Update

Little Miss is now officially crawling and pulling up on EVERYTHING. Ryan had to move her crib down last week. WAY TO GO DADDY!!! Just when I felt like her nursery had come together and I was loving it, then we have to move her down. She now looks like she is in a jail cell. She loves peeking out at us when we walk in to her room. Who wouldn't just want to eat her up with a spoon?!

I divert...speaking of eating... The original reason for this post was to thank all of you for your prayers about LM's tummy situation. The doctor called us back and basically thinks she had too many antibiotics in the NICU when she was born and her little immune system hasn't gotten over it yet. So, she basically has had a staff infection in her small intestine and colon for 8 months. WOOHOO! Now, aren't you glad this overbearing mom drove all the docs crazy to figure out what was wrong?! The doctor seems to think that a lot of probiotics and avoiding antibiotics for awhile, may do the trick. If not, then we will go on to step 2 (which I have no clue what it is at this point). We LOVE LOVE LOVE Dr. Whinesatt, her new GI specialist. He is very thorough and explains everything wonderfully. In his words..."sometimes doctors try the quick fix instead of realizing that the good Lord knew what he was doing when he made us." What can I say... WE LOVE HIM!!! We aren't playing the blame game and know that if LM had had something wrong with her at birth, the antibiotics would have been necessary. We know that it was only standard procedure for her to go on the 7 day round. So, continue to pray that the probiotics work and thank you again for all of your support throughout this all.

We want to say a special thanks to Aunt Lissa for confirming the fact that we aren't crazy parents and standing behind us in our decision to seek answers. We love you Aunt Lissa!

Oh Christmas Tree... Oh Christmas Tree... How do I put you up?

Ok, so for all of you experts out there, what do you do to prevent injuries with an 8 month old and a Christmas tree? I saw this as an example of how to avoid children breaking ornaments and I have to say, I am just not in to a halfway decorated tree.

I would love for my tree to look this good...

I have heard the advice about putting the breakable ones up high and all of that. I think I am more concerned about Lucy McLean pulling the whole darn thing down. Any suggestions?

P.S. We had a fabuluous Thanksgiving and enjoyed a great time with our families. Of course we have 5,000 pictures of Lucy McLean and we forgot to take our camera with us for Thanksgiving. So, just trust us when we say she looked as adorable as always and enjoyed being loved on by everyone over the break!

Thursday Night!

Thursday night, while momma was gone to school, we got out the video camera to show the world that I can crawl. Aren't you excited?! Momma and Daddy have no clue home much I love being able to move around! I also pulled myself up on the laundry basket and I was so amazed with myself. So, hopefully not only will I be crawling around, but I will be soon cruisin' around on my own two feet, but not in the next week if you know what I mean. Here is the video of myself crawling across the living room. You can hear daddy in the background offering a little encouragment as well. Thankfully, he will be able to start working half days starting on Monday. Thank you all for coming by to visit with us, supporting our family and praying for us. My daddy is healthy and ready to get back to his work. I am going to miss spending my days with him though! He loves me very very much, and we have had alot of fun at home together.


The Video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLqdi3MHFeM

Update on LM's Tummy

Last night was a very trying night. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing and supportive husband. There were lots of tears and screams (screams only came from LM) BUT we got through it. We had a very hungry little girl this morning, but the doctors said she did great going back to surgery. Having to give her over to the doctors was possibly one of the most difficult things I have ever done. My heart cries out to mothers who have to do this, especially over and over again. I realize that what we went through is minor compared to what some parents have to deal with.

Anyways.... the doctor said that everything looks pretty good. There is some irritation in her small intestine, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything big. He took biopsies from a few different places and we should have results by Monday. Thank you to all of you who lifted us up in your prayers today. As you can tell from the picture, we are pooped. So, signing off and hitting the sack!

Pray for LM's Tummy

Many of you already know that Lucy McLean has dealt with some fierce projectile vomiting and abnormal bowel movements for some time now. Her GI Specialist called us with some test results from her "poop" study and wants to do an endoscopy and colonoscopy tomorrow. We don't think that it is a big deal at this point and I have promised myself that I won't get on WebMd. We are now in the colon clean out phase and so far lil' miss is doing great. I think tomorrow morning will be the rough part. She can have clear liquids until midnight, but zilch after that. So, please pray for us. We really want answers to all of this.

On a good note, little miss is crawling all over the place and sitting up from a crawling position. She was army crawling for a few weeks, but now she is full out scootin' around. We will post a video soon of this.

Billy Bob Skylar

So Melissa called me last week crying she was laughing so hard. Skylar had a tooth that was way loose. Melissa said that even when she would talk, it would wiggle. CREEPY. Skylar, being the oh' so non-dramatic child that she is, wouldn't let anyone get near her to pull it. So, Melissa took a picture. All I have to say is... I can't wait to show this to her first boyfriend. I was rolling on Saturday night when I saw this picture. It is just one of those you just keep on going back to.
Luckily, Skylar came to her senses and pulled the tooth. She is back to her fabulously beautiful self. Gotta love this child!!!
P.S. I still remember the day that I pulled 5 teeth at my sitters. Unlike Skylar, I was stoked about the tooth fairy. After I learned that you could put dental floss around an even slightly loose tooth and then put the string around the handle of the sliding glass door at the Sander's house, I went to town. We went on a pulling rampage. Mom figured out something was up when I called her around tooth number 3 or 4. Ahhh... the joys of being a kid.

Bad Aunt...

I am a bad aunt, I haven't introduced Lucy McLean's newest cousin yet. Mainly because I didn't have any good pictures yet. So... here is precious

Ella Baxley Monk

cutie patootie...check

a stinkin head full of gorgeous hair...check

What can I say, I sure am proud of Stephen and Megan. Ella is beautiful in every way. I can't wait to see her and Lucy McLean play together. LM already tries to play with her hair. I am owning the fact that we are pretty jealous of it. CONGRAT TO THE MONKS!!!

Sawyer Carlton Aiken

Our friends Elliot and Amber had their second son on Wednesday. They are also the proud parents of Mr. Wesley. Sawyer is a chunk a monk and a cutie patootie! CONGRATS AIKENS!!!

Miss Personality

Lucy McLean is developing her own little personality... full of spunk. She makes hilarious faces now that make us wonder what she is thinking. Here are a few of her sweet moments...

You only wish you knew what I was thinking...

If you are going to kiss... might as well go all out and give Mama some tongue!

Finally... Fall is here. I love wearing my toboggan from Aunt Sue!

Mama's Toboggan

We went to Grammy and Grandpa's this weekend. Mama's sweet friend Jenny (aka Henna) got married on Saturday. It was a beautiful wedding, but Mama forgot her camera.She is hoping she can find pictures through someone else. I got a special gift at Grammy and Grandpa's house...my mama's toboggan from when she was a baby. Daddy took some great pictures of me in it. ENJOY!

Love,

LM

Starting a Family Business?!

I love my daughter and we have been blessed more than we ever imagined with her birth and health. I often find myself wandering what she will be when she grows up. Some of the ideas are a teacher, lecturer, motivational speaker, talk show host, etc because she LOVES to talk, but we had a little insight this evening into she may be pursuing for the future!

Ryan

PLUMBING anyone?!?!?!

Momma and Daddy really don't see a future here for me because they say crack kills in more ways that one.....but they both thought it was a GREAT picture for them to show all their family and friends! I am so glad they will be taking pictures like this one of me to see when I grow older!

Have a great day and God Bless You!

Lucy McLean