Pictures Pictures Pictures

I finally uploaded over 400 pictures from my card and thought I would share just pictures this post!! Enjoy!!











She loved playing with the saxaphone. It was so cute. Daddy pushed the buttons and she was making music!!!





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She loves her nap nanny, and so does mommy!! It really helps her sleep better being propped up and the best part she doesn't slide off like the traditional wedges... besides being so stinking cute!!









Can you say tired???








Camping is a part of our spring and summers and Mia has done so well with it all!! She played in her camper and had a ball!!






















Just play time!!






I'm 7 months old today!!

6 months

I just want to start with how thankful I am today and everyday. This month especially, I think about the journey we were on over the years. The almost placements that I hear are back in the system. The devastating news about the little boy in Thailand that we couldn't help because of the economy crashing and funds not being available from his private donor. The months we spent researching downs syndrome for his arrival. Getting to a place where I just knew God was going to have to take my heart and glue it back together and then getting that call from Michelle- it's been just a few days over that year mark. She called Dalton first and he had not even a moments hesitation and then me and if she could only see my face and feel my heart at that moment. The crib in the garage I couldn't even give away free at the last garage sale or on Craigslist- cute too. The bedding I couldn't part with- baby girl. The books upon books we had on adoption and downs syndrome. The absolute brokenness and despair that lead to that call at that very minute. But all that could never compare to the decision, dedication, sacrifice, and gift that you- her mother have made and given to this family, to us. So this month has been an emotional one for me. I think of you everyday, I pray for you and your whole family~~ And I wish I could just somehow let you know just how much love & gratitude pours out to you!!

Now we'll jump over to the stats!! She is 16lbs and 25". This puts her in the 60-75% for the downs charts and about 30+% for your typical 6 monther!! She is growing and doing great.

I am so excited to tell you all about her therapies. She is in physical and developmental. Technically she doesn't qualify for either except for her diagnosis. So it has been wonderful having them come out and keep up on top of the milestones!! They take place once a month and separately. Ava does her physical and Mia has so much fun with her. She is really doing well. She is slightly behind in her tone for being able to hold her neck up, which also would help her to sit unassisted. But we have a new favorite seat that helps with both!! Her bumbo- I would have never thought I would love a little seat that has an elephants bum on the underneath side sooo much. But the shape of it and the way it hold her bottom below her legs allows the perfect posture for our little princess. We have been taking it everywhere with us... For example, had to pick up Kaelyn from a track meet and it was crazy windy and little Ethan had fallen asleep- took it out in the car and she was able to play in the front seat while we waited!! Voila!!



Her developmental therapies have been great too... it's really just play time but I know it's hard work for a girl... :) Tasha was so cute the first time she met with Mia. She was worried that she would need that time to let Mia get to know her and well- that is her only other delay!! She doesn't have that object permanence skill down just yet, and it doesn't just show up in dropping a toy and having no interest to find it but also with strangers. She doesn't know one. And while every mother hates it when your little one cries for you- when you are with a stranger that isn't really a stranger to you... Mia loves Everyone!! This is apparently very common in downs and lasts all the way up to adulthood in some. Safety will play a role in that one later but for now- Tasha was happy to play. Since a few of her visits, we now have picked up on learning that skill a bit. She has begun looking for those toys she drops, she cries when I leave her site and smiles and laughs when I pop back around. That is a game I'm sure I might be sorry I started. But very happy to see her learning everyday!! She even said uh-oh totally randomly but Tasha sat there for a good 5 minutes just dropping the toy over and over repeating those words slowly and she said it again!! We just were so excited!! That session ended on a happy note!! She is learning a couple of signs right now too. She understands all done- and quiets rather quickly to that one!! It's like magic as Ethan would say. And we are trying to teach her milk for her bottle- I think she might almost understand that. She is saying mama and dadadadada... and lots of other combinations that are bursted with much joy!! She definately has the gift of sharing what's on her little mind!! And I'm sure it has something to do with all the talking to that she recieves from all the kids... it's funny conversations on a non-stop basis. Happy happy girl!!

Here she is on her quilt from Antioch playing on the floor- tummy time...



She is doing great health wise. She has begun some treatments that the doc was trying to hold off on for as long as he could. They will most likely just be a way of life for her until she gets a little bigger and her lungs are a little stronger. I am happy they have started them, it keeps us away from the Children's unit!! We are doing a steroid 2 times a day and albuterol as needed for the wheezing. She is on an antibiotic currently for a sinus infection. She is also on an allergy medicine daily!! She is fitting in perfectly- I traded the 12 year old nebulizer in for a newer model and singing all the same songs I used to during the treatments. I love that she laughs and smiles and doesn't scream and kick like some of the unnamed older children used too!! And so thankful for wonderful insurance that covers it all at no cost to us!! She has the cutest purple dinosaur mask... I suppose the purple makes it girly. Either way she's a sweety!!

She wouldn't smile for the camera... but loved her little expression that somehow says no more pictures...


St Patty's day girl!!


This first one is one of my favorite pictures of her... those sweet sweet eyes...





She really is a belly laugher. It is so funny how easily tickled she gets!! Love Love love it!!




Hope you enjoy the pictures and updates. Good night!!

We're Home!!

Mia had a wonderful day and night last night. She made it all day and a couple of naps during the day yesterday without the oxygen. It was a true test through the night and she passed with flying colors!! So we escaped the "day spa" we had become so accustom to after 9 days. We will miss a couple of our nurses but we won't miss being confined to the floor space that the tubing and monitoring wires allowed us. Plus with RSV we were in "isolation" no visitors and no leaving the room to walk the halls... even for mom.

I am so thankful for all of our friends and family who have been awesome prayer warriors. Jesus definitely had her in his hands!! Breathing straight from his mouth to her lungs!! She is stronger and stronger everyday!!

You can tell she is happy to be home... loving seeing her daddy and brother and sisters. Even the dogs are happy to see her!! And her awesome daddy made sure the house was Extra clean- he had air ducts cleaned and washed, carpets cleaned, and crew came in to clean it up extra clean!! All for his little princess!!

More updates soon... have a great night.

So much to catch up on...

Our little girl is growing and learning to do so many new things...
She at 4 months was 13 pounds and 24" long. She is in the 35% for weight and 39% for height using the downs charting. Perfect little angel.

Over these past few months we have joined the North Dallas Down Syndrome Guild and been given a wealth of resources for Mia. We have had her assessed through the Early Childhood Intervention group and she receives her services and therapies here at the house!! It is wonderful to be able to do this in her environment!! She tested when she was almost 4 months and was testing at the 6 month range for developmental and physical. She is so strong and active and it is showing!!

It's hard to believe so much time has flown by... she has been a little cheerleader for her sister at the cheer competitions. And that is so fun!! The gym Brookelyn cheers for has a Special Stars team that performs and competes and there are so many girls with downs on the squad doing the tumbling and pyramids just like the other girls!! It is so inspiring to watch.

Mia loves her hands she is clapping them together and grasping them all the time. She is batting at the toys that hang in front of her and rattling the toys in her hands to make the noise they should and that she loves!! Her favorites are still Miss Dolly, she loves her pig tails and hold them in her mouth!! And of course Ellie the Elephant because she can make her play a song and her dangling feet are easy to grasp.

She is so funny to play with now... she loves to laugh and to make you laugh. It is a blast to watch the kids get such joy from the joy she gets!!

She just started smacking her lips to show kisses. It's got to be the sweetest. But the funniest is her little laugh she does when we put her hand across to the opposite foot and make her tickle herself!!! She could laugh all day doing that!!

On a serious note, we are battling her first illness. She has had congestion for a couple of weeks and that is so common with downs children because of their small nasal cavities. We went in Thursday of last week and she was given a medication to help much like a baby benedryl and it didn't help much by Sunday she spike a fever and we went to the ER and was diagnosed with RSV thru testing and they were able to do a deep suctioning in her nose and sent us home with albuterol for our nebulizer we already had. She did well on Monday and had an appt to follow up with our doctor on Tues morning. He was able to give her another breathing treatment and do the suctioning again... much deeper than we can do with a traditional aspirator. Told me to increase the treatments to every 4 hours. In 4 hours we were back in the office, she was breathing so fast and shallow I knew it wasn't better and certainly not good. In 20 minutes after getting her pulse ox and deep suctioning again we were on our way via ambulance to the children's unit at the hospital. We have been here ever since. She has the RSV and also pneumonia in her right lung. She is feeling and doing soooo much better than 6 days ago. She is playing and talking and sitting up and just doing all wonderful things but hanging onto that .3 liter of oxygen. She was completely off today but when she goes to sleep she desats and has to be put back on. On Tuesday she was on 4 liters of oxygen so we are doing great!!! The doctors said that "typical" children can hold on to that last tenth of a liter for up to 5 days and with downs they have seen it even double that. So, we wait. She is getting the best care and has wonderful nurses trying their best to be aggressive with the oxygen take away game but her body will let us know when it's time. Just praying for your breath Jesus straight to her lungs!! It's hard to be separated from the family. With the RSV she is in isolation- no kid visitors and we can't leave the room and I can't even go get a cup of joe from the kitchen. But she is taking it all in stride. She is eating great and sleeping through the night again like she were at home. It's play play play all day~~

I do have a few pics that I can post. I know so many of you look forward to the updates and I apologize that it's been a while. Getting settled into the new house her in Texas has been fun but really a lot of work!! And add kid activities and a baby who loves to sleep at night and not nap and you don't get a lot of computer time!!

Here's daddy playing with her while we were at Ethan's Upwards basketball...






I love that the first thing Ethan wants to do when he gets up is see "my little Mia girl" here's a glimpse of how that looks and of course everything is "Mom take our picture!!"



Look at this smile... her and Miss Dolly it's a silly game Brookelyn was playing with her but it was so funny!!



Our friends adopted a sweet girl Fiona from China years back and we went to celebrate the Chinese New Year with them... Mia wore her RED flower and ladybug outfit to celebrate... somehow this is the only pic we got of her that day...



And one last one that Brookelyn posed... this is Mia helping mommy decide what's for dinner...



I have more that need to be uploaded... so more to come soon. I promise to update on her hospital stay as well!!