Happy Birthday, Rebekah!!

Rebekah is a year old already, and I am having a hard time believing it!! She has come so far in the last year, and we are so proud of our little girl!

Rebekah in the ball pit at physical therapy.

Rebekah's beautiful birthday cake!

Uncle David with Rebekah, Aaron and Justin

Rebekah's birthday party was well attended, with many good friend and family to celebrate with us. She was spoiled rotten and spent a lot of time just watching everyone and trying to take it all in. :)

Daddy and Rebekah

Rebekah looking at her cake very intently!

What should I be doing with this???

Watching the butterflies.

Getting brave enough to touch the cake!

Trying it with a fork.

Trying to get a bite.

Mmmmm......

Rebekah has a cheering section!

Playing with Aaron and a balloon

More interested in the balloon than in the presents! ;)

Some pretty new dresses from Nana and Papa.

Some new blocks to play with!

Rebekah LOVES this butterfly!! Really loves it!

Hanging on to my new blanket and checking out my baby doll.

Tissue paper - the best present of all!

We hope you had a great birthday, Rebekah!! Mommy and Daddy love you very much!!

Nancy

Our 200th Post!

Can you believe that Rebekah's birthday is almost here??? We are having a hard time convincing ourselves that it has really been that long! Rebekah has grown and changed so much since then, and we are so very thankful that God has trusted us with her.

Rebekah made her first trip to the pool on Saturday, and she loved every minute of it! She kicked and splashed and played for a while, then she kicked back and relaxed. It was such a fun time! The boys all enjoyed swimming and playing in the pool, as well.

Check out my super cool shades! I'm ready for swimming!

Rebekah is making great progress in her weight gain. She had a doctor's appointment today and is now up to 15 pounds. That's right! 15 pounds!!!! Rebekah has also grown an inch and is now 27" tall. All of that eating Rebekah is doing must be doing some good! We have really seen an increase in the amount of food Rebekah is eating each meal as well as more variety in textures and flavors that she will eat. I am very excited about Rebekah's eating progress!

This is pretty fun!

I am very happy to say that Rebekah had a good report from her cardiologist today. We had been noticing that Rebekah was more fatigued than usual during eating and playing. Sometimes Rebekah lays her head down on the floor or on her high chair in the middle of whatever she is doing. After getting the results of Rebekah's echocardiogram today, the doctor feels that Rebekah's heart is still stable. Indirectly, Rebekah's heart is responsible for her fatigue because it is working so much harder than a normal heart in order to pump blood to her heart and lungs.

Really, why wouldn't I want to put it in my mouth??

So, because Rebekah's heart is working "overtime," she is going to get tired with more activity. That makes us feel a little better knowing that this is going to be normal for Rebekah until her heart repair. The one thing we need to keep an eye on is Rebekah's oxygen saturations. When they begin to trend downward and stay down, then we will be heading toward surgery.

Life doesn't get any better than this! :)

Next week is a big week for Miss Rebekah. In addition to her regular therapies, Rebekah's repeat hearing evaluation is Tuesday. We are going to have her ears checked for fluid at the pediatrician's office on Monday so that we know before the hearing exam whether or not she has any fluid in her ears. Since the audiologist felt that fluid was the cause of not passing her first test, we don't see a reason to retest if there is still fluid present. If the fluid is still persistent, we may end up with an appointment to the ENT to discuss tubes to drain the fluid. Hopefully we won't be having that discussion! :)

Swimming makes me sleepy!

Isn't Rebekah so cute?!!! When we came home from the pool on Saturday, Drew put her on the floor to play for a few minutes while we got the boys started on their showers. When we came back downstairs, Rebekah was fast asleep on the floor.

That's the news for now! We hope to see many of you at Rebekah's birthday party!

Nancy