Abby's First Christmas

We had a great Christmas. Abigail was overwhelmed on more than one occasion. She did not know what to think with all the paper laying around (paper is one of her favorite things). We are so thankful for this past year. There is too much that has happened to even try and think of it all. Abigail has taken us on journey that no one could have ever dreamed up. Colton has made us so proud with his continued hard work in school and in being a great big brother. Thanks to everyone for a great year and we can't wait to see what 2009 brings. Here are some of our holiday pictures:

The Candy Cane Festival was a bust, but at least we met some cool elves

We saw Santa at the Texas Road House! Abby was amazed.

Abby and Nash got their first cars

All we hear in the morning now is Indiana Jones

Abigail in her Christmas dress (Thanks Mima)

The best looking kids around and they are pretty good too (so Santa says)

One of, if not Abby's first ornament. I think she likes it

The Happiest boy in the world

The happiest girl in the world

Now it's time to play with all the new toys

(See the Chia Pet in the last picture? We have given this exact one to Colton for three years running. I can't wait to share this joke when he is older.)

PS - Sorry it has been a while since our last update, but just you all know, Abigail's palate surgery is on March 17th (Happy St Patrick's day)

New Pictures

I thought we needed a little change in the look of Abby's blog so here it is. I picked the picture at the top because I think it shows exactly who Abigail is. She has always been so curious and so alert to her surroundings. She loves getting up on the shelf of our coffee table as you can also see in previous pictures. Colton and Abby continue to make us so proud every day. We have begun to update our other blog as well. That blog will be mostly just pictures and captions and will probably be mostly about Colton. Here are some pictures of Abby without any arm restraints or anything.
"You want some of this?"

Close up. Dr. Allen did such a good job. Thank God for the good people we are surrounded with!

Is something funny?

Abby's first touch of snow! She pretty much loved it.

"I think I was the one talking here."

The Past 6 Months

Here, Heather and I have created a slide show of Abigail and her journey over the past 6 months:

This girl is impossible not to love.

NO MORE TAPE!!!!!!

Abby's tape fell off today. Yay!!! The nurses and doctors said it would fall off between 7 and 10 days. Today is day 8. We love it. We can finally kiss our little girl without anything in our way.

We want to thank everyone again for everything everyone has done. Prayer is the best thing everyone did for us and I will tell, God answered those prayers. Thanks you all so much. God is truly the one to thank for everything. There is no doubt He has been with us every step of this journey.

We are Home!

Thank you to everyone for your prayers, thoughts, and comments. Abigail is doing great. Tonight it doesn't even seem like she has skipped a beat. She is already Miss Houdini and can get out of her arm restraints. She is not eating as much as the doctors want her to but she isn't doing too bad. Her pain seems to be under control as she has rarely been crabby. Thanks again to everyone for everything you all have done. We really appreciate every bit of it.


This video is of Abby in the hospital. Heather was scaring her by popping up from her crib.

Here we are at home swinging. You can see how she is pulling her arm restraint off.

MORE PICTURES!

Colton didn't want to feel left out, so he gave himself a new smile today by loosing one if his front teeth.

Colton is absolutely the best big brother to Abigail.

Here Colton was making Abigail smile and laugh for the first time after surgery.

There are no words that describe how Heather did through all of this. She was Abigail's strong hold through everything. I have my hands full with two of the strongest women. I couldn't be more proud of either one of them.

Abigail is already taking to the haberman bottle again. It has been slow going at the beginning here, but she is picking it up like a champ. Again, I can't thank God enough for such a strong, smart, and beautiful girl. She has yet to cease to amaze me. THANK YOU GOD!

Thanks again to everyone for your kind and loving words of encouragement and support. We love you all!

Praise God!!! Abigail is doing Awesome!

We just got up to our room. The Dr. Allen said everything went awesome. He said everything fit together just perfectly. We feel so blessed. Thank everyone for your prayers and thoughts. We are so happy.
Here we all are right before surgery.

Here is her new and improved lip.

The Last Post Before Surgery!

At this time in our lives we are getting the true meaning of bitter sweet. I don't even think bitter sweet does justice as to how we feel. We are excited, but scared. We are ready, but nervous. We can't wait, but we don't want to go. Our little Abigail is the sweetest thing ever. I can not find words to describe the emotions that are running through our bodies right now. I know God created Abigail to be tough and to be able to handle everything she has to go through, so we are doing our best to trust Him and allow Him to guide us through this. We are so blesses and honored to have such an amazing God who gave us such an amazing daughter. We really want to thank our families for their continued prayers, support and help. We haven't even needed to ask for help this next week because everyone has just offered it up. Beyond our greatest blood related family we have our family of friends that we could not say enough about. We thank you also for all your prayers and support. And I could never leave out our online cleft buddies who has helped guide us up to this point. We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. Although this is not the end of our journey, it is the next step of it. Thanks to everyone.
"I wonder what is over the front of my boat?"

The cutest smile ever

BUSTED! Abby's favorite place is on the shelf of our coffee table.

"I would rather eat my bib than that bland cereal."

Mom and Abigail's version of tug-of-war.

"Thanks for my cute hat Mima!"

Abby trying to scare the pumpkin

Colton feeding birds at the zoo and Abigail wondering, "what the heck is that?"

Colton feeding giraffes at the zoo and Abby wondering again, "What the heck is that?"

I couldn't resist but show this. She could have just told us she was tired.

I believe our hospital room will have internet so I will be posting pictures as soon as I can on Tuesday. If there is not a post on Tuesday that means they don't have internet. Thanks again to everyone and Abigail sends out her love to all of you.

7:30 AM, November 11th

We got our phone call today about Abigail's surgery. She is going into surgery at 7:30 AM, November 11th. I can't believe it is already here. We are less than a week away. Abigail is doing awesome right now. She is just the happiest, goofiest, most mobile baby ever. We already can not leave her alone or she will army crawl into something she is not supposed to be in. Thanks to everyone for your love and prayers. Thanks to my mom for watching Abby on days we needed. Thanks for all the comments everyone has left. We are so appreciative of all of the support people have given us. Having to take care of a baby with a cleft is not always the easiest thing to do, but you all have made it possible, along with Abigail's sweet, sweet spirit. This little girl is on the move so don't blink, or you might miss where she is going. Abby sends he love out to all of her cleft buddies, her family, and her friends. Thanks again for everyone's support.

Cutest Thing Ever

Abby continues to bring us more and more smiles everyday. She is the funniest little baby I have ever seen. She likes to do this wrestling thing with me which just hilarious. Hopefully we will be able to catch it on some video soon. She likes to be a lion. She makes this deep "roar" sound. She is already being very mobile. She is able to army crawl all around our living room. She is going to be a handful, I can already see it. Here are some pictures and a couple of cute videos (Colton and Ace are by far her favorites):




The videos are shot with our digital camera so the quality is not good at all in low light, but they will still make you smile.

NOVEMBER 11TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh goodness! I (we) have been sooo bad at keeping this up lately. Where has our time gone? We have been busy with everything. The time I used to take to write these blogs are now taken up with school:( School is going ok, but it is more busy work than anything. At this point, I wish I would have kept some of my high school work to turn in for my master's (kind of pathetic). Heather told everyone I was going back to school but she didn't tell you what for. I am going back for Masters of Science in Organization Leadership. Hopefully it will help me get into management (and get me one step closer to people calling me Doctor)! Who knows if I will go that far.
Anyway, Colton has started the 2nd grade and is doing awesome! He is such a great kid and an even better big brother. Sometimes he even drives me crazy with how much he wants to love on little miss Abigail. He is so good to her and loves her so much. Abby is doing awesome as well. She has plumped up to be a little chunk. She has some good thunder thighs going as well. Heather is the best mom and the best wife hands down (Sorry to all you other moms and wives). She has been back to work for little while now and has already gotten back into a good rhythm. She has only gone back part time so she works Sunday and Monday nights. My company has been gracious enough to allow me to work from home on Monday's and Tuesday's.
So you are probably wondering why this post is titled November 11th? SURGERY DAY!!! Oh, how we can't wait. I (we) are a little scared, but I am getting to the point of being done with her NAM. I just want to be able to kiss her without having this protruding "thing" in my way. I just want to be able to hold her tight without having to be extra careful of her nasal stints. I just can't wait. I would not change any of this for anything. I truly know and feel that we have a special bond with our little one that most people will never have. She is such a tough little girl and we are so proud of everything she has put up with so far. The two pictures below are a comparison to when she was born to where she is at now. Thank GOD for such wonderful and talented people as our dentist team. The third picture is of Abby and one of her dentists, Dr. Jen, who is continuing on her own journey and moving to San Francisco. We will truly miss her, but I know she will make a lot of people happy in the bay area.
Sorry again for not being up to date. I know everyone understand being busy, but over a month is a little too long. I will try my hardest to be better. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers and we will keep you updated as we closer to Abigail's lip repair.


Day 1:

Month 4:

Dr. Jen and Abby. We will miss you Dr. Jen!

Be aware of the Drooling Baby Gorilla.

We love being up-side-down!

Which one is Better?

Be quiet Dad, I just want to suck on my feet!

Hi!

Is she not the cutest thing ever?!?!

More cuteness!

Lastly is this video of her laugh.