matt: starting solids

Well... it's happening.  My baby is growing up.  We started giving him cereal and he loves it.  He's so cute with it, as soon as he swallows--his mouth is open again.  He's like a little bird.

weekend recap

Spending time with my sister & her family is always fun.  I love it and we don't get to do it enough.  We went to see Aerosmith.  Steven Tyler was amazing and it was obvious that he is totally in his element performing.  An added bonus - two drunk guys in the row in front of us.  They were totally rocked and so funny to watch.  :)

The rest of the weekend went like this..... eat amazing peanut butter pie.  eat amazing blueberry pie with homemade icecream....eat. eat. eat.... my brother in law is an amazing cook & baker.  God love him, but goodness.. it's time to stop eating dessert!  :)

strawberry lemon cake

So good!  Bonus... it has protein thanks to the greek yogurt!

Recipe: Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 Tb. lemon juice, divided
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 8 oz. plain or vanilla, Greek yogurt
• 12 oz. fresh strawberries, diced
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325*. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan (10-15 cup pan.) Sift together the 2 ¼ cups of flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest and set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 Tb. lemon juice. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the yogurt, mixing just until incorporated.
3. Toss the strawberries with the remaining ¼ cup of flour. Gently mix them into the batter.
4. Pour the batter into the Bundt pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
5. Allow to cool at least 20 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Once cooled whisk together the remaining 2 Tb. of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the top of the cake.

Road Trip

Tomorrow morning we are leaving for TN.  My sister and I are going to see Aerosmith and we are super excited.  I've always loved Aerosmith's music, but once Steven Tyler became a judge on American Idol it made me love Aerosmith even more.  He is such a nice guy.

Road trips are fun.  This is the longest drive we've taken with Matt.  I have full confidence that he'll do great.  If he doesn't.... it's only a 5 hour trip so we can survive it.  Hopefully, the iPad and Sophie keep them entertained!

Matt's Story

Our experience with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital began on Tuesday, March 6th, 2012. Our son Matthew was 3 days old and had just been diagnosed with a congenital heart disease. We were scared and anxious about what this meant for our new little boy. Matt had a condition called Coarctation of the Aorta, meaning that there was a narrowing in his aorta which was restricting normal blood flow.The tremendous staff at Children’s was able to explain clearly what the diagnosis meant and what we were to expect. To learn more about coarctation, please visit this link http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/health/c/coarctation/). We spent 2 days in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) and were discharged with the plan to closely monitor this with his cardiologist and to have surgery to repair the narrowing in 4-6 months when he was a little older. We were thrilled to be taking our little boy home and to begin as a family of four. 

Three days later, on Sunday, March 11th, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital saved Matt’s life. On that Sunday morning his breathing became labored and it was clear that he was struggling to breathe. We raced to Cincinnati Children’s ER. Matt was immediately rushed to a trauma bay and within seconds, had more than 15 doctors and nurses working on him. We were not allowed to go past a red line on the floor and had to watch our little boy be put on a ventilator and have many IVs and tubes inserted into him. Needless to say, we have never been more frightened in our lives. The amazing staff at Cincinnati Children’s helped us cope with this traumatizing experience and within minutes of arriving we had a pastor, a patient care representative and a cardiologist standing with us offering water, tissues and a clear explanation of what was happening to our little boy. 

We quickly learned that he was in very critical condition. The narrowing in his aorta had gotten dangerously worse and was severely restricting his blood flow, now causing his major organs to start shutting down. The incredible ER staff was able to stabilize him and we were taken back to the CICU. More life support systems were initiated and more tests were completed. Meanwhile, a cardiologist continued to stand beside us and explain everything in a confident, yet compassionate manner. Although we had to keep our distance, Matt was never out of our sight and there wasn’t a second that we had to wonder what they were doing to him. It was decided by a team of pediatric cardiologists and a heart surgeon that Matt needed to have surgery that day to repair the narrowing in his aorta. Within a few hours of arriving at the ER, we were walking down a hallway preparing to say, “see you in a little bit” to our 8 day old son before he was pushed through the operating room doors to have heart surgery. It was surreal, and a moment we will never forget. The surgery was expected to take 2-3 hours. With our parents at our side, we waited and waited until a nurse came to tell us that the surgery was over and that it was a success! Amen. 

After the surgery we knew that the road to recovery was going to take time and that there could be complications, but we were so thankful and relieved that his aorta was repaired and that the healing could begin. 

The staff at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in the Heart Institute was nothing short of amazing. We were there for 9 days. While it was not easy, it was the best experience that it could have been thanks to our nurses, doctors and other caregivers. When a small complication arose, we will never forget the cardiologist who confidently looked us in the eye and said, “He is going to be okay. He’s going to go home, do the same things his brother can do, be a normal teenager, play football, and one day eat a whole pizza by himself.” Her confidence and ability to make us remember the big picture was exactly what we needed at that moment. Another time, Brian and I had gone outside to take a walk after a hard day and getting some slightly undesired news. When we returned from our walk, our nurse (Heather) had taken Matt off of the ventilator, which meant that after 3 days—we could hold our baby! Again, it was exactly what we needed at that moment. There are many examples of moments like these. Moments when the doctors or nurses without knowing it, totally met our needs and reassured us that everything was going to be okay. 

On Tuesday, March 20th, we brought our little guy home to hang out with his big brother, Jack. We had a rough start, but we were finally together and able to start the journey of being a family of four. Today, Matt is an awesome little guy doing just fine. As I write this, he is 4 months old and weighing a little over 20 pounds. He is surpassing his cardiologists’ expectations. He is fine and has zero limitations. He doesn’t have to take any medication. He only has to follow up with his cardiologist a few times a year and eventually that will decrease. We are very blessed. 

With Love, 

Alissa and Brian 

Please help us in our fundraising efforts.  Here is a link to my fundraising webpage: http://giving.cincinnatichildrens.org/netcommunity/alissapease

to donate with a credit card, please do it online.

to donate with a check, please make the check payable to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

preschool day hooray

Jack starts preschool in about a month.  Is this really happening?  I think I am partly in denial. I just ordered this book for him.  It's going to be fun to read it him and get him excited for his first day of school and it will be his excitement that will make this easier on mama. 

friday randomness

in the news

the shootings in Colorado make me so very sad.  young & old, everyone that died is someone's child and that breaks my heart.  i am firm believer that everything happens for a reason, but there are times (like this) that i just cannot fathom the reason.  another tragic reminder to love life.  don't let the everyday stresses overwhelm you.  find the joy in everything.

recipe for the weekend

this looks amazing and super easy!

favorite picture

i mean, really... so cute!

thinking about

running a 5k this fall.  a 5k for most people is like taking a walk, but for me it's a big deal. i want to do it and it's something that would be fun for brian and i to do together.

family

jack and matt, we did it.  we made it without daddy this week, but we sure did miss him! as always, i had so much fun with you guys. jack, you crack me up.  everything is yours. if only i had a dollar for everytime you say, "no, it's mine."  i love that even though you don't want to share with mommy, you give everything to matt.  you are the sweetest big brother. seriously.  matt, you are rolling over and you're very proud of yourself. you're also enjoying a new toy... your exersaucer! you are so stinking cute in it and for a big boy, you can really bounce and get that thing moving!

is it fall yet?

I am thankful to live in Ohio again, but currently the weather is Cincinnati is awful.  The humidity today was enough to make you feel like you needed a shower everytime you were outside for even only a minute.  Fall is by far my favorite season.  Today I am dreaming of everything fall:  sweaters, pumpkin spice lattes, fires in the firepit and football on the tv all weekend long.

home

The boys (dog boys, too) and I went to my parent's house for a few days while Brian is working in Mexico. It always feels good to go home. The highlights:

-home cooked pot roast

-my mom's brownies

-jack riding the tractor with dad

-matt smiling and laughing with grandma and grandpa

-taking the dogs to their vet (my friend that I've known for 27 years)

-seeing old friends & their parents

-celebrating dad's 70th birthday

-surviving the awful storm that happened while driving back to Cincinnati

We are back at our house.  The kids are asleep and the house is quiet.  Looking forward to seeing Brian on Friday!  Thank goodness for Bravo and the Real Housewives on my DVR.... :)

Superfood Salad

This is delicous and perfect for an easy summer meal.

Superfood Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Serves 5

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dry quinoa

1/3 cup red onion, chopped

1 orange, peeled and segments chopped

1 avocado, chopped

1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup pomegranate arils (about 1 pomegranate worth)

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

salt & pepper

For the Lemon Vinaigrette:

2 lemons, juiced (need 1/4 cup juice)

2 garlic cloves, microplaned or finely minced

dash of sweetener (agave nectar, stevia or white sugar)

salt & pepper

6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. Set aside to cool.

2. For the Lemon Vinaigrette: combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid, and shake to combine. Or, add lemon juice, garlic, sweetener, salt and pepper into a small bowl and whisk in oil.

3. Combine cooled quinoa with red onion, orange segments, avocado, beans, pomegranate arils, corn, cilantro, salt and pepper. Pour Lemon Vinaigrette over the salad and stir to combine. Serve cold or at room temperature.

scenes from a weekend

This weekend was our last weekend to hang out at home and just have family time for awhile.  Next weekend starts over 5 weeks of busy weekends.  Everything planned is fun and filled with family & friends so it's exciting, but there's really nothing like just hanging out together. 

Memories from this weekend.....dinner with friends from Michigan, shopping, Do It for Dylan (DOT) fundtraiser, painting, watching Cars 2, deciding on landscaping, 'new cool aps', Smashburger and the park.

Here we go...

I've thought about starting a blog for years.  Made the decision to start because I know that this time next year I am going to love looking back at posts documenting the memories we are making as a family.  We'll see how this goes.  Welcome to my little place in the 'interwebs'.