have yourself a merry little christmas...

A few days late but Merry Christmas! :) Hope every one had a special day with their families and friends! 

We had an amazing and hectic few days! It was super fun having my brother, sister in law and grandmother here.  Jackson and Charlie Claire, despite both having double ear infections, had a blast! They both were apparently very good this year! 

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2013! 

Eye Dr & Holiday Spirit!

We had Charlie Claire's 2 month post op appointment today.  The eye dr said she has very minimal drifting when she is looking at objects far away and when she is looking at things super close to her face her eyes cross inward but he said that isn't a cause for concern.  I told him that we do notice her right eye drifting out when she is sleepy but he said that is extremely common and again not a cause for concern.  C has to go back in March for a big exam...they will dilate her pupils and all that jazz.

Moving onto to holiday spirit! Last year at this time I was in a completely different place mentally.  Charlie Claire had just had her third surgery and she was still having seizures so to say I was spiraling downward into a black hole would be an understatement.  But this year...this year is so, so different.


Yes, Charlie Claire is still having seizures but this year has proven that Charlie Claire has seizures, seizures do not have Charlie Claire.  Our little girl has taught me how to live life and this year I have been able to fully embraced Jackson and Charlie Claire's amazement with all things "Christmas!" They love Santa (seeing him, not sitting on his lap!), they love the lights, the Christmas trees, music, the holiday treats, etc.  Our house is abuzz with holiday plans...Uncle Jason, Aunt Jen and Nonnie are heading our way for Christmas and we couldn't be more excited to spend this time with them!

We would love to hear...what are you looking forward to most about Christmas?!!

Wednesday photo dump...!!!!!

Reason #151 why I LOVE our nanny, Kristen, she teaches Jackson and Charlie Claire so, so much! 

Speech Therapy

Charlie Claire had her annual assessment with the infant program almost 2 weeks ago.  I haven't said much about it because there were a couple things that kind of tweaked me about it.  Overall, C's progress has been beyond stellar...she had reached all of her long term goals and we actually dropped her developmental educator completely and dropped her OT to every other week.  We are however, adding Speech Therapy to the mix once a week.  

Today Allison the Speech Language Pathologist came out for Charlie Claire's first session.  I have heard such wonderful things about Allison so we are really looking forward to working with her.  She said that Charlie Claire is doing really well communicating to us with one syllable words and now we really need to start working on two syllable words because that will lead to her putting two words together.  It's amazing how quickly Charlie can tell that someone is trying to make her "work"...as soon as Allison would ask her to do something that was "difficult" Charlie would just turn her head and act like Allison wasn't even there!! Bless this sassy girl! Allison gave us some things to work on this week and we will be seeing her again next week! 

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Couple things going on in our house these days...

We are big on sunglasses! 

And, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! 

Jackson and Charlie Claire have their very own tree this year! :) 

Another Anniversary!

Our sweet girl has another year post op under her belt! Last December 7, Charlie Claire underwent her 3rd brain surgery to remove the last little piece of her occipital lobe.  

Charlie Claire, thank you for teaching us about life, determination and perseverance.  It is unbelievable how far this silly little firecracker has come in the past year and we couldn't be more proud of her and all her accomplishments.  

We love you sweet girl!