Thanksgiving 2012

This post is late, but I wanted to get this written for memory sake.  For Thanksgiving we traveled to Austin to visit our family.  It had been about 7 months since we last went to Austin.  Thomas and I use to go to Austin more often, but with three little ones its tough.  Its definitely a challenge traveling with three little girls, but we made it.  We enjoyed visiting with Thomas's sisters, his parents, my parents, nieces and nephews.  We enjoyed the traditional Thanksgiving feast as well as the time spent with our family.  Thomas and I are so grateful for our family!

I didn't take many pictures while in Austin which is so unlike me, but I did get some random pictures of the girls.

Kayla's 1st Thanksgiving

Haley

Rachel

 

We are TEXAS!

Last weekend (November 10) my parents came to visit and we decided to venture out.  We went to a park where there were horses and stables.  The girls had a good time seeing and petting the horses.  On the wall of the stables was a Texas flag as well as the American flag.  I was able to take some pictures of my girls and family!  This is the same place I took Kayla's eleven month pictures.  Thomas, I and the girls were all born in Texas so this was fitting.   

With the first two pictures the sun was shinning into my lens and I didn't realize that happened until I got home.  I did as much editing as I could to fix it.  This is the best I could get.  I think they still look good.  

Grandpa and Grandma with their Granddaughters

Haley, Kayla, Rachel

Haley, Kayla, Rachel

Rachel

Kayla

Rachel

Haley petting the horse

The horse licking Haley

Flashback Friday: Then and Now

Three years ago, Rachel and Haley were in the NICU.  That time back then was tough, but they fought, survived and are here today.  I love looking back at pictures of them 3 years ago and seeing how they have grown.  They have their challenges today, but they have overcome so much in the past 3 years.  Way to Go Rachel and Haley!  

Haley Then:

November 7, 2009

Haley Now:

November 11, 2012

Rachel Then:

November 8, 2009

Rachel Now:

November 11, 2012

Kayla is 11 Months Old!

My baby girl is 11 months old!  One more month and she will be ONE!  Kayla amazes me just like her big sisters Rachel and Haley and I just love her beyond words.

At eleven months, Kayla weighs 17 lbs, 10 oz.  She has 2 teeth, but finally 4 upper teeth are slowly making their way out.  Poor girl!  That's a lot of teeth at one time.  Kayla is eating baby foods well though I'm looking forward to her getting more teeth so she can eat more table foods.  We have tried the sippy cup with her, but she doesn't have the hang of it just yet.  She loves to chew on the spout and chew on just about anything.  She also likes to pick stuff off the floor and put it in her mouth.  I don't like it and I have to watch her carefully, but most of the time she is finding little morsels of food that Rachel and Haley have dropped on the kitchen floor.  

Kayla is still sleeping well at night though it has been somewhat harder to get her to sleep.  She is having some separation anxiety and wants her mommy.  She is a mommy's girl for sure!  I just love how she gets so excited when she sees me and snuggles into me when I hold her.  It melts my heart!

Kayla and I

Kayla has made a lot of progress this past month.  She started crawling 100% of the time on her hands and knees soon after she turned 10 months.  Kayla is definitely getting into more things and it will only get worse because she is so close to walking!  She is walking along the furniture and walking using her walker toys.  On November 6, she took one small step on her own without holding on to anything.  Since then she has taken 2 small steps on her own.  She most likely will be walking by her 1st birthday! 

My little Texas girl!

Kayla also started clapping her hands on November 6.  She is vocal and "talks" a lot.  She says "ma ma", "da da" and lots of other sounds.  Kayla is going to be a talker. 

 

Like I have said before, she loves her sisters!  Kayla will come up to Rachel and/or Haley and will climb/crawl on them to play.  Kayla thinks its the funnest thing and just laughs as she does it.  She has so much fun with them.  Rachel and Haley are good sports about it.  They are great big sisters!

  

Rachel and Haley update

Haley and Rachel waiting for the school bus

 It has been a while now since I've done an update with what's going on with Rachel and Haley.  School is going well for them both.  They both are continuing with physical, occupational and speech therapy.  We changed up their therapy a bit.  We now take them to a therapy center about 15-20 minutes from our house to see the speech and occupational therapist.  I really enjoyed having the therapy at our house, but wanted to see if taking the girls to a therapy center would help turn their progress up a notch.  We only go to the new therapy center twice a week so not sure if it will do what I'm hoping.  Rachel and Haley do like the fun equipment/toys the therapy center has to offer.  The girls are slow to progress, but again its on their own time table.  They started out so early so they are going to take a while to catch up.  Its just a miracle they are here with us.  We are blessed to have our sweet girls!  We love them so very much!

Not sure why Haley kept giving me a surprised look when I took her picture.  Best I could get.

Haley:  Haley is scheduled to see the eye doctor again the end of this month to get a contact lens made for her right eye.  I'm so looking forward to this appointment so that we can move forward with improving her vision.  I hope she will not mind wearing a contact in her right eye though she has done very well with the prosthetic eye in her left eye.  Haley is doing well at school and we are seeing some progress.  Haley is doing better at letting the teacher and I know what it is she is wanting.  Communication is a challenge since Haley is not saying any words yet.  We really are not sure when she will speak.  Hoping one day she will.  Haley is also making progress with her accepting more textured foods.  She is starting to eat a little more variety of foods.  Its still a challenge though.  She prefers smooth and creamy foods.  We are working on potty training with Haley, but it will take a while.

Rachel

Rachel:  Rachel has a lot of energy!!!  From the beginning we said she was the feisty one.  She is indeed!  Rachel changed schools.  She is now in the same school and classroom as Haley.  Rachel and Haley's teacher is AWESOME!  So glad she joined her class.  Rachel got a new pair of ankle braces to help aid in her walking.  It will help stop her from toe walking and keep her from going flat footed.  Rachel is still not swallowing any food.  She continues to put foods in her mouth and chew it, but doesn't swallow it.  Another reason we wanted to try the new therapy center was in hopes they can get her eating.  Rachel really needs an intensive feeding program, but no program for kids like that exists here in Houston.  You would think the fourth largest city would have such a program. They have one for adults, but not pediatrics kind of crazy to me.  From what we have been told, it will take many years to get her eating normally.  Rachel is also not saying any words.  Its still a challenge to get her to wear her hearing aids regularly.  She pulls them out so often.  Rachel does let us know what she is wanting by grabbing our hand and leading us to what she wants.  Rachel is still being taught sign language, but we have not seen any progress with that.  We are also working on potty training with Rachel.