Sweet Baby K

It is hard to believe that our baby girl is officially 5! She had a wonderful day today and is enjoying being one year older. I asked her this morning if any part of her felt older and she told me her legs. By afternoon she told Ms. Mallory that her whole body felt 5! Since I have no pictures uploaded from today I thought I would share some from the very early days of us with our sweet baby K.

This was Millie taking care of her new sister.

O, the days of a newborn- first newborn that is. We have no pictures like this with JW or R!!!!

Happy Birthday K! We love you so much and can't believe how much you have grown and changed over the years.

Christmas III

On one of the warm days that we were at Poppy and Tutu's we headed out to the park to enjoy the morning before lunch.

Christams DayII

A little sibling rivalry on the wii.

Someone trying her bike with no training wheels- and some thug helping her!!!

The weather was just right for playing outside. Little did we know a long cold spell was headed our way and it would be awhile before we could play outside again-comfortably that is.

Christmas Morning

We had a very relaxing Christmas day. The kids did not wake up till 8 which was nice. Here R is snuggling with Tutu.

It was a boot Christmas all 3 kiddos got a pair. Here JW is dancing in his. They have been wearing them non stop!

Here K is modeling her new ballet shoes!

Christmas Eve-McDonough

We arrived at Poppy and Tutu's late afternoon on Christmas Eve. The five of us went to the 5 o'clock candle light service at my parents church. Side note- before we went to my parents that afternoon Brian played the wii resort games he got for Christmas from his family. He picked several items for the kids to tryout-one being fencing. The kids really got a kick out of it and apparently kept it in the front of their memory, b/c when the candles were passed out JW immediately leaped forward grabbed one and called for K to get one as well. They then started to have a quick dual before Brian and I would divide and conquer! Great day to introduce fencing Daddy!
After we returned to Poppy and Tutu's we had dinner and then made cookies for our special guest.

Hanging the stockings with care.

Mom and Dad just had hardwoods put in the front of their house and had not had them stained and finished yet. This is JW showing off his splinter from the unfinished floors.

Christmas-Home

We spent one night at our house before we packed up again and headed down to my parents house for the rest of Christmas. On Christmas eve morning the kids woke up and opened the presents from one another.

We put Shirley's bed together and then took a picture to show Poppy and Tutu.

Here K is very upset that we are not taking it with us! I know she is going to love that picture one day!

Indy III

Not only did we have a great time just catching up but we also stuffed ourselves with wonderful food. One afternoon the kids sat around the kitchen table to watch Great Grandma and Grandma make home made ravioli. It is a long process but definitely worth the effort.

We also attempted to take a picture of all the kiddos. I much prefer(especially when dealing with several kids) to try to take these pictures outdoors, but when it is freezing outside that is not really an option. So we corralled them into the dinning room with 3 cameras and it was a workout! I wish I knew how to post more pics per post b/c some are down right comical, but since I was limited I tried to pick the ones that the majority looked the best in.

And then after the kids were so sick of the photo session we decided to pull Grandma in! As you can tell the kids had had enough for one day!

Snow in Indy

On Tuesday morning, we bundled up the kids and headed outside to play in the snow. A and K together before the real playing took place. Aunt Karen was such a good hostess- she had all the snow gear there for our kids which was a HUGE help.

K, JW and A pulling M

Brian tired after pulling kids on the sled through the snow!

Christmas-Indy

Well, Mac had a perfect view of our little travelers on our way to Karen and Chris'. We left early Sunday morning to make our trek up north to be with Brian's family for part of the holidays. The night before we got together with my Dad's side of the family for our annual Christmas Smith party-we forgot to take our camera, but we all had a wonderful time. We left before the sun came up and were at the Wolf's before dinner. The kids did great and we did not have any snow till we got to Indy.

With a large crowd and with 6 little ones under the age of 7 you never know how it all is going to go. But I must say I was pleasantly surprised how well all the kids did.

Great Grandma Paoli(Brian's grandma) came down from northern Michigan to spend Christmas. This was R's first time to meet her and you can tell he enjoyed hanging out with her!

This picture is K realizing the gift she just opened is the bed she asked for for Shirley. She was so excited.

And nothing says Christmas like a little Wii competition.

Left Out on Update

I forgot to mention that R was also evaluated by an OT and PT. He automatically qualifies through Babies Can't Wait b/c of his acondroplasia. As of right now he is only being monitored b/c he is showing no delays in development-these are physical delays not mental. Which is wonderful and we are grateful but the delays will probably be in our future. Many babies show delays in crawling and walking, so right now we just have to wait and see.

In the past I have made comments to K regarding how God chose our home for R. I guess in hopes that she will feel the importance of her role in R's life. Well, it must have stuck b/c she tells me often that God chose the right home for R. In the beginning people told us that God could not have picked a better home for R and I must admit it did not bring much comfort. But now seeing my children, our families, and friends love him and accept him I do feel that He has a perfect plan for our R and an amazing journey it will be.

R Update

I have been meaning to get this out for a while but just had not sat down to do it. First, thank you for everyone that has and continues to pray for our little R. They are working! He is a happy and growing little boy. He is currently sitting up on his own, saying da da, and getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth!

Right before Thanksgiving we went to his 6 month check up. This was a bitter sweet appointment for Brian and myself. It is always great to hear that your baby is doing great and looks good, but the stats were a little hard to swallow. Up until this appointment R was hanging with where K was for height. We found out that is no longer the case. He is now 2inches shorter and 3or 4 shorter than JW was at this benchmark. Not knowing what to expect I just had not thought that there would already be several inches this early. Naive, I know but Brian and I are still learning. After that part was over the talk then turned to seeing all the specialist that wanted to see him after his 6 month check up.

The next appointment took us back to Children's Hospital for another sleep study. We forgot our camera which made me mad b/c it is hard to describe all the stuff they put on his head and a picture truly captures it better than my descriptions. But try to imagine electrodes placed all over your head, 2 things in his nose, electrodes on his chin and temples. They then wrap his whole head and under the chin with gauze. This is very scary looking to a momma and makes you very grateful there are only electrodes under the bandage and not a major head injury. R did not wake up every hour like he did last time, but when he did wake up it really scared you! Imagine waking up and being wrapped in wires. O- he was so scared and let us know it quickly with his scared screams. Since he rolls around in his sleep now the wires would get wrapped all around him while he slept. Brian and I were very glad when they came in at 5 and told us we could leave. Two days later Dr. Colton called to tell us that R had had only 1 episode all night!!!!! This meaning his airway is growing and helping him to sleep more soundly. And unless something changes we will not have to repeat another sleep study!!!!!!!!

Next stop was the ENT visit which was pretty uneventful and we will not go back till March. He did have to remove some wax out of one of his ears to clearly see into the ear. Brian and I both felt like we were watching the discovery channel b/c he used this camera that showed us on the screen what he was cleaning out. R was a champ and really seemed to enjoy the whole process. In fact, I too wanted to crawl on the table and let him clean my ears! He did say that he had fluid on both ears but no infection.

A week later we headed to the hospital for x-rays and then to the neuro surgeon. The x-rays were a bit tricky since they wanted a picture of his lower back while standing up- and he can't stand on his own. But I was able to hold him in a standing position and that was enough for them to get the shots/info the Dr. needed. The Dr. said that his kyphosis(curving of his lower spine) still needs to monitored. We were told what signs to look for that would imply that the stenosis (at the top of spine) was worsening. If all goes well he will not need to be seen again till after his next MRI in August.

As you can tell from these random pics our sweet R is loving life and really making the most of his tiny body. I wish I could say that I have completely accepted this but I still have my bad days. This is a process, a journey and well we are doing our best. We have also decided to tell the kids, so pray that this goes smoothly. The only reason we have not already is b/c we weren't really sure that they would understand- I mean a baby is suppose to be small. I know most if it is going to fly right over their head but still pray that the right words come out and that Brian and I will be able to answer their questions.

Hope everyone is enjoying 2010! I must say 2009 was a hard year on many levels and was ready to welcome in a new year. Check back soon b/c I am finally going to cover Christmas!