The girls were born on November 16th, 2007, 16 weeks early. Mallory Kate – 1 lb 8 oz, Evan Reese – 1 lb 1 oz, and Kelby Grace – 1 lb 5 oz. Upon their delivery, Mallory and Kelby were transferred to St. David’s South and were doing fairly well considering the circumstances. Our little Evan Reese was a fighter, but she had a lot of problems and she was with us for about 5 hours. We love you Evan and we miss you everyday, but we know we’ll see you again one day. Mallory and Kelby both went through a lot in their 105 day stay in the hospital, from heart surgeries, to brain bleeds, to infections. Many prayers were answered and we thank God everyday for everything He has done for them. Today they are perfectly healthy and growing bigger and stronger everyday. We started this blog to keep everybody updated on their progress. You can scroll down to the bottom of the page for a slideshow from the NICU days.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Weekend Fun

We didn't do much this weekend but hang out at the house and play. It was a perfect fall weekend. Here are a few random pictures... and we've realized why we're not photographers.





Kelby telling Mallory to 'sit' for the picture.




Rockin' on the porch...


























Saturday, October 17, 2009

Sweet Berry Farms '09

We went out to Sweet Berry Farms this afternoon. It was such a nice day to be outside, our good friend Salli and her son Hunter went with us. We are thinking about having the girls' birthday party out there this year so we went to scope it out.




Kelby loved the goats...




And they loved her popcorn...




Our best attempt at a family photo on the hayride.




Strolling through the flower fields.




Little man Hunter.






Salli, Hunter, Jen and Kelby




Family shot... +1




Kelby picking out a pumpkin.




The weather was so nice, it didn't get above the 70's (though it did start to feel a little warm before we left) so we didn't think to break out the sunscreen... so we all got a little red.



Kelby Knievel

Kelby has one speed... 90 miles an hour. Non-stop, from the moment she wakes....bouncing off the walls, giggling all the while. This is just the latest of her injuries - it doesn't look that bad in the photo- but she hit the corner of our entertainment center door on her forehead. Kelby cried for maybe 2 minutes. It made a huge egg on her forehead, but she couldn't have cared less. She went right back to playing and laughing as I took pictures. Nothing slows our Kurly Sue down, nothing, and we love it!

God is great! - Mallory's Surgery

Little Back Story:

Mallory hadn't been gaining weight like she should, so our pediatrician had some tests run a while back. Those tests came back showing that she possibly had Celiac Disease (her digestive system can't tolerate gluten - causing malnutrition, poor weight gain, etc, etc, etc). In order to formally diagnose Celiac an intestinal scope has to be done. Mallory also has had 6 ear infections in the last year so we were looking at getting tubes too- I know, poor Mallory, right?- to top it all off, Jeremy was considering switching jobs and at the beginning of the month so we thought our insurance would be ending as of November 1st.

So we began on September 30th with prayers for an opening in Dr. Sanders schedule for a scope, one in Dr. Sawyer's schedule for tubes, and insurance approval + a job for Jeremy come October 23rd. What do ya know, on October 2nd, Dr Sanders office called me to say a spot had opened on October 7th, then when I talked to Dr. Sawyers office, he was going to be at the same facility that day and could easily add Mallory to his list. PRAISE GOD! Such an answered prayer as we could not change Mallory's diet until the scope was done. She was feeling worse as the days went on and would hardly eat. God is so good and definitely looked out for our little Angel.

I talked with Dr. Sanders on Tuesday (10/13) about the results from the scope and they did confirm that she does indeed have Celiac. Now they want to test Kelby as well, because it is a genetic disease. Hopefully we can avoid having to have another scope done. But, it looks like we will all be going Gluten-Free! Do you even know how much stuff is made with wheat, rye or barley???

And... Mallory is a whole new kid after the surgery. She feels so much better and is back to playing tricks on Kelby. She was in the best mood the day of the surgery, almost as if she knew that she would feel better after.

* Oh and Jeremy's company is allowing him to stay on through the end of the year, so more time to job hunt. Anyone need a civil engineer specifying in Land Development??? I know a FANTASTIC one. ;)

On our way to the hospital...




Before surgery...






After surgery...




When she finally got back to normal, mind you she was a GROUCH for about 2 hours after the whole ordeal, she was starving and loved the GF arrow root cookies we had for her. The nurses loved her and she hammed it up too. Our little Missy Lou is quite the trooper, we love her and we are so proud of her.