Our Little Miss Magic Keeps Rockin'!

Abby Fans,

It's been a while. Abby and Eddie and pregnant mommy have been quite busy though. As I mentioned before, Abby started pre school the day after her birthday! She was eligible for the school once she turned 3 years old, which technically was the day after her birthday. Well that was a Thursday, so Kelly was thinking that perhaps she'd just start Abby on Monday...but no way. The teacher called and said she really wanted to get Abby in there ASAP, that she had heard all about her and was excited to meet her. So mommy ran out, bought Abby her little "hello kitty" backpack that is on wheels and took her in. Abby LOVES it! She has a lot of friends and enjoys the teachers. That's right...I said teachers...as in 4 teachers in the classroom. Abby is actually in a special needs pre school so there is one teacher and 3 aids. Anyway, on the very first day, Abby waived goodbye to mommy and got right down to business. Mommy on the other hand didn't do so well. She missed her little angel. And Eddie missed his buddy! In fact, he STILL misses her. He is not a fan of this school thing. First of all, he walks up to the classroom with mommy and Abby to drop Abby off each day, so he can see inside, see how fun it is, and then he has to leave. What a bummer! Sorry Eddie...your time will come.

About 2 weeks ago, Abby got really sick. She would show some signs of improvement and then it would get worse again. At one point she spiked a 104 fever! This is a huge concern for any parent and especially for Abby because a high fever can trigger another seizure. So Kelly took her into urgent care where she got a shot of amoxicilin to jump start the medication and a bunch of Tylenol to bring down the fever. We're thinking she must have had a bacterial infection and some kind of viral infection too because some symptoms went away after the shot, but some others got worse. Like her cough for example. Here we are at week 3 and she is still coughing a lot. Aye ca rumba!!! Are you kidding me?!!!

Oh yeah, Eddie got a double ear infection and some other virus too. So he's been a mess and wants mommy to hold him as well. And his nose was running like you wouldn't believe....well okay...maybe you would believe it, but you get the idea. Oh, here's a question I have for everyone. Am I the only one that now has a snot stain, or dirty hand stain or some kind of stain on the shoulder part of 50% of my shirts? Seriously! Every time I come home from work, Eddie and Abby run into my arms (which is the best part of my day by the way). The only thing is that all of Eddie's snot and dirty hands and everything end up on my shoulder. I really don't know if I have a shirt without some Eddie or Abby left overs on it. So now I make like I'm chasing them and run into the kitchen where I grab a dish towel, toss it on my shoulder and THEN pick the little bambino's up.

Well that's all for now friends.

Be good Abby Addicts! Enjoy the pics from Abby's Birthday!

We love each and every last one of you!

Abby celebrating her birthday at Ruby's Diner




Abby Was loving the sunday!

Easter weekend - in La Quinta -

Check out Eddie and his splashing skills!

(Be sure to go back to the playlist up top and press pause so the music stops and you can hear Abby and Eddie splash around!)

Wait! Abby...are you riding Eddie's scooter? Wait! Are you pushing with your LEFT foot?! Way to go Abby!

Happy Birthday Abby!!!!

Happy Birthday Abby!

Today is a GREAT day. Our little Abby Girl is turning 3 and she is cuter than ever. She is repeating EVERYTHING we say these days, including calling me "Ryan" when "daddy" doesn't work. She doesn't pronounce her "R's" too well though, so it sounds more like "Why-an!" which of course I love. Abby and Eddie have really started to play more together too. Eddie adores his sister and Abby is realizing that she can totally mess with him and he lets her. For example, during bath time, I like to squirt Eddie with the water toys. He giggles at first but then he gets annoyed with daddy. But not when Abby he does it! She has learned how to squirt him with the water toys too now, but he thinks it's hilarious when she does it. He gets all excited and lets it go on for as long as Abby wants to squirt him.

And here's the big news...Abby is starting pre school next week!!!! Wooohooo!!! That's right Abby Fans. This same girl that we were praying would simply stay alive is on her way to school. Over the past few weeks, some ladies from the school district visited Abby over a number of visits to evaluate her. And wouldn't you know it...Abby tested normal in every category except a few. Her pronunciation is a bit delayed, meaning she says her sentences very slowly. This is common for Cerebral Palsy kids though. And obviously her physical stuff tested below average. But! She actually tested BETTER than average cognitively, which is her memory and understanding of things. How great is that?! It appears we have a smart little cookie on our hands.
So anyway, the pre school is for 2 and a half hours each day, and is set up especially for kids with special needs. There's a nurse in the classroom and Abby will be in a group speech therapy session as well as a 20 minute one on one speech therapy session EVERY DAY!
Of course it's going to be tough to give her up because Abby still wretches and gags a lot. It's quite painful and when this happens she just wants her momma. Kelly has actually been to the GI doc a few times recently to see what's going on, and he put Abby on some other medication that is supposed to calm everything in her tummy that stimulates this gag reflex. We really hope it works. For 3 years Abby has always been going through something and we feel like this could be the last major hurdle for a while and are anxious to get it under control. Not to mention, there will be no progression with her eating until we eliminate this gagging and retching that happens whenever she eats something. Would you be interested in eating if you knew that is what would happen afterward? No way. And Abby's right there with ya. Please say some prayers that this medication works.

Abby is such a blessing. She is has done so much in her 3 short years here and has touched so many already. She never ceases to amaze us and just when I think she can't get any cuter, she does something like call me "Why-an." Or she tickles Eddie's feet when I am trying to hold him and calm him down as he's screaming his head off. My holding offers no comfort, but as soon as Abby started playing with him, Eddie smiled. She has that touch. It's the Abby Touch. She gets deep in your heart and soul and warms it up like nothing else could.

Happy Birthday Abbers. We love you. Say Happy Birthday to your sisters too for your mommy and me okay? I know Emma and Maddy are with you a lot and something tells me you know that better than anyone.

How about some pics in Abby's Birthday Suit for her Birthday!

Abby and Eddie LOVE Bath time

I just can't get enough of her glasses! Are they cute or what?!

Eddie has been into pooring cereal on the ground as you all know

Before he used to run when he would get caught...no he just looks at me as if to say, "what do you want?"

And of course he has taken his cereal escapades to a new level. Filling things up with the cereal. Most notably of course are my shoes!

Abby is a talker!

Hey Hey Abby Fans,

I hope everyone is doing well. Things are fantastic on our end. The kids aren't sick anymore, Abby is talking like crazy and the pregnancy is going well. At least on my end. Kelly is still super sick and gets nauseous a lot which is no fun, especially with two needy kids.

I had the "opportunity" to watch the kids solo this weekend because Kelly had a girls weekend in San Diego. I gotta tell ya, I don't know what all the fuss is about. It was a piece of cake. Eddie is such a calm, sweet little guy and Abby listens to everything I say and is even starting to pick up after herself. If you're actually believing any of this, then you must be reading up on my kids for the first time...because anybody who has read about or met Abby and Eddie knows that they are INSANE! I love my wife. I loved her before this weekend, but now I REALLY LOVE MY WIFE! How does she do it? Eddie is a frigging ping pong ball on crack. And Abby has a stash of whinny pills in her bed that she takes each morning. They last all day too. Let me set the stage. Abby is at my side ALL THE TIME, pulling on my pants saying:
"Daddy! Daddy! Pick Abby up! Up Daddy! Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up!!!!!"
Then I say, "Abby, Daddy can't pick you up. Don't you want to play with one of your gazillion toys that were clearly a waste of money?"
Then she says, "No-Daddy, please pick Abby Lynn Gaya up"
And she has me. She has just learned to say her full name and it's precious....and she knows that's my weak spot. So what do I do? I pick her up. Nanny 911 would be very upset with me. (Yes I watch the show from time to time. I need all the advice I can get!)

Meanwhile back in the land of Crazy Ping Pong Ball on Crack Kid, Eddie has managed to take the battery cover off of the remote control and has slobbered all over the remote, which has rendered it useless. He has also climbed onto the bed where my nicely folded towels were and knocked those down, yanked on his diaper to the point that it's basically useless, and ran all over the house to throw every feasible thing he could get his hands on. But the good part is that at least he's entertaining himself. He was giggling and smiling and dancing around while doing this so I couldn't get too mad. My attempts to be stern with him were thwarted when he would flash that ridiculously cute smile at me and I too would crack a smile. Again...Nanny 911 would not approve.

So far, the kids have the upper hand on every front. I got nothin'. And while it was crazy...I had a blast. I sure am glad Kelly's home though. Woooweee. That woman is my hero.

Click on the video's to the right. I finally figured out how to post a slide show I've had that I put to a really cool version of "Isn't She Lovely" by Livingston Taylor. I also posted some of the older clips I have done in the past.

I know I haven't requested prayers in a while, but if you could remember her in your prayers for her eating that would be great. She is all about chewing and spitting. She doesn't swallow. The girl needs to start swallowing.

Thanks everyone.

Abby's Daddy

Eddie Eddie Eddie!

Okay,
So I had another cold shower this morning. Eddie seemed to get his little paws on the water heater knob again. That little punk. And get this... Kelly called yesterday to tell me that when she came downstairs, she noticed BAGELS EVERYWHERE! Eddie grabbed our brand new bag of bagels and was taking them out one by one. But that's not all...he would take a single bite out of each one before dropping it on the ground. So all of our bagels now have little "Eddie Bites" in each of them.

Here's another story... Eddie is now into taking Abby's glasses and NOT telling us where he put them. We have looked everywhere for them but to no avail. Yeah yeah, I realize all you parents out there are laughing right now as you recall the times when your own kids took your glasses, keys, pens, pencils or whatever, only to be found years later behind some chest of drawers or something. However at this moment, it ain't no laughing matter! Those glasses were loaners while Abbys real pair were getting fixed. (Which Eddie broke by the way). So now I gotta fork up the dinero for the lost pair too? No joke, I had my entire recycle bin on my garage floor last night looking for those things. Nothing...nada...zippo!

So as I sit here at work eating my lunch, I thought I'd share the latest drama from Casa De Gaya. And here's the ironic part. I am loving every second this stuff. Because when you step back and you take note of everything, it's hilarious. There are moments of frustration, but that goes away instantly when Eddie or Abby just look up and smile. And to think we got another one comin'. Bring it on! I love this daddy stuff...

So so much to talk about

Hi Everybody,

As most of you know, my mom, Pam Gaya passed away the beginning of February. She had a tumor right below her brain. Please check out the blog I've been doing for her at http://www.pamgaya.blogspot.com/ for more details on the surgery and everything.

Mom loved being "Grammie Pammie" and while I miss her terribly, I take great comfort in knowing that she still gets to be Grammie Pammie up there with Emma and Maddy. She will always live in me and Jocelyn and she has given me so much that I will never forget. Fortunately, this separation is only for a time and a blink of an eye in the eternal perspective. I look forward to seeing her again!

As for the AbbyGirl, there is a lot to cover so let's hop on it...

Alright, Abby's brace. As you all know Abby has trouble with the left side of her body. And for those just checking or who have forgotten what I said before about her problems with her walking, here's a quick recap (For those that do remember, just be patient...wouldya?!) When she walks, she walks with a limp since her left leg has a lot of "tone." Tone basically means that she's flexed a lot and doesn't extend or stretch her leg out very well. As a result of this, she puts her left toes down first when she takes a step, instead of the normal "heel to toe" step that you and I take. So the DAFO (which is the name of her brace)that we got was to help this. If you remember, Abby loved the DAFO when we got it! She was walking with more confidence, loved the attention and of course, it was pink! Anywho, she stopped wearing it almost immediately and here is why. One of Abby's therapists was hoping for something a bit different (I'll spare you the details) and told us to go BACK to the doc that prescribed it, tell him her concerns and see about a different one. So we booked an appointment (which took 3 months or so), and in the meantime, we didn't put the brace on her. And get this, the doc said the brace that we have had all along was fine! He agreed with what Abby's therapist was saying, (again...I'll spare you the details) but wanted to stay the course with the brace she has. So we lost about 3 months but the good part about all this was that daddy got to take Abby all by himself to Childrens Hospital in LA. The trip took forever but it was a great Daddy n Abby day. Man she's cute. We had such a good time. And now she loves that she can wear her brace. She has more confidence when she walks and it gives her more stability. In fact, it gets so much attention, Eddie tries to put it on too. It's hilarious.

Now the update with Abby's left hand. This hand is in a semi fist position with her thumb tucked under her fingers most of the time. She does open up her hand when she needs to hold something though, so that's good. For example, she loves to hold a small cup and then pull the straw in and out. Her first step is to get that cup securely into her left hand. If you watch her do this, you'll see her really concentrate on getting that cup into her left hand and making sure she has a good grip. Then she has fun with the straw with her right hand. This is actually pretty good therapy too because her thumb is open. But once she drops that cup, she will most likely tuck her thumb under her fingers. To help with this, Abby has a hand brace to basically pull her thumb open a bit and keep it from tucking under her fingers. I'm anxious to see how this helps keep that thumb open and relaxed all of the time.


When Abby eats she "chipmunks" her food as you remember. By this I mean that all of her food falls over to the left side of her mouth, into her left cheek and it looks like she has a giant gobstopper in there or something. Eventually, Abby would swallow this. But ever since her fundo surgery, Abby has become very afraid to swallow anything. In fact, now she spits the food out. The other issue is that we still can't seem to feed her very much volume into her tummy through her G Tube. Why? Well it seems that Abby's little GI tract does something called "dumping." Her stomach doesn't regulate how fast her food can go down into her small intestines. So what has been happening is that her small intestines have been getting this overflow of food which in turn makes Abby nauseous, causes her to gag and she sweats a lot too. It's terrible. The answer is to add Benafiber to her formula which is a powder and slows everything down. Thankfully this seems to be working, but man....it's been a long road with this. All we want to do is to get our little Abby chunky! I hope this is the answer. As far as getting her to actually eat again and not be afraid to swallow her food, this might be a longer road than anticipated. Swallowing her food causes so much pain for Abby that it is going to be difficult to give her that confidence back.


Eddie loves to break Abby's glasses. She's already had two new pairs so we decided just to invest in two permanent pairs...and one will surely be in the repair shop at all times. And if you thought the first pair was cute, get a load of these babies!

Here's another shot where you can see Abby's brace too. The cute Hurley sweatshirt, the skirt, the striped tights...does Kelly know how to dress our little angel or what?!

Eddie has also been quite the handful these days. And by "quite a handful" I mean the kid is a stinkin' nut. He make the energizer bunny look calm! He is Go Go Go all the time. He has one gear...the high one. He's in 5th gear all day long until he stops. He is climbing everywhere even more now and continues to get into things. His latest joy is to turn the knob down on the water heater in the garage. Of course we tell him "no" and I've even tried to put tape over it. But get this...he either brought Abby over or Abby volunteered, I'm not sure which, but either way, when I came back out, Abby had taken the top off of the knob and Eddie was standing right behind her. When she finally did it, he clapped and let out an excited laugh and then hugged Abby. He actually ended up tackling her because he was so excited but it was still cute. This is a funny story...except for when it's 6AM and daddy and mommy need to take a shower only to learn that Eddie had turned the knob down again and I got nuthin' but super cold water!!!

Here's a pic of Eddie and his Aunt Jocelyn and Uncle Tylers house. He decided to pull out a drawer and take a seat it in it.

Abby wanted some of that action too so she got in after he was done.

Not to be outdone by his sister, Eddie told Abby to scoot over!



Eddie loves to wrestle! Here we are going at it like we do every night when I get home. Playing with him and Abby after work is by far the highlight of my day.

As you all know...Abby is talking up a storm. She is learning and picking up on all kinds of words. Her nephews though, Tristan and Caden have taught her a great one! "Raise the roof!" Her is a clip of her saying that and another one that I have recently taught her..."Yo Momma!"

Okay, I'm almost done. But I need to give you all one more update. Many already know but for those who don't I need to tell you that Kelly has been very sick lately. She finally went to the doctor and found out she has something growing inside of her....A BABY!!!!! Wooohoooo!!! She's due the end of September or so.

Take care Abby Fans. Thanks for your patience.

Abby's Daddy

Good Stuff Happenin' With the Abbers

Hi Everybody,

So it's been a while huh? Ooops! Well, Christmas was a blast. Abby and Eddie got a kitchen to play with and they absolutely loved it. They also got a million other things and it was a lot of fun to watch them tear through all their presents.

A couple of days after Christmas Eddie got croup, which is a cough that inflammes the airway. Then momma got some kind of a cough too and Abby started feeling crummy as well. As it turned out, momma's cough turned into bronchitis and Abby had pneumonia. I have no idea how, but I managed to steer clear of any sickness. Anyway, needless to say it was a rough couple of weeks but we got through it and everyone is doing great.

In fact, Abby is doing FANTASTIC! We decided to increase Abby's acupuncture treatments to once a week (from every 2 weeks) and I truly believe this has made all the difference. Abby talking like crazy! It's awesome. Here's a quick list of what she says:

When she wants you to sit by her, she points to the spot next to her and says, "Sit Down!"

When she wants to do something, she says "Abby do it"

When mommy is changing Eddie's diaper, she says "poo-wee! Stinky poo poo!" And she pinches her nose at the same time. (this one is my favorite)

She says "hi" and "bye bye" now too.

When we wake her up and she sees that Eddie's door is still closed, she know he's still sleeping so she says "sssshhh! Eddie...Sleeping" But the problem is that she says this really loudly.

And I think I mentioned in the past that she knows her entire ABC's and her 123's all the way up to 10 and is getting better with the numbers 11-20.

Abby is also doing very well with her left hand. The other day when we were driving I saw her in the back seat counting with her fingers! She said the numbers one through five using her right hand and I thought she would just close her right hand and use those fingers again for numbers six through ten. But she didn't! She lifted up her left hand and counted six through ten. I couldn't believe it. Of course she was having trouble lifting her fingers one at a time, but she brought her right hand over to help out. I love that little girls determination.

I know that so much has happened since my last update but I can't think of everything (and plus I'm pooped right now) so I'll stop here.

Ooohhh!!! I can't believe I almost forgot! Abby got GLASSES! FINALLY! She can see far away now. And yes, Kelly managed to coax the eye docs into getting Abby some glasses that are a bit too big for her, but they were by far the cutest pair so Kelly wouldn't have it any other way. Abby has always loved glasses so it hasn't been difficult trying to keep them on her. It's been great to watch her see the world clearly for the first time.

Check 'em out!

Note the bling bling heart on the side of the frame and then there are little hearts going down the arm toward her ear.


Abby was having fun sitting in the toy basket and Eddie thought it would be great to come over and sit on top of her. Abby didn't think that was such a good idea. About 2 seconds after this picture, Abby screamed and did her best to push Eddie out. It didn't work. Eddie just laughed.




"Eddie - Check out your new Tonka truck! Go push it around!"
"Naw...I think I'd rather get IN the truck dad! Now push me!!! C'mon dad! Push me!"




On Christmas morning, the only thing that Eddie really really got excited about wasn't a gift at all. It was raining that day and Eddie could not get enough of the puddles outside! He was jumping in them, stomping them and bending down to put his hands in them and splashing. And when that got boring, he decided to just sit right on down in the puddle!


Who's hungry?




Here is Abby in a bounce house at her friend Eva's birthday party. She couldn't get enough of it.

Check out the new boots! Is she cute or what?!

And that's all for now. With the holidays finally behind me, you all can expect more frequent updates.

The next thing I'm looking forward to is her foot brace. She's getting a new one made. The one she had didn't quite fit right. So I will keep you all posted on that too.

Have a great week everyone.

Sick again but still rockin'...

Hey there Abby Fans,

Nothing too crazy to report right now...except for the fact that Eddie has croup and Abby is really snotty and stuffy. Eddie is wheezing a lot too today so his pediatrician ordered him an oral dose of steroids. Abby isn't getting it as bad as Eddie which is surprising. And even through all of this, Abby is still in a great mood. Eddie is doing okay but has his moments. He is definitely not the crazy Bam Bam that we have come to know and love.

The latest climbing toy for both Abby and Eddie is the car. I didn't really notice how funny this picture is, but take a look at Abby here!

"Oh No! Watch Out!"

And of course I thought I'd have time to put some clips to music and do all of that stuff, but who am I kidding? So...that being said, here's a clip I've been holding out on. It's Abby climbing up into our Yukon ALL BY HERSELF!!!!

All in all, things are good here this holiday season at Casa De Gaya. We have much to be thankful for and are very blessed.

I hope to have some time to something fun for Christmas... so stay tuned!

-Abby's Management

Well...at least we're consistent

Hi everybody,

So last night, Eddie ate a peanut butter covered pretzel. (For those of you that don't know, Eddie is allergic to peanuts). He choked on the pretzel and coughed it up, but he still started wheezing. Well, since we've been down this road before, we figured we'd give him some benadryl and call it a night. After all, he didn't get hives like the last time he ate peanut butter. To be sure Kelly called Kids Doc (an urgent care for kids). They had a different plan. They wanted Kelly to take Eddie to the ER right away. It was a good thing too. Eddie's wheezing was getting worse so he got some steroids immediately. Then he got some benadryl and fell asleep. That little situation kept Kelly at the hospital until about 2am last night.

Then it hit us. We've been in the hospital every single month for 5 months straight. Check it out:
In August Abby had her first seizure. Hospital for a week.
In September, she had the Fundo Surgery. Hospital for a week.
In October, we took the ambulance ride for seizure #2. ER for the night.
In November, she got the stomach flu so bad we had to go the ER in Palm Springs for the night.
And December, Eddie gets to participate in the fun!

REALLY???!!!!!!

But here's the good part... Eddie is doing fine today and Abby is doing GREAT these days! She is talking talking talking!!! That's right, I said she's talking. At first when we said, "Abby, say your name," she would say, "aaaaaahhhhh," but she wouldn't finish her name with the "beeeee" sound. Now she says it! "Aaaaah...Beeeee" This is huge because she is now starting to say two syllable words with different sounding syllables. She's been saying momma and dadda and all of those, but never anything else. Well now she is. Her first word like this was actually "again." The way she says it us so stinkin' cute I can't handle it. At first she says "aaaaaahhhh" then pauses, and then says "giiiii." without the "n" at the end. I love it.

Oh, and she's a smarty pants too. No joke. She can count all the way up to 20 and she knows all the words to the songs we've been singing to her too. We had no idea her memory was this good until she started sounding out the words as we were singing to her. Then we started leaving the last word of each line of a song out to let her say it...and she did! She knew them all! Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer is one of her favorites, so for example we sing, "Rudolf the red nose reindeer, had a very shiny...." and Abby says "nose." And we do that for the entire song and she knows it all! And not just for Rudolf, but for all the songs we've been singing.

So while it continues to be Drama Central over here it is also a very happy and positive place to be. We got miracles to make happen here people. We can't be bogged down with the drama. It's pretty clear that it's going to keep happening and yes, it stinks when it does. However, when it happens, we tell you guys, you help us through with prayers and love, and then we're back on track with all the good stuff. And we love you all more than words can describe for all that you do. The simple fact that you all check in from time to time to see about Abby is great. Thank you for doing that. It really does mean a lot to us.


Have a good week. We love you.

Happy Thanksgiving Abby!

Hi Abby,

It's your daddy. It's Thanksgiving time and you know what that means? That means lots and lots of food! I'm sure you're going to eat half the turkey huh? Hee hee...just kidding. Thanksgiving is also a time to say "thank you" for all the stuff we have and the people we love... and Punky, I love YOU! I am soooooo thankful for you. The best part of my day is walking through the door to see you and Eddie. Every time you do your little run toward me to give me a hug, I fight back the tears. You are a miracle Abby...do you know that? There was a time when mommy and I simply hoped that you would smile at us and know who we were.. I didn't even dream of you walking or talking or anything. And now look at you Punky. Loving on you each day makes everything else seem so trivial. You are such a fighter and always take your challenges head on. I love that about you. I know Emma and Maddy are there with you during those times and that warms my heart.

Your next biggest challenge is your little (or not so little) brother. I love that little guy a whole bunch too and it's fun to watch you with him. I know he gets in your way and bugs you sometimes but let me tell you something Punky, he absolutely adores you. His eyes light up just as much as mine do when you walk in the room. So be nice to him. He's going to get really big and will be a good guy to have on your side! I love you Abby. I am so happy and proud to be your daddy.

Happy Thanksgiving....

ENJOY THE PICS!

Our little girl has been outfitted with yet another accessory. She now has a foot brace which is going to help with her walking. It's called a DAFO #2. For more info on it...click here She walks so much better with this little thing! She takes "correct" steps when she wears it which makes her a lot more stable. And by "correct" steps I mean stepping so her heal lands first and then her toes. Take a step right now and notice that your heal lands first. With Abby's left foot, her toes would land first and that's why she was always so unstable. This brace is fixing that! Wooohooo! One problem though....shoes. We don't have an answer yet either, so stay tuned. Rest assured though, it will be cute, whatever momma decides. Did you know her brace is pink?

Abby loves her DAFO. Check out the fashion pose.

CHECK OUT PUNKY WITH HER NEW GLASSES FROM GRAMMIE PAMMIE!

Abby's church outfit on Sunday. Look at the bows in her hair!

Stop it!

SUPERSTAR!

Ummmm....yyeah....gonna have to keep the pantry door closed from now on....


When we ask Eddie to do his "crazy face" this is what we get! Love it!

Look at my boy! What a little charmer. Don't let him fool you though...he's NUTS!!!!

Abby take the fundo for a test drive

So get this...

Kelly and I took the kids to visit Great Grandpa "G-Pa" and Great Grandma "G-G" in La Quinta this weekend. Friday was great. We took the little bambino's to the pool and they had a great time. Eddie is getting very brave and is very confident around the water which is great. Abby has always been a water lover so of course she was having fun too. For dinner that night we went out to eat and had spinach artichoke dip, mozzarella sticks, penne pasta and bread and dessert. The weekend was off to a fantastic start.
But the next morning, Eddie started throwing up everywhere. Did he swallow too much water at the pool? Did he get too sick with all of the greasy stuff from last night? No. The poor little guy had the stomach flu. And to make it worse, it all started coming out the other end which of course turned his little bum raw. He SCREAMED his heart out every time we had to change him.

Okay, so this is all sad for the little guy, but this is Abby's blog, so what's the big deal? Well, the ONE thing we were hoping to keep Abby away from was the stomach flu. But since Eddie had it, there was virtually no chance Abby would escape it. We were right. By Sunday, Abby was 100% in stomach flu mode. Here's the thing though. Abby has a fundo. The fundo is basically a few pieces of her stomach that have been wrapped around the esophagus and stitched together. This keeps the food Abby eats down which was the goal as we all know, but remember....the bad thing is that Abby CAN'T throw up, not even when she needs to. Instead she wretches and gags(which sounds like dry heaving only ten times worse). The scary thing about this is that there is a very real possibility that Abby will tear the fundo stitches.

After many hours of this horrible retching and tears from Abby, we called the On Call Line for the GI Clinic and luckily, a doctor that has seen a lot of Abby was on call. He said that since Abby was retching for so long (which was every few minutes for hours), we needed to go directly to the ER out there in the dessert. Abby was very nauseated which was causing the retching and the retching also increased her nausea. It was a crazy cycle that we couldn't stop. The purpose for the ER trip was to give her some anti nausea medication (Zofran) in liquid form through an IV so it would work quickly. The docs also needed to check her stomach and feel for any fluid build up which would tell them that the fundo stitches had been ripped.

At 7:30 on Sunday night, we took a tour of the Eisenhower Hospital ER in Rancho Mirage. (It was super nice by the way....no joke) There is no pediatric unit out there, but they were great. They got the IV right in, gave her the Zofran, ran some blood work, and just like that, Abbers was out cold on mommys chest. We hung out for a few hours to make sure she wouldn't start up again and luckily she didn't.

It was not fun my friends. The idea that she could actually rip those stitches scared the junk out of us. Thinking about having to put Abby through that fundo surgery AGAIN makes my heart ache for her. I am so thankful she didn't tear them and everything is still in place. Today she is doing better. She is still needy and groggy and clumsy but she isn't retching and that's great.

So how do you like that? Just another day in the life of Abby. I'm thinking we're due for a nice break. I hope the next few posts throughout the holidays is filled with nothing but fun updates and pictures. I wouldn't mind a few prayers along those lines if you could. Pray that Abby has a nice Thanksgiving and a nice, calm Christmas.

We love you all!

Hi everyone,

So this week started off a bit NUTS. At 10PM last Monday night, Kelly went in to check on Abby and our baby girl was having her second seizure. She was sitting up, her left side was twitching simultaneously again, and she was very out of sorts. Oh, and she was dripping with sweat, which means that she was probable seizing for quite some time.

Remember that the last time Abby had one of these, we were put in the hospital for a week. The only way we were allowed to leave without putting Abby on any anti seizure medication long term, was if we promised the doctor that if she did have another seizure, we wouldn't freak out. He said we would need to remain calm and be able to give Abby this emergency medication (it is actually valum) to stop the seizures....rectally. And immediately after giving her the meds we would have to call 911 to make sure that it stopped the seizure and that she didn't have a reaction to the medication itself.

And of course, Kelly did all of this. She gave Abby the medication and she called 911. That call got Kelly and Abby a ride to the hospital in an ambulance. Check it out...

The medication knocked Abby out which was good because she needed to rest. Once we arrived at the hospital, her blood was drawn to check for any infections and they placed a catherder to get a urine sample to test for a Urinary Tract Infection. It was no fun.

The blood draw was no picnic...let me tell you. The nurse didn't use numbing creme or anything AND she had to poke both hands to get enough blood. It was horrible because she also tried to put an IV in Abby after she barely got enough blood. Abby was no longer in her nice slumber at this point... she was SCREAMING! It was killing me.

Thankfully, all the tests came back negative and we were able to go home that night. And by night I mean at 3am. Abby was pretty awake by then too but still under the affects of the drugs. She didn't want to go to sleep when we got home. I think she was so overly tired and still out of sorts. Kelly tried numerous times to get her to sleep but to no avail so I ended up grabbing a pillow and a blanket and I slept on the floor by her crib to get her to fall asleep. It worked and Kelly woke me up shortly after Abby fell asleep and we finally got to bed ourselves at about 4:30 0r so.

The docs sent us home with a prescription for Keppra, which is an anti seizure medication. We were hoping to keep Abby off anything like this, but it seems that she needs something now. She is on a very low dose of it, which is good because the side effects of the medication are awful. It makes you dizzy and drowsy and very irritable. We're told that some patients get used to the medication and the side effects can wear off. We are praying that Abby is one of them. She is just not herself on it. It makes us really sad.

Alright then, on to some good news. Man, this is turning into another marathon post, huh? Anyway, Abby gained 1 and a half pounds since her fundo surgery! She is now at 21 and a half lbs. It's working team. Abby is keeping her food down, she's not throwing up to the point of dehydration when she gets sick and we have actually been increasing the amount of formula we give her at night, and she's been tolerating that as well. Woohoo....Abby the chunky monkey. I can't wait!

And finally, we did the Halloween thing of course. It was a great night in our neighborhood and we certainly enjoyed our little munchkins. Take a look at my slide show below.

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Make a Smilebox slideshow And that is it....I promise. We love you all and hope you had a fun and safe Halloween. -The Management

Germs Everywhere...

What's going on out there?!

We have been sick sick sick over here. First Eddie got it, then Abby and then mommy. It's a terrible one too and while the worst is over for everyone, the runny noses and the coughing is lingering for the kids. This was Abby's first real cold after the fundo surgery. So here's the good news.... now that she has the fundo she cannot throw up. But wait...let's back up a bit. Here's how Abby's colds used to go. She gets sick, her nose gets runny and when she sleeps a bunch of snot and saliva collects in the back of her throat. And since our Abbers does not know how to handle all of that junk (ie "hock a loogie"), she would eventualy gag which in turn would turn into a full on throw up session. And after a few too many throw up sessions, we found ourselves in the ER because she was so dehydrated.
Okay...so back to the here and now. She's sick and everything is still the same as far as the snot and saliva accumulating and her having to gag it up. But now, the gagging doesn't turn into vomiting. Ironically though, the gagging now is much more fierce and sounds terrible. And here's the kicker...when Abby finally gets all that mucus and gunk out of her throat, she doesn't think to open her mouth and spit it out! So she swallows it and we're back to square one. This was how every night went all week this week and Kelly is exhausted. Not to mention she had to deal with her sick little kiddo's when SHE was super sick. And we all know how needy sick kids can be.
But then, it's no secret that Abby gets her "Rockstar" will and fight from her momma, so, in true Killer Girl fashion, Kelly powered through.

As far as Abby's eating goes....I'd say it's going slow and steady. The fundo is still pretty tight so it's hard for Abby to get food down into her tummy. I'm thinking this will take about 4 to 6 months or so before she can really start eating. As for now though, the exact same thing happens with her food that happens when she's sick. She gags on whatever she has swallowed and it comes back up. The good thing with the food though is that she does remember to open her mouth and let it out. And another good thing is Abby still likes the taste of food and she likes to try new things. By "try" I mean that she'll suck and chew on whatever we give her and then, of course, chipmunk it in her left cheek. We usually have to fish it out after a while. That's alright though. I'm just happy she likes to try new foods. A lot of times kiddos like Abby shut down on the eating all together because it causes more pain than anything. Personally, I think Abby watches her brother and does not want to be out done by him! Don't tell Abby, but I think that maybe, just maybe, Eddie has a slight lead in the eating department. See below...

"Ah yes...This is my favorite seat in the house."

So anyway, things are pretty much "normal" here at Casa De Gaya. There's always something going on! Oh wait, I'm not done. Kelly and I took Abby up to CHOC in LA for her foot / ankle brace consulation. We all know that Abby has difficulty with the left side of her body. I haven't mentioned this before, but the technical name for that is called hemiplegia. This brace will help Abby gain more balance and force her to foot make the correct kind of step. Right now, when Abby takes a step, she puts her left toes down first instead of her heal. She also tends to bend her foot so more pressure is on the outside. We need her foot to land heal first and for Abby to distribute her weight evenly instead of favoring one side. The brace is supposed to help all of this. It will be here in 3 weeks and yes...Kelly ordered it in PINK! Love it.

And now...some more pics of the lil Gaya's...

Here's Abby snacking on her favorite treat...chips! More specifically...Nacho Cheese Dorritos

Look at the doo! Bed head to the extreme! Hair everywhere!

Here are Abby and Mommy at the Laguna Hills High School football game

At 15 months, Eddie still doesn't have much hair and I didn't want him to feel alone.

Eddie found his calling

He was having a blast inside the kickers practice net

Abby was walking all over the place. This is her giggling at me as we were playing Chase Abby.

A lady that was taking pictures of the game with her super snazzy camera took a few of Eddie and me and then some of Abby when she was over by the cheerleaders...they are awesome!

Abby was loving the pom poms

Look at that smile!

Abby's New Blog Look!

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all like the new blog look. It's become quite addicting so I will be messing around with a bit more. If you see something out of whack, that's only because I'm trying something new and have clearly not done it correctly! This is a definitely a "trial and error" situation.

It's been fun though and I hope you like it. I have some more projects to tackle this week so keep checking in.

By the way, Eddie and mommy are sick, but Abby and Daddy are holding strong. Abby went to a friends birthday party yesterday that had a bounce house. She LOVED it! She was falling all over the place and giggling and having a blast. It was fun to watch her, but then....it's ALWAYS fun to watch her.

Have a great Sunday Abby Addicts.

Abby and her new Fundo

Hi guys,

Abby has been doing okay with the new fundo. She is still getting used to it and she gags and coughs and chokes a lot but it seems to be working. And by working, I mean she hasn't had any reflux or thrown up. But she does chipmunk her food still and since she gags so much on her food now, it seems like she is taking an extra long time to swallow the food that she chipmunks. Before the fundo, she would still chimpunk her food but she eventually swallowed it. Now, it takes FOREVER for her to swallow it. And what's worse, I am starting to find little spit ups of food on the floor. It's like when a kid (let's call this kid Eddie just for kicks) has to poop so he finds a section of the room where he can brace himself with something and then make a very intense face. Well, Abby finds a place, looks around with these huge eyes that say "I'm gagging" and then opens her mouth and lets the food fall out. The good news is that she knows to put her head down and open her mouth. Believe it or not, she didn't always do this when she gagged. She would actually put her head back, keep her mouth closed and....yep...you guessed it...swallow it again. Then she'd look at us and her face would say, "Oooooh... Nasty! Why did I just do that?!"

So anyway, it's going to take some time for Abby to get comfortable with the fundo and for all this gagging and everything to pass, but I am confident she'll get through it. She always does. In other news, she started therapy again today. Thank Goodness too because she has definitely taken a step back with her left side. She's falling all over the place still and her left hand, while better then a week ago, is still behind from where it used to be.

Now that the fundo is in, and Abby is back in therapy, I feel like we can actually think about the possibility that she will be able to have her G Tube removed some day. As Abby gets better with eating, we'll be able to slow down how much we feed her with the G Tube and then talk about taking it out. Woohoo! That will be soooooo cool.

So...let's pray that Abby learns how to eat without gagging so much and starts swallowing her food better.
You guys rock. Thanks for being there for us during her seizure scare and the fundo surgery. I will keep you posted on her progress with her eating.
Have a smashing week.

The Abby Daddy