Settling in...

So my last update started with, wow it's been a long time since I've blogged. Yet, again it's been a long time since I've blogged!! Clearly writing isn't my strength, but I'll try....

We officially moved into the new house over Mother's Day, and what a great gift that was!! Everything was painted, and somewhat put together, and now I can say we are even closer, I think there's only 10 boxes to unpack, not counting the pictures that still need to be put up! Katie is settling in very well, and loves her new purple room. She should, it has two closets! What more could a girl want!! We have been blessed with really nice neighbors, and the kids love to play together. They are a bit older than Katie, but do a great job including her in what they are doing. This is the first time we have ever been responsible for a yard, and am very blessed to have a mom who helps keep up with the weeding!!! We are in a great location, and have been spending much more time at the parks, which Katie loves, and calls them "play parks". JJ also has been working on many projects. He built me some awesome shelves in my walk in closet, and pull out drawers in the pantry. I think now his next project is a bench seat for the foyer. It's something he really enjoys, and now that we have a two car garage he has more space. Although come winter time, my car is going in the garage!!

It's so hard to believe it's all ready July!!! JJ's sister, Patti got married over Memorial Day,and we all made a trip to Cleveland. All the nieces wore the same dress, and looked so cute!!! Katie was the flower girl, and miraculously made it down the aisle. Thankfully, it was a short aisle, and she ran down without tripping!!! Everyone had so much fun, and loved dancing!! I will post some pictures, when I figure out where the camera cord is:) I'm a bit slow in the IT department!

What else.....we have really just been enjoying the summer. Katie has been doing great, and is talking a ton! I think we may have to stop her speech therapist from coming...I'm sure you are all shocked that my child is a talker:) She has recovered very well from her hip surgery and we don't follow up with ortho until September. She does have to have her eartubes replaced at the end of the month, and they will also repeat another brain MRI at that time. Thankfully they can do it at one time, with one dose of anesthesia. We don't go up to Boston Children's again until December.

I'll try to post some recent pictures soon!!!

Time Flies

Wow! I can't believe it's been a month since I've written anything. I have been meaning to get to that, but never did. Anyway, things have been busy, but going pretty well. We had one not so good week with another ear infection, but thankfully after a few days of antibiotics Katie was feeling better again! We see ortho again on April 25th, and we hope Katie will be able to get out of the brace. She is allowed to crawl, scoot, and even stand up in her crib. The only thing he said not to do was let her stand and walk out of the crib, which she figured out how to do two weeks ago. We do stop her, but it's also quite comical! I was worried she may have some difficulty walking after the brace came off, but I guess since she can walk with it on, I shouldn't be too worried. Also, she calls her brace "her huggie". It's pretty cute to hear her say, "huggie on" or "off" depending on her mood! Her sleep pattern is still a bit off, but thankfully during the day she has been very pleasant, and has a good appetite. Honestly, it hasn't been as hard as I imagined, but we are still anxiously awaiting the brace coming off!! My cousin gave her a ton of Little People toys, and she has really been entertained by those. She still loves reading, coloring, and we even have thrown in some flashcards! Oh, yes, we have become flashcard parents:) She really has been quite a trooper, isn't it amazing how children can handle so much more than adults!?!?

As for the house it's coming along. JJ has been working really hard getting things together. Most of the painting is done, and Katie's bathroom is also close to being done. So we hope to get some unpacking accomplished this weekend. Maybe moving in by the end of the month. My mom has been so helpful, and hasn't kicked us out yet:) even though her peaceful sunroom is now a playroom!! We were also very lucky to have JJ's mom and her friend come from Cleveland to help us pick colors, carpets, etc.. for the house. Last time we painted our house pink, not this time!!! We're excited to have everyone visit once we have our act together.

We really are looking forward to Spring and Summer, getting geared up for playgrounds, and swimming!! Also JJ's youngest sister is getting married over Memorial Day, and Katie is the flower girl, fun!

Well, I guess that's most of it.

Tea Party

Reading with Grandma

Concentrating on Coloring

You Caught Me!

Loves to Smell the Flowers

Happy Face!

Our Daily Routine

Our routine has definitely changed with Katie not being able to move around too much. Of course she has attempted to crawl and even stand up in the crib, Shocking! Thankfully we have a video monitor so as soon as we see her trying to stand we run up the stairs to get her. Therefore, nap time has been a little frustrating. Before the surgery she usually walked around her crip for about 30 minutes before going to sleep, but we have to stop her, so only one nap since the surgery! Night time is getting better, and she is waking up less. So we've been trying to be creative with keeping her entertained. Thankfully JJ is super handy, and made her a table out of a magnetic dry erase board and a wire shelf taped together with duct tape! It's perfect!! She loves to draw, play with play doh, and her magnets. We are watching a good amount of movies too. When it's relatively nice outside we try to take her out. My mom has a pond across from her, so we've been walking around looking for fish! We have a follow up appointment on Monday, so hopefully all will look good!
We also settled on our new house yesterday!!! We're not moving our things in until April 1st, so we're trying to get projects and painting done!

Using the remote

St. Patty's Day dress, and fancy leg warmers

Coloring in the highchair

Playing with Elmo and play-doh

Loving her new table and Zhu Zhu pet

Happy smiles

Play-doh hat

Posing with the "silly little man" at the pond

Wagon ride

New letters and numbers

First Full Day Home

They actually discharged us home yesterday! Right after I got back from blogging, the nurse practioner was in Katie's room, and said we could go home!! We had to wait to see physical therapy, they had to check if Katie needed a special carseat. Thankfully, she didn't and we were able to use the one we had. My Aunt and Uncle visited for awhile, and we left around 3:30. The nurses were great, but we were excited to get home!!! Last night she wanted the "huggie" (that's what Katie calls the brace) off!!!!, but luckily we were able to distract her with Little People animals. We were nervous about night time, but she only woke up twice, and I got her back to sleep quite easily.
Today we did a lot of playing, and experimented with different toys, games, etc...she could do without standing, walking, running!!! Thankfully she fits in the highchair that my mom has, and she of course colored all over the tray! Unfortunately, I couldn't get her to nap, so she has spent the rest of the day in my arms. Now I know she only weighs 11 lbs, but even she gets heavy, or a little awkward with the brace. I then remind myself she has only been out of surgery for 48 hours, so I think she's doing pretty well! I even put her in her shamrock dress and we had Shepherd's Pie for dinner. I didn't think we'd be home today, so we had our Corned Beef on Sunday!

Made It...

So yesterday was a pretty long the day. We got to duPont, no issues, but they were a little behind schedule. We were supposed to start at 1:45, but she didn't go into the OR until 3:15. Katie was definitely starting to get hungry!!!! The surgeon was very pleased with the results. He placed a screw in the femur, and thought everything looked good. The total surgery was about 2 hours, and we were in a room by 7pm. Basically Katie's femur head was slipping off the growth plate. He told us placing a screw shouldn't hinder any growth in that leg. I'm sure we will have plenty of follow up appointments to keep an eye on everything. Hopefully this is it for awhile....



There was debate on whether or not to put her in a cast. I didn't think it was possible to keep Katie non weight bearing for 4 weeks! However, they decided no cast, but she is in a brace/splint like device. Hard to describe, but it needs to be on at all times, but I can still take it off to change her diaper!! Also at some point after the incision has healed I should be able to give her a bath.



Last night was a little rough, she still definitely gets hospital anxiety. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be in too much pain, and she is already on liquid pain meds, no more IV meds. I think as long as everything goes well today we may be home tomorrow!!

Getting Ready

So we found out her surgery isn't until the afternoon. Thankfully we don't have to leave until 10ish to get down to duPont. Katie isn't a great breakfast eater, so hopefully she won't notice that I'm not feeding her. We already hid the Cheerios! I did work today, and got home to find a very happy Katie. We played, watched Clifford and Curious George, and JJ put her in bed. Hopefully all goes smoothly tomorrow! It might not be till evening when I get to post....
Thanks for all the well wishes!

Back to Blog

It's been awhile since I've been on my own blog, clearly I haven't really been writing! Anyway, Katie has healed very well from her surgeries. She had a recent MRI, and her neurosurgeon said it looked "good". As of now her next test for follow up with the brain surgery isn't until the winter. We'll go up to Boston for that test. However, she does have another surgery planned for Tuesday. When she went to her orthopedic appointment in February they found her femur to be slipping out of her hip socket. Not sure that's the medical explanation, but works for me....Apparently it's pretty common for this to happen in little people, and a "simple fix". The doc will put a pin/screw in to hold it in place. It's a quick surgery, but she will most likely be in a hip cast for about 4 weeks. Katie loves to run, and jump, so it may be quite a challenge! We'll have to be creative in activities:) She's having the surgery done at duPont, and I don't get great cell reception there. I will do my best to keep up with the blog!!

On another topic, we bought a new house!!! Still in the same area. We plan to have our things moved in on April 1st, but will take our time getting the house together, but hope to be in by Easter. We're really excited to start a new chapter!!

Here' s some pics of what Katie has been up to over the last few months...

Loves playing play-doh with daddy!

Going outside in her new hat

Getting hugs from her friend Markos



Making cupcakes for Vday with Auntie Niki

Eating the cupcakes, of course!!

Getting a medal from her Uncle Mike. He had hip surgery as a boy, and is still able to place 2nd in a 10K!!

Sitting in a box of noodles, she thinks she's so funny!!!

Drinking a bottle, and watching TV

So it's definitely been a little crazy these last few months, but we're hanging in there. Katie is such a joy, she is really starting to talk a lot! Since she is my child, I'm sure that doesn't surprise anyone!!! She even likes to sing, it's pretty funny hearing that little voice try to sing Twinkle Twinkle. I miss seeing everyone, and once we get through this, we plan to reenter society:) I look forward to a wonderful, healthy Spring!!!!!