Catching Up

Hm. It has been a while. And more than a few people have asked me if we're going to continue with the blog. The intention was "yes" - the execution, a little less so. So we're back and catching up! A lot has happened since I last posted in mid-August - Evie has gotten stronger and stronger, celebrated her first birthday, been able to stand up for short moments by herself, and today even took one step by herself. We have had my sister & her family living with us for most of this month (her husband had his leg amputated last month - his story here: www.kevincowart.com) ... oh, and we found out we're expecting baby #2 in about 6 months (actually - six months from today is the semi-official due-date!). So that's put a bit of a hold on many parts of life, including the blog, for the last couple months :)

But ... here's the review of September and October so far ...

By early September, she had mastered the art of standing at the refrigerator (or anywhere else she could hold on) ... and apparently of getting out of pajamas, too. 

For Aunt Elizabeth's birthday, we went to Henry's Ark, our favorite local semi-gross mini-zoo.

 And spent lots of time with the Cowarts before they headed off to Nashville for Kev's surgery ...

 And we traveled down to Middlesboro, Kentucky, to see my dad's family & celebrate his sister's wedding. Evie had a lot of fun with Grandma Matthews.

 We had our moments of craziness ...

We went down to Nashville to visit the Cowarts there - here's our circus of a gang after having lunch with Kevin at the rehab facility.

 And then we came back - and got the Cowarts back to us too - and celebrated Evie's first birthday with super fun party with lots of family and friends. She had a blast!!

We got her a mini-piano, which she loved from the moment she saw it ...

And she got a stroller, which she and Audrey have been walking with like crazy (well, Audrey more so than Ev, because that girl is actually walking walking ... but check Evie out here!!) ...

Then it quickly turned into Halloween-week (which we're obviously still in the middle of). Here's a glimpse of Evie's costume from her music class party this past week. She loved it.

 And, as it happens, little babies start growing up and before we know it, we've taken the infant seat out of the car and replaced it with a convertible! For a couple days, it was a major novelty that her carseat was sitting in the kitchen, so she enjoyed playing in it ... until I realized that we have to use that thing in six months and I don't want her to break it :) So into storage it is, until we have this new kiddo to put in it!

And here's a funny video from just yesterday ... Evie the green-bean inhaler ...

 So that's our world these days. It's been a crazy but awesome fall so far!

Already?!

When Ev got her cast off, I was mentally prepared for a pretty long road of getting stronger before she hit milestones like crawling, pulling up, and standing. Turns out I have been very pleasantly surprised :) Every day for the last week or so, Ev has gotten noticeably stronger and able to do things with much more ease or has added new physical skills to her repertoire (a separate post will come sometime soon about the verbal skills, but suffice it to say that we know she really, really, really likes dogs).

But today we had major excitement when she was able to pull herself up to a standing position!! She did it earlier in the day on the dishwasher door, so I set up a couple cushions that were about the same height. Here she is!

Learning more every day ...

It has been 3 1/2 weeks and I can hardly remember her having the cast on. It should go without saying that we are really enjoying Evie being free from her cast - but the verdict was still out for a while because the sleeping was. so. bad. After a few she's-just-going-to-have-to-figure-it-out-nights of a lot of crying, things are on the upswing (finally) and we're getting longer stretches of sleep each night. Thank goodness - because to go from her sleeping 11-12 hours a night to 2-3 hours at a time was no fun. So now we're almost back to normal (only took almost a month!).

Every day, Evie's legs get stronger and she is able to move more and more like a kid her age should be. She crawls pretty normally sometimes - and other times still pulls her body along with her arms like she is in the cast. She is starting to crawl up and over things - pillows, mom and dad ... and also has figured out how to get off a mattress onto the floor without hurting herself (the mattress is on the floor, people, not on the bed. Ev is great but not that talented). In the last week, she has figured out how to sit up completely by herself, and can get from lying down to sitting up and vice versa. Just in the last 3-4 days she has been able to put most of her weight on her legs when we hold her up, which is great progress. Right after she got the cast off, her legs were like jello, and so it has taken quite a while for her to build up the muscles there.

We are in Knoxville visiting my parents right now, so here are some pics and videos from this week!

Obviously not the correct way to be in the float, but Ev thought it was fun anyway ... 

Just barely caught her waving at the camera ...

Sitting up in the bath!

We went to visit Granddaddy at work :)

And we went out on the boat. The life jacket was not Ev's favorite part of it :)

Putting weight on her legs ...

Perfect weekend with Grandma and Granddaddy!

Every baby's cuter with a 'stache

We had a surprise party for my friend Emily last weekend. The theme? Mustaches. 

Babies with mustaches = too funny not to share.

Ev's friend Tyson - he is 6 days older than her but is going grey already ;)

And Judah really, really, really did not like his 'stache.

Movin', movin', movin'

Ev is very happy to be out of the cast. I know that should go without saying, but when she basically did not sleep for the first 36 hours of being cast-free, I was more than a little concerned! She seemed really, really sore and was just plain cranky.

However, after a great night of sleep last night, she is infinitely happier and has seemed to have greater range of motion and ability to use her hips & knees today. She is starting to bend her knees and put weight on her legs to try to crawl or move her body. It is so fun to see her really use her legs. 

She is also really happy to be back in her high chair. Meals are way easier now!

Every minute gets better ...

We went to the pool - Ev loved it. She kicked like crazy. Sweet girl is having so much fun.

You may remember that before Ev got her cast on, she loved playing with her toes. Check out her giggle when she figures out how to get them back.

It felt so good ...

to look at the remnants of the cast in the trash can at the doctor's office! I was considering keeping part of it, but then there was just so. much. nastiness. inside. It'd be a health hazard anywhere but in the trash.

Getting the cast off was a pretty simple process, and Ev was great for it. She didn't seem bothered by the cast-cutter at all. She had Mr. Monkey to keep her company, and everything's better when he (and dad) are around. As soon as the cast was actually off, she stretched out her legs and was obviously excited by the prospect of moving her legs again. She clapped a lot during all of this. Pretty cute.

We were thrilled to see that her thighs still have their trademark rolls, and that her skin, besides being incredibly flaky and nasty (it so, so, so gross), doesn't have any major irritation. And she is moving her legs a lot. She scooted around on the floor when we got home, kicked water in the bathtub, and has definitely loosened up her joints up in her crib, where she is supposed to be sleeping.

All in all, a great day so far. We will go to the pool later and I'm sure Ev will be thrilled with it!

Also, I took a video of the whole cast removal process as well as a couple once we were home. You can find them on my youtube channel.

Bye bye cast!

It's the last time you'll see this ...

AH. (the penultimate day)

This week. Two days. The day after tomorrow. It's really happening!

I cannot believe it.

I also cannot believe this: I'm nervous! Don't get me wrong. I am excited - beyond excited - for her to be cast-free. I am beside myself with anticipation of taking her in the pool and giving her baths (stockholders in Target & Amazon can thank me for my hefty contributions over the last couple weeks ...) and dressing her in normal clothes and watching her crawl. Totally totally thrilled that this is happening. But I'm nervous about whether or not she will be in pain as her joints loosen up, and how long that will last ... and how she will sleep when she has the freedom to move all over the place ... and what sort of trouble she will get herself into as she gets more mobile. I have just gotten so used to life in the cast, I think it will be pretty strange to change a normal diaper and put her into her highchair. And her carseat. And her clothes. But it will be so wonderful!

Ev is happy too.

Thank you for traveling with us along this journey. A few people have asked if we will still keep the blog once she gets her cast off, and we will. I think there are a few parents & grandparents out there who are still reading ;) And actually, the one thing lacking in the blogs I have read about kids in the spica cast is how the recovery out of the cast has been! So to make up for the lack of posts in the last month, we will be sharing a lot about how Evie does as she comes out of the cast. Stay tuned! We'll be back Wednesday with a cast-free update!

(And before then, I will post a video of how much she is scooting around on the floor, even in the cast!)

Happy Fourth of July!

As I start this, I have one minute left to officially wish you all "Happy Independence Day. "And now it's July 5th. We had a good, full day today. We did not except it to be very eventful (all we had planned was community group tonight) - but it was!

We started with a family trip to the mall - we got a handsome, big umbrella for the back deck. Very fun!

Then we spent most of the afternoon (besides setting this up) preparing for a somewhat last minute grill-out with our community group. Steve made the most delish hamburgers I've ever had, and I whipped up 3 desserts (well, to be fair - I did start the popsicles yesterday).

First up was my standard raspberry buttermilk-but-I-substitute-yogurt cake - recipe from smitten kitchen.  It is my go-to summer cake (translate: it is one of the only cakes I ever make, but I only make it in the summer). I wanted to do blueberries in the middle in the shape of a star like this:

But as it turns out - since that's a tart it looks all nice and perfect on there. On a cake it's not so ... perfect. In fact my star looks awful and un-starlike. But it was tasty tasty! And just so you don't think I'm a complete buffoon - strawberries were actually covering the whole rest of the top, but they sink into the cake when it cooks (one of the reasons it is so amazing).

I had better luck with the presentation of my filled strawberries. I finally got a pastry bag with good tips so piping in the cream cheese filling was super fun on these ....

And also super tasty were the fresh fruit, lemonade, & honey popsicles. To anyone interested in making these: Since it's not 4th of July any more - and even if it were, it's more purple than blue anyway - skip the blueberry layer. Blueberries just don't puree smoothly enough to make this layer excellent. And the other two layers are excellent. I had extra strawberry puree so I made two that were strawberry on both ends with no blueberry layer. If I make these again I will do it like that, for sure.

Yum.

And after sharing this deliciousness with some dear friends, we sat outside and watched fireworks someone set off in our neighborhood, played with some sparklers thanks to our neighbors, and (are you ready for this?) watched the Boston Pops fireworks show in their backyard on a HUGE tarp/screen with a projector and awesome sound system that he set up. My Dad would have loved it.

Lastly, because no post would be complete with a picture of my sweet girl, so here she is in her red, white, and blue!

Happy 4th!

Assorted Thoughts

Whoops. It has been two weeks since I have updated anything. We're just doing our thing over here ... not too much new to report besides two new teeth (you can see them in the picture).

And that we have begun a countdown (dry erase on the bathroom mirror). Twelve days from tomorrow morning. Not that we are counting.

This cast, like I noticed when she first got it, is very similar to the other, except for the diaper opening. This one is way wider and that makes it really hard for diapers to stay in - even with a bigger diaper (size 3 - had been using size 2 before) and an incontinence pad. All orthopedic surgeons out there - watch the size of that opening! It's a pain for us when the diapers fall out! :)

The other really great thing in Evie-world is that she is just starting to really imitate us. Yesterday morning, I was making her french toast (only with the yolks of the egg, for any concerned readers) and it was too hot to give it to her. After putting it in the fridge and pulling it out, I blew on it. Because that's what you do to cool off hot food. She thought it was funny (but she thinks everything is funny), so she laughs and I hand it to her. She looks at me, takes the piece of french toast in her hand, and tries with all her might to blow on it. Ppp - phhp! She looks up at me and smiles like, Mom, I know what to do.


My word. So I actually - really - am watching what I do around her now. Because she also has a pretty good memory. This morning, with no prompting at all, she blew on her french toast (not that she can actually blow only air out of her mouth ...). 


She is also learning to smile for a camera. This is what I got in response to "Ev! Say cheese!"

She might be smiling so big because cheese is her favorite food these days ....

Hungry

Evie was so fussy all afternoon. It didn't take long to realize that nursing just wasn't enough for her and did not make up for not eating between 3 am and 1 pm. We sat her down in her booster seat and she went crazy (in a good, cute way) - like she was screaming, "Feed me!"

And we did. That girl ate 6 slices of cantaloupe, a slice of cheese, some sweet potatoes and green beans,  about a quarter-pound of turkey meatloaf. Wowzers. I truly don't know how her stomach held it all.

And then she got tired and put her head down on the table. She does this often when she is done eating. It is super cute.

Home

We got home from the hospital about an hour ago. Evie had a rougher time with recovery this time (last time she was unhappy for a moment but calmed down quickly once she got some food in her). Today, she screamed inconsolably until Steve finally rocked her to sleep. She slept for about an hour (such a deep sleep we had the anesthesiologist come check her and make sure she was okay) and then woke up, nursed, and we took her home (finally more content at this point). Now she is sleeping in her crib, and I'm hoping that, like last time, she is back to her normal self quickly.

This cast is pretty much identical to the last one, except her legs are more symmetrical and at a slightly different angle. She is pretty swollen, so it's somewhat challenging to change her diaper. This happened last time and the swelling went down within a day or two. [Medical-friends - what makes her swell? What about the anesthesia does that?]

You can see that the cast is very similar (and that she is really sad).

Mr. Monkey got an ID bracelet too ...

Never slept so soundly in her life.

All in all, we are pretty pleased with today! We were praying that the outcome would be good, and this is as good as can be, according to the doctor. I am about to call the orthopaedic office to make an appointment to get the cast off - I'm excited to have that on the calendar!

UPDATE: Cast is coming off on Wednesday, July 13 at 8 am. Wooo!

Four weeks!

And today begins the real countdown ... Four weeks left in the cast! The doctor said that her hip looks great ... It is as good as he could have expected. She will have this cast until July 14 (happy birthday to my dad!), and after that his expectation is that she will be all done. There is a chance that she wears a brace at night, but they will do an x-ray when she gets the cast off (in the doctor's office, not at the hospital) and see how things look. She is being taken to recovery now and we will see her soon.

A pink cast

They just called from the OR to ask what color cast we want. Yes, pink again. We assume this means they were able to get the hip in with no problem and are casting her now.

It's a little later than we anticipated (her surgery just got started but was scheduled for an hour and a half ago) - and she was not a happy camper for the extra 90 minutes we were in pre-op. Sweet thing was so hungry and tired. But fortunately she enjoyed waltzing with Dad and that cheered her up a little while we were hanging out in the playroom.

While there, we had a pretty awkward conversation with a chaplain and her sidekick (who, also awkwardly, just sat and listened to us talk). They prayed for Ev, which was sweet - and called her Emily. Haha.

Waiting. She looks scared!

Waiting :)

We are checked in and waiting to be called back in for prep. Just like last time, we have been surprised by Evie's resilience in dealing with her hunger! She has enjoyed looking at the fish and playing with dad and grandma so far this morning!

Almost Ready

I am sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast while Steve & his mom are outside with Ev (trying, so far successfully, to distract her from her from hunger). Her last time to eat was 3 am last night. I picked her up at 2:40 to nurse her - and she wasn't hungry. At all. So we did the best we could, and then she woke up at 7:15 this morning (very hungry, but too late for a cup of pedialyte).

We'll leave for the hospital in 15 or 20 minutes - I will update from there how her surgery is going! Thank you for praying for her :)

Surgery: Almost-plans and Actual-plans

We got a call this morning from Evie's surgeon's office. It was the surgery scheduler. She tells Steve that Evie's surgery on Thursday is scheduled. For 2 pm. So she launches into the "She can't have any food or breastmilk after  7 am, no clear liquids after 11 ..."

It took us a second to really understand what she was saying.

"You mean the surgery's not in the morning?"

"You mean she can't eat all day? She's only 8 months old. Not sure we can do that."

"Um, are you sure there is not any other way, because this is not acceptable. We're going to have to figure something else out."

Fortunately, this lady is about one of the nicest people ever so she called back about 20 minutes later to let us know that she talked to the hospital and they were able to get an OR open at 10 am. So now it's just no eating after 3 am. Not quite as bad (let's be clear - not as good as just not eating between midnight and her surgery time of 7:30, like the last time), but that's the time - surgery at 10 am. 46 hours and counting!

A Safari of Our Own

My dad and brother just finished a week plus in South Africa  hunting wild game. We're not hunting these animals (obviously) but we wanted to take advantage of the cool weather (in the 70s!) and visit Henry's Ark, a local petting zoo.

My brother will come home with a zebra rug - we came home with some pictures and some animal poo on our shoes (oops).

Oo! Animals!

"Our" zebra :)

I thought this guy was going to bite her hand off.

Oh she wanted so badly to touch the llama. Not on my watch.

By the end she was looking a little tired.