Look, no teeth!

Just before Christmas, Anna's two front teeth abscessed and made her whole face swell up. Poor baby, she was SO uncomfortable. After two rounds of antibiotics, she was well enough to have her two front teeth pulled. She did GREAT. Anna is such a trooper - always compliant, always cooperative, almost always happy! Anna's new teeth may take awhile to come in, which may make speech therapy a challege for awhile, but she has the cutest toothless smile in town!

Merry Christmas!

We had a blessed Christmas season in West Texas. We enjoyed a get-together with my cousins, some of whom I had not seen in a few years. It was Lucy and Anna's first time to meet some of this extended family. Anna learned lots of Christmas signs: "reindeer," "Santa," "stocking," "Christmas tree," "wreath," "candy cane" as well as others, but the best part was that she learned to sign "Away in a Manger." (Actually, all the kids learned to sign it, and for what it's worth, Lucy probably learned it best!) I know Anna doesn't quite have enough language to have really understood the Christmas story this year, but it still feels like she learned not just new words, but words that truly matter. The weather forecasters predicted that snow would miss us this year, and in fact, the headline on Christmas Day was "Snow sure to miss area." That's what you get for shutting it down early! I insisted to anyone who would listen that we would certainly have snow for Anna's first Christmas, and yes, I said "I told you so!" to anyone who would listen when we awakened on Christmas Day to find our yard blanketed in white. We enjoyed spending the day with my brother, sister-in-law and two nieces. We are a family with five little girls! There is never enough giggling, dancing, jewelry, and sparkle. The flu made its unwelcome presence known (Amelia had it before Christmas, Lucy succummed Christmas Day, and I was down for the count a couple of days later), but overall, we had a joyful, merry, and blessed (no, you can't use that word too much!) holiday season. We have so much for which to thank our Heavenly Father, but even if it were just for this one thing - that He sent His son as baby into this world to dwell among us and to be one of us, eventually choosing to give His life in ransom for ours -- it would be more than enough. We hope and pray you know the love of the Christ of Christmas!

A special treat for Amelia

In one year's time, Amelia has become Big Sister Extraordinaire to two little sisters.  She has pretty much had to adjust everything in her life -- from sharing a room, to sharing her toys, to being driven to school by someone other than Mama.  She's had her moments, but mostly, she has risen to the occasion by being helpful, cheerful and tender toward the little ones.  Her greatest wish for a couple of years now has been to see the Rockettes.  So, for a combination birthday-Christmas gift, I made arrangements to take Amelia to New York City for a couple of days of fun right before Christmas.  My best friend, Melody, who used to live in New York went along to serve as our tour guide.  It was a whirlwind: the Rockettes, the New York City Ballet, Central Park, Mood and Parsons School of Design (for all you Project Runway fans), Chinatown, Times Square, and a Statue of Liberty sighting (we couldn't visit because it's still under repair following Sandy). We had a great time, and hopefully, Amelia will always remember the Christmas she went to New York. She still says she wants to move to Florida.

Another Anna update

Anna has now had all the testing done (ABR, MRI, CT), and we have a definitive diagnosis:  bilateral Michel's Aplasia.  What this means is that in the third to sixth week of gestational development, Anna's inner ears failed to form normally.  Anna does not have a cochlea on either side, and it appears that she also lacks functional auditory nerves.  With this diagnosis, Anna is not a candidate for a cochlear implant.  A cochlear implant requires functioning auditory nerves and at least some remnant of a cochlea.  In layman's terms, Anna is as deaf as you can possibly get!   We will be sending off Anna's medical charts to a couple of places for second opinions -- just making sure we are working with the correct diagnosis, since this is apparently a pretty rare diagnosis.  In the meantime, we are watching Anna develop and are amazed at how far she's come in a short time.  She is accurately identifying letters and colors.  She is beginning to string words together to express complete ideas. Her language is coming along.  She has even spoken her first word: Papa.  I have been reading about Helen Keller and all she accomplished with dedicated parents and teachers.  I pray the same is true of Anna.  She has the intelligence; let us be all we need to be to give her every opportunity for success, not just academically, but in life.