Where has the time gone?

Hi World!

I'm so sorry that it has been so long since I've last posted. We've gotten busy but also Google decided to block me from my blog for several days. They said they have an automatic process that determines possible spam and it was determined through this process that Lady Bug Hugs was spam... hmmm... doesn't make sense to me, I appealed and here I am.

I hope I haven't lost anyone with my long absence. Emma has kept us busy lately. She is such a fun little girl and I have enjoyed each and every day I get to spend with her. She is growing by leaps and bounds. Her vocabulary has expanded ten fold. She is turning into such a big/little girl its so bitter sweet. She will be 2 years old next Wednesday. Where oh where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday Peter and I were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our perfect baby girl. She has overcome so much in her two years. She is a constant reminder of God's faithfulness and provisions to our family. She is the light of our life and I couldn't imagine a moment of life without her in it.

Since I last posted Emma spent 2 nights in the hospital. She woke up one morning crying her little eyes out (totally not usual), she was lethargic and didn't want to do anything but cuddle with me. I took her to the pediatrician and she had tested positive for the flu. I also had them check her urine to rule out a UTI, it turned out she was very dehydrated on top of the flu. They sent us to Children's for fluids and several doses of Tami-flu. Man that stuff must be potent. It worked quickly. Emma was pretty much back to her spunky little self by the second day. They kept us just to keep a watchful eye and make sure she didn't get dehydrated again. We all know how much you can force a 2 year old to drink. YEAH RIGHT...

Emma has been doing very well with her speech, pt, and ot, as well. She continues to progress so well. Her vocabulary has over 110 words now. We are continuing to work on building 2 word sentences. Man that's a tricky one. She's getting the hang of it now though. She says, "go car", "baby up" she counts "1,2,3,8,9,10" and each time its followed with a resounding YAYAYAYAYA!!! She can spell her name too... "E.M.A." she has decided that the second M is just redundant and therefore doesn't need repeating. She might be on to something. LOL!

She had to have a sedated echo-cardiogram done the later part of February. They wanted to make sure her higher BP hadn't caused any damage to her heart and praise the Lord it hasn't. Her heart is perfect. We follow up with Nephrology tomorrow. I'm a little anxious about this appointment  because they are going to most likely start her on BP medicine. I have talked to the NP about the cause and they are now believing it is scarring on her kidneys, Last time I posted we thought there wasn't any but they don't have any other conclusions that could lead to her high BP (her neuro was consulted to be safe).

Emma also made a triumphant return to aquatic therapy. She loves loves loves the pool. I was kind of nervous because I've slacked on my end of the deal which was to take her to the pool while we were not in aquatic therapy. I let life get in the way. Her first week was a little rough but she has regained her sea arms so to speak and is loving it.

Thank you all for your continued love and support. We couldn't do it without you. We appreciate your constant prayers for our little girl. Please continue to pray for good health for her. Also that we can get to the bottom of the issue with her BP.

And now onto the pictures.

Celebrating mommy's birthday

Emma's cousin wanted to help her with Pinky. 

Mommy/Daughter with painted nails. 

This was the morning she woke up with the flu. If you know Emma, she doesn't stop for anything let alone cuddle. 

After we finally got the monitors and wires off at the hospital.

Home sweet home! 

Just some morning conversations. 

Her Papaw built her a corner chair. 

First time wearing piggy tails. 

Emma was holding court. 

Buff Emma! 

Working in speech therapy. 

Went to see Daddy at his office

Happy Valentines Day! 

She wasn't such a fan. 

This reminds me of the Christmas Story movie. 

I think she has a future as a drummer. 

She has become such a little helper. She loves helping me put the dishes away. 

My cool girl! 

Pushing the baby around at church! 

Getting ready for aquatic therapy! 

Loving occupational therapy

Before her sedated echo. 

She insisted on wearing two hats. 

Swimming swimming in the swimming poooooool!!! 

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!!!! Can you believe we've rang in 3 New Years together!!! Man how time flies!

The last time I updated Emma was getting over a UTI and we were preparing for her MRI. She has recovered from her UTI, although I'm not so sure she doesn't have another one.

Emma's MRI went off without a hitch. They only gave her laughing gas as a sedative and boy she wasn't laughing in recovery. I've been told before the longer they are on the gas the more irritable they are afterwards and she held true to that. She was a GROUCH. It took us about 15 minutes to get her calmed down and Children's requires they drink something before discharging their patients. Emma finally drank a little apple juice and we were sent on our way.

We met with Dr. Stevenson the following Monday. He said that her Chiari was stable as was her syrinx. She has 2 cysts on her spine that appear stable right now but they have noticed a bit of scoliosis. They are just going to monitor it. We will have to have some spinal x-rays that will then be sent to Dr. Tamai (ortho) for review. It could just be that we keep an eye on it. If it progressively gets worse then an action plan will be developed between ortho and Dr. Stevenson. Her shunt was working PERFECTLY! So all is well on Dr. Stevenson's front! PRAISE GOD!!!

It was so much fun to watch Emma enjoy Christmas this year. Last year was delightful but this year was so much cooler. The way her face lit up with joy as she opened each gift, the way she could just lay there and watch the lights flicker on the tree. So sweet! If I could just stay in that moment forever I'd do it in a heartbeat.

New Years Eve was fun! It was low key, had a few people over to our house! We were able to stay in and celebrate with our family and friends! Emma still doesn't like the horns but she really enjoyed the clapper!

We had MM Clinic on Monday the 5th of January. That went well. I was looking forward to seeing Ortho, but he unfortunately had to rush to the OR so we couldn't speak to him. However he did give us the orders for the spinal x-ray to monitor her scoliosis. They've also been concerned about her blood pressure. At all of her visits they take her BP in her leg. She can't feel it and it doesn't bother her there. Its always been VERY HIGH. They referred her to Nephrology (kidney specialists) to make sure that her kidneys are fine and aren't causing her BP to be high.

We met with nephrology today. They don't believe her kidneys are scarred from UTI's therefore pretty much ruling out kidney's as a cause for her high BP. Which is good, but also concerning because we can't figure out why it's high. Right now its running around 114-118 as the systolic number. Its not HORRIBLE but for Emma at the ripe old age of 2 its still high. We need to get it figured out. The NP at the nephrology clinic is going to talk to the doctor that runs the hypertension clinic and get an action plan. Praying we can get it resolved without the intervention of medication. I don't want Emma on another medication let alone a blood pressure medicine.

Thank you all for your love and prayers! We appreciate each and every one of them.