All the things I am thankful for...

I am so thankful for my beautiful daughter, she is sweet and cuddly, smart, energetic, silly, truly the best baby I could have asked for. Somedays I still cannot believe I am a Mommy. I don't want to do anything else in my life.

I am thankful for my Husband and my family. I am thankful for my sister-in-law being a phone call away when we have baby or pet questions. I have a very close family and I don't know where I'd be without them. I am so thankful my brother is healthy and walking around.

I am thankful for my super sweet and patient animals. Josh is such a sweet dog who doesn't mind having his tail pulled or being chased, Casey is the best cat, and even Barny cat is nice to Blair.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. My first turkey turned out fine, not as tasty as I thought it would be. We had a shacky start the night before, I pulled the turkey out and it smelled terrible. My mom came over and smelled it and then took it back and got me a new one (thank goodness). Darren and I whipped up all sorts of side dishes and then went to my mom's house to eat, again, and have dessert. Blair really liked the sweet potatoes, fed Josh and Betty her green beans, and ate a few bites of turkey.

Today is a better day

Today I am feeling much better, in fact the weather is reflecting that right now, sunshine but still cold. I always give myself a few days to be sad, bawl my eyes out, get mad and hate the world. But I'm over that. It's now time to educate myself and prepare our family for whatever may happen. I never thought we'd be discussing surgery but we haven't had any progress in her hips. For now we'll keep bracing and have fun filled days and let her RUN her in walker so the nights are better. Blair loves running after Josh and Barny and sometimes t-bones them.

Everyone always says "it's no big deal", "things could be worse", "she looks just fine". None of those statements help. I don't want people to feel sorry for us, but also know that this is a serious condition with no set cure. Yes we caught it early but after 5 different braces/harnesses we're in the same spot we were 10 months ago. One thing I am thankful for is not staying with the doctor up here who thought she'd be out at 6 weeks. Ugh I cannot image what life would be like.

One thing is for sure, I have the most WONDERFUL, SWEET, HELPFUL, LOVING, HANDSOME (oh man yes oh so handsome) husband. What I would do without Darren?? He is such a good father, so loving and understanding. I would be a wreck without him.

Oakland trip and beyond

This Oakland trip did not end like we thought it would. No brace free party for us. After having a hellacious x-ray with a very strong willed 10month baby girl the rest of the day went down hill. The assistant came in and looked at the x-rays which to anybody including me could see nothing as changed. He felt her hips, made her cry and then got Dr. Hoffinger. The verdict is 12hours of bracing UNTIL she can figure velcro out and then it's over. We go back in 4months and then he will continue looking at her x-rays and (probably) do surgery anywhere from 18months on. SURGERY?? What happened to she'll be in the harness for 6 weeks? In the brace for 4 months? I've always had surgery in the back of my mind but never thought the words would come out of his mouth. Bottom line we're in for lots of sleepless nights again. I am freaking out about surgery, it's a complicated proceedure not to mention surgery on my little girl and sometimes they have to do multiple surgeries. I'm sad, depressed, and a little angry. No one deserves this, especially my baby. Not in the mood to continue writing.

Blair is an OFFICIAL CRAWLER now!

As of this week Blair can now crawl. I cannot believe it! I am really proud and excited but also a little sad. This year has been the fastest year of my life. This morning I turned around while blow drying my hair and she was standing up in her playpen. She is learning and growing so quickly. Next I guess we'll have a walker in the Moser household. Ahhh. So we'll be baby proofing every room tomorrow!!

The countdown is on for our next Oakland trip: 3 weeks. Please pray that this will be our last trip, if not, the last trip while bracing. We're really anxious to go and get some good Christmas shopping in too:)

Our little Ladybug can do so much now

These past few weeks Blair has started doing a few new things. First, she can go from on her belly to sitting on her bottom, which she does in the playroom, her crib, and the playpen. We have to be careful she doesn't get too excited and fall backwards on her head. She just started to try to pull herself up and bats my hands away when I wipe her face and can really launch her toys off of her tray. Ahhh!!

We're really looking forward to Halloween this year Blair doesn't mind wearing her costume, even her hat. We're also looking forward to our next Oakland trip and (hopefully) tossing the brace out! We've had a few hard nights lately. Blair seems to want to sleep on her side or her belly which is really hard especially since we're using the bigger brace.

Oh and teeth, Blair is finally getting her top teeth, I can't believe how big they're going to be. I also spotted a new tooth coming in on the bottom.

2 More Months????

We made it back from our trip to Blair's specialist. She slept the whole way down, which was great, except she didn't go to bed until after 10pm...it was a long night!! We went shopping and Blair went to the Petaluma outlets for the first time, I was in Carter Heaven!!

So the appointment went really well. Dr H came in, looked at Blair's new x-rays and was a bit speechless (which is very unlike him) he was really happy to see how much improvement the last two months in the brace has done to her hip sockets. There is so much more curveature that he thinks two more months should do it! YAYYYY after 10 long months of bracing, appointments, spongebaths, screaming, wearing only onesies, I hope we'll be through with HD for the rest of our lives.

September Oakland Trip

Next week we're off to Oakland for the 6th time, wow Blair has traveled almost as much as I have in the last 8 months of her life. We can laugh now at the first few times we traveled. The first time, Blair being a week old, traveling with my Mom and Stepdad. First off not knowing how she was going to do in the car, second traveling with parents, trying to breast feed/pump, not knowing where to go, what to expect and being utterly EXHAUSTED with my incision still fresh and all that goes with being a first time Mom. To say the least our traveling has finally gotten to the point where I feel comfortable and actually enjoy going. Darren gets three days off, we shop a little, and get to eat In n Out burgers! But then there's not know what the doctor is going to say/do. Come Sunday night I won't sleep a wink just thinking about everything. Wish us luck and pray for Blair...I said it before but hopefully this time (might) be the last.

Yesterday was my first annual, and I expressed my concerns to the doctor about our next baby having HD. Two hours after I got home he called me to let me know he did some research and the likely hood is 6% overall and 12% if I have HD. Pretty good odds, but I am no where near wanting another baby yet. Blair is enough for me but I know having a sibling makes life so much more fun.