Happy 2nd Birthday Annalee!!

My little sweet pea on her first day home from the hospital.

This was her birth announcement picture. I made a onesie with all her birth info and put it on her, so she was the birth announcement!

She LOVES her daddy!!

She chose to just put her mouth straight to the cake instead of messing up her hands.

She was still not quite sure!

Then she gave a "Are you really letting me get away with this?" look.

She sported some Mickey Mouse ears since her party was themed after Mickey Mouse Clubhouse which she loves.



I can't believe that my tiny little Annalee is actually 2 years old! She started out so teeny (well she is still a little bit small), but she is rapidly catching up! She talks like an adult sometimes (thanks to big sister Paige!). She's definitely my cuddliest child yet. She loves on you like no other and gives these HUGE hugs for such a tiny person. She takes after her daddy in that aspect. I think he gives the best hugs on the planet! She had a great time at her party. Her little friends and cousins came over and we grilled hot dogs and made mickey mouse pizzas, not to mention cake and ice cream. It was a blast for her. Paige is now anxiously awaithing her birthday party! I am feeling the need to tell my children to SLOW DOWN! This time when they're little is going by much too fast for me! Happy Birthday precious Annalee!

Sweet baby Davis

I had an appointment with my doctor yesterday. I'm 27 weeks and I had my glucose tolerance test, an ultrasound to check the length of my cervix, and a nice chat with my doctor. Needless to say, it was a rather lengthy appointment! My cervix hasn't changed much, which is great. He wants to start checking me at 30 or 31 weeks because that's about the time I ended up in the hospital with Annalee. I'm scheduled to go back at 31 weeks and then he wants to see me weekly. He told me to schedule them up to 35 or 36 weeks because he doesn't think we'll make it past that! Things are going pretty well. My contractions are still on the rise, so I've been making a more conscious effort to lay down more (which is hard to do with 2 small children running around!). We are desperately trying to avoid bedrest again, and even more importantly a severely preterm baby. Davis is growing fast. He is estimated to weigh about 2lbs 7oz. right now! His cheeks are nice and chubby. He looks like he's gonna be a fat little thing, which is good, because depending on how early he is, he'll need that weight! So, everything is going pretty well so far. Thank you for all your prayers and please continue to pray for our sweet Davis Grey!

Paige's eyes

These are my Paige's eyes. I love them and think they are beautiful! We went to the eye doctor last week as recommended by her rheumatologist, and her eyes look great. When we see the rheumatologist in January, he'll give us clarity as to whether this is a confirmed diagnosis of JRA. If it definitely is, then she'll have to have her eyes checked 2-3 times a year. Apparently JRA patients are susceptible to inflammation in the eyes that is hard to detect but can really damage the eye, so they have to keep a close watch on it. If she doesn't have JRA, and we are still praying for that, she doesn't have to have her eyes checked for a couple of years. So, that is good news! She's still limping on and off even after being on the medication, but not all the time, so hopefully the meds are helping her out some.

New update on Paige

We took Paige to the pediatric rheumatologist a couple of weeks ago and he was very hesitant to make a diagnosis of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA). He did a complete assessment and we have obviously still been somewhat concerned because she has been limping for about 8 mos. now. It's worse when she wakes up in the morning and from naptime and then tends to work itself out where we don't really notice it. Everything looked really promising and the Dr. still ran some tests just to be thorough. Well, the nurse called on Wednesday with the scannogram results, which is an x-ray of the lower half of her body to determine any leg length discrepancies. The nurse said that her left leg was a little longer and that was consistent with JRA. He started her on some Naprosyn twice a day, which is a perscription anti-inflammatory drug. He initailly wanted to follow-up in about 3 mos., but would like to now see her in about 6 weeks after the new findings. Our next appointment is Jan. 17th.
There is a very promising side in that alot of children who are diagnosed this young with these mild symptoms, can "outgrow" it. The symptoms seem to dissipate or go away after a year or so, which is obviously what we're praying for. I think the most heart-wrenching factor is that she's probably been in pain the whole time. The Dr. said that almost all children with JRA do not express pain. They learn to compensate for it. He said it doesn't mean they don't feel the pain, that's just what they know, so they deal with it differently. I have asked Paige countless times if she hurts and she always says no. It's just hard as a mother to know your child might hurt and there's really nothing I can do about it. I know that God created everything about her. He does not make mistakes and He is very purposeful. However, it doesn't make me not want to intervene any less. We trust Him and pray that He heals her and takes away any pain she might be experiencing. Please pray with us as we daily surrender to the Lord with Paige.