Go Cowboys

For our anniversary (which was in June) I gave Jason tickets to a Cowboys game. This is the "inaugural" season for the new stadium and I wanted him to have the opportunity to enjoy it.

This was the first professional football game for both of us and let me tell you it was worth every bit of it. Even with our seats being in the nose bleeds we had an amazing view. At times I caught myself watching the gigantic screen they had instead of watching the field. The screen is amazing how could you not...and the food!!! I know you don't go for just that but let me tell you it definitely helps! Jalapeno sausage...YUMMY. The true test is their hot dogs. They passed with flying colors. I would recommend it.

Jason and I loved every minute of it. It was great to get out and even better to get out just the two of us. It helps that I love football too so I can not say I was dragged along kicking and screaming. I think we are going to have to make it an annual event.

We had an absolutely perfect day weather wise. It made it great for parking a little farther away to help save in parking. We needed to burn some calories anyway.

Look at how clear it is. In one of the first games a kicker actually kicked a ball and hit it. Craziness!!!

I thought this was sweet. I accidentally deleted the cutest picture where she sat up and looked at the camera. Can you tell I am still angry about it?!?

Health news...I realized it has been awhile since I updated her health. I figure I need to do it before I forget.

Upper Endoscopy
For the most part everything came back normal. He still saw some esinophils in her esophagus but he did not thing it was enough to worry about them. We have upped her Prevacid and will most likely remain on that until her body starts to do what we think and "grow out of this phase." I have heard from a few preemie moms that one day it just tends to stop and they no longer throw up. That is my prayer for her. It has already gotten significantly better.

Immunity
We ended up getting her extra Prevnair booster in the middle of August and before she was tested I knew it was working. Since she was tested she has only had illnesses that have nothing to do with her immune issues up until this past week where she just had a TINY cold. It was so tiny you no one else would even know it. This time last year she had been sick an entire 9 weeks worth of school with little rest and vomiting often. After drawing her blood her pnuemococal tighters (sorry for the spelling) looks great and are responding well. Her IGA levels are still on the low normal but at this time it is nothing to worry about. They will continue to monitor her to see if it is a "true" deficiency. Seeing how she is doing now I am thinking she will be fine. Hopefully, this will make her fighting off infection easier. Knowing that she actually responded to a round of antibiotics on the first round and not the 4th is definitely an encouragement and sense of relief all at the same time.


Endocrinologist
The endocrinologist was very pleased with Kaylie's progress. She has made huge gains in her height and weight and several of the concerns about Russell Silver have gone away. As of Monday she weighed in shy of 23 lbs. She has easily gained a 1 lb. 1/2. in less than a month. That is what eating and staying healthy can do to you. She was also pleased with her growth. She is still <3% but has made age appropriate growth.

Therapy
We have dropped her OT down to once a week dropping the feeding component (sensory component of food and textures) but as of today added a physical therapy session. We have had concerns about her running and coordination and after seeing an orthopedist it was determined that her left side continues to be weaker. The good thing is that you would never see that unless you have grown up with her and know her struggles. After the evaluation from the PT we are going to work on her core strength and coordination. Her core is weak which can cause her to have difficulty with her hips and fatigue issues making her more likely to trip and fall. they will work on jumping, running, and getting the left side up to speed with the right. Once they fix that she will no longer veer off to the right when she runs or hold her hands in the air to keep her balanced. I knew when I prosued this I wasn't crazy. She will do this once a week for 6 months.

Overall, things are going well. We are so blessed to be where we are right now and pray that it will continue like this. It has been some much needed rest from what she had been going through and a sense of relief to know we have finally started to head in the right direction and she is actually progressing in a positive way. It is amazing what a difference a year can make!

Pumpkin Panting Party

Staying with the Halloween theme we decided to get together at our house and have a pumpkin painting party. I am so glad we decided to do this today because it has been raining since we woke up at 7:30am and looks like it is going to rain the rest of the day. Having indoor plans made for a great morning.

This is the second time Kaylie has painted a pumpkin the first being last year at daycare. This year the outcome was a lot better and more of the pumpkin was painted than last year. When looking through the pictures I took I laughed because I realized that Kaylie never sat down and stood an arms length from her pumpkin the entire time she painted so she would not get dirty. The minute she got something on her hands she insisted I clean it off. It cracked me up that I didn't realize she was doing this until after the fact. At least we have a pretty pumpkin. The fun thing is that we can wash it off and paint it again when we are bored.

I really enjoyed having everyone over to play. It is so much fun to see how happy all of the kids are together and to see all of the different personalities play together. We definitely have to do that more often!


I thought this was a cute picture of Kiera.

After seeing all of her friends eating Kaylie actually asked for and took a little bit of pizza. She was about to spit it out and then I cheered. She decided to eat it instead. If I didn't think everyone would think I was crazy I probably would have cried. She has made so much progress lately.

(side note...The other day she took a bit of a tator tot and a pancake, chewed, and then spit it out. We will take it!)

Kiera, Kaylie, Grace, Macy, Conner and baby Carlee

It was hard to get a picture of all of them. We had Dora on and they were much more interested in that than taking a picture.

Birthday Fun

This past weekend we celebrated Cousin Eli and Uncle Michael's birthday's. Cousin Eli, Uncle Ryan, and Nonna came up from Austin to visit.

This weekend was so much different than the others. This trip was the first time that Eli and Kaylie actually played together and played together well! They had a great time picking out pumpkins, calling after the other, and chasing each other around the house. It was great to see them actually enjoy each other. It makes it more enjoyable when we do not have to worry about who has what toy. Happy birthday boys!

PS...I do not know what is up with my camera. It looks as if a bunch of my pictures are over exposed. I took some today that were inside and the same thing happened. hmmm...

Kaylie really enjoyed playing with the pumpkins.

I liked her pouty lip.

The birthday boys

She wanted to play with the cake. I tried to get her to eat it and she wasn't happy about that.

Pumpkin Patch

I love this time of year. After a week and a half of being stuck in the house due to constant rain and cold weather we finally got the chance to enjoy a dry day with beautiful weather. I think I needed this and enjoyed being away from the house.



She tried to pick this one up. After a good effort she pointed to the pumpkins and said heavy. She tried to roll a few but they were too heavy to even do that.

I don't know what it is but I love this picture. I think it is the colors.

I asked her to put this pumpkin back. She followed my directions very well by throwing the pumpkin down on the ground. Thankfully it did not break.

The patch was huge. This was only part of the patch. When we walked over to this side she started yelling "pumpkin patch" over and over.

Our play date kiddos. All 3 of us worked together and ended up staying home this year.

Grace and Kaylie...they are close in age.

I always know to start looking for something when ever she makes the corresponding noise. She usually sees things way before I do. She saw the pig and started oinking.

She has not watched Diego but for some reason she really liked him.

It wasn't until I looked through my pictures that I realized she was hi fiving Dora, Boots, and Diego.

It took her over an hour to get comfortable enough to walk up to all these cut outs.

A real piggy

Go Cowboys

This outfit is my absolute favorite thing she has right now. As hard as it is to say it is cuter than the A&M one. Yucks! Sorry ags. Even though this outfit was incredibly precious and she wore it well they still lost. Duh! Maybe she just didn't cheer loud enough.

Thanks to Jolie for finding this the baby consignment store. It was given to us 2 years ago and we knew she was too small then but figured she would be able to wear it last year. Who knew the 12 mth. outfit would actually make its appearance this year. Thanks Jolie we love it!

Are you my girlfriend?

In hopes of helping Kaylie get to know the grandparents I have made a point to have them talk to her on the phone even if all Kaylie does is listen. This is working! She remembers voices and can point to a picture of who we are asking about Because of this it seems to be taking her less time to come out of her shell. It has been great. It makes being away from our family for long periods of time not so long.

On Saturday Kaylie got a visit from her Nonna. She has not seen her since August and so we thought it was time. We had a blast. By the time she left Kaylie would yell "girlfriend to her."

I have to give a little shout out to my mommy...Kaylie's Halloween costume was partially made by her creative talents. Thanks for helping. She will be the cutest one out there.

Nonna brought Kaylie a Dora bag. She loves it. She plays with it all the time.

Dora stickers

Dora doll - today she took her doll and played hi 5 with it and fist bumped it. She has really taken to her.

Dora cups...Not thinking we took them out of the dishwasher. Next thing I knew Kaylie was squealing DORA! She saw the cups and did not understand why she could not have them. Her squeals have become VERY loud!

Kaylie loved everything you gave her. Thank you so much for it. I loved seeing the smile you put on her face.