A Sunday Visit. 7:36pm

Grace had a special Sunday visit from Auntie Lisa today..and in tow, her cousins Ben & Emily.  Ben & Emily usually visit 1x during the week, so it was special to have them

over on Sunday.  Auntie Lisa is from CA, and she hadn't seen Grace since Christmas.

She remarked on how big she looks, and healthy & cute!!

A nice visit was had!!

 Last night, we took Grace out to Auntie Heather & Uncle Ross' house..

dinner & visit with them & the kids.. a nice time was had.

This is what summer is all about.. visiting friends, having family over &

enjoying each other's company..

Grace is getting bigger by the day..I feel bad for those family members

(like Noni & Grandpa, who live in NY) that can't see her weekly.. we do send them

pictures though.. by the time they do see her, maybe in early September, they

won't recognize her!

Here's some pictures from the weekend:

Saturday afternoon in mommy & daddy's bed.

 And.. I found my thumb again.. :)

Another visit to the on-call pediatrican on Saturday..worried parents that we

are, took her in because her poor bum was so raw there was blood.

All turned out well..we got some really good cream & already 24 hours later,

her bum has really cleared up.

Grace has been eating alot more banana puree & rice cereal, to help

with her diarhea & it's really worked.  Plus, she's eating alot of the banana..

Yea! Gracie!!

Thank you God for blessing us with this little sweetheart!!

Love you guys for keeping us in prayer & thoughts..

pattie & gary, Gracie & maxwell

p.s.  Maxwell's on the brain, as always.. but we went out today to try

& look at headstones.. we actually want to get a 'bench' for his gravesite for his 1st anniversary.  So..that's on the agenda for this week.. as hard as it is.. we need that for him!!



My baby's not feeling well.. 8:05pm

Isn't it always like this?? You take your baby/kid to the pediatrician's office

for a scheduled visit, then the next day you go back again.. ughh..

this morning, Grace woke up & her right eye had some blood in it..

we thought maybe a popped blood vessel..nope, it's congitivitis (sp??)

geesh.. so we have to give her ointment in her eye 3x's a day.

She's still having some diarrhea as well.. soo maybe just this viral thing she's going thru

she slept good this afternoon, a little irritable though..

I'm sure her belly hurts, her eye is bothering her, and her bum!! :(

Makes me sad for her!!

My belly's hurting too.. I just need to rest the remainder of the eve..

This was her, this evening..settling down to go to bed!! Finally got her down at 8pm..

 What do you think of these two pictures?? The one on the left was taken 8/23/11..

20 days old.. barely can see her little head/face..

& the one on the right was taken today..

How far she has come!! And she's loving being on her belly.. she picked up her head soo much today.. she lays on my chest alot too.. & she's doing a great

job shimming.. all building muscles to crawl!!

Okay..off to rest!  Thanks for checking in!

love,

pattie & gary, Gracie & max

Enjoy your weekend!!



Saying Good-bye.. 2:17pm

I just worked my muscles putting all the oxygen tanks near the front door..

it won't be the same guy that has been with us from the beginning picking it up..but

we are finally "Saying Good-bye" to all the oxygen tanks!!

Good-bye tanks!!! Big & Small..glad you are going out our door!!!

 And here's Gracie finding her thumb.. :)

Her weight at her pediatrician appointment today:  12 lbs. 13oz!!!! WOW!!

She is successfully gaining weight & her pedi is happy with her weight gain & how well she looks!!  She had to have a shot today, soo she's sleeping!!

Love you guys!!

pattie & gary, Gracie & max

p.s.  With how well Gracie is doing, I feel a little sad about Maxwell today..

there's not a day that goes by that I think about it & wonder what/how he would be doing right now!  I love you Maxwell!!



All good! 7:34pm

I know I haven't updated in a few days, my energy was all for today..whereas Grace had two important appointments.  One was with a neurologist, just to get Grace

seen & followed as she gets older.  It was a great appointment.. he compared

her MRI (taken in Dec., prior to leaving MMC) & her CT Scan (done just a few weeks ago).. although, that is comparing apples & oranges..he did say that he saw nothing new on the CT Scan.. (thank God!).. There may have been a question, when she went into shock back on 3/31, that maybe something happened in her brain as well..

NOPE!  He says they both looked good.. the same.

He was very happy how she moved her arms & legs.. although her legs

sometimes stiffen up.. PT & OT, he said, along with our help to moving, crawling, sitting up, etc.. will help her.  He will continue to follow her

at her 9 mo & 12 mo (corrected stages)

Look at that smile!! She is doing so much smiling..and listening ..she really reacts to people's faces & voices.

The comcast man was here on Monday, and she immediately turned her head to look at where the new voice was coming from.  She has a great little personality already!!

I saw an old friend today, and unfortunately, Gracie was having herself a 'sad' cry moment.. but my friend said she's just beautiful!! That she is!!

As I'm starting to learn, when you have a preemie..there may be some delays

and Grace has been thru so much..and she still smiles alot & even though delayed in that she's not sitting up completely on her own, she's laying more on her belly & strenghtening her head & neck muscles.  She's doing better with that.. and we just keep playing with her & putting her on the floor.. we are seeing some great improvement!!

 Here she is on her mat..

Her 2nd appointment was a consul on getting a helmet..as you can see from pictures she does have a flat spot in the back of her head.  As much as it's on her back to sleep, that also puts much pressure on not letting her skull grow out, and whereas Gracie LOVES her right side.. she was in the NICU for 125 days & has a flat spot.  So, she will be getting a molding helmet for her head.  As we all know, she is a wiggly worm..but she did great today when they put her in the little scan machine to get a scan of her head ("she has to be very still", the doctor said!  I was hoping!!)

Well, he put on this little toy radio & she just stared at it.. still for 2 scans!!

What a good girl!!

We go back in two weeks to get the helmet.. and depending on her growth spurt,

she'll probably have to wear it for about 3-4 months!

As we say, "Whatever it takes!!"

It's a pink helmet.. she'll look Great!! :)

This is a picture from our visit to Newport last Friday.. beautiful..

She is still having a little diarrhea.. seems it could be from teething!

We would love to see a tooth soon!!

Thanks to all those who said a prayer or happy thought for us today!

Tomorrow is just a quick follow up with her pediatrician & a weight check in..

today's doctor is saying 13lbs.. we'll see.  She's definitely eating more & getting heavier!!

Love you Gracie girl!!

Love,

pattie & gary, Gracie & max

10 Months Old! 2:28pm

Grace is 10 months old today (7 mos 'corrected)..

she's come a long way..but today she's not feeling good ..

we think it's just a stomach bug..she started with a little diarrhea at about 4:30a.m.

and has a slight fever of about 100.5 as of noon.  We are letting her sleep, keeping an eye on her, and if it doesn't get better by tomorrow will take her to see her pediatrician.

 This is Grace from this morning..you wouldn't even know she wasn't feeling well..

she's a good baby!!

These are homemade cheese gnocchi's :)  I'm italian now you know? My italian family would be very proud!!!  They're very easy to make.  You then boil them & can add spaghetti sauce or saute with a little olive oil & butter & garlic, to crisp them up.  We had these last night.  I also made a lasagna yesterday & a bundt cake.  Busy busy yesterday..it rained all day!

This was Grace yesterday sitting on daddy's legs.. she had about 30 min of belly time..and she's doing pretty well.

We have a couple of appointments this week.  A first time appointment with neurology, just a "meet & greet".. so we can have him on her 'team' of people.

We then have an appointment with the plastic surgeon who did the CT scan last week for the results.. we are hoping that goes well, then right after that appointment we go to get her head fitted for a molding helmet.  All on Wednesday, so at least it's done in one day.  Please keep us in your prayers for Wednesday!!

Hopefully this is just a 24 hour stomach bug, and Grace will be feeling better!

Annoyance #102:  We just got a new HDTV cable box from Comcast within the last week or so, and the sound on it (both last night & today) keeps going out.. you shut the cable off, turn it back on & it comes back on .. arghhh.. it's really aggravating, when you're trying to watch a movie!!!

Okay.. thanks for reading!

Tonight I'm making country ribs like my "Mom" used to (grandmom!)

Love,

pattie & gary, Gracie & max



Day Off. 4:37pm

Daddy took the day off today, and we went for breakfast with Grace..she's

great at restaurants..she sat there in her car seat, and just looked around.

She's been looking at her hands alot lately, just studying them

and then in her mouth. :)

From breakfast, we went to Newport & did a walk on the cliff walk..

over looking the ocean, for those who don't know Newport, RI..

it's simply beautiful!  It was warm today, but a very nice breeze during our walk.

Morning fun with Mommy.. sticking our tongues out at each other.  Every morning, Grace & I start the day by singing our favorite morning songs, "Where is thumbkin", "Itsy bitsy spider", and "Good morning song."  Today, because she listens so intently & watches my mouth (all about speech therapy)..she copied me in sticking out my tongue!!

 This picture above, is in newport "Easton's Beach".. beautiful..

and below is Daddy & Grace at the beginning of the cliffwalk.

It takes about 30 min to get there..and Gracie was awake the whole time, so of course here she is sleeping as we got on the walking path.. :)

What a beautiful day! Gracie is 7 months adjusted as of Thursday the 30th.

She's getting big!! Yippee.. and LOOKS GREAT!!!

Thanks for keeping up ..

love,

pattie & gary, Gracie & max



Thank you!! 1:04pm

Thank you prayer warriors!! Grace did great today with her CT scan!

We got in at 10, and were home by 11:30..

she did NOT have to be sedated!!

I sang to her.. "Gilligan's Island" theme (daddy loves that song)

& "Brady Bunch" theme.. (lol)

& Rudolph (we used to always sing that in the NICU)

& she fell asleep in my arms, prior to the scan..

so they didn't have to give her an IV or any type of sedation..

she slept thru the whole 5-8 minutes of the CT scan.. :)

YEA!! 

Anything is possible with prayer!

We see the doctor next Wed., for follow-up..and then we can begin the molding helmet therapy!! We need to get that on before she gets her big growth spurt!!

She wore her lucky green, new dress that we got in the mail from Noni & Grandpa!!

Cute Pic!!! Her new ducky pj's from last night.. Noni loves buying Gracie outfits!!

Thanks all!! Love you guys!

pattie & gary, Gracie & max