Pictures and more Pictures

These pictures are already over two months old, but thought I would share anyways. There were so many good ones to pick from these are just a few.

Addi turned 3!

Addilyn is now 3 yrs old. She was so excited for her birthday. She counted down until the big day arrived. She has grown up so much, and even more since Logan's been born. She's been through a lot over the past year, but she is so bright and has such a spirited personality you would never suspect she has a disability. She loves learning and is a like a sponge. She loves our "school time" of the day and we've started to learn sign language, just in case the worse happens and we need another way of communication. She has also started the "why phase" and says funny things sometimes. The other day when George was putting her to bed she said, "When I get big I want holes in my ears like mom, and I want to wear earrings like grandma." As you can tell I don't wear earrings enough. As for a health update, Addi now has sleep apnea (not officially diagnosed yet) and will mostly likely have to have her tonsils and adnoids removed if we can ever get into the ENT. Just another hurdle that she'll jump over with ease.

We love you Addi and you are such wonderful big sister!



Oh and she LOVES Tinkerbell!

Our Little Logan

Logan was born Dec. 1st (my birthday) at 6:31 AM. He weighed 7lbs 8oz and was 20 in. long. He looks so much like Addi when she was a baby, but is so much bigger.
More to come...if I ever get some time.

First Hair Cut, New Look

It's been a while now, but I finally gave Addi her first hair cut. I debated whether to give her bangs or not and now I'm glad I did. She looks so cute and grown up especially when they're curled.

35 Weeks and Counting

Here is a pic at 35 weeks. Still feeling good, just getting uncomfortable. I'm bigger than I was with Addi, but they predict the baby will be on the smaller side. We've been busy getting everything ready not knowing if I'll be early or not.

To answer some questions about Addi, they don't know what caused her hearing loss and yes they do think it's progressive. She is getting a CT scan this week to see if anything physically changed in her ear to cause it. Who knows, it's still a mystery to us.

Magic Tinkerbell Ears

So you're probably wondering what Tinkerbell ears are, well the story starts clear back in June. We took Addi in for a routine ear appointment and found out that her current tubes had come out of her eardrums but were still sitting in her ear canal. They also noticed that it was affecting her hearing. At the end of June, Addi received her second set of tubes and then the testing began. They tested her hearing after the tube placement and the results were not good. They scheduled an ABR which tests the nerve impulses from the brain to the ear or something like that, to get more accurate results. On top of sedating her and the challenge of getting her to sleep the moment of her test results changed our lives from then on. According to both test results Addi had lost 50-60% of her hearing in both ears and would need hearing aids the rest of her life. At first I just cried because I was so devastated that my precious little girl had to face another life-long challenge at such a young age. Luckily my mom was with me, but George had a hard time accepting the news...honestly he was angry for a while. After a week of letting in sink in and reading all the info they sent me home with we knew that it was a blessing that they were able to diagnose Addi so early and we decided we were going to do everything we could to make this a positive experience for Addi.

So at our next appointment Addi decorated a present box so that when her hearing aids came in her Dr. would give her the present box with Magic Princess ears in it. Addi was so excited not really knowing what was going on. Over the next two weeks we kept her excited about her new present and the princess ears that would help her hear. A week before visiting the Dr. Addi said that she didn't want princess ears she wanted Tinkerbell ears, as her favorite thing right now is Tinkerbell. So we made our trip to Boise and her wonderful Dr. (Kari) gave Addi her special Magic Tinkerbell Ears that she has worn ever since. Addi was so excited.




She was diagnosed with moderate to severe hearing loss with the possibility of progressively losing it completely. After receiving her hearing aids, which they set for her certain level of hearing loss, they tested her reaction to sounds and were surprised by her abrupt reaction. They were confused as her reaction did not match her hearing results. So they set her Tinkerbell ears for mild hearing loss and scheduled another hearing test. A week later we retested her which helped make sense of everything. We found out that her high pitch hearing was actually at normal levels which the ABR does not test for. So her hearing is a little better than we thought, but Tinkerbell ears are still a necessity.

Addi is doing so well with them, we're quite surprised. You can tell she knows they make a difference and we notice too. She was also blessed that her speech levels were not affected as she tested a year ahead of her age along with her understanding language which she is 4 mo. ahead on. The most important thing is that she seems so much happier. Tinkerbell ears are truly magical and they only made our princess more magical to us and Addi will tell you so. Just last night we were at my parents and she followed grandpa around until she could say, "Magic Grandpa, magic Tinkerbell ears."

Baby Bump

Yes, that's right. Baby Midbust #2 is on its way. This picture was taken at 21 weeks and tomorrow I will be 24 wks. We also know that we are having a boy, which Addi knew from the very beginning. She always said she was going to have a brother and she was right. We are all very excited and I'm more excited to be closer to the end than the beginning of the pregnancy. This pregnancy has been a lot worse than the first. I had terrible nausea for the first 4 months, had the stomach flu twice, an ear infection, and had stitches in my thumb (which is not related to being pregnant :)) I'm feeling much better now, but am growing exponentially, which I really don't like but I really can't help that. My friend and I are still running which helps keep my sanity and my to-do-list-before-the-baby-comes keeps getting longer. I'll try to keep updates coming in between our crazy life and ongoing projects.