Go Blackjacks...

In August, my cousin Chelsea called to see if we were interested in joining a family/Fusion softball team.  I happen to fit in both of those categories so we were in.  

We got cute matching team shirts, had a practice and thought we were ready to rock.

I probably should have written this post earlier in our season when we were still feeling optimistic.  But as you can see by the big "zero" we are making in the picture, we didn't win a single game.  That's right, not a single one.  We got worked big time, and not just by a few points, we're talking 10 or 20 points.

Here's the team:

Brad, Me, Tony, Kipp, Megan, Chelsea, Joey, Cortney, Rodger

Bob, Lindsey and Landon

Not pictured: Lydia, Summer, Kari and Dave

On the up side I discovered my husband's hidden talent of hitting a mean home run.

Even with the support of our cheering section we couldn't pull out a win...

Not only did we get our aces kicked but we also got injured, and I mean a lot.  Poor Cort took a grounder that bounced up right to the eye...

Dave and Joey pulled their hami's

Landon got hit in the chest with the ball

And Kipp broke his wrist

Who knew the city league would be like unto the majors.  The other players meant business and we were way out of our league (enjoy the pun).

Needless to say, we will not be playing next year.

Here we go again...

I swear, if there is some random, weird, uncommon sickness out there poor little Indie is going to get it.  Her latest is an abscess under her eye.

It has made for some funny moments of waking up to this...

It all started a few weeks ago when she started developing a small red bump under her eye.  At first I thought it was pink eye but her eye wasn't pink so I just figured it was a sty.  So foolishly I didn't take her to the doctor thinking it would go away.  

Well after about a week it didn't so I thought it was time to go in.  Her doctor said it was an infection in her eye, gave us an antibiotic and sent us on our way.  Three days later it only looked worse so we went back in and this time he said it was an abscess and we would need to see a specialist to have it drained.

The next day we made yet another doctors visit.  The specialist concurred that it was an abscess.  He said we could either strap her down and drain it or we could put her under and do the procedure.  The doctor felt he could do a better job of cleaning it out if she wasn't freaking out so we opted for another surgery.  

We arrived at Ogden Regional Wednesday morning at 6:30 a.m., you heard right, A.M.  The anesthesiologist did his best to completely freak me out.  He was concerned because Indie had a small cold and told us that even healthy children have problems with their airways while under anesthesia.  He wouldn't even feel comfortable putting an adult with a cold under.  He asked the doctor if he thought this surgery could wait until she was well and he said he was afraid if we waited she would be at risk for developing cellulitis.  So they decided to continue on with the surgery even though it would be higher risk.  I felt calm up to this point and then I just lost it.  Thanks for telling me all of the reasons we should wait, and then going ahead with it anyway.  I could not stop the tears.  Tony gave Indie a blessing and I felt more at ease.  

They took her from us at about 7:30 a.m. and by 7:50 a.m. the doctor had come to the waiting room to tell us it had been a success.  Tony had to jet off to class so I went into the recovery room and fed and rocked Indie until they said we could go.  She was groggy and a little grumpy as usual from the anesthesia, but I think she was mostly upset because the pesky patch was covering her good eye.

We were home by 9:30 and back to normal after we both took a much needed nap.  The patch came off and her eye was swollen and bruised.

We went back to the doctor today and he said everything looks great.  The swelling has gone done and it is still quite bruised but she should be back to normal in no time.

Halloween...

Halloween was a great day.  We were going non-stop and despite the fact Indie didn't get a decent nap all day she did pretty well.  We dragged her around from place to place, dressing and undressing her but in the end we visited all of her grandparents and great-grandparents.

We have a tradition of visiting dad at his work and showing the kids' costumes off.  Then we eat at a delicious cafe.  Chloe was the girl from High School Musical, Maddie was an angel and Indie was a little Chinese baby.  Lydie brought her that costume all the way from China.  Thanks Lyd.

Lyd had to work Halloween night (boo) so we helped her get dressed up, and by we, I mean Alicia.  I laid on the couch and watched.

Off to Grandma and Grandpa Rigbys.

Little Cashy was a bee.

Then to Nana and Gaga's home.

Kisses for Nana.

We stopped by Grandma and Grandpa Smiths too but I forgot to take pictures.

We ended up at Kim's house where we got to see Beckam who was Chicken Little.

And Gracie who was a fairy.

Kim made a killer chili so we ate and visited with everyone who stopped by.

Tony, bless his little heart, spent the day taking the dreaded GRE but was able to spend the evening with us.  Thanks for working so hard babe.

Did you rock the vote?...

We did.

Ni hao...

幸福

(happy)

Halloween

你 好

Here lambie lambie...

Maddie always wants to help feed Indie, but the other day she forgot to lay her down first.

It reminded us of when we were little and we would feed Grandpa Rigby's lambies.

Thanks for being such a good helper Mad.

Indie update...

We went in for little Indie's 18 (okay 19, I am a little behind) month well check yesterday and she is just that...little.

She weighs in at 21.6 pounds and is 31 inches long, which puts her in the 10th percentile.

And her little head is still in the negative percentile.

Did you ever think that Tony and I would ever have a kid that was anything but "off the charts?!?"

The doctor is not concerned, in fact, he says she is progressing well and right on target, she is just little.

So here are a few tid bits about Indie at 19 months old.

*She has five teeth, two on the bottom, three on top.  She will literally take your finger off if you aren't careful.

*Indie likes graham crackers, bananas, cheese and rice, those are her favorites.  She likes most of the Gerber treats like puffs, dried fruit and yogurt bites.  For the most part she still drinks a lot of whole milk but at least we are done with expensive formula.

*She says da-da and na-na.  We are still working on ma-ma.  

*She will patty cake, peek-a-boo, snap, wave and blow kisses.  Just yesterday she started mooing when I asked her what the cow says but it is too soon to really perform that trick for anyone.  Tony doesn't even believe she does it because she won't do it for him.

*She can stand up to stuff for extended periods of time.  She will lean against this toy and play with her toys for like 30 minutes.

This is a picture from a few months ago when she first started standing up while holding on to  something.

*As of August she started riding in a big girl car seat.  She looks so grown up in it.  I need to get a picture of her in it.  

Right before we switched her over Maddie saw her in the old seat and said, "she is too damn big for that seat."  I guess if a three year old notices it then it really is time for a new seat, and yes, she did get busted for swearing (even though it was really funny).

Here are some pictures of Ind in her old seat.  I loved how she would hold on to the handle.  She would do it while we were driving as if she were holding on for dear life.

*When Indie was a few months old we had to bundle her for her to sleep and we would have to wrap her binki in too.  Dangerous, I know, but she has never been a great sucker and couldn't keep her binki in otherwise.  Finally mom said she had a feeling that we needed to stop wrapping her binki in.  Luckily Indie didn't mind being without it.

So for the longest time we could wrap her up like this and she loved it.  It was getting to the point that only Tony could wrap her tight enough so we decided the wrap needed to change too.

We thought we had weeks of horrible nights ahead of us, but again luckily, she didn't mind not being wrapped.  We did however revert back to using a binki.  Now we just lay her in the cribby with her ducky and her bink (which she holds in with her hand, see, not a good sucker) and off to dreamland without a peep.  Now that is a dream for me too.

*Ind loves her walker.  We gave it to her last Christmas but it wasn't until late spring that she started to get the hang of it.  She can maneuver around the house like a champ.  When the weather was nice we put her in the driveway and she just cruised.

I am so proud of our little boozie and the progress she makes every single day.  I was reading this post the other day and I felt that in a way it related to Indie:

 

"There’s no way of knowing what the future will be, and that, basically, I was asking the wrong question. She spoke of other burn victims, how well they’re doing now, what they’re doing now, the successes and happiness they’ve expressed to her. She told me that everything is different now and that things will never be the same. Ever. If we, as her family and friends, are constantly comparing her to the way she used to be, then we’ll never be satisfied. It will never be enough. If, however, we compare her to how far she’s come, each step of the way, and see the miracle that her body is in surviving and changing, then each success will be a leap, not an inch, forward from a devastating moment. If we say, Look how much better she’s doing since September!, we’ll be encouraged. Or, at Christmas, if we say, Look how amazing she is since Halloween! , we’ll find joy in her success, not frustration."

I don't compare Ind to other babies.  I just see the leaps and bounds she has made since birth, since last month or even since last week.  She has reached milestones in her life that we were told never to expect.  That, in and of itself, is a miracle.  

And who knows maybe by Christmas she will be walking and we will be able to look how amazing she is since Halloween.