Trying to remember

As I go to write this every week I try to remember all that has happened or gone on over the last several days. So I will do my best to recap the last week.

We have had some hard times this past week. Bella's strong will has sure been shining through this week. She knows what she wants and she wants it NOW! It is hard because her main way of communicating right now is grunting and pointing. And that wears on a mommy. Don't get me wrong, we have had a lot of great improvements, but there are times of the day that are struggles for us right now.

She has eaten great for us ever since we have been home, but this week she has been extremely picky and holding food in her mouth for a long time. I go back and forth wondering if she isn't feeling well. We have several doctor appointments this week, so we will see if there is anything going on. This also just may be her time where she is going to test her boundaries a little more.

She had an audiology appointment this past week and her hearing is normal. This is a relief because with cleft palate kids they normally have a lot of fluid in their ears which can lead to hearing loss. She does, but it does not seem to have affected her hearing so far.

She also had her cardiologist appointment today. The doctor says everything sounds great and the murmur they heard before is normal for a child post-open heart surgery. He does want to do an echocardiogram during one of her upcoming sugeries just to make sure everything is ok.

I went with some friends to the flea market on Wednesday. They have everything there ... fresh fruit and vegetables, clothes, baked goods, flowers, junk, and animals. Keenan and Bella enjoyed seeing the animals and Keenan held a baby Chihuahua. The funny thing is that he can't say Chihuahua. Instead he says Chickawalla (chick-a-wall-a). So cute. I ask him to say it over and over again because he just sounds so cute when saying it.

We had a lot of rain this week, so we were stuck inside more than I like. Already felt a little like cabin fever for me. We were able to still have the boy's soccer games on Saturday though.

We decided to have a family day on Sunday and took a beautiful drive to Bloomington to see my youngest sister at IU. It was such a pretty day and all 3 kids had a great time! It was nice visiting with Janel. We were disappointed though because we had told Janel of a couple of great places to eat and go to and we were all psyched to take her there, but they were gone! We were so bummed. So instead of us showing her some great places to go, she showed us! Here are some pics from our day ...

Bella's cranio-facial appointment is Friday. Please pray for her and please pray we can get her surgery scheduled sooner than later. She has lived without a palate for long enough. She is trying to say more words all of the time, but they come out sounding the same way as everything else she says.

A couple of other tidbits ... Everytime we drive into our neighborhood, Bella sqeals with joy. She loves going places, but she also loves coming home.

We also try to take a walk everyday and she loves holding Nala's (our golden retriever) leash while sitting in the stroller.

Our boys are goofy all of the time. Here is a picture of them being nerdy with their pants. I just couldn't stop laughing at them!