Been a long time...

Wow, as I open up our blog, I see my last post was in January of 2012...wow, so much has happened since then. Im sure I could ramble on and on about what we have done over the past year, but Im sure I would forget a lot of it, and it would end up boring. So, what I will do, is update you on the latest Van Tornhout news. As of Sunday, March 17, we are now a family of 6. Yep, we welcomed a new baby on St. Patricks Day. Our little Leprechaun. Cain William was born via csection at 811am. Weighing in at 7lb 3oz and 20inches. He's perfect. Looks SO much like Callie and Chesney both did at birth....almost eerie. Craig and I make such pretty babies!!!! Our csection was suppose to be routine, but it turned a little scary. They took me back to do the spinal, and it took them three tries to get it to work. Talk about PAIN! Craig joined me in the operating room and it felt like we were in there FOREVER. They kept telling me that the baby was 90% out, but time kept ticking by and we still weren't hearing any baby cries. Then more doctors and staff came into our room and I overheard someone calling for NICU nurses to come in to the room. At this point, I felt like something was wrong. Dr. G was yelling at the staff in the OR about all the blood and to keep pushing. At one point, I felt like there were 8 people all pushing on my belly trying to get the baby to come out. I kept looking at Craig and telling him I felt like something was wrong. I thought for sure there was something wrong with the baby. FINALLY, they got the baby out and we heard a cry. They rushed him to the table and informed us he was a boy!!! We were in SHOCK! I had a gut feeling my whole pregnancy that I was carrying a boy, but to actually hear that he was a he, was a shock. He was a healthy baby boy! As I lay on the table, they kept asking for more buckets to catch my blood. I was getting very light headed and they kept giving me shots to try to slow my blood loss. I was crying and my whole face started to itch from the meds I was on. Craig kept asking me why I kept closing my eyes and honestly, I couldn't keep them open. I was scared because I wasn't sure why I was losing so much blood and why it was taking them so long to close me back up. I kept drifting asleep and kept having thoughts that I wasn't going to make it. SCARY! But my doctor was awesome, and finally got my blood under control and I was being closed up. We finally made it to recovery and I got to hold my baby boy! A BOY!!!!! My family was there to hear the news first hand as was Craigs parents and brother. When Cole and Chesney came back to recovery to meet their new brother, it was priceless. They were both so happy! Chesney was worried about "mommys owies" but was happy to see that they baby that was in my belly for so long was finally here! We are home and doing good. I am still pretty sore but Craig is home all week with me to help out!! Thank goodness for him. Cain is adjusting well. Chesney is an awesome big sister. She loves to watch us change diapers, take bottles to the sink and help us feed Cain. She calls him "Buddy" and "My Boy". Its so cute. Enjoy the few pics Im attaching. I will do my best to keep this up to date better!!!! Til next time.... Katie Momma to Cole, Callie, Chesney and Cain

SAD DAY

its been two years since we lost our precious callie grace. how in the hell did we get to two years??? seems like just yesterday this nightmere began, but then again, I fell like i've been living this nightmere for ten years.

i miss her so much... not just today, but everyday. I didn't want her passing date to eat me up, but today it really is. will the pain ever get easier?? will my wounds ever heal?

i still lay awake at night and wonder if things could have been different. i still FIRMLY believe the respitory lady should NOT have unhooked Callie during her 11pm therapy session. I still FIRMLY believe that is was caused Callies respitory failures. Damn you respitory lady, DAMN YOU!! You took my baby from us.

chesney brings us such joy but NOTHING will EVER replace our Callie. She holds such a special place in all our hearts... in everyones heart whom she met. granted we only had her for 37 days but in those 37 days, she touched more lives than most people due in a full lifetime. shes the reason i continue to raise awareness and preach my TDAP info! i dont care who gets sick of hearing it, its just what we have to do in order to keep her spirit alive.

i sit here with a heavy heart and teary eyes but am thankful for those 37 days. callie taught me and craig so much. i am honored to be her mother. i am touched that everyone holds her in their hearts to. and am super proud of chesney for being such a good little sister to her big sister. she LOVES her big sister!

until we meet again callie, momma loves you!

Christmas....

Okay,I was gonna upload pics from Chesney's first birthday party and from Christmas, but honestly, Im too tired today. Hopefully this week I'll get back on here and get that done.

However, I will update you on the latest news in our lives. I wanted to keep it a secret until after the holidays were over, but if you know me, you know I SUCK at secrets!!! So, Im happy to announce that come August, we'll be welcoming a new addition into the Van Tornhout family. Yep, Craig and I are expecting a baby!!! OMG!

Totally unplanned and unexpected. Im excited, but also scared. The craziest part, my blood clots that were a factor in my last two pregnancies, is GONE!! As of now, not blood clots! OMG!

So yeah, IM PREGNANT!!!

We'll keep you posted!!!!

Merry day after Christmas!

Trick or Treat

Can you believe its November already??? Holy balls batman, where has the year gone?

I took Chesney trick or treating on Monday at the nursing home in Bremen. Every year they have the residents pass out candy to trick or treaters and since its inside, I thought it was the perfect spot for Chesney. I didn't take her a candy bucket, lets face it, she can't eat the candy anyway, and we dont need it, so she just walked around saying HI to the residents and made them smile. She was adorable and I think the residents enjoyed it!!! Jillian, Stephen and Cael went with us. Cael was a dinosaur, I wish I would have taken pics of him, but I didn't. What a bad aunt I am!!!

Below are some pictures of Chensey.... enjoy!!!

Bundled up going out to tailgate at the Notre Dame game vs. Navy


Sitting in Aunt Emmys truck at tailgate because a hail storm came through!!


Mirror mirror, whos the prettiest one of all??


Snow White

Time for an update.

Well, I promised you last week, I would post an update, and once again, I got sidetracked. Have no fear, Craig is home playing with Chesney so Momma has time to post an update!! HURRAY!

Lets see, the last official post was in May and I guess lots has happened. I dont remember everything that has gone on, but I will update you on the important parts!

In July we took the kids to Disney World. It was totally spur of the moment but we had a blast. We had three weeks to plan and pack, and all in all, it was fabulous. Cole is such a great help with Chesney. So it was nice to be able to have that extra pair of hands. Crazy that we need six hands sometimes to keep her corralled! Chesney did awesome on the flight. She bounced around from my lap, to Craigs to Coles but she loved to fly. We stayed at the Pop Century Resort and it was okay. By the time we parked her stroller in the room and set up a play pen for her to sleep, we could barely walk around. The room was small, but we made it work.

We did the Magic Kingdom 1.5 days and Hollywood Studios for half day. We also took time to go down to the Disney Village. Our best part was the Magic Kingdom. Chesney LOVED the rides. Omg, she was a hoot. We took turn sitting out with her when we wanted to go on the bigger rides. Surprisingly, she could ride just about everything... except like Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, etc. She loved the Dumbos. I was a little freaked out when it went high in the sky, but she would just giggle. It was awesome.

We waited in line to see Mickey & Minnie and the Princesses, and I can't believe how excited she got when she saw Mickey. OMG it was crazy. She was in Craigs arms and when it was our turn, she made this OMG face and got soooo excited. It was like she wanted to tell us, LOOK THERES MICKEY!! It was pricess. Crazy how a 7 month old baby knew who they were. Guess watching endless Mickey Mouse Clubhouse made her a real fan!! LOL

We did a character breakfast with Minnie, Goofy and Donald. Cole really enjoyed that and Chesney was standoffish until Minnie came to our table. She kissed her on the nose. Super cute.

In August we had Chesney baptized. We had a big open house for her afterwards up at Maxi's, and I must say, it was quite a hit. My best buddy Jen and her family came up from Lexington to be part of Chesney's big day. Jen and my brother Stephen are Chenseys godparents. Jen has two little kids and they are a riot. Grace is 5 and Holtz was one in January.... he and Callie were only a few weeks a part. I really cherish the friendship I have with Jen and her family. Craig and her husband Evan get along really well too, so thats a bonus.

Cole, our niece Allison and I took Chesney to the Fort Wayne zoo. What a good time. We met up with my brother, his girlfriend Jillian and their baby boy there since they were living in Fort Wayne. It was a hot day, but it was a good time.

Speaking of my brother, he and his girlfriend welcomed Cael Benjamin into the world on June 4. Hes soooo stinking cute. Craig, Chesney and I drove to Fort Wayne the morning she went into labor. I didn't want to miss the chance to see my brother come out of the delivery room and tell us what the baby was.... since they didn't find out what the sex was before he was born. She delivered Cael at 329pm and to hear Stephen say ITS A BOY and see the look on his face was priceless. So glad we decided to drive over there.

OH!!! In July Craig and I went down to the Brickyard 400 in Indy. We left Chesney with my parents and went down for the day. We ran into Jeff Gordon and got to say a quick hello. Hung out with his PR lady, Debby and just had a great day. It was hotter than hell so we left halfway through and watched the last 20 laps or so at a bar outside of town. Great day.

Earlier this month Craig and I went to Washington DC to attend a black tie affair with an organization called Every Child By Two. We have become really good friends with the Executive Directior, Amy Pisani, and we appreciate all they do for us in helping us with Callies Mission. The dinner was FANCY!! It was at the Smithsonian Art and Portrait Musuem. It was so nice. We met a lot of new people, including Dr. Richard Besser from Good Morning America who was the one who aired Callies story on GMA back in April of 2010. FABULOUS man. Such an honor to have been at that dinner. Chesney stayed with my parents the two nights we were gone. We missed our flight and had to fly into Chicago so my mom and Chesney drove up there to get us. Seeing her at midnight totally made our long night so much better. We missed her sooo much, knew she was in good hands tho!!!

I haven't talked much about Cole..... lets see, hes a freshman now and he's doing great. First report card came out and he's got all A's and one B. Im so proud of him. He's also involved in basketball. He's the manager for the Varsity boys team. The coach really took him under his wing, and that makes me so happy. This is Coles first year in a public school so I was worried how the transition would go, but much to our delight, hes accepted the challenge VERY well. One proud momma here.

Craig and I are still very much into promoting the Tdap and sharing Callie's story with anyone who will listen. It has become a huge part of our lives.

OH!! And its Notre Dame football season!! Granted, they're not off to a very good season, but Chensey has had a blast tailgating every homegame!! We dress her in ND gear and people just eat her up!!! Shes soooo darn friendly and flirtatious, wonder who she gets that from???

Im gonna try to attach some pictures for you to enjoy!!!!

OH!!!! Her stats..... 23lbs as of 10/26 and shes WALKING AND TALKING!!!!!!!!
Until next time.....

FINALLY!

OMG, we finally have the internet back at home.
Chesney isn't cooperating today but I promise to get back on here this week adn give you all an update...and post some pictures. Hard to believe she's 10 1/2 months old. Shes walking and talking!!!!!!! More to come!!!!

Been a long time.

Sheesh, I suck at updating this thing!!! Its been almost two months since my last update. Yikes... bad momma!! But have no fear, Im here today with an update and recent pictures!!!

Lets see... whats been going on?

Chesney mastered the Easter Bunny! It didn't even phase her!! She just sat on his lap and looked all around. She was adorable!!! Im sure next year she'll pitch a fit, but for this year, she was a champ.


Chesney got her first tooth on Mothers Day and then a second one popped through two days later!! She's so cute with them! But they HURT!!! They're like razor blades but yet she likes to bite us!!! That child!

She started rolling over on April 1. She can go from her back to her belly but not from her belly to her back. She wants to crawl but so far, she can only scoot backwards. Too cute!! She gets all over the place though by scooting.

We went to New York city May 14 - 16. We had a meeting with American Baby magazine and did 6 radio interviews. All went really well. It was hard to do without tearing up talking about Callie, but Im glad we went!! And yes, Chesney went with us!! Her first time in the big city! SHE LOVED IT!! Craig and I never want to go back... too congested for us and too many rude people!!! But we did get to see our friends Chris, Anna, Brian and Carter! Always awesome to see them!!!

Lets see, what else is new?? Cole had surgery on the 18th for his left hip. His growth plate was slipping so he went in for surgery. He had the right side done last September and now they did his left side.... and I can say that I HATE HIS CRUTCHES!! Cole isn't graceful without the crutches let alone with them. YUCK!!!! Sucks that he'll be on them for the majority of the summer. UGH!

We did the March of Dimes Walk back in April and it went really good. We were one of the top teams in the state!! Thank you to EVERYONE who walked and donated. Truly means a lot to me... and Callie G!!!!

I'll attach a bunch of pictures for you!! ENJOY!!

Oh.. Chesney will be in 6 months in just over a week and at last check, she was 17lbs. Im guessing she'll hit 19 or 20 at her next dr appointment!! MOOOOSE!!! Love it!

Til next time.... Enjoy the pics!