Daily Dose: Tuesday, September 15

Hope sucking on her knuckle

Hope looking mighty cute in her "London" onesie

Hope & her mommy

Hope & Aunt Em

Hope laying low

The good news: no news is good news. Which is why we haven't updated lately. But we thought we'd give you a little update on what Hope's been doing lately.

Last week Hope had a busy week after she came home from the hospital. She had many adventures. She went to her first appointment with her pulmonologist. They were a little concerned because she appears to be very "healthy" in her weight. Her diet was adjusted so hopefully her increase in protein will help her grow longer and leaner.

Hope also had an appointment with her hearing doctor. Hope was a very good girl and sat very still in Daddy's arms while doctors took impressions of her ears to make the molds that her hearing aids will be built out of. Her hearing aids should be coming in the next few weeks and we'll be very excited to see what kind of an effect they have on Hope's ability to hear.

Hope also took her first walk around the orchard. Daddy put Hope in her baby bjorn on his chest, Mommy pushed Hope's kid-kart, and Grandpa R hauled all the bags full of "very important" things while Hope walked the long way, around the orchards, to Great-grandma's house for lunch. Hope loved doing all these things and is glad the weather has stayed nice and warm for her.

Daily Dose: Friday, September 4

Hope is still on track to go home on Saturday, YAAAYY!!! Hope is getting one more dose of IV antibiotics at midnight and then she will switch to the home version. Hope felt much better today so she got out of bed and spent part of the day in her kid-kart looking out the window. She noticed that she has a MUCH better view from this new room then she did from her old room.

Daily Dose: Friday, August 28

Not a whole lot of new things for Hope today. She had a good day. She took a nap in her bouncy chair by the window, sat in her kid kart, played on the floor and spent lots of time snuggling with mommy & daddy.

Hope wants the rainy cold weather to get better so she can venture outside again!!

Daily Dose: Thursday, August 27

Hope and Great-Grandma

Hope, Mommy & Daddy

Hope looking great outside!!

Hope & Aunt Em

Hope blowing bubbles

Today was a great day!!!!! Hope's whole Robinson family was together. It was Aunt Em's birthday so she drove up from Chicago to spend the day with Hope (and everyone else, but mainly Hope). Hope started her day by getting her bath and getting dressed up in a pretty little outfit. Then Hope got to go for ANOTHER car ride!!! Mommy & Daddy packed Hope, and her entourage of stuff, up and took a ride up the street to Great-Grandma's house. The whole Robinson family met there for some family pictures. It was a nice, but little chilly, day out. That didn't phase Hope, she loved all of it!!!

After the family pictures, Hope, and her entourage of stuff, went home. After some good snuggling time with Aunt Em on the couch, everyone sat around the dinner table for a family dinner. In fact this was Hope's FIRST family dinner with the whole Robinson family. Hope sat next to the table in her kid kart and took it all in. At some point she eventually got so bored that she started blowing bubbles, which we found very humorous.

Hope had a great day, and the entire family had a great day as well. It was so nice to have the family together, and for Hope to be at home. Things have been going so well for Hope. She seems to be relaxed a lot more during the day, but also more alert. We look forward to many more great days ahead!!!

Daily Dose: Saturday, August 15

*Apologies for the lack of picture. Hope's Mommy & Daddy are out of town, leaving Grandpa & Grandma R on Hope duty but they aren't that proficient with the camera. Pics to resume Monday.

As we mentioned, Grandma & Grandpa R were left in charge of Hope yesterday. Grandpa R reported that Hope had a very good day. She spent a lot of the morning in her KidKart, she still likes being able to sit up and see the rest of the world. Grandpa R got to hold Hope for a very long time, all of which Hope was very peaceful and slept. She continues to be incredibly cute! Before Hope took her nap, Grandma & Grandpa R read a couple of books and sang some songs to Hope, she seems to like that.

The countdown is still on....... only .............................
10 days until Hope goes home!!!!

Daily Dose: Wednesday, August 12

Hope has been doing GREAT!!! She spent a good part of yesterday up in her kid-kart, checking out the new views.

Hope's G-tube site has been building up some extra tissue that is part of the healing process. It had gotten to the point that there was so much tissue it was actually pushing the tube away from her stomach. To fix this, the surgeons treated the tissue with silver nitrate which kills off the excess tissue.

Hope is now over 14 pounds!!!!!! 14 pounds and 3 ounces!

Daily Dose, August 9, 2009

Hope has had another couple of great days. We are still on track with the two week countdown...

11 Days

Hope has spent some time checking out her new kid-kart. It has allowed her to sit up and check out the view out the window next to her bed. She is getting very excited to venture outside later this month!

After deciding that Hope was a little on the "short" side the nutritionist had decided to reintroduce Bene-protein to her diet. Hope didn't like this any better this time than she did the first time we tried this a couple of months ago. After a few days of not digesting well they have taken it back out of her food and she is digesting much better again.

Happy Birthday Hope

Hope sleeping on her tummy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOPE!!!

Today is Hope's 8 month birthday. She spent the day chillin' on her new home ventilator. The day went well and we now have one more day down on the 2 week count down.

Hope got her Kid-Kart today. This is a special order, custom cart for Hope that will allow her to travel with all of her equipment. This will make it much easier for daddy and mommy to get her to her doctor's appointments and such but will also allow her to venture out into the yard to get some fresh air.

Daddy and Mommy finished up their CPR training today. One more thing checked off the list of things that have to be completed before Hope comes home!!