Happy Desert Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving !!! Not a great pic of any of us but we have so few of the three of us, I had to post it. We have so much to be thankful for this year...obviously. We simply cannot believe how great Abby is doing.

Abby had her first Thanksgiving in the desert this year at Grandma and PopPop's house. Here is Abby with her cousins and Grandma...

It was nice and warm and she got to take her first dip in the cooled down hot tub (thanks Christy Zipf for the cute suit!) -- with a shirt on to cover her scar from the sun, of course!

Abby managed her first cold of her life this week .... so we're managing her stuffy nose with a humidifier and lots of salt water nose rinsing. It hasn't slowed down her eating -- just one more reason to not be sleeping through the night! Above all, we are so thankful to the Lord for His many, many blessings to us -- and all of our close family and friends top that list. We couldn't have gotten through the last 6 months without all of you! We have our next pediatrician visit on Friday so we'll have some more "news" (hopefully about discontinuing the iron!) then. And, with that, I guess we can now officially say, MERRY CHRISTMAS -- tis the season, right?

Happy 6th Month Birthday, Abby!

Today was a BIG day. Abby turned 6 months old. I didn't quite realize she was HALF A YEAR OLD until today. It snuck up on me....and I can't keep her in the "infant" category any more in my mind. That's because the girl is finally growing! She started off her day with a big breakfast of avocados and flax seed oil (yum?) which she loves. We headed out for a walk in her newest favorite --facing forward in the Moby wrap. She took a typical nap (20 minutes --grrrrr) and then we headed to the cardiologist. She gained 1 kilo in a month. She hardly gained 1 kilo in the entire previous 4 months before surgery that we'd been going to him. Hip Hip Hurrah! He kindly took Abby off of the Lasix medication that has been drying out her lungs and said that hopefully, very soon, she can quit the iron, too.

Here she is playing this morning...

Waiting for the cardiologist wore her out!

Check out how great her scar looks! We're waiting to see our Dr. after her EKG.

The best part of MY day was Abby falling asleep on the way home and STAYING asleep for OVER AN HOUR. I'm still in shock. Then it was off to the park to see some friends.

And if you can believe it, these two are only four months apart....

We are so thankful for all the ways the Lord made her 6th month birthday very special. If I could (or didn't care about her health!) I would give her a big, fat buttercream laden cupcake tonight for dessert. But alas, she'll have to settle for breast milk. Maybe I can eat that cupcake....

The Featherweight Champ ....

is bulking up! She gained EIGHT OUNCES this week. That's the most in her entire life, gained in one week. Hurrah for Abby! Here she is... more comfy in her new "seat."

Royalty and Jackie O

Abby has had a big week so far. She did a few very "big girl" things.... sat up in the tub with no "infant insert" to keep her suspended (and therefore, her scar from getting submerged) as well as tried out the Bumbo seat since she is starting to really sit up -- although not quite by herself. She loved the tub and did not really love the Bumbo. It's like exercise to her at this point. Soon enough she'll be sitting in front of a computer for hours a day and I'll wish she never learned to sit still! Sorry for the graphic pic, but here she is in the tub... look at how good that scar looks! Kinda sad for me who LOVES looking at it. Soon enough it will be gone....And how bout that belly, eh? I'm praying for super chub.
Our friend Letam came over for dinner this week and Abby had her first brush with royalty. No, seriously. He really is a Prince. Sorry for the blurry picture...but she LOVED meeting him. I think he whispered to her that there was a tiara in her future.

And, she dressed up a bit today with a sweet little Jackie O sweater that my mom actually knitted for JJ's daughter, Miller -- and she graciously let us borrow it back! She's channeling Jackie O....but with leg warmers. Maybe a Flashdance version of Jackie? Hmmmm.....And look how close she is to rolling over! She's hanging tight in the mid 10 pound range....now if we could only get this girl to fall in love with sleep.

Weekend!

We spent a great day on Saturday at the park.... and she weighed in at 10 lbs 5.5 ounces today. Hurrah!

Now That's Funny

We're one month post-op! I can hardly believe it. Only a month to go until we can put Abby on her tummy and not worry about how we pick her up because her breastbone will be completely healed. Some of you have asked what we're still concerned about and here is the short list of what we are still waiting to be resolved.

-- Lungs. Our cardiologist said it would be a number of months before they dry out. She takes medication every day to help speed that process (and it makes her pee like crazy, too)

-- Enlarged heart and therefore, a leaky valve. Again, time should resolve this.

--Anaemia. She's taking iron every other day and it does still wreak havoc on her little system. Some nights and days are worse than others but really painful gas is the thing that wakes her up screaming at night. Or, like tonight, crying every 15 minutes in her sleep.

Those are the biggest concerns still....but she is feeling great and happy --and MOST days we're getting more sleep and actually getting out in public places (with no germs!). Try to tune Grant and I out when you watch this video - we're acting like crazy people trying to get the girl to laugh. And, finally - laugh she did.

New Best Friend

Hurrah for doing something "normal" today -- Abby is doing so well, we were able to venture outside the house, and hang out with someone just as germ conscious as we are. Abby met her first real friend her age -- Pema! They hung out at the park and as Pema's mom said, "It looks like they want to give each other manicures." Tee hee.... They are only two weeks apart but Pema is everything Abby wishes she could be -- a nice filled out baby girl. They aren't too far apart in length, but Pema was showing Abby how to roll over and Abby's little bobble head was getting a bit more sturdy just watching Pema sit up so nice and tall. Abby's head is doing pretty good, actually -- it's those "sit up" muscles that she needs to work on.

10 pounds

That's right people. The girl finally weighs 10 pounds. I almost have a 5 month old that doesn't weigh that of a large newborn! Waaaahooooo!

5 ounces

Doesn't sound like much, but for Abby, it's HUGE! We spontaneously went to northern California this week and spent some time with the Heatherly side of the family (thanks for all the help Grandma and Papa!) She has been sleeping about the same -- great at first and then some tough time with an hour or two of screaming from her tummy pain. Our scale stayed at home and while Abby seemed bigger when we were away, I was afraid to believe it. She's doing a bit better this week and somehow she just seems .... older, somehow. The new iron protocol must be helping her to gain a bit of weight which means her tummy must be feeling a bit better.

. And, today, she hung out in a Baby Bjorn for the first time and she loved it! She almost always "sits" in our arms facing outward (it helps with her tummy pain and gas) so this was an easy transition. I just wasn't sure if it would be too hard on her chest (it wasn't!). This opens up some freedom for me -- laundry, dishes, vacuuming...all with Abby seeing the world from a new vantage point -- hands free!

Feety Eatys

It's official. Abby can get her feet in her mouth. In the Heatherly family, we call it the "feety eaty" stage. It was so exciting to see it first hand -- these little things make it more real that we're past surgery and hopefully moving forward in every way. She is still waking up every few hours at night, is still dealing with tummy pain (although it seems better) and is spitting up more often - which I'm hoping means that her tummy is more full than ever after a feeding. Her weight hasn't taken off yet.... but we're waiting anxiously for it. As a nurse told us on our last day at the hospital, "soon, you'll have to worry about something else." I can't wait for that. She doesn't have any more scabs on her scar or where her chest drainage tube was- she's just healing so fast. Abby has been out of the house a few times recently and it's clear that she's a social gal. Now we'll just have to wait till the Swine Flu season is over and her immunities are up till we really can hit the town.

Happy Halloween

Two pics of Abby pre-surgery that I just found. These were both taken two days before she got her "whole" heart.

Happy Halloween!! We hit a few houses on our street (Grant got the pleasure of eating Abby's candy) and our little butterfly "flew" into someone very special. We had never met Cortney, a great gal who gave blood for Abby's surgery. As we were walking down our street, our mutual friend introduced us! It was so fun to meet Cortney and tell her how big of a role she played in Abby's successful surgery.

Her first Halloween was a huge success (she got into her costume, didn't pee all over it, and feel asleep as mommy and daddy hung out with the neighbors!).