A very cold Tues.

We had another trip to a pumpkin patch with Gavin's preschool on Tues. It was in the low 30's when we left and I bundled the kids up and headed down to Union, NE to a sweet little pumpkin farm. It was a great place, but it was so cold my little babies were doing the best they could. I definantly got the "bad mother" of the day award for forgetting gloves. I realized I didn't bring gloves half way there and that is basically in the middle of no where and there is nothing in Union, NE. The kids did survive even though it didn't warm up. Gavin loved playing on everything and Avalyn loved painting a pumpkin. Cambria was wonderful and stayed quiet in her car seat in the stroller the entire time, poor thing was stuck there under her blankets for several hours. They had a good time and hopefully we can return next year when it is a little warmer.

After Cambria woke up from her nap, when we got home, I thought I'd take some new pictures of her. She is doing great, they are healing well and she is showing improvement. She is even wearing her glasses a lot more, they don't seem to bother her as much, unless she is tired she has been keeping them on. I know she is not wearing them in the picture, but I thought you can see her eyes better without them. They are so much more aligned now, she is even able to track sometimes- her eyes do tick when she follows something, but she does follow for a little bit (that's better than nothing, like before). It's amazing the difference, she looks great! She does seem to move for bright objects futher away and when she drops something she looks in the direction it fell- she never did that before. Her vision still isn't great, she doesn't react to facial expressions or look in the direction of someone further away. Life is so much more interesting, she is thrilled with life just scooting around and studying everything that is in her way. We are so excited with this little blessing in her life, she may never see as clear as most, but she is so content and happy. Praise the Lord!

Cambria playing

Cambria woke up around 4:30 after her long nap. She drank a bottle, took some advil, pooped, played a little, ate some food, played a little more, sat in her swing for a while, drank a little more milk, got her eye drops (not fun) and was ready for bed by 6:45. Poor baby she is so sleepy, but seems content with life and not in too much pain. She enjoyed looking at her toys, but definantly wasn't her normal self moving all over the place. The blood that was dried up around her eyes came off during her long nap, so it doesn't look so bad, but the blood in her eyes will be there for up to 2 weeks. We have an appointment with her eye doc in the morning, so I will let you know how that goes. Thanks again for all you prayers!

Surgery Day!

Thank you so much for all your prayers! They were answered, everything went well today. The only problem was getting the IV in her hand, they ended up putting it in her head- don't worry she was already asleep and in the operating room when they put it in. The surgery itself and recovery went well.

These pictures were taken before they took her in, she had some meds. that made her a little loopy (but still so cute). They were supposed to make her drousy, but she faught that so hard and wouldn't stop squirming. They did help her relax and forget that she hadn't had anything to eat since 12:45am (she would only drink an ounce for us, but we tried). She was so squirmy we just put her in the bed and let her role around, she would smile from time to time and of course love on her glow worm!

Ready for surgery- this medicine is so Good!

One last crossed eye picture!

Shortly after recovery! I didn't want to get too close, her eyes are really bloody. For a while her tears will also be bloody, so that is what the blood around her eyes is from. It didn't bother her when she opened her eyes, you can tell that she was curious about her new sight!

Cambria on the way home, holding onto her car seat toy- she actually stayed awake for a little bit.

Surgery was at 9 am and we were home a little after 12! She went straight to bed and at 4 o'clock is still asleep. We will see how she feels when she awakes- I am sure she will be ready for pain meds and food! Our sweet little angel is well and we praise the Lord for all He has done!

The Big Day!

Tomorrow Cambria's eye surgery is at 9am! The surgery will only take about an hour and then we will be in the hospital (Boys Town National Research Hospital) for a while until she wakes up. We should be home late in the afternoon. We have been looking forward to this day for so many months and are excited about the results. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers! God is good and He is in control! We Love you all! We will keep you updated.

Happy 9 Months Cambria!

Sun. Cambria turned 9 months! Such a sweetie growing so fast. Today at her baby well check she was 17.0 pounds (14%), 26 in. long. (8%), and her head is 16 in. (17%). She is a little peanut, but doing well (just last week she was 16.11 pounds (6%) after not feeling well that weekend). We are looking forward to her eye surgery on Thur. morning! Thanks for all your prayers!

More fun!

Fun at Vala's!

Last night we went to Vala's pumpkin patch with the youth group from church. It was absolutely beautiful outside and because we went around at 5:45 pm we got great parking and it wasn't nearly as busy. It is a huge pumpkin patch with so many things to do- something you must experience if you are near Omaha during Sep. and Oct. The kids had a blast they saw pigs raise, fed a camel, jumped on a massive air filled "pillow" in the ground (probably their favorite part), road a bicycle made for 4, slid down a tractor slide, ate homemade cookies out of a cone, roasted marshmellows and sang song at the campfire, took a hay ride in the dark, picked a pumpkin out of the field in the dark, had a wonderful time just being together. I did my best with pictures, but it was dark by 7:30 so I didn't capture everything.

The GOOD and the Bad...

The Good: DADDY's HOME!!! It's been 5 long weeks and I am happy it is over. Kyle was able to come home a day early (yesterday). We've been enjoying his company and of course his help!

This morning we went for Halloween pictures by a photographer friend, Janine, who has a Halloween special (profits go to charity) day at her studio. Last year was a little stressful, we got there and I forgot part of Avalyn's costume and had to go back home. I had waited to put it on Avalyn till we got there, thinking she wouldn't notice it, well of course she did and she hated every minute of it (especially the bunny ears). It was nap time and the only reason we got pictures was because I sat her down and we fed her M&M's. This year was much better and believe it or not we had great pictures within 30 min. Gavin was thrilled with his Superman costume and Avalyn loved her Tinkerbell costume. I have been so excited I baught the girls Tinkerbell costumes last Nov., still pregnant with Cambria, I couldn't pass up the 2 beautiful costumes at the Disney store (Avalyn's was regularly $40 and I got it for $11 and Cambria's I got for $7 regularly $30). They have been hidden in the closet since last year, I new Avalyn wouldn't mind a costume this year since she loves dressing up and she is in a leotard once a week. The only thing she wouldn't do is put the wings on, I know very fustrating but we pick our battles around here and she was just as happy as can be to have her picture taken in the costume- her personality is sometimes like little tinkerbell, very sweet but very determind. Cambria looked adorable, but taking pictures during nap and with her horrible rash on her bottom (from medicine she's been on for a fever and slight ear infection), she did the best she could. She hates a diaper rash and this is probably one of the worst she has had- they make her fussy until it goes away, thank goodness this is probably only the 2nd one she has had that is as extereme as it is. I am sure there are some cute one's of Cambria, but no smiling and probably the most difficult thing (about taking pictures of her) right now is she can't sit at all. I can't wait to see the pictures, I love having other's take the pictures (it's hard with all 3). Now to the bad.

You may ask why no pictures with the post. My Camera BROKE!!! We've had it for less than 2 years and I am so fustrated. Our last digital camera broke in the same way, they are different brands and neither were dropped. This would be less fustrating, but money is tight and we have so much ahead of us I would like to document- the pumpkin patch tomorrow is just one of them. Oh well, I know it will all work out and I will be posting new pictures a.s.a.p.

Cambria on the scoot!

Sorry it's been a while. We had a busy week and with such a slow computer blogging just seems like a chore sometimes, not to mention I've been moody and having cramps for over a week (I miss being pregnant when this time comes, just hope it ends soon). I can't wait till Kyle returns with the lap top. ONLY 6 Days!!!!!! It feels like he has been gone for so long, I am just glad these 5 weeks will be behind us soon. We miss you like crazy Daddy!

This is how Cambria falls asleep every night. I lay her on her tummy, wrapped in a blanket, pacifier in her mouth, glow worm underneath her arm, lights out in the closet, I push the glow worm's tummy, close the door while the music plays, and that is it for bedtime with Cambria. So sweet, so precious, I love putting my baby down for bed!


I've been meaning to blog about Cambria scooting since the begining of Oct. when she started to and I am finally there. Here is a small clip of her scooting- this was probably her second day. She is much better now and absolutely loving it. The living room is hers, she is all over the place. I have to make sure there are toys spread out everywhere for her to discover (this isn't hard with a 2yr old and 4yr old to help). She gets fustrated when she gets to a place on the floor where she can't see toys. Balls are also a little fustrating, she loves them until they roll out of her view (still about 1 ft. in front of her, sometimes she reaches or scoots to something a little bit further). She is loving life and it is so cute to see her explore, she is so content scooting and rolling for sometimes an hour or more. The difficult part about this is now when we are out she wants to squirm out of my arms, like she can just scoot around on any floor- it doesn't help that she still wants to eat everything. She doesn't like to keep her glasses on when she is playing on the floor, so that is something we have to work on. Cambria has also proped herself up on all fours, for just a little bit (and I think sometimes she is pooping) but I am sure she will catch onto crawling! We are so proud of her! When Kyle gets back I will upload a better clip of her moving around. Now onto sitting- okay so that might be a while. I am hoping after her surgery on the 23rd, to fix her crossed eyes, it will help her balance and she will feel more comfortable sitting up.


Cambria after her bath. Bath time has always been one of her favorite times and ussually loves being wrapped up in a towel. She was ready for a nap when I took these, so a smile was a little bit hard to get, but she looked too cute not to take a picture of.

Gavin's room

Gavin wanted pictures of his room up, since he saw his sister's room up. I don't have any with the bed, but here's the mural I did in there. It's been 2 years since he has been in the room and I am happy to say he still loves it- of course he is expecting a Star Wars room when we move again (we will have to see about that, but I will gladly do a different room- this was his 2nd airplane room). He has enjoyed seeing the airplanes in real life at air shows and on base.