Christmas Lights

We decided that this would be the week to go look at lights. The weather has been warmer so it's been nice to drive around without a ton of snow in the way. Our first light show was at our local city park. They do a bunch of fun light up characters. You can drive around or get out and walk. Since it was raining we decided to stay in the car. A big elephant.

Dragons.

A mermaid and other sea creatures.

A moose.

I think we'll have to go back on a night that isn't raining/snowing so we can get out of the car and look at all the lights.

Our next adventure was to take the train to Salt Lake City and look at the lights on Temple Square.

Waiting for the train to come.

Jillian riding the train. She has her ticket in her hand.

Chloe enjoying the train ride.

The Nativity scene.

There are a lot more lights around the square, I just didn't take any pictures of them. I think we were too busy enjoying the view. Jillian had a great time riding the train and I was so glad we could go see the lights. Sean and I have been meaning to since we moved to Utah and this is the first year we actually did (it only took 5 years!).

Check-Up

Chloe had her 1 year check up yesterday. It went a little like this:

Chloe weighed in at 18lbs 3 oz which is what she weighed last week (we are still getting weighed every week). This puts her in the 8th percentile.
Chloe is 27 inches long which puts her in the 4th percentile.
Chloe's head circumference is 44cm which puts her in the 20th percentile.

Our wonderful pediatrician was very pleased with Chloe's progress. She told me Chloe looked healthy and robust (bet most kids in the 8th percentile don't get told that!). She said her head looks great and that her helmet did its job. In fact, the doctor said this was the best she's ever seen her head.

We talked about placing the G-tube and I told the doctor we wanted to wait until the end of January to pursue it because Chloe started drinking from a cup last week! Yay! She doesn't drink much but she will do it so we are going to work really hard to get her taking her liquids from a cup so we don't have to switch to a G-tube. We can use the NG-tube (which is what we have now) until the end of January so we've got a little wiggle room and I am hoping she will just decide one day that drinking is fun and will be fed up with the tube (heaven knows I am!!!). On the flip side, Chloe loves to eat and is a really good eater so who knows why she can't/won't drink. She has the doctor and her occupational therapist totally stumped. Good thing I think it's funny that we can stump all these medical professionals, otherwise I would be stressed out about it!

Chloe is a little slower developmentally, about a month or so behind. Nothing major, she's just a late bloomer (just like her dad...love you Sean!). At first it worried me because Jillian was a quick developer but I've learned to relax a little bit. I know what you're thinking, "Holly relaxed?" It's ok, sometimes I impress myself too.

What else did we talk about? We take more time than we are allotted when we have a doctor's visit for Chloe so we were there an hour or more. We upped her overnights feeds so she's getting enough liquid. The doctor asked if Chloe laughs and smiles because she was so serious at her appointment. I think Chloe gets annoyed getting poked and prodded. She knows doctor's offices aren't the place to laugh! Oh, and the poor thing had to get 5 shots so she was grouchy yesterday and again today. I guess I'd be grouchy too if I got poked 5 times.

Chloe has come a long way in a year. She still has some work to do before we're in the clear so wish us luck and send lots of prayers our way. We'll need them! Probably me more than Chloe, she's one tough cookie!

Parade

A few Saturdays ago my good friend, Melissa, called me up and said, "I'm in Layton, come to a parade!" so I packed the girls up and off we went. Waiting for the parade to start.

Before the lighting of the tree:


After the lighting of the tree:

Yeah, I can't tell a difference either.

Melissa looking so cute and Jillian looking a little confused.

While the parade was a little lame (and over in 10 minutes), we had a good time visiting with Melissa.

P.S. The parade was to celebrate the new freeway entrance completion and Melissa was working and had to be there. I think I want a job that pays me to go to parades...

Chloe's 1st Birthday

I can't believe my little Chloe is a whole year old! This has been on crazy year with three hospital stays and dozens of other doctor appointments! This girl sure taught me a lot about medicine this year. Good thing we love her so much! Hanging out this morning in her jammies.
Self portrait of me and Chloe.

Her birthday girl shirt from Aunt Alyssa.

I wanted to do something different for Chloe's birthday cake. I saw some cute cake pops on bakerella.com that I wanted to try. She mentions that cake balls are a little bit easier on newbies so I decided to try those out first. Promise not to laugh at how they turned out:

Not a pretty sight but I think I can do better next time. I've got some things figured out so I'm planning on trying these again and hopefully they will be more attractive. Good looking or not, they sure tasted good!

Chloe playing with her new mailbox. Jillian took over most of Chloe's new toys. I guess that's what I can expect. Good to know with Christmas coming up!

Blowing out the candle. I figured Chloe wouldn't be able to manage a cake ball so she got an actual slice of cake.

She dug right in!

"Yum!"

Messy girl.

Unwrapping gifts.

Soft, cuddly friends.

Jilly giving a hand (of course!).

Chloe with all her loot! Chloe had a good day and loved all of her gifts! Thanks to those who sent her gifts and birthday wishes!

Therapy

Chloe finished her helmet wearing on November 2nd and on November 3rd we started going to occupational therapy. It is unrelated to the helmet but it sure seems like we are always going to some doctor for dear Chloe. Chloe is seeing a speech therapist to help her learn how to drink. Sounds kinda funny, I know but she has a lazy latch and a weak suck which is partly the reason she needs to be on the feeding tube. Basically she is not getting enough liquids. We have her calorie intake under control with the tube feedings and her being able to eat more and more foods as time goes on but she will not drink from a bottle or cup.

While we are at therapy we take different kinds of foods and drinks and see what Chloe will tolerate. She gets to practice her tongue movement with a Slim Jim beef stick (which she loves!). She also gets to try different ways to drink, like with a straw, with a spoon, with different types of sippy cups, and regular cups. So far she's not great at the drinking. The therapist thinks Chloe might be aspirating the liquid. Right now we are using a thickening agent in any liquid she gets and that seems to help.

That is our current adventure with Chloe. I'm starting to dread the end of each of our adventures because it seems like there is always a new one right around the corner to take its place.

Jillian's Underwater Adventure

Last week Chloe had an appointment at Primary Children's Medical Center at the nutrition clinic. The appointment was fairly unremarkable, pretty much they said keep doing what we are doing regarding her tube feedings. I had both girls with me at that appointment and Jillian was fascinated with the water feature at the entrance of the hospital. If you have never seen the entrance there is a few inches of water surrounding the sidewalk and if you are not careful you'll step right in the water. The edge of the water was decorated with pumpkins that kids had painted for Halloween. Jillian was so interested in the pennies people had thrown into the water and I told her, "Just look at the pennies. They are not to be touched. If you try to get one out you will get wet," as we walked into the hospital.

After the appointment Jillian wanted to look at the water so we stopped on our way to the car. I warned her again about getting to close and so she was sitting on the bench nearby and looked at the pumpkins. Sean had called while we were in our appointment and since I have no cell service in the hospital I called him back to see what he wanted. While we were talking about some bills that we didn't have to pay (you gotta love it when you get medical bills and when you call to pay them they tell you that you don't actually owe them anything) I noticed Jilly looking at the pennies in the water again. I told her not to get in the water and continued my conversation with Sean. The next thing I know I hear a SPLASH and there goes my Jilly, on all fours, in the water. Since there is less water than what I put in her bathtub I know she is not drowning so I quickly yell to Sean, "Gotta go, Jilly's in the water!" and grab her out of the fountain. She was drenched! That day wasn't particularly warm so I was trying to figure out if she was going to freeze or not. We walked to the car and I was debating whether or not to yell or laugh. I didn't do either because I was too mad to laugh and it was partially my fault for letting her get to close to the water in the first place.

We got back to the car and I stripped her down to her diaper and put her in the car. Luckily she had a blanket in the car and I turned the heater up so she wouldn't be too cold. She fell asleep on the way home and I carried her into the apartment in just her diaper. I'm sure the neighbors thought I was a great mom carting my 2-year-old around in just her diaper in 50 degree weather. Later when I questioned her about falling into the fountain she told me she was just trying to get a penny to put in her piggy bank. Of course!

We went back to PCMC today for another appointment for Chloe and so we discussed (about a dozen times) not getting into the water. I am happy to report today's visit to the hospital was void of any fountain swims. Also, Chloe is done with her helmet!

Happy Halloween!

Despite the pouring rain last night, Sean and I (and my parents and Rosemary) took the kids to the ward's Trunk or Treat. We snapped a couple shots before we left.

Jillian is a butterfly, Chloe is a ladybug (and I did not get a good picture of her with the wings I made so I'll have to take a picture to post later), Sean is a bug catcher and I am a flower.

This is what it looked like last night. A sea of umbrellas and wet kids. Most kids were covered up so they wouldn't get wet which made it hard to tell what they were dressed up as.

The sun poked out for a minute (but it didn't stop raining!) and I got this beautiful double rainbow!

Jilly was soaked! She didn't seem to mind though. We all came home and had soup to warm ourselves up!

Talk to me?

Maybe Chloe will be a drummer instead of a public speaker.

Tutus

A little preview of the girls' Halloween costumes:

No, they're not Russian ballerinas. You'll have to wait until next week to find out what they are!

By the way, can you tell that I have a bunch of girls at my house?

Funny Girls

Playing

Jillian is pretty good about playing on her own. One day I caught her playing and had to look closer to what she was playing with.Star Wars toys? She must be her father's daughter! She even knew that the toys would be fighting and made appropriate sounds. Sean is so proud!

I LOVE Caller ID

Nothing like announcing your intentions in your Caller ID.

Poor Picked On Dad

Sometimes it is rough to be a Dad!