Water baby

Before next summer, I will have the task of finding a saint who has the patience and love to teach my sweet baby girl how to swim.

She LOVES the water and has absolutely no fear! I'm not very sure that she understands the danger (I suppose any more than any other two-year-old understands).

My dear friend Amy doesn't mind the kids coming over to swim and it's great therapy for Addie!

Over the last two months, Addie has made amazing progress. She will actually kick her feet and move her arms and move herself from one place to another and is even able to turn around and "swim" to me.

You should see her, it's beautiful!

Of course, she loves just to relax and watch Julien as well...

Relaxing and enjoying the show...that Julien is putting on!


Check her out! Floating with her little legs crossed!






After our neurology visit,

we went to visit our friends at the ER!

Can I say once again how incredibly blessed we are to know these amazing ladies????

I don't see them often, but they are amazing and I find great comfort in knowing that if we ever did need them, they would be there for us!

Did I mention how spoiled Addie is and every time we go for a visit, we leave feeling like we just left a Christmas party?

Thank you to each and every one of you for your continued prayers and support for us!
(Staci, I knew you would kill me if I posted a picture of you! So, I thought it best to leave it off the blog.)




It's no surprise


that Addie immediately wanted the baby in the cart full of goodies.
You all know how Addie is the greatest little Mommy ever!

Well...the baby that Addie picked is bigger than she is!
This thing is HUGE!
It was hilarious watching her try to hold the baby and she kept feeding the baby more and more!

Addie had to take the baby to school for the next few days, but the baby is so ginormous that she wouldn't fit in Addie's cubby, so I had to take her back out to the car with me.
:)

We haven't named baby yet and I really think "Big Bertha" might be a bit offensive to baby, so for now, baby's name is still baby.

The first time Julien saw baby, he just cracked up!
He asked Addie, "what bean stalk did that baby fall off of?".
He's hilarious!



One year neurology follow up

I just can't believe that one year has passed since our last appointment with Dr. Ness.

That only means that Addie has been doing wonderfully and our prayers for a seizure free child have continued to be answered!

I was looking forward to our appointment with Dr. Ness. I couldn't wait to update her on Addie's progress and I was very selfishly looking forward to finding out if Dr. Ness had seen any more patient's with Microcephaly.


The nurse set up the alphabet game so Addie would have a way to pass the time while we waited. Addie was more content to sit and play with her baby instead and didn't even make it to letter "B" before she was squirming to get back over to the table.


How often do you have a nurse/doctor do something like this for you while you wait in an exam room? We know how very lucky we are to have access to such a fabulous neurologist!

Addie did so well the entire time we were in the exam room. We had a bit of a wait, but sweet Addie was more than happy to examine her baby time and time again. She knows how to play doctor by having the baby say, "ahhh", looking in baby's ears and checking baby's tummy.



When Dr. Ness came in, she brought a med student with her. I can't remember a time that we have seen her without an intern or therapist or someone else with her. This is perfectly fine with me. Seriously, how often will these people get a chance to see a child with Microcephaly doing so well?


This poor guy that was with Dr. Ness looked absolutely petrified. I had a visual image of him sweating buckets and vomiting before going to the hospital that morning. He obviously did not want to be there. I figured he was probably forced into a neuro rotation and it had to be the very farthest away from what his actual specialty was supposed to be.


Dr. Ness asked him fairly quickly after entering the room to tell her what Addie's diagnosis is. The poor guy was speechless. Literally. After a few moments of silence, I told him that it was okay if he guessed wrong, that it wouldn't upset us. Still nothing....after a few more moments, he finally gave an answer. :) Bless the poor guy, he couldn't have been further away from the diagnosis....


I couldn't wait any longer and I started rattling off all these amazing things that Addie has accomplished in the past year. Dr. Ness stopped me and told me to tell this poor guy what I was told when Addie was born.


So I did...word for word.


I had no idea that Dr. Ness even remembered what I had told her about the previous neurologist or what that neurologist had said about Addie. I don't expect for any doctor to remember intricate details about Addie or anything that I had said to them. I was very impressed.


Wow.


Addie was very content to show off her walking skills and walked back and forth between Dr. Ness, the stroller, me and the guy who I was certain was approaching full v tach by this time. I was so proud of her for cooperating! She let Dr. Ness examine her without fussing and she even showed off a little with her speech and comprehension!


See...Dr. Ness has never tried to put a cap on Addie's development, she is just following along with us in this wait and see world and I know without a doubt that she is here for us for anything that we might need.


The only concern that I addressed during the visit is Addie's distress in the car. Dr. Ness knows that this has been a problem since Addie was born. She readily agreed with me that she didn't believe it was a behavioral issue. The issues presented in the car are all neurological. She said what I had already figured, that Addie could be nauseous, dizzy, have headaches or even stomachaches each time she is in her car seat. It felt so good to have Dr. Ness back me on that theory. We are at such a loss of what to do to help Addie and even Dr. Ness didn't have any suggestions for us for our everyday car trips. She is checking into a few things, but there is no quick fix in sight.


It just breaks our hearts...


We have the all clear until next year! We won't have to go back for a visit...unless something happens or unless we feel we need to. Dr. Ness felt there was no reason to do another MRI right now. If concerns arise or new technology becomes available, then we will talk about further testing.


So, for now we just continue in our wait and see world and take joy in knowing that our miracle baby continues to beat all the odds!

Talk about feeling like a princess!



Just as I'm sure everyone else in the world does, we immediately had our piggies pampered after returning from the beach.
You guys know how corrosive the beach is on sensitive feet!
I thought I would let Addie-Pa-Tattie get her piggies painted, but she wasn't too fond of the idea of someone else touching her piggie-toes.
After bath and after her continuously checking out my piggies, we decided to give piggie painting a try.
She did a great job!
My sweet princess is so proud of her piggies that she has been showing everyone that would take the time to look!
Can piggie-pampering become addictive at age two!?!

TMI - Seriously must I tell you this?

I must, I must, before I completely combust!
Anybody that knows me, even a tad, realizes that I have major germ issues - bad.
How I made it through potty training one child, the world may never know.
Now, I have another to potty train.
This time a girl, which complicates things a bit and then you add my sweet baby girls balance issues and we have a whole other situation at hand.
Well, last night was the first time that Addie had to use the big girl potty out in public.
I will say that I was so proud of her for doing such a great job, she really is doing a great job potty training...and I'd like to say that I did make it through the experience.
What I need to know is how did I do it?
I'm trying to figure out if there is some sort of disposable Mommy/Baby, public restroom, potty training HAZMAT suits or a defensive layer of antibacterial foam that can zoom out of a web blaster faster than the speed of light!
There is hardly enough time to coat the whole potty with tissue, much less try to strategically place a little Monkey before business needs to commence.
We lucked out last night and was at a local place with fairly clean restrooms, but I am so not ready for the day when the only restroom in sight is some lone gas station where the guy behind the counter has never stepped foot into the restroom to clean it, much less understands the need for proper sanitation!
Oh, dear wise Mom's of girl toddlers past...WHAT DO YOU DO?

It had to be done





Julien and I ran into Target as we were leaving the beach.
A box with a little red sticker just so happened to catch my eye.
All little girls need a Cabbage Patch Doll and now Addie-Pa-Tattie has her very own.
I can't remember the baby's birth name, but we renamed her - Marty.
Addie thinks Marty is just awesome with her little belly button, shoes, diaper...and um, booty.
:)

Just relaxing

and enjoying the cool night air!





Guess what...


Addie finally heard and saw?!?!?
You bet!

Stand back



You never want to get in the way of Addie and her corn on the cob.

I made the horrible mistake of breaking her off a chunk of the cob and putting the larger piece off to the side.

It took her all of a minute before she stretched way out of her chair, grabbed the corn off the plate and proceeded to maul it!

What the?




How about some goofy looking pictures and some jacked up beach hair!

Water park

Sunday we spent the entire day at the water park. We got there right as they opened and we were one of the last families to leave.

(Chris would not give in to my begging, I didn't take the camera to the park - no pictures)

My Mom and nieces offered to drive down and watch Addie so that we could spend some time with Julien.

Since we got to the park first thing, we were able to nab a large gazebo and set up camp. After a couple hours of Addie playing in the kiddie area, we took a break for lunch. After lunch, Addie took a nap under the watchful eyes of my Mom and nieces and Chris and I took Julien for a chance at the "grown up" rides.

After nap, we had a blast in the kiddie area and lazy river and really, really enjoyed the time with the kids. The day just flew by!

Julien wasn't ready to go at closing time and neither was Addie. As we were walking to the car, I told Addie that we were "all done" and to wave "bye-bye".

Ooohhhh.... not a good idea!

She was MAD! She had such a good time and didn't want to be "all done"!!!!

Thanks a bunch to my family for allowing us the extra time with Julien!

A rarity


Monkey gets to torture Julien!

Blah...you don't eat the sand!

ROAAAARRRRR!!!!!



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