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6/20/2006 Great week!!!Well, Kylie and I had such an awesome week last week. We did start swimming lessons and she has improved so much already. She really learns and picks up things very quickly. I have really enjoyed my time off with her so far this summer. I could get used to this real fast. Kylie is just such a happy little girl and says "hi" to everyone she meets. Again we went to Chris' softball game and she played and played on the playground equipment. She is very strong and climbs up and down the little ladders and stairs and only wishes I wasn't right there with her. We went to her cousin's ice hockey game and she found some bars and did her gymnastics while she was watching. Very active child. It is a nice feeling to allow her to play on things like this without being so paranoid that she will get germs and get sick. We are still very careful about washing her hands often and using sanitizer, but not such "freaks" this year. Last year it was hard for others to understand that she couldn't play with just anybody and especially not in the winter months because of the scare of RSV and also worrying about the g-tube accidentally coming out. I will have to say I am just much more relaxed in general. What a good feeling!!!!
Kylie just came in to me and sang the happy birthday song....she has just come so far in her speech and language skills. Her speech therapist has been working on oral motor therapy and it has really improved her salivation coming out of her mouth. Her chin is always dry now..even when she is extremely active. I can't wait for the day when the therapist says she is dismissed.
We had a wonderful Father's Day and just cooked out and swam. She is so lucky to have such a caring and wonderful father. He thinks the "world" of Kylie Rae as I do. Kylie and I are going to visit my aunt in Houston tomorrow. We will be going with my parents. They are so excited to see her. We have plans to go to Galveston and just relax. They have a very nice house on the bay with boats and Sea Do's so it should just be lots of fun.
Well, again please pray for all the CDH babies, expecting babies and families of angels. I will post with new pictures when we return from Houston. Thanks for checking in!!!
Julie 6/13/2006 I am a lucky manI am a lucky man:
you might ask me why?? well look at this site.
I have the best wife in the world and together we have Kylie Rae whom is the best kid in the universe.
We have been through so much together but yet we still have accomplished so much. We live a great life and with the addition of Kylie it made our lives that much better.
We both have wonderful parents...you sometimes hear married couples saying "I have the worst n-laws in the world"...well for me not so much, in fact I am the opposite. Julie's parents are the best and they would do anything for anyone.
Julie's mom "Nana" is so amazing. Not only does she keep Kylie during the week (she retired to watch her) but she does everything for us. I know that sounds weird but it is true she painted our nursery, she painted Kylie's room (amazing) and she painted the living room, foyer and dining room...like I said I am a lucky man living a perfect life.
I am a lucky man:
My wife Julie is so amazing, heck she has to put up with me everyday (my stubborness/hard-headed). I am very easy going and very laid back while Julie too is easy going and at the same time she is the organizer, the care taker, the accountant and the best wife in the world. Without her I would be lost. I look forward to getting home everyday to be with her and to be with Kylie. I know some people are as fortunate as I am to have such a loving family and such a wonderful wife to go home to each and every day. I am not a romantic man nor do I shower her with gifts (I should) but each passing minute of the day I love her more and more. I try to tell her as much as I can that I love her with all of my heart and in case I did not tell you today "I love you very much".
I am a lucky man:
Julie and I have been down the tough road, batteling the ever exhausting journey through CDH but all in all we came out victors. Why is that??? "KYLIE RAE DUDLEY" is your answer.
As you all have read Kylie took us on a roller coaster ride of a lifetime, the ride that seemed to never end, the horrific journey through CDH. I must say even though it was rough at times it also helped us to be stronger not only as a family but as individuals. I know because of all of this Julie and I can make it through anything.
We have learned so much from Kylie, she is our backbone in our family and I can not imagine life without her. I love coming home to hear her say "dadda" and rushing to the front door to give me a hug. I have always dreamt of having a daughter but I never dreamt of having Kylie she is so perfect and yes I wrapped around her fingers. Besides Julie being in my life Kylie is the best thing to happen to me and together they made me a Lucky man.
Kylie may have inhereited my stubborness and hard-headedness, but I must say it helped her through CDH. She is such a trooper, so sweet and so smart...I know every parent says that but it is a fact. Kylie inhereited the brains and her beauty from Julie. I tell you having Julie and Kylie makes going home much easier. It does not matter how bad traffic is or how hot it is outside...all that matters is going home to them.
I know I have rambled on way too long...but I just wanted to let Julie and Kylie know I love them with all of my heart and I can't wait to get home.
The luckiest man in the world,
Chris Add to entryI want to add to please pray for all the CDH babies who have begun their journey in this world and please pray for the families of the CDH angels. Of course, please pray for those expecting a CDH baby as they are worried about the unknown. CDH is such a cruel defect. I think of these people often and check their blogs multiple times during the day. Thanks Just for fun!As I said before Kylie is enrolled in swimming lessons. We went for the first time yesterday. She is just so funny and really did great. She has been in the pool quite a bit since we have one, but I have never put her head under. She did it yesterday. She was just a little suprised by what happened and just looked at me like I was crazy for putting her under. She never once cried. She would go under and look a little puzzled and then just laugh (cautiously). She is just so funny!
Kylie is such a socialable little girl and I always say it was because she met so many people when she was hospitalized between the nurses, doctors and therapists. Due to doctor's orders, we have had to keep her away from alot of people for the first two years of her life because of the risk of getting sick but you would never know because of how she is around people. She literally lights up the room. We are just getting to experience her being around others more. I feel so much better with her g-tube out now so that we don't have to worry about that popping out and of course not having to feed her through that helps so much with not having to be on such a schedule. She absolutely loves children. My plan is when she is three (next spring) to put her in pre-school just one day a week. We are going to start going back to church and she can be in the two year old sunday school class which I know she will just love. Today I am going to inquire about dance lessons for the rest of the summer. She goes to gymnastics twice a week as well. Gymnastics has been the absolute best therapy for her. She has gotten so much stronger in her upper body where she was so weak before. She is just incredible to us! Kylie gets to go to gymnastics where I used to train and work. It is really fun for me to go with her as well as I love the sport. Sorry for bragging about her so much...that is just what my fingers type.
My husband started a new job about one month ago and he is absolutely loving it. We were always so scared for him to change jobs with the insurance situation. Kylie went through 1.8 million dollars of her insurance during the initial 5 month hospitalization. We did have a 2 million dollar cap so of course I thought at first we would max out and that worried me to no end. Insurance is not something I ever thought of until Kylie came. We learned fast to say the least. Anyway, with her health being so much better now he made the switch and is very happy. He just lost a lot of his vacation days that he had built up with his other job. Oh well..he is happy!
Last night we went to watch Chris play softball with the church league. Kylie absolutely loved it and played her heart out at the little playground right by the fields. She would always look over and say "da-da" in her sweet voice and then get right back to the slide. She loves her dad and they have a special bond. It is just so nice to watch them play together. He is an amazing father.
Sorry the post is so long and I guess I will get started with the day now. Kylie will be ready to eat and play as soon as she wakes up. Have a wonderful day!!!!
*****If anyone knows how to spell check on this blog let me know. I can't figure out which icon it is on the tool bar on this particular MSN thing. Thanks and sorry for the mistakes. I do know about spell check...don't worry!! 6/7/2006 Mexico VacationChris and I just got back from a vacation to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico. It was awesome. It was a much needed vacation for us after all that has gone on in the past couple of years. It gave us a little time for one another. Kylie stayed home with her nana and great aunt. Thanks so much for their help with Kylie. We wished we could have taken her but just knew that it would have been really hard with a fast running two year old. We hope to take her in the next couple of years. We just know she would absolutely love the beach and the water. During the short time that we were gone we could see how much Kylie had already changed. She is talking so much more each and every day. Kylie still gets therapy for speech and to strengthen her muscles around her mouth. Kylie's oral muscles are still weak because naturally they didn't strengthen because of Kylie not taking a bottle and not using those muscles for a while until she began eating at 18 months. But they are beginning to strengthen and are not near as weak as they were six months ago.
About our trip:
We flew into Cancun and then drove about an hour to get to our resort. It was absolutely beautiful and the grounds were so well kept. The people there were just so nice and took so much pride in the way the resort functioned and looked. Really nice people there. We hung out on the beach and the pool with the swim up bar and just relaxed the first couple of days we were there. Friday we went to and ecological waterpark. It is actually where the river meets the ocean. It was pretty cool but the water was freezing!! We floated down the river and did some snorkeling there. While snorkeling we saw huge fish, a stingray and sea turtles. The turtles were just so cute. We took a collectivo to get there which is Mexico's public transportation. They drive really crazy in Mexico and that was quite an adventure. Anyway the next couple of days were back to the beach and pool to just hang out. We rode horses and also took a snorkeling trip. Both were really pretty.
The trip was absolutely wonderful and we actually felt rested when we got back home to our sweet little Kylie. The day before we left we really started missing Kylie alot and by then it was just time to come back because we missed her so much at that point. We really have not been away from Kylie since she got home from the hospital at all except one night or two that she has stayed at my parents house which is just 10 minutes away. When we got home Kylie was awake and it was just awesome to see her again. I am off for the summer so I am going to have a blast with Kylie. I signed her up for swimming lesson yesterday. I am so excited about that. This is so much different from last summer because I was still worried about her as far as getting her in the pool and hoping that she wouldn't get sick and everything plus she doesn't have her feeding tube anymore so we are not restricted on time as far as having to tube feed her and all of that. Last year Kylie was still spitting up quite a bit and that has ceased which is just so awesome. Kylie has come such a long way. Last summer is when we were getting her feeding evaluation and knew she would be going back into the hospital for a while to feeding school. Well, I guess Kylie is waking and she will be ready to eat....Have a great day!!! |
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