3 Months!

Today, my baby girl is 3 months old! And what an eventful 3 months it has been. . . 4 surgeries requiring 4 hospitalizations totaling 23 nights spent at Children's Mercy (at least it's nowhere near the 42 nights spent there in Oliver's first 3 months). . . we have celebrated her baptism, Halloween, Thanksgiving, birthdays for Oliver, me, & Calvin, and Christmas. We have grown more and more in love with her every day and can't imagine life without her! I know I've said it a hundred times, but she's a blessing and a true gift from God!

Now for the pictures. . . At one month, she was pretty much scrawny and mad to be alive:

At 2 months, still scrawny, but looking a bit happier:
And today, looking a little chunkier and even happier (and no more screws, yippee!):

Here's to a much less eventful next 3 months!

And the Results are. . .

We took Violet in to see the audiologist today for another attempt at her hearing test. As you may recall, this is the test that requires her to be completely still for an hour, which seems like a pretty tall order for a 3-month old. My instructions were to keep her awake all morning so that she would sleep well for the test, which is also a challenge since we have nearly an hour drive to get there (and like all babies, she falls asleep almost immediately in the car). I was successful in keeping her awake by keeping her hungry and doing "baby calisthenics" with her arms and legs the entire way up there. It seemed cruel, but worked. When we got there, she downed a 4-ounce bottle (she usually takes 2-3 ounces at a time), and then pretty much passed out!

And the results are. . . SHE CAN HEAR!!! Since she failed her newborn hearing screen, I've been a little worried that her hearing loss may be more than just fluid behind her ears. To find out today that she doesn't have hearing loss AT ALL, seems like a small miracle! She heard every tone tested out of both ears; the audiologist said her hearing is PERFECT! So all this singing and talking I've been doing to her hasn't been wasted after all--such a relief! In addition, because she passed on every level, the fluid that was behind her ears (that was discovered during a CT scan of her head when she was about a week old) has either moved on out or at any rate isn't affecting her hearing. So this means we shouldn't have to have a separate surgery for tubes when she is 6 months old. She'll still get ear tubes, but they should be able to place them when she has her palate repair surgery at a year old. So yippee for eliminating a surgery for once!

I also forgot to mention that our follow up appointments with infectious disease and plastic surgery went well last week. We don't have to go back to the plastic surgeon for 6 more months, and we (hopefully) never have to go have to infectious disease clinic. And as an added benefit, today was the last day for her antibiotics! After a month of having to remember to give her medicine 3 times a day, I'm sure I'll still find myself watching the clock for 6 a.m., 2 p.m., and 10 p.m. She's really turning into a pretty much 'normal' baby!

Hallmark (which is right across the street from Children's Mercy) always decorates the entire hospital during the holidays. We took a picture by the great big tree in the atrium before we left today. . .

. . . to compare it to the picture we took with Oliver in front of the same tree when we were there for surgery clinic after we were discharged from the hospital. The decorations are always so fun!
Praise God for the wonderful results today!!

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

Santa knows that we are gone on Christmas morning, so he is kind enough to delay his visit to our house until the 26th. When I got up for a drink in the night, I saw that he had indeed been here!

I slept lightly because I wanted to make sure and see the boys' expressions when they saw their gifts from Santa. I heard Calvin's little feet running to the living room the second he woke up; he didn't forget Santa was coming! So I had to be quick, too! Here they are checking out all of their loot.
Calvin loved his Plasma car (don't you love his 'bed head'?).


And Oliver thought his Toy Story chair was pretty cool, too. (Doesn't his smile just make you melt?)
Santa didn't forget about Violet. . .She got some headbands, some handbells (for the boys to play for her until she is big enough), and a new Haberman bottle. Unfortunately, she slept through the festivities so the boys opened her gifts for her.

We had such a great Christmas this year. We love spending time with all of our family and seeing the joy and excitement on our boys' faces. As Russ said, the best part about this Christmas is our baby girl. . . Last Christmas, we didn't even know there would BE a Violet this Christmas, and then after all of her hospital time and surgeries, I often wondered if we would be celebrating Christmas at home or at Children's Mercy. We are just so thankful for our children; they are each little miracles in their own way.This Christmas, we are especially thankful for our Violet -- What a wonderful gift she is!!

Christmas, Round Two

Our Christmas Eve festivities began at Grandpa Evan & Grandma Shirley's house for the big Phillips Christmas. Oliver was completely mesmerized by the gorgeous Christmas tree Grandpa Evan built out of wood and fishing line. I told Russ I want him to make one for our house; he thought I'd have better luck just asking Grandpa to make one for me instead. . .

Grandma & Grandpa searching through the gifts to find ours.
Violet sitting in her gift! Grandpa Evan always gives the babies one of his hand-made rocking chairs on their first Christmas. The boys both got oak chairs, but Violet got one made of walnut. This is extra special because the walnut tree used for the wood was from the 'home place' where Denny grew up and had been there for 5 generations of Dwyers. . . This chair has some serious history!

Grandma loving on Violet.

Aunt Geri finding her gifts to pass out to the kids. We all think Violet looks just like her great-aunt Geri.We always have to leave early to get to Christmas Eve church services in Missouri, but this year we had to leave even earlier than usual with the inclement weather coming in. We quickly got a couple of shots of the kids with grandparents: first Grandma Jo & Grandpa Denny.

Then with Grandma Shirley & Grandpa Evan. I intend to crop this picture, but had to leave it in its original state for the blog. I was cracking up at the 'paparazzi' in the mirror's reflection. You can see my big Christmas gift from Jo & Denny is that wonderful flash firing.

We left Wellsville at 5:07 and got to Corder, Missouri, for church at 7:32 p.m. (only 2 minutes late, not bad!) It usually takes about 1 hour, 40 minutes to get there, but we were just thankful that we made it safely. Tthe roads were a bit treacherous, but we wouldn't miss the big Deterding Christmas for anything! After church, we all congregated in Aunt Karla's huge garage that she has set up so comfortably for our huge crowd. Cousin Sarah quickly got her hands on Violet, while everyone waited to unwrap gifts.

Some of the boys trying to be patient. . .

Calvin and JaeSi attempting to pet Matt, the beagle dog.

Grandma Ruth and Aunt Cheryl cracking jokes about something (I think it had something to do with the fact that Cheryl is grandma's 'secret shopper' and grandma wasn't sure if she had actually gotten anything for the great-grandkids. . .). The huge pile of presents and Aunt Karla unsuccessfully trying to get the attention of the nearly 50 people in her house. (I think we did quiet down enough for her to make her announcements, eventually.)

Dad with his prized toilet bank. Did I mention this gift exchange was white elephant??

Grandma Cheryl & baby Violet in their matching Christmas outfits.

We made it to bed just after 1:00 a.m. and enjoyed a few hours sleep before we were treated to another of Aunt Karla's gourmet breakfasts. I tell her every year that she has the best bed-and-breakfast ever, and the price certainly can't be beat! She took care of Violet while I chowed down.

Kristol and Violet got some snuggle time on Christmas morning, too.

We left Missouri to head home and when we pulled into our driveway, well, we couldn't pull into our driveway! I couldn't believe how much snow had drifted! It took several attempts with the 4-wheel drive back and forth, back and forth, to get in.

We certainly got our White Christmas!!

We were home for a couple of hours and then packed up our gifts to head to Grandpa Denny & Grandma Jo's house for their Christmas. Violet is really loving on her Grandma Jo!

Grandpa had the kids fascinated with something really exciting outside the window (or perhaps it was just a squirrel?).

Family pictures before we get too messy with dinner (and don't miss the gorgeous village scene Jo has set up behind our pictures; she has literally hundreds of pieces, and it is so pretty!). I'm finding it's becoming harder and harder to ever get the boys to act 'normal' for a picture!

Scott & Joy's family:

Dana & Russell's family (Notice Ella's beautiful princess attire, she wouldn't take it off all night!):

Present time! Oliver checking out his new book.

Look at all of those stockings on the fireplace; Jo & Denny have a stocking for everyone!

Some of the kids' favorite gifts. . . Calvin was so excited about his very-own Leapster. . .

. . . and with Oliver it was a tie between his tractor blanket and his big dump trucks.

. . . and Violet is sleeping next to a couple of her new toys.

After dinner and presents, it was pajama time! Grandma Jo got everyone PJ's, including her and Papa Denny! Sydney is taking care of Violet while I get the boys in their jammies.

There's the whole crew! You can't see it, but Papa Denny's pajamas had the Grinch on them; he wasn't overly thrilled about putting them on, but was a pretty good sport about it anyway. These grandparents definitely have their hands full! What a great Christmas we had with them!

Our final Christmas celebration was held at our house last evening with our family friends, the Adams. We've gotten together with them every Christmas since before I was born, and it's a tradition I hope we always continue. Here are some of the crew getting ready for the gift exchange.

We rotate where the party is held each year, but I'm afraid our group is getting too big for my house! The best part of this picture is that Ashli, Joy, and Sara are all also taking pictures. . .

Ashli, Madlyn, and Craig pointing out some really cool gifts the kids received.

Violet's googly ball present was as big as her head! Notice Uncle John is sporting his K-State purple. . . The adult gift exchange at this party is always really 'KU heavy' so John has to work pretty hard to get a gift that he can actually use! (He ended up with a blue 'Snuggie', but at least it didn't have a Jayhawk on it. . .)

And here are all of the kids (except Brynn & Violet) on Calvin's top bunk; what's the weight limit on that thing, anyway? From left-right is Sydney, Lincoln, Tyler, Calvin, Maverick, Oliver, Maci, Maddox, and Jackson. The kids always have so much fun playing together!

I am so sad when Christmas parties come to an end!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Calvin!

I can't believe it's already been 4 years since Calvin gave me the best Christmas gift ever: the gift of being a mother! We decided last year that we would celebrate on his actual birthday with just our family and then have a party later on with everyone else. So last night, we let Calvin pick what he wanted to do, and it was pizza and movies (just like last year). We had a great time!

On the movie list for the night were Madagascar, The Tale of Despereaux, and Horton Hears a Who. Pepperoni pizza and Sprite were on the menu -- perfect for a big 4-year-old!
Violet was having a great time celebrating with us!

Then, this morning we let Calvin open just a couple of gifts (he'll get the rest when we have our 'big' party). First, he saw his very own school desk. . .

. . . And then he unwrapped a Nerf gun; he was SO excited!

And we finished our party with some blueberry muffins and special sparkling white grape juice.

Happy birthday to my firstborn!!