Christmas Memories

Its been a week since the last post...and Christmas. Its taken almost that long to recoup and reorganize (seriously, Santa may need to bring us a bigger house for Christmas next year...or less presents for Kaylee).

The week of Christmas was a whirlwind of travel, family, fun, and lots of memories. We started the week with a trip to Peoria to check in with Kaylee's neurosurgeon and orthotist (helmet doctor). We were literally in her neurosurgeon's office for no longer than 15 minutes. For those that are not aware of the geography of Illinois, Peoria is an hour and a half from Champaign. Kaylee's doctor was happy with the progress that the helmet appeared to having with her plagiocephaly. He would like to see her wear the helmet another two months. While didn't expect him to say "that's all, folks", we were a little bummed nonetheless. After a quick call to Plattner's to see if we could move our appointment up in hopes to avoid the snow/freezing rain that was supposed to be moving in. As luck would have it, they fit us right in....and we left with great news.

A new scan confirmed that Kaylee's head was begin to round out. That made us feel a little better about another 2 months of helmet therapy. After some adjustments to the helmet, we were homeward bound.

We tied things up at work the following two days and headed north for Christmas with the Cooks, turned around on Christmas day and headed back to Champaign for the Estes Christmas. In between those trips, almost 8 inches of snow was dumped in Morrison and almost 6 inches in Champaign. I love snow! And it was perfect for a white Christmas.

We couldn't have asked for a better first Christmas for Kaylee. Lots of time with family and fun all around. I can't wait for next year!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

Remember when we talked about the great deal from Shutterfly?  These were the wonderful Christmas cards we were able to create. Well, actually one of two - I can't help it, we send out A LOT of Christmas cards. And there were so many to choose from! We had two favorites, so we also ordered another set too. They were GREAT -everyone loved them!

More than Santa

Source

Love of the Sugar Cookie

9 Month Rundown

Who knows? Maybe by 10 months there actually may be running (probably not)! A lot of accomplishments to keep track of this month. Waving -check, So big! - check, high fives - check, and of course, pointing. While the first ones are cute and a lot of fun, I'm pretty excited about the last. From what I've read (I'm a reading kind of mom), this is the beginning to letting us know what she wants. Awesome! Kaylee is a crawling machine that is into everything. I can only imagine what walking is going to have in store for us.

Her 9 month well check went...well. She's about 30" tall and weighs 21 lbs. Kaylee also survived her flu shot and I'm happy to report dad survived it as well. We head to Peoria on Monday for a recheck with her neurosurgeon, followed by a visit with the orthotist. The stop at Plattners will involve a head scan and reshaping of the inside of the helmet. It will definitely be interesting to see how her head has changed over the past couple of weeks.

Special Visitor

I'm not sure if you were aware of this, but the big guy from up north was in town yesterday. He made a special stop at Kaylee's daycare. Much like the first time Kaylee met Santa, she did well with no tears. I'm sure she let him know exactly what she wanted for Christmas this year.

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What can I say...she gets pretty excited sometimes.

Number 1

Just ask Kaylee who's mommy's number one girl...

Busted

Things got a little quiet last night while I was making supper and switching some laundry around. Then I saw why....someone physically moved my barricade in front of the Christmas tree, pulled out a present, then proceeded to start unwrapping it. I must say she was getting the hang of it before I put the present back. Needless to say, I had to step up my efforts in protecting the rest of the presents. 

Major Cheeser

Any questions about who this little girl looks like in this particular photo would be laid quickly to rest if I had my hands on some of Ron's baby pictures...but this one will have to do.

I need to work with both of them on keeping their eyes open when they smile :)

Helping Put the Tree Up

After spending a almost a week in Kansas City, mom was more than ready to spend some quality time with her baby. She's still a little young, but it was snowing outside and dad was busy working on his research paper, so we put up the tree this weekend.

For the most part Kaylee was pretty disinterested in what I was doing. She held a few ornament boxes and checked out the tree, but I am happy to report she doesn't bother the tree at all. The presents underneath are a different story. She just loves the sparkly bows!

First Snow

On Friday and Saturday we received almost 9 inches of snow...not the 3 inches as predicted. It was the first significant snow of season.

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A Journey

We're well into Kaylee's journey of wearing a helmet and she's still doing great. We headed to Peoria the week of Thanksgiving to get it adjusted and since then, everything seems to be going well. She continues to amaze us with her tolerance, especially when things weren't fitting exactly right. There's a little wiggly room in the helmet; after all, the point is to let the side of the head that had some flattening round out. We don't want to jinx anything, but both Ron and I think we can already see changes in her head shape. We'll keep our fingers crossed when we go for her next appointment. 

My Favorite Time of Year...and a Great Deal!

Wow...its that time of year already. My favorite time of year: Christmas. The decorations, twinkling lights, snow, cookies and treats, picking out gifts for the special people in your lives...I don't think there is anything I don't like about this time or year.

One of my favorites...sending Christmas cards.  I love getting the traditional bi-fold cards and sorting through boxes at the store to find the perfect one.  The past couple of years we've sent photos cards. It's a growing trend that I also love. You get to create your own card and personalize it with one or more photo memories. Now that Kaylee is here...I know this trend will continue for us.

We've used Shutterfly many times before - to order photos, photo books, and cards. They are offering an AMAZING offer for bloggers. Share your Shutterfly experience and receive 50 free photos cards. Consider it done! We've been nothing but happy with our previous Shutterfly experiences. The photos have turned out perfectly and the products always arrive in a timely manner.

In a time where everyone is making every dollar count, this offer from Shutterfly is incredible. Thanks Shutterfly! And remember, they do more than just Christmas cards...mother's day cards, new year's cards, birthday invitations, the possibilities are endless!