9/10/05

My how time flies when you are having fun! We've been pretty busy the past couple of weeks.

We went to California the last week of August. It was so wonderful. We met up with my parents in Phoenix and we all flew together from there to see my grandparents, uncle, aunt and cousin. We flew into San Jose and then drove for about three hours to Atascadero. We had so much wonderful family time and Vivien got to meet them for the first time. We also visited the Hearst Castle Visitor Center, Pismo Beach, and San Luis Obispo. We got to see seals on the coast. It was all so neat. It's amazing how a couple miles distance can drastically change the temperature. The last day, we went to San Francisco. There was simply not enough time to see everything, but we spent the majority of our day at Pier 39 and Ghirardelli Square. It was a nice, leisurely trip.

When we got back home, though, we had a busy week. The day after, we had a NICU reunion at Medical City. We didn't really see anyone we knew because she was only in their NICU the night she was born pending her surgery the next day. We did see one of the Care Flight nurses that transported her from Medical Center of Plano. It was neat to be able to see her. She remembered Vivien when we reminded her who we were. She remembered that she was a cardiac baby. That was so cool and made us feel pretty special. I look forward to the reunion for cardiac patients! We hope to see Dr. Mendeloff then.

I took Vivien to meet our new pulmonolgist the next day where she will get her Synagis injection for RSV this season. It's closer to home than last year, but it was a reminder that we will be having to stay in a lot during cold and flu season. That is going to be a bummer, because we are constantly going to playdates and to visit friends.

Also that week, I had to have 3 ingrown toenails removed permanently, which was not very comfortable. That afternoon, I had to take Vivien to the pediatrician because she had been coughing a lot. The doctor decided that we should be extra safe and had me give her a breathing treatment to see how she would handle it. She did okay, but didn't care for sitting still that long. Then we were sent to get a chest x-ray. I was hobbling around all over the building in pain, and the poor baby was so tired from being dragged around. She was acting fine, but sounded horrible. Then, during the x-ray, the tech pulled the x-ray from underneath Vivien and it caused her to hit her head. I was so mad. We finally finished all of that stuff and I went to have her medication for the nebulizer filled so that I could give her breathing treatments at home. We were exhausted and emotionally drained. She did relatively well with the treatments, although she was a bit squirmy. It's much easier to give a treatment to a sleeping baby! Anyway, her lungs looked fine in the x-ray, so we just kept an eye on her until she got better.

We are sad right now because some close friends of ours are moving away. We spend time with them a lot as a family, plus Vivien and I see them a few times a week to play and hang out. It is going to be a tough adjustment to not have them around all of the time.

As far as milestones for the little one, she is chatty as ever. She is saying Buh-Buh for bye-bye. She kind of waves too when I say hi or bye-bye. She says mama all of the time. She is dealing with some serious separation anxiety when I'm not around, which is really tough on both of us. I'm hoping she'll grow out of it soon. She is also enjoying exploring the house. She is really interested in cords and plugs, so we have to keep a close eye on her. I'm also pretty sure the dogs are scared of her. She likes to pull on their tags and scream in their faces. Cantrell has figured out that beneath the high chair is a good place to find Cheerios, though.

We are so blessed to have this little girl in our life. Our marriage is as strong as ever and we are such a happy little family. I truly couldn't ask for more.