Hello everyone! I know it has been a long time since I last wrote, but so much has been going on! We had a wonderful trip to Billings for Thanksgiving. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. There sure is a lot to give thanks for in our case. I am so thankful that Kelby is doing so well. I am thankful that she is a strong, happy, sweet, and healthy girl. I am thankful for my blessing baby in Tegan. She has been such a wonderful joy through this past year. Today is an earmark day for me. It was one year ago, the first Monday after Thanksgiving that we took Kelby down to the Children's Hospital in Seattle not knowing what was wrong with her. It was throughout the next week that we discovered the horrible news. Can you believe that a whole year has gone by? We have so much to be thankful for in the friends and family that were there to love, support and pray for us. So, we are thankful for everyone out there too! We love you all.

So, what has gone in the last week or so? Tegan has started eating baby foods now.She has really figured it out now. She is in good health too...she had a check-up last week and got some shots. We borrowed a walker from her cousin Riley and she seems to like hanging out in that. She can push herself backwards around the house...until she hits a wall. So, after getting all those Christmas presents ready and packing for our trip...I was ready for the relaxing trip to Billings. We left Tuesday night after work, and drove through the night. The roads were wet, but not snowy. The girls did so good in the car! They slept, but would wake up each time we stopped. Kelby would say, "We're goin' to Grampa Morrow's house." Then she'd fall back asleep when we got back on the road. We made it there by about 9:00 am. We were pretty tired. I, at least, can sleep while Mike is driving. We switch off driving every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. We had fun with Gramma and Grampa...and I got to see Andrea for the first time in a year and a half! It was a great time. Kelby liked to look at the "water" (the pool) and eventually she made it into the water. She got used to it and after a while she even started kicking in it a little. She even got to go in the hot tub and really loved that! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and we got to show the whole family my beautiful kids! It was nice to see everyone again. They were amazed at how good Kelby looks now! The day after Thanksgiving called for a little early morning shopping for just me and my Dad. That was a good time. Later that night we made Mom and Dad put up their Christmas tree so Kelby could have some fun decorating with them. Yesterday, we were watching a Christmas movie where Kelby saw a Christmas tree and she said out of the blue, "Grampa make a Christmas tree." She had watched Grampa put together their fake tree and remembered to tell about it! It is amazing what she remember's now. I have lot's of pictures to put up, but currently my batteries are charging. I need to get an AC adapter or some extra batteries for this new camera I guess. I'll get those pics up soon.

Anyways, we made it home safe. It was a great trip. The girls did pretty good in the car on the way home too. We appreciated having our van! Too bad we can't seem to sell our old Pontiac though. We are all doing great. I hope that everyone is doing as well! Love to you all.

Tegan's first Thanksgiving feast - Sweet Potatoes!

I am so sorry that it has been so long since my last update. I has been a busy week or so. Mostly I have been sick. I got a real bad bug on Wednesday that had me stopped in my tracks. My muscles ached and I was a mess. Then, I have been busy making everybody presents! My sister-in-law/friend :) had her birthday on Friday night and we all went over there. Mike and Gramma and Grampa Wright took Kelby to the zoo on Saturday, but I wasn't feeling up to it. I stayed home and got ready for my Stampin' Up! parties that I am doing this week. On Saturday night, Melissa and Julia came over for my "Stamp-Til-U-Cramp" night and we had a blast talkin until I lost my voice around 11:30 pm. I had no voice then for three days! I did a Stampin' Up! party on Monday night for Melissa...with no voice...so you can only imagine I looked ridiculous! On Tuesday morning we had another MOPS meeting which went great, but again...I had no voice...but tried to talk anyways. I had to tell the ladies how to do the craft (I think the mostly got it.) I went to the doctor thinking I have a sinus infection, but the nurse said...call us in 7-10 days if you're not better. They don't want to give out those antibiotics unless they really have to these days! I think I'll call on Friday though if I am not feeling better to get some antibiotics anyways. I still think it is a sinus infection. Today I drove Kelby and Tegan down to a check up in Redmond. It has been a long week.

Kelby's doctors still think she is doing great. She has really dried out cheeks from the Accutane, but otherwise looks and acts normal. She was finished with her 6 rounds of Accutane this month, but they are going to have us stay on it for three more months...just for good measure. I made them lower her dose though because each round made her side effects worse. Also I am nervous about long term side effects of this drug. They aren't as bad as chemotherapy...that's for sure, but they don't have any real data on it's affect on kids. I feel better with the lower dosage. This was a good compromise. Also, they will be taking her catheter out at her visit next month! I am most excited about that! So, it was a great visit today.

So, other than my sickness, we have all been doing great. Tegan has started to eat rice cereal now. At least, we try to get her to eat it. She doesn't quite get the swallowing process yet. It takes time. We are headed to Billings for Thanksgiving, so we are all excited about that. I have to have all my Christmas presents ready by then, so I have been busy working hard on that. I have another Stampin' Up! party tomorrow night. I have myself pretty booked up these days...just the way I like it! Love to you all!

 

Happy Birthday to Grampa Greg! Love you! Well, hello there everyone! I know it has been longer between updates, but it is because everything is going so well. We were very busy this Wednesday with all the Halloween festivities.

We had to take Gramma DeeDee down to the airport on Tuesday, so we were all sad to see her go. Kelby REALLY loved having her here. She took go care of me while I was getting better from my tooth extraction! I am feeling much better by the way. Then Wednesday was packed full! We got dressed up in costume in the morning. Kelby was a "Happy Face" and Tegan was an "Angel." They both looked so adorable. I had a silly happyface shirt on too...to feel like a part of the fun. We went out in the morning to visit a few places to "trick-or-treat" then went shopping for I had not bought any candy myself yet. Then we went to visit Great Gramma and Grampa Wright...to show off my cuties. We did manage to make it home after that for a good nap. We went to Gramma Wright's after that and saw cousin Riley dressed up like a clown there. We then went to pick up Daddy at his office so we could show off the girls there. Then we went to the church's harvest party. Kelby loved it at first. She got lots of neat prizes and candy there. Daddy won a cake! Then it got a little too crowded, so we had to go home. We trick or treated the houses right on our block and she enjoyed that. She wanted to go into everyone's house though. She likes the candy. We got tired of that, so we came home and Kelby helped me give out candy to the many, many kids on our neighborhood. It was so much fun. The whole day made such a fun memory for me. Tegan was a good girl the whole day too. She was and "angel"! So after the girls went to sleep, I went back to the church and volunteered for a shift of helping out at the harvest party. I was fun too. We had a busy Halloween.

It is so weird to think that it is already November. This week last year we first noticed that Kelby had a swollen jaw. I am so Thankful that she is doing great right now! We have made it a whole year! The weather is very "Novembery" here. I like it though. I hope that you are all doing great. We love you all.