3 Months Old - First Snow

So today - December 20th we celebrate Caroline's 3 month birthday - she is officially 13 weeks old today and we're just on the cusp of smiling. Ironically, it is also her first official snow. When we woke this morning at 3:30 am it was not yet snowing, but by 4:15 as Caroline was settling back into her slumber, the ground was a fresh white blanket. I sang her Silent Night as we watched it fall and she slipped back into dreamland. These are the times early morning doesn't seem so early.

Almost Smiling...

Uncle Jimmy Update

Many of you continue to ask about Uncle Jimmy and his status since his massive stroke in July. I have not been good about providing updates, perhaps because he was making such positive progress. As of late, this has changed. Just a few weeks ago Patrick and Georgia made a flying trip to SD, primarily to visit Uncle Jim and they had a great visit. Patrick was impressed with Jim's progress and spirits and came home encouraged. He had a few minor items of concern, but a plan was put in place to address these.

Then last week, Patrick learned that they were planning to end all of his therapies by the end of this week due to lack of progress. Healthcare reimbursement requests ongoing improvement and unfortunately, the therapists didn't feel that Jim was making significant enough improvement to continue. This was disappointing, but we were checking into additional private pay options.

Then last Friday Jim suffered a mild heart attack and is now hospitalized in Scotland with a combination of complications. His minor bed sores are still not healing or responding to medications, his kidneys are growing weaker and he is pretty nauseated off and on throughout the day. He now has a staff infection and most likely his diabetes and weaker respiratory system are making healing slower and more difficult.

His spirits also appear down, which is a change for him. I hope you'll keep him in your prayers today and throughout this holiday season. Although he could be transported for more aggressive treatment, the decision has been made to keep him comfortable and in familiar surroundings in Scotland. He is fighting a hard fight and we continue to pray for comfort and no pain for him.

In the midst of the holiday bustle and all of the blessings we have each received it is easy to forget about those who have not been as fortunate this past year. For you, Uncle Jim, we lift up prayers, we love you.

Great Grandma's Connection

I cannot believe I forgot to mention the connection between great grandma and Caroline, other than the obvious - Grandma Gert was born at only 3 pounds more than 85 years ago! An amazing story, an amazing woman and an amazing connection to her great granddaughter. We can only pray that Caroline turns out as healthy! When we reflect on all the medical care that Caroline has already received, it seems like an even bigger miracle that Grandma is here today. Today, I am thankful for her and the wonderful introduction she had to Caroline.

More Visitor Photos

Aunt Liz has the special touch again...

Combined effort

Grandpa's first glimpse at Caroline

Great Grandma jumped into action and Caroline enjoyed all of the attention.

She's got the magic touch

Thanksgiving and Georgia Turns 3!

It's been way too long since I've provided an update and since I'm returning to work this Friday I figured I better try to squeeze something in. We've had lots of excitement from Thanksgiving to Georgia's endless celebrations turning 3! She has definitely enjoyed celebrating and singing!

Thanksgiving was wonderful - from the perfect weather to our family coming together in Kansas City we had a great time. It was the first time great grandma, grandpa Larry and the Lindner's met Caroline and we enjoyed introducing them. Although looking back, it was a crazy time of lost sleep for mom and Caroline (we had unknowingly switched her reflux medication to something that contained lactose, I mean seriously), we're still hoping we didn't keep great grandma and grandpa Larry up.

Dad, Uncle Josh and Jack ran the Pilgrim Run on Thanksgiving Morning...

Aunt Liz and Caroline on Thanksgiving

And then we had a birthday celebration for Georgia at Monkey Bizness with "lots of people" per her request:) She had a great time and I'll try to upload a few more pics of her on the rock wall. We then headed to Buca's for a "fancy" dinner on the plaza on Saturday night and sang to both Georgia and Betsy for their 3rd birthdays - what fun! 

Just the week before we had taken Georgia to the doctor, down on the plaza and on the way there, she asked if we were headed to Baby Sister's House? I am thankful she must have gotten my good internal sense of direction and will soon be directing her dad on the most efficient route everywhere. She definitely recognized that we were close to the hospital and remembered all of the trips down to visit sister - perhaps she doesn't think baby sister is staying forever at our house? 

Hanging with her school friends at Monkey Bizness

Georgia enjoyed time with Betsy and Luci!

Georgia, Betsy and Luci blowing out the birthday candles...

We also survived our 2 month immunizations and 3 year old check-up last week. Only baby sister needed shots and Georgia was ok with that. She enjoyed an over sized "ring-pop" from the pharmacy on the way home since she was such a good big helper.

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Christmas - we have a new elf, named Roscoe at our house who is watching and reporting all of our daily activities and wish lists. It has been lots of fun to see where he returns to every morning. The elf arrived after Georgia and dad made a trip to South Dakota last weekend to visit Grandma Barb, Uncle Jimmy, Great Grandma Adeline and her cousins in Sioux Falls. It was a flying fast trip, and Georgia was a good traveling companion for dad. After she met the elf at her cousin's house, Santa sent one to our house and she is loving the anticipation of the coming holiday. Top on her list is helping to blow out the candles on Jesus' birthday cake and a purple princess bike (she is 3)!

Since we will not be traveling this year for Christmas, we are looking forward to a full holiday of firsts. Our first time at home, our first visit from Santa at home, our first baking of birthday cake for Jesus, the list goes on and on and Georgia is keeping track of it all. Just the other evening, she pulled her small rocking chair up to the Christmas tree in the living room just before bedtime and started rocking. She took in the ornaments and lights and told us how much she was looking forward to Christmas. I wish that I had snuck in a photo, it was so sweet. The rocking chair was grandpa Donnie's growing up and it was fun to see her enjoy it in such a big girl way. We haven't seen the black kitty in a while, but somehow it felt like he was close to us that night. (Many of you know that I believe Patrick's dad, grandpa Donnie often checks on us during monumental moments and typically comes as a black cat - primarily because Patrick was so superstitious and Donnie had such a good sense of humor.)

As we celebrate the 2nd week in advent and prepare to light the last 2 candles on the advent wreath, we continue to send up prayers of gratitude for all that we have been blessed with these past few months. Although the lack of sleep has been challenging, I wouldn't trade it for the world. As Caroline grows and continues to look more and more like her sister, we have a constant reminder of how lucky we are. We are grateful for our family and friends, our good health, our small miracle child, all the doctors and nurses and the time we're sharing together as a family.

We may not get a holiday card out this year and we might not get to do a lot of things together as a family until Caroline gets older, but the big, important stuff is just around the corner. We look forward to celebrating the most important birthday of the year with our new 3 year old in just a few weeks - Jesus' birthday. Complete with rainbow birthday cake - per Georgia's request - she says she knows it's his favorite!