Our Sweet Elliana

This week has been so busy. Actually this whole month has. Where do I begin. For those of you who don't know we are buying our first house which is just so perfect for our family. We love it! And we're closing on Monday. I turned 29 on Sunday. Heath is the sweetest husband ever and did cute little things for me all week. Love that guy. Thank you all for the cards and thoughtful gifts.

Now for the more important sobering news. Many of you know that we had Elliana's Dr. Apt. today for her head. Our pediatrician referred us to a specialist at Children's Hospital in St. Louis to get her a little helmet because her head was a little misshapen supposedly due to delivery or her being breech in the womb.

Much to our surprise she was diagnosed with a condition known as Sagittal Synostosis, meaning the bone plates of her skull had fused together prematurely, sometime in the womb. So she will need to have surgery as soon as possible to remove a fairly large portion of her skull in order for it to grow and fuse properly.

As you can imagine this news came as a bit of a shock. But, we are all coping pretty well right now. The good thing is the cranial and neuro surgeons working with her are amazing and we are 30 min. from one of the best Children's Hospitals in the nation. We have great confidence in their abilities which gives us alot of peace. The Doctors seem very optimistic. Also within the past year and a half they have found a less invasive surgical procedure with very high success rates.

After surgery she will have to wear a helmet 24 hrs a day for the next year. We saw one of them and they make them look so cute. I'm sure she'll look adorable. So today was a very long day for us all. Elliana is the sweetest baby I ever saw. She smiled and cooed all day through all the poking and prodding. Even strapped down during the CAT scan she wasn't scared and never cried. I have to admit it almost broke heart to pieces to see her lying there, my sweet little baby. She has always been so alert and bright eyed. Oh how we love her sweet little spirit.

These next few weeks will be filled with tests and frequent visits to the hospital. Overall we know there are tough months ahead but we are feeling very optimistic. We are so grateful to have such loving and supportive family and friends. Thank you all and we'll keep you up-dated as we find out more.

Here are some pictures taken this week.

Ellie loves bath time

Doesn't she look like a little flower child. Peace, love and all that.

Ellie's big beautiful eyes

At the Park by our new house

Pretty Hair

Doing Dad's "Pretty Hair" as she calls it. Adorable aren't they.

St Louis Cardinals

Friday night we went to the Cardinal game, my first professional sporting event. Yeah! Our friends had extra tickets and generously invited us to go with them. I normally am not an avid sports viewer, but I like watching anything live. I guess I like the whole experience, the stadium, crazed fans, the smell of hot dogs and beer (Just kidding, all except for that part). We sat in the next to last row of the entire stadium. Personally I liked being up so high, we had a beautiful view of St. Louis. The weather was cooler than usual but it felt nice. So we had a great time but decided to leave after the 8th inning cause Ellie started to fuss and to beat the traffic. You can tell we're not the most faithful of fans. Later we found out the Cardinals lost 1-4 in the 11th inning. Kinda glad we didn't stick around that long.

My Friend Jennifer offered to watch Saydee. Her daughter Summer is a year older than Saydee.

She of coarse had so much fun. They are adorable together.

Saying her goodbyes

Today

Here are a few pictures from today. Saydee was trying to hold Ellie and push me away. Poor Ellie, she rarely cries but always looks a little frightened with Saydee's nuturing.



The girls are growing up way too fast. Ellie is always smiling and cooing, though you wouldn't know it from these pictures. I wish I had an invisible camera. Saydee is all about being a big girl lately. She wants to do everything herself and she loves holding Ellie all by herself. Ellie on the other hand does not love it. I can't leave her unprotected for one second. Today I caught Saydee racing cars back and forth across Ellie's forehead and Saying "Voom voom". And minutes later she was blowing on her tummy none too gently. I'm sure in her mind she is the best older sister a baby could have, so attentive and entertaining.

The last few days Saydee has finally figured out that Tyson is gone and not just "at work" as she previously thought. Randomly through out the day she'll come up to me and say "Tyson gone huh". Oh, how she misses her great big brother and his commodore. We're all missing Tyson.

Just stuff

So I've pretty much been a slacker on the blog lately. And I've been taking alot of guff from my family even though they haven't posted in like two or three weeks and some... well never. When are you guys gonna get on that anyway. So here are a few random pictures and stuff.

Heath serves as the jungle gym for these kids and has learned to sleep right through it, amazing.

Saydee loves riding this horse Grandma Nese had made

She gets going so fast she almost flew off into this wall. We always have to watch her now.

The new short doo.

Heath's kissy face and yes I find it very irresistible.

Girls!

Saydee has been talking alot more lately. She even uses short sentences, some sweet and some not as sweet. Like the other day when I asked her for a kiss she put her hand up to my face and said "Mom, stop that right now." Oops!, I wonder if she's heard that one a time or two. Then she said "pease?" Meaning I should ask please. It took me a while before I understood her meaning. She kept saying, "Mom, pease?" I finally said, "Please, can I have a kiss?" And she said "O.K. mamma" and gave me a kiss. So funny.

So here is a little video of her. I tried to get her to talk a little but she wasn't taking the bait so much. Oh, well she's a cutie pie.

The Past Two Weeks

These past two weeks have been a whirlwind. Grandma Nese came to spend a week and a half with us and accompany Tyson back home. We had Elliana's baby blessing the Sunday before last. Tysha came on Friday and stayed the weekend. It was a blast having them all here. Tyson and Mom left early Saturday morning. Then Heath took off for a business trip on Monday. He got home this evening. I got so lonely having everyone here and then suddenly everyone leaving all at the same time.

Oh, and Elliana had her 2 month check-up, it turns out she does need to wear a helmet to help shape her head. Labor was a little rough on her. The Dr. says it's purely cosmetic and that we needn't worry but they do a brain scan just to cover all the bases. However we can't get in to see the plastic surgeon for another month. They tell us it isn't urgent and she'll be fine. Our pediatrician is great and we're not worried. She is the sweetest, prettiest little girl and so bright and alert. All of our kids are beautiful and wonderfully diverse. It's so fun!

This summer has flown by and we're already missing Tyson so much. It's always a little rough after he leaves. But we're looking forward to November when we can see you all again!

Elliana's Blessing Day

The kids loved playing with Grandma

At the Zoo with Grandma

The Science Center with Grandma

The Arch with Tysha

A Few Pics

My friend e-mailed me these pictures from yesterday's party. Thanks Jennifer, they turned out so cute!