Happy Birthday, Miss Halle Grace

Happy birthday to our good friend, Halle Grace. It's hard to believe it's been two years since I first passed by your incubator and wondered "Did that sign say she weighed ONE POUND???" You have come so far and we enjoy watching you grow. Hugs and kisses to you, Halle :)

Apology

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything recently (ok, so it's been two months). I'll start with the month of November. We have really noticed a big improvement in the feeding department. Julia seems to have really "clicked" with her new therapist. She has no problem taking bites from Patsy. On a rare occasion, she has eaten almost a 1/2 container of yogurt. Doesn't sound like much but it is. We've also been crumbling crackers/cookies and sprinkling it in the yogurt bites. It helps her become accustomed to something other than the texture of yogurt. Julia has also started taking sips from a sippy cup and bottles of water. Our ST said something we never thought we'd hear......a time frame for getting rid of the button. The goal is August. Even if Julia is on a purée diet, we're shooting for August. It sounds so far away; but for us it's not. It's very common for g-tube kids to be on it up until the age of five so I'll be thrilled if she's done by the age of three.

For Thanksgiving, we ate lunch at my Aunt Judy's house. Believe it or not, I still had relatives that had never seen Julia so everyone was thrilled to see her. Unfortunately, my Uncle Bill and Aunt Marsha weren't able to be there. My uncle became critically ill a few days before Thanksgiving and was admitted to ICU. He was well enough to be discharged on Thanksgiving but it was later in the evening and we had already left. As sick as he was, he still made sure the family gathering included the egg nog. Egg nog and bourbon - our holiday gathering wouldn't be the same if there wasn't at least one tipsy person. Several of us enjoyed the brew but I think my sister enjoyed it the most. I nominate her as the official tipsy of the day.

My nephew, Camden, & Julia. We wanted to let Uncle Bill know he was missed.

Dec. was quite a busy month for us. The usual shopping, wrapping and Christmas cards but our families include a lot of extended relatives so we hopped from house to house. The weekend before Christmas, we spent the day with my dad and stepmother. The Saturday before Christmas, we drove to Burleson (60 miles away) to see Darrin's family. Christmas Eve we drove up to Sherman to see Darrin's mom. We left there around 3p and drove to my sister's house in Flower Mound for dinner. On Christmas Eve alone, we drove close to 200 miles. I can't complain though, we enjoyed seeing everyone. Christmas day we were home until 2:30 when Darrin and I left for the Cowboys game. We had great seats (7 rows back from the 40 yard line). It would have been nice for the Boys to win but they're so inconsistent I wasn't surprised. I won't even comment on T.O.

Christmas gifts: shortage of goodies for Julia. Between Santa and our families, she's set. The big gift for her was the battery powered Mustang. I tried to talk Darrin out of it but I lost. I admit she does look cute in it. She can reach the pedal but not enough to push it and make the car go. Since I'm under the recommended weight limit I sit on it and drive while she plays with the radio and horn. According to my neighbors, it's quite a sight. What's funny about the whole car subject is that when Julia came into the living room Christmas morning, she was excited about the car. Checking it out, pointing, pushing buttons. About 10 minutes after that she spotted her rocking chair and Elmo slippers. Then it was "Car? What car?"

Julia and Grammi