Follow Up

First things first...Today Kaylie is officially 11 months "corrected" and let me tell you in the past week she has changed. It always amazes me how quickly their personalities change as they grow. She seems so much more alert and aware of her surroundings. She is exploring everything around her and trying to find different ways to do things. Her favorite thing to do is take toys out of a box and place it back in. Her other favorite thing to do is to take something and use it to skate across the room. To do this she gets into her crab walk position and pushes it around. The neat thing is when she takes another toy, places it on the original toy, and continues to skate. That takes a lot of brain power. As each day passes she relies less on us to hold her and actually stands somewhat independently. When she is not trying to stand she can stand for a good 30 seconds. The other day she actually turned to look at the dogs before gently lowering herself into a sit. It is only time before she stands up. Right now she balances herself by sitting in a squat with her baby booty off the ground. How cool is that. It is only time before she starts walking.

Now with that being said...As much as I love being with her this summer the child has turned into the Energizer Bunny. This morning she was EVERYWHERE and for those of you who have seen me first thing in the morning you know that when I am tired you can not speak to me until I have had a Diet Coke. Unfortunately some of you have figured that out the hard way. This morning I could not drink one fast enough. I blame it on her very FULL belly. It is amazing what a few extra calories will do for your energy level.

This morning we had an appointment with the dietitian and as expected things went well. The medicine we are giving her to help with her appetite is working very well. As of right now she has eaten 27 oz and still has one bottle left for the day. We have finished off 3 - 6 oz bottles today which is more than she used to eat in an entire day. With an incredibly happy heart I think I can officially call her my little butterball.

Her weight for today was 14 lbs 3 oz. That is a 15 oz increase from the first time we saw him in May. For the GI doctor to be happy taking away the possibility of needing a feeding tube I calculated she needed to be 14 lbs 2 oz. We go back to see him on Thursday and I think he is going to be pleased.

Most likely at our appt on Thursday he will refer us to a feeding therapist at Our Children's House of Baylor. The program is intense for these little ones but hopefully we can over come this last hurdle of eating solids and move on.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. Please pray the GI doc will feel the same way we feel now and that Kaylie will continue to eat and move forward.

Fourth of July

Since we had just come back from our trip we decided to spend the 4th somewhat quietly. We ended up staying at Blake and Jolie's so that they could go to the lake to spend time with their family. It benefited us because we could enjoy their pool. This was the first time Kaylie actually allowed us to put her in the float and let her go. Overall our low key day was rather enjoyable.

Her hat is a little big for her. Here is a picture of her crab walk. This is the way she likes to crawl.

Galveston

For those of you that know Jason and I you know that we love to travel. Since February of 2007 we have not been able to travel and had become incredibly stir crazy. This summer we had the opportunity to join Jason's family for our first official trip as a new family. We took a healthy baby to Galveston to enjoy a week full of fun and excitement with her grandma, great grandma, great grandpa, and several other special family members and friends. It was wonderful to see how much they enjoyed being able to spend time with Kaylie doing exactly what Kaylie likes to do. We had a blast and felt so privileged to be able to take our finally healthy baby girl to explore the world that God has created for us. I hope that this is the first of many more family vacations to come.

Kaylie discovered she loves windows. Jennifer also discovered she likes windows. It made me smile as Kaylie laughed at her.

Jason's cousin Hillary. Kaylie really wanted her hat. Hopefully that means she is an Aggie and not a Longhorn.

Getting ready to go to the beach. I do not think she knows what she is in for!

Our first time as a family to go to the beach.

On this trip I realized how much a parent does for their child that is completely out of their own comfort zone giving me so much respect for our mom and dads. I personally hate the sand. It grosses me out when you realize it is every where. This trip, as Kaylie crawled all over me with her sandy hands, I realized I didn't care anymore because she was having fun. It didn't matter that I had sand in my hair and all down my suit because I love my child and would do anything to know she was loving her life. Thanks mom and dad.

To my mom...sorry about the Tilt O' Whirl!

Kaylie enjoyed eating the sand. She was ok with the water until we put her closer to the waves. She freaked when the first wave broke near hear. I do not think she liked the sound.

Clean up consisted of a baby and a hose. She looks happier here than she really was.

Since it is the middle of summer in Texas and the temps are close to if not in the 100's we decided to set up her pool under a tent on the porch of the house we were staying at so she could play. It was great. We did not have to worry about her getting burned and everyone was able to enjoy watching her play.

Kaylie got the biggest kick out of pulling everything out of the bag that is behind her. I have never seen her throw things so hard just so she could get to the next thing. I ended up leaving the bag their for her to play with. She was entertained for several days with this.

As you can see from the mess behind her she is proud of herself.

The pink sting ray and orange starfish are two of her favorite toys.

Galveston Part 2

She is destined to be a dentist when she grows up. She is obsessed with teeth.

She is also obsessed with taking the pacifier out of Jason's mouth.

Watching her problem solve how to take this hate of was rather funny.

On Wednesday we went to the Aquarium at Moody Gardens. I took some photos while we waited to go in.

This picture is our signature picture where Jason puts his arm out. The only problem is fitting a 3rd person in this. I personally think it turned out pretty well.

Jason and I were not really sure if she would pay any attention to the fish. We were pleasantly surprised to see how much she loved it. She was so excited to watch the seals swim by.

This is my favorite picture.

Grandma Chris

Great Grandma Jo

Great Papa

I think we wore her out.

Galveston Part 3

This hand puppet was an otter that grandma Chris gave Kaylie from Moody Gardens. She smiles every time she sees it.

Right before we went to the beach for the last time we were blessed to have Safelite come out and fix our windshield. On the way to Galveston we were very blessed to get there safely. While we were driving in downtown Houston something flew up from a truck in front of us and hit our windshield sending glass inside our car. Thank goodness my wonderfully talented husband did not even flinch. As the guy fixed the windshield he found the culprit. We were hit by a solid metal ball bearing that was about a 1/2 an inch in diameter. The guy told us people die from this. I thank God for getting us there safely!

Our last day at the beach.

She was able to relax the last day and seemed to do a lot better with the waves.

I know it is hard to see but we put her name in the sand.

The Macmurphys first family vacation.

Deep Breath!

When school starts Kaylie will most likely be moved up to young toddler two at daycare. In this room she will go outside and is surrounded by walkers requiring her to wear shoes. Since it has been awhile since I have put shoes on her I decided I might want to think about getting her used to wearing them a little bit at a time. It was a good thing. The minute I put them on her feet she lost it. Just trying to get them on to see if they fit was an ordeal. The shoes I ended up picking were adorable but completely against every thing I ever said I would do. I swore I would never spend more than a few dollars on a pair of shoes that she would grow out of in no time. That went out the door very quickly as I purchased her first pair of baby Puma's. It has been hard to find shoes so when I found a pair that she could not pull of with one pull I bought them. The good thing is she has room to grow in them. In case you are wondering it goes newborn than 1's. Newborns are too small and the majority of 1's are too big.

This was right after I put them on her. She was angry at me! This picture does not do her anger justice!

This is her very sad attempt to pull them off. She has noticed the Velcro and has started to pull at it. One day I will have a shoe thrown at my head from the back.

She finally gave in. After we got home she started screaming. The minute I took her shoes off she stopped crying, picked her shoes up, and threw them on the floor. I think the jury is still out on this things! The good thing...she thought they were quit tasty!

Yesterday morning we decided to try out story time for the first time. The entire 30 minutes is child centered. We sing, read books, and learn new signs to put to words. Kaylie loved people watching and actually sat and listened for a few minutes.

The things we do for our children. The best thing is that you do not realize how much you will enjoy it until you do it. I never thought I would be able to let go my insecurities to jump all around and act like a complete and total fool around people I don't know just to see my baby smile. It is an awesome feeling

I put this picture on because I think is show cases her shoes. Shoes change the look of a baby. I know that sounds stupid but I see her and think how much more grown up she looks. The other reason I put the picture up is in memory of the white bow. The white bow went MIA immediately following story time. We needed a moment to reflect back on all the good times and pictures we had with it.

This outfit is one of my new favorites. On the front it says "What does the pig say?" The reason I like it is because of the back. The first time I walked into her room while she was napping her baby booty was sticking up in t he air with the tail shooting straight up. It was hard not to bust out laughing. To get this picture I resorted to a BMM. My bad mommy moment was came when I realized I could not publish my post without a picture of what I had observed awhile back. knowing I would possibly be waking her up I decided the positives out weighed the negatives. In the end my instincts came true and I freaked her out so bad she would not go back to sleep until I rocked her to sleep. Oops!

Yesterday we went to see her pulmonologist. We have been once before but were not able to see this doctor due to the urgency of our visit. When we went in May we just needed to see someone. This visit went well. He confirmed that she does have chronic lung and because of this she will most likely qualify for RSV shots this next cold and flu season. Thank goodness!!!! The shots are 1700 a shot and insurance will only pay for one year if you do not have chronic lung. Even though I do not want her to have chronic lung I do want her to have the shots. The shots kept us from being in the hospital over Christmas.

After 45 minutes (which I couldn't believe he gave me that much time) of talking with him he told me his concerns. His concerns are the same as the GI doctors. He adjusted her meds, added some new meds, and sent us for a chest x-ray to get a baseline for future upper respiratory issues. Even though I am now very over whelmed by all of the information I have gotten in the past few days I would have to say this was a good appointment. At this point I feel like everyone is working together to figure out the puzzle that is Kaylie. All of her doctors specialize in pediatrics and actually know each other. It is always a good feeling when you mention one of them and the other says something good about them.

Please continue to pray that she will eat like the little piggy on her outfit.