Indian Summer

Today definitely felt like an Indian summer with the temp being so warm. The shade in the backyard has been great on these warmer days keeping it cool enough to play outside comfortably. Thankfully Audrey enjoys swinging outside because when she refuses to nap that's about the only thing that will keep her content.

Gaining...

I have a wonderful praise to share...Audrey has been gaining weight quite rapidly lately (Anna really packed on the weight at this age too). When we took her for her 6 month check-up 2 1/2 weeks ago she weighed 13 lb. 6 oz. and had gone from the 12th percentile down to the 7th percentile (length was near the 75th percentile!). Not good! She hadn't been nursing well as she'd rather watch what's going on around her than eat. We decided to really try to push her to eat better before changing medecines. So, for the past 2 weeks I've been trying to keep things very calm when she nurses (Anna playing quietly, no t.v. on, no ceiling fan on, etc.), we've been pushing more solids on her, and have been offering formula after she nurses in the evening. She doesn't usually take the extra formula, we make a 2 oz. bottle, but sometimes I can get her to drink an ounce of it. We went for a check-up yesterday and she weighed 14 lbs. 4 oz. which puts her back in the 10th percentile. This is awesome weight gain for her age. She's gained almost an entire pound in 2 weeks when they're only supposed to gain 1/4 of an ounce a day at this age. We are going to continue to push her and make her eat more. She is taking in more solids so I think we've successfully stretched her stomach to hold more which is what Dr. Miller was hoping for. Praise the Lord for some answered prayers!! Now if we can just get her and Anna over their nasty colds, we'll be doing great! We expected them to have more colds with Anna going to preschool but it sure isn't fun especially when your infant is so congested she can't take her paci or nurse very well. Thankfully, this too shall pass...

"Miss Anna" the teacher

Here's Anna singing her preschool songs pretending to be the teacher and talking to her imaginary student, Lindsay, who was actually the helper of the day at preschool on Thursday. She had the hiccups while singing so that's why there are pauses every now and then. :0) I love hearing her sing (I think Audrey does too) and share with us what she's learning. Their focus this month has been that God is with them wherever they go and a few days ago she was telling me all of the places that God is with her. I'm so thankful we have a very nice place to send her to that's also very affordable!

Pumpkin Cookies

Anna and Kenley enjoyed baking cookies this weekend. The girls get so excited when they see one another!

Our Little Beauties

Couldn't decide which one I like better... :0)

Fun outside

Most nights after dinner we take the girls out for a walk. Audrey hangs out in the stroller kicking her legs, enjoying the fresh air and Anna does a great job riding her bike. I'm amazed at how far she can ride going up and down small hills without tiring. The cooler evenings have been such a blessing!

"I can sit up now!"

Leg Braces

Anna's been wearing her leg braces for over a week now and is adjusting well. We go see Miss Vicky, the PT, on Thursday to see if she's made any progress. It'd be great if she progresses quickly and she doesn't have to wear them the minimum 6 months or longer. She has to wear shoes with them so we have an inside pair of shoes and an outside pair of shoes. Anna picked out the pattern that's on them...they're quite cute!

Audrey the Explorer

Miss Audrey is starting to explore the things around her. She loves to get the plant and yank on it while she's in the exersaucer (don't worry it's fake). Who needs toys when she can get into other "fun" stuff. When she's on a mission, she can scootch or roll off her floor gym getting to wherever she's wanting to go. Won't be long before she's into everything...yikes!

Helper of the Day

Anna was Helper of the Day recently at preschool and now she thinks she needs to be Helper of the Day everyday. "Julie" got to go along for show and tell and Anna took oreos and milk for snack. She's really enjoying preschool. It's fun to hear her sing the songs at home and tell us about her friends. She talks a lot about Alli who has a baby sister named Audrey as well.

Measuring

Grandpa Smith sent some fun scales for Anna to play with and she loves measuring things with them. We've done tomatoes and beans so far. She loves to poor the beans in the buckets and count how many scoops it takes to make one side weigh more. We were able to do this while Audrey napped. There's just something so sweet about a sleeping baby.

Preschool - Here she comes!

I'm still struggling a bit that Anna is now in preschool. Where has the time gone?! She was so excited to go and had a lot of fun. Mommy was able to hold back the tears until I got to the van. :0) Audrey had lots of smiles for her sister when we went to pick her up. I think she missed her too. Who would've guessed...an Elmo backpack! She was so excited to hang up her backpack in her cubby.

Labor Day Weekend

We spent this past weekend with our good friends Quentin and Paula. Thankfully we live close enough now that we can visit a few times a year. We were neighbors in TN and then moved away and now we're close again which is great! Anna had lots of fun playing with Elli and Jess and we were so excited to meet Owen. Hard to believe Audrey and Owen were born just 2 days apart! They're on opposite ends of the growth chart. :0) Too cute!! We visited the zoo and enjoyed seeing all the animals. Audrey and Owen did great hanging out in the strollers. The girls were excited to ride the train. It was the fast way to see part of the zoo which was nice as we were all getting hungry for lunch. We also went to see the Backwater Gamblers water show and it was impressive. I can't imagine making a pyramid on water skis!! Anna loved it...wish I could've gotten a picture of her eyes while she was watching the show. :0)

Much better

We started Audrey on a different medicine, Prevacid, last Thursday and within 24 hours she was a different baby - Praise the Lord! She's now taking Prevacid and Zantac and only getting medecine 3 times a day instead of 5 times a day as it was before with Zantac and Reglan. Her awake times are full of smiles and she's much more content. Now if we could just get the teeth that are bothering her to come in she might be a really happy baby. :0) We're still struggling with getting her to take good naps but if we can keep her up for about 3 hours at a time, she'll sleep for about an hour. It just takes lots of entertainment, patience, and distraction to keep her up that long and sometimes it just doesn't work. She loves chewing on her hands and is usually a slobbery mess.

Tiptoe Troubles

We took Anna to the pediatric physical therapist yesterday for a check-up. She started walking on her tiptoes again a few months ago and I mentioned it to Dr. Miller at her 3 year check-up. She wanted her to start seeing the PT again after checking her range of motion in her feet and noticing how tight she was. The PT, Miss Vicky, (which Anna can now say correctly - it used to be Miss Bicky), said that she probably reverted back to toe walking because of a growth spurt so it's something we'll have to deal with regularly unless we go after this aggressively. To walk comfortably your range of motion in your foot needs to be 15 degrees and Anna is at a 6. So, unfortunately, we're going to have to try leg braces to see if this helps her stay on her heels and stretch her tendons enough that she can overcome this permanently. We take her to the orthopedic specialist in 2 weeks to get fitted and once they are made she'll have to wear the braces for 8 hours a day during awake times. Thankfully the weather will be getting cooler soon and her pants will cover them. She'll need to wear them for at least 6 months or possibly a year. If we don't do anything now, she'll more than likely end up needing surgery that will require cutting the tendons in her heels to loosen the muslces in her legs. We definitely don't want to go there. She also doesn't have much of an arch, is almost flat footed which is genetic, so the braces will have an arch in them which help create one for her. This should keep her from having leg, hip, and back pain and injuries later on. Prayerfully she'll only have to wear the braces for the minimum amount of time and we won't have to deal with this anymore. We're also greatful she's young enough that wearing the braces shouldn't faze her much.

Giggly Girls

The girls were having so much fun this morning and I'm so glad I captured it. I wanted to get positioned so I could get Audrey's face but I was afraid that if she saw me it would distract her. Enjoy the laughter! This is the happiest Audrey's been in weeks it seems like. We've decided to switch medicine as the dosage increase hasn't seemed to make a difference. Hopefully this will!

Wild Hair

Anna's hair is so pretty after we wash it and blow dry it. It has lots of natural curl and is very easy to do. I often wonder how it can go from being so "tame" and pretty at night to absolutely wild by morning. :0)

Bath time

I am so greatful that Audrey likes bath time. She can be very fussy and we'll start her bath water and she immediately calms down and is very content in the tub. She's been fussy quite a bit lately, even with the dosage increase in her medicine. Dr. Miller told us last Friday to give it a week to see if the increase in meds helps any and if not, we'll switch to a different medicine. She's continuing to gain weight and stay on the 12th percentile mark - she was 12 lb. 14 oz. and is now getting closer to the 75th percentile for length at 25 1/2 inches. She's long and lean and very healthy despite her reflux troubles.

Beautiful weather

We've been enjoying the awesome temperatures around here lately...so atypical for August! Anna has played outside lots which has been good for her and mommy. She's getting bored more quickly these days and I sometimes find myself wracking my brain trying to come up with things for her to do. She plays quite well most of the time and is such a great helper - usually, sometimes a little too much. :0) She starts preschool after Labor Day and while she's excited and will absolutely love it, mommy is a bit apprehensive. My little helper, companion, chatterbox will be gone for 2 1/2 hours 2 mornings a week - what will I do?! I keep reminding myself that she's not leaving for college, just going to socialize for a short time. It'll be good for Audrey and I to have one-on-one time and like they say, absence always makes the heart grow fonder. I think Audrey will miss her too as she's so used to Anna entertaining her or playing right beside her.

5 Months Old

It's hard to believe how much our baby has changed in just 5 months! Praise the Lord she's growing, continuing to gain weight, and developing on track. Our first month was so stressful with her not gaining weight but we praise God for medecine and a good pediatrician. We go back for a check-up this Friday which is much needed as she's having a lot more reflux discomfort again and not enjoying being flat on her back. Our typically happy baby has been quite fussy lately. :0( She loves to play with her feet. She even chews on her toes! Keeping socks on her is about impossible. She either pushes them off with her heels or pulls them off with her hands. :0) Here she is playing in the Johnny Jumper. She was chattering away before I turned on the camera and of course once she saw it, she got quiet and then fussy. She's just going to have to get used to seeing the camera because it rarely leaves mommy's side.