Dancing and moisturizing

It has been awhile since I've posted videos, so I thought I'd go ahead and post some of my recent favorites.

The first one features Lily perfecting her moves while dancing along to the Michael Jackson game on the Wii...



Lily is still really obsessed with moisturizer. Luckily, with the cold winter and lack of moisture in the house, we can all use it right now. Lily loves being chief applicator.



If you were wondering why Chloe is wearing what looks like one of those silly neck pillows you wear on an airplane, it is a special pillow attached to her collar that helps with her Megaesophagus. It really does seem to be helping and she does not mind it.

Mamaw and Papaw come for a visit

This past weekend, Corey's parents came for a visit.  We took them to the WonderLab where Lily had fun showing them some of her favorite exhibits like the fossil excavation area:



and the mist bubbles



We had fun making a family portrait with one of those plastic pin things. That is TC on top, then Mark (love the glasses), then Corey and finally Lily.



At home Lily enjoyed getting doted on by Mamaw and Papaw.





While they were here, we returned some Wii games and bought Michael Jackson Experience for the Wii. It is a dance game where you get to dance just like Michael. It is hilarious and fun and a major workout. TC, Corey and I danced our hearts out for HOURS.  LOVE IT!

Times they are a changin'

Unfortunately I have no cute picture for today, just observations.

Lily is growing up.  For the most part, her words are pretty clear but there are a few that have always stumped her. Ever since the first time she requested it, she has called milk "dolf". I have no idea why. It doesn't sound anything like "milk". We tell her "milk" and she corrects us, "dolf!".  Last night we were driving and really needed to get some milk.  I got back into the car, gallon of milk in hand, and she said "milk!".  Corey and I had been waiting for this moment, but at the same time, it made us sad.  She used to call birds (and butterflies) "dee-aye" (Corey insists that she is saying "kee-aye", but whatever). Just recently she started using correct words for those, too.  We are happy that she is moving on from baby-dom, but sad about it, too.  Our pickle is growing up and it is a little too much for her parents to take.

Chloe issues, etc.

It seems like when it rains, it pours when it comes to illness.  

From Thanksgiving through Christmas, Chloe was in and out of the vet. She has been vomiting all the time and we could just not figure out what was wrong. She seemed healthy otherwise, but just could not keep her food down.  The vet kept doing test after test but just couldn't figure out what the problem was. Finally, after a barium test, Chloe was diagnosed with Mega Esophagus. Basically her esophagus is enlarged to many times the size it should be. Food does not travel along as it is supposed to anymore.  There is no real cure for this. I did a bunch of research online and found a group of others with dogs who had this problem. In many cases, it is possible to control the symptoms by having the dogs eat in a special chair called a "Bailey Chair", named after the first dog who used one.  The chair keeps the dog upright while they eat and they have to sit in it for 20 minutes afterword while the food travels down the pipes with gravity, since the muscles that normally do the work are not longer functioning. You have to make their food very liquidy with a food processor and lots of water, to make it easier for it to travel down to their stomach. At first, we were discouraged because even using the chair Chloe was throwing up some. I had been soaking her normal dry food in water and then whirring it through the food processor. Then I decided to switch to canned food (also whirred in the food processor with water). That seemed to do the trick. She seems to be improving quite a bit. Here is a cell phone picture of her in the Bailey Chair Corey built for her.

At first Chloe squirmed a lot and tried to get out of the chair. Now she is much more relaxed in there.  It is very cute because Lily tries to entertain her. Here is a video.

Yesterday, I found Chloe putting Jake in the chair. Maybe he has Mega Esophagus, too?

Then just when we thought we were all feeling better, Ed the cat came down with bladder issues. The vet through he needed surgery, but in the end it turned out to be treatable with medication. Thank goodness! 

Here is a random photo that I love.

and another...

These days Lily has 4, count them, 4, blankies. She is very attached to each of them and each morning she gathers them all up and carries them around the house. Throughout the day, they are deposited randomly around the living quarters and at night they must be tucked in with her and Jake. Yesterday she wet the bed during her nap and I had to put them into the washer. She cried and cried and hugged the washing machine. I had to drag her away from it with tears running down her cheeks. Poor girl.

Another funny thing happened the other day. I was on the computer in my room and she walks in and plops a wet diaper smack on top of my keyboard. I was in complete shock trying to figure out how she got into the diaper pail. Then I look down to see her nakkie hiney.  Point taken, little one! Love that girlie.

Oh, and I've started another 365 Project. I guess I'm just crazy. If you want to see it, go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spring_peeper/sets/72157625738907890/

Christmas 2011

The week before Christmas, we had family Christmas with the Rieman side.  It had been quite a long time since I'd seen everyone because unfortunately I could not make it to Thanksgiving over there (Corey and Lily had to go without me), so it was nice getting to spend time with everyone.



In the previous picture you can see Lily playing with the toy that was the biggest hit with her, a little track that small cars roll down. Her aunt Tam and Uncle Nathan got it for her and she LOVES it. Her mamaw handmade an adorable doll complete with a soft carrying case and outfit changes for her. It is adorable! I need to take a pic and post it.

We got home from the Keys just in time for Christmas morning at home. Lily woke up early, which was fine by me because I was super excited for her to open her gifts. She caught Corey carrying in the play kitchen that he made for her (with the help of our friend Doug). She wanted to play with it right away.





My parents were able to spend Christmas day with us, which was nice. Here are a few more pictures of Lily playing with her new toys.







We had such a fun holiday, even if it was a bit of a whirlwind!