Update

Thank you all for your wonderful thoughts and prayers. We met with Dr. Ashbury yesterday morning. We really didn't get any new info. It does sound like they are going to attempt chemotherapy. They sent mom for a CAT scan today. Due to the flu she has had twice in the past month, they are going to scan her head, chest and abdomen just to make sure that it was the flu and not something else. She has to meet with Dr. Ashbury next Thursday at 3:30pm to discuss the results of the CAT scan and come up with a plan of action. I will write an update then. Thank you again for your kind words, thoughts and prayers. We really appreciate them! :)

Unwelcomed News

I have been debating writing about this, but I know that a lot of people that we don't talk to all of the time read this so I thought it would be a good idea to get the news out on here. Unfortunately yesterday we received some expected, yet difficult news. My mom had a chest x-ray and some blood work done on Monday to check for cancer. On Tuesday she received a phone call from her doctor's office asking her to go in for the results on Wednesday. We knew then that it was not good news. My brother Brian went with her yesterday morning and they were told that the cancer was back in both lungs now and possibly in her bloodstream. He also said that the could not perform surgery or radiation anymore. She has an appointment next Thursday with the oncologist. Her doctor is hoping that they will at least be able to do some chemotherapy. I will try to keep updating our site for those that would like more information.

Please keep my mom and family in your thoughts and prayers. We knew that this day would come. When she was first diagnosed in 2005 we were told that chemotherapy and radiation treatments would give her about 5 more years at the most, but it is still very difficult to hear this news again.

Grace is 10 Months Old!

Grace passed out on Daddy's lap with her new best friend Elmo!

A close up of Grace sleeping on Daddy's lap.

Grace and Sierra playing together although Grace just liked to watch Sierra play.

Grace eating green beans for the first time and loving them!

Grace's wild hairdo after a nice nap.

We cannot believe that our little peanut will be a year old in just two months. Grace started to do some amazing things this past month. On July 5th she started to crawl like a big girl. The next day she started to go from laying down to sitting up to laying down again. She also started to pull herself up and cruise around. It felt like she literally grew up overnight. It was unbelievable. She also has two new top front teeth which means that she has four teeth total. Her new word is choo choo which sounds more like "ch, ch" right now. Every time she hears a train pass by she turns and says choo choo. It's so cute! Yesterday she started to wave goodbye and we could have sworn that she said bye bye, but we are not 100% positive that she said bye so we will see about that one in the weeks to come. We also weighed Grace today and it looks like she is 17.4 lbs now.

Grace's allergy tests came back negative for everything. We tried some soy formula again a few weeks ago (a different brand though) and she broke out again. We actually just had a sample can in our cupboard and we didn't realize it was soy until we looked at the can a little more carefully. We immediately stopped the formula and of course it went away. We are now convinced that she has a soy allergy although the test said that she didn't. Weird! At least we knew what it was and we were able to stop it pretty soon this time. We also believe that she is allergic to carrots. I'm pretty sad about this because she enjoys eating them and they are super easy to cook for her.

Grace does have some new favorite foods now. She loves Cheerios. I think she would eat them all day, every day if we let her. She also likes green beans. It seems like her appetite is picking up some which is great! Hopefully Grace will have continued health and success throughout the next month~

Food Allergy Update

I talked to the nurse at Genesis Pediatrics yesterday and it looks like the test came back negative for all of the previously mentioned food allergies. Dr. Wells was a little concerned with one of the test because something did show up although the test still came back negative. He is requesting that the lab redo this test again. He is also concerned with the dip in Grace's weight gain now since the tests were negative. He said that usually when baby's have a dip in their weight growth it is due to food allergies. She had the dip, but now it doesn't look like food allergies is the cause of it. We will hopefully find out the new results on Thursday and if I don't hear anything, then I have to call back on Friday. Until then, they would like us to continue with the Alimentum formula and the solid foods that we are already feeding her and then try to introduce a new food each week. The nurse also said to try and really push those solid foods with her (which is easier said than done with Grace). Hopefully we will have some kind of answer soon. I'm just glad that the doctor is looking into it a bit more and not completely writing me off as some crazy, psycho mommy.

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy ever! I love you!
Love, Grace

9 Months Check up

Grace had her 9 months check up this evening. We were able to make an appointment for 6 pm so Jason and I were both able to go. Luckily, Grace did not need any immunizations today, but by the way she was acting you would have thought she had about 4 shots today. She was definitely not happy to be there. We can't complain though because she usually never gets cranky when we are out and about. I think she just didn't like the change in her schedule.
Here are some of her stats from the appointment:
Weight = 16.5 lbs. (11th percentile)
Head circumference = 17.5 in. (66th percentile)
Height = 27.75 in. (60th percentile)

Dr. Wells said that Grace is doing very well developmentally and she is right where she should be. We talked about everything that has been happening with Grace's bowel movements and rashes. Dr. Wells suggested that we get her tested for food allergies. We really wanted to hear this so we are happy that Dr. Wells suggested it. We are not looking forward to putting P-nut through it, but it will be helpful to know what is possibly causing all of these things. Tomorrow I will be taking Grace to the lab to have her tested for the following allergies:
Milk, soy bean, egg white, egg yolk, wheat, peanut, and corn
She obviously won't be eating peanuts anytime soon, but since we are having the test done and she seems to have some food allergies, Dr. Wells thought it would be a good idea to have it done. We definitely agree with him on this. We should have these results within a few days.
As you can see from the stats above, Grace's weight is still a little low. It's within normal range, but due to everything that has happened this past month, we will be watching it closely.
Well, thanks for reading if you made it this far. I will write an update when we find out what's going on with Grace.

Museum, Parade, Carnival and a Visit to the Beach

In the past week and a half Grace has experienced many firsts. On Saturday, June 6th we took her to the Strong National Museum of Play for the first time. Uncle Brian and Jason wanted to go visit the Videogame exhibit so Grace and I tagged along.


This past Thursday Uncle Brian and I took Grace to her first parade. Unfortunately Jason was not able to come with us. I was a little nervous about how Grace would react to the loud noises, but she loved it. I tried to cover her ears, but she wasn't having it. It did start to rain after a little while so I was not able to take any pictures.
This past Saturday we took Grace to the Spencerport Carnival. She loved watching all of the people. She won her first prize (a fuchsia doggy). We also took some great pictures by the canal. Here are a few:

We stopped home for a quick nap and then we went down to Charlotte beach for some dinner and a walk on the beach. We ate at Harbor Hots which was pretty good and then took Grace for her first walk on the beach. We were able to make it just in time for the sunset and we got some great pics.

Healthy at Last!?!

It seems as though Grace is finally healthy again. Her bowel movements have slowed down and her bottom is just about healed. Thank God! Jason was right! I was a crazy, overreacting psycho mom. Oh well! Haha. We're thinking that it just took her body a few extra days to regulate itself and get the rest of the soy protein out of her body.
Due to Grace's health, I didn't get a chance to write up an 8 month post. She has really started to entertain us this past month. I spend most days after work watching her in her Around-We-Go. She is hilarious! Orville usually barks at her to play with him when she is in the Around-We-Go. She usually ignores him, but yesterday she realized that he was barking at her and she just started laughing and then proceeded to zoom around.She has also started making this gasping noise. At first is really scared us because it sounds like she is gasping for air. We are used to it now though and it seems like she does it when she is upset about something.
We started turkey and chicken this past month. Since I make it myself it is a little difficult to get the texture perfect. She just gagged on the turkey (probably due to the texture). I mixed the chicken with sweet potatoes and she wasn't a huge fan so I added some butternut squash to it and she seems to be pretty happy with it now.
Grace really enjoys play time on the floor now. She is starting to scoot herself backwards when she is on her belly, but she hasn't started going forward yet. She do it when she is ready!
I know we have some new pictures and video, but I'll have to ask Jason to post them for us. It probably won't be until Wednesday or Thursday due to his softball schedule. We hope you all have a happy and safe week!

Update #2

Well it looks like things are not getting much better. P-nut's bottom is very red again. She had about 6 bowel movements yesterday. I called the doctor's office this morning and they said that it is still a little concerning, but if there is texture to it then it should be ok. They said that if it is watery, then I should bring her in with a sample. It does have texture, but it still bothers me that she is pooping this much. As the day progressed she seemed to be doing better (2 bowel movements). Later this evening I went to give Grace a bath and I noticed that her left nipple was a little red and slightly swollen. Jason thought I was kind of overreacting and maybe it was just from him holding her (Grace does tend to have pretty sensitive skin). Well after her bath I noticed that it was still there. Jason thought that we should just wait and see how it looks tomorrow morning. Well at about 9:00 pm I changed her diaper and it was still looked exactly the same. Maybe I am overreacting, but this is just really starting to make me nervous. I tried to do some research online and I was not able to find anything. I just wish our little P-nut would get better. Thank you for all of your prayers. We really appreciate it! Please continue to pray for P-nut's health. Hopefully we will have great news.
On a side note, I landed a summer/part-time job at Target. I will be working in the Starbucks located in their store. I cannot tell you how excited I am about this. I can walk/ride a bike to work everday. I also love coffee!

Update

Our prayers seemed to be answered. Grace seems to be doing much better now. She was able to drink most of her formula yesterday. She also slept in until 9 am which she hasn't done in a long time. She took two good naps too. She still pooped more than she probably should be, but hopefully that will stop once the new formula gets in her system and the old stuff gets out. Her bum also looks a lot better so hopefully it will continue to heal.