Holiday Fun

Wow, I can't believe Christmas is over and I am now looking 2009 right in the face! What a fast year it's been. I have a lot to update.

First off, we spent Dec 16th all day at the Children's Hospital for Abby's follow up procedures for her kidneys/urinary reflux. I was very nervous about the appt and how the whole cathedar/IV process would go, how she would possible sit still for the scans, etc. She did not like it, Mike and I did not like it, but we made it through. She cried until she passed out, but it was worth it because we received great news. Her urinary reflux is GONE! When they did the dye test they did not see ANY urine refluxing up into her kidneys at all. It was amazing becuase last year when she was a newborn you could see the dye on the screeen shoot right up into her kidneys on both sides right away. This time, it just stayed in her bladder and then she peed it out (or out it went into her cath...) like it's supposed to do! Hooray! Her right kidney is still a little enlarged and holding fluid a little longer than it's supposed to, so they think she might still have a twinge refluxing that we did not see, but it's very minor. We have stopped the antibiotics and then just have to do follow up ultrasounds every year unless she gets a UTI! What a Christmas blessing.

I have to laugh, though, because no sooner did we stop the antibiotics that she got very sick! A fever of 103 and awful cold/caugh symptoms. So back to the dr. we went and they wanted to make sure she didn't have a UTI and were going to cath her again! I said NO WAY! We attached a little bag to her and waited for her to pee. She had her first taste of juice in the waiting room from a juice box they gave us and the stinker would not pee! I was there for 2 horus, finially drove home, got her out of her car seat, and she peed! So we poured the sample into the cup and brought it back. No uti- just a virus. It has since traveled around the whole family and is still lingering. Emma's voice sounds like a truck driver- it is so funny.

Christmas Eve was spent at Auntie Janice's house this year! It was so much fun! The girls opened thier gifts, we ate a great dinner, and then instead of exchanging presents, we decided to just play games this year. We played the game Boxers and Briefs. It is so, so funny and a great family game. I reccomend it- I haven't laughed that hard in a long, long time. We brought Abby's pack and play and put her to sleep there so we could stay a little longer and hang with the family. It was a great night. When we came home we put Emma's cookies out for Santa and put the girls to bed. Emma did not sleep well, wanting to look out the window for Santa all night. This is such a magical age. Christmas has been so fun this year with her. Every little decoration sends her to the moon. "Look, mom a GOLD DEER! In the POST OFFICE!" "Oh my GOSH- look at that Christmas Tree!" It has been such a blast.

Christmas morning was great. Emma was so excited to recieve her Alexa and Leanna dolls (babrie's diamond castle- yuck) and her carriage with one horse! She also loved her new playdough, roller scates, ski clothes and helmet, and of course, she loved every one of Abby's gifts also. They are very lucky (ahem.....spoiled) girls. I was covered in hugs all day. Then we went to nana and papas for stalkings, more gifts, and a great dinner. It was so fun for the girls to spend the day with uncle Ross. Emma would not leave him alone. They do not see him to often, but when they do, especially Emma, she just lights up and loves him up all day. It makes me sad he cannot be a bigger part of thier lives right now, but he is still fighting his own battle to get healthy. Unfortunately, it has been too rocky of a road for him to be consistent in his role as uncle. But he was uncle #1 this Christmas, that's for sure, not for any gift, but just for being there.

Then after Christmas, we headed up to the cabin. We had so much fun playing outside in the snow. Going for walks through the snow, snowmobiling, tubing and skiing. It was so cozy inside the cabin and we read lots of books, played memory, and colored all weekend. Emma did great skiing and I am so, so sore from carrying her up the hill in one hand and holding onto the rope tow in the other....next time we need to head over to the chair lift. She was fearless and had a blast. I was so proud of her. We can't wait to go again and just went today and got a great deal on equipment for her. After skiing we went tubing and again she amazed me with her courage in going in her own tube down this CRAZY tubing hill that I was a little afraid of. Her little glasses were all I could see sticking out of the tube- expect for when she caught some air and her whole body popped out of the tube, with a gigantic smile on her face.

Mike had a great time on the snowmobiles and put on 50 miles, checking out all the trail systems and Pillsbury State Park. Emma had fun tooling around on the snowmobile too. Abby is now walking all over the place! She finially seems a little more confident and walked all around the cabin. It is bittersweet to me- it is so cute watching her walk and seeing how proud she is of herself, but now she can get into more trouble. Here is a link to a little video I made of the weekend. http://www.onetruemedia.com/my_shared?z=151f01399728defe1ea73a&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url