Halloween here we come!

I was looking back at the last few years of Halloween pics tonight and thought I'd share. This year will be Gav's 4th Halloween! (and Teagan's first of course!) I'll be sure and take lots of pictures tommorrow night, but for now here's a look back at our last 3....

Here's Gav at 1 1/2 months old, 'scared pumpkin' --2005

Dinosaur/Dragon? 1yr. 1 month old--2006

Happy Horse! 2yrs. 1 month old--2007

Teagan has her swallow study tommorrow at 1pm. I'm a little nervous even though she's now eating by mouth without the tube. I'm just praying that everything goes well and that there will be NO talk of going back to the NG tube!

Enjoying Fall, Gearing up for Winter!

Last week the whole family went in for flu shots. Trent had gotten one at work earlier in the week so he thought he was just going for support. Little did he know that the Dr. wanted him and I both to get a TDAP booster (Tetanus, Diptheria & Pertussis) sp? To protect Teag from Whooping Cough since we hadn't had that shot in quite awhile. Gav was a little trooper and so was Teag- the whole family combined got 6 shots! (Teag and I both got 2, and the guys one each) Now we're all geared up for the winter flu season.... Next month Teag will get her final 4 month shot and her first RSV vac. of the season.

We spent a beautiful day at the park with the Allred's on Friday. The boys loved playing together at the Playground of Dreams and Katie and I had a good chat. We even put the girls in the swings together for the first time! They loved swinging back and forth and watching the crazy boys run around!

This week we've also carved pumpkins, made Halloween cookies, made too many messes to count, and played in the leaves! Tommorrow Teag has a physical therapy evaluation at 8 am. I'm interested to see what ideas they have for me to help with her strength. She has no interest in putting any weight on her legs at all. She loves to kick them all over but won't even try to stand up on my lap or jump in her Johnny Jumper. She's also not rolling over on her own yet- I actually think she might sit up on her own first!

Teag is 7 months old!

Teagan is 7 months old today! This last month seems like it flew by! Here are a few pics from this week and some new milestones for Teag:

-She's getting much better at taking some solids. She hates rice cereal but LOVES bananas and arrowroot cookies! We've also tried sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, peas (not a fan), apples and pears.

-She's had her NG tube out now for almost a week and we're all loving it! The bottle feeding isn't amazing, but she seems to be eating enough for now. Along with that, she no longer sleeps on a wedge because we're not tube feeding her at night. Now that she gets to lay flat with no tube in, she sleeps like a rock! -Speaking of sleeping.... I give her the last feed of the day around 12 midnight and then let her go as long as she wants until her next feeding. Some nights she'll actually sleep until 7:30am!!

-She is sitting really well in her bumbo seat, and also propped up on the floor with pillows. She can roll from tummy to back and almost back to tummy.

-Her favorite word to babble is 'Dadda'! All day off and on you hear dadda dadda daaaaada!

This week we're supposed to all go in for a flu shot and Teagan is due for her 4 months vaccines. (yes 4 month, we're really behind!) Her RSV shots begin next month and she'll get one per month for the whole cold and flu season until April. The kids and I have passed around a pretty nasty cold since we got back from the wedding. Teag seems to be handling it ok, she's just a little stuffy in the morning and at night. I've been running a humidifier in her room at night and its beginning to feel like the rain forest in there!

Next week I'm supposed to take Teag in for an evaluation to see if she's behind enough with her physical development to need therapy. Also, on the 31st she's scheduled to have her first swallow study. I take her to the hospital imaging department and they have her swallow barium and watch it on the x-ray to see how she swallows. I'm not sure why they're wanting to do it now after 7 months and I'm hoping no new issues come up. I feel like we've finally conquered the NG tube AGAIN and I don't want to ever go back!

Today is also my brother Brian's birthday- the big 21! He gave up 4 weeks of his summer this year to come here to Washington and help me with the kids and house while Trent was working. He's an awesome uncle and we all love him! Happy Birthday Uncle Brian!

Weekend Wedding Adventure!

Over the weekend we headed out to Orcas Island, WA for Trent's brother Cayle's wedding. Its around a 6 hour drive and then an 1 1/2 hour ferry ride to the island but the trip went well. Gav loved riding the ferry or 'big toot' as he calls it, and the kids did great with the long drive. The wedding on Saturday was beautiful and great sunny weather- just a little chilly! We all stayed in these cute little cabins right on the beach and hung out in the lodge cabin most of the weekend. There was lots of good food, guitar sing-alongs, smores making, rock throwing, beach digging and visiting with family and friends. Teagan did really well with all of the people and noise and I'm so glad we ended up going! Just a month ago while we were sitting in the hospital with her I didn't think there was any way that we'd make the wedding. It was nice for Trent and I too to finally take a little trip with the kids that didn't involve going to the hospital! We've been so blessed with how quickly Teag has been able to recover from her surgeries and bounce back after everything she's endured! Here's a picture of Victorian Valley Chapel where the wedding was:

Me with the girls: Bek, Deni and Jenn
Gav with the groom- Uncle Cayle!

Gav with the bride- Aunt Loren!

The whole Maxwell gang:

Here's the main cabin where we hung out most of the weekend at Beach Haven resort:

Here's a pic of our cabin:

Makin smores around the fire! yum!

Teagan had a cardiology appt. this morning and it went really well. They did an echo and said her Glenn anatomy looks really good. She still has some tri-cuspid regurgitation but Dr. Herndon said that its to be expected and he's not really concerned. Teag's sats were in the low 80's and she was even looking a little pink! We got the ok to pull out her Ng tube for now and see how she does. I also got the ok to let her go a little longer at night now between feedings, yay!!!! No more waking up every 2 1/2 hours to feed her! Its been a long sleepless 6 1/2 months and I'm so excited to see how long she'll sleep on her own!

Fall is here!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week! All is well and we've been enjoying the official start of fall around here- pumpkin season! Trent and I took the kids out to the Country Mercantile over the weekend to pick out our first pumpkins of the season. You take a hayride out to the pumpkin patch and pick out whatever you can carry! Gav of course was more excited by the tractor pulling us then the huge field of pumpkins. We had a great time just being together as a family and enjoying the cool weather. We also made a trip up to the Allred's house for a fun visit and got Teag and Maddie together again. They're both getting so big, and sooo cute! Here are a few pics of the girls together- they're not really sitting up well yet which makes for some cute cuddling!