LA

Mia and I made the trip to LA today to have a final check up with the neurosurgeon that did her tethered cord surgery back in October.  He was pleased with how she's healing, her scar looks great.  We have an appointment in December to see a Urologist to follow up with her bladder and bowel control.  We continue to pray that there would be improvement, but trust God for whatever His plan is. 

Both Mia and Calvin got weighed today and they are a little bit heavier.  Mia has finally reached 30 pounds, Praise God!  This is huge because well, because we are such a slow weight gainer.  Calvin is close behind at almost 27 pounds.  We've had some struggles with our bowel management over the past month since we've been back from Cincinnati and when Mia got sick we took her off all dairy and noticed that bowel management got better.  Well, since then we've kept her off of milk, but have allowed other dairy products and things seem to be a little better, but still not quite right.  She's also been eating so much better.  We have no clue if there is a connection, if she really does have an intolerance to milk/dairy, but we are super pleased to see the scale moving in the right direction finally.  Praying for wisdom on getting her bowel management perfected to keep her clean for a 24 hour period. 

Calvin got his hair cut today for the first time in months, since the beginning of the summer, I think.  For some reason he has a fear of getting his hair cut, but the gal who cuts Brad's hair came over and cut Calvin's at our house.  He cried the whole time, you'd think it was the worst experience in the world.  He looks like such a cute little man now, I will have to take a picture and post it.  :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

So we got home from vacation on Saturday night and decided it was time to start making the house seem a little bit more like Christmas.  Uncle Paul and Grandma Cheri came over and helped Brad move furniture so that we could set up the tree.  Mia immediately wanted to decorate it, but we will take a few days to work on that, I was just more set on getting the tree up.  Calvin loved the lights, this should be a fun Christmas for him. 

Where have we been?

Some of you who check our blog frequently are probably wondering why there haven't been any posts for almost two weeks.  It wasn't really my plan, but I decided to take a vacation from the blog while we went on vacation as a family.  We went up to Vancouver, Washington to visit Brad's sister Laura (aka Aunt Goose) and brother-in-law Jared for Thanksgiving.  We ended up driving, Nana and Papa came with, so that made driving up there a bit more enjoyable for the kids.  We had a blast, it was so different than Bako-land.  It probably rained almost the entire time we were there, not atypical for that area, but they did try to convince us it was a storm front of rain and not the usual typical drizzle.  Calvin loved the rain, he would giggle when the drops came down on him.  The simple things in life, right?!  We ended up staying with Jared's parents and that was so much fun for the kids because they have doves that they release at different events and the kids got to pet them and feed them while we were there.  They also have a tractor that they got to ride, and their house had an upstairs and a basement, which was just so much fun for them.  Each morning Calvin would wake up and say, "let's go to the basement."  They loved the stairs. 

Aunt Goose and Uncle Jared love animals, so they have a few different pets, one being a bunny named Bunnita...I have no clue if I'm spelling that right.  The kids got to pet the bunny and play with their cat Pickle also.  Mia likes to pretend that she's other animals/characters and since we've got home she's been Bunnita and Pickle many times.  Our trip was so quick, it seemed like, but really nice and relaxing...what a vacation should be.  The drive home seemed long, we were thankful when we arrived back. 

Here are a few pics from our trip.

Sick

We seem to have been hit hard by the stomach flu this year.  Calvin and I got it in Montana this summer, Brad and Mia escaped.  Calvin, Brad and I got it around Mia's surgery, again she escaped.  And now Calvin and Mia are battling it again.  Aye, that's a lot of stomach flu.  Calvin is much better, and Mia is slowly on the mend, we are hoping that we are done with this for awhile...a long while.

Gummy Bear, aka, Brother #2 was showered upon (well, I guess it was really me) this past Saturday.  That was fun, celebrating him and being with some friends and family.  It was an owl theme and he got some Owl toys, of which Calvin quickly tried to acquire when I got home.  Thankfully they have been saved for Brother #2 and will resurface after his arrival next year sometime.

I find myself slowing down a bit.  Today I went and tried on shoes and realized it isn't fun putting on shoes during your third trimester.  I'm reaching the stage where it's uncomfortable, but I know it will be all worth it in the end.  I'm just trying to get as much uninterrupted sleep at night as possible, thankfully Mia and Calvin are cooperating in that area, I wish my body were too.  :)

Brother #2 is a kicker, he wants me to know he is there all the time.  Brad got to feel the baby kick a few nights ago and that was a sweet moment for him.  Yup, there really is a baby in there, sometimes I can't wrap my head around the whole process, truly a miracle.

That's what is happening on our side of the pond these days.  :)

Happenings

Calvin got sick this weekend, we are pretty sure it was the stomach flu.  :(  He's doing much better now, although not completely back to normal yet.  Praying that the rest of us stay healthy, stomach flu is no fun for anyone.

Mia's been doing great, working hard in her therapies and continuing to make progress.  Praise God!  I see some small improvements in her speech, which is great...slow and steady.  She's made progress in undressing herself, we keep working on those self-help skills.

She and Calvin are getting along so much better these days.  He will happily do whatever she asks...for the most part...peer pressure at its best.  He also has some deep sympathy for things that Mia does not like.  There is a certain song on one of our Veggie Tale CD's in the car that we listen to that Mia does not like, and she will tell me, "I do not want that song..." and now Calvin has also started saying that also.  I think it's rather endearing.

Grandma Cheri brought Mia this cute little German dress from her most recent vacation.  When she puts in on she asks me, "what am I?", thinking it's a costume.  I tell her that she's the cutest little barmaid ever.  :)