Growing up way too fast!

Our attempt at a family picture!

Abbie is now 9 months old! She's learning and changing every day and always keeps us on our toes! She weighed in at 16 lbs 9 oz and was 27 inches long. Abbie has become a lot more mobile in the last month, learning to crawl, pull up on furniture, stand on her own, and even take a few unsteady steps! She likes to wave at everyone and learns new sounds every day. And last but certainly not least, she is making tremendous progress with her eating! She was drinking 1-2 ounces of formula a day and now she drinks 16-19 ounces a day! We don't even hook her up to her pump in the daytime anymore which is awesome! She uses a special bottle that is made for cleft palate babies that is very responsive to the slightest suck. We're still working on solids. She has determined that she prefers real food, not that nasty pureed stuff! And who can blame her?! She likes grilled cheese sandwiches, mac'n'cheese, bread, potatoes, beans, and little pieces of chicken, turkey, and salmon. She just needs to eat a lot more than what she does. Anyway, that was an Abbie overload, but let's face it, that's pretty much our life! Here's a little video of some of Abbie's first steps. Can you tell we're first time parents?!

Halloween Fun!

Well, I guess it's about time that I posted something on here and Halloween gives me a nice excuse not to have to think too hard about what to post! Abbie is just over 8 months old now which is crazy, but not quite old enough to appreciate Halloween. We did our parental duty though and found a super cute costume for her. What a cute little giraffe she turned out to be!

Am I cute or what!?

Lookin' Good!

The giraffe, the zebra, and the mighty hunter

We carved pumpkins a few days before and Abbie wanted in on the action. She had to help me clean out my pumpkin since I think the slimy stuff is disgusting. She didn't seem to mind! In fact, she liked it so much that she decided to have a little taste as well! Yuck!


Anyway, on Halloween, we went to visit Lance's brother's family so Abbie could hang out with her cousins. She loves Haley and Jackson and now that she can interact with them more, they're starting to have a little more fun with her. Next, we drove to Fruit Heights to show Abbie off to her grandparents, all of whom oohed and aahed over her cuteness, as proper grandparents should. Abbie was starting to get crabby at his point so we called it a night. It was a good Halloween but I think next year will be more fun for all of us when Abbie will actually be old enough to go trick-or-treating.

Haley, Jackson, and Abbie

Now you don't!!

Sweet sweet freedom! I don't want to sound conceited and I know I'm biased, but I think she's pretty darn cute! Of course, she was cute with the tube in, but now you can see her whole beautiful face! Now she can rub her eyes, suck on her fingers, and play with her ears without us worrying that she'll yank her tube out in the process.

At last! No more tube!

Abbie's surgery went very well on Monday morning. She was in and out in about an hour. We stayed until Wednesday afternoon and I'm pretty sure I never want to spend another night in the hospital, ever again. Anyway, it's nice to have the ng-tube out but the g-tube isn't without it's difficulties. It takes about 2 months to heal and we have to be very careful with it at least until then. We have to change the dressing and clean the tube site every day in order to prevent infection, irritation, and other problems. Abbie certainly doesn't enjoy this time of the day and I can't blame her. She's healed well though and is pretty much back to her normal crazy self. Now that the surgeries are over, we can shift our focus back to getting Abbie to eat. Thank you all for yout thoughts and prayers for Abbie these last few weeks.

Abbie's G-tube

What a cutie!

Now you see it...

It's finally time! Time to say goodbye to the ng-tube and hello to the g-tube. Lance and I are so excited to be rid of this tube, but I think Abbie is looking forward to it the most, if her constant grabbing, pulling, and clawing are any indication. We go back to Primary Children's tomorrow morning for the g-tube placement surgery. The surgery is pretty simple and quick but we may be in the hospital for several days to make sure that the g-tube is working properly. Anyway, the next time you see us, Abbie's face will be completely tube-free! Wish us luck!

Home Sweet Hospital!

Being back in the hospital brings back a lot of memories for us from Abbie's first few months of life. It seems like such a long time ago that we called Primary Children's our home away from home and I'm so glad that this trip is only a one night stay. Anyway, Abbie is doing awesome and is just resting now so she can get back to her normal crazy self.

Here's how our day has gone: We jumped in the car to head to the hospital at about 11am. Our surgery was scheduled at 1:30pm but while we were driving, we got a call informing us that the surgery was postponed and that we didn't need to be at the hospital until 2pm. So we turned around and headed back home. Finally, we got to the hospital and checked in. We waited in one room, then got called back to check Abbie's vitals and get her dressed in her little hospital gown, then we waited in another room until the surgeon was ready. When Dr. Kaza (our surgeon, who worked with Abbie when she was first born) and the anesthesiologist came to get her at about 4pm and we kissed her good-bye. Luckily, she was asleep when this happened. I don't think I could have handled it if she was crying as we handed her over to the doctors. Anyway, then we waited in another room for 2 hours. Dr. Kaza came in to talk to us when the procedure was finished and told us that Abbie did very well. He also told us that the skin on the spot where Abbie's pacemaker was had eroded and was very thin. He said it was very close to eroding all the way through the inscision scar and something like that would have been catastrophic. He echoed our thoughts when he said that God has a plan for all of us, and He knew that Abbie would need this surgery, even though her parents were trying to avoid it. Then we got to go and see Abbie and go to our room in the Children's Surgical Unit. She has been mostly sleeping and hopefully will continue to sleep through the night. We should be able to leave tomorrow morning sometime and then we'll come back in 10 days to get her g-tube placed and finally be rid of that rotten ng-tube (the one in her nose). Here are some pics of our little hospital diva.

Abbie modeling her hospital gown

Playing with toys, waiting for the surgeon to come

Finally, she gets to rest in peace

Surgery Date

We just wanted to let everybody know that Abbie's surgery is set for Friday, September 18th. We'll be at the hospital most of the day on Thursday for a full sedated echocardiogram, chest x-ray, and lab work to make sure everything with her heart and her overall health is good enough to undergo surgery. We don't know what time the surgery will be on Friday, but hopefully things will go well and we'll only have to spend one night at the hospital. Any thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated!

Time for an Upgrade

It's amazing how small a car can seem when you have to put a bulky carseat in the back, and a big stroller in the trunk. After 6 1/2 months of pushing the front passenger seat all the way up in order to make room for Abbie's carseat, and struggling to push and pull the stroller in and out of the trunk, we decided it was time to upgrade to something bigger.

We put an ad on KSL Cars for our '96 Nissan Sentra and a few days later, got one call, and Lance, our resident salesman, was able to sell it on the first try. The guy didn't even try to get a lower price. I got a little bit sentimental since I've had this car since high school, but we did get time to say our goodbyes. Hehe. Lance helped me feel better by letting me hold the cash for a little bit.

After a little more searching, we found a car that we were both excited about. We ended up getting a 2003 Nissan Altima that has a huge trunk for the stroller and a lot more room in the backseat for me and Abbie.

Just a quick update on Abbie. While the progress she has made with her feeding has been good, it just hasn't been enough. As much as we don't like to admit it out loud, this is going to be more of a long term problem than we had anticipated. Abbie has now had a tube down her nose for almost 6 months and she has let us know, in no uncertain terms, that she does NOT want it anymore. Unfortunately, this means another surgery. Normally the procedure to place a G-tube (a feeding tube that goes through the abdomen directly into the stomach) is very simple and quick, but nothing with Abbie is ever simple! Abbie's pacemaker happens to be right over her stomach so it will have to be moved to the other side of her abdomen. We don't know yet when the surgery will be, but hopefully it will happen within the next few weeks. We're not looking forward to the surgery but I think after she recovers, she will be so happy that she doesn't have a tube down her nose and layers of itchy tape on her face! We'll let you know when we have an actual surgery date.

Abbie riding her new car

Where to Start?

I hate when I get behind on the blog because we have so much to catch up on and then I get overwhelmed and then I put it off because I don't have time to catch up and then there's even more to catch up on because I put it off! Whew! Finally, it's Sunday night, Abbie is sleeping soundly in her crib, and after messing around with blog designs for awhile, I've decided I can't put it off anymore, so here goes!

Over the last several weeks, we've gone to three family reunions! We've had a great time introducing Abbie to her relatives, playing at the park, running around like idiots doing silly relay races, taking Abbie swimming for the first time, and just having fun!

A little hesitant at first, but I think she liked it

We've also been to several doctor's appointments in the last few weeks. We had a cardiology appointment and Abbie is doing awesome! Her oxygen saturation level was 100% meaning her little heart is doing a great job, pumping plenty of oxygenated blood to her body. We don't have to go back for 6 whole months! We're also still seeing a feeding therapist once every two weeks to try to help Abbie learn to eat. We've been trying some solids but she's not too keen on that just yet. She does drink a little bit of diluted formula from a syringe which is good. I'm trying to be patient and concentrate on the progress she has made instead of getting frustrated with the speed of her progress. She's starting to get really aggressive with her tube now and likes to yank it off, tape and all, in the middle of the night. Her poor little cheeks are so red and irritated from her constant rubbing and pulling and our constant retaping to prevent the yanking.

Teasing Mommy by pretending to drink from a bottle

The last doctor's appointment we had was for Abbie's 6 month check-up! Our little baby is growing up! She weighed in at 14 lbs. 10 oz. and measured a little over 26 inches long. She did have to get several shots and she wasn't a happy camper for a few days afterwards. She's keeping up with most of the developmental milestones and is just starting to sit up by herself. She's still pretty wobbly and can't do it for very long but we're working on it.

Abbie showing off her red cheek and her newly acquired sitting skills

Well, I guess that wasn't so bad. I'm sure I've missed some things but this will just have to do. Hopefully it won't take me another month to post again!

Mommy and Abbie ready for church

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was Lance’s 28th birthday! We had spent the previous 3 days at a cabin near Oakley, UT going four-wheeling and jet skiing with my family. This was Abbie’s first ever overnight adventure. I was a little worried that she wouldn’t sleep well in a strange place but she did very well. She loved being up in the mountains with all of the trees. She has a funny fascination with leaves and loves to watch them flutter in the wind. She also loved going on stroller bumpy rides with Grandpa, chillin’ in the hammock with Daddy, and splashing in the water at Rockport Reservoir.



We got home Saturday afternoon and Abbie helped Lance open his presents. Then we dropped Abbie off at Grandma and Grandpa Moss’ and Lance and I went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. We’ve never been there before but the food was great, especially the all-you-can-eat rolls! I accidentally let it slip that it was Lance’s birthday so he got to sit on the saddle while the waiters did a lot of yelling and yee-hawing. Poor Lance! He was a little embarrassed but he was a good sport and even forgave me after a little while! Anyway, I am so grateful to have such a wonderful husband who is such a good Daddy to our little girl! We love you Lance! Happy 28th birthday!

5 months old!

I can't believe how fast time is flying! The days go pretty slowly but the months just whiz by. Our little Abbie is now 5 months old! She is doing really well in everything but the eating department. We thought we were progressing for about a week when Abbie started actually sucking on things but now she's kind of regressed to the point that she cries and whines when she sees the bottle, before it even gets to her mouth. Oh well, we'll just keep working. She is throwing up a lot less than she was before which is great! So, in honor of her 5 month birthday, here are 5 pictures of our little cutie!

Our little ballerina!

Helping Daddy with the laundry

Trying her best to enjoy tummy time

She already has a sweet tooth! (Not that she'll eat it, she just wants it because Dad has it)

And finally, one of her few perfectly peaceful moments. What an angel.

Catching Up

Life has been pretty busy for us these last few weeks so this will be a catch-up post. We've taken Abbie on a few adventures lately. Last week we went jet skiing at Pineview Reservoir. We had a blast and Abbie had fun chillin' in the shade and getting lots of attention from Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Connor.

Lance and I went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house a few days ago and we decided to take Abbie with us. She slept the whole car ride there and was pretty well-behaved during the tour, but on the car ride home she let us know that she had had enough. She was hot, sweaty, and tired and she screamed and cried for half an hour. I hate when she cries like that in the car because there is nothing I can do for her. Anyway, the temple was beautiful and we are so blessed to know that we will be a family forever.

This 4th of July was pretty interesting for us. Abbie started the day off with some fireworks of her own by yanking out her tube yet again. Despite the rough start, we were excited to head off to the airport to meet Lance's brother Tyler who just got home from serving a mission in Mexico. We're so glad to have him back and we're so proud of him for his willingness to serve the Lord and share the gospel with the people in Mexico.

We've had a few new developments with Abbie in the last week. We've started seeing a new feeding therapist and I think this one is going to be a lot more helpful. I feel like Abbie is already starting to make some progress. She still won't suck but she's doing a lot better at letting the bottle be in her mouth and swallowing small amounts of water or formula. We are also seeing a GI (gastro-intestinal) doctor to see if we can get Abbie's acid reflux and vomiting under control. We're just taking one step at a time to see what works and the first step was to increase the dose of a medicine that Abbie takes to help her stomach empty faster and to help the food move through her intestines. She's only been on the higher dose for a few days now but it seems to be helping. We'll keep seeing our new therapist and probably start Abbie on some oatmeal soon to see if she handles that better than the bottle.

It's what Fun is!

Wow, it's been a busy week! Lance and I got to go to Lagoon, Abbie turned 4 months old and had her 4 month check-up, and we celebrated Father's Day of course!

So first things first, we got some discount passes to Lagoon and we were so excited to go, especially me. I wanted to go on some roller coasters so bad since I was pregnant last summer when we went to California and Lance got to go to Six Flags. Anyway, so we get to Lagoon and went immediately to Wicked before the line got too long. It was a pretty sweet ride! Only a few short rides later, Lance was feeling nauseous, I had a killer headache, and we were both tired! What happened to those carefree days of youth when we could run around, going on ride after ride, and never get tired? We couldn't believe how old we felt! We even had to take a break and go to my parents house to take a little nap! Oh well, we still had fun, even though it didn't turn out to be the day we had imagined. Abbie had a fun day with Grandma J going on walks and being spoiled! Thanks Mom!

I can't believe Abbie is 4 months old already! She gets cuter and cuter everyday and she's doing well developmentally, despite her rough start in life. She weighs 12 lbs. 12 oz. (30th percentile) and is 24 1/2 inches long (60th percentile). She had to get some immunizations and she was a little cranky, but a little bit of Tylenol, a cute new dress, and some stylin' sunglasses, and she was as good as new. The most common question we get about Abbie is "How much longer will she need her feeding tube?" We have no clue! We are trying to work with her but there is only so much we can do if she won't suck. We're going to make an appointment with another feeding therapist (I didn't feel like the first one was helpful at all) and see if that helps.

And last, but not least, Lance got to celebrate his first Father's Day on Sunday. He is such an amazing Daddy! He's so good at taking care of Abbie and he's not afraid to change a dirty diaper! Abbie loves her Daddy and always has a smile for him! Thanks for being such a wonderful husband and father!

Fun Weekend

It's 10 o'clock in the morning and Abbie is STILL sleeping! So I thought I'd take advantage of it and do a little blogging. It's always a little sad when the weekend is over (especially because Lance takes the Abbie night shift on weekends!) but I love the weekdays when Abbie and I get to relax in our PJ's all day. Anyway, we did have a fun weekend. Lance and I got to go on not one but two dates thanks to our wonderful parents. On Friday night we left Abbie with Grandma Moss and went mini-golfing at Cherry Hill where Lance proceeded to give me a good walloping.

Saturday we did a little shopping while G & G Johnson watched Abbie. We love our little baby but let's face it, it's nice to have a little break sometimes. Saturday night we had a BBQ with Lance's family and Sunday night we had our monthly family night with my mom's side of the family. It was a pretty full weekend but Abbie gets cuter every day and we love watching her grow and change and showing her off to friends and family.

Just Another Day

I guess it's been awhile since our last post but there hasn't been that much to post about. There still isn't that much to post about but here goes. We've just been getting into a little routine around here, Abbie wakes up anywhere from 6-8 and is usually pretty happy in the morning. Sometimes she even lets me get a load of laundry in! The rest of our day consists of short periods of Abbie taking cat naps while I try to sneak in some breakfast, lunch, and rest. When she's awake and happy (which doesn't happen very often some days) we try to work on bottle feeding. She still won't suck on anything but at least she'll let the bottle into her mouth without throwing a fit. Lance gets home at around 4 which is so nice for me because that is generally when Abbie starts to get crabby. It's nice to be able to switch off when our muscles and joints are aching from bouncing and rocking and jiggling. She usually goes to bed at 9 which gives Lance and I a little time to watch a movie or play a game before our eyes start to droop.

In other news, Abbie has finally graduated! Since we came home from the hospital, Abbie has been seeing her pediatrician every week to make sure she is gaining weight. Well, yesterday, after Abbie weighed in at a whopping 12 lbs 2 oz, our pedi told us that we didn't have to come back for TWO weeks! hehe. Well, we have to celebrate the little things! Heck we celebrate when she only throws up twice a day instead of the usual 4-5 times. Lance went on a short business trip this week. He was only gone 2 1/2 days but wow it seemed like a lot longer than that! Abbie and I missed him and are very glad he's home now. Well that's about all that's been going on with us. We're excited for nice weather and a fun and laid back summer. Here are some random pics just for fun.

Abbie's new talent

Abbie's funny hair after her bath

Sunday Night Drama

Ninja Warrior

We should have known from this picture that Abbie had lightning quick ninja reflexes, but we were fools and turned our backs for one minute. In that one minute, Abbie managed to do this:

Yes, she pulled out her feeding tube! The feeding tube that we tried so valiantly to keep in! And you can tell she was pretty proud of herself! (ok, this picture was staged, but isn't it perfect?). Anyway, we had to call a home care nurse to come and watch us put it in since we've never done it ourselves. We had to try three times to get it all the way down her nose to her stomach and little Abbie was not a happy camper! I have never seen her as upset as she was last night! We felt terrible, but of course she was just fine a few minutes later. Now if she pulls it out, we can put it back in all by ourselves, not that it's a happy event, it'll just be nice to not have to call a nurse to observe.

3 Months Old!!

Wow, I can't believe my little baby girl is 3 months old already!

3 things Abbie loves

1. Being rocked to sleep

2. Watching American Idol with mom and dad

3. Going for rides in the car

Dad rocking Abbie to sleep

3 things Abbie hates
1. Getting strapped in her carseat
2. Getting her nose suctioned out
3. Right now, her binkie :(


3 things Mom loves about Abbie
1. Dressing her up all cute
2. She sleeps through the night!
3. Her big smiles!

Abbie's favorite sleeping position

3 New things we've tried with Abbie this week

1. Going to church for the first time

2. Going to the feeding therapist

3. Getting a new tube (an NG-tube that goes to her stomach instead of her intestines)

Abbie sporting her new tube and a new hat. Isn't that face priceless?!

Mom and Abbie chillin' after church