Post Appointments/Pre Birthday Party

Holy Moly! This post is finally being written. We have been on the verge of writing this every night for the past three of four nights. So sorry. We do have updates and news regarding her appointments, so unless we're interrupted again we will try and get it out.

First of all, the bad news is that Karsie lost weight. Kind of a lot. She weighed in at 16 lbs. 12 oz. That's about a half pound loss. Amazingly she's still on the charts, but barely. We think this is due to a couple of things. She has gotten much more active. She's pulling herself up and crawling all over the place. That probably is keeping her losing weight at a more rapid rate than she is taking in food. Also, we think that Michelle's breast milk is not giving her enough of what she needs for some reason.

The doctor has now prescribed Pediasure, which is a liquid formula that is cow's milk based but gives 50% more calories. We are in the process of weaning her off of the breast milk and onto the formula. We are pretty okay with this as it is milk based and hopefully will give her a boost. We also are getting to wean her off of Prilosec, which means that she will be on no more medicines other than a multivitamin. We also were referred to a feeding therapist to see how she is doing and how to help her improve her desire to eat and drink.

Since the appointment, Karsie has been a really good eater. She has been eating lots of food at one time and lots of different kinds. We're supposed to start getting her onto chunkier puree foods. She loves to put in the real solid foods to her mouth, but she doesn't swallow all of it. So we're back tracking a bit and getting her into eating manageable chunks in food she knows. The food therapist said Karsie is doing great and she has all the tools she needs, but she's just a bit behind, but behind at the same pace. In other words, there's not one element that is worse off than the rest; she's just eating at a 9 month or 10 month level (ish).

Today Karsie has been a bit fussy. We're hoping that it's just a one-day deal, but she acts like she's slightly under the weather. We've come to the conclusion that she's teething. She also has a fairly significant rash on her G-tube site. And to complete the trifecta of issues, we changed her mixture last night to 50% breast milk and 50% Pediasure. This means she could be having some digestion issues and gas buildup with the extra calories introduced. We hope she's feeling better for her party...

Hope we remembered everything. We'll put up another post if we did. Off to bed for us and hooray for finally getting this finished.

Back from Vacation

Vacation was lots of fun. Karsie did amazingly well on her first vacation. Especially the 18 hours back in a one day drive we did from Wyoming to California.

Now that we're back, there's lots to do. We have a G.I. appointment to attend tomorrow. We're hoping that there has been some growth on just the breast milk. We're in an interesting situation as we are going to run out of breast milk in the next couple of weeks, so Karsie needs to be started on something. The hope is that we get the okay for cow's milk. That would make our lives a lot easier.

Karsie has been doing quite well on her development. She is a little chatterbox. She also enjoys volume - lots of it. There have been a few dinners that we've had to remove ourselves from because Karsie likes to squeal and talk very loudly. She also is crawling all over the place. She is still doing her little limp crawl, but it's much smoother now and she's using both legs to move (there was some concern that she was developing a preference, but she doesn't seem to be favoring any side). She is also pulling herself up more and more, which is a newer development. She is compensating quite well for her lack of abdominal muscles. She hasn't started to really cruise yet, but we think it's coming real soon. She kind of knows how to do it already, she just hasn't been on her feet on her own as much. But now that she's doing that, she's getting the hang of it quickly.

We're still trying to squeeze out as much of our summer break as we can. We're trying to make up for last summer. Until next time...

Grand Teton National Park

We spent three days in Yellowstone and then left for Grand Teton. Karsie did amazingly well during the entire trip.

Hiking to Hidden Falls.

The amazingly beautiful Hidden Falls.

Resting in front of the falls.

We made it to Hidden Falls... after a short little hike up the base of one of the Tetons.

Nana and Grampa hiking down from Hidden Falls.

Planning the next hike and fishing trip.

Resting from the hike to the falls.

Practicing walking with Grampa.

Airplane!

A Wandering Garter Snake we met along the hike to Taggart Lake.

Enjoying the lake.

We all made it to Taggart Lake... so pretty with the Tetons in the background.

Grampa fishing Taggart Lake.

On the back side of a long hike to Taggart Lake.

Waiting for the sun to set and the beavers to come out (to no success).

Yellowstone

Karsie and Daddy walking at West Thumb.

This pool is super deep and had some awesome colors...

...but this was our favorite of the gyser pools. Such a pretty color.

Birthday girl at Old Faithful.

Trying to avoid mosquitos on our evening wildlife search.

Hoping for lightning, but none showed up for us... though these clouds were a lovely relief.

We enjoyed lots of picnic lunches.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone was quite impressive.

Artist's Point... incredible view.

Karsie had so much fun and was super good about being in the car more than usual.

Amazing waterfalls all over the place.

Bison... EVERYWHERE!

Walking to the top of Mammoth Hot Springs

Enjoying the Mammoth Hot Springs

It is amazing how nature works!

Karsie's "B-EARTH" day Celebration

Even the earth couldn't contain itself on Karsie's birthday and celebrated with us. Every 90 minutes.

Happy Birthday Karsie!

Happy Birthday Karsie Gene! Today you are 1! We love you so very much and we are so blessed by your little life! You amaze us every day and we are thankful to be your parents!

Happy Birthday Bug!

Bryce Canyon and Salt Lake City

We have been continuing on our journey... from Zion we headed north into Bryce Canyon and then onto Salt Lake City for the night.

We had previously mentioned the breast milk that is taking the journey with us... here is a shot of the cooler... minus a few bags! And so far, the dry ice has been doing it's job very well!

Kevin and Karsie at Bryce Canyon.

We did the amphitheater drive and stopped at all the overlooks. Bryce Point gave an amazing view of the whole canyon.

The indian name for Bryce Canyon means "red rocks, standing like men in a bowl-shaped canyon"... and that is exactly what it is!

Amazing waterfall against the red dirt.

The colors were just gorgeous.

Walking along the little river.

So, in case you haven't been, Temple Square in Salt Lake City is beautiful. There are fountains and flowers and amazingly perfect grass lawns. We took a little walking tour of the square and couldn't resist the amazing gardens for some pictures!

Karsie thought it was funny to sit beside the fountain!

She loved the flowers... and wanted to eat them.

Playing in the grass.

She didn't know what to make of the grass... kinda pokey and funny feeling!

"Mom, can I please eat these flowers?"

Leaving Las Vegas

Our next stop was Zion National Park in southern Utah.

Karsie loves being able to crawl and move around... what a nice break before the drive ahead.

We arrived at Zion, already sweaty, but excited to explore.

We promptly found a creek and decided that it was time to play!

It was much cooler down by the water... and so pretty.

Karsie was toasty too... so she got her little toes wet (semi-against her will). Once she felt the cooler water she didn't seem to mind as much.

Clapping on the shuttle bus.

We loved walking by the Virgin River down to the gateway to the Narrows... and if we had more time and the right shoes, we would have walked into the Narrows some.

Karsie loves riding along wherever we go. She loved all the green on this walk.

Zion is full of AMAZING scenery... like this massive rock wall that weeps.

On the walk back... getting a little tired.

On the shuttle back... really super tired!

On our way to Bryce!