Big Days and Delays

Well Hope had a big day last week - she had a birthday and turned 3! She celebrated with a bunch of helium balloons.

Also Party hats and noisemakers. Everyone shared a meal of Hope's favorites which included squash, green beans and applesauce.

She got lots of gifts and cards. It was a great day!

As you know Hope was supposed to go to Ann Arbor on Monday to have her airway evaluated and hopefully get her trach out. Well Hope, mommy and Grandma Robinson were all packed and ready to go when the phone rang. It turns out that the doctor that was going to do the procedure had gotten injured and was unable to do the procedure. We have now been rescheduled for January 12th. This was a but disappointing but the silver lining is that Hope gets to continue to see her nurses each night for a while longer. This will also give Hope a couple more weeks to get even stronger and hopefully there is that much more chance of things going successfully.

Hope is still staying (with Mommy and Daddy) at Grandpa and Grandma Robinson's house while her house is being added on to. Hopefully the construction will be all done in January.

Hope is planning a big trip in a little over a week. Hope is headed to North Carolina to see Grandma and Grandpa Holtz, Uncle Corey, Aunt Kim, Uncle Jeramy and her cousins Cody, Allie and Lily. Hopefully the roads are good for the long trip!

Big days ahead

Well there are a couple of big days coming up. The first is Hope's birthday - she will be 3 this year! It's so hard to believe! The past three years have been quite an adventure!

The other big day coming up for Hope is December 12th & 13th. On December 12th Hope will be going to U of M to have a bronchoscopy done. Assuming this goes well they will admit her and then cap her trach over night. If she does well with her trach capped overnight then...... HER TRACH WILL COME OUT THE NEXT MORNING!! :)

The doctors will observe her one more night and if she does well Hope will get to come home trach-free!!!!

Hope has been on a bit of an adventure lately. Her bedroom is getting a bit bigger and we are adding a nice large bathroom with a large shower that can accomodate a wheelchair. In order for all of this to happen Hope, Mommy and Daddy are staying with Grandpa and Grandma Robinson while the messy part of the construction goes on. Last week we packed up Hope's bed and toys and headed down the road.

Even though she had to bundle up, Hope still thought it was so much fun because she got to be pulled in her wagon....

Behind the trailer, which was being pulled by the lawnmower!!!

Believe it or not, Hope was not a ladybug for Halloween!! Ok, it was really Mommy and Daddy's fault for not getting into Halloween this year. As a last minute effort Hope dressed up in her suit that had ears on the hood. Mommy drew some whiskers on her face and gave her a little red nose. Everyone decided that mommy should definitely not become a makeup artist!

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: Wedesday, November 11

Ever since Saturday when Hope officially became an 11 month old she has been BUSY!!!

On Sunday the weather was so nice that Mommy & Daddy decided to take Hope for a walk. They walked up to Grandma & Grandpa R's house and saw them for a little while.

They then left Grandma & Grandpa R's house and went to visit with Great-Grandma Vivian & Aunt Dawn. As you can see, Great-Grandma Vivian and Hope Vivian had a lot to talk about. Both of them really enjoyed their little visit.

Hope is becoming such a big girl. Today she did some finger painting. She thought it was fun at the beginning and played along. But....

As you can see, at the end of her paint session she wasn't feeling so artistic. At least she was able to make a finger paint turkey before her inspiration ran out.


In other news... Mommy & Daddy are still in contact with a surgeon to do Hope's cochlear implants and are hoping that next spring they can have them done.

Happy Birthday Hope!

It's hard to believe, but Hope is 10 months old now!! Happy Birthday Hope!!!

Hope got to spend her 10 month birthday with a trip to the pulmonologist. Everything went well and since Hope was in such a good mood, she decided to venture over to the hospital and visit with some of the nurses that took care of her when she was in the NICU.

Today Hope was visited by the vision consultant for Early On. She had some very encouraging news - it seems that Hope IS able to see, at least to some degree. Hope seems to really like looking at shiny, red things and prefers to look at things that are off to her right side. The vision consultant will continue to work with Hope (as will we) in hopes of getting her to be able to see equally in both directions.

Daily Dose: Monday, September 7

Hope is back at home. She is happy to be feeling much better and even happier to be back in her very own bed. Yesterday she took a nice soak in the tub to get rid of that weird hospital smell. She got dressed and took a nap so she was prepared for a big adventure.

After the nap, Hope finally ventured out onto the screen porch. Hope wasn't quite sure at first but then she settled right in. The day was beautiful and relaxing so she decided that another nap was in order.

Hope isn't quite used to her home routine again. Last night she spent some time being restless and trying to get comfortable. Hopefully tonight is a better night. Tomorrow will start Hope's regular visits to her specialists, starting with her first follow up appointment with the pulmonologist.

In other news.......

HAPPY 9 MONTH BIRTHDAY HOPE!!!!

Daily Dose: Tuesday, July 7

Happy 7th Month Birthday Hope!!!!

Other than the usual birthday celebration, Hope had an okay day. She was a bit restless and agitated most of the day, which ended up being caused by some constipation since she hadn't pooped all day long!!! I personally can't blame her for being uncomfortable. The doctors are still very happy with her blood gasses and how they are progressing so they weaned down her ventilator support a little bit more today. We pray she will continue to do well with this weaning practice.

Daily Dose, Sunday June 7

Happy 6 Month Birthday Hope!!!

It's hard to believe but Hope is 6 months old today! She spent the day checking out the view from different angles in her bed, her nurse turned her around in her bed so she could see the room. Daddy and Mommy both spent lots of time loving on Hope today. Grandpa and Grandma Robinson also visited Hope to wish her a very happy birthday.

Daily Dose: Thursday, May 7

HAPPY 5 MONTH BIRTHDAY HOPE!!!

Hope was a bit touchy today. They decreased her pain medication which meant when she was awake she felt a bit uncomfortable. She has been weaned off the ventilator settings so she no longer gets breaths from the ventilator, just pressure support when she initiates a breath. Her pressure support was taken down one notch today and hopefully will continue to lower the support one point each day and see how she tolerates it.

Hope got some good snuggling time with both Mommy & Daddy. She still hasn't seen Grandma & Grandpa R this week since the hospital is closed down because of the pig disease, oops, sorry, that wasn't very politically correct. Because of the "H1N1 virus".

Today is Hope's 5 month birthday!! In the picture you can see that Mommy is reading a book to Hope. It is a book called "The Night that You were Born", very fitting for this birthday of Hope's. We can't wait to celebrate Hope's birthdays at home, eventually.... eventually.