Momma's Gotta Have Some Fun Too....

This past weekend I escaped the dreary weather of H Town and headed to Mississippi for one of my besties bachelorette party. It was so much fun meeting up with all my favorite girls for a weekend of girl talk, dancing, eating, drinking, spa time and even a little gambling. We partied the weekend away at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi. It was soooo much fun! Lauren made the perfect bachelorette and is going to be an absolutely stunningly beautiful bride.

We spent Friday night exploring the casino and then Saturday afternoon (when we all finally got out of our pjs) we headed to the spa for manicures. After manis we sent Lauren on her merry way for a massage and some time in the sauna while we decorated one of the rooms for a little pre party.

Lauren's friend Lindsay even brought the serving trays and chargers! What a pro!

Lauren arriving for her party (greeted by her beautiful sister)

The first toast of the evening....there were many more to come

After our little pre party we went to dinner and then out for some dancing and eventually some gambling

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Laura was a big winner....

We all had so much fun spending the weekend together. It was the perfect bachelorette party weekend! Of course, traveling on Sunday was a little long but thankfully Meghan and I were on the same flight from Jackson to H Town. She had a lay over before continuing on to Colorado so she came down to baggage claim with me to see Lee and Elle. Elle was super excited to see her Auntie Meghan.

She showed Megs what a big girl she is and went for a little walk...i love these pictures!

I am so thankful that I was able to spend the weekend with Lauren and all the other wonderful girls. My heart is full after spending time with my girls who I usually just get to talk to on the phone (we all live in 4 different states). It was so much fun spending time and getting to know better Lauren's sister, cousin and best friend from high school. They are all so much fun and we all instantly clicked. The wedding is in just a few short months and after spending the weekend with a majority of her wedding party....I can't wait for the wedding! It is going to be soooo much fun! I came back renewed and ready to face the week and all Elle's appointments. The weekend cemented the fact that momma's gotta have some fun too!

News in the New Year

It's official...we have a WALKER in our house! New Years Day, Elle just decided that it was her time to start walking. She had been walking from sofa to chair to kitchen cabinet to wall for a long time but over the weekend she really started to walk more independently....standing up in the middle of the room and walking into her room or to the front door or to her new kitchen. We are so excited about this new milestone! After 8 months of crawling, physical therapy twice a week, and going to gym class once a week she is walking more than crawling! Whooo hooo!! Her PT was super impressed when we saw her the first week in January. Actually, everyone at TCH was. I didn't carry Elle back to therapy, I let her walk. She had to pass next to the nurses station and all of the nurses were standing there watching and cheering as Elle walked passed the nurses station and down the therapy hall towards the gym. What a little super trooper!

Elle and Lee playing in her room

Our New Years resolution this year is to do one home improvement project a month. It doesn't have to be big...it can be to hang up the pictures that have been sitting in our study for almost two years now....so....the first project of 2011 was to hang this bad boy above our fireplace. Our other tv was starting to develop a bad picture and it was going cost just as much to fix it as to buy a new television...so we took the plunge and bought a new (larger) tv. Anyone interested in a 50" tv with a not so perfect picture?

The cables from the old tv need to be moved and then I will be able to put more pictures up on the shelves on the left side. Elle likes the new tv...can you spot her staring up at Mickey?

Here's the before...there was a mirror hanging above our fireplace before it was replaced by the new tv

Elle is continuing to make strides. Her eating is still terrible but we do continually work on it. I'm hoping that one day she will just wake up and want to eat orally and not by the feeding tube. She has started to cringe a little when I put her backpack on her so I know she must get annoyed carrying around her feeding tube in her backpack 4x a day. Maybe that is what will be the straw that breaks the camels back...no more backpack if she starts to eat orally!

I promise she did get SOME food in her mouth

This is pretty much the progression of how this happens...I'm usually telling her "no - don't rub your face" and then she goes and does it...oh well...I'm glad to say that she doesn't seem to have any food aversions....now we just need her to eat enough to get some form of nutritional value

One of the things that has improved drastically are Elle's coloring abilities. Just this past week I found evidence that she is just as good on the tile in the kitchen as she is on paper. Good thing it's washable!

Happy New "Ear"

From the hands (and mouth) of a deaf babe...

Happy New "Ear" from our family to yours!

Pictures from Christmas

Oh the wonders of Christmas!

We started off of Christmas Day by checking our what Santa left in our stockings...Santa left Elle a Mickey Mouse plate...she LOVED it!

She also got a Mickey Mouse sticker book....we will have to be getting more of those!

And then we walked into the front room to see what Santa left us under our Christmas tree...

Santa brought Elle a really cool convertible trike...she already has gotten some use out of it when we rode over to our friend Maddie's house

And she also got a KITCHEN! It is sooo cool!

After we opened up all our Christmas gifts at our house, we all got dressed and headed over to ViVi and Big Daddy's for breakfast and more presents.

Elle got a Dyson vacuum from ViVi and Big Daddy....how cool is that?! Just like her mommas! When she opened it up - her eyes got big and she said and signed "Help momma clean." Oh I'm such a proud momma!

We had so much fun with ViVi, Big Daddy, Uncle Jake and Lee's aunt and uncle Jane and Paul.

After spending a few hours with ViVi and Big Daddy, we loaded up all our goodies and headed over to my parent's house for lunch and EVEN MORE presents! The first thing Elle saw when we walked in was her new Mickey Mouse glider...she would sleep in that thing if we let her!

She opened a majority of her gifts from right there in that chair!

Uncle Benny got her a doll - she "allowed" the doll to rock for a little bit - it's going to take a while for her to get accustomed to this baby doll. It's a lot bigger than the one she usually plays with!

Elle eventually only wanted to play with my dad's new Sonicare toothbrush and his camera....she was trying to take pictures of herself...pretty funny to watch her squint and smile expecting the flash to go off!

After opening up all our gifts, we went into the kitchen for lunch and bubbles! Elle blew her first bubble - you can see in the picture how excited Uncle Benny and Elle were after she actually blew the bubbles!

It was such a fun filled jam packed day. We all napped over at my parent's house for a little bit and then we went to Lee's grandparent's house for dinner. Needless to say, we were all tuckered out by the time we finally made it home on Christmas Day! We are so blessed by such amazing families!

On Tuesday, we went over to Aunt Mel and Uncle Austan's house to celebrate Christmas with them and Witt. I just can't get over how much of a little boy Witt has grown into! We got him some stacking pans and he loved banging them and shaking them. It is so awesome to see that little guy being so lively and into everything that is going on around him!

By far, Elle's favorite gift were the handmade bows Aunt Mel made for her. When the wrapping paper came off, Elle's eyes got so big and she literally started jumping up and down. Her mouth dropped and when she could finally talk after being so overcome with excitement all she could sign and say were "does, does, does" and pointing to her hair. She still asks to see all her "does" every morning!

What a wonderful Christmas spent with all our family and friends! Thank you to everyone who made this so special for Elle and our family!

Merry Merry Merry

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

from

Our Family to Yours!

"And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11

Sittin' with Santa

So yesterday morning I loaded Elle up in my car and headed to the mall. The whole way there I was talking about Santa and his beard and red coat and pants (we are working on clothing signs so it was a teaching opportunity). She kept signing "santa" and saying hohoho so I figured we would be in for a good picture. Nope! As soon as we rounded the corner in the mall and came face to face with Santa the look on Elle's face turned from blissfully happy to a mad little girl. The closer we got to Santa the faster her "all dones" were being signed. I don't think I have ever seen her shake her head no that fast before! I asked her if momma could sit with Santa and she said yes so after an 18 year hiatus....I finally got to sit with Santa again....can you tell how excited I was?!

Santa noticed Elle's hearing aids and signed "I Love You" to her and she blew him a kiss. He also gave her a coloring book and she responded by signing "thank you" so she wasn't totally terrified of him. Maybe next year she will smile for the camera!