Hello :) Both of the girls are still doing great. Hope is doing well with her G-tube. Feeds go pretty fast now and we are just going to be working on the social aspect of eating with her, and trying to make it all a positive experience for her.

The girls are happy and learning a lot. Peyton is getting stronger and quicker as she crawls and pulls herself up on everything. She loves to say "da-da" right now even though she knows other syllables. You can see this in the video posted below.


It is so fun being a stay at home mom. I couldn't think of a better way to spend my days. I miss my job because I loved my job, but nothing really beats spending time with those you love the most.

Anyway, more updates later!

Peyton found this safety belt that goes with their high-chair....it was cute to see how something so simple could entertain her for so long!

October 14, 2009

Things went GREAT yesterday for Hope's G-tube placement. We arrived at the hospital in the morning, it took about 40-45 minutes total for them to intubate her, get her IV in, do the procedure, and extubate her. It felt like 10! It was so fast! Afterwards Hope was a little cranky so I went to the recovery room and held her. She fell asleep and then woke up once she got in her room. She was in a great mood for the rest of the day! It didn't take long for her to be smiling and playing with her rattles.

The G-tube/ PEG is very simple and easy to take care of. It seems like it might be a little sore for her, but it doesn't seem to be bothering her too much. She will go back in 6 weeks to get the button placed. She shouldn't need to stay the night that time though. The hospital was really great at helping keep Hope isolated so she didn't get sick during her stay. She had her own room and we even had two of our favorite nurses! It was a great surprise to our day!

Thanks for your prayers!

G-tube October 11, 2009

Happpy Sunday!

I love how the weather has been sooo nice for mid October! I have a few minutes and just wanted to give an update that Hope will be having her surgery for her G-Tube on Tuesday at 10 am. We will be staying over night just to make sure everything goes well after she gets extubated and wakes up. Please pray that everything runs smoothly.

God has been so good to us. He's so faithful and loving and compassionate. So gracious, so forgiving, and most of all...patient.

12 more days till the girls are ONE!!! Yippee! No big birthday this year, though. As much as I'd love to PAR-TAY and celebrate the last year, too many people have been sick lately for us to risk it.

Love you all so very very much.

October 2, 2009

Hope sitting up all on her own. This was the first time it was for about a minute!
Someone has learned how to pull herself up on her crib. It's awfully cute.
Peace manifested.
Finding something new to climb on
Hope has been practicing her piano while Peyton crawls up on the other side (usually pushing the toy into Hope's stomach and interrupting her song. ) I'm always there to mediate though :)
Beauty
Goin' on a walk.... they almost look the same size
This was before she could pull herself up....she didn't know that she couldn't go THROUGH the glass to get the water bottle.
Snuggles
"MMMM......"


Hope practicing rolling over...... End
Middle
Beginning
"STOP...in the name of love...... " :)
Daddy loves





Hello Again :)

So much has happened since I last wrote! Both of the girls are doing great! Hope has been home for 12 weeks now and she's keepin' healthy and getting more and more energy and active each week. Her personality is definately coming out more and she seems to be more engaged and social than ever before. It's SO fun! She is talking a lot. Still no ba-bas or mamas, but she's in those first stages of learning her voice. Her voice is much louder now. We used to not be able to hear her in the other room, but now it's hard not to hear her :) Hope is rolling over to one side from her belly to back and tonight she just rolled from her back to her belly 4-5 times all on her own!!!! She also sat up all by herself today for about a minute! Big milestones today :) She's also become more curious about the world around her which causes her to explore things more (as much as she can)

Hope is 17 pounds 6 ounces and 26 inches now. She is still using oxygen for naps and nighttimes, and she still has the NG tube because she is not eating. We met with the GI doctor today and we scheduled for Hope to have a G-tube put in on the 13th. I REALLY don't want her to have to go through another surgery and be intubated again, but it's been three months, and she's not eating ANYTHING. It seems like it will be a while before she gets back to where she used to be. The procedure is only a 15 minute procedure in itself and pretty straight forward. She'll spend the night in the hospital just to make sure everything goes well, but she should go home the next day. I am still hoping and praying that she'll come around though. It's all in God's hands and I know he'll take care of Hope no matter what.

Peyton is doing wonderful as well. She's crawling, eating lots of solids, and pulling herself up on EVERYTHING. She's had a rough couple of days with a low-grade fever yesterday morning, really cranky, and not eating as much. She doesn't have any cold or flu symptoms so we're just watching her for now. I think she might be teething because of how swollen her gums are and her wanting to chew on everything. I'm hoping she'll start eating again soon- Hope is leaving her behind! :) Peyton weighs about 17 pounds now and is over 27 inches.

Both girls are still sleeping great, happy and healthy. I can't ask for much more. I can't believe they will be celebrating their first birthday this month! 20 more days! We will probably have a little get together with grandparents maybe, but we will not be having a full-fledge birthday party in order to lower the risk of them getting sick. The flu and colds have already begun their tour this year, so we are already trying to take the right precautions. I have a good stock of unread books, girly movies, my Bible study, warm clothes, and hot chocolate all waiting my attention.

I hope you enjoy the pics and videos, and I hope you all enjoy the weekend. Fall is here so keep warm, keep healthy, and be blessed.

September 13, 2009

Happy Sunday!

I love Sundays. There's just something about them that gives us permission to slow it down a little bit. Maybe that something is the Lord, telling us we need to rest, I don't know, but it's nice. I'm just hoping we have a couple more SUNNY Sundays to spend before the cold weather comes.

As for the girls, Hope's weight gain was REAL!!! After Hope's pediatrician,, and I all sat and scratched our heads at why she was gaining so much weight but not really showing any other signs of water retention, and after upping her diuretics and even trying a new one and her STILL gaining weight, we've concluded that she really is just gaining real weight! Her doc said that as babies get healthier, they will often start to absorb their nutrients better and that's what he thinks is happening with her now. We switched Hope to another formula a few weeks ago as well and that could have had a lot to do with it since it's a very easily absorbed formula. But she really is heavier than Peyton now. She's 25 inches and 17 pounds! So crazy isn't it?

However, we are backing off on her calories now, because she really shouldn't be gaining THAT much weight and so we will see how that goes in a week or so.

Peyton is doing great as well. There's not really any new news with her. She's still healthy, eating well, eating more solids and very talkative. She's starting to teethe though, so she's always looking for something to bite on, even if it is the metal legs on our sofa table :) Oh yes, and she's learning to pull herself up onto objects. She's pretty good at it actually. Keeps a mama busy.

I hope you all enjoy your week.

September 6, 2009

Cousin Neveah and Peyton being cute as ever
I don't know how I catch these shots, but I'm glad I do!
Classic Hope and Peyton on car rides and stroller walks... Peyton crashed out and Hope just sitting there looking around. I caught this pic of Hope right in the middle of her doing her new thing with her lips.


Grandma Becky and Peyton
Hope bein' sweet with Tara. Don't you love the new little vest outfits I got at Carters!?! I was so excited!
Great Grandma Shirley, Auntie Jeni, and Grandpa Jack with Hope
Sugglin in bed
Wow...has it really been a month? Time flies SO fast these days. Both of the girls are fantastic. Hope has been home for 8 weeks now and is about to beat her record!!! Go Hope! She was home for 2 months last time. She's been doing very well with staying healthy and happy. She's started to make more sounds and track her toys and play with her toys WAY better. Her range of motion in her neck is MUCH better. She is looking at her toys now and turning to look at things she wants to look at. She looks UP now and down. Those things we are still working on, but she is doing much better.

She still struggles with her tummy time. She hates it, and she still has a ways to go with her arm strength, but she is definately making progress. She is sitting up nicely with little help and her head control is nice.

We still NEEEEEDD prayers for her feeding. She still has the oral aversion and we are meeting with her doc Oct 2 to discuss a G-tube. At this point, it would be best for her, but I still pray that things will turn around.

Checked Hope's weight yesterday and she was gaining a little too much, so they might up her lasix again. They are trying to let her outgrow it, but can't, if she continues to need it. However, here's the funny part.....she was heavier than Peyton! She was 16 lbs 7 oz and Peyton was 16 lbs 5 oz! I guess the extra calories work, eh? Peyton also burns many more calories a day than Hope since she's so active. Hope is still shorter, though. She's 24.75 inches and Peyton is 27 inches.

Peyton is doing very well as well. She's sitting up on her own, moving from sitting to tummy, clapping, scooting all around the house, getting into EVERYTHING....oh yes....and even trying to throw tantrums when I tell her no. She's so sweet, though, and so fun.

She's eating more and more solids each week. She tried apples today and loved them.

I have felt so grateful lately to see the growth of both of the girls.... 10 1/2 months ago, I felt like the time would never come when both girls were doing so well. I can't believe they are almost ONE! I already have their birthday outfits picked out and they are SOOO cute! I can't wait! To have Hope home and healthy is so fun and we've loved the time we've had to bond with her. Now we just need to make it through this winter with out colds and that will be a huge success for Hope. Hand-sanitizer will be our best friend for a while, as it already has been.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy some of the new pics (I have videos coming as well, but my computer is being funny right now) We were able to go back to Tricities/ Hermiston and also the coast this past couple of weeks and the girls did great traveling. They got TONS of attention so that always helps.

August 4, 2009

Miss Hope, Smiling at her daddy
Miss Peyton
The really love their daddy. All eyes are on him when wherever he is in the room.

Hope likes to play with her hands....this is good for developement

Hope is getting stronger each day. We work on tummy time as much as we can. It's a bit difficult, as she tends to spit up if her tummy is too full because of her reflux. She sleeps elevated still and we keep her elevated as much as we can.

We love baby smiles

She loves her daddy

She carries her glasses as a purse now-a-days

Peyton's little 'tude

She does this often....just picks up her arms like she's flying

I caught her posing or a picture, so I had to snap :)

Bananas!

"I want more!"

"Look! I can hold my own bottle now!

She doesn't exactly love her glasses yet....this tends to be where they end up and we are constantly re-adjusting them

Happy August all!

The summer goes by so fast doesn't it....well... I guess life just goes by fast.

I am happy to announce that Hope is STILL home!!!! Woohoo! We've made it THREE weeks now! I fell good about this time around. Hope is looking better than we've ever seen her. She is being followed more closely now than before as well. With her sat monitor and oxygen at home and her frequent doctor trips and having her electrolytes checked, it will be hard to miss anything. The frequency of her doctor visits does take up a lot of our time, but if it keeps her home, that's all that matters.

Hope is also starting to makes some progress in her development. She is trying to talk more and more each day and make sounds. She can roll to her side now. We've noticed that she is following sounds better and is watching toys and people better as well. She has a couple of favorite toys that she can reach out for now as well. We are working on her leg strength and tummy time. She is definitely getting stronger during tummy time. Her reflux hasn't been so great lately, though, so it's been hard to find as much time as we'd like for it since she still needs to be elevated often. Hope also likes to make little sounds with her lips as you can see on the video.

Hope saw her pulmonologist today and he has taken her off of her inhaler medication that she was using. One down, 4 to go!!!! He said that he would like to have her outgrow her lasix and see how that goes and we will wean her slowly off of her night-time/nap-time oxygen. It will just depend on how she responds to it.

Peyton is reaching a lot of her milestones as well. She is saying ba-ba- and MA MA!!!! I've heard a couple of Da's in there so I think da-da is next! Today she started to scoot herself forward. Until now, she's made due just rolling wherever she'd like, but today she started to scoot herself forward! She's eaten bananas and peas and rice cereal and she also just started holding her own bottle. She's very active now. She's definitely hit the stage where it's not as easy to just hold her in your lap when you go somewhere. Sadly, the swing no longer puts her to sleep :) She sits foward in it and licks the tray :) Peyton also likes to laugh. Most of the time we don't know what she's laughing at, but she does it anyway.

Peyton LOVES my phone. It can keep her entertained for a while. Well, actually, she likes basically anything she's not supposed to have, and anything that is not her own toys. If you're around kids enough then you know what I'm talking about.

Both girls are becoming more and more entertaining and fun. We absolutely love to see them hit their milestones and learn new things. They each have their own personalities that make our hearts melt everyday. We've absolutely loved having Hope home this three weeks. She is so precious and sweet. She is still having trouble with her eating and needs prayer for that.

I hope you all are staying cool and enjoy the pics and videos.