October Wrap Up

The weeks leading up to the last weekend in October have been an absolute blur. We had a lot going on in our family and I am just now sitting down to finally post pictures and play catch up.

Elle in her Frightening Friday dress I made for her from 10-22-10. It was my first attempt at clothing for Elle. I made the pattern from 2 of Elle's other outfits that I liked. It crisscrossed in the back - super cute and something she will be able to wear next year too!

The girl is trying to stand up on her own...she's so close to walking and standing up on her own!

On October 23 we got to help celebrate the 2nd birthday of a very special little boy - a little boy we love so much and are so thankful for...Elle's precious cousin and our precious nephew, Witt.

My SIL had her house decked out in decorations that she made and had a candy bar that was just too cute for words! Pictures don't do it justice...and...she made everything for the party! I forgot our camera so I didn't get any pictures of Elle and the birthday boy. He was decked out too in his "2" outfit. We are so blessed by his little life!!

Frightening Friday on October 29 - I dressed Elle up in the super cute pillowcase dress my mom found at a craft show and we headed to the pumpkin patch. Another first for our little one.

Typical Elle poses - we can't take pictures of her because she is always trying to walk to us when we sit down to take the pictures!

This was Elle's initial reaction to the pumpkins...

I asked her in the car before we got out if she wanted to see the pumpkins. She was signing "all done" and "no pumpkins" before we even stepped foot in the pumpkin patch. I should have known that a major meltdown was going to happen...but I still tried. Good thing ViVi came and saved us all and Elle actually ended up enjoying herself...but only when she was pushing the wagon. She didn't want anything to do with those pumpkins! (if this was her reaction to pumpkins...I am dreading her reaction to Santa!)

We stayed in our pajamas on Sunday - all of us feeling run down. Lee from hunting and Elle and myself from having a garage sale on Saturday. We all slept a majority of the day and finally got up and got dressed to go to Trunk or Treat.

This was our first Halloween to be able to trick or treat with Elle Belle. While she had 4 outfit changes last year and I did get to play dress up with her - we were only 4 weeks post open heart surgery so needless to say, we kept Elle inside and away from all our trick or treaters. This year Elle got to experience "Trunk or Treat" at our church. She loved seeing everyone dressed up and kept asking to see the pumpkins. Pretty funny that was what she wanted to look at considering her reaction to the pumpkin patch!

Halloween Edition of Animal Print Friday

Yes, I still dress Elle in some kind of animal print every Friday. Whether it's an outfit with some kind of animal on it or actual animal print - I still love the tradition! Since it is Halloween time, we are combining Animal Print Friday and Frightening Friday (thank you Laura D)!

Our little kitty cat standing in front of our Halloween Countdown Banner

I got my inspiration for the Halloween countdown banner from Pottery Barn Kids. Theirs sells for $59.00 - I made ours for $13.00 and still have tons of felt left over! Each day is a little pocket that holds candy...so our theme for October is "a dum dum a day keeps the doctor away!"

and just because I love this pose....Elle and the dogs

Vote for Jack!

One of my besties entered her son into the Gerber Generation Contest. She is dilligently drumming up votes for her precious son and so am I!

PLEASE VOTE FOR JACK!!!

* Go to www.gerber.com/photo

* Search ID # 139000

Why Didn't You Just Say So....

Lee had to hide the camera behind his arm so Elle wouldn't see it...thankfully she didn't and we were able to capture HALF of the conversation she had with us tonight at dinner

I know I've been away from blogging for too long when....

I get an email from my brother with the subject of "Update your blog" and the message said "I need to see pictures of Elle." We've had some pretty significant events in the Lupher casa over the course of the last month.

September 23 Elle turned 18 months old. It is so hard to believe that she is 18 months old! She is progressing so well - sign language and speech is going great, she is trying so hard to stand up on her own and we are still working on eating. She is growing like a weed and is 23lbs and 31 inches long. On the afternoon of the 23rd, we had Elle's 6 month appointment with her cardiologist. I was terrified going into the appointment dreading what he was going to tell us. During my Bible study that morning, the leader had mentioned Job 42. Thankfully I had my Bible with me and I was able to read that scripture before we walked in. Job 42:1 "Then Job replied to the Lord: I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted." Just reading that scripture before we walked in gave me so much peace. The appointment itself was not what we expected - the echo tech was out sick so we had to reschedule for the next week to bring Elle back in so that an echo could be done. Talk about a major letdown! Oh well - the Lord has perfect timing!

September 24 we celebrated the one year anniversary of Elle's open heart surgery by taking heart shaped cookies to all the wonderful therapists, nurses, doctors and admin at the TCH outpatient center we are at every week. They have done so much for our family over the course of the last year. They work so hard to help Elle learn and grow and she has come soooo far in a year. I remember sitting in the waiting room before the anesthesiologist came to take Elle back for her surgery. It was so hard to sit there holding Elle knowing that the doctors would be coming at any moment to take her into the operating room. Lee and I were there reading books to Elle and saying prayers for not only her recovery but for the surgery team that would be fixing her little heart. 12 hours later we were able to see Elle as she came out of surgery. We were so thankful she made it through the surgery ok and so relieved to be able to see our little angel. Words can't even describe the feeling of seeing your child as they come out of open heart surgery. Words also can't describe the sheer happiness we feel a year later seeing her grow and thrive.

Elle in her cute heart outfit - celebrating her 1 year anniversary of joining the zipper club!

Elle and I reading before they took her back for surgery September 24, 2009

Left picture - a few days post surgery - September 27, 2009 Right picture - 6 days post surgery - September 30, 2009

We had re scheduled Elle's echo for September 30. She was a perfect little angel during the entire echo (like having an ultrasound on your heart....same type of wand....same gel....pretty much the same thing). She was perfectly still on the exam table and watched a movie while the tech did her work. When it was finished, we were taken to a private waiting room. Dr. W came in a few minutes later and asked one of the nurses to come and get Elle so that he would have our undivided attention. He updated us on the status of her heart. It has progressively gotten worse over the last 6 months. His feelings were that she would have to have surgery sometime in the next few months. Lee and I weren't surprised by this at all. We had expected to hear it. Dr. W was going to contact Elle's surgeon and have his team look at the echo and then contact us with a plan of action. So...more waiting.

Friday, October 1 Lee and I left for a quick trip to California to see a very dear friend get married. We left at 7:00am on Friday morning and our flight left California at 3:50pm on Saturday. We were there for 30 hours and then back home - but totally worth the super quick trip. We got to see a fabulous wedding and catch up with old and dear friends. It was so sad to leave on Saturday afternoon.

October 4 we heard from Elle's cardiologist. He had talked with Elle's surgeon and another one of the surgeons and after reviewing her echo, they both felt like she was well enough to wait until January. We will go back for another echo in January and the surgical team will make their decision for surgery then. It was good to hear that the surgical team is pleased with Elle's progress and growth and feel confident in waiting a few months for her to grow and get a little bigger.

October 6 was mom's night out with one of my besties. Shannon invited me to the Carrie Underwood concert and it was soooo much fun. Her concert was amazing! When she sang "Jesus Take the Wheel" I started to tear up and then she went in to the most beautiful rendition of "How Great Thou Art." It was absolutely amazing! I had so much fun with Shanny. We were talking that night about how we can go weeks at a time without seeing each other and then meet up and it's like we see each other everyday. I wish we lived closer (we live an hour apart) but not seeing her everyday makes me cherish our friendship and the time we do get to spend together so much more.

Over the last month, Elle has been blowin' and goin'. She is getting into everything! While she isn't walking yet - that isn't stopping her from climbing the shelves in the fridge!

APF pics....love love love the sale rack at Dillards for her super cute new zebra outfit!

We are working so hard at PT on her standing up on her own. She works soooo hard and is doing such a good job! I filmed this at the end of therapy....after an hour of hard work....so....needless to say.....she was tired.

It's My Heart

On the top of our blog I put a countdown to the It's My Heart Walk. I am so excited about this walk and hope that we can raise a lot of money and generate support for It's My Heart. It's My Heart is a wonderful non profit organization created to provide support to and advocationg for those affected by Congenital and Acquired Heart Defects. Through awareness, resources and education, It's My Heart creates alliances and networks among families, groups, hospitals, and the community. Did you know: * Nearly twice as many children die from Congenital Heart Disease each year as from all forms of childhood cancers combined. Yet funding for pediatric cancer research is 5x higher than funding for Congenital Heart Disease. (Source: Children's Heart Foundation) *Congenital Heart Defects are the # 1 birth defect (source: March of Dimes) * Congenital Heart Defects are the # 1 cause of birth defect related deaths (Source: March of Dimes) * About 1 out of every 100 babies born each year will have some sort of Congenital Heart Defect - approximately 40,000/year (Source: Children's Heart Foundation) * The American Heart Association directs only $0.30 of every dollar donated towards research. The remainder goes towards administration, education and fund raising efforts. Of the $0.30 allocated for research, only $0.01 goes towards pediatric cardiology. (Source: Children's Heart Foundation) * The cost for inpatient surgery to repair Congenital Heart Defects exceeds $2.2 billion a year (Source: Children's Heart Foundation) * Of every dollar the government spends on medical funding, only a fraction of a penny goes toward Congenital Heart Defect research (Source: Children's Heart Foundation) * Though research is ongoing - 35 types of Congenital Defects have been identified I'm feeling a mixture of emotions as I write this because September 24th is the one year anniversary of Elle's first open heart surgery. However, this Thursday, September 23 (Elle's 18 month birthday) we will see her cardiologist to determine if she will be having another open heart surgery before the end of the year. We fully trust in God's perfect timing and know that through HIM all things are possible! Please go to the It's My Heart Website for more information about Congenital and Acquired Heart Defects.

Labor Day Weekend and a Quick Trip to the Big Easy

Labor Day weekend we went down to Matagorda with my parents. We did some fishing and Elle got to the drive the boat a few times. She is such a super trooper. She and my dad sat on the front of the boat while Lee, my mom and I all fished. They read books and Elle learned the art of throwing crackers overboard and watching the seagulls grab them. We even saw an alligator - not the greatest of experiences because it surfaced 8 feet from our boat and scared the crud out of me...but...Elle got to see an alligator. My mom and I totally out fished the boys. That only happens once in a blue moon so I do feel the need to mention it!

Elle and I had our usual uber busy week and then last Friday we were lucky enough to have dinner with my bestie Shay and her family. Shannon is the busiest person I know and it was so great our schedules worked out that we would both be in town on the same night. We were all so glad that we were able to spend a few hours with her and her wonderful family! Elle was hamming it up big time.

i think this pic caught her staring at Shay's beer bottle...we're going to have to keep a close eye on Auntie Shay and Elle...this seems to be a problem when the two of them get together

Elle and Auntie Shay in July of 2009 - again - Elle only had eyes for that bottle!

Saturday morning Lee and I left Elle with Mark and Vickie and drove to New Orleans for the Ole Miss v. Tulane game. We met up with my parents and all our friends for lunch and then headed to the stadium for some tailgating. Oh New Orleans - how I love and hate you all at the same time! We had a great time - watched some of the game, caught up with old friends and got to see our long lost friend Becca. She's not really lost - but when you call St. Thomas home it's not very often that you make it back to the States!

Patrick, Becca and Me inside the Super Dome

Eating lunch with our fabulous friends who we don't get to see often enough!

Laura and Me before the game...Lee was mad we took him away from the free beer at the tailgate and made him go to the stadium....not sure why the pic of Lee and me is so tiny but we were having a good time! And I do have to point out that these pictures were taken after many hours outside in the blazing heat and after a few Blue Moons....

The only good thing about the drive back on Sunday was we got to stop in Baton Rouge and meet Laura and Matt's 3 month old son, Jackson. I am so in love with that little cutie pie. Words can't even begin to describe how cute he is and pictures do not do him justice!

We made it back to Houston and headed straight back out the door to go eat for Mark's birthday. Happy Belated Birthday Big Daddy!