Monday, November 2, 2009

Halloween Happenings!

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Ava was Po for Halloween. We fake trick or treated. She dressed and we took her outside and Lexis gave her candy in her basket. (Miss Lexis thoughts she was too old to trick or treat this year so her and her friend handed out candy.)

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You can see by her smile she enjoys Halloween.

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I made her a “fat suit” for under her costume since Po is hefty. It was adorable!

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We threw a Halloween party at our house this year so Ava had to go to grandma Helmick’s during it. There is so much flu going around we can’t take any chances. We requested that if anyone was not feeling up to par not to come…I hate having to ask this but it is our life right now and will be for a long time. She did fine and we had a great party.

“Anyone want to play cards?”

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My Mom and Dad were priceless! How many times do you get to see your Dad in a dress?

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I was so happy that this year was spent here at home. Last year I dressed Ava up as a bee for a few short minutes in the PICU. She was still very sick. Can you believe what a difference a year makes? I’m so proud of everything she has accomplished! I think it is important not to dwell on the past but yet we still must be aware of where we have been.

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Last night I changed her g-tube, while Brian was here because he needs to see how to do it in case I wouldn’t be home if it came out. It is not a fun thing to do. It is really tight. I small hole. It is smaller than a pencil width. As soon as it is removed a new one must be ready to be put back in. Ava screamed and was scared. For the first time there was a little blood. It stopped bleeding once everything was in. She is a trooper though. I can’t imagine having a hole in my tummy.

Here is Ava sporting her new tube this morning! She is a little busy watching Dora to care.

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I thought I’d add pictures of the tube in case some of you have never seen one.  This first picture is her old one I took out last night. You can see her stomach acid turned it an ugly brown color. So you insert it in the hole un-inflated of course. Once it is in you fill the balloon with water. This holds it in place. It is a pretty simple concept!

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Here is the g-tube inflated with water.

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Usually I don’t change a tube that is working. (Some change them every three months regardless.) However Ava’s area around her tube was irritated so I wondered if a new tube would help. This tube was about 3 and a half months old.

I hope you all had a great Halloween. I know we did. Halloween is my favorite holiday. (If you couldn’t tell by the pictures!) Ava continues to be doing great. She is still 30 pounds and we are pleased with her over all. She loves to talk. (We call it using her words.) She is saying more things everyday and has even been putting two words together at al time. AND Usually the first word stats with “Mommy Pease” (Please) or “Mommy why”. I love how much she is growing and learning. We couldn’t ask for anything more.

Life is much shorter than we will ever know. Enjoy and be happy in it! Thanks for your continued prayers for Ava and our family. “We’ve come a long way baby!”

~Terri

3 comments:

Liz and Shane said...

You and Brian look great in your costumes. Love it! So glad you had a party and you had fun. You deserve it! Ava is so cute in her costume. What a difference a year makes. I can' believe it. You are always in our prayers.

Sky + Carla said...

Ava looks so pretty in her costume. I love her smile :) Glad to see everything its better. I think its funny Lexi thinks she's big, lol... They grow so fast.

~ Carla (angel Joseph's mami 2.3.09 - 2.26.09)

Stephanie said...

Looks like Miss Ava takes a 14fr 1.7cm AMT button.
We use the same size here! Only V still uses the mic-key button.

Funny what things we identify with when it comes to our kiddos!
"Hey, my kid wears the same size G tube as yours!!".. lol.

Glad to see she's doing so well. It's tough what our kids go through, but when it finally works and we get to see progress it's amazing, isn't it.

We're FINALLY seeing progress here too. V is 4 now, but he hit 27 pounds last week. That's huge for us, so we know how you feel!

Take care and God Bless!