counter space) while we actually lived there! Hopefully the renters will like it! Pray that we WILL get renters eventually, too. =) Robert sent a few pictures of the work he and his buddy Christian did yesterday - it's looking great!

I'm hanging in there... I'm trying to find time for myself as well as for my girls, but this sure is hard!! It's so much easier being able to take your newborn HOME instead of having to leave home to visit. It's so unnatural. It breaks my heart every time I walk down the hallway to leave. When I am home, though, I can rest easy because I know she's in great care. The RT's, RN's and CNA's are all great and I know most of them pretty well and they are now familiar with Mia's little quirks.

I'm trying to make time to eat right and go to the gym without feeling guilty, but of course making sure my Mom is okay with watching Mercedes for an added hour so I can workout. It's normally fine, so that's good! I'm trying to go after I get Cedes in bed so Mom can also relax. =) I actually didn't gain much fat with my pregnancy with Mia, so that's good, except that since she was in the NICU for 16 weeks, my eating habits had definitely slipped and my exercise habits became nonexistant resulting in gaining around 10 additional pounds. I'm happy to say that I now only have 18 more pounds to go to get back down to my prepregnancy weight (which was the same exact weight with Mercedes, too!) So that's exciting for me! =)

Mercedes is just as happy and cheerful as ever!! She's so goofy - I love it! Robert always says that she has his great personality and sense of humor, but we all know she gets it from me! haha (Seriously... it's kinda scary how much we're alike!) =) I know in the last update Robert asked for prayer for Mercedes to want to be potty trained.... I think some of you DID pray because now she's asking to sit on the potty!!! She still has yet to accomplish anything, but it's a start!! =) I know that when she understands everything, it's going to happen fast, so we're excited! I have to thing of ways to get her to stay on longer, so she's been getting lots of manicures and pedicures! =)

Mia is just so beautiful! A lot of people are noticing that she's moving a LOT more, which is amazing!! She's getting a lot more active and she loves putting her fingers to her mouth. Tonight was the first time I had noticed that she actually coordiniated her mouth to open so she could get her finger inside just a little bit. She really enjoys touching her face and she's clasping her hands together as well. Her coordination is getting so much better! Scott, the physical therapist, says that she's getting better with her head control, though her neck is still really weak. She IS getting stronger which is an answer to prayer!!

Last Sunday, I took her for a walk for my first time (she's been twice with my parents before) and we walked across the street to the liquor store (of all places! haha)! It was fun because Sarah and Sophia (Mia's first roommate), three other little kids, some parents and 2 RT's went along, too. =) Mia was asleep for most of it, but she woke up for the walk back to CRC!

These past few days have been a tad up and down. She's been having a lot of nasal and oral secretions, which I'm wondering if it's from teething, but it seems to be causing her to cough a lot and need trach suctioning as well as her not being able to maintain 94%-100% oxygenation. It's not really much to mention as far as her respiratory situation goes, but it's just something new this past week. She hasn't had a fever or anything else that would point to get getting sick, so that's why I'm thinking she's teething.

So, the trailer arrived about 3 weeks ago and Mercedes and I have slept in there once! That was the most restless night in my LIFE!! haha Never attempt to sleep with a 3 year old windmill!! Again, she's just like her mother when I was little! =) She finally fell asleep just after midnight, woke up around 6:30am, and everytime I'd move while she was sleeping, the mattress would squeek and she'd move around. First of all, I'm freaked out because there were spider webs that I had vacuumed out and I wasn't sure if there were spiders hiding anywhere, so I wasn't totally relaxed to begin with. haha (A BIG thank you to all the guys who helped push into place! James, Robert, David, Brandon, Rod, Sam, and Dad)

The following night, I was being all brave ready to get in bed when I saw this black thing by the bathroom door (which is only like 2 feet from the bed). I knew what it was right off the bat, so I got the flashlight to look at it... there was NO doubt that it was a huge black widow!!! Thankfully my Dad hadn't left for work yet (he starts at 11:30pm), so I ran in the house and begged him to please kill it! He went in there, killed it, and kissed me goodnight! I looked at him and said "Are you nuts?? I'm not staying in here!!!" He told me not to be a chicken, but I reminded him that I'm a woman... women are chickens!!! =) I sprayed the trailed VERY well the following day and I haven't seen a spider since, so sometime this week I will be moving back out there. Hopefully I will be alive to write another update at the end of the week!

Last Wednesday, a cousin of ours gave us 10 free SF Giants tickets! Had I known they were bleacher seats for the noon game, I would have taken the two extra minutes to look for my sunblock. I am very burnt now, but at least it's not painful anymore! It was a GREAT game and the Giants BEAT the Dodgers in the 10th inning! Uribe hit a 2-run homer and a guy just two rows in front of us (seriously like 8 feet away) caught it! I was too short to see, of course, but Renee came out in the news!! We got a picture with the kid who caught it... he was SO excited and shocked, his hands were shaking! It was cool. =)

I'm flying out to Las Vegas next Tuesday morning to help pack the house up and organize what needs to come to San Jose, what needs to go with Robert to Sacramento and what needs to be in storage in Chico until we have a house. It's going to be nice to finally move, but so sad at the same time. Thankfully, Robert said Mia's bedroom (that she never saw) is already mostly packed up, so that will be one less big emotional thing I'll have to deal with. All of my friends back 'home' in Vegas are Air Force, so it's going to be sad saying bye to them. I hope it's not the last time I'll ever see them, but the reality is that it very well could be. We've all been there around 4+ years, so everybody is leaving within a few months of each other and getting stationed around the US. I'm grateful I'm going to be able to see them again!! It's going to be a good, but depressing trip for me. =)

I promise, unless a black widow gets me, I will update every week!!!

Love to you all,
Rachael <3

For many more new pictures, go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=107194&id=614762171&l=4225e10b5d

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