Signs of Improvement

Grace continues to improve each day, and I think the best thing for her has been to go about her usual routine. We took her to Ojeda's on Sunday for her favorite rice and beans, and Gabby and my mom took both girls to story time at B&N on Tuesday. Grace is still embarrassed about her cast when she's out in public, but at home, she's not insisting on her pink leopard blanket any more! This is a huge step for her. Her personality is coming back to normal, and we are so thankful. Ella is just as yummy as ever and has been sleeping better this past week. She and Grace love swinging in the backyard when we get home from work, and it's something I look forward to all day.

A Night Out on the Town

Travis and I don't get out much these days, but last Saturday night was an exception. Our amazing friends Bob and Jen invited us to a fundraiser, so our moms watched the girls and let us have a fancy date night. We dressed up, rode in a limo and made stops at the Mansion on Turtle Creek and the Ritz--ooh la la! It was fun to be fancy for a change, though we weren't feeling too spectacular on Sunday morning.

Good News

We got some good news when we went in for Grace's 1-week follow-up appointment today: only 4 more weeks in the cast and no physical therapy! Travis and I are so excited, but Grace is more excited about her "new" purple cast. They were out of pink, so she settled for this...Check it out!

She's starting to perk up a bit as you can see from these pics. She's loving her red wagon and enjoys getting to eat her favorite chocolate ice cream more often than usual!

Dr. Spillman

A conversation from last night...
Grace: "Dori, let's play doctor."
Dori: "Okay, Dr. Spillman. I have a problem. I always want to eat ice cream."
Grace: "No more ice cream!"
Dori: "Okay, well, I also like to eat chips a lot."
Grace: "That's okay, Dori. Chips are not bad for you. You can eat chips."
Dori: "Thank you, Dr. Spillman. I also can't sleep very well."
Grace: "Well, then don't eat chips anymore."
Mommy: "Dr. Spillman, I have a problem, too."
Grace: "Mommy, don't tell me about your problems!"

Ella is 5 Months Old!

Our baby girl turned 5 months old on Sunday! She continues to be a joy and has a great personality. I don't want to always compare her to Grace, but the two of them are very similar in many ways. The most noticable to me is her sweet spirit. Gracie was the same way when she was a baby, and of course, still is such a sweet girl. Ella just exudes sweetness, and just seeing her makes me smile. She's also quite a talker--even more than Grace was at this age. Ella is constantly babbling, cooing, squealing and laughing. It's the cutest thing to see and hear! She wakes up each day with a huge smile and stays that way throughout the day. Grace is definitely Ella's favorite person. When Travis, Grace and I got home from the hospital on Friday, Ella was happy to see all of us, but especially Gracie. Her little face just lit up at the sight of her favorite big sister. Grace has been asking for Ella lot lately, so we'll prop her up next to Grace and Grace tells her all about her broken leg. It warms my heart to see the special bond they already have. Here they both are at 5 months...

Sticks and Stones and Dogs May Break My Bones...

This weekend was not such a happy one. As most of you already know, our sweet Gracie had an accident on Thursday night that left her with a broken leg. Around 7 p.m., she, Uncle Lindsey and Baylor were running around in circles in the back yard, and just as Baylor was running past her, Gracie ran right into him. He was going pretty fast, and the impact made her spin around. Her body twisted, but her feet were planted on the ground. The result--a spiral fracture that runs from the top of her femur down to her knee. OUCH!

After a visit to the pediatrician's office and the ER at Presbyterian (with Ella in tow) and an ambulance ride to Children's Medical Center, Gracie was placed in a body cast (also known as a spica cast) around 3 a.m. on Friday. She had been hurting really bad, and once they got the cast on, she said, "They fixed it. I feel so much better." The cast starts at her chest and runs down to her ankle on her broken leg and down to her knee on her unbroken leg. It looks terrible, and I can't even imagine how uncomfortable it is. She did not want us to take a picture of it. We didn't get up to our room until around 5 a.m., and we were all exhausted. Gracie tried to sleep, but she keeps having muscle spasms in her right leg. I don't think she fell asleep until around 6:30, and she was up a couple of hours later. A physical therapist stopped by to show us how to take care of her. The diaper changes are especially tricky now, and potty training has officially been put on hold for a couple of months. We finally arrived home around 3 o'clock on Friday afternoon. Ella was SO excited to see her!

The good news is that the pediatric orthopedist said Gracie's break looked beautiful and should heal up nicely. She'll need physical therapy once the cast is off, but she should be as good as new eventually. The bad news is that she's terribly frustrated and scared of her cast. She doesn't want it to be uncovered and insists on keeping a blanket over it at all times. Understandably, she's very grumpy and irritable--not at all like her usual sweet self. We're trying to keep her busy with movies and crafts, but she's still pretty upset. Travis and I have been through such a whirlwind of emotions the past few days. It breaks our hearts to see her in pain. The paid is improving, except for the muscle spasms that attack once she tries to sleep. Motrin helps with those, and we give it to her before she sleeps. She slept very well the past 2 nights, and she's on her way to being herself again. Our hearts still hurt because we know she's disappointed that she can't do her usual things. But, we feel blessed that all we have to deal with is a temporarily broken leg. When we were at Children's, we were painfully aware that some children are there for much more serious reasons, and some parents will never get to take their babies home. God is so good to us.

We are so thankful to our wonderful families for helping us this weekend. We're thankful for Travis' mom, Patti, who came to pick up Ella when we were at the ER and stayed with her Thursday night. We're also thankful for my mom, who is basically moving in until Grace gets her cast off. Thank you to everyone who has called or come over to visit. Grace has been showered with lots of fun toys, movies, books and other things to keep her occupied as she's basically stuck on the couch for the next 6 weeks. She's such a trooper, and I know she'll come out of this experience even stronger than she was before!

Happy Weekend

We LOVE weekends, and this one was no exception. Travis is working half days on Saturdays now, so before he leaves, I have him bring both girls to me so we can have our "morning snuggle." I absolutely love this time and get teary-eyed just thinking about the day they won't want to cuddle with me anymore :( But, right now, they seem pretty happy to and usually wake up in very good moods (see the pics below). When Gracie is ready to get up, she'll say, "Okay. Time to get out of bed. Don't cha wanna go downstairs and make me some breakfast? Yeah! Come on! That will be fun!"

After breakfast, we played at the park and then attempted to go to swimming lessons. But, after a mad dash to not be late, I realized that we'd left the car seat base in Gabby's car. Oh, well. Hopefully, we'll make it next week. We made it up to Grace later by letting her try Dippin' Dots for the first time. I wish I had a pic of that--she REALLY liked them and actually ventured out and got something other than chocolate. Turns out she likes the "pink kind." Who knew?

On Sunday, Grace and I went to a birthday party for our friend Meredith. It was Grace's first time at Pump It Up, and she had a total blast! (Pump It Up is basically a huge warehouse full of bounce houses). Meredith turned 5, so Grace was one of the youngest ones there. Even so, the first thing she did after kicking her shoes off and handing over Lamby was climb up the giant ladder all by herself. I kept thinking that she was going to freak out once she made it to the top, but she didn't. Nope, she slid right down that giant slide and squealed with delight when she hit the bottom. It was so fun to watch! The party was fun, and surprisingly, Grace didn't eat much birthday cake. After she got it, she asked, "But, Mommy, where's the ice cream?" She looked heartbroken when I told her they didn't have any.

We ended the weekend on a high note, planting flowers out front. Grace asked me where we were going to put all the flowers, and I said, "In the flower beds." She replied, "Oh, so they're not lonely when they go to sleep?" Exactly, precious girl. Grace was a great little helper, and kept encouraging me and Travis. "You're doing a great job, Daddy! Oh, Mommy, that's just perfect! Aren't I doing a great job, too?" She even helped out with Ella, who was entertaining herself in her play pen in the front yard--"Hold on, Baby Sis! I will come to calm you down!"

After a weekend full of fun, I tucked Gracie into bed. After reading her two books, I went over to turn off her lamp. But, there was trash on her bedside table, so I picked it up and threw it in the trash can in her bathroom. Grace asked, "Mommy, what did you just do?" I said, "I had to throw that trash away." And she said, "Mommy. You are naughty. It's time for sleeping, not time for picking up trash." Naughty? I don't think I've ever called her that, but apparently, she knows what it means and said I was a "naughty momma." I don't think that's a compliment.

Bathing Beauty

Ella LOVES baths! Her face lights up when you turn on the water, and she gets so excited, she can barely hold still. Most of the time, she kicks and splashes, and other times, she completely relaxes--like, "Ahh! This feels so nice after a long hard day of being cute."

Grace always wants to help and usually ends up getting soaked in the process. Ella is very nice about it, even when Grace pours water all over her head and in her face. Even up until 6 months ago, Grace always freaked out when she got water in her eyes. But, not little Ella. The only time she fusses is when it's time to get out. I can't wait to see how she takes to the water when she starts swimming lessons at the end of May!

"Ew, Mommy! That's so gross!"

Yep. That's what my sweet Grace said to me last night when I kissed her on the forehead. She then continued with "Mommy, please stop. That's nasty!" At least she asked me politely. I replied, "You're my baby, and I can kiss you whenever I want." And, that's exactly how I feel. But, imagine how she's going to react when she's 13...

Grace picked up the word "nasty" the other night when Travis kissed her goodnight. She's really into smells (or as she would say, "fells") lately and often asks us, "What do you fell like?" The other night was no exception, and we'd eaten salads with red onion in them. So she asks Travis what he fells like, and he says, "Onions." And, with a truly disgusted look on her face, she replies, "Ew. Onions fell nasty." She's right, but poor Travis. Now I know how he feels.

Grace is 29 Months Old Today!

Wow! 29 months--where has the time gone? Grace continues to be a constant joy. She's so sweet and happy and honest. Just the other day, she said, "Mommy, I'm very sensitive." And, yes, she is sensitive. I think she must have inherited that trait.

I think these two pictures do a great job of capturing her sweet personality.

I know she's enjoying this nicer weather because she gets to go to the park everyday and sometimes even twice a day. Gabby tells me she has a friend at the park now, and both she and Grace call her "A-Berry." I think her real name is Avery :), but Grace is adamant that it is A-Berry.

Grace is a great big sister, and her first comment each morning is usually, "Where's Ella Bella? Let's go wake her up." She tends to be overzealous though, and Travis and I have to remind her to be gentle. Ella doesn't always enjoy the head locks Grace so freely gives her. How could Grace not adore her precious baby sis?

Grace is still a tiny munchkin. At the pediatrician's office this week, she weighed in at a whopping 22.2 pounds! I just bought her new clothes for spring, and according to the Gap and Gymboree size charts based on weight, she should wear size 12-18 months (22-27 lbs). I couldn't buy this size, however, because with her long legs, the dresses would look like shirts on her! So, I compromised and bought size 18-24 months. Hopefully, she'll be able to wear them for a while. Here she is wearing one of her new favorite dresses. And, no, she not just standing on one foot, she stomping on the "pops" that her Aunt Chachi brought her. They're lots of fun, but make a huge mess!

Welcome Family and Friends

Welcome to our family blog! I finally jumped on the blogging bandwagon and decided this would be a great way to keep everyone updated about our lives. We can't wait to share our adventures with you!