Happy Halloween

So I'm sure everyone is wondering what Hope dressed up as for Halloween.  Well....... A Ladybug of course! :)  Actually she had her pick from several costumes - a bee, a flower, santa claus, a witch....but the ladybug costume fit just right!  :)  She didn't go out trick-or-treating but is looking forward to doing that someday when she is off of the ventilator.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Daily Dose: Happy Birthday Hope!!!

The Birthday Girl in her Birthday Dress!!

Hope was laughing and having a good time

Hope in her "little room"

First and foremost we are wishing Hope a very very VERY Happy 1st Birthday today!!! It is hard to believe that it has already been a year since Hope was born. Quite the year!!

As you can see, Hope had a lot of fun today. She had a special birthday dress with a pink tutu. She liked it well enough to pose for the obligatory pictures but then it was off with the dress. Hope had such a great day today. She was laughing and smiling most of the day.

You can see Hope in her "little room". Hope loves to play in her little room. It has lots of items that are hanging from the top so she can reach up and grab them, or hit them, or kick them. She spends lots of time in her little room playing with all of the things.

While today was Hope's actual birthday, Hope got a mini-party on Saturday when Aunt Em drove up to spend some time with her and the family. Here are some pictures from Saturday's hoo-rah.

Hope was wearing another adorable ladybug outfit!!

Hope with Mommy & Daddy, getting ready to open her presents

Hope decided against the cake but she wanted cupcakes so here she is with Aunt Em and cupcakes.
After the presents were all opened Hope got to chill on the couch

Hope and Daddy playing on the floor

Daily Dose: Happy Thanksgiving!!!

After all the food was eaten, Hope & Aunt Em had some playtime

Hope wasn't as interested in the delicious food as the rest of us

Hope looking cute in ANOTHER ladybug outfit

Hope's first artwork: a hand turkey

This Thanksgiving we all were especially thankful. This was Hope's first Thanksgiving and she loved it. As you can see from the pictures, she had a cute little ladybug outfit on, making her officially cute as a bug! Hope slept through most of dinner but she had done the hard work ahead of time. During one of her therapy sessions, she finger painted and made a hand turkey. It is proudly displayed on Mommy & Daddy's refrigerator for all to see!!

Hope is doing well and looking forward to her birthday which is coming up very quickly. She also is looking forward to Christmas because she loves looking at the Christmas decorations, especially lights and tinsel.

As we mentioned before, we are all extremely thankful this year. While we have all had a setback or two in our own lives, Hope has been there to remind us what is important: family. No matter what goes wrong, we always know that we have Hope, and for that, we are forever thankful.

Happy Halloween!

Just because it's cold and flu season and Hope couldn't go out trick or treating, that wasn't going to stop her from having fun on her first halloween!

To no one's surprise, I'm sure, Hope dressed up as a cute lady bug for Halloween. She had fun getting all dressed up and posing for the pictures. She decided the costume was so comfy that she fell asleep in the middle of all the fun!

After the mini photo shoot Hope changed into her second Halloween outfit - a cute outfit from her Aunt Em.

Daily Dose: Monday, August 17

Hope had a good weekend and a good start to this week. Her ENT (ear nose and throat) doctor took a look at her ears today and didn't see anything obviously wrong. Before Hope goes home the ENT plans to put her under sedation and check to see if there is any fluid behind her ear drums. If there is a significant amount of fluid then likely Hope will get tubes in her ears. During this process, while she is sedated, they will run another diagnostic hearing test.

The countdown continues...... only 8 DAYS until Hope comes home!!!!

As you can see from the pictures above, Hope's room is finally all ready for her. It is pink (because apparently that's what little girls like) and has lots of ladybugs. Hope is very excited to come home and play with her ladybugs and her new toys and everything else!!!

Daily Dose: Sunday, April 26

Hope had a nice, quiet and restful day today. She has gone two and a half days without an episode!! But she still seems to be a little uncomfortable and struggling to breathe. Peggy, Hope's favorite RT, propped her up on a boppy pillow and that made Hope more comfortable. Hope's broncoscopy is scheduled for tomorrow at 2:00 or 2:30. We are all hoping that this will give the doctors, and us, a clearer picture of what needs to be done to make Hope more comfortable. We pray that it goes well.

Just thought I would point out that Hope has yet another incredibly adorable ensemble on today. This piece of the Hope Collection sports a ladybug (Hope's favorite) on the front. Very cute!

Daily Hope: Thursday, January 8

Hope's foot, plump!!

Hope: day 32

Hope & Grandma!!

Hope: "really Aunt Em? MOOORE pictures?"

Hope: day 32, cute as a ladybug

Hope: day 32, looking nice and plump!!

Hope: Day 32, the pacifier is potentially larger than her entire arm

Hope: Day 32, suck Hope suck!!

Hope: day 32; chomping on that pacifier

Daddy is a bit wore out

Daddy Doctor

Hope: day 32; holding onto mommy's hand

Hope is under there somewhere, really

This diaper change was... well.... interesting

As you can see, Hope had a very photogenic day. All the photo shoots went very well, she is quite the ham at times. Hope didn't have any big changes today, minus the incredible sucking that she showed us. Which is a big milestone and we are all so excited about!!!

Hope's nutrition will be remaining the same for at least another day, but they did add more calories, working on beefing her up!

As you can see, Hope's mommy & daddy are very active in her daily care. Taking temperatures, "burping" via tube, feeding, changing, etc. More ways to make sure Hope is feeling good and is comfortable. Obviously her favorite part of the day is storytime with Aunt Em. Today we read Ten Little Ladybugs. She thoroughly enjoyed it and was very excited that at the end of the book the ladybug made it home. Hope is very excited to go home, but she knows she has a long way to go before she can go home, so she's accepting that and working hard.

Hope gave a shoutout to Grandpa R who is snowed in at "home" in the G-rant. She said she misses you and then made some sort of a "sign language" with her hand that she said he would understand. (must be a Grandpa/Granddaughter thing)

Again, we are thankful today for the good day today. Aunt Em would rate today a solid 7, or a "sucking 7."

Sidebar.... due to popular demand.... Aunt Em is highly considering quitting law school and becoming a professional blogger, but only for Hope. Basically Aunt Em would serve as Hope's publicist and stylist, not to mention her own personal tutor. Mommy & Daddy (and also Grandma) advised that unless Aunt Em has a "rich uncle" to assist, that would probably not be the best idea in the world. Alas... continuing to freelance in "freetime" is what Aunt Em shall do.

Daily Hope: Wednesday, Jan 7

Hope: 1 month old

Hope: 1 month old

Hope had a good and stable day today. Hope was born a month ago!! It is so crazy to think about where we were a month ago and how Hope has changed our lives in such a short time.

Hope took her feedings very well and so now they have added calories to her feedings to help her "beef" up, aka "gain weight". She stayed stable after her added sustenance, so that's good.

You can see Hope is still sporting that ADORABLE ladybug hat, just can't get enough of that!! So again, we must thank Peggy.

Things were pretty quiet for Hope today, which I'm sure is in preparation for all the fun that Aunt Em is bringing tomorrow. Yes, in just over 12 hours Aunt Em will be arriving and I have so many things to share with Hope, it's been a busy few weeks. Hope needs to know whats going on in the world!!!!

Daily Hope: Sunday, January 4

Hope: day 28 (four weeks old!!)

Hope: day 28

As you can see from the pictures above, Hope is the most beautiful ladybug EVER!!! And Hope has a special message today:

Thank you Peggy for making my beautiful hat and making me a ladybug! You are the best! Love, Hope

And yes, that message was directly from Hope. As you can see, Hope is modeling a GREAT new hat. Peggy, Hope's respiratory therapist, made this special little hat just for Hope because Hope loves ladybugs. So now there is a little ladybug laying on a ladybug blanket. So cute!

With this sudden onslaught of homemade hats for Hope, I have decided that anyone out there who may be reading this, you can have a special entry that Hope dedicates to you. How does one achieve this? Buy sending your homemade hats or booties or mittens just for Hope. Hope will be so thankful that she will make a special entry just for you!! So if you are interested, just let us know! Hope has lots of days at the hospital ahead of her, so lots of opportunities for hats and other homemade apparel!!!

Hope had another good day today. They were going to be increasing her feedings, but, once again, Hope has made sure that everyone knows she is stubborn and she is in control. Hope's feedings were not increased because she was having a little bit of residual. a bit more than they wanted, so she is just maintaining her feedings for now.

Today Hope's daddy gave her a rating of 6.75. Grandpa thinks it is was at least a 6.76 but we'll stay with 6.75.

In other news.... due to popular demand Aunt Em will be returning to Indianapolis to hang out with Hope later this week. I know that Hope is excited!!!!!