Surgery is a GO!

Annelisa's corrective surgery is a GO! Wednesday, December 5th, she will have corrective surgery on both eyes for Exotropia.

At her appointment this morning, Dr. Stager, Jr. measured about 30 degrees of wandering in each eye; as a point of reference, at her initial appointment in October he measured between 20 and 25 degrees. He is very optimistic about the results of surgery in a week.

A couple of things about the surgery, it is outpatient surgery...so there is no intention of staying overnight and we expect for Christopher to be back at work that afternoon. We will be one of the first appointments that day due to Annelisa being only 8 months old. Due to being put under general anesthesia, she will have restrictions about when and what she can eat.

Her surgery will be at the Cook Children's Pediatric Surgery Center in Plano.

Some specific things to pray for:

• Annelisa's ability to handle the physical  mental, and emotional stresses of the procedure and alterations to her "normal" schedule, especially feedings! 
• Dr. Stager, Jr. and his assistants in surgery...that all would go according to plan.
• The pediatric anesthesiologist to quickly and effectively take care of our little lady. 
• The staff at Cook Children's to be efficient, patient, and helpful. 
• Annelisa's medical chart to be free of errors (our last name has been misspelled on some documents!).
• Christopher and I to know how to best take care of Annelisa and to be kind, loving, and slow to anger with each other throughout the stresses of this procedure.
• Annelisa will heal quickly and properly after the procedure. 

I'll post again post surgery to update on how things went! 

You can read more about our journey in Exotropia here and here. 

Annelisa is 8 Months!

Annelisa is so much fun! We feel extremely blessed with this precious gift from God! Her eighth month was full of laughter, smiles, curiosity, and growth!

At 8 months, Annelisa:

• is nursing four to five times a day.
• is eating solids (mostly purees) once a day.
• loves the following foods:
• mangoes
• sweet potatoes
• squash
• apples
• broccoli, pears, and peas 
• bananas 
• carrots
• green beans as long as they are mixed with sweet potatoes, carrots or squash
• sweet potato puffs
• is sleeping 11-12 hours each night. If/when she wakes up, she typically puts herself back to sleep.
• survived her first time change with only minor alterations to her 'normal' schedule.
• is napping typically three times a day for about one hour and fifteen minutes each.
• about an hour and a half after waking up (between 8:30 and 9:00 AM)
• around noon
• and between 3:30 and 4:00
• is sleeping on her tummy most of the time.
• is wearing size three disposable diapers (Pampers Baby Dry).
• is wearing 9 month size footed PJ's.
• is wearing mostly 9 month outfits and onesies...there are some 6-12 month and 6-9 month size things in the rotation. 
• is playing independently for longer stretches in the morning.
• she tends to be "clingier" in the afternoon...wanting to be very close by! Which is very endearing, but makes it hard to get things done! 
• is smiling at everyone! She is even developing some bashfulness; she will smile then hide her face in my shoulder, then turn back to smile again! It's really cute! 
• is beginning to show signs of separation anxiety...she loves being with mommy and being able to see mommy almost constantly! 
• is reaching for everything! She really wants to play with our phones and laptops when they are in reach.
• has discovered books and paper! 
• puts everything in her mouth!
• still sucks her thumb for comfort, especially when sleepy. She seems to prefer her left thumb and her right fingers...funny little lady! 
• still has no teeth! I know that eventually they will cut through ...I promise I think they are getting closer! 
• favorite toys:
• stacking rings
• fishy rattle
• Guess How Much I Love You fabric book with teether book mark
• passes toys between her hands.
• rolls easily from back to tummy, but not from tummy to back.
• loves Peek-a-boo!
• is figuring out object permanence! She has figured out how to find 'hidden' objects and I think she understands that I'm the same mommy each time in peek-a-boo! 
• pivots around while on tummy or in sitting position.
• shows excitement with lots of babbles, squeals and arms waving and hitting her legs. 
• is still inch worming...better going backwards than forwards.
• loves to stand up with support! 
• can reach almost any toy by reaching as far as she can.
• is sitting up in her bath tub for baths. 
• loves playing with her bath toys.
• is still in her infant car seat...but not for long...we are making the switch to her convertible seat this weekend! :)
• helped Mommy with Halloween Pumpkin Carving. 
• participated in her parents' Parent Commissioning. 
• "helped" mommy with preparations for Thanksgiving...aka discovered flour! 
• participated in her first Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving!
• wears her "lucky" onesie for every Aggie Game Day and the Ags are now 9-2!! WHOOP! (By the way, the Ags have been outscored the two weeks she didn't wear this onesie!)

Annelisa's 8th month in pictures!

Aggie Game Day 

The "Lucky" Aggie Onesie 

After her nap on Parent Commissioning Sunday, November 18th...a view of her pretty dress, playing with her colored rings! 

Oh my, that is a pretty white phone! 

Bathing Beauty! :) 

Ready for bed

Playing with a book

Helping mommy bake a pie for Thanksgiving! 

 Turkey Trot

Ready to Give Thanks! 

Parent Commissioning

Today, we participated in Parent Commissioning at our church. We are so thankful for the church body and community of believers that God has brought us to at Allen Bible. Our families were there to support us as we declare to all that we have and are accepting our responsibilities as the parents of Annelisa Grace, to raise her up in the ways of the Lord.

Here's the video of our Commissioning! 

We selected Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV) for Annelisa Grace. It is our prayer for her that she will come to know Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at an early age as her Savior and Redeemer! 

8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

After the service, we returned to our home with our families to celebrate all that God has done and will continue to do in our lives with Annelisa Grace. Annelisa was a tired little lady and promptly went down for a nap...she is always tired after a morning spent in the nursery watching all the other babies. 

We are so thankful to all of our family members who came to church with us and celebrated God's blessing with us whether in person or from a far! We love you all! 

Exotropia Update

Yesterday, we saw Dr. Stager, Jr. again for a second appointment to check Annelisa's eyes. Basically, her eyes have maintained (or even slightly worsened) the level of exotropia he saw four weeks ago at our initial appointment. (You can read more about that here.)

Dr. Stager, Jr.  wanted to see us three weeks later, December 6th, for the next follow up to begin to discuss surgery options. At the conclusion of this appointment, his nurse told me she'd call the next day to pencil in surgery for Annelisa before the end of the year. This surgery will be to correct the muscle tension on one of her eyes, likely the right eye. Dr. Stager, Jr. feels like doing both eyes could overwhelm her at this stage of vision development. He will continue to watch her over the next several months and years. We could eventually have surgery on the other eye. Or we might not...depending on how her vision develops after surgery.

Fast forward to today...Dr. Stager, Jr.'s nurse calls to arrange a potential surgery date, depending on how the next appointment goes...and low and behold the only option for surgery at the Cook's Children Pediatric Outpatient facility in Plano is December 5....so we have moved up our next appointment to Tuesday, November 27.

There is the potential that the surgery won't happen on the 5th, but we are planning on it. I need to complete all the surgery center's online paperwork for Annelisa to be all set up in their system. I suspect that the next couple of weeks will be busy with appointments for pre-op and post-op and such.

Prayers for:

• Annelisa to handle the physical and mental stresses of the appointments and surgery. 
• Wisdom for Christopher and I as we make decisions for her health care and best development. 
• Patience with all the medical staff we will work with. 
• Financially for all the claims to be filed appropriately with our health insurance company so we can maximize the benefits we have been blessed with. 

I'll update again after our appointment on the 27th. We appreciate all of your prayers as we walk through this process! 

I Raise My White Flag: 7

A few weeks back our church worship band started playing a new (maybe only to us!) Chris Tomlin song, "White Flag" and I haven't been able to get it out of my head! I've been listening and singing along at least once a day since the middle of last week. Take a listen for yourself!

I was thinking about this song and the emotions it brings to the surface for me as a Christ follower. The nature of raising a white flag in complete surrender, asking Christ to calm the storm of my heart, my head, my soul. My rebel heart, like yours, is constantly being fought over! This fight is not necessarily at the hands of a physical, flesh, and blood enemy, but more likely, it's a fight against the world in which we live. A world filled with materialism and for a lot of us, fictional needs.

My best friend and I are reading a book entitled, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker. I hesitantly agreed to read this book alongside her...I quote my text message Timid voice: sure! Laura has already started a blog series prompted by this book...you can check it out here.

I have recognized my feelings of "need" for more a lot of late. Perhaps out of feeling the pressures of the upper middle class world around me, combined with my own selfish desires. 7 holds up a glaringly different perspective with plenty of food for thought. So as America heads into the season of Consumerism and Excess. I'm desiring more of God, more of His Truth, more of Him in every aspect of this season, in our home, and especially in our family.

In the words of the song,

I raise my white flag! I surrender! All to YOU, All for YOU!

The war is over! 

I surrender all to YOU! I surrender all to YOU!

Love has come! Love has won! 

I lift the cross! 

Lift it high! 

Lift it high!

Lift it high! 

Join us in reading if you'd like, stay tuned for my insights as I seek Christ to be molded and shaped by a life with less and MORE of HIM! 

A "Handful" of Halloween

Annelisa's first Halloween did not have a costume, or a bag full of treats; instead it was full of hands!

I can't take full credit for this pumpkin cuteness! I was inspired by Young House Love's pumpkins from their daughters first Halloween back in 2010. I took their idea and ran with it to my "mommy" sized pumpkin complete with my hands as eyes!

Needless to say, carving our first pumpkins was quite fun for me! I hadn't carved a pumpkin and dealt with all the lovely, slimy seeds since late high school 10 years ago! It was so much fun! Especially, since our Life Group girls got together to do it on 30th.

Next year, I predict we will have some Trick or Treating and a funny toddler costume!!

More pictures of our pumpkin with the pumpkins!

"Hmmm, what are these strange orange orbs?" 

Dusk with glowing hands

Darkness complete with glowing pumpkins! 

Annelisa is 7 months!

I shouldn't be surprised at 7 months being lived out with Annelisa...yet, I find myself marveling at how much all of us have grown and changed in these days, weeks, and months since she was born. I've mentioned this quote before, but it continues to prove itself true...long days and short years or in our case, currently, the short months. Some days feel so long, yet, the months are flying by! My current goal with Annelisa is to live in the moment, get messy with her, giggle with her, do life with her! I'm attempting to savor each month and each milestone and not focus on getting to the next too quickly! Too many women keep telling me how quickly this time will go and attempt to savor it! So for mommy...finding the balance between savoring the moment and maintaining our family is my newest challenge!

At 7 months, Annelisa is:

• wearing size 3 disposable diapers.
• wearing mostly 9 month size outfits and onesies, with some large 6 month items thrown in. 
• wearing 6 month size footed pj's each night.
• sleeping 11 to 12 hours most nights (she has had more early morning (2 or 3 AM) feedings of late...perhaps due to poor naps during the day and a growth spurt?).
• taking three naps most days...early to mid morning, middle of the day, and late afternoon...all three total less than four hours total, with the middle of the day nap typically being the longest.
• starting solids in the following order:
• sweet potatoes
• green beans
• pears
• peas (She only likes them when mixed with sweet potato.)
• squash
• mangoes (Her current favorite and she'll eat them mixed with oatmeal!!)
• apples (Only had once...so far, and didn't really like them.)
• carrots
• nursing four to five times a day.
• still working on those bottom teeth...I think they are getting closer to coming in...but I've thought that for a while now.
• sitting up and playing independently for longer stretches.
• checking in with mom and dad while playing and she will steal a smile when you talk to her across the room.
• loving playing in the jumparoo and exersauser.
• starting to inch worm...and really it's a 1/4 inch or less at a time, and she moves faster going backwards than forwards.
• rolled over on her own in her crib for the first time (today!!).
• still self soothing by sucking her thumb.
• loves Farley! She smiles and babbles at him all the time! Unfortunately, Farley isn't interested unless it's on his terms.  
• favorite toy is a little fishy rattle.
• She has become so interactive! Babbling, smiling, reacting to all sorts of things...making life with her so much fun! :)
• mouthing on glasses of cool water at home and at restaurants. 
• still in her infant car seat on the largest harness setting.
• started sitting in her high chair for meals at home. 
• starting to sit in high chairs at restaurants while mom and dad eat. 
• went to the park for the first time and tried the swings and the slide (with mom's help!). 
• diagnosed with Exotropia, (more on that here!)
• loving shopping in the baby bjorn carrier. 
• touching our faces and discovering how they work.
• discovering her ears.
• enjoying putting her feet in her mouth.
• enjoyed her weekend with 'Dada' while mommy went away to the women's retreat. 
• Oh, and the Aggies are 5-2! Thanks and Gig'Em! 

Annelisa's 7th month in pictures: 

Shopping at Target in the Baby Bjorn

A frequent facial expression...she is studying the iphone! 

Big girl sitting up all on her own! With a smile! :) 

Playing in her exersaucer

Pear in a mesh feeder for first time

Hanging with Farley during 7 month photos

Admiring her pup! 

Gotta love baby meal times! 

More please! :) 

Playing outside

In the baby swing at the park for first time...

Laughing while she swung! 

Baby chillin' at the park

Mommy and daughter Twinkies for the Maroon Out game.