Sharing the chair

Duke decided he wanted to share the chair with Daddy and Mikayla- so the three of them all sat in our recliner for about 30 minutes. It was funny!! True togetherness!!

Mikayla's first cookie

Mikayla ate her first teething cookie the other day. Oh my goodness- what a MESS these things make. She loved it though.

Pootie also wanted the cookie.

A little closer.

What a mess!!!

Playtime

Pootie decided she likes to watch Baby Einstein with Mikayla. One night last week we looked over and Pootie was glued to the tv.

Mikayla and Daddy had playtime on Thanksgiving morning.

She loves sitting up all by herself now - she loves her playmat and toys.

Mommy's doll baby!!

I finally figure out a way to put this on the blog. This is the video Pastor DJ made for Mikayla's dedication at church. This video was the introduction to Mikayla's story. Turn on your speakers because there is music. Enjoy.

Thanksgiving

I don't have any pictures to put up here today but I just wanted to share some things that are on my mind. Thanksgiving is upon us and that is the perfect opportunity for me to reflect on the last year of my life. The last year has been a whirlwind of emotions and happenings, some good and some not so good. I know that I do not thank God enough for what he has blessed me with in my life. I have an amazing husband, who without him, I don't know if I could have kept it together during our trials. He is my best friend in the whole world - I am soooo thankful for him. I know that I do not tell him enough thank you for just being himself and for loving me. I am SO thankful for Mikayla. She is such a miracle from above and I cannot thank God enough for her. At only 6 months old she has taught me so much about life, myself, and God. I get to spend every day with her, watching her grow, and I realize how truly blessed I am. She has the cutest little laugh and most beautiful smile - I just love her to pieces. She has surpassed every expectation of every doctor and medical professional - it is amazing. Thank you God!!! I have a wonderful family. Through our hardest times, some of our family was amazing. I am so thankful for them. Even when we received the worst reports, they never lost sight of what an amazing God we have and never let me forget that either. There are strained relationships and I pray every day to God for healing and forgiveness. I am thankful everyday for our amazing family. Next, are our unbelievable friends. We have been so blessed with the BEST friends. These people spent countless hours praying and believing in miracles when I was pregnant with Mikayla. When the doctors gave us no hope, our friends said NO WAY the doctors are right. When Mikayla was in the hospital, she had visitors that spent hours with us. Even in daily situations I have friends that I can call in the middle of the night just to vent and they are there. Thank you God for those people that you send into our lives. Lastly, is our church. The pastoral staff has been amazing to us. Anything we need they would be there. Our pastor is amazing. He has made us feel at home from day one and continues to be there. We are so thankful for all the opportunities we have been given to grow there. It is so nice to be in a place that you really feel like you belong with people that really love you and your child. I hope that I have not forgotten anything. I will probably remember more later. I love you all very much and am so thankful for everyone of you in our lives. I am also thankful for Thanksgiving Dinner - can't wait 'till Thursday.

Leshia

Daddy and his girl!!

Just wanted to put some random pictures on here since I am a slacker and have not posted anything lately. Mikayla is doing great. She is learning and doing something new every single day. We are anticipating Christmas and can't wait to see how she does.

Happy Halloween

Mikayla wanted to eat her costume more than wear it.

Here's our little duck!! She looked so cute. Did not really know what to think about the whole Halloween thing.

We went trick or treating to Uncle Philip's house - we got some good candy for Mommy and Daddy. Oops, I mean for Mikayla. Grandma and Aunt Amber were also over at Philip's helping with candy.

We went to Trunk or Treat at church tonight. It was really a good idea - safer than going door to door. People from the church just lined their cars up and filled their trunks with candy and the kids just went from car to car. This is Mikayla with her Aunt Andrea.

This is Mommy and Mikayla with Pirate Sam.

Little stinker

Just wanted to share this picture from today.

Mikayla's gums have been bothering her so Daddy gave her a Freezee Pop and now she LOVES them. She gets upset when we take it away.

This was taken Thursday on her 6 month birthday. She went to the doctor that day for all her shots... she did not feel good at all yesterday. On top of her regular shots she also got her flu shot and RSV vaccine. She ran a little fever and slept all day on Friday - did not want to play at all . Everything went well at this appointment. Obviously this picture was taken before the shots.

Today Mikayla and Mommy went to the Pumpkin Blast (fall festival) at church and then for Mikayla's first trip to the Flea Market. She was such a good girl all day. Aunt Amber went with us to the Flea Market. It was her first time also. Mikayla had such a good time just looking around at all the stuff and people. She also had a good time with all the attention she got.

This picture was taken at the church. This is Mikayla buddy RJ. When they saw each other RJ grabbed Mikayla's hand and in this picture they are holding hands. It was so cute. They are in the nursery together and love to stare at each other.

We had a half year birthday "party" for Mikayla yesterday. Grandma Bonnie, Grandpa Carl, Uncle Philip, and Aunt Amber came over.

Grandma and Grandpa bought Mikayla her first present to open.

Mommy helping Mikayla to open the present.

Finally, we get it open.

It's a puppy that makes lots of fun noises!

Mikayla's 1/2 cake that Grandma made for her.

Mikayla's first handful of icing.

She was not real sure about this. Click on the picture to enlarge it her face is funny.

Daddy decided that Mikayla needed more icing so he added some for her.

Sweet baby!!

First night home.

Last night was a much better night. Mikayla slept very well and woke up twice hungry. She is back to her old self today- laughing and smiling. Thank God!!! The pictures below were taken last week but I am just now getting around to posting them.

HOME AT LAST!!!!

Mikayla having some apple juice this afternoon.

Incision for shunt in head. Did not take any of her stomach incision yet.

View of our room.

Another view of our room.

We finally made it home today around 4:30pm. Had a not so great night last night... Mommy and Mikayla got very few hours of sleep. For the first few HOURS we had a monitor problem and it was going off every few minutes. The stinkin' thing would not quit beeping until I got up and silenced it. Then, Mikayla's face starting itching so the nurse gave her Benedryl. We think that had a reverse effect on her from most kids, she was wide awake for the REST OF THE NIGHT. Did not even help the itching so for the rest of the night I had to stay up to keep her from clawing her face to pieces. I felt so helpless - nothing I could do to help her. The doctor thinks the itching is from the tape used on her face during surgery- you could see the perfect shape of the tape. We finally got her some hydrocortisone cream that really seemed to work then we swaddled her so she could not scratch her face. Hopefully by tomorrow it will be better. We are still trying to get her back up to par on eating - she has been through so much I bet tomorrow will be a better day. Hopefully, we will all get a good night's sleep and tomorrow will be a better day for all of us. Thanks for all your prayers. We love you all.

SURGERY COMPLETE

Well, surgery is complete and we are finally in a room at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. We got into a room about 5:00pm after waiting since around 10:ooam. Long Day!!! Surgery itself went well. The problem was a blockage in the shunt in her stomach. Dr. Tulipan said since he was in there he went ahead and replaced all the parts in her head shunt as well and made her tube longer. Mikayla had a harder time with recovery this time. Her breathing was off from where they wanted it to be at times and she did not handle the pain as well. Since she got her last round of pain meds at 4:30 she is doing much better and everything seems under control. Not sure exactly when we will be going home tomorrow - hopefully all will go well tonight and it will be first thing. Just say a prayer for our little Mikayla.

SURGERY

Just wanted to let everyone know that Mikayla has to have another surgery this Thursday at 8:30am at Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital. We went to Spina Bifida Clinic yesterday and Dr. Tulipan(neurosurgeon) said that her soft spot was a little firm. She had a CT scan and they found that her shunt is not functioning properly. The surgery will consist of them going in and looking at her shunt, finding where the malfunction is, and fixing it. Should not take long at all. We will not know whether she stays overnight until after surgery. If it were up to me I would rather her stay overnight just for observation, but they are the experts. Just when her hair is really growing - they have to shave a spot, just in time for pictures!!!! That's ok though! We will update everyone after surgery. Keep little Mikayla in your prayers.

I think we have found Mikayla's favorite food so far... it is squash. She will eat as much as we will give her of this. Today she wanted to get it all over her face and bib. She also loves spitting her food and milk now. Mommy loves that little trick... I have to admit it does make me laugh when she giggles about it.

Mikayla loves bathtime and LOVES eating the bubbles.

Mikayla with her great-grandfather(Mommy's grandfather)

Mikayla thought it was so funny wearing Daddy's sunglasses.