Ella and her many names

Her birth name is Ella Claire, but we have many many names for her. This was the phase in which we called her our full figured baby. This phase we called her Neh Ne. I'm not sure why we just did. Do you see her perfectly shaped eyebrows? They are so beautiful.This is one of my favorite pictures. I just love the back of babies heads. She has a perfectly shaped head..I just had to put this picture in here. This is how I carried the babies around. Ella loves going to her ballet class.
We now call her Mom, Nehn, Neh Ne Bear, Little Bear, Bear, Princess, Little Lexy, Claire, and Ella Claire. We called her Diva for a while which she likes very much because she would repeat it all the time. But we decided not to call her that anymore since its not a good quality to have. Surprisingly the girl answers to all her current names. However, it does confuse people at times, but not our family. Do you have any names you call a loved one that is not their birth name? Or are we just the only weirdos?

Oh my Ella Claire

I know it's Thursday and I have been slacking on Ella's week but I'll make it up. My sweet son, Isaac was in the NICU when I found out I was pregnant with Ella. I wanted to DIE!! Really it was just too much. Apparently, God didn't think so. "The plan" was to get my tubes tied when Isaac came home from the hospital. My sweet doctor didn't want to do it when he was born just because if he were to pass I might want to try again later. But our "plan" never came to fruition. I was three months pregnant when my Isaac came home from the hospital. He had so many appointments that I was not sure how I would do it all with Avery at home Lexy in school, and this new baby boy who needed me 24-7, and being 3 months pregnant. I didn't do it, God did. I had the most support from my family, my wonderful husband, and the greatest church family ever. They made me meals, and called frequently, and helped with everything. I did get a cerclage around four months. But I know that God healed me completely, and not by anything I did or man. We chose to take one day at a time. Thinking about the future and wondering what was going to happen was NOT an option. Every week I had my sono and check up and every week everything looked great. No dialating, no contractions, no funneling. So to our amazement I made it to 40 weeks! I had not gone that far since Lexy and I was so excited. I took pregnancy pictures that I keep hung up in the hallway. I love looking at them. Remember I never got big enough for people to tell that I was pregnant with Avery and Isaac. The year Ella was born it was hard planning parties, we postponed a few. On February 7th I woke up with contractions that quickly intensed within a couple of hours. My parents came over at 6 in the morning and I woke Lexy up and told her that her new sister would be coming soon. It was Lexy's birthday too. After laboring all day we decided at 11:30 to have a c-section. I was not dialating! Imagine that, when I didn't need to dialate I did, and when I really needed to I didn't. My crazy body! I had made arrangements for my sweet friend Gretchen to take pictures, and boy did she. This is Tino and I waiting for our little girl. We're smiling, and not crying with dispair. We were so giddy! Tino kept asking me if I was in pain. He saw everything they were doing to me and I think it freaked him out. This is my doctor, you know the one who had the crazy idea of pushing Isaac back in and quick stitching me up, and the one that I have known since I worked for her in high school. I love her and this was her first time to finally deliver a full term Liscano baby. She was just as excited as we were to see our little girl. During the delivery the anesthesiologist was playing praise music in the labor room. It was so amazing, God had totally done all of this for His glory! This was the first time in a long time that I was able to see my baby right after delivery. I was overwhelmed!LOOK only one regular nurse! No NICU nurses, or neonatologists! WOOOHOOO! You see that nurse? Well at the time she attended our church and she stayed with me the entire time I was in labor and was there when Ella was born.After she was born, Tino just couldn't leave her side. He stayed with her till he gave her to me.



Ella was not only a full term baby she was the biggest. She weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces!! When God has a plan He does it BIG. We called Ella our full figure baby for a long time. Lexy use to comment on how Isaac and Avery looked so much like Tino but after seeing Ella she knew God not only gave Ella to Tino and I but to her too. Ella looks, acts, talks, and is a very fast learner just like her Lexy. Not to mention she has the same birthday as Lexy. God has completed our family with our Ella and has connected Lexy with her siblings even more. I never thought God would have us walk through so much in just a short period of time, but He did. Not only did we survive but we have been refined as a family. We walked through it all with Christ leading our every step. Oh my Ella Claire is such a blessing to our family and we love her with such intensity. Thank you Jesus for Ella, to God be the Glory!

SLEEEEEEEPY!

I know this is Ella's week, but I had to show you guys these pictures. Sunday after church we went to the Rowland Ranch and had a blast. My little ones were so sleeeeepy they fell asleep just after 5 minutes in the car. My Isaac was so sleepy, he didn't even wake up when I got him out of the car! Look at that thumb sucker! I just love that girl!
Avery was so tired she didn't even take her sucker out of her mouth. And look at her crooked glasses.
Thank you Rowland's for having us over! We love you guys tons!!

What?

Because my Isaac was born so prematurely he had many doctor appointments and therapy appointment. One day our therapist told us he might need a helmet to help with his head shape. So I made an appointment with his pediatrician and he referred us to a craniofacial specialist. While we were there he told us he thought our son's frontal bones had already fused together. This is a picture of Isaac around the time we took him to the doctor. After x-rays and several pictures later it was confirmed that his bones were fused. The doctor told us about a surgery to reconstruct his frontal bones to allow his brain to grow and to have a more of a normal looking head. He told Tino and I that this would mean that Isaac would have a scar on his head from ear to ear going across the top of his head. It's a zig zag cut to not put pressure on the skin and it will heal faster. He then told us he would pull the skin down and remove his frontal bones reconstruct them and with the help of screws and plates would put him together again and that would work. WHAT!! YOU WANT TO DO WHAT TO MY SON?!!!!! Was my first thought, then denial, then saddness. My Ella Claire was only 4 months old and Isaac was a little over a year old. I didn't know how this was going to work but my sweet Tino stepped up big time. He totally took charge and told me he would take a week vacation and stay with Isaac the entire time he was in the hospital and I would take care of everything at home. Can I just say, I love this man. I have been blessed with this great man who took over when I needed him to. I would visit Tino and Isaac in the afternoon after I picked up Lexy from school. Isaac was in the ICU for two days and only two visitors could go in at a time. It was very hard to have a baby in the hospital and a nursing baby at home. I would bring all the kids to the hospital and Tino and I would trade places for a couple of hours. I would visit Isaac while Tino stayed in the waiting room with Lexy, Avery and Ella. We had wonderful families make dinner for us and bring it to the hospital or I would pick it up during carpool at Lexy's school. This way we were able to eat dinner together. Tino never got a break. He wasn't able to come home. The first two days in the ICU he didn't leave Isaac's side, and to show his great sacrifice for his son, he didn't even leave him to take a shower. After the two days in the ICU Isaac was moved to a room for a couple of days. It was a little easier when he had his own room because we could all visit him together. I didn't like to stay long because we would get loud and I wasn't sure how Isaac was feeling. His eyes were swollen shut for about 5 days so I couldn't tell if he was asleep or awake, but Tino knew. He knew everything about Isaac, what he wanted when and what he liked and didn't like. Tino is my hero! I'm so glad he was there with his son, I know I there is no way I could of done what Tino did. Here is Isaac before his surgery. This is the room we waited in at 6 in the morning for the nurse to come and get us. This is Isaac after his surgery. His eyes were swollen shut and I didn't even recognize him. I was not prepared to see him this way. I was given a photo album of a boy who had the same surgery and I saw his pictures but I just didn't register that my son would look like that boy but he did. It was such a weird feeling, to not recognize the little boy you delivered and had prayed for, for such a long time.

Isaac had his blue blankee the whole time. He is now 5 and still carries his blankee everywhere he goes. See that tube in his tummy? Well that was a feeding tube he had put in while he was in the NICU because they found that he had a paralyzed vocal chord that wouldn't let him swallow properly. But that's for a later post. He had a lot of tubes and wires going and coming in all different directions. Isaac finally came home just 6 days after surgery. It was so much better when he came home. It was still hard to see him recover but at least he was home. God has been so good to our family and I have never been mad at God for giving us this trial to go through. I just pray that when I meet Him face to face I'm able to hear him say, "well done good and faithful servant." I love God and I love him for refining our faith as a family in HIM! I'm also thankful for my strong and healthy children, all four of them!!

My little peanut is 5!

My little peanut is 5! This is Isaac Gabriel's story:
Isaac was a very active little guy even in the womb, what little time he was in there. I found out I was having a boy at 12 weeks. But only because at the time I was pregnant with him I worked at my OB's office and I knew the sono tech. Thank goodness I knew her because I would see her every week till I delivered. Because Avery was so premature I was monitored closely with Isaac. At about 19 weeks I was on a field trip with my oldest Lexy at the Dallas Art Museum and I had a scheduled sono appointment after the field trip. Well while on the trip I felt very different, like I had to go to the bathroom. So I sat around most of the time and really did nothing. I told the teacher how I felt and she knew I needed to sit so, I called the doctor and told her what was going on and she told me to come in early. Since I worked there they would see me. I can't remember if I got another mom to take my carpool back to the school or what because the next couple of hours were just one big blur. I go to the office and told the sono tech I really felt something was different. (This gets graphic but I have to tell you how awesome our God is) So to here shock, as soon as she put in the sono probe, she could see his feet pushing it back at her. My bag of water was still in tact and I was fully dilated and he was on his way out! She told me to lay very still and not to worry. After that the two doctors that worked at the office and the two nurse practitioners came in to "see". So after thinking about what to do, my doctor, was able to push Isaac back "in". I know it sound NUTS, but that's what happened. After that the ambulance came to get me and that started yet again my hospital bed rest until I delivered. My doctor stitched Isaac in and it was just a waiting game. Again one night I just felt different and told me nurse and again I was hooked up to a monitor that picked up none of my contractions, but I knew I was having them. So after a couple of hours they detected them and I was given medicine to stop them and they still continued. After a while I began to bleed, my Isaac had ripped through the stitches and was comin'. Amazingly it really didn't hurt, I'm not sure why. I delivered him at 23 weeks exactly. Again I heard the same ol' story and statistics. He weighed in at 1 pound 4 ounces. He stayed in the NICU for 6 months and finally came home. This is my little guy just a sleepin'. He was on oxygen to help him get enough air in his lungs. He also had a feeding tube in his mouth because he was not sucking a bottle properly. This is Isaac on Tino's first Father's Day with a boy. He was four months old. This is me holding my little boy's precious feet. This is the first time Avery met Isaac. We put up this picture so Isaac could look at his lovely sisters. Isaac had a therapist come and make sure he was doing everything he should be doing. This is him working on holding his head up and pushing up.After Isaac came home the girls loved cuddling with him. He came home on oxygen and his machine could only reach so far from his room, so this was his main spot he sat with the girls. My Isaac about a year old. Doesn't he have the cutest smile?Last year I made the kids cupcakes on their birthday. Isaac's favorite things are tools, and the Cowboys. So I combined the two. Isaac likes to help Tino fix things, this is him helping Tino fix a crib for a friend. The only reason Isaac is here is because God through his saving grace wanted him here. My son has a great calling on his life to tell the world his story and to tell the nonbelievers He is real. I'm so excited for his future. My little peanut is 5!

Today she's 8!

Today is my sweet Avery Grace's birthday. She is officially 8 years old! Gosh how time does fly. I was looking for pictures of her when she was born but all my older pictures are in a box somewhere since we are putting our house on the market in a week we had a lot of decluttering to do. Avery is my second child and after having a normal full term baby before I was not expecting any complications. However, it had several with Avery. One day when I was at my mom's house my water broke. I was terrified! I was only 20 weeks along, my sister was visiting my mom as well and she loaded up her kids and Lexy and rushed me to the hospital. I called Tino on the way and told him to meet me there. I arrived at Baylor and was rushed into a room where I stayed 24 hours for monitoring. I have no clue as to what time it was but sometime after I arrived my sister in law noticed a familiar face at the hospital, it was an elder from our church. His wife was in the next room having a reaction to some medication and she told him about me and he came in and immediately prayed. Now I know it is NOT God's desire to cause any sickness in us but He had this precious couple at the hospital to calm our storm. I know God sent them before us, and for that I'm so thankful. After praying and really feeling peaceful about everything. The doctor's came in and told me all my options, and all the percentages on survival rate and the high risk for disability! Despite all the "bad" news they would give me, we just knew God would bring Avery and our family thru it all. After being monitored for about 24 hours I was sent to a private room where I would stay until she came. It was so crazy, I had a sonogram every couple of days to monitor her fluid. I was also getting contractions every once in a while, but they would go away with medicine. One night the contractions just would not stop and I woke Tino up and told him I was having contractions and he told me to try to go back to sleep! Yeah right! I called the nurse and they did the regular routine of hooking me up to a monitor and giving me medication to stop the contractions. This time it DID NOT work. I was in labor and there wasn't anything that could be done. She was coming. I was at the only hospital who at the time would rescue a 23 week baby. Had she come when my water broke she would of died, they would not have tried to rescue her. Through all of it I was surprisingly calm, I did cry but I just knew that God told me she was going to be OK. It was such a trying time of faith and courage. I was wheeled down to labor and delivery and after talking to the neonatal doctors they all thought I was NUTS for going with the plan of "heroic measures" to save my little girl. They warned me over and over again about her possibility of disability, not leading a "normal" life. My sister was a neonatal intensive care nurse at Baylor at the time and she even told me the countless times she saw this scenario. It did not look good for my Avery. I delivered her normally and I did not get to see her till the next day. There were no tears of joy, just tears of uncertainty. There was no "congratulations you have a healthy baby girl," just the neonatologist saying "Mrs. Liscano, we got a good start, but the next couple of days are uncertain." There was no sweet sound of a baby's cry, just silence and doctor's yelling out orders of what to do next. She had made her grand entrance into this world and I didn't even get a chance to hold her and kiss her till she was about a month old. When I saw Avery the next day, her entire body was red. She looked like a newborn kitten. Her skin was almost transparent, her eyes were still fused shut, and her fingers were so tiny! She was 12 1/2 inches long and weighed 1 pound 3 1/2 ounces. She was on a ventilator to help her breathe, and countless medications and machines monitoring everything. Each day she got stronger. We did have a couple of bumps in the road but TODAY SHE IS 8!!! Avery is such an outspoken little peanut. She adores her daddy and loves him more than life itself. She used to ask him if he would marry her but we now pray for her future husband to be just like daddy. She is in her fourth year of ballet and really enjoys it. This is her in her first ballet recital. She couldn't contain her excitement when she saw her daddy.
I homeschool her and she is a very smart and attentive little girl. Her middle name is Grace, which is my mom's name but, we named her Grace because she is here ONLY by the Grace of God. Today as I remember her birth, I am so thankful to my God who cared so much for her that he saved her twice, once from a physical death at birth, and for sending Jesus to die for her sins and her not dying a spiritual death. She loves Jesus and loves learning about Him and his amazing power. To her it does not surprise her when I tell her about the miracles in the bible, she knows her God and knows he is powerful and mighty! Thank you Jesus for my sweet Avery Grace who is 8! This is Avery with her birthday balloon.

4 kids + February = Birthday month madness

February is a very busy month around here. All four of my children were born in February! Actually two of them share the same birthday. So for this month I will blog about one child for the whole week. I was going to do this for the child who had a birthday for that week but I have three birthday's this week alone. So I'm going to do it by birth order. So this is Lexy's week.



This is her story:
I had Lexy when I was 16. I was scared but still so excited. She was given to me at a time in my life that honestly if she hadn't come I'd be working a minimum wage job somewhere and probably living on welfare. I was a very rebellious teenager. When I saw her beautiful little face I had a sudden urge to give her the best I possible could. It was very hard but with the help of my parent I graduated from high school. When I was in high school, I met an amazing boy, Tino. He helped me plan her first birthday party. I still remember him taking his change can and getting diapers for her. When he proposed to me he told me he didn't want anyone to hurt Lexy and he wanted to be her daddy. Shortly after we married he adopted her and she became Alexis Victoria Liscano, she still remembers that day at the court house. It was really cool, the people in the court room cheered for us when it was over. God IS always good. There are times where she talks to her daddy about things that she won't talk to me about. Their relationship is so sweet. She's seen him grow into a wonderful man, and he's seen her grow into a beautiful God loving girl. This year my little girl will turn 13!! Gosh where has the time gone?! When some parents freak out at the thought of a teenager, I feel this huge sense of urgency to teach her how to me a woman after God's heart, a student, a wife, and eventually a mom. She is so involved in her youth group and loves God so much. Just the other day she had a sleep over and they went to Blockbuster, and she called me to ask if she could watch a certain movie. She could of just omitted telling me about the movie but she didn't. I can trust her with a lot, she is very mature. Her love for God shows in everything she does. This year for her birthday we will be going to a Stars game and staying at the "W" in a friend's condo. She is so excited. I'm so excited about what this first teenage year will bring. She's a great girl, and I am so blessed God chose me to be her mommy! Happy Birthday Lexy!!