Kalli's rockin' head gear

Here is a picture of Kalli's incision line. It's really not bad and you can't really even see it. There is just a nice bald spot there from where they shaved, which is too bad because that was where he longest hair was.  Joe took Kalli today to get her headband that will help reshape her head. Her head already looks so good, she has a nice round back of her head instead of a point. It broke my heart to see her in this but I think she is just too cute in it. Joe walked in the house and just said "she's precious". 

I got pink so everybody knows she's a girl and I have some plans for her bows when I find them. 

I just love this girl!

A Year of Books

As some of you know, I am an avid reader. Looking back on my year of books there are a couple that I really loved and would recommend to anyone. Here are those truly impressive books:

The Hunger Games earns my #1 favorite book this year and may stay there through next year. The writing is amazing, the story is captivating and Suzanne Collins grabs you from the first page and never lets you go. Although the topic is a bit gruesome, it is an AMAZING book. I HIGHLY recommend this book to all. I even have testimonials from others that have read this, give this a try! I can honestly say that I am not the biggest Stephenie Meyer fan, I think her writing in the Twilight series is atrocious. She totally shows how well she can write in The Host. She once again shows her abilities to write an unlovable character into one that readers love. Although I do have to say there really is no climax to the story, it is all about the characterization. I surely hope she writes more to this story.  Umm, I love this series. Don't let the titles scare you (although they make me laugh out loud). I started reading the first one off of a recommendation from a very good source and haven't been able to stop reading them. They got me through the traumatic parts of Kalli's ordeal because they let me leave that world and enter Georgia Nicholson's. It is a YA book, so it isn't naughty, it just talks about snogging a lot. So funny. If you need a good laugh, this may be for you! Such a cute little book. It really made me feel like I was in the classroom again. I seriously thought there were times that I could smell that school smell again. This was a refreshing book that truly made me believe in good literature again. It was humurous in the right parts and serious in the others. Highly recommend. I heard that this has Newbery buzz around it, and I am a sucker for a Newbery book.  The Uglies is a series I ran across on Goodreads.com. I decided to try it out and was not disappointed. There seems to be a lot of the end of the world literature going on and this was at least written well. I really enjoyed this series (except for the fourth book). It is worth giving it a try and it is a very clean book which always makes me happy. 

The last book I would recommend would be Shannon Hale's Book of a Thousand Days. I think this book surpasses all her other books. As much as I am a fan of Goose girl, this one just made me so happy. Her story telling techniques are so amazing. I can't wait what else Hale has up her sleeve. 

Now I have given you mine, can you give me your picks for 2008? 

Christmas long past...

As of 4:30 pm Christmas day, our Christmas decorations are nowhere to be found. Joe combed through the house and packed everything away. Now it really doesn't feel like Christmas. 

Cute Kids

As crazy as life is right now, we've been having fun with our kids. Here are some things that are happening. 

Kalli went to her doctor visit on Friday. She is 11lbs. 5 oz (60%) and 23 1/4 inches (90%). It shocks me that she is in the 90th for height as she has Joe and I for parents. She only gained a pound in the last month, but I am blaming that on her surgery. 

She received 4 shots, two in each leg, and an oral one. Let's just say that shots and Kalli DON'T mix. I never had problems with Blake but Kalli screamed for hours that night. It was interesting because she barely cried with her surgery but she cried bloody murder after her shots. Go figure. Kalli is obsessed with a couple of things right now. First, she loves her animals on her swing and mobile. I put her up for a nap on Saturday and I could hear her "talking" through the monitor. I went up to check on her and she was just smiling and laughing at her animals, it was cute. She also loves to be in her swing and loves to watch the animals go around. She gets upset when they stop. 

The other thing she is obsessed with is sucking on her hands and fingers. If she can find them, they are in her mouth. She isn't the biggest pacifier baby, she will only take it sometimes and that's when she's not already mad. But those hands are her favorite. Too bad I swaddle her at night so she can't find them. This morning Blake got Kalli's boppy and sat on the couch and stated "hold it". He wanted to hold Kalli. He was really good with her, as always, but this is the first since she's been born that he wanted to hold her. It was really cute. I ask him all the time if he is going to be a good big brother to her and take care of her and he always tells me yes. That's a good sign because his favorite word is no. I sure hope he does look out for her and they become good friends. 

Now I am off to pack, enjoy your day!

The dilemmas of packing

We have come across some obstacles in packing. Last week we started packing up some of our belongings that we figured we wouldn't need until after our move. Well, as time goes by we now are feeling the effects of those items that are packed. Let me give you some examples:

~we packed all our DVDs thinking we wouldn't need them because there is enough on TV. Well, we also packed our Christmas movies and it just hasn't felt the same without them.

~I finished some sewing projects and figured I no longer needed my sewing machine out. Well, I have a couple of projects I would like to be working on before we leave, but it's not worth digging around.

~I packed all my scrapbook stuff because I haven't scrapbooked in months. Well, I packed stuff I needed to make a Christmas present. I actually did have to open that box to get it out.

~Lastly, Joe and I packed our dressers because there were clothes that we didn't need. Joe specifically asked if we would need our swimsuits. Well, duh, no. It is December and we're moving somewhere cold, why would we need our swimsuits? I just booked our hotel room for two nights in Albuquerque that we will stay in for 2 days before we close on our house. Low and behold, it has an indoor swimming pool. Ugh. 

Oh the joys of packing!

We're Home!!!

Kalli and I made it home this morning. Our doctor came in this morning and started unhooking her from her lines and sat her up and said "how do you feel about going home?". I told him I was nervous about it but he told me I'd be nervous a week from now. She's doing really well. You wouldn't even know she had surgery except for swelling and an incision. She was smiling and cooing at the nurses which made their day. She's home and happy. 

I can't express how grateful I am for her nurses and doctor. I had THE BEST nurses for the last two days. Her night nurse was amazing and I couldn't have felt more comfortable with her. Kalli's first night was pretty eventful and she was so attentive and caring. Her day nurse was really great too. 

We are happy to be home and be a family again. I am excited to take a shower in my bathroom instead of the "Family" shower at the hospital and to use a restroom that isn't 600 feet from her room. 

Unfortunately the camera was left home this morning so we couldn't get good pictures of her leaving but here are some from yesterday. She's bright eyed and happy and we couldn't ask for anything more.

I know Joe already posted this but we are so GRATEFUL to those that called and texted about her surgery. Your thoughts and prayers were greatly appreciated and we felt your love through the last couple days. We know we have the best friends and family members. Thank you to everyone who took concern with our family. There are some really special people out there that mean so much to us and I think you know who you are. WE LOVE YOU!

Success

Just to give everyone a quick update, the surgery was a success.  The surgery posed a few different obstacles as we found out that one of the problems causing the misshaped skull was extra bones in her skull.  We also discovered that she had two small holes in the top of her skull as well.  The doctor had initially planned on making two incisions (one in the front and one in the back), but due to her situation, the doctor made one incision across the crown of the head.  The surgery lasted approximately 2 hours and we can already see the results even with the swelling.  We fill blessed that we were able to be here in Phoenix with a good children's hospital and a great pediatric neurosurgeon to take care of our daughter.  We also want to express our gratitude to all the support from our family and friends.  Here are a few pictures of Kalli after the surgery.

Melts my heart

*She does her thing in the middle*

Tour of ABQ House

Here is our house. I finally got it to load. Enjoy! 

Light up my life

On Sunday night Joe, Blake, Kalli and I went to the Mesa, AZ temple to check out their Christmas lights. I couldn't believe how many people were there. The lights were amazing and they really helped me feel the spirit and remember the true meaning of Christmas. Although the Mesa temple doesn't quite compare to the Salt Lake temple, it was still beautiful nonetheless. I took pictures but they don't show how truly beautiful it was. 

Today was Kalli's last day in our ward because of her surgery so I decided to dress her in a Christmas dress. I attempted to get pictures of the two kiddos before church and it went pretty well. Blake just wouldn't let go of the ball. Oh well.  Blake wanted desperately to run out to these lights. They were beautiful.  They had these bunches of trees in a couple locations. I heard one older lady comment that they should have put blue in. Seriously, I am happy how it is.  The beautiful manger scene. They were playing the Mormon Tabernacle songs and Oh man was the spirit so strong. That was until a woman started screaming at her son that he was so embarrassing that she would just die because he embarrassed her so much. The boy was only doing what every child was doing. Poor little guy.  Joe and Blake enjoying the manger scene. It was so cute because every little kid around us was pointing out each animal. So amongst all the talking you would hear "COW" "SHEEP". It was cute. 

It was such a beautiful night and I am so glad we were able to find time to go out there. I hope Blake was able to feel the sweet spirit there. He was very well behaved so maybe he did. 

It was like 60 degrees out and we thought it was funny that people were wrapped in heavy coats. We just had long sleeves and were fine. Funny Arizonians. 

Number One Question

The number one question I get is "How do you get her bow to stick to her head?" 

I get this pretty much every time I go out with her and usually multiple times at church. Random strangers stop me in the mall to ask, it's quite funny.

The answer: Karo syrup. 

A bump in the road

As if our lives weren't crazy enough, we are adding one more flaming hoop to jump through. Two weeks ago, Joe's boss approached him and asked if he would be willing to transfer to their office in Albuquerque, NM. We were stunned especially because we really like Phoenix, were buying a house in Phoenix and we had Kalli's surgery coming up. We decided to pray about it. I was totally against it, I really wanted to stay in Phoenix. I told Joe we should go over there and check it out before we made any decision. We went over last weekend and found a house that we love. For the sake of Joe's job we decided to make the decision to move to Albuquerque. We feel that it is a good opportunity for Joe although we felt that even if we decided to stay in Phoenix, we would still be blessed. Although we don't know too much about the area we are excited to start a new chapter in New Mexico. 

Like I said, we found a house we love. We are in the process of buying it and should close on it a few days after Christmas. In case you're wondering about our house here, we can back out till the day we sign. So we gave it up this morning. 

Kalli's surgery will be the 10th so that poses no problem for our move. She will be 2 weeks post op and her doctor told us that we could move easily with her, that she won't have to see him after her surgery, it could be done by her pediatrician there. 

I changed the picture of our house on the right wondering if anyone would notice the change. Did you notice? 

I took a video tour of our house while we were there but am having troubles getting it to load. In the meantime here are photos. 

Our hallway leading to the rooms

Our master bedroom with a bay window. 

My beautiful kitchen. The countertops are corian and the cabinets are the same from our house we were building in Phoenix

The front of our home.