Christmas is right around the corner...

Not a lot has happened since Lauren was released from the hospital. We have been preparing for Christmas and have had a lot of follow up appointments this month. She went and saw her developmental doctor. He was very pleased with her progress and said he hoped that she would be walking the next time he sees her. We don't go back until April. I thank God for all of the good reports we are getting. It is only because of Him! We also went to see her pulmonolgist and he was pleased with her progress. We don't have any follow up appointments with him. He is referring us to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor because he thinks Lauren either has scar tissue on her vocal cords or a paralyzed vocal cord, both due to being on the vent for so long. We go and see him next week. We had a follow up appointment with her GI doctor for her g-tube today and she did another culture just to make sure the infection is gone. It is still a little red. She should know something by the end of the week. The big news to report for Lauren is that she is now saying the Ahh sound, baba, dada, nana and mama! I was so happy to hear the mama one. She also has her two top teeth. They are slowing working their way in.

I am so excited about Christmas this year. Lauren will be home to share it with us and Kristen is at the fun age. She is excited about making cookies for Santa. When we went to go see him I thought she might not do very well. She understood who Santa was and what he does, but I thought she would only want to see him from a distance. The Santa we saw was very nice and actually talked to her. Last year the Santa sat there like a bump on a log. He asked her what she wanted for Christmas. She said toys. He asked her if she wanted a baby doll and she said yes. I had asked her the week before what she was going to tell Santa she wanted for Christmas and she said apples. I thought that was cute. I told her that Mommy can get her apples at the grocery store and Santa brings fun toys. She looked at me and her eyes got very big. For the past few days she has learned a new phrase. She keeps saying I really love you Mommy or I really love you sissy. She is such a sweet girl. Below are some new pictures. I tried to download a couple videos, but I must have did something wrong. I will try again some other time.

If I don't post before Christmas, we hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday!










I put Lauren in Kristen's house we made her. Lauren was very happy...Kristen not so much.

Quick Update

I thought I would give a quick update while I was home for a few minutes. Lauren is back in the hospital. She got her Mic-Key button for feedings placed on Wednesday. She was a bit uncomfortable afterwards. Wednesday afternoon she seemed to be getting more and more uncomfortable, but I wasn't sure if this was normal or not. They had told me to give her Tylenol every 4 hours, which I had been doing. Wednesday night she was up for most of the night. Around 5 am I decided to try and feed her since she was awake and crying again. She felt hot when I got her up, so I fed her and waited a little bit to take her temperature. It was 100.3. She went back to sleep around 7:30 am and surprisingly slept for and hour and a half straight. At 9 am I took her temperature again and it was the same. I called the doctors office and they said to bring her in around 12:30. Dr. Kessle said it was red and swollen around her button and she thought the balloon holding the button in place might have came outside of her stomach and sent us to go for an x-ray. During the x-ray they injected dye through the button and it looked to be placed perfectly. Dr. Kessle said that she needed to be admitted to the hospital and started on antibotics. Yesterday she just felt horrible. You couldn't even touch the button or around it without her being in pain. This morning the redness had gone down and it is looking rather well. You can actually touch the button and she doesn't seem to be in any pain. They sent a culture off and we should get the preliminary report today as to what infection it might be. She did have two periods last night where she got sick, but they aren't too concerned about that. She didn't eat too well this morning. She seems tired, but over all pain free. We are hoping to be released today, but the nurse said that Dr. Kessle might want to do feedings through the button for a night before letting her go. Yesterday she stopped all tube feedings and we were only able to feed her by mouth. She is expected to come and make rounds around 2 pm so we should know something by then. I am thinking we will be spending atleast another night. I will keep everyone posted.

Busy...Busy...Busy

Things have been pretty busy at the Harris household. Paul and I have been working around the house to get our house ready to put it up for sale. Yesterday our realtor came out and took pictures and I am glad to see a for sale sign sitting in our front yard. We are very anxious to get out of our neighborhood and pray that if it is God's will, we will sell our house fast. It will be bitter-sweet. This is the first house Paul and I bought. We brought both girls home to this house and have went through a lot in this house. We will miss being here.

It has been a task to try and keep the house clean with two little ones. This morning when I went into Kristen's room all of her toys were out. I told her we had to clean up. She said, "No, I have a headache. I need to go sit down. You clean up." The things this child comes up with. It is hard to keep a straight face! I can now have a conversation with her and some of them are rather comical. She is so expressive and says the cutest things.

Lauren continues to amaze us everyday. She is eating gerber puffs and cheerios! We continue to thank God daily for all of the progress she has made. She now says Dada, Baba, and nana. When her OT came last week she did get up on hands and knees in the crawling position and stayed there for a little bit. She hasn't done as good for me, but she is doing better. Her weight gain has not been the best. She just doesn't have much of an appetite especially since she gets fed 10 hours at night. She does like her snacks though. She has a few appointments during December. Both Kristen and Lauren got their second H1N1 vaccine. I got mine too.

I took a couple videos of the girls. Lauren babbling and Kristen reading the "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" book. I will try to see if I can post them onto the website.

We hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Website Giveaway

I have came across a wonderful website, www.growingyourbaby.com. Their articles are very good and have enjoyed exploring their website. I thought I would let those of you with children know about a great giveaway they are having. They are giving away a Step 2 Lifestyle New Traditions Kitchen. All you have to do is go to their website to enter. Good luck to those of you who decide to enter.

Vote

Just a reminder to those who live in Virginia. Don't forget to vote today. Yes, you can make a difference!

Halloween

Here are some pictures of the girls tonight. Kristen enjoyed trick or treating.

Lots of things...

I didn't realize how long it has been since I posted last. Lots of things have happened. Lauren went for another follow-up appointment with her GI doctor. They weren't able to place the button, but she will definately get it in December. I am kind of dreading it because they said it would be painful for her. They said to give her some tylenol before she comes. She did weigh 13 lbs 13 ozs and is still in the 3% category. She is following her curve on the growth chart and sticking with that 3%, so they are happy. We did get her RSV shot back in October. She wasn't approved, but our doctor had one on hand to give her. She then had to jump through hoops, but was able to get the insurance company to approve her getting the shots this season. She goes back in next week for her second one. We did decide to go ahead and give the H1N1 vaccine to our girls. After a LOT of prayer and discussion we decided it was best. So far so good. They do have to get a second one on November 23rd. Paul and I will get ours when it becomes available for us. Lauren's lungs are so poor that we doubted that she would be able to fight it off.

We took Kristen to go pick out her pumpkins for halloween. It was so cold that day. We didn't go to a pumpkin patch, and I was glad we didn't. She really didn't care to much for picking out pumpkins. She was more into the cars going down the road than anything. Below are a couple pictures. Kristen is going to be Cinderella and Lauren is going to be a flower. I will post pictures tomorrow of them in their costumes.


Which one will it be?



This is the one!



Picking out one for her sister.

We also took Kristen to go see the Disney on Ice. We sat next to the fog machine, so most of our pictures turned out foggy. It was a good show. Kristen did get board at the end because she hadn't seen the movies they were acting out. She did get to shake Cinderella's hand. There were a couple parts where she got scared, but overall she enjoyed herself. I would definately take her again.


Kristen holding up her Cinderella doll she got.



Getting ready for the show.

Here are a few pictures of Lauren. We are starting to give her regular milk once a day. She really likes it. I don't blame her because if her formula tastes like it smells, I am sure milk is a good treat. She continues to amaze us every day.


Go Cowboys! (Sorry Jennifer and Craig)



Kristen teaching Lauren how to count.


Lauren opening her Halloween gifts from her Nanny and Grandaddy. She likes to chew on the rubber ducks beak.



Kristen opening her gifts from Nanny and Grandaddy. Her poor hair...it's like really bad shag carpet. I don't know what to do! I hope it grows soon and starts to look normal.