Things I Am Grateful For...

1. The wonderful family, friends, and people that we do and do not know that have helped us out and who have prayed for Ellie. Our family feels so grateful to have all of you in our lives. There have been so many people who have helped us out in so many ways over the last 15 months and thank you does not even begin to cover it. Recently our church (SL United Methodist) and Grove Harvest Grange put on a music benefit in Ellie's name. It was a wonderful evening and so many talented people performed. David and I were sincerely touched by the event. Thank you to all those who coordinated, advertised, performed, attended and donated. We are so thankful to be a part of such wonderful communities. I have not gotten out my Thank You cards so I do hope that no one is offended that they have not received one. Do know that we appreciate every little thing and are so excited to pass on the kindness that has been shown to us.

2. That we have had a fairly healthy winter. Outside of the 1 in however many thousand event that happened to Ellie, we have not had the flu, stomach bug or anything else nasty around here. The worst has been runny noses and the cold everyone but Sydney has right now.

3. That the girls are doing well. Despite the crazy year, Sydney is finally learning to read (and doing a great job!) and Reagan is finally closer to being potty-trained. And amazingly, neither one is resentful or jealous of Ellie. All I hear is how much they love her.

4. Ellie has FINALLY gotten back to eating like she was before her December illness. I'm so impressed because she is eating 2 1/2 ounces of baby food or 1/4 cup of whatever I make on top of staying on her continuous feed. Meaning I'm not even making her hungry and she wants to eat...especially if it's one of her favorites: sweet potatoes or squash. No, she is not particularly fond of fruit. Last week she got to try a cinnamon graham cracker stick and she went to town. Our person who helps us with the feedings kept waiting for her to gag on a chunck so she could show me what to do. And of course Ellie never did. She also got to chew on a Slim Jim (but not eat it) and whenever we tried to rearrange it in her hand, she got really mad at us! That was awesome to see. She has favorites and she's letting us know. She's also using her nosey cup (cup with a part cut out for the nose so you don't have to tip back the head). Sometimes she will drink almost an ounce! Of course it is thick liquid and we have to go a little at a time. The only bad news on the eating horizon is that Children's Mercy can't get her in for an OPM study (the one where they watch her eat on x-ray and make sure none gets into the lungs) until June 11! This means we can't officially give her thinner liquids and chunckier food and it slows our progress. I was not happy and called to get her in earlier but it wasn't possible. Argh! I had hoped to talk with our doc about it yesterday, but just as I was almost to the hospital, I got a call that the appointment had to be rescheduled because he wasn't there. Apparently there had been a mix up with scheduling. Waste of a morning but at least they are supposed to reimburse us for mileage and toll.
5. Ellie is back to her physical self and then some. She has a little bit of balance for sitting (still not doing it on her own), she is rolling over a lot and she now puts her hands out in front of her and pushes up on them a bit when she is on her tummy! I think she's getting stronger everyday. I would love for her to do more, but I made her a promise in the hospital that if she made it home, she could have all the time in the world to learn to do these things.

Of course, there is so much more that I am grateful for, but Dave tells me I already make these posts to long. My resolution is to try and post more often.