Fall Is Here

The weather is getting cooler and we've been enjoying it. Isabella's school is in full swing and she's having fun making new friends in her class. She talks a lot about a new little girl named Violet. Maybe we'll have to invite her over to play sometime.

Raymond likes to take the cushions off of the sofa and then Isabella uses them as seats. She's drinking our favorite peach smoothie in this picture.

1 bag frozen peaches

2 cups orange juice

1 can peach nectar

1 small container peach Greek yogurt

2 tsp. sugar

Blend and Enjoy!


Lily is getting around the house so fast! I put her down and she follows me where ever I go. This morning I was in the bathroom with the door closed washing my hands and she was outside the door calling, "Mama! Mama!" She is SO sweet. She really enjoys playing with the activity cube.

The side with the gears seems to be her favorite.

Lily always peaks at me through her crib while I'm folding laundry.

It's getting harder and harder to take pictures of Raymond! He never stays still!!! Above is a good example of that! I was able to snap a picture of him sitting still the other day. I was feeding Lily and he always watches that process. Part of me feels bad because he can't eat and another part of me thinks it's good that he watches so when we can finally try to feed him by mouth again, he'll have seen Lily do it.

Lily has been less then enthusiastic about eating solid food. I've been giving her different options, and she eats three or four small spoonfuls, but she still prefers the easy way out (nursing). Yesterday I gave her Carrots, Apples & Parsnips (by Ella's Kitchen Organic Baby Food) and she loved it! Yay!

This is Lily's all-done face.

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love,

I Think I've Fixed The Problem!

First of all, I think I've fixed the problem some of you have been having with posting comments. Yay! Thank you so much to everyone for all the emails with comments since you weren't able to leave them on the blog. I really appreciate it! You guys are the best!

Raymond had his first doctors appointment with the new pediatrician today. We were there for almost 3 hours! She was very nice and very thorough. She made Raymond a cardiology appointment for this Friday. She told me his heart rate is still irregular and very slow. She felt strongly that Raymond should have had heart surgery by now. A little background for anyone who might not know...Raymond had been seeing the cardiology department at St. Christopher's. Two different doctors had seen him and they disagreed on what was wrong with Raymond's heart. So they really didn't do anything productive. Dr. K. (the new pediatrician) said that since the two doctors disagreed, that it was even more reason that they should have at least done some type of exploratory surgery to figure it out. Chris and I have often said we would rather Raymond have heart surgery sooner than later. His recovery will be more difficult if he's trying to move and groove all over the place. Dr. K. spoke with the cardiologist on the phone while I was there and he seemed to think that surgery needed to happen soon also. So it looks like I may be scheduling that on Friday.

Raymond also now has a ophthalmology appointment scheduled for next week. Dr. K. said his one retina is still partially detached and that his one eye looks different then the other. I have noticed that before. It's more pronounced some days then others. Why, I'm not sure. We went over a lot of information. We're feeling very disappointed with Raymond's old pediatrician for not noticing more of these problems and/or being more proactive. I had told Chris that for the last couple of months I felt like Dr. H. hadn't been on top of things with Raymond. Apparently, I was right. I had questioned her about certain issues and didn't get real concise or detailed answers. I'll give you an example. We have been concerned about Raymond's weight. Dr. Williams at Hershey's Feeding Clinic hasn't been real involved with Raymond these last couple of months because of Raymond's pulmonology issues. Until Raymond is off of oxygen he isn't going to be attempting to eat by mouth. This was a group decision between Dr. Williams, the pulmonologist, the gastroenterologist and Chris and myself. (Raymond only saw Dr. Williams once before going back on oxygen - so we didn't get very far. I really look forward to jumping back into with him when Raymond is able.) Since Dr. Williams has taken a temporary step back, we wanted to make sure Raymond's weight and size weren't being neglected. Dr. H. basically said not to worry about it - he's fine. Well, I don't know about you but I don't think it's okay that Raymond has weighed 19lbs. for approximately 8 months. That's a big deal...right? We are Raymond's voice and she wasn't hearing it. Dr. K. has changed the way we feed Raymond. She will be informing Dr. Williams of the change to get his opinion. The volume Raymond gets is the same but she bumped up the calories. Hopefully he tolerates the change well. I think he will. He's my tough guy! So along with these things we covered about 1,000 more. I left her office feeling like we really made the best decision for Raymond. Dr. K. also agreed that switching Raymond's care to Hershey was a big step in the right direction. We love our little guy so much and want the best for him. I'll keep fighting for what we feel is right for him no matter who we have to replace or who I have to talk to about it. Don't mess with this Mommy! : )

Isabella, Raymond and I are supposed to head to Philadelphia tomorrow to stay over for Raymond's appointments on Wednesday. It looks like the appointments might be postponed again. They are calling for snow and ice. I really, really, really don't want to have to reschedule again but there isn't anything I can do about it. Mother nature doesn't have an answering service.

In a totally different direction, I wanted to share a recipe with you. Tonight for dinner I made Mexican Shrimp Bisque. It was extremely easy and very yummy. If you don't like shrimp, I think it would be very good with chicken breast substituted. I doubled the recipe.

Mexican Shrimp Bisque

1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 cup water
½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. chicken bouillon cubes
½ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. ground coriander
½ pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ cup sour cream

Fresh cilantro and cubed avocado, optional

1. In a large saucepan, sauté the onion in oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in flour until blended. Stir in the water, heavy cream, chili powder, bouillon, cumin and coriander; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Cut the shrimp into bite-size pieces; add to the soup. Simmer 5 minutes longer or until shrimp turn pink.
3. Gradually stir ½ cup hot soup into sour cream; return all to pan, stirring constantly. Heat through (do not boil). Garnish with cilantro and avocado if desired.

***

I hope you enjoy this recipe too! I also made a HUGE pot of beef stock tonight to freeze. Chris requested Beef Barley Soup so I'll make that sometime soon but I need a few things from the store first. Well, tomorrow is February. Can you believe it? Sorry this post doesn't include any pictures. More to come soon. I have some fun things planned for us. Stay warm everyone!

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love,

Yum...

Because it is getting cold outside, I've decided to share with you my favorite soup recipe. I love this soup!!! It is so good!!! Enjoy...

Erica's Favorite Soup



2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 celery stalks, chopped
2 onions, chopped
4 carrots, shredded
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper
6 cups chicken broth
1 lb. ground chicken
1 egg
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
dash of nutmeg
One 1 lb. pkg. gnocchi
1 cup frozen peas
Fresh parsley, finely chopped ( a couple of generous handfuls)

1. In a soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add celery, onion, carrots and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in broth, cover and bring to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, in a bowl, season chicken with salt and pepper. Stir in egg, bread crumbs, cheese, garlic and nutmeg. Roll the mixture into walnut-sized meatballs (you'll have about 40) and add to the soup. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the gnocchi to the soup and simmer for 5 minutes. Add peas and parsley and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and discard bay leaf.

***Note***
Please remember to chop the veggies the size you want to eat them in a soup. Our local grocery store sells mini-gnocchi and they are perfect for this soup. The regular size are fine too but I really like using the mini ones. You can find gnocchi in the pasta isle. When you buy a bunch of carrots, normally there are 5. I use all 5 in the recipe. I love to serve this with a homemade loaf of warm, fresh baked, crusty bread. This soup is also very good heated up the next day. Just make sure that you have extra chicken broth on hand because when it sits in the refrigerator overnight it tends to absorb all the broth. You'll definitely need to add more broth the next day...that's if there is any left over!



Are you hungry yet?


Until Next Time!
Lots of Love,
Erica