Well, it's finally here. A day that I remember thinking might never come. Today was pretty uneventful as far a birthdays go. She had her therapy, that went the same as it has the other days this week. A lot of crying and reaching for me. This has been a tough week for her and I, but she is making progress, slowly, and so we will truck on through the next three weeks. I'm so happy to see my little Elise turn two today. I starting thinking of which photos to put on the blog today. I started looking back to the days after her birth. It's hard to look at everything again. I mean I replay all the events in my head almost on a nightly basis, but to look at them in color, on a screen. All my emotions come back that I was feeling on those days. Smells of the NICU, sounds of the alarms, and the feel of her skin and hair. I was going to do a photo montage of all of you who were able to come visit us in the hospital and once we got home. But the number of pictures grew to a undo-able amount. So I will just invite you, if you want, to look back at those first days, and remember with me how close we came so many times to losing our little Elise. And remember how strong she was through everything. And know that because of ALL of you, Jason and I were able to keep up our strength and make it too. I'm not trying to be sappy, but I do want all of you to know how much I appreciate everything each of you have done for us. We have an amazing family, and group of friends. And thank you to everyone who supported our family members as well. I know they needed your support too. Elise has made more progress over the last two years than any of us thought she would (could) do. She is the happiest child I have ever met, and doesn't know a stranger. I am truly lucky to have such a wonderful, beautiful, delightful daughter. Thank you for all your happy birthday messages, cards, and gifts. And thanks for keeping up with my blog. I'm glad you guys enjoy it. The pictures I posted are of her in therapy today eating from a spoon and drinking from a straw. The straw is in a container that we squeeze to get the liquid to come out since she doesn't know how to suck through a straw. And I included one of her crying, just for fun. I promise on her third birthday I won't get sappy again. Love you all so much, Kristin.
Hey everyone! We had another great two weeks. My Mom came to visit last week and we had great weather. Jason and I were able to make it up to Gainesville again to look at more neighborhoods. It's hard to decide what to do since our house in Spfd is still for sale. We are debating on trying to rent the Spfd house in order to help pay our mortgage. We just wish it would sell, so we can get on with everything else. Also Elise's Godmommy Leslie and Uncle Joel were able to come over to celebrate an early birthday for Elise. It was a great week. Elise and I had a big day today. She started her intensive feeding program today. It is a long day, but I think she will do very well. She has feeding therapy everyday at 8:30, 10:30, 12:00, and 3:00. She also has occupational therapy everyday from 9-10. And will meet with a nutritionist every week. Fortunately the Ronald McDonald house is going to let us use one of their rooms for her to take a nap in everyday, so I don't have to waste time driving all the way home and back. This way she gets the longest nap possible. It worked out so well today. I never really knew anything about the Ronald McDonald house before Elise was born. And I am amazed at how wonderful they are for families with sick children. If you ever are wanting to donate to a charity, I would highly suggest this one. You can even donate it in Elise's name (it's a tax deduction!!). They have done so much for us, and I can't thank them enough. I was pretty nervous last night wondering how she would do today, but it went better than I thought. And the therapists had a lot of great feedback from today that made me feel better. Elise did have a rough day though. She got so upset at the 10:30 meal that she threw up. And she was so tired and fed up with everything at the 12:30 meal that she almost cried the whole time. But she ate more today than she ever has for me at home. And, by the end of the day she was warming up to the two therapists that will be working with her. Our goal for the end of the month is to have her eating puree's (baby foods) and drinking liquids, with the hope that she can get her g-tube out. They said that she has eating solids down, and doesn't gag when eating them, so we won't focus on those as much. At her 3:00 meal she ate 1/2 a chocolate pudding individual snack cup. That's 55 calories! I'll try to get some pictures of her in therapy so you guys can have an idea of what it looks like. I'll also post again this Thursday on her birthday. Oh, and that's why I changed the layout of the blog. I figured, it's been two years, why not change it up a bit. So enjoy the pictures of my mom's visit, and I'll post again Thursday night.
