Baby New Year...

...wishes you a happy and healthy 2010! We wholeheartedly thank you for walking through this year with us. We just couldn't resist capitalizing on our little lady's ears. Be safe!

7 Month Update

Abby has had a crazy few days. She had a package opening party with her Grandma and Pop Pop Nieporte in light of it being her first Christmas, followed by a drive to Sacramento to see the Heatherly Grandparents. She did great, save for about an hour of fussiness. MUCH better than when we did this drive in early November. She seems like such a big girl now... here are her stats on her 7th month birthday.

7 month stats :

sitting up with help

grabs things with both hands, transfers them from hand to hand and to her mouth

head is fairly steady

not quite ready for an exersaucer or a bouncer (that hangs from the door jam) just yet

can roll from tummy to her back no problem

finds herself on her tummy from time to time having rolled there without meaning to

grabs for our drinks

can drink from a cup with help

can drink from a sippy cup without help

loves carrots, peas, avocado & prunes

not so happy about pears (why not?!)

solidly wearing 3-6 month clothes (some 6 month clothes in long, lean brands)

finally weighs over 12 pounds!

takes a small iron supplement every other day

loves hearing "la la la" and grabbing at our eyes and mouths

is spending her first Christmas Day in Sacramento at her grandparents house

is finally in size 2 diapers!

Here is Abby - actually smiling during tummy time. Her Papa was making her laugh.

Gettin' ready for Christmas with Grandma...
Grandma took Abby out for a walk in her cute bunny suit (because it's cold here!) and when she came home, Abby was fast asleep in her arms. Hurrah for 3 naps today instead of 2! Merry Christmas, everyone!

You Better Watch Out....

Abby meets an old man with a beard in a red coat. She was surprisingly okay with it... MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! Abby turns 7 months on the 23rd. Update to come.

Carrots & Lily

Abby had her first taste of carrots today. She LOVED 'em. She isn't gaining weight the gang-buster way she was a few weeks ago. I'm sure she's having normal growth spurts here and there but of course, we have a lot of catching up to do and I want continual big time weight gain. It's always a prayer request in this house that Abby will continue to gain weight. I guess I won't be weaning her off of those night feedings anytime soon! She's doing just great -- I just won't be completely satisfied until she's "caught up" -- as all the doctors say that she will.

It's been 3 months since our good friend Gina had her baby girl, Lily and we had yet to meet her. Since Gina is a disinfecting crazy woman, we had no need to worry about germs and headed over to her house for a bit today. We joke that the girls will be choreographing dance routines the way Gina and I did in high school...but to be honest, Abby was really enthralled with Lily's older brother, Luke. Oh boy. Here is Gina and Lily (she's got the coolest hair in town)...

and here are the girls, laughing it up. Oh! And, while we were there, Abby kept "grabbing" for my water glass. Finally, I got the hint and gave her a sip. I tell ya, the girl is going to be throwing back her very own Sigg of water soon. Hope you are all having a wonderful December so far!

What a difference...

two months makes!

Here we are, immediately post surgery when we found out that Abby was out, was okay, was going to be fine.... (relief, joy, exhausted, tears). And here we are today -- please forgive the "Saturday morning-no make up-rolled out of bed" look (so thankful and happy about sweet Abby).

Big day today - Abby was picked up under her arms and was put on her tummy. Both went great. She immediately flipped on to her back -- she's half way to rolling over. Her favorite past times remain -- sitting up and sucking on her feet. And "talking." Lots and lots of talking. Even when she's trying to fall asleep, she mumbles. Crazy girl...

Her sleep is a bit better -- some nights she's great, other nights she can't quite stay "down." We've learned to roll with it for now, until she's a bit bigger. Here she is in her first winter outfit seeing that we're getting hit with the first storm she's ever seen! Merry Christmas, everyone!

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O Christmas Tree!

Usually we have a $20 rule for trees. It's almost a challenge - the best tree for $20. It started the year we were married, and since we get it the first week of December and aren't even here for Christmas day, it works. Other than the needles all over the house for a few weeks seeing that the tree is dying a slow death, it's great. This year we really splurged -- $29 (i know... crazy!) and Grant went to get it by himself (blasphemy!). We realized we couldn't lower the back seat on one side with Abby's carseat in the middle. Drat. So, off he went and here we wait, with lots of cheer to greet him with. I gotta go make the Cocoa! Thankfully, it's not hot here today so it actually feels like winter (I know, you east coasters... it's only 60) but it definitely helps get us in the mood.

I also had time to go through a few things today seeing that Abby slept for an HOUR today... and I ran across this quote from EM Bounds. I really resonated with me when we were trying to get pregnant with Abby and seems appropriate looking back on her surgery, too.

"Trouble is God's servant. No trouble is ever turned loose in this world and comes in to the life of a saint or a sinner but that it comes with divine permission and is allowed to exist and do it's painful work with God's hand involved, carrying out His gracious designs of redemption."

When things are tough, doesn't that make you wanna take a big sigh of relief that someone, other than you, is in control? Thankfully that "someone" can be trusted with everything -- even our very lives.

We're off to decorate -- bad hair day and all.

6 Month Check Up

Big day.... Abby went back to the pediatrician today and got a glowing report! She's up to 11.5 pounds (about an ounce a day, still) and she's now 24.25" long. Our little peanut is grooooowing! Her little growth chart just plods along, not even touching the graph and now -- boom!-- it's sky rocketed straight up. She'll be on that graph in no time. They tested her iron levels and she jumped from 9.3 to 11.5! Hurrah! I think that 12 -13 is really ideal so she is doing fabulous. We've taken her down to half her dosage every other day, which is GREAT news. She got a vaccination today and hardly cried -- she's getting back to her old self -- tough like her dad. Pretty soon she'll be taking soccer balls to the face and hardly wincing... (we won't let her play Lacrosse, Grandmas, don't worry!). She's still battling this cold and now THAT'S messing with her sleep since she's having a tough time breathing even with the "brain sucker" (snot sucker -- which she hates -- you just feel like you're sucking out her brain) with saline drops and the humidifier. Somehow, when we bring her into OUR bed instead of her crib, she can breathe easier and sleeps great. Hmmmm..... something very suspicious going on there, don'tcha think? This was truly a wonderful way to kick off the holidays. Maybe I can even talk her daddy into getting that Christmas tree tonight! Thank you all, again, for your continued concern, prayers and support. We are so very thankful for all of you. xo

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!