Happy Birthday, Baby!

What a difference a year makes. From this~

and this~

To this~

and this~

It's hard to believe that Mary is a year old. This was one of the longest years of my life, and still it went all too quickly. She is such a joy to be around. Mary smiles easily, especially for her brothers. She is taking 3 or 4 steps at a time now, and babbles like crazy. Everything becomes a phone :) She says, "mama", "daddy", "hi", "bye" and "this". She points all the time, and acts silly for our entertainment. She will give us kisses, when asked. We all love her so much!

Today we went to the NICU reunion at Loyola. It just happened to fall on her birthday. I'm glad we went, because it brought a sense of closure to the whole ordeal, but we probably won't go again next year. It was mostly other patients, and not enough staff. We also took a quick walk up to the PICU and said hello to the nurses there. They were impressed by how big and healthy Mary is.

Tomorrow we're celebrating her "golden" birthday with a party at home.

Becky Thatcher

I had originally wanted Mary to be a lamb for Halloween. However, I wasn't interested in buying or making a costume, and I was unable to find one to borrow, so we had decided on the classic costume for babies: the pumpkin. Someone lent me an adorable handmade costume,and we were all set to use it, until this. We stumbled upon a really sweet bonnet while in Mark Twain's hometown of Hannibal, MO. And thus, the scramble for an ensemble began. Charlie was Tom Sawyer, Sam was Huck Finn (of course) and Mary? Well Mary was Becky Thatcher~
We bought the bonnet, and found the dress, and all I had to make were the bloomers. Not too bad!

Mary liked Trick or Treating, and Scott gave her a tiny bit of chocolate.

Tomorrow is Mary's birthday!

Pumpkin

I 'think' this was Mary's first trip to Cosley. We were trying to get over there before Halloween, to buy pumpkins.

Here Mary is eating a chicken nugget, while watching the chickens~

She likes the piggies~

The hot shot, watching the fox~

Look at my sunny, almost 1 year old~

Climbing the hay-stack~

She had a lot of fun here - and took a nice long nap to get ready for Trick-or-Treating~

A happy heart makes a cheerful face.

~Proverbs 15:13

Behind Closed Doors

I found this picture on my camera tonight. Apparently Charlie and Sam are indoctrinating Mary into the love of all things LEGO, when I'm not looking. This little girl adores her big brothers!

There's Just Something About Carrie

We had a very special visitor this evening. Carrie, the surgical nurse from Loyola, came for dinner. She is the amazing person who (literally) held our hands through Mary's first surgery, and then came back to Loyola (after she had taken a position with another hospital), just for Mary's second surgery! I really can't express how much Carrie means to our family. She was the person who walked us through everything that would be happening with the surgery, and then acted as a liaison between us and the operating room during the actual event. But what really endeared her to me, were the days in the hospital during Mary's first recovery. Six days post-partum for me + major surgery for brand new baby girl = emotional roller coaster. Multiply that by several medical professionals with different opinions, with poor Carrie being the most approachable of them all, and that means she got to deal with me, mama bear, in all my hormonal, breast-milk pumping glory :) Carrie really does an exceptionally good job - she is clear without being overly explicit, and is reassuring while still being realistic. She is such a blessing to all of the families she works with - and now we are so lucky to also call her our friend!

Although Mary wasn't interested in a photo shoot - in her heart, she loves Carrie, too :)
Of course, Sam, the ladies man, had to get in on the action, as well~

Isn't she sweet?

So Big!

The boys taught Mary "so big". She's gotten really good at it, too~

Someone must have gotten a strike at bowling today~

And here she is, having an opinion on how to pick up that tough spare~