Happy Birthday Amanda!

Written by Thomas:
Today was my beautiful wife's birthday. Her parents came into town for both of our birthday's. We celebrated them together even though mine was last Saturday (Sep. 22). We celebrated by going out to lunch at Perry's Steakhouse for their famous pork chops and then did some shopping so Amanda could pick out some gifts. We had a good time together!  I just wanted to take the opportunity to write some of my feelings on this special day. I am eternally grateful for my dear sweet wife. She is an inspiration and a true example to me. I owe her everything, not only because she puts up with me, but because she does so much for our little family. She never seizes to amaze me with all that she has on her plate with the kids all day everyday. I am just so blessed to have her by my side each day. She is one of the greatest things to ever happen to my life. I love and cherish her for who she is. Happy birthday Babe, I love you so much.

Didn't get a picture of all of us together this time, but did get a picture of Amanda's cake.  She gets these cookie cakes every year for her birthday.

Little Texas Longhorn fans

With the football season in full swing, I couldn't wait to do a photo shoot of the girls in their Texas Longhorn dresses.  I did a post back in February of Kayla in her Longhorn attire along with a picture of Rachel and Haley in their Longhorn dresses from September 2011.  You can read that post HERE.   I was able to get a new Texas Longhorn dress for Rachel so now all three have the same dress.  They look so cute when they match.  So here are my three little Longhorn fans!

Haley, Kayla, Rachel

Haley

Rachel

Kayla

Kayla

Haley and Rachel

Rachel

Haley

Daddy's Birthday - Weekend Fun!

Thomas's Birthday was on Saturday September 22.  We celebrated his birthday late Friday afternoon at our good friends house.  We went swimming, had good food and enjoyed the cake that I made for his birthday.  On Saturday we went to a special place of ours, Kemah Boardwalk.  Its located in the town of Kemah, TX about 20 miles southeast of downtown Houston.  Kemah Boardwalk will always be a part of Thomas and I's history.  It's where it all started 6 years ago for Thomas and I.  We had our first date at the Kemah Boardwalk and it's where Thomas and I fell in "love".  So we like to visit it once in a while to reminisce.

Happy Birthday Thomas (daddy)!!!  We love you!!!

Pictures from Friday (September 21):

Enjoying some time in the pool

Haley with daddy in the hot tub

Rachel and daddy in the hot tub

Pictures from Saturday (September 22) at Kemah Boardwalk:

Daddy with his girls

Thomas with Haley and Rachel on the Boardwalk

Thomas and I rode the tall ride and the Ferris wheel on our first date at Kemah Boardwalk.  Good memories!

  

Good news about Haley's Vision

Within the past week Haley has had two eye doctor appointments.  The first one a week ago was with her retinal specialist.  Haley sees him every 6 months to keep a watch on her right eye to make sure its stable and nothing bad is going on.  Her right eye is definitely not normal.  She has a lot of scar tissue and her right eye is partially detached.  This is how her eye has been for a long time now.  At this appointment we got good news!  Her right eye is stable and the doctor saw more retina in Haley's eye!  Her doctor said that he was surprised to see that her right eye was better and had more retina.  This is a blessing and a miracle!  Haley is an amazing little girl!

For the second eye doctor appointment, Haley was evaluated at the NOVA (non-invasive objective visual assessment) clinic at the University eye institute at the University of Houston.  At this appointment, Haley's limited vision in her right eye was evaluated to help us and her doctor's get a better understanding of how much she is seeing.  Haley does have some vision and is able to get around, but she is considered legally blind.  Haley's best field of vision is downward and to the right in her right eye.  We see Haley turning her head to the left so that her right eye is more in the center to see what is in front of her.  This makes more since of why she does this because that is where her field of vision is.  Haley has not been wearing her glasses for a while now because we didn't know if they were doing her any good.  At this appointment the doctor's told us that she does need corrective lenses and it will improve her vision.  So instead of glasses, Haley will be getting a contact lens to help her vision.  Haley will still have to wear glasses, but they will only be used to protect her eyes.  

We are so thankful to our loving Heavenly Father for this blessing!  We are so happy with the vision she has and so grateful that things are better than we ever thought it would be.

Flashback Friday: Wedding rings

Almost 3 years ago this picture was taken of Rachel while she was in the NICU wearing our wedding rings around her tiny foot.

September 19, 2009 - Rachel

Fast forward to today.  Rachel can only wear daddy's wedding ring around her big toe.  My rings are too small for her big toe.  What a difference 3 years makes!  I love seeing how much she has grown.

Kayla is 9 Months Old!

My little Kayla is growing up.  She is 9 months old!  This little girl brightens my days, melts my heart and keeps me so busy.  She is a wonderful gift from God and Thomas and I love her so very much.

Kayla so pretty in pink for this month's photo shoots.

Kayla saw the doctor for her 9 month check up and she is perfectly healthy!  She weighs 16 lbs, 2 oz (10% ile) and is 26.5 inches long (17% ile).  Weight for length she is almost at the 50% ile.  

The most wonderful news to announce this month is that Kayla is finally sleeping through the night!!!  She started this at about 8 1/2 months old.  Kayla goes to bed at 8 pm and will wake up around 6:30-7am.  Kayla and I have a nightly bedtime routine.  I feed her a bottle and then read Goodnight Moon to her.  I spend some hugging and cuddling time with her and then to bed she goes. 

Kayla has 2 teeth and she is eating more variety of foods.  She loves yogurt, sweet potatoes, any kind of fruit and finger foods such as Gerber puffs, lil crunchies and cheerios.  She is able to pick up her foods with a pincher grasp.  Kayla is getting more picky with foods.  She doesn't really care for cereals (oatmeal or rice) anymore.  Kayla is doing better with her spitting up.  I switched her formula again and it has made a huge difference.  Glad I finally found one that works for her.

Kayla has some favorite things.  She loves her sisters!  She enjoys so much to be with them.  She is almost always near them when they are all together in the same room.  She loves to play with her toys and her sisters toys.  She loves one particular baby doll that used to be Rachel and Haley's, but its definitely Kayla's now.  She hugs her doll and lights up when she sees it.

 

Kayla is so "talkative".  She is saying "mama", "dada" and is making lots of other sounds.  She also squeals and screams.  Kayla is a happy baby!  She loves attention and will give smiles so freely.  She loves it when people talk to her.  Kayla also recently started giving me kisses.  She gives me a wide open mouth kiss on my cheek.  Its a wet kiss, but I love it.

Kayla is full of energy!!!  She is getting around everywhere.  She's still combat crawling.  She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks, but goes back down.  She can stand with assistance and will take a couple of little steps while holding on.  Here is a video of Kayla doing her combat crawling.

       

Pre-school update - The past 2 weeks

So the girls have been going to pre-school for 2 weeks now.  And all has been going well.  We have a good routine going with getting them up early in the morning, getting Haley on the bus to school and driving Rachel to school.  It has been an adjustment for Thomas and I with getting up early to get the girls ready for school.  We are not morning people!  But we will do what it takes to get Rachel and Haley to school because they seem to like it and they are already learning new stuff.  Rachel is being introduced and working on coloring, letters and colors.  I already have some of her artwork to hang on the fridge!  She is continuing to learn sign language as well as continuing to work on speech.  Rachel and Haley still have their speech therapist come see them 3 times a week at home.  In Haley's class the teacher is working on getting Haley to feed herself.  Her teacher is optimistic that she will be able to do it by the end of the year.  It is definitely harder for a child who is blind to learn how to feed themselves.  Haley's teacher is also working on potty training.  Haley has already had her school pictures taken at school.  Rachel's school already has sent home fundraising info and school t-shirt order forms.  Things are in full swing for the new school year!  Overall, pre-school is doing good for Rachel and Haley and I look forward to reporting more updates in the future on what they are learning.

Here are a couple of pictures from this weekend:

Rachel and Haley sitting in their new pink chairs

Rachel, Haley and I while visiting our good friends at their new house.  Their back yard is beautiful!