Valentine's Day 2014

Obviously I am a little behind with publishing my posts - it's hard keeping up with 2 kiddos and all of Evie's appointments!

Valentine's Day this year was so much fun with the kids. We stayed pretty low key and they each got a card and a few little gifts. Gavin loved his cookie from grandma and grandpa Morgan and has stickers all over our house (he calls them "dougie stickers" because they are dog stickers and one of them is a pug like my parent's pug, Doug) from grandma Jenna and grandpa Wayne. 

They both looked adorable in their outfits and Gavin had so much fun decorating his first ever Valentine's Day box at school. 

Here are a few pics from the day. 

Man of your dreams

Sweet kisses for 'sis'

Here is Gavin's very first box. He's pretty good at this decorating thing. His shirt says "Sorry ladies, mom says I can't date yet"

Gavin loved his Valentines for his friends. He walked around all day saying "I dig you!"

Dinner at Taco Bell with my loves - it was Gavin's choice and he wanted tacos :)

Evie Grace at 8 months

At 8 months Evie weighs 22 lb 7.5 oz and is about 28 inches long. Most of her habits are the same - still sleeping great and eats about the same. She really likes food and the new flavors but we started noticing her gagging and sometimes even puking when we would give her a puff. We talked it over with our PT and had a meeting with our First Steps coordinator and it was decided that Evie would be evaluated by an Occupational Therapist. 

We had our first meeting with our OT about 2 weeks ago and some of Evie's tendencies threw up red flags for her. The constant tongue out of the mouth, the laryngomalacia, the reflux...all of that is actually related and a sign that Evie probably still has some reflux going on even though she isn't puking on us anymore. We are working on new exercises before feedings and are going to try to get Evie scheduled for a swallow study to rule out the possibility of aspiration (this because Evie has been constantly sick for almost her entire life). 

Physical therapy continues to be wonderful. Evie is a strong and determined little thing and we love seeing her progress. Our PT is so excited with all the great improvements Evie is making with bearing weight and keeping her feet straight. The possibility of a stander is becoming more slim as Evie continues to progress in the right direction.  Next week we get Evie fitted for AFOs. I am so excited about this! Once her AFOs are molded and come in we will be able to see just how much intervention is needed. It is possible that the AFOs will fix a few minor problems we are having like keeping the hips in (they are kind of loosy goosy right now) and bearing weight. It will be a good indicator of how she responds to intervention and be our first insight as to how she reacts with a little extra help! I know I say it in just about every post but we are sooo grateful for a therapist that loves her so much and is such a great advocate for Evie. She is one step ahead and thinks of anything and everything that will help Evie have the most mobility possible with the least amount of intervention.

OH! And SHE HAS A TOOTH!! On the morning of January 6th Evie popped her very first tooth!! 

Other than being plagued with a constant sickness, be it a UTI, ear infection, cold or pneumonia, Evie is doing great overall. She continues to be the light of our life. She thinks Gavin is just the funniest thing ever and laughs at even the smallest thing he does. This does cause us a few hair-pulling nights because Gavin will continually act out because he knows his sister will laugh at his antics.