Sleeping Beauty...part 2

Back in October I first posted about Audra's uncanny ability to fall asleep...anywhere...mid-anything.  We stumble upon her...sound asleep, in unusual places, and in unusual positions. 

These are just cat naps for her though, because as fast as she falls asleep, she wakes up even faster...and resumes what she was doing!  Crazy girl!

 The kitchen floor is a favorite spot of hers!

 On the cozy, brand new carpet in the family room

 

 Waiting for dinner at the table

 

 Even in the middle of playing!

 

 

And without a doubt, she falls asleep in the car

every.single.time!



...on ice!

(I started this post two and a half months ago...better late than never!)

Lots of exciting things have been happening "on ice" around here.

First was..."Disney on Ice"

I took Maura and Audra to see the show on January 1st.  A fun way to start the new year!

Charlotte, Uncle Tim and Aunt Dawn came too!

Mickey (in traditional Chinese dress) and Mulan were a favorite:

And there was a Chinese Dragon dance!

 

Maura's BFF Tori was there too...

she was just four rows in front of us with her parents!

 

All the girls were spoiled with Mickey balloons from Uncle Tim

 

And finally...today...(yes, two and a half months later!)...we had another adventure on ice...

"Audra on Ice"

It was just as thrilling...but in a completely different way!

 She was excited to put her skates on.  I found a tiny pair of size 6 ice skates at the local children's consignment store for just $4.25.  I couldn't pass up the bargain!

I was surprised at how well she was able to stand on the skates.  She was even walking around in them a bit.

  Once she was on the ice it wasn't so easy for her!

But she wouldn't give up!

Daddy would do a lap with her, then give her (and his back) a break.  And she kept asking to skate some more.  Which I was so surprised about.  She is usually fearful of new things, but she wasn't scared of ice skating one little bit.

 

Our weekend was jam-packed full of fun...

here are just a few of the things we did:

 

Audra's 1st time bowling:

She wasn't too interested in it at first, but then was willing to give it a try after seeing all the other kids celebrating their strikes and spares.  It was bumper bowling, so there was a lot of celebrating going on :)

 She looked adorable in her bowling dress...it was Maura's from a few years ago when Riley had a bowling birthday party.

 

Maura enjoyed some rock climbing...

in her pretty party dress!

 

And Riley had his second swim meet of the season...

and he got 1st place for the 25m backstroke!

 

Other weekend events not pictured: 

go-karts,

arcade games,

seeing The Lego Movie,

Lacrosse practice and soccer playoffs

 

We were so busy this weekend,

spending a lot of time driving around from event to event...

which led to one little girl (who will remain anonymous)

creatively entertaining herself in the backseat of my van...

Tonight I am thankful for Magic Erasers!!

Shamrock Princess

Happy 1st St. Patrick's Day Audra...

my lil' Shamrock Princess!

 

 

She enjoyed a day filled with lots of yummy treats...

a shamrock donut

 

a shamrock shake

 

***I promise she didn't eat only treats today... 

dinner included green salad, green grapes and green milk!*** 

My Things

Here are all of my Things...

 BIG things and lil' Things!

 

And all of my silly Things...

Audra doesn't quite get the "silly picture" yet.

 

It's the only way I can convince all four of my Things to pose long enough for a picture together...

with the promise of a silly picture at the end :)

 

 

Another "first" for Audra this weekend...

Going thru the car wash!

 

She was excited at first... 

 

Then, not so sure when the soap was being applied...

 

Definitely not.so.sure about the big roller brushes...

 

And most definitely not a fan of the high powered water rinse...

(I wish the pictures turned out better, but hey, we were inside a car wash!)

 

Another first to check off the list.

Audra probably won't mind if that was her last car wash for a while. 



11 months

This will be my last ever post celebrating a "monthly familyversary".   

Next month we will reach a huge, huge milestone...

One whole year of having Audra with us!

The wait for Audra seemed to drag on and on, forever and ever.  Our 12 month adoption journey seemed endless at the times.  But the past 11 months have gone by so quickly.  Like a blink...all a blur...but filled with so many wonderful, amazing moments as well. 

This is her last month for "firsts"...and it's a little bittersweet for me.  I remember feeling the same way just before my other kids' 1st birthdays.

Happy 11 months to my lil' Thing

(yesterday she celebrated Dr. Suess' birthday at school...too, too cute!)

results and next steps

On Monday Audra's GI doctor called to chat.  I knew she would...she is so good to us!

The biopsies from Audra's endoscopy and colonoscopy showed some improvement...
there is less inflammation and less atrophy throughout her GI tract.  But visibly, her intestinal mucosa is still inflamed and very friable.  To help with this she was started on Prilosec, an acid blocker medication.  They were able to determine that Audra can't absorb sugars normally.  Exactly which sugars...we still need to figure out (there's lactose, sucrose, glucose, fructose, and probably more).  The next step is hydrogen breath testing to determine which sugars Audra can't absorb.  I don't know a lot about this type of test, so I have some homework to do :)

The plan is to have the 3 hour breath test done, and on the same day meet with the dietitian and then her GI doctor.  Unfortunately, we are getting very close to needing to trial tube feedings.  I have tried for so long to avoid this for Audra.  She actually does quite well with the naso-gastric tube itself (she has had them a few times while in the hospital).  I just can't imagine having to limit her oral intake (if she needs a special diet), and don't want to cause her to lose interest in eating food. 

My girl loves her food something fierce! 
And she can eat...there's no denying that. 

But the bottom line is...nutrition is important...very, very important.  I know this, of course.  And right now, after 10 months of trying and trying, we still haven't been able to help her grow.  She is six and a half years old and weighs 24-25 lbs. 

Audra deserves every chance to be healthy and have catch up growth and development. 

And so we will do whatever it takes. 

our new hockey player

Today is...

USA Hockey's

National Try Hockey for Free Day

 

...and our figure skating girl, Maura, wanted to give it a try. 

Or, more accurately...

her daddy really, REALLY wanted her to give it a try!

 

The ice rink where she and Aidan have been taking lessons/playing hockey for the last 4 years participated in the event today.  They had a great program put together for the kids.  Each child got a USA Hockey jersey, over an hour of instructional time on the ice, and a fun bag of treats (certificate, stickers, hockey puck, public skating pass and more)...all for FREE!

 

In the locker room getting dressed:



  She was able to wear all of Aidan's equipment,

the same equipment he has been wearing since he started playing hockey...

3 years ago!!!

Which inspired daddy to take Aidan out this afternoon to get some much needed new equipment

(in hopes that Maura will soon need his old equipment!)

 

Dressed and ready to play:

 

 Excited but a little nervous too...

 

 Relaxed and enjoying herself,

and realizing she really likes this hockey thing...

 

 Love the little mini net:

 

I'm not sure if she'll continue on the figure skating path or switch over to hockey.

But she'll be fabulous at whatever she chooses.