And Now...Here they are!

Oh man, Daddy's going to be in trouble in about 16 years...(probably sooner!) Look at this face...




This pic kind of shows Abby's left hand. Note how doesn't rest it on her knee but rather has the outside of the wrist turned inward. Her therapy consists largly of getting her to turn her hand around and relaxed the other way.




Abby and Luke have known each other since birth. For those of you just checking in, Luke was born the same time Abby was. They became fast friends in the NICU and quickly stole the hearts of all the nurses and doctors in the joint. And since Luke is on lock down like Abby, we got the green light from the docs to let them hang out together. Take a look here at them checking each other out as if to say, "don't I know you from somewhere?"




Luke is already bored but Abby is still working on him.




This one is great. Check out Luke. "Hey girlie, what are you doin'?"




And finally, here she is, exhausted from eating some sweet potatoes. Note the orange tint around her face!

New Pics Are Coming!

New pics are on their way. Check back in on Tuesday and I will have some for you all.

This week has been another good week for Abby. Everything is still holding steady on all fronts. The feeding therapy is going well and she is still into the gerber baby food from the spoon and yes, she still hates anything that's in a bottle. Her physical therapist is happy to see that she's begining to gain her balance to sit up. The left arm and leg are constantly getting stretched and worked on by mommy and the therapists. Some days are better than others on this issue but for the most part she is still progressing forward.
Have I talked about Abby's sleeping pattern yet? I don't think I have. Since we can feed Abby through the G Tube at night by way of a pump and a bag of milk that hangs from a pole she sleeps straight through, which is great. But the day time is a different story. She only sleeps about 20 to 30 minutes each time she goes down. So momma gets NO rest. Abby doesn't usually last too long in a bouncy chair or the swing or lying down either. If Kelly get's 15 minutes out of one of those items, it's a miracle. Little Abby wants to be up where the action is! She wants to watch whatever momma is doing. The baby bjorn works for a while, then she might put Abby in that pink round bumbo chair on the counter. After that gets boring I have found that she'll tolerate the high chair as long as we roll the chair to where we are and she feels like she's in the mix with us. And each of these options only give Kelly about 15 minutes or so as well.
Why bring all this up now? Well, at first it was cute and momma could (and still does) handle it. But our new baby boy is coming and Kelly will be able to spend less and less time on her feet taking care of Abby. Even though there's only one baby this time, Kelly is and always will be considered high risk regarding her pregnancies. Apparently, since she had pre term labor before, she's prone to go into pre term labor agian. So! It's time to bring in the prayers again team. I need some prayers that Abby will take longer naps and get better and entertaining herself. Yes, I know....I know. "We told you so! This wouldn't have happened if you guys weren't holding her 24/7" I can hear it a million times over. But c'mon! What did you expect after all that happened? You think we were going to put the Abbygirl down for a milisecond? No way! "Well now you're paying for it..." Right. Got it. But honestly, after 4 years of infertility treatments, getting pregnant was the LAST thing we thought would happen. That's actually why we started so soon. We figured shoot, it took us four years to get the girls, so we better get on this right away.
Anyway, now I'm just rambling. Back to the point at hand. Prayers my friends. Please pray for a successful pregnancy for Kelly and that Abby will be able to give momma the rest she needs.

Again, the new pics will be coming Monday night.

Take care....

Happy Tuesday Friends

I hope we're all well rested from a nice long 3 day weekend. I know I am.
Last night was another great bath night for Abby. She's is really getting comfortable in the water and it's fun to watch her explore with it more. And speaking of water, Abby LOVES to drink cold water. Or should I say, she loves to feel it hit her lips and then drool down her face and only on occasion will she actually take a sip. Each time I take a sip of water from a water bottle now, she gets excited and starts throwing her arms up toward the bottle.
Abby is getting better at rolling over on her tummy now as well. She is quite the little wiggler. She hasn't quite gotten to the scooting point yet, but you can see her little body shift to one side to allow her oposite knee to come up. She's getting it and that's what counts!

Little Miss Magic is now up to 12 and a half pounds. We're starting to put a sock on her right hand every so often to encourage her to use her left. She isn't a big fan of her occupational therapy which really focuses on her left arm and leg but it's important that we push her at this stage. Besides, Abby's a tough cookie. There isn't much this little munchkin can't handle.

Abby is and continues to be the light of our life. We absolutely adore her. Thanks to all of you for checking in on her. It means a lot to us. Have you guys noticed the blogger site counter below? We're over 40,000 hits! Atta girl Abby.


HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!




Abby isn't too sure what to make of this rose.




Abby and her roses




Momma and Abby laughing




Momma and Abby reading her first book




Here she is again with her new favorite toy, her binkie!




Fashion show time



Abby on the cat walk

Written Sunday night, February 11th, 2007

Abby is doing fantastic. Mommy is feeling better with her pregnancy and we’re getting really excited that we’re having a boy. I for one have already slowed down to check out the window dispays at the local hobby stores. I’m thinking some high quality RC cars are definitely in my future! Sweeeeeet!

Anyway, things are holding steady and there isn’t too much to report other than we had a great weekend out in La Quinta with Abby’s Great Grandma and Great Grandpa. We managed to dodge some crummy weather back home and really enjoyed just hanging out and playing with our Little Miss Magic.

On to the pics!

Abby has gotten into trying to mimic whatever face you make at her. Here’ s a shot of her looking at Great Grandpa trying to mimic the serious look he has on his face



Just another cute one from the other week.





With her increasing independence, Abby insists on handling her binki herself. She likes to bite it and then pull it out of her mouth, which causes a kind of pop or clicking noise. She’s quite proud of this talent as you can see here.




And finally, here is Abby with one of our very favorite therapists, Karin. It’s Karin’s job to get this little one to eat and she is doing a fantastic job. Here they are enjoying some “big girl” food. Karin has been with Abby since the beginning in the NICU and we absolutely love her. Oh, and don’t forget to note Abby’s cute jeans, her headband and of course the bracelet.




We love you all and thank you for your continued support.

Love,

Mommy, Daddy and Abby.

Abby is getting even cuter!

Abby had a good week. She is officially 12 lbs now and she's not throwing up anymore. She is really getting the hang of rolling on to her tummy too. Her arm and shoulder muscles are getting a lot stronger and have no problem holding her upper body up. The next step that her physical therapist is working on is to get her to bring her knees up into the crawl position. Abby is not a big fan of this by any means, but she'll get it soon. Her left hand is doing a little better and we're looking forward to starting her occupational therapy this week which help with this and her other fine motor skills. Her eating is the same. She is loving all the fruits and veggies and is getting better at the sippy cup.
Mommy is doing a bit better with all the nausea. She is getting some energy back and we were able to take our 1st walk since she got pregnant this Saturday. It was a blast just to be out with my little family. Oh! We found out that we're having a boy! We are very excited.



And now... on to the pics...



Abby loves to kiss mommy. Mommy will put her cheek where Abby can see it and then say, "Give mommy kisses?" She is much too young to understand but then again, she leans in and gives mommy her little Abby kiss every time mommy does this!



Here are a couple of pics with that new smile I was talking about.





Look! Abby found her feet....



And finally, Abby's favorite toy is anything shiny and silver. Here she is playing with Mommys bracelet.




We love you guys! Thanks for checking in.

Mommy, Daddy and Abby