Pretty in Pink Party

Here are some pictures from Daphnee's birthday party. 

 Daphnee dug right into her cake.  She was pulling the plate out of my hands before we got done singing "Happy Birthday." 

 She ate some and then just wanted to play in it. 

 Where did the cake go?  Yeah it ended up on the floor. 

Here is our beautiful little girl all dressed up.  We love you Daphnee!!

Happy 1st Birthday Daphnee

One year ago today we welcomed our beautiful Daphnee into this world and began on an unforgettable journey.  After watching our daughter experience several health challenges in her first year of life, we have come to know how strong she is.  She is an amazing daughter, and we feel so blessed to be able to be her parents.  We love you, Daphnee!

 She started crawling a few weeks ago, but I haven't been able to upload the video I took, so here is a still shot.  She pretty much cruises wherever she wants to go now. 

We have enjoyed some pretty warm weather already this year and let Daphnne go swimming for the first time. 

I know its a weird shot, but it was the best way to show off her hair do.  Daphnee already does well at letting me fix her hair as long as I go fast.  Her hair is still short, but I have found some fun creative ways to do her hair. 

Some of Daphnee's favorite things:

She loves to dance anytime she hears music. 

She loves books.  She will sit and turn pages forever.

She just learned to wave.  She will wave at anyone that walks by at the store. 

She likes playing with Dallin. 

She loves to give kisses.  Big, open-mouthed and wet kisses.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!!

Easter

We had some family come visit this past weekend.  Scott's brother Brian, his wife Caitlyn and daughter Brooklyn came and stayed with us for a few days.  We had a fun visit and were glad they were able to come. 

On Saturday, we met up with our friends Jordan and Michaela and their kids Calin and Capri for an Easter egg hunt.  They were divided into age groups and we were all able to stay together in the 0-3 year old category.  Our kids sure cleaned house.  The three oldest kids had full baskets of eggs and candy!!

Waiting in line with their baskets for the egg hunt to start.

 

At the end with full basktes and buckets of eggs. 

Daphnee with her Easter basket.  For her first Easter I gave her my favorite bunny that I had when I was a little girl.  I used to collect them and my mom bought me this one.

We sure had a fun weekend with family and friends.  The weather was so nice and sunny, and we went to the best playground ever a couple times!!  Its brand new and huge with different areas for big kids and even babies to play.  I'll share some pics when we go more this summer. 

Daphnee's New Trick

I know the blog has been neglected lately.  We are just keeping busy and having a blast spending time with Daphnee since her cast came off.  She is so fun and loves to play all the time. 

This is a late update but we had a check up with Daphnee's doctors in SLC (Feb. 27th) to see how her hips were doing after being out of the cast for six weeks.  The x-ray confirmed that her femoral heads were in the hip sockets where they needed to be.  Such a relief and a wonderful doctor visit for us!! 

Now after two months cast free she is rolling over and sitting up all by herself.  She doesn't push herself up to the sitting position like most babies do, but it works for her.  This video was taken when she had just figured it out and now she has mastered it and is a lot faster at it. 

She is pretty content with this for now, but I'm sure we she will be crawling in no time. 

Lazy Update

Nothing exciting  has been happening at our house.  We have been enjoying a winter of little to no snow, getting over colds and ear infections, but I will try and tell you about the kiddos.  Daphnee has been sick off and on for weeks now.  I am attributing it to the two teeth she cut a few weeks ago.  She still isn't rolling over or crawling yet.  Just enjoying being free and sitting up like a pro. 

I got excited to try Daphnee's hair in her first official pony tail.  I bought the hair ties and tried it the other day with a cute side pony tail.  She doesn't have a lot of hair, but I thought it was cuter than not doing her hair.  She didn't mind having her hair done at all.  She sat so still through my multiple tries like she such a big girl. 

Another one of Daphnee's favorite things is her jumper.  When she started sitting up in her swing we decided it was time to switch, and we are hoping the jumper will help her exercise and strengthen her legs. 



Dallin is my super helper around the house.  He loves to be involved in everything I do from dishes to laundry.  I walk into the kitchen and he will come running asking to help even if I am just getting a drink of water.  He gets to unload the silverware from the dishwasher and he loves to fold the dish towels because they are small.  I taught him how a long time ago and he is getting pretty good now where I don't have to refold them at all.  He fold all the kitchen towels and puts them away by himself. 

Hope you enjoyed a few highlights of the kids.  They sure do keep us busy, and we love it!!

Good Bye Cast

  We took Daphnee to get her cast off on Monday.  We were literally counting down the hours we were so excited.  This is her last picture in the cast when I was getting her dressed that morning. 

Daphnee didn't like getting her cast off.  The machine was really loud and it wasn't the most comfortable trying to cut the crazy shaped cast off.  Once it was removed she slowly did start to move her legs.  She mainly just straightened them out.  No lifting them up or anything. 

 This is her lounging around the next day.  The doctors told us to expect her to be pretty uncomfortable for several days, but as long as you don't move her legs too much she stays pretty happy.  Pants are still difficult to put on her because she doesn't like her legs to be pulled together.  Her hip joint is still tight and stiff so it hurts to do so. 

 She gets to sit up and eat in the high chair now which is so nice.  Then she just loves to stay and play in it. 

 Here are a couple shots I took today.  She has already found her feet again, and I don't think I will be able to keep socks on her anymore. 

Daphnnee has been pretty happy and a good baby, but we have noticed she is already happier and more playful since the cast is off.  She loves her new freedom and we love being able to hold her and snuggle with her.  My favorite part of this has been when Dallin said, "Daphnee is all squishy again."  He noticed the hard bulky cast was off, and he loves to just rub her soft tummy now.

It was a rough 10 1/2 weeks, but we are glad that we were able to take care of her hip issues at a young age.  We go back in about 6 weeks to take x-rays of her legs, and we will be able to tell if they have stayed in the sockets like normal.  We couldn't be happier to be done with the cast, but our next appointment will be a big one when we find out if x-rays still look good after being out of the cast. 

New Year 2012

When we ring in a new year it is always a time to reflect on the last year and think about the year yet to come.  2011 will definitely be one to remember.  Scott decided to go back to school and got accepted into ISU, so we moved back to Idaho from Kansas City.  Scott also completed all the pre -reqs for the Masters program he wants to get into.  He started a new job at the end of the year and will work until school starts this fall. 

We welcomed Daphnee into our family in April just 3 weeks after our move.  She had two surgeries, worn two casts, two different braces, a leg harness and more trips to her doctors in Utah than I care to even count through most of last year.  We are excited that we are starting this year with getting her cast off this coming Monday, January 9th.  It's hard to believe she has been in a cast since before Halloween last year. 

2011 was a big year for Scott and Daphnee for sure.  Dallin and I just learned how to roll with whatever life throws at our family and glad we could be together every step of the way.  I set a personal goal last year to have more blog posts in 2011 than any previous year and I accomplished it!!  I posted the equivalent of once a week for a whole year, and I plan to do just that or more in 2012. 

Wishing everyone happiness and many blessings this year!!