Happy New Year 2007

I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year. It's raining cats and dogs tonight in Michigan. We're just laying low and hoping nothing will keep Stella from getting tubes in her ears on Jan. 2nd.

We had a good Christmas. We got to see so many family members, including the extended Shirk family. And we enjoyed seeing all the Hribars, too! Stella did great at all the family gatherings. I was really impressed. John and I both decided she is definitely very social and seems to really enjoy being around her family. She wasn't clingy to either of us at all during Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Thanks to everyone who remembered us and Stella for Christmas. She got some really nice things that she's enjoying a lot. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring our camera to Joe and Kathy's at Christmas, so all we have is this picture of her here. Her Aunt Jill and Aunt Corinn got Stella this nice chair and she loves it! And Joe and Kathy got her this electronic learning game, among other things, and she's also fond of that, too.



Now that the new year is upon us, I feel much like I felt when I was pregnant with Stella -- like "yikes, the due date is right around the corner!" For some reason, after Christmas it really seems like it hits you. Before January, March seemed so far away! I hope to spend the next several weeks getting ready for the baby. Hopefully he won't arrive too early and surprise us. We've got a lot of baby stuff to dig out of boxes and bins -- with all of our moving, it's hard to tell where everything is.

Happy New Year to everyone!

A Christmas Tree, finally

We finally got our Christmas tree up last weekend! It's our first one in a long time. When we had the two apartments before, we didn't bother. It feels much more Christmasy to have a tree.



(John points out that the tree looks just as good with the colors reversed).

I have to thank my mom and John's mom, though. We hadn't accumulated any Christmas decorations, so my mom sent me some ornaments and a gift card to get stuff at Target for the tree. John's mom supplied us with some old ornaments that she had, so we have some history on our tree, too, which is so necessary, I think. Stella finds those old ornaments the most interesting, especially one that has two ducks. She's obsessed with farm animals of all kinds, so she always takes the duck ornament off the tree and carries it around.

Here below are a couple of awful pictures of me and Stella in front of the tree. For some reason, our camera doesn't snap a picture fast enough anymore so the good smiles and poses had passed a few seconds earlier. The only reason I'm putting this on here is because my best friend in Kansas, Shannon, said she never sees me on the blog. I figure she is curious about how big I've gotten so she can tease me! And I'm definitely bigger at this stage than I was with Stella. And that scares me.




Stella's surgery with her ear tubes is scheduled for January 2nd, which is the day before she goes back to school after Christmas. It will be at Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo. I just love them there. They have done all of Stella's testing, like her EEG and MRI when she was getting diagnosed, and have always been great from a pediatric standpoint. When I told them she had special needs and I didn't want her to miss a lot of school, they worked hard to find a spot for her.

We are also going to change Stella's medication for sleep. It's not working anymore, and we're not getting much sleep around here lately. Hopefully something else will work better.

Gotta go. Stella just turned on the TV by herself and changed the channel to CSPAN. Wow!

Stella's getting ear tubes ... and a brother

Eventful week we're having! Today Stella had an appointment with the Ear Nose Throat doctor, and to make a long story short, she's getting ear tubes in January or as soon as we can get them for her. She's had numerous ear infections, and since she's catching colds so frequently (from being at school, I presume), her body just doesn't have the time to heal before she gets another one. Even today, though she wasn't sick, they saw fluid in her ears.

Apparently, it's a pretty simple procedure with a nitrous oxide anesthesia. It only takes about an hour or so between the surgery and the recovery. And if her balance is good, she can go to school the next day!

I really hope that having tubes will keep her from missing so much school. She's really doing well. I have heard a few original word combinations lately. Usually I have to prompt her, but today she said, "More Cheetos" to me with no prompting.

The other day, I thought she said "hi" to me. I said "hi" back, but then she added ... "wuv you." So she loves me! I guess she has "hi" and "I" mixed up, but that's okay ... I get the message. We'll just start saying "hello" instead.

Today she saw Elmo on her bubble bath bottle, and I asked her if she would point to Elmo, and she did!

Everytime things get really bad with Stella, I have to admit that they bounce back and get better again. Of course, after I post this blog entry, she's sure to have a bad night (Murphy's Law) ... but hey, at least I know it will get better...eventually.

And yes, it's a BOY. All boy. John has forbidden me from posting the ultrasound picture of the distinct boy parts. I'm almost 25½ weeks and it's pretty obvious now. I had resisted finding out at my 2nd and 3rd ultrasounds (the first was too early), but just couldn't hold out any longer. I had to have multiple ultrasounds because of a low-lying placenta, but that has corrected itself now. Anyway, at least I know that washing those adorable pink girly baby clothes just won't work. And I'm glad I know!

We are excited about the little boy; keep him in your prayers.

That's about all ...