2 Years of Blogging!

I can hardly believe that today marks the 2 year anniversary of this blog for Rachel!

When I created this blog, we were only just at the beginning of our journey with Rachel. At that time the journey seemed so overwhemling. But knowing we'd get through it with the help from our Lord, and our family and friends, made it a little easier. Here we are, 2 years later, Rachel has come so far. She has three surgeries under her belt, with more to come. She's talking more and more each day with the help of speech therapy. And is a normal 2 year old complete with the tantrums and attitude. LOL. Thank You to those of you who continue to come and follow Rachel, even now when our journey is slow and uneventful when it comes to the things revolving around her birth defect.

Disneyland with Friends

We've been frequenting Disneyland quite a bit the past few months with Hannah being off track the last month and the trips that just Rachel and I have made together. Today we went with friends who've not been to Disneyland for a couple of years and had a great time!
Having some fun in Toontown.
With one of her favorite characters... Minnie Mouse.
In New Orleans, posing with Terry, after just having gotten some beads.
We got to the park before it even opened and stayed until closing. Rachel having missed her afternoon nap, fell asleep in her stroller, clutching on to her box of Mickey cookies as we walked to the tram loading. She stayed asleep through me getting her out of the stroller, the tram ride, me putting her jammies on once to the van and remained asleep all the way home.

The Griffith Observatory

We went to The Griffith Observatory this afternoon for a special preview for Friends of the Observatory in anticipation of the grand reopening next month after a four year closure for remodeling and an expansion. Rachel wasn't particulary interested in any of the exhibits, although she did keep requesting to see the "big ball", the moon. LOL. We learned that her weighing 30lbs on Earth, meant she'd only weigh 6lbs on the Moon, which is less than what she weighed even at birth! It had been a cloudy and overcast day, so the night sky wasn't too clear. But just being up on Mount Hollywood, overlooking the city of Los Angeles and Hollywood made for really nice pictures.

Bob's Big Boy

On our way into L.A., we found an old Bob's Big Boy diner to eat dinner at. And for some reason, Rachel was fascinated in "Bob". She kept looking for him all over the restaurant.

Jumping Jacks!

Hannah had a classmates birthday party today at Jumping Jacks, where the "inflatables are too big for any backyard". And because the birthday girls' parents didn't have to pay for kids under age 3, Rachel got to have some fun! She had a blast bouncing and going from inflatable to inflatable, all the while keeping up with all the big kids.

The Girlies are Home

The girls came home from Gramie's house this afternoon. It sounds like they had a lot of fun... they went to the movies, to a couple of parks to play, out to lunch, to the pumpkin patch, had a tea party, and did a lot of playing.

Rachel did great! She took her naps and went to bed with no problem. Gramie said she was perfect! However, upon returning home, before she even got out of the car, it was evident that Rachel was grumpy. The rest of the afternoon continued with her being really cranky and whiney and really, unpleasant to be around. LOL. We're not sure if she was 1) mad at us for leaving her (which we highly doubt considering all the fun they had), 2) she was mad for being brought home, LOL, or 3) she was just plan cranky because she didn't get a full nap and woke up in the car. As the evening went on, she warmed up and was back to normal.

One of the activities of the weekend was going to a couple of the parks near Gramie's house. Gramie commented on how suprised she was at what a climber Rachel was! Rachel climbed right up to the top of the play structures and slided down the slides just like one of the big kids.

At the pumpkin patch, Rachel got her first pony ride! Hannah said Rachel enjoyed it. I'm hoping to get a picture from Gramie once she develops her film.

It's nice to know Rachel did so well away from home for so many days. Sending your baby off for the first time is always the hardest. However, I enjoyed my few days of peace and quiet, so I doubt there will be any hesitating in sending her again! LOL.

First Sleepover at Gramies!

We took the girls to Gramie's house this evening. This will be Rachel's first time spending the weekend with Gramie. Also making it the longest time she's been away from her Mommy and Daddy! While she had no idea as to why Hannah was so excited all day long, Rachel became excited when she walked into Gramie's guest bedroom and found all the babydoll stuff out and set up...the table and chairs, highchairs, stroller, etc. I'm sure they are going to have a blast!

Updating...

I'm in the process of upgrading my blogs to a beta (still in the testing stages) version.

I'm excited that this new version will now allow me to categorize my posts and make it easier for the people who come looking for information on clefts. There is now a category of links to cleft specific posts on the left hand side of this blog.

I'm currently working on categorizing and refining Rachel's blog. Please bear with me while I make these changes. Thanks!

Disneyland!

Some pictures from our trip today. This year the parks are doing some decorating for Fall and for Halloween and some of the characters are dressing up! For anyone who's not ever been to the Disneyland Resort, this picture is of the entrance to California Adventure. Normally, the letters spelling out CALIFORNIA are just yellow, but for the season, they are now Candy Corn! During the Christmas holidays they are candy cane striped. Click on picture to enlarge.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

My Sister-in-Law emailed me this morning. She pointed out this particular post I had written back in November 2004 in reguards to a list of specific areas of prayers for Rachel. As she was reading over the list, she realized that almost every single one of those prayers had been answered.

And as I look over that list, indeed, my prayers have been answered:

* That Rachel's lip would be coming together and that once the plastic surgeon gets going on her lip repair, that he would be able to complete the repair in only one surgery, instead of two.
ANSWERED! The plastic surgeon was able to repair her lip completely in one surgery, January 2005.

* Rachel would respond well to her surgeries, with each surgery her eating wouldn't be difficult or too painful.
ANSWERED! Although her swollen tongue following her palate repair posed as a challenge, she did awesome with her eating for the most part.

* All of Rachel's teeth would be present once she starts teething.
BEING ANSWERED! So far, it looks as though she has all her teeth. She's still working on getting some. But it looks promising.

* Rachel's speech would not affected and she would not require excessive speech therapy in the years to come.
Currently in speech once a week and has been since April.

* Her palate would be coming together now, even before her palate repair (around 12 months of age)
ANSWERED! Rachel's palate came together nicely, and the closer it came to surgery we were amazed at how much smaller the hole had become. There was enough tissue that the surgeon was able to completely close the hole. November 2005.

* Her gum would be coming together now, even before her gum repair (around the age of 6 or 7 years old).
ANSWERED! Both sides of Rachel's cleft gum now touch one another. When she was born there was a gaping hole.

* That Rachel would have minimal ear infections during her infancy and childhood. (Children with clefts are prone to increased ear infections).
ANSWERED!!! Praise the Lord, Rachel has only had one ear infection in her 2 years!! Pretty amazing for a cleft affected baby.

For anyone that prayed for the things on this list, Thank You.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looking forward, Rachel still will need some surgeries. I've recently read some message boards where some cleft affected children have gone through 20+ surgeries in the span of their journey. The thought of that many surgeries scares me a little bit.

My Sister-in-Law suggested I perhaps update the list of prayer needs, which was a very good idea. Although we have no upcoming surgeries in the near future, there are a few things that can use prayer:

* The biggest thing that can use prayer at this time is Rachel's speech. Prayers that she would continue to progress. That she would master the sounds and techniques of the letters T, D, N, S - all which require her tongue placed on her palate at various degrees.

* For future surgeries. The next one would possibly be a 'nose job' around the age of 4-5. The next MAJOR surgery being around the age of 6-7 with a bone graft to her gumline. Prayers that the number of surgeries Rachel requires are minimal, and not near the number of ones of kids I've read about.

* For the sensitivity of other people when they come in contact with Rachel. Another thing I've read a lot about is other kids making fun of the child who's had a cleft. I can't imagine Rachel being made fun of with how awesome her lip repair looks, but in this day and age, you just never know how cruel and mean someone might be.

Because the Lord was so faithful to answer my list of requests the first time around, I'll quote the following scripture once again.

"...You have not because you ask not"
James 4:2

Spending the Day with Gramma and Mickey

When Hannah was younger, the three of us, Hannah, Gramma, and I, would go to Disneyland have a great time, even if it was sitting on a bench and people watching or enjoying a churro or popcorn. Unfortunately, Gramma did something to her back at the beginning of summer and hasn't been able to join me and Rachel on any of our Disneyland trips so far. But her back is getting better and she's getting around better than before, and felt good enough to brave Disneyland with us today!

It was a BEAUTIFUL day at Disneyland. Fall is in the air. The summer crowds are gone. School is back in session. It was a perfect day for going to the Happiest Place on Earth.

On King Arthur's Carrousel.
Stopping to pose with Belle.
A trip to Disneyland wouldn't be complete
without a picture with her Mickey Mouse.

A Luau Party!

This afternoon we went to a Hawaiian Luau party in honor of my uncle turning the big 50.

It was a great party, and the girls had a lot of fun, Rachel especially loved getting in the spa and the Finding Nemo fruit snacks that fell from the pinata.

Our Beautiful Girls.
We already know there'll be plenty of boys knocking on our door...
oh wait, they already are!
With her Gramma and cousin Haylee.
I LOVE this picture of my mom.
Rachel was fascinated with the doggy door in the screen.
We kept waiting for her to try it out!

Gramma Comes to Speech

Gramma came with us to Speech today. She got to see firsthand at how Rachel clams up and doesn't talk much when in the pressence of her Speech Therapist!

Gramma took this picture of Rachel playing Peek-a-Boo
behind the glass window and chair.

A Weekend of Fun!

Cousins McKenzie and Haylee came for the weekend. Our weekend was full, but fun.

We gave it a try to see if Rachel could sleep with the big girls on the floor, but after about 20 minutes of wrestling with her and trying to get her to stay on her own side, I put her in her crib. She was tired and went straight to sleep. On Saturday we went to Disneyland with Uncle Bart and Peggy and stayed all day. And today, Hannah had a Karate Tournament.

Both mornings, Rachel was soo cute. When you got her up out of her crib, she was excited and hollaring to see Haylee and McKenzie (whom she both calls "Haylee"). She got really upset when Uncle Robbie and Auntie came to pick the girls up. She had a great time playing with her cousins.

This is what Rachel's room looked like within 5 minutes.
On the floor with the big girls.
Rachel and McKenzie sharing a set of wheels, aka stroller.
Just kicking back and enjoying a snack with Haylee,
while the others went on a ride with a height restriction.

2 Year Well Check

Today was Rachel's 2 year well check with her Pediatrician. She was 30 lbs 2 oz (still in the 90th percentile) and measured 33 3/4 in length (finally, moved to just under the 50th percentile). Everything checked out just fine and there were no tears as she was caught up in her vaccines! No need to return until her 3 year check up!