Grace is Walking!!!!

It's official! Our little Gracie is walking. We are so proud of her. She has been doing so good and just in the past few weeks she has really gotten the confidence to take steps without holding onto our hand. Her therapist said she is doing great. Her new SMO brace is fitting great and she is pretty much wearing it all day. The AFO (larger brace) is a no go right now but the therapist said she is doing so good without it that she may never have to wear it. Praise God!! We'll see how it goes as she grows.

God has done so many amazing things in Grace's life since her diagnosis of Hemi-peligia Cerebral Pasley back in Jan. We had no idea what that meant and we still have lots of questions but she is doing so well that we know there is nothing in life that she won't be able to accomplish if she puts her mind to it. She has such a determined and strong-willed personality which I believe will help her face any obstacle in life. Her OT also has CP and she said that Grace is going to be just fine and her personality alone will take her far.

Cognitively she is right on track and even a head verbally. She is a talker that is for sure. We just praise God every day. That stroke could have taken her life and although her right motor skills may never be equal to her left, she is doing her best and continues to amaze everyone that knows her and sees her progress.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers, your encouragement, and investing so much into our little Gracie. We couldn't have come this far without you all!

Reese Update!

I'm currently writing this blog with speakers taped to the lower part of my abdomen. I hope Reese likes Diana Krall and Nat King Cole. I'm trying everything out there to get this little girl to flip. The ultrasound tech said to try music cause sometimes they try to follow the music.

I had my weekly check up this morning along with an ultrasound to check on the status of little Ms. Reese. Good news is that she is gaining weight at a good pace now and is around 6 lbs 9 oz. at nearly 38 weeks. She is still breech but there is plenty of amniotic fluid so she has a good chance of turning this late in the game. That explains why my stomach seems so much larger with this baby. I have lots of fluid!

So what's next you might ask? Where do we go from here? That is exactly what I asked my dr. She was just as bummed about it as I was. She knows how important it is to me to deliver naturally. However, we both want what is best for the baby. The problem with attempting to deliver a breech baby is the risk of head entrapment which can cut off oxygen to the baby. This also makes it more difficult to get the baby out with an emergency C-section.

We are going to give it another week and when I go back on Thursday for my weekly visit and check her position again, we will go from there. More than likely if she doesn't flip we will schedule a c-section for either Sept. 28th or Sept. 29th. And if she does flip my dr. will most likely schedule an induction. They don't want me to go too long becasue of what happened with Grace. They don't want to take any chances and have her in there longer than 40 weeks.

Looks like in 10 days or less (if she decides to come on her own before that) we will be welcoming our little girl into this world. I'm excited but nervous too. Not nervous about how she gets here but nervous because I'm not sure how Gracie will respond. I pray she isn't too jealous and that I'm still able to spend quality time with her while taking care of a newborn.

Thankfully we have lots of family and friends supporting us and willing to help out how ever they can. I know I will take them up on it, especially if I have to have a c-section as it is a long recovery. But until then I'm asking everyone prays for God's will with this labor and delivery. If Reese shouldn't flip due to danger to her then of course I want a c-section but if there is no risk and she's just enjoying hanging out under my ribs, closest to my heart, then I pray she flips around in time to be born naturally.

I'll try my best to update you as we learn more.

Wedding Traditions!

This past Friday morning Matt, Bethany, Andy and I headed to Chesapeake City, MD (about an hour north of Baltimore) for Jessica Curran's wedding. Jess and her family are good family friends. We have known each other since 7th grade. We were on the same church district and went to camps and district events all throughout high school and Beth and I use to drive my 89 Chevy Citation to Baltimore on the weekends to visit her and her sisters! We have lots of great memories and traditions including singing in all of their weddings. First was her mom's wedding in 2000, then Jenn's wedding (Jess's older sister) June 2003, Katie's wedding (Jess's younger sister) Sept 08, and now Jess's wedding Sept 09. Even 9 months pregnant I wasn't going to miss her wedding. Of course I went to the Dr. the day before we left to make sure everything was okay. That was a great visit actually. I lost 1 lb and my blood pressure was great. She just advised that I make sure I knew where the closest Labor and Delivery Hospital was. Thankfully we didn't have to worry about that.

Our trip there was rather long due to the GPS taking us the wrong way around DC, thus getting stuck in rush hour traffic. We ended up missing the rehearsal but made it to the rehearsal dinner. What I love about Jess and the rest of the Curran's is their love for crabs! They introduced Bethany and I to crabs probably in early high school. We grew up in MD but for some reason never got into them till we started hanging out with them. So it was to be expected that we would get to chow down on some yummy MD crabs at the rehearsal dinner! Good times!

Later that night, we checked into our hotel. We were suppose to be staying in a one bedroom suite at the Hilton, Non-smoking, with two queen size beds. Well we walked in to the room and it obviously wasn't non-smoking so I called the front desk and they upgraded us to a two bedroom suite free of charge! We had three tv's!! It was great! We decided to go for a nigh swim and hang out with some old friends.

Now all along, I am missing Grace like crazy. This is only the third time I've been away from her and probably the furthest distance I've been away from her ever! But she was staying home and her Aunt Jenn and cousin Alex were watching her so I knew she would be in good hands and would have a blast. However, Jenn called me later that afternoon and Grace was beginning to get a fever and not feeling well. Her nose was constantly running..so much that they went through an entire box of Puffs plus in less than 24 hours. So not only am I missing her but I'm feeling guilty that she is sick and I'm not there to comfort her. Long story short, she didn't sleep well at all for her Aunt Jenn that night and her temp got up to 102.

But what could I do, I was over 5 hours away and still had the wedding to get through. So I just prayed for her and talked to her on the phone and told her mommy would be home soon! We had a relaxing morning and afternoon, went and discovered the little college town (University of Delaware) that we were staying in, and ate a really good cupcake from a little shop that was recently featured on the Food Network. Then we got ready and headed to the wedding. It was a gorgeous day, couldn't have ordered a more perfect day for the wedding. Jess looked beautiful and Matt cried when she walked down the isle. I could barely look at him during our song. She picked the song "Kind and Generous" by Natalie Merchant. At first I was like, okay..not your average wedding song but after I really started looking at the words and hearing Jess's reasoning for picking it I realized how it was thanking God for bringing them together. Andy played acoustic guitar and we slowed it down some! They were pleased so I guess that is all that matters.

The reception was fun and the food was amazing. The thing about being 9 months pregnant is you think you can eat a lot more than you really can. So I was quite miserable by the time we climbed in the car at 10 pm to drive home. Yep, that's right. We drove straight home. We didn't get in till 4 am but it was worth it. I wanted to see my little girl and Andy needed to get back for church. Overall it was a great trip and a nice get a way for Matt and I before Reese gets here.

Grace had a rough time on Sunday and ended up sleeping on me during her nap but she is feeling much better today. I think we are almost over this nasty little cold.

Here are some pics of the wedding! Don't be alarmed when you see the size of my stomach because I was shocked! I knew my stomach was big but didn't realize how big till I saw it in these pictures! hahahahah!

Twilight Stroll on the Beach with Dad!

There are some perks to living at the beach despite the outrageous price in the housing market and the traffic from all the military. That is the beach is always here and it's always free!

One night Grace and I went with Matt on an estimate (to paint a beach house in Sandbridge) and we decided to take a stroll along the beach. Here are a few photos of my two favorite people. I'm excited that Gracie will grow up living at the beach. She will always have special moments like this to look back at. I hope she still wants to take twilight strolls with us when she is 15 years old and not be embarrassed to be seen with her mom and dad at the beach! :)