Catch up!

Since the last update we have been super busy and Ella is getting huge and smart! In fact she often says "Ella's getting huge!" since we say it so much. She is right at 36 inches tall and around 28/29 lbs! She is wearing mostly 3T clothes and is learning more things everyday!

-Ella knows how to count to 20 (with just a little help)
-She knows all her shapes including hexagon, octagon, pentagon, arch, cylinder, cone, rectangle... and all the classics like circle, square, triangle etc.
-She knows the whole alphabet
-She recognises letters on signs on the side of the road, TV, books, anything!
-She knows what several of the letters sounds are
-She is learning to sound out words (still needs lots of practice on this one)
-She is doing great with her eating
-She is starting to "help" with a few chores around the house (picking up her toys, re stocking the toilet paper holder, helping put water in the refrigerator... She loves to help!
-Ella sings lots of songs and is really into using her imagination. I love that!
-She loves to play the drums, everything becomes a drum or a drumstick!

Since the last time you heard from us, we have been reading bedtime stories in her crib

 

We painted for the first time

 

Very proud of her painting

 

Ella had her first sleepover...

 

 While mommy and daddy celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary

 

We made more crafts to remember some day how little she once was and had fun painting hands and feet! (notice the painted finger nails! A rare treat that she asks for constantly)

 

Played dress up with that big imagination and killer fashion sense :)

 

After asking every night to sleep in the "big one"we decided to let her and she did great!

 

always playing daddy's guitar

 

Decided it was time to give away Ella's crib, she had one last goodbye!

 

Then I remembered this moment and cried like a baby at God's goodness that she has been here long enough to outgrow the crib we never new if she would even see.

 

We set up her new big girl room and she settled right in. My beautiful big girl!

 

Then we celebrated thanksgiving :)

 

 

 

 We have been busy living life, and trying to find a healthy balance of germ exposure for Ella. It is especially hard during the flu season (please get your flu shot!) people are always sick and sick people just don't stay home, so we have to.

I am learning a lot about trusting God lately, it isn't easy, but I know it's the only way to survive this life of parenting a medically fragile child. She is His and He has gifted us with her for however long He sees fit. I am trying to learn how to live life knowing that it's borrowed time. Knowing that He loves and cares for His children and will never leave us.

We continue to covet your prayers as we live life with the shadow of Hypoplastic left heart syndrome hanging over our heads, as we watch our miracle beat the odds, as reality hits hard as she is growing, and as we know the next surgery is coming.

Ella's oxygen levels have finally seemed to level out right about 86, we are very happy with that, since before the cath they were often the low 70's! We are hoping the cath did the trick to hold her off on the Fontan as long as possible!