We wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

We had a wonderful Christmas and hope the same for you all. The Sunday before Christmas Kayla had a little stomach bug (we think) because she got sick a few times. That is a hard thing to watch because babies do not understand throwing up, they just know it doesn't feel good! Fortunately she was feeling better the next day.

Christmas Eve we went to our church's candlelight service. It's always nice to gather and sing and reflect on the true meaning and joy of Christmas. We then went to my Dad's house for fondue and Kayla promptly went to sleep!

Christmas morning we opened gifts and had breakfast. Kayla didn't know what to make of all her toys. She's still a little young to open the gifts and understand what's going on. Later that day we headed over to Cary's family's house and opened gifts and ate (again). It was great being with everyone. Kayla got a rocking horse, a dance on TV toy, 2 baby dolls, a magnet play set, a pretend camcorder, a playhouse, and much more! Do you think she hurts for anything?

This is Kayla by the Christmas tree!

Daddy helping Kayla open a gift - a beautiful Minnie mouse gown.

Her new playset! Nana and Poppy Darden gave her this and put it together!

Mimi sent her some bows and we had to try them all on.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ALL OF US! WE LOVE YOU.

Sorry this update is so late!

I guess I let time get away from me...

We had Kayla's follow up visit at the Dr. from her little surgery. Unfortunately it did not work this time and we are going to have to try it again in a couple months. If it doesn't work then, we will have to have an open surgery. I'm not worrying though - I'm thankful this is treatable! I do hate having to go through all of this for her sake but we must.

Here are a few recent photos. Kayla is growing and learning everyday and is becoming quite the little independent girl - with a very strong will when she wants to have one!

Eating is her favorite thing!

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a great day! We first went to my Dad's house and prepared a meal with Donna, Adam, Cary, Kay and Sue (Donna's mom and aunt). It was all very tasty. Kayla enjoyed her first real Thanksgiving meal.

Then we headed over to the Hesters for dessert and Kayla had a great time playing over there.

Here are a few pictures:

Kayla still tries to get in the infant swing.

Enjoying her first Thanksgiving dinner - green beans, mac and cheese, turkey, and a lot of mashed potatoes with banana pudding for dessert!

Her adorable overalls that used to belong to her cousin.

November update

Just wanted to let everyone know Kayla is doing well.

I made a list of all the words she can say (well trying to say):

Baby
Ball
Thank you
Hello
Bye Bye
Dada (Daddy)
Momma
Uh Oh
Shoes
Teeth
Doggie
Bath
Baba (milk b/c we are off the bottle now)

It's so cute! I'm amazed at how much she can understand. She can bring things to me if I ask her to and she definitely knows when it is time to eat! Not surprisingly she doesn't really acknowledge when I say no. In fact she smiles at me! So when she in to something I don't want her to be in we sort of have to distract her with something else or she will keep on messing with it.

She had her flu shot last week (the first in a round of 2) and she didn't cry! I was so proud and I am even too afraid to get a shot!

I would describe Kayla's temperment as very social, active, stubborn, and playful. A great mix.
She adapts well to most everything (except she likes to sleep in her own bed) and is still not very clingy except for right after a nap.

She loves music and dancing and kicking a ball around.

I'm excited that she will get to eat all of the Thanksgiving meal with us this year!

Playing the piano at Nana's house.

Playing before church.

Wanting someone to turn the TV on so she can listen to music.

Done!

I'm praising God today because Kayla's procedure went very well - better than I anticipated.

We left the house around 5:15am to drive to Atlanta and Kayla was not able to eat anything. She slept in the car and when we arrived at the Surgery Center she played for a bit while we registered, talked to nurses, the Dr., and the anesthesiologist.

I was able to go back with her when they put her to sleep. She was very upset when the put the mask over her face and I felt bad for her but she was asleep in about 15 seconds.

30 minutes later the Dr. came out to tell us it went well and that a follow up visit in one month will confirm if this fixed the problem.

About 15 minutes later Kayla came out screaming and very upset. She was very groggy and disoriented from the sleep medicine and took her about 30 minutes to calm down and drink a bottle. That was hard but by the time we got her home she was back to her normal self! She ate and drank just fine and is fast asleep now after a tough day.

I'm so proud of her! She's much braver and tough than I am!!!

Here we are all ready to go!


And she looked so cute (and a little pitiful) in her gown:


I am overjoyed with the way things turned out today!

1st Birthday

The party was great!

Photos are up!

http://morethanasnapshot.zenfolio.com/p533332309

Surgery is Monday at 7:30 - will update after that.

PARTY TIME!

The weather forecast looks great for Saturday!

I hope we have a wonderful day. I can't wait to watch Kayla eat her cake - I know she will enjoy it immensely because she is such a little piggie!

I can't believe my girl is turning 1 tomorrow!!!

Last night she woke up crying and she wouldn't stop so I brought her down to sleep in our bed. She was just like a little newborn, curled up on me and it was so precious.

Can't wait to see everyone on Saturday!

Update from the Dr.

Cary, Kayla, and I went to Scottish Rite yesterday for Kayla's one year follow up tests for her reflux.

She had to get an ultrasound and a VCUG. She never likes having to hold still and this time she was more upset than at 6 months. We got through it though.

The Dr. told us she still has reflux on the right side - no improvement. She now also has a little bit on the left side but he says this is no uncommon.

He has recommended that Kayla get the endoscopic procedure called Deflux done on November 10th. Some very informative info can be found on this website: Deflux

We've decided to do it. She will have to be under general anesthesia which may be the most unpleasant part because she cannot eat or drink the morning of her surgery.

The success rate is 80-90% with a few rare risks. If it doesn't work the first time, we will try a second time. If that is unsuccessful she will likely have an open surgery.

I am very hopeful that this will correct the problem - if all goes well she can be taken off of the antibiotic that she now takes daily and should not have to worry about it anymore!

Major Events!

I am eagerly anticipating Kayla's first birthday on 10/31, her party on 11/1, and dressing her up for Trick or Treating. We have two costumes: a pink giraffe and a cheerleader.

On October 21st we take Kayla back to Scottish Rite for her one year check-up of her urinary reflux. She'll have to have a few tests similar to what she did back in April and then we'll head over to the pediatric urologist to get his opinion on whether or not she is getting better and if she will need to have any sort of procedure to fix her problem.

I've been giving her some whole milk to see how she does with it. She drinks it just fine! I know some babies are picky when they are used to their formula but Kayla has been picky about absolutely nothing!

She is not walking yet but is so close. She is taking up to 10 steps on her own but she seems like she is trying to run, not walk!

She also has a molar coming in on the bottom right.

Here are a few recent photos:

Trip to Maryland #2

We left early Thursday morning for our flight to Maryland.

Kayla did great for most of the trip - a little fussy near the end of the flight because she was so tired, but she drifted of to sleep after a bottle. The nearby passengers said she did really well. Huge sigh of relief for us because I know how stressful it can be to be in close quarters with a screaming baby. Luckily she was really good!

The weather was cold and drizzly but our first stop was to my Mom's corporate headquarters. She works for Marriott. Her office is huge and we were able to introduce her to some of Mom's coworkers and eat lunch in the cafeteria.

Friday we took a drive to my old daycare in Beltsville. The same people are still running it and I was able to introduce Ms. Annabelle to Kayla. I have such fond memories of that place.

Saturday we had breakfast with my Aunt Maggie and Uncle John. Kayla was being hand fed muffins like she was a queen and she had a blast exploring Aunt Maggie's house and playing with her jewelry. They were great hosts.




Saturday night we celebrated an early birthday for me. My aunt, grandparents, cousin and her fiancee were there, along with my Mom, Parnie, and Cary. We had a delicious meal of lasagna and I think we had three cakes and ice cream for dessert. Yummy!


The flight back on Sunday morning went just fine and we were back in sunny GA!

Had a great trip and so happy Kayla got to see her family.

Kayla found these two hand clappers and had so much fun playing.

Kayla and her Great-Grandma Patricia Sisler.

And a new favorite picture.

Funny pictures

She's a little diva in training!

This is what she does when we ask for a kiss!

We're headed to Maryland tomorrow - I'm looking forward to the trip and I really hope Kayla is good on the plane for everyone else's sake.

Words

Kayla has turned out to be quite a loquacious baby! She talks to herself all the time and babbles to everyone. Some of these babblings have turned into her first words. She can say:

Baby (she says this when she sees pictures of herself)
Uh-oh
Bye Bye
Baba - her bottle
Mama and Daddy are still rather vague at this point. I think she says them but it's not often.

Here's a recent photo:She loves to point at things! She also has 8 teeth now and we are trying to teach her how to drink from a cup.

Kayla Makes her Toy Work

Check this video out - hilarious!

Tooth #7

Kayla has cut her 7th tooth. This one is on the bottom. After a few nights of her waking due to the pain we found something called Teething Tablets that seem to work pretty well. She's sleeping better now and the tooth is through.

Here are a few recent photos:




She's crawling super fast but hasn't shown much interest in walking yet. She does cruise a little bit while holding onto things though.

We plan on holding her 1st Birthday on November 1st at Clinton Nature Preserve with a polka dot theme! All are invited!

9 Month Stats

We had Kayla's well baby visit today and she is doing great.

She weighs 21 pounds and is 28.5 inches long.

The doctor gave her to OK to eat meat and table foods as long as they are mushy and easy for her to swallow. She is where she needs to be developmentally and is perfectly healthy.

I noticed her right pupil is slightly larger than her left but the Dr. says this is nothing to worry about and that her eyes are fine. Just another unique thing about her!

They had to prick her toe to test for anemia (she's fine) and they covered her toe with a bright pink band-aid. She didn't cry at all but once we were in the car she started sucking on the toe that had the band-aid on it and I had to take it off. She wasn't too happy about that!

Kayla's 9 month pictures

Here are a few from her session at the mall by Picture People. They turned out great!


She's been a little sleepyhead lately! I think all that crawling really wears her out!

Last night she slept from 6:30pm to 7:30am. Going for her well baby visit tomorrow - no shots! Hooray!

9 Months!

Kayla is a big 9 month old today! Hooray!

She is pulling herself up from the floor now which means it's only a matter of time before she figures out her legs are good for something - walking!

Here are her 6 month professional photos and then a recent photo to compare changes.





Here's a photo from this week:
I think she's lost some of her chubby cheeks!

She's crawling!

As you can imagine, she's all over the place now...I can barely keep up! She loves to go after cords so I bought her a shiny pink jump rope that she can play with. Do you think she leaves the cords alone now? Nope!

Here's a funny video. Kayla is "talking" and Cary is moving his hand under her chin to make her sound funny. It's hilarious.

Soon to be a crawler!

As the title of this post implies, Kayla is soooo close to taking off on her hands and knees. She can already do the army crawl to get her where she needs to go but she will soon be 100% mobile. We probably need to do some major baby-proofing.

Mimi (my Mom) came for a visit this weekend. We had a fun time hanging out and walking around Carrollton. Here are some pics from the weekend:
This is Kayla doing her favorite thing - standing!

This is Tiffany feeding her a lime at a recent gathering ---look at that face!
This is Kayla playing in her makeshift baby pool - it's really a sandbox. The neighbors gave it to us since their kids are grown.

And here's Kayla posing in her Maine T-shirt. Hopefully she'll get to visit someday!



We had the Dr. appt. today for a second opinion regarding Kayla's reflux. They assured me that waiting until she's a year old to recheck everything is a good idea and that the endoscopic procedure they want to do could work out just fine. So we have to play the waiting game for a few more months...but for now Kayla is doing great!

Independence Day 08

God Bless America!

We live in such a blessed country and I'm truly thankful for the freedoms we have and for the sacrifices all those who have gone before me have made. Kayla doesn't know how good she has it!

We had a great Independence Day celebration.

Wednesday night our church had a cookout, singing, and fireworks. Here's Daddy and Kayla enjoying the fireworks:



Friday we headed over to Carmen and Todd's pool and ate some great food, swam, and had a good time. Carmen got all the cousins matching swimsuits - they were too cute!


By the way, Kayla's EEG test was completely normal and she's been doing great! She may skip the crawling phase and prefer to walk instead but we'll have to wait and see - as of now crawling is a no go for her. I wish she could because she gets frustrated but all in good time I suppose.

My Mom is coming for a visit later this week. I can't wait for her to see all the new things Kayla is doing and I'm looking forward to having some "girl time" with all the girls :)

Lake Lanier Trip

We left last Thursday afternoon and rode up with Kayla's Aunt Carmen, Nana, and two cousins Abigail and Haley. The drive was about 1.5 hours and Kayla did great in the car thanks to Abigail sharing her toys with her.

Kayla got to ride on the boat, swim in the lake, and spend time with her family. It was a fun trip. She was not doing so well sleeping and she was grouchy a lot so we ended up taking her back one day early to stay with Donna. I think she was uncomfortable in the new environment and there was a lot going on too!

The grown ups had a blast tubing and hanging out.

She was as happy as she could be when I picked her up on Sunday and has been doing great since.

She is starting to really show her personality, likes, and dislikes. You definitely know when she's not happy!

Here are a few pics from the trip:

Kayla asleep on the drive up holding Abigail and Haley's toys.



In a good mood on the first morning!


Nana giving Kayla a bottle. She likes to sit up and look around at everything. She can hold her own bottle now though!
Daddy and Kayla going for a swim. She didn't like it for too long.

Cousins Luke and Taylor. Luke fed Kayla a cracker.

Cary and Haley having fun on the tube.

We go to Scottish Rite tomorrow for Kayla's EEG test to make sure everything is functioning normally in her brain. We also are going for a second opinion on July 15th regarding her reflux.