Hi....

So...having 3 kids is quite busy! And so much has happened since my last update I don't even know where to begin. We have Halloween to talk about; Abby's seizure situation (she's had a few since my last post including one yesterday), the latest with her stomach, our 12 hour ride up north for Thanksgiving, how our new little guy Jack is doing, and of course the many the funny stories of Eddie,

This is actually why I haven't written. I have felt so overwhelmed that I wouldn't be able to catch up. But here goes nuthin'...

Halloween was great. Abby was the cutest little bumble bee you've ever seen, Eddie was a dinasour, and Jack was a tiger. We Trick or Treated around our neighborhood and they had a blast.

For Thanksgiving we decided to take a trip up north to see my family. Jack had to get his shots on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving at 10AM and knowing how terrible the traffic would be later on that day, we decided we would leave straight from the doctor's office. So Abby and Eddie were strapped in the Yukon at 9:30AM. The three of us stayed in the car while mommy and Jack went upstairs for the appointment. By 10:15AM we were on the road. IT WAS ALREADY PACKED. It took us over 5 hours just to get 90 miles!!!! And the portable CD player we had was poopin' out on us too, and that was the ONLY thing keeping the kids from freaking out. We would start a movie but it would always stop a few minutes later and Kelly would have to climb back there and fix it. This went on for hours. So....we stopped in Valencia for some lunch and Kelly remembered that Kohls was having a sale on portable CD players. I called 411, got the info for the nearest Kohls (which was like 3 miles off the freeway) and we decided to go CD player shopping. Ooops. Another mistake. It's the day before Thanksgiving! The place is PACKED! And guess what? That sale for the CD Players wasn't going to start until Black Friday....the day AFTER Thanksgiving!!! Are you kidding me?!

So we put up with the CD player and luckily, one CD played fine. Of course, this particular CD couldn't have been a movie that we haven't seen in a while. Noooooo! This CD was a compilation of Yo Gabba Gabba episodes, which we had already seen a million times at home. And we don't have those earphones for the kids which meant we had to listen to that CD for the REST of the ride up. Oh man...talk about torture.

Anyway, we got over the Grapevine at 5PM and still had 4 and a half hours to go. By then though, the traffic was moving well and we finally got going. At 9:30PM, exactly 12 hours from the moment I strapped my kids in the car, we pulled into my dad's driveway.

For the record, I have to say that Abby and Eddie did great. But then, they were in super comfy car seats, mommy was handing them snacks and juice whenever they wanted, and they still wear diapers so when it was time to go...no biggie....just let 'er rip and keep on with the in flight movie. I wished many a time that I could be in their shoes for that trip.

Oddly enough, we drove home the following Sunday which is supposed to be the 2nd busiest travel day of the year and we made it home...DOOR TO DOOR...in 6 hours! Either way, I am NEVER driving on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving ever again.

Now, on to Christmas. Eddie wanted "a big football!" and Abby wanted "A baby and a baby stroller." It was sooooo cute to hear them say what they wanted in their little kid voices. (Note to self: Get these voices on tape!) Christmas was amazing. The kids get it now and were super excited for Santa Clause. Last year they were afraid of him, but not this year! Check out Eddie in his Elf hat giving Santa knuckles in the pick below. Love it...

At the moment, times are a bit lean at our house and yet this was certainly the most special Christmas yet. I missed my mom terribly of course, but at the same time I knew she was with us in spirit. And the love we felt from friends and family was amazing. We are so blessed and so lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives.

As I mentioned above, Abby had another seizure yesterday. She was at the park with mommy, Eddie, Jack and some friends, Olivia and Tate with their mom Suzanne. I got a call from Kelly who handles these things beautifully. She told me she gave her the Diastat medicine (which she keeps with her at all times) to her to stop the seizure, but it had been 3 minutes or so and it was actually getting worse. Do we call 911? Do we take her to the ER ourselves? What do we do?! Usually the diastat works quickly but this time it wasn't kicking in as fast. Is this a different kind of seizure? So many questions....

Well, after about 5 minutes it FINALLY stopped and Abby fell asleep in momma's arms. She was like a rag doll she was so tired. And what were Eddie and Jack doing this entire time? Luckily, Suzanne was there to take care of Eddie, but Jack was crying his eyes out before the seizure started. Of course the only option for him was to put him in his car seat which is not where he usually wants to be when he's crying, especially if he can't see anybody. Kelly put him in anyway and braced for all the cries and the screams. But this time he was fine. He actually fell asleep! He stopped crying and didn't make a peep during this entire episode. What a miracle that was. Abby woke up today feeling much better and even made it to school.

Alright then. So I'll do my best to drop little quick tid bits here and there. I know there's stuff I've forgotten to tell you about that has happened over the past few months but I'll be sure to add those in as I remember them. Like Abby and Eddie dumping baby powder all over the place! Yeah.....that was a good one. At least they were playing together though, right? :-)

Be good Abby Fans.

-Pops

PS - On a different note...I often call up old friends or family on my way home from work to catch up. If I leave them a voicemail, it almost always says, "you have about 20 minutes to call me back while I'm driving home, but once I'm home I'll be busy so call me after 8:30PM when the kids are down." Some have asked why I say this and I say it's because I have my hands full when I get home, but since I could tell that some didn't believe me...I thought this picture below might clear up any doubts!

PPS - Here is a little video I made for my crazy son Eddie. A few people have said that he reminds them of Charlie Brown....hence the song choice. My favorite part is how he gets in the crib! By the way, be sure to pause the music that is playing right now at the top of the blog on the left and then play this video. Otherwise you'll have two different songs playing at once.

Enjoy!

Jack Dylan Gaya is here!

Hey Hey Hey Abby Fans,

Well...on Friday, Abby got a new baby brother! Mommy and Jack are doing great. Mommy is recovering very well from the C Section surgery. Jack is healthy and eating no problem. And yes, don't worry, daddy is doing well too! Just kidding.

Here are a couple of pics right before the surgery.

And just a couple of hours later, here he is...A perfect little guy.

6 lbs, 8 oz, 18.5 inches long with brown hair.


Mommy and Jack looking just perfect!

"Come on guys! Get over there and kiss your brother on the head for a picture!"


"Shoot! I missed it. Okay, get over there and try again!"

"Alright! There it is!...Nice."

And since I'm here, I have to mention some GREAT news about Abby. She gained 3 lbs last month! She hasn't gained more than a pound in over a year, so 3 lbs in one month is AMAZING! We have her a new health shake and it's working! Yeahhh!!! I can't tell you how happy we are about this. She is also back in school too and loving it. She is getting more confidence and talking more in class as well. I couldn't believe it when her teacher said she hardly spoke at all because she is such a talker at home.

As for Eddie....oh man. He is such a little rascal. Here's a quick list of his recent "activities:"

He took an egg from the fridge downstairs (which has a child proof lock on it...that he figured out how to open!) and brought that egg upstairs only to CRACK IT ON OUR BED.

He also took his poopie diaper off one day AND SAT DOWN ON OUR BED!

Don't forget about the time he spent in the bathroom putting all of the toilet paper in the toilet and then flushed the toilet about 5 times, which obviously FLOODED THE BATHROOM FLOOR.

Luckily, Kelly was right there for all of these and was able to clean it all up, but wow. And according to all of you veteran parents of crazy kids, Eddie is just getting warmed up. What?! Are you kidding me? Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the little nut does next.

It's a good thing he's a cute little guy.

Oh! One more thing about our Abby. She is quite the little star here in the hospital. Many of the nurses that were part of her delivery are still here and when word got out that "Abby was in the building" yesterday, a few came running to check her out. Needless to say, there were all AMAZED at how well she is doing. She was such a little show off too. She gave the nurses high 5's and dide the knuckle pound thing (which I taught her thank you very much), and then proceeded to talk and dance and giggle. It was so fun to watch.

And so...all in all...we're doing FANTASTIC!

Keep on rockin Abby Town.

- One Proud Daddy

What's happenin' Abby Fans!

So...what have we been up to for the past, oh....3 months or so? (sorry!) To say we've been busy is an understatement. And in lieu of trying to recap all of it at once, I'll just give you all the highlights and then as time goes on, if I remember something, I'll just post a short little ditty.

Kelly is doing well with the pregnancy. Her contractions are getting stronger but all in all things are going well. It's a boy for those of you just checking back in and he is due September 25th. His name is Jack Dylan. I can really feel him kick now too when I put my hand on Kelly's stomach. That never gets old. I love it!

Eddie is a little rascal. He is talking up a storm and making a mess everywhere. Check this out...a few weeks ago, Kelly is upstairs and realizes she hasn't heard a peep from Eddie for about 10 minutes. That's a big problem because it means he's up to something. Eddie isn't quite unless he's getting himself into trouble. Let's face it. He just isn't the type to sit on the couch with a good book or be a good boy and play with some blocks on the floor. And this was no exception. Kelly came down to see that Eddie found a brand new bottle of...

Goo Gone!!!!

This stuff is like syrup and smells like ant spray. Anyway, Eddie sprayed it all over the brand new carpet in the house we're renting, all over the walls and of course....HIMSELF! Kelly had to run him upstairs, wash him and then called her dad for help. Thankfully, he knew a carpet cleaner who told Kelly just what to do until he could get there later that afternoon. To make a long story short, the carpet guy got the goo gone out of the carpet and all ended well...but only after a day sheer panic, stress and chaos. And you know what's crazy? Is that all of you who have had an "Eddie" all say, "ahhh...that's nothing! Wait until he does this or that!" Man, we're really in for it aren't we? And we're having another one?!!! Aye carumba.

Okay so on to the star of the day. Our Abby. She is so cute it's ridiculous. She loves to give high 5's and do the knuckle pound thing. (I taught her that one). She was in summer school at the beginning of summer and of course loved every second.

Take a look at some of her school pics....

Lately though, her tummy has really been hurting. She STILL retches and gags if we feed her too much formula through her tube. Often times, even when the feeding goes well and she seems to be doing okay, she will start to cry or throw a fit for whatever reason, which will in turn cause her to start to retch and gag as well. It is heartbreaking...especially now because she says "Mommy! Tummy hurts!" She has also started to fight us when we hook her up to her feeding pump at night. She never used to do this before. She'll say, "No daddy! Don't hook Abby up to the pump. Leave the tube off!" Ahhhhhh.....man. It stinks!

Looking for answers to all of this Kelly took Abby to her GI doc last week and he was not happy either. He was very discouraged to learn that she is still retching and gagging after an entire year's time from her fundo surgery. She should not be doing this and something is definitely not right. The plan is this; We are going to put a GJ Tube back in. GJ stands for" Gastrostomy-Jejunostomy" (Click here for more info) Basically it's a feeding tube that has an extension on it which takes the food past Abby's stomach, directly into her intestines. We're doing this to give her stomach a break. The hope is that it will relax and give it time to sort of fix whatever is causing it to gag and reflux all the time.

If that doesn't work, the next step is to dilate the fundo. I have no idea what that means other than the fundo may be too tight and dilating it basically means to loosen it. Here's the catch Abby Fans....it has to be done over 3 different surgeries and they are not fun for the kiddos apparently. Clearly we're hoping it doesn't come to this. So keep those prayers up that Abby's tummy will get the rest it needs with the GJ Tube. Oh, by the way, we can't feed Abby very fast with this GJ Tube, so she will have to be hooked up to a feeding pump for 18 to 20 hours A DAY!!! We have a cute little backpack for the pump but she hates it. So that will be another challenge.

Now...with all that being said, our Abby is STILL a happy little thing. She is as cute as ever and despite all the retching and gagging, she is gaining some weight and finally getting a little meat on her bones. Check out the pics below. Abby was having fun with stickers and put them all over herself. Oh wait! Those aren't stickers! Those are mommy's STAMPS!!!! An entire book of stamps!!!! She's learning from her brother....

In other news, Eddie turned two in July! We took him to Ruby's for a little family celebration. He loves to sing happy birthday now. We even hear him singing it around the house to himself. It's great.

Some recent "Eddie-isms" are:

Pointing to his bum, he says, "Daddy....POOT!" Translation: I pooped dad. Change me now or I will sit on you.

Pointing to the freezer he says, "Pot-ta-col!" Translation: Give me a popsicle or I will poop and sit on you.

Another classic is, "Momma dadda....aaahhh you?" Translation. Mommy daddy where are you? He just leaves the word "where" out all together. I love it.

Abby's most recent Abby-ism is "trip trops" which means Flip Flops. The cutest part is that she knows she's saying it wrong, but she also knows we love "trip trops." So when she says it she has that smile on her face that kids do when they know they're being cute.

And speaking of cute, check out Abby on her first boat ride! Some friends took us boating a couple of weekends ago and it was a blast. So...do you think she likes wind in her face or what?! Look at that smile!!!!


I mean...come on! Look at this nugget.

And of course the Eddie Meister. Just chillin' in the back. He wasn't as into it as Abby but I think he'll come around.



There's a lot more, but this should do for now. Abby did get a new brace and I'll post some pics of those soon...maybe....hopefully. Who knows.

Love you guys,

Abby's Daddy

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.