Alissa is Sweet Sixteen!

Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen!




Alissa and her Dooney!


Today is Alissa's 16th Birthday. She is very excited. Today she got to do whatever she wanted to do. That is what happens here when it is your Birthday. I made her blueberry pancakes for breakfast. She loved them. Tonight for dinner she wanted enchiladas. They turned out really good. We topped the food portion of the day off with her favorite funfetti cake. She has me make this for her every year. She loves it. Since it was her 16th Birthday we wanted to get her a special present. We got her a Dooney & Bourke purse. She was so surprised and very excited. She loves those purses!

It is hard to believe that 16 years ago tonight I had to go to the hospital and was terrified. I knew that it was really way to early to be having a baby. She proved to be very impatient right from the start. Not much has changed with her 16 years later. It was a very scary and shaky start to her life. She had to struggle right from the start. She was born at 27 weeks. That made her 13 weeks early. She weighed in at 2 pounds 13 ounces but did get down to 1 pound 10 ounces. She stayed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for 98 days. She came home at 7 pounds 3 ounces. She was on oxygen and a monitor. She made a trip to UC Davis Med Center for laser surgery on her eyes after just being home for 2 weeks. We then had a huge scare as see developed an illness while at UC Davis that attacked her whole system and caused her to stop breathing. SHe was admitted to Docotrs Medical Center and stayed there for 2 weeks. We were very blessed to have some wonderful docotrs and nurses caring for her during her hospital stays. She had a total of 9 hospital stays in a 16 month time period.

Well today she is a beautiful, talented kind hearted girl. Her passion is her Front Ensemble Participation. She plays the vibes and the mirimba and loves it. She has some very nice friends and loves to text message back and forth. She loves History and plans on becoming a History Teacher one day. She never fails to bring a smile to my face, although at times she can totally frustrate the heck out of me. I look back on her start in life and can't believe how rough it was. She can overcome any adversity that is for sure. We will celebrate her Birthday with our family on Sunday at her favorite restraunt, El Ranchito.