Happy Birthday Lia...our 1 Year Old Girl!

Wow...I can't believe it's been a year. What a year it's been. Our sweet baby girl turned one year old on July 22nd. We had a crazy, fun, blowout party for her at our house. We invited lots of special people who had a big part in her life up to this point. It was so fun seeing her two favorite nurses, Joscyln and Jen from Children's and their two husbands. We had lots of family and friends there to celebrate our little Miss turning one. In typical "tutu style", she was decked out in her birthday tutu for the world to see. She looked adorable. I've added some pics from the party for you all to see. We continue to feel so blessed, day after day, watching her grow. She changes every day, as all kids do, and time is moving too fast.

Aunt Laci's Wedding

Well, we have a new uncle at our house. Aunt Laci and Uncle John got married this past weekend in Austin. It was beautiful. Check out our family blog for more pics...I just thought Lia's blog needed a picture of her and our pretty bride Laci.

Looking Back...

It's hard to believe Lia's almost a year old...It's July the 4th and this time last year was a hard day. I remember Corey was working, and the rest of us went out to Mimi's and Grandaddy's house to spend the 4th. I had already stopped working. The stress was weighing down on me so heavily, and I was at a breaking point. I remember going out to mom's and literally having a breakdown. Mom and I had gone to the store by ourselves. As we pulled into the driveway, I looked at mom and started crying. She asked me what was wrong and I said, "I'm just so scared." We both cried and she immediately backed up and we drove around until we could pull it together.

A whole year later, things are so much better than I had allowed myself to dream they would be. Lia's a vibrant, active, happy little girl. The boys have adjusted to her wonderfully without resentment or jealousy. We live every day feeling so blessed. I still allow myself to have days of feeling sorry for myself and feeling sad, but those days are few and far between. I feel so fortunate to have this little girl to love and watch grow. All three of our kids bring us joy in such different ways. We are unbelievably blessed.

Lia's First Easter

Well, we made it through chicken pox without a hitch. Lia went to see Dr. Smart for her 9 month checkup last week and checked out great. She weighs 16lbs 1.5 oz and is steadily staying right at the 10th percentile. Her o2 sats were about 85% which is exactly where they expect them to be. She's almost crawling and prefers veggies over fruit. She loves her brothers and cousins and is a happy, happy little girl.

Easter was great. She looked adorable in her sweet dress. Her hair's long enough now that I'm putting it in piggies...too cute.

Corey and I look back to this time last year and just wonder..."How did we do that?" How did we make it through the last part of the agonizing pregnancy and then the first few days after she was born? It's so amazing how far she's come. It's hard to believe she'll be a year old soon. She continues to inspire us and ground us at the same time. What a blessing.

Poxy Girl...

Yep...our new name for Lia is "poxy girl". She's got the chicken pox. It's been a rough few days. At first, she seemed to be taking it all in stride, but she clearly feels lousy now. I hope we are at the peak of this and soon will be on the downhill side of it. We'll let ya know how it goes...

Cardiology Check Up

We took Lia back to see Dr. Lemler for a sedated echocardiogram last Friday. I always dread these for several reasons. First of all, they have to sedate her for it and she despises the medicine they give her to put her to sleep. Because they are knocking her out for the echo, she can't eat anything for several hours before and that's always a drag, too. Fortunately, she's never been that big of an eater so it doesn't seem to bother her near as much as it does me. The main reason I guess I don't like having to have an echo is I'm always concerned that they might find something new and different to have to worry about. Well...back to last Friday. She hated the medicine, but went to sleep easily and woke up happily drunk with cute, lopsided grins. Dr. Lemler was very pleased with the results. When he's pleased, we're pleased. He was happy with her weight gain and thought she looked fantastic. He said he doesn't need to see her again for 3 to 4 months....well, make that 3 months. He said 4 months makes him a little nervous. We were estatic to be able to wait a few months to go back.

Yesterday, Lia went back to Dr. Smart's office for her follow up on her ear infection and to get her 6 months shots. As usual, she took her shots like a man. I'm telling ya, nothing bothers this kid too much. She has her first tooth poking through and she was up to 14lbs 9oz...almost up a full pound since last week. She's started cereal and we're gonna give veggies a crack tonight. Just wanted to give everyone the great news that she looks so fantastic. Be sure to check out our new family blog. The link is on Lia's blog.

6 Month Checkup

Lia had her 6 month check up on Thursday with Dr. Smart. She went in with what we thought was a little cold and eye infection that turned out to all be related to an ear infection instead. Needless to say, we left with a prescription for antibiotics and without our regular 6 month immunizations. She's pretty much right on track with her developmental stuff...something I thought she might lag behind in given all she's been through. She is almost sitting up, babbling nonstop, and actually rolled over for the first time right there in front of Dr. Smart and Corey. I, of course, missed it all since I was busy at work. She weighed in at 13lbs 10 oz...still on the charts at about the 10th percentile. She's still on the small side, but gaining weight slowly but surely and that was all within the month of having some sort of stomach virus. I think that's pretty good.

My friend Stacey ran into our cardiologist at CMC last week. She took the initiative to reintroduce herself to him and the two of them proceeded to discuss Lia (or should I say her over-obsessive mommy) at length for the duration of the elevator ride. They discussed how I was still worried with the amount of cc's per kilo she is taking on a daily basis. I guess if one my best friends and my daughter's cardiologist think it's worth talking about, then maybe I should lighten up a bit. I'm trying...really, I am.

We go back to CMC to visit Dr. Lemler next Friday for another echocardiogram. We don't expect them to find anything abnormal, but I'm ready for it to be over with anyway. Say a little prayer for us before then if you don't mind...

Getting Life Back to Normal????

Hello everyone! So sorry I haven't been the best at updating the blog lately. Let's see, since our last entry we have had Christmas, New Years, gone back to school, gone back to work, and started living our lives again. Lia's is continuing to do great. She's almost 6 months old and is still grinnin up a storm. She's got a lot to say...babbles quite a bit. (Wouldn't we really like to know what she's thinking?) It would probably go something like this..."Really, mommy, could you please stop worrying about how much I eat with each bottle? I feel great, just look at my smiling face. My big brothers are so hilarious. They make me laugh all day long. My daddy is really funny, too. How come you all just stare at me smiling so much?"

I went back to work last week. It was not near as hard as I had feared it would be. I was ready to see my friends at work and I feel like it was time to have some "distance" from Lia and the house. I think it's good for me to see that she will do fine at home with her daddy and I really don't have to be there to obsess over her every move. Corey as usual has handled it all in stride. He's great being at home with her and taking care of getting Colby to school and entertaining Jace and Lia all day.

We finally took Lia to church a couple of weeks ago. She was able to meet so many of the people who have been praying for her for soooo long. My parents and Corey's parents went with us...it was such a special day. It was really fun getting to go back to church as a family...a whole family. We won't put her in the nursery for quite a while, so she goes to class with Corey and me.

Since things have slowed down with Lia (hopefully, her next surgery wont be until she's 3 years old) I've decided to transition to a family blog. We will definitely keep this one and add to it as things progress with her, but I'll be updating the family one more often. There will be more info to follow about that soon. We love you all. Thanks for checking on us. She is still such a miracle.