Nine Months Old on Christmas Eve!

Not only was today Cal's first Christmas Eve, it is also her 9 month birthday!!! Time sure does fly!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Cam and Cal celebrated Christmas eve in style! We had dinner over at Grammy C's house, Santa left them stockings while Grammy C was getting ready and they got to open up one present each!!! We had a great Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours....

Love, Chris, Cassie, Cameron and Calleigh

xoxo

Dinner Time!!

Tonight Cal was being so silly during dinner I had to get it on camera. Here is the short little video and excuse the narration...my kids bring out my silly side (Grandpa Pete can also be heard in the background!)!!!

Make video montages at onetruemedia.com

Fun with eating!!!

Here are a few pictures from the last two nights during dinner time! Calleigh is greatly enjoying her solid foods and is up to one full jar at lunch and one full jar at dinner. She loves carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash! She also loves to get the food all over her face! If these faces don't make you laugh...I am not sure what will!!!

We fought the good fight and lost...well we really didn't lose...

So I have been really terrible at keeping you all updated about Cal's health status so be prepared for a long post. This one starts back on December 6th. Chris and I took Calleigh into see her GI doctor, Dr. Easley. Every time we meet with him we fear for the worst and that is little to no weight gain. Prior to this appointment, Calleigh was weighed (about 5 weeks prior and naked nudeey) and she weighed 10 lbs 15 oz. When Cal was weighed at this appointment she was 11 lbs 2 oz (with a diaper which weighs about 2 oz) and 24 inches long. She had grown about 1/4 of an inch but there was no real weight gain. Dr. Easley explained to us that it was really time to consider the feeding tube. Reluctant to give into the idea of a feeding tube, Dr. Easley explained how a feeding tube is not a bad thing. It does not mean that we have failed (which is exactly how I felt), and it certainly does not mean we have to stop giving her bottles and solid foods. He made us an appointment for December 21st to come back and have an endoscopy and a pH test. An endoscopy is a little camera that goes down the throat to look at the esophagus and stomach and a pH test measures acidity levels through a small tube placed inside the nose and must be left in for 24 hours. He gave us two weeks to pack the pounds on our little girl and Chris and I were determined to do so! Now fast forward to this past Wednesday, December 21st...

We met with Dr. Easley again this past Wednesday for the scope and pH test. Chris and I were so anxious to see how much weight Cal had gained in two weeks, we were hoping for a pound so this whole feeding tube idea would go away. Cal weighed in at 11 lbs 5 oz (with a diaper so really 11 lbs 3 oz) which was fabulous but not enough, so it was on with the procedures. Calleigh had to be sedated for this procedure and honestly the IV was the worst part of the whole day! Two different nurse tried to get the IV into her arm (twice) and then end to her foot. All three attempts failed and the IV ended up in her head! She was mad, but she is such a great baby! The whole procedure lasted about 15 minutes (it took one hour to get the IV in... so needless to say we were thankful the procedure was so quick!) and Dr. Easley showed us pictures of our little girl's perfect belly! Everything looked great, the pH tube was in place so once she woke up from her sedation we were free to go home. We went back on the 22nd to have the pH tube removed and later that day we got the results back and she had no signs of acid reflux which was great news! Today I heard from her doctor at Fort Hood and he has put in the referral for the Pediatric Surgeon at Scott and White to perform Calleighs feeding tube surgery which should occur very early next month.

The "button" as the docs call the feeding tube will be surgically placed into her stomach and at night we will hook up an IV line of formula to supplement what calories she is losing throughout the day by not eating, crying, "moving and shaking" etc. So as you can see, this is not a battle lost, it is a battle won and soon we should have a little bit of a chunkier baby!!!! Below are a few pictures of Cal with her IV, sleeping after the procedure with her new friend and sharing some birthday cake with daddy...you can see the tube in her nose! Thanks for reading about our little girl and I will be sure to keep you posted!!!

Milestones are fun...

I just wanted to update y'all on some things our little Calleigh is doing or has done...

*12/13/2006- With the help of her Theratogs and a small boppy pillow, Cal sat ALL BY HERSELF!

*12/18/2006- With Daddy and Grandpa watching, Calleigh rolled over from her back to her tummy...we are still waiting for it to happen again!

*12/22/2006- Calleigh has discovered her toes!

Alexander James!

I got a new picture of my "main man" A.J. today! He is so freakin' cute and getting so big! I think he is starting to look more and more like my brother everyday! My brother says that he is a wild man...I think I may call him "search and destroy!" I can't wait to see him again and love and squeezie him! Missing you A.J. so much! Lots of hugs and kisses from Auntie flying your way!

Lucas-ma-goo-kas!

I just had to share how darling our little nephew Lucas is. I know you have all heard me go on and on about my best friend Kim who lives in AZ...so I thought I would share a couple of their Christmas Pics! Lucas is now 9 months and I cannot beleive how fast he is growing, how darling he is and how much he looks like his momma...no matter what his daddy says! We miss the Whitehouses very much as they are like family to us. It is always hard around the holidays when you live so very far from ALL those that you love and miss! Anyway...just wanted to share!

Holy Cow! 8 Months Old!

Well, Cal is another month older! I think I may say this every month until she is one....can you beleive she is 8 months??!!! We sure can't...we just enjoy everyday with our children!

Happy Thanksgiving!

On Thrusday, we enjoyed Calleigh's very first Thanksgiving. It was very quiet in our house this year, but also very enjoyable just to be with family! Cal got to try some mashed potatoes and surprise, surprise...Cam had just spaghetti! It was a very fun evening! Now we are looking forward to Christmas!

Thera Togs

On Tuesday at Physical Therapy, Dana-Cal's Physical Therapist, added a little something to Cal's therepy. They are called Thera Togs.

"TheraTogs employ the principle of applying prolonged, low-load (i.e. gentle), corrective forces to the musculoskeletal system - in functional context - in order to attempt to effect improvements in muscle recruitment strategies, and, with full-time use, in muscle physiology and in young bone geometry resulting from thousands of movements per day. The wearer gains the experience – and the training potential – of prolonged therapeutic “handling” throughout the day, every day, as s/he undertakes routine activities using TheraTogs-induced improvements in posture and joint alignment, and while recruiting underused muscles at more normal lengths."

Calleigh has very low muscle tone and is showing many signs of having cerebral palsy, so we are really hoping that this new form of therapy will assist her in becoming stronger. Dana will be ordering Calleigh her own set and she will most likely wear them all day long, taking them off to sleep. We are very confident in the decision that Dana has made to incorporate Thera Togs into Calleigh's daily routine and we are excited to get started!

Our Lil' SSG

You woul dhave thought it was Halloween all over again in our house! Chris bought Cameron his own pair of ACU's and then dressed him up like...well like a little soldier. Cam even got to wear rank on his hat and jacket! He looked so cute and was so proud to look like his daddy! I guess I am getting a view of what is to come!

Baby Blues

Calleigh looked so pretty in her blue outfit today and she is also wearing a head band that her Auntie Christine gave her! Just thought we would share! Can you believe that Cal will be 8 months next Friday??!! Time sure does fly!

Our Daddy the Soldier

Daddy got all dressed up and was part of a Flag Ceremony celebrating Veterans Day. This all took place at the High School he works with for recruiting! He looked so handsome, we could not resist but post his picture on our blog. WE LOVE OUR DADDY!

Love,
Cameron and Calleigh

OUR DADDY

(Ret. 1SG, SFC Sharp, SSG Morrow & Pvt Chappel)

Ophthalmology Update...

Today my mom, Cal and I went to Scott and White in Temple and met Cal's new ophthalmologist, Dr. Adams. He is a very nice man and we are excited that he will be following Calleigh closely in respect to her eyes. He told us that Cal's optic nerves in both eyes look good and he believes that she can see equally out of each eye. How well she can see is another question and we don't really have that answer yet. Calleigh does however have STRABISMUS. This is a misalignment of the eyes and is actually more common than rare. In three months, we will see Dr. Adams again so that he can reassess the severity of the misalignment and then Calleigh will have to have surgery to fix the misalignment. It is a day surgery, but she does have to be knocked out again! Wow, twice before she is one...that is more than in my whole life! She is a trooper though and we all know that she will not only succeed in life but EXCEL! I will keep you updated!

Weight Update!

I took Calleigh in for a weight check yesterday(11/7) and she is now weighing in at 10 lbs 15 oz! YEAH FOR CALLEIGH!

Dressin' Like The Big Girls!

All dolled up for a day in Austin!

Hey Cal...are those boot cut??

Cal is dressin' like the big girls in her Old Navy jeans!

Day Out With Thomas

So I was not going to take Cameron this year to Day Out With Thomas because it is quite the pricey event, but Chris insisted that we take him, so we did! And let me tell you...we were repaid in the best way! Cameron LOVES Thomas the Tank Engine. The smile on his face and the excitement that he emitted all day was worth all the money in the world! I realized that it was the best choice to take him because one day he is not going to want to go to Thomas anymore and he is not going to want to hang out with mom and dad anymore....so I am going to enjoy these times for as long as I can! We had so much fun!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Our kiddos had a great time trick or treating despite the cooler weather! Cam was Peter Pan, Cal was Tinkerbell and our Shaney was Cpt. Hook! They were the best dressed clan on the streets! Lots of candy was collected...and eaten! Cal enjoyed her very first Halloween and ended up being quite the poser in her "My First Halloween" onsie! Halloween is always a fun night and this year it was great because the boys were soooo excited! They ran (surpirsed?) the whole time!