clarification

Just over the last couple of weeks I have had a two moms ask me questions about serving honey to their little ones and in the course of the convo went on to say that they didn't want a botulism scare that I experienced with Gracelyn. And even one of Gracelyn's doctors told me that she had a mom argue with her when she reminded that no honey was to be given before the age of 2 and the doc said she almost offered my number to her. While I would be more than happy to talk to that mom about the risk of honey in babies under 2, honey is NOT, in any way linked to Gracelyn's botulism. So essentially I would simply be going off what I have read in books.
Gracelyn's botulism that she contracted is called "C Botulism." I know I have stated per the PICU doctor, that we would never know the exact cause of it. His best guess was that with 3 big bros they possibly came in from playing outside and didn't wash their hands and touched her hands or face.
C. botulinum is commonly found in soil. Clostridium botulinum is a soil bacterium.
Gracelyn was strictly breastfed when she became ill and even if I do eat honey, which I don't, botulism cannot be contracted through breastmilk.
My message before and especially since her illness is to wash hands. I reminded the family to wash hands prior and I still do, many many many many times a day. And not just for risk of botulism but many other little viruses and illnesses. As if I wasn't already a germphobe mom I certainly am now!

18 months!

I cannot believe Gracelyn is a year and a half old. It honestly doesn't seem possible. In so many ways now she is not a baby and that is really sad to me.

Gracelyn isn't saying much, mama (for me and her mimi. We are working with her on the long "e" sound,) dada, bye and more. She is signing quite a bit.

Gracie is a master fit thrower. The girl has talent. She knows what she wants and if you say no, she will let you know just how upset she is, even resorting to throwing herself down. Timeout is used quite often these days.

Miss G does love her baby dolls, specifically her "Pretty Princess." Mimi gave her Pretty Princess while she was in the hospital a year ago so PP has been with her through alot. When the surgery center called last week regarding her surgery and told us to bring her favorite toy, we knew Pretty Princess was a must-have. (She came with a crown that when you put it on her head it makes a cute little sound but G doesn't like the crown on the doll's head.)

Sleep is still a foreign concept but I am praying once she heals from this surgery that it will start happening. We both need it!

Gracelyn loves to dance, jump on her brothers for a "horsey ride"  or just jump on them for fun! She is fun girl who is smiling and laughing so much. We read a lot and a book almost always accompanies her in the car.

I told her to smile and this was the result

Just looking at Gracelyn you would never know how sick she was. She has come so far and it's not without prayers, amazing doctors and of course our most gracious

17 months!!

With the huge milestone of 1 year since G's botulism diagnosis only 5 days before she turned 17 months old, this month was very emotional and bittersweet for me. I watched her so much, from the way she walked, sat, "talked", ate, smiled, everything about her. She was like a newborn in many ways a year ago and to see her now, running and laughing, lifting her arms and legs, it's amazing!

she's 17 months old here, via iPhone.

the SD card hadn't been located yet

Gracelyn is doing so much these days! So much of it so cute (or we think so anyway!)

She claps often. When I open her bedroom door to get her out of her crib, after I sing her a song, read her a book, turn on a toy, give her food.
In the morning when I ask how she slept, she says "dood" (good) She picked that up from her brothers.

Her appetite is decreasing. She eats about half of what she used to, which still may be alot for others.
She's finally decided that she likes to have her teeth brushed. We are very thankful because the battle just was not pretty.
Gracelyn is battling her 11th ear infection since last Spring. We meet with an ENT a week from Friday to discuss tubes.

Gracie is so girly. If her hands get dirty she holds them out and will not do anything til we clean them off. She cares more about shoes than she does clothes. She picks out the shoes and I choose the outfit from there. teamwork already!

She can make all three big brother cry in record time. With Brandon she loves to destroy huge Lego creations and books that are left out and she hijacks toys of Blaine and Britton, which just devastates them but leaves her smiling.
And she has this look down very well...

The past year has taught us so much and brought us together like never before.

1 year

It's been a year. 1 year ago today we were not sure the fate of our daughter. She woke up Thursday, March 11, 2010 limp and unresponsive after not nursing for 2 days and being very fussy. I rushed her to the pediatrician's office where she called an ambulance to rush us to Children's Hospital. We spent the entire day in the ER and after blood test after blood test and CT scans and even a spinal tap there were still no answers. Gracelyn was admitted and moved up to PICU, where the doctor on call, Dr. Mo, came in and after evaluating her told us that he was pretty sure she had c-botulism. What a Godsend he was, he was supposed to be at a conference that week but it was canceled unexpectedly. No other docs in the unit had ever seen botulism before. She received an immune-globulin which stopped any further destruction on her nerves. The damage that was most noticeable was a weakened body, her head had to be fully supported like a newborn, she couldn't lift her arms and she wasn't able to suck.
By God's grace she went home much sooner than the doctors ever predicted. By God's mercy she only underwent 12 weeks of PT instead of the 6 months they predicted. By God's love she is, a year later, a healthy toddler full of energy, smiles, spunk, attitude and is a miracle.

I made a video for Gracelyn's first year, in lieu of scrapbooking because this took less time. The first year video is quite long so here is just a portion of it, her battle with botulism.

latest vids of Gracelyn

I have really been working with Gracelyn on saying her brother's names. Our main problem with this task is the fact that being 15 months old and a girl, well let's just say that really means that she has a mind of her own. Miss G says their names when SHE feels like it. I didn't get to ask her about Brandon in this video because she decided she was done after the first video I took. so til another time...

Oh and in the video you notice her face LIGHT UP when she sees Britton come close to her. yeah, it's true adoration for little sis/littlest big bro.
And you hear his nickname for her. He came up with all on his own, "bubby" and most recently it's "bubby lucy" because Ryan sometimes calls him Linus because he has a blanket and sucks his thumb. They are absolutely adorable.

Big Brother Brandon, our oldest bookworm, was sweet enough to read to his little sis, her favorite book, a princess book. This video captures her love for reading but also the noise/chaos in our house nightly.

She's 15 months old now!!

Gracelyn is 15 months old now! She is so full of life... and expressions and personality and attitude! She is a one fun little girl.

she is a HAM! she dragged her laundry basket into the kitchen, found the pantry door open and pulled out the peanut butter (which she has NEVER had) and put herself, the pb and her sippy in the basket.
I love my little cupcake head, which her daddy lovingly calls her because of her hat.

Gracie is talking quite a bit and each day I am surprised by a new word. Just some of the words she says, "ball" "cracker" "uh oh" "Brandon" "more" "bye" "flowers" and of course "mama" and "dada." I'm really working on "mimi" with her because she calls her "mama" as well, she does adore her mimi!! Gracelyn has a word for both Blaine and Britton and they match the syllables of their names, I just cannot tell what they are. When you ask her a yes/no question she shakes her head no.... which leads me to her attitude. And Miss G sure has one. She knows what she wants or doesn't want to do and doesn't hesitate to let me know (which includes but isn't limited to posing for pictures.) I asked the pediatrician today about time-out and we will put that into motion immediately.

stats for Miss Gracelyn at 15 months:
height- 30 1/2 inches (50th percentile)
weight- 25.4 lbs (90th percentile)

refusing to face the camera. stinker.

Gracie loves her food. loves it. She loves pasta, most fruit, pork and chicken but not beef and now that she is weaned she very much enjoys whole milk. I was nervous about adding it to her diet with her constipation but it's not any worse since she began drinking the milk. I'm still giving her yogurt regularly and mirilax.

very few smiles for the camera these days BUT she is fulls of smiles and laughs all day long.

Gracie is quite a bookworm, which I think is a major reason she is talking so much. She and I read constantly and I love when she comes up with a book, turns around and back up onto my lap. On Wednesday nights at church the nursery workers know that she loves books too so they read to her book after book, which is great because Gracelyn is in there for a couple of hours and she beginning to adapt.

Gracelyn loves her pacifier, as much as she loves food. The pediatrician said today that we need to start weaning her from it. Oh.my.gosh. I am NOT looking forward to this. She has her pacifier in her mouth a lot and at least half of the time her teeth are clenching it and she's not sucking on it. The paci has been through a lot with her, it soothed her in the hospital while she suffered from botulism, it was her motivation in PT, to get her to roll or move across the mat, sit and lean, pretty much all actions were performed in order to get to her pacifier. In order to not sound like I worship the paci, I will say I wouldn't mind getting rid of it mainly because it's disgusting, it's a germ catcher and for the sake of her teeth.

14 months old brings independence

Gracelyn Paige is 14 months old today!!

She is quite independent (or so SHE thinks) these days and she's also pretty dramatic. If she doesn't want to do things, get in her carseat, leave her brother's room and especially get dressed, she'll arch her back and storm off. Her 3 brothers were really only a smidgen like that.

Gone are the days of cuddles or wanting to be held. Now she wants to be down, playing, walking and, most recently, running! She does bring books to me to read to her all throughout the day (which I totally love because her oldest brother Brandon did that at her age and is a little bookworm now at the age of 8!)

Gracelyn is so much fun. She still makes her animal sounds, a gorilla and duck. G loves to play peek-a-boo and will play so well by herself or with her brothers. Even at "school" in the gym, she'll go get on the teeter-totter with the bigger kids and will play on the sit and spin (which she can spin on by herself!)





Gracie is a professional at making faces, which is pretty adorable. She squints her eyes and smiles really big, which is my favorite, and is given most often when you give her food! Food is the way to her heart. G can go from happy and laughing to throwing a fit in a matter of milliseconds, even if it's over a cracker she wants. The girl does love her some food and can snack all day long.


She is sleeping so much better these days! (I actually started typing this post about a week ago and I should change that last sentence to "not so much" BUT I think she's teething so I'll blame the lack of sleep on that.) We lay her down after she nurses and she puts herself to sleep cuddling her blanket and watching her seahorse.
Really the only issue we have is constipation. We use suppositories are are up to 2T of mirilax in her sippy a day.


Miss G is talking a lot, really all you can understand is "mama" "dada" and her newest is "this" pronounced "dis" It's really adorable but she says it as she points to every.single.thing. I know I say it all the time but she adores Britton, adores him. She loves her other bros but Britton loves her and shows her affection anytime.anywhere. She calls him something but I cannot decipher it.