I am 2 today!!!!

to our precious little girl!!!

Neither Brad nor I can believe that our little princess is already 2 years old! WOW, time does surly fly by when you are a parent! We opted for a family day celebration this year, and what a fantastic day it was. Danielle had been feeling pretty icky for the past 3 days or so, and today, just in time for her birthday she was finally feeling just about 100%! We woke up and after we were up and about for a bit the sun decided to shine, it got nice and hot outside and we decided what a wonderful day it would be spent at the pool! So we got our suits on, packed a little cooler and swim gear and we were off!

And look who was the first to greet us....a mommy duck and her little ducklings! We laughed and laughed, all she wanted to do was take her babies for a swim, and all the lifeguards kept doing was shooing them out of the water. Too cute!

Dylan and Danielle were super excited to get to swim in the 'big' pool today! We have our 2 small pools at home that are super fun too, but nothing compares to when Mom and Dad can get in and be silly in the water too!

Danielle just loved the water, it was nice and warm, she didn't even mind the splashing and water spray features, she just blinked her eyes a few times to rid of excess water and was back to kicking and telling us all about the fun she was having!

Today was a great day spent at the pool for our girls special day! We spent a couple hours there and swam our hearts out!

We arrived home and Grandpa Kinney was waiting there for us! He wanted to give the birthday girl some special loves and presents on her big birthday! We sat out on the deck and finished drying off from the pool, soaked up some sun....we love summer time!

They had brought Halen and Roxy along for the ride too and Dylan was very excited to see Grandpa's puppy's!!!
Big brother Dylan was all ready to help Danielle open her Birthday gifts, so both kiddo's piled onto Grandpa's lap for the first round of opening presents! Birthday's are SO much fun!

'Oooh, pretty', Dylan says!

LOVE the Hawkeye outfit, gearing up for football season!

We then ventured inside for some pizza, cake and round #2 of opening gifts!

Danielle really enjoyed her Watermelon decorated ice cream cake...yummy!

And then we tore into those gifts, Dylan was of course very excited to get to help!

We first opened gifts from the LeConte's in Wisconsin!

Danielle was super excited for her new purse and toys!!!

And her new hat and outfit for her American Girl Bitty Baby! Adorable!!!

And Emily even made Danielle some very special handmade hair bows! We put them all in her hair to show them off. Perfect flower to match her picture outfit and bows to wear during football season while cheering on our favorite teams!!

Thank you LeConte Family :)

Next up, her new shape sorter! Our therapist has been working with Danielle to have her drop the shapes in the correct, matching spot. Now we can practice at home too!

And she really loved her talking, singing purse too! Complete with lipstick, car keys, a mirror and compact! Just what every little girl needs!

And stacking cups! Not as exciting....until you stack them all up and 'crash' them all down as we do at therapy! Fun new things to make lots of noise! There was also a couple new outfits to add to the closet, totally necessary for the birthday girl!

'Yum-o, this ice cream is delicious!'

Dylan even thought so too!

Gotta get every last dribble that we can reach with our tongue!

Mmm, now time for a bath!

We had such a wonderful day with our little birthday girl! We are SO proud of you baby girl for fighting, never giving up and continuing to want to learn new things every single day! You are a trooper, the twinkle in our eye and our princess! Thank you Danielle for being you, we are SO blessed to be your Mommy and Daddy! We love you SO much sweetheart, we hope you had a wonderful 2Nd Birthday and we hope that ALL of your Birthday wishes come true!!

This story melted our hearts...

A news anchor woman and her husband have sure gone thru quite a lot for their miracle baby boy. We saw this story on the news last night and in some ways it does hit close to home. Danielle also has Hydrocephalus, which is one of the reason's for her shunt. As we can relate to these parents, we go to great lengths for our children, all children are miracles and you just have to believe!


http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Health/medical-bills-mom-finds-resources-cost-care/story?id=10657084


In reading the comments from parents in similar situations, hearing scary things from doctors about the medical needs of their children, we remember that we continually must be strong! We go on and continue to be optimistic that we will prove them wrong! Children have a miraculous way of touching our hearts.

No matter how many times we take Danielle to therapy each week, how many times we need to leave work for appointments, no matter what the cost is of anything she needs, only one thing matters at the end of the day....that she is with us, we are home together doing everything in our power to help our little girl every day of her life! She is doing great and for that we are SO blessed! We see her smile, the twinkle in her eye, her little giggle and her greeting us by saying 'hi', we will never give up, our precious baby girl is our life, our children are our life. We fight for the best doctors, the best medical care, the best therapists for our little girl and for those people who help Danielle on a daily basis, those whom we are fortunate enough to have in our lives...we are SO thankful!

Meet Lisa, she is our most favorite therapist EVER! We love her and ALL she does for our baby girl!

"Miracles happen every day, change your perception of what a Miracle is and you'll see them all around you." Jon Bon Jovi

We are so happy that the parents in this article also continue to fight and pray and give their little boy the wonderful life that he deserves! After all.....that is what the wonderful gift of parenthood is all about ;)

Spring Checkup....

Last week we took Danielle to IC for her MRI and check-up with the Neurosurgeon. I was a little nervous because this was also the first time that we needed to take Danielle's earrings out because she couldn't have them in for her MRI. Well that was no issue at all. Danielle did great, didn't even flinch and her pretty little ears with earrings continue to look great! Danielle did extremely well for her MRI. She did not have to be sedated which again, is a blessing in itself. Normally we have a few of the same MRI techs, this time it was a few young men. Mommy was nervous that they wouldn't get her tucked in just right, but after a few pointers from us as to what Danielle prefers, she did great. She didn't even let out a peep, we didn't have to hold her hand or tap on her leg as we usually do. This big girl did great!

We met with Dr. Menezes for the results and re-programming of her shunt. Dr. Menezes is the most fabulous doctor for Danielle. Is is truly the best and every visit we have with him reminds us of this! He asked us what Danielle is doing new and different, how she is eating and sleeping, acting and how vocal she is. We revealed to him the new 'things' she is doing. Little things that she probably could not have done back in December without assistance, that she is now doing on her own. He was very happy and what we told him.....conveyed also what her scans showed. They looked great! There is less fluid in the brain cavity and the cavity is going down which is wonderful.

So we got the all clear to not go back for another 4 months. This is wonderful news. We have the whole summer without having to go to IC except for her eye exam. He encouraged us to start giving her more table foods to help pack on some more pounds. She is gaining length in huge strides, while her weight is increasing slower. So although this is new, we will be experimenting with new foods for Danielle. She is already eating yogurt for breakfast, baby food for lunch and dinner but we are going to slowly take away the baby food and add more table food. She is still taking a bottle after each and every 'meal', we will continue this for extra calories and vitamins and also nutrition! We have been adding Vitamin D milk in with her formula and occasionally some Vanilla or Chocolate Carnation Instant Breakfast....which of course she loves! So we were very happy with this visit!

Uncle Chase is home for the summer and the kids really enjoy his company...and so do Brad and I! He gets on the floor and gives each child lots and lots of snuggles and play time and the just eat it up! We are very happy to have him staying with us for now and being able to see Chase frequently this summer!!!

Danielle and Daddy are back in another session of Aqua Tots with our dear friends Kirsten and her hubby Mike and their daughter Lila. The Daddy's and girls are having a great time and us mom's really enjoy chatting and watching too. This session is also at the exact time as Dylan has his lessons, so one side of the pool is Dylan and straight across are the daddy's and girls. It works out great! Danielle and Brad have a new instructor. This lady that teaches the class also brings her little boy to partake in the class also. This brings a whole new variety of songs and games as the instructor is truly joining in the learning with her little one also! So we are enjoying our lesson time!

That is a great back float peanut!!! The girls love to sing songs!!

This weekend we had a big play date with the Eddins' and Hahn's and the kids. The kids played, we grilled out and enjoyed the nice afternoon sunshine out on the deck. We had a wonderful time with our friends and letting the kids be kids. The 3 little girls on the floor playing is such a wonderful sight. Danielle and Henley were sharing the play yard and all of a sudden we looked over and Danielle's foot was in Henley's mouth and she was sucking on it! SO funny, kids will be kids right?! Dylan enjoyed the company of his friends as well!

We are excited for the month of May. Lots of fun things coming up and we have started planting flowers around here to add some color to our landscaping!! This is one of our favorite times of year....sunshine warming our hearts, bright colors galore; from green grass to blooming flowers, and chirping birds.... reminding us of all of the beautiful nature around us!~

Baby talk!

As we have mentioned before Danielle is quite vocal these days. Giving us a little 'sass' at times and telling us all about what she is thinking. Her little voice is music to our ears! This weekend, just before her bedtime, we caught a little bit of her story on video. It's pretty cute watching her busy little body move all over and listen to her telling us all about her day!

In Danielle's words

Spring Show 2010...

Last night Danielle and I had an evening together.....at Spring Show 2010! Cousin Mackenzie is on the Monticello Expressions Dance Team and last night was their year end performance. Danielle and I really enjoyed going to watch Kenzie.... dance her heart out!

The Stage was set....

The girls were all escorted by their parents, aww...

The team and their parents....their biggest supporters!

The evening started out with a variety of dances and in between were a few solo's and impromptu skits. We had great company with Cassie, Zach, Cody, Aunt Linda and Great Grandma Holub. Danielle was really in aww looking around at all of the action around her. But when the first round of applause happened, she didn't quite know what to think. She nearly jumped out of her skin and the big pucker lip came and the tears started to flow. Aunt Linda had her snuggled pretty tight which really helped a lot. She even took Danielle into the hallway for a little break! Thanks Aunt Linda!
And the girls took to the dance floor!!

Kenzie is a very talented dancer, being just a freshman, she has many years of dancing ahead of her. For not ever, have, taken a dance class in her life, you would never know it by watching her, this girl has talent!!!

Mambo #5, dancing with the guys! So cute!

The girls did a 'mother, daughter dance' and a 'father, daughter dance'. Dan and Connie both got out there and busted a move. I was quite impressed! Great job mom and dad!!

I caught just the very end on video!

For the last routine the girls were in these hamster like body bags. Oh my goodness! These things were just hilarious! They did the whole dance in these bags, talk about having your timing down, that was a must because they couldn't see a thing! I was just cracking up, so much that I had to take a short video, too cute!!

I believe the girls danced 15 dances in the show. That is just amazing! Changing outfits, gearing up for each dance in just a matter of minutes, smiling and showing all of their friends and family what hard work they have put into each and every routine throughout the year. We were very happy to be there for Mackenzie, and are already looking forward to watching her next year!

Great Job Kenz!!!

Getting in some snuggles with Cassie!

Danielle and I really enjoyed our evening together! It was very nice to have some mother/daughter time and for Daddy and Dylan to have their time also! I look forward to many more of these 'girl' dates sweetie! Mommy loves you SO much (and so does Daddy too), thank you for being my little STAR!!!~