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Saturday, May 30, 2009

Ella Is 14 Months Old!!!

Ella is fourteen months old!! Wow how time has flown. It is amazing how much she has accomplished during this time. Her newest milestone is that she has finally figured out how to go from laying down to sitting up on her own. She is really starting to pull up on things to her knees but it is hard in our house because there really isn’t much at her level for her to pull up on. Our couch has cushions that are too thick for her to grab on to so her favorite thing to use is one of us when we are laying on the floor. She still refuses to get on all fours and therefore isn’t crawling yet. It is frustrating because she has all of the components but just doesn’t want to put them all together yet. However, I am thoroughly appreciating every moment that I have before crawling because then I know my life will drastically change. She continues to be amazingly healthy. And believe me that I thank God for this every day after knowing what some of you with children with Ds have gone. I know how fortunate I have been!! With the exception of two minor colds to date, she has not had a single health problem that we have had to go in for. Of course this is not counting the biggie…..the most likely onset of leukemia….sometime in her future. We go back in another week and a half for an updated blood draw to see if any numbers have changed but for now, she remains healthy. She also continues to be one of the happiest babies I know. I am telling you, the kid smiles every time someone looks at her. Actually, she smiles sometimes just because she finds herself funny. There are so many things that we all have taken for granted with our other children that we appreciate so much more with our precious Ds children. I really wanted to thank Zoey’s mom, Heather, for pointing out something to me that I didn’t even appreciate enough with Ella. Her smile!!! Heather was telling me how when Zoey had her infantile spasms, they lost Zoey’s smile and how devastating that was. As we all know, Zoey has that beautiful smile back but her comment really made me realize how much we need to appreciate EVERYTHING our kids do.
Normally, I would have posted pics of Ella from birth to one year when she turned one year but since I wasn’t blogging then, I decided to post them now. I have taken a picture on our couch every month. What a difference a year makes!!

Birth (actually 6 days later


One Month Old



Two Months Old




Three Months Old



Four Months Old




Five Months Old





Six Months Old




Seven Months Old




Eight Months Old




Nine Months Old



Ten Months Old




Eleven Months Old



One Year Old!!




Thireen Months Old



Fourteen Months Old














Thursday, May 28, 2009

Our Visit with Miss Zoey

This past Tuesday, Ella and I were lucky enough to get to go visit Zoey and her mom, Heather, at CHLA. We even got to meet daddy for a few minutes. We had such a great time and as you have heard before from others, Heather makes you instantly feel like you have known her forever and little Miss Zoey wins you over immediately. It was so much fun to watch Ella and Zoey interact with each other. They are very similar in size and development so they really were intrigued with each other. Zoey thoroughly enjoyed pulling Ella’s hair which Heather hated but I thought was pretty funny because Ella is constantly pulling all of our hair…and it hurts!! They even tried to roll a ball back and forth to each other. Zoey gave us continuous and beautiful smiles. I didn’t want to leave and stayed so long that Ella was completely DONE and ready for a nap. She fell asleep before I even got to the parking lot and she NEVER does that. Heather gave Ella her very own pair of Baby Legs which I am so excited about. We got some cute pics of the girls wearing them. I truly look forward to the next time that we will be able to see them!!!
Mark and Heather
Ella and Zoey
Zoey has a good grip on Ella's hair

Girls with their Baby Legs



Aren't those Baby Legs so cute!!!





Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Monday, May 25, 2009

I Had My Moment.....


Last night as I was saying my bedtime prayers, as I always do, I prayed for family and friends in need and then moved on to my family. As usual, I prayed for Ella’s health and thanked God for her as I do every night. But tonight was different, I felt an overwhelming sensation of just how thankful I am for her. I mean I realized just how strong my love is for her and how I wouldn’t EVER change a thing about her. When we found out that she would be born with Ds, we heard all of the clichés about what a blessing she would be to our family and what joy she would bring etc. etc. But you know what, those aren’t clichés. It is the honest truth!! I AM SO THANKFUL FOR YOU SWEET ELLA!!! Thank you God for putting her in our lives…..as usual, You know what is right!!!


Thursday, May 21, 2009

So Much to Post Today


Ella's therapist just got back from Hawaii and look what she brought her.....complete with a flower for her hair which is an absolute must for Ella!!!


I Love My Blog Friends


Yesterday, we had the privilege of meeting up with a family that we met through the wonderful blog world. Little Preslie and her family were visiting CA and we saw them yesterday at Sea World. We had so much fun with them.....what a wonderful family!!! Preslie's mom and I couldn't get over how much the girls looked alike despite their 5 month difference in age. I look forward to seeing them again and hope to meet many more families through our great Ds network.



Mom's and their girls!!!






Wednesday, May 20, 2009






Before.......















After.....she even collapsed the toy bin!!!