Haven decided to feed me yesterday...

Thank you!

Aunt Lindsey got the girls really pretty toy boxes for Christmas. Haven's is white and matches her room perfectly--AWESOME GIFT! Thank you to everyone--Haven had a great 1st Christmas!

Looking forward to New Year's Eve weekend at the lake!

Merry Christmas!

Here is the baby that was able to have her lip surgery through Smile Train thanks to the donation the Shipley's made in Haven's name!!

My thoughts this morning...

This has been an year of change for our entire family. 2 new babies (and 1 on the way), 2 new houses, new jobs, new friends/significant others/etc. As always, we have so much to be thankful for. Life goes by so quickly--it's always nice to stop and relax with the people who matter most during the holidays. The fact is the jobs change, money comes and goes, cars don't matter, material things don't matter...but our family is the one constant in our lives. Speaking for Mike and I personally--family this year has meant a support system that was much needed. Haven is the absolute best thing thing in our world and it there were countless happy moments but a few scary and anxious ones as well. She made it through two surgeries and a painful recovery and my parents, sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles, etc. were all there for us.

Amanda and Sean had a great Christmas Eve last night and we're getting ready to go to Grammy's and Papa's for breakfast this morning before heading to Naperville for the Shipley party. :)

6 months old TODAY!

Day out with Aunt Amanda & Cousin Arlie!

I worked this past weekend so I had a day off today--it was really nice to spend time with Haven. After a visit to Aunt Dolores, we ran errands with Amanda and Arlie which ended with a trip for ice cream. Two things we learned: Arlene can eat two ice cream cones at once and Haven loves vanilla ice cream :)

snoozing...

Footprint tile, peaches & applesauce, other funny pics of me!

stare down

I love aunt Laurel

Elephant from Uncle Jordo & Aunt Kate

painting makes me sleepy

only about a month behind. :)

growing/rolling/eating

We saw Dr. Polley & Dr. Figueroa today for a post-op check up. They both said they are pleased with her results and that her scar will continue to fade which will make it look even better. I asked what we might have ahead of us in terms of future surgeries, revisions, grafts, etc. and was told that they will wait to evaluate her gumline until about 7 or 8 years old because they want to see how her adult teeth come in and whether or not the gum that is there is strong enough to hold them in place. If not, they will do a bone graft to that area. We go back in March for her final post op meeting--Dr. Polley said the lip will "relax" even more between now and then and he's expecting it to be fully healed. After that, we will bring her back around 1 or 1 1/2 years old--when she starts talking. The entire team will see her then and determine what speech therapy needs she may have. They both felt that her speech should develop normally because her palate is intact. The team will monitor her then at yearly appointments to check things like her ears (some cleft babies have tubes put in), dentist/orthodontist issues, and how the nose and lip look as she grows. It is possible that she won't need any lip or nose revision done but we won't know until she is older. Dr. Polley said to be thankful that her palate is fine because most kids are getting ready for multiple palate surgeries right about now. We had a great visit with them and I was able to thank them both for everything they have done for our family. It is easy to just see what they do as a job--but they have changed many lives in our family alone because of the services they provide and we will never take that for granted. I was getting really sappy in the office and Dr. Polley made sure to tell me that I'm not getting rid of them so quickly....Haven will be a part of their "family" for many years to come regardless of whether or not she needs more surgeries. They will help see her through the coming stages and we're happy to be on this journey with them.

On a lighter note...Haven is rolling like crazy--showing off mostly. I can tell because she's doing it to reach things that she could have just stuck her hand out and grabbed--really, you HAD to roll twice to get that?!? :) I was reading a book to her while she was laying on her back and she rolled right over and started turning pages for me. SO cute! And yes, she is naked...it was almost bath time.

She also tried applesauce for the first time tonight which went over pretty well. So far she loves peaches and applesauce and the jury is still out on bananas.

SHE ROLLED OVER! 1st roll, 2nd roll, and post roll interview...

brrrrrrrrrr

Found my camera!

Here are some new photos of Miss Haven...

Baby's First Snowy Christmas!

It's been a few weeks since I've posted on here...mainly because I can't seem to find my camera. :( Haven had a doctor's appointment this week and weighs in at 13lb 3oz! Dr. McBride suggested we stop doing the dream feeds in the middle of the night because 6 months is the time where her sleep habits are the most important thing to focus on--and we shouldn't be so worried about her weight. I've heard this over and over and have decided that I will always think about her weight and how she's growing because of having to worry about it from birth with surgery. I can't seem to get that out of my mind but I'm trying. She's healthy and SUPER happy--so I will try to worry. She started eating peaches this week and that went over really well.