Finally an update!

I've been meaning to post for days, but...

Anyway, Joanna's doctors appointments went great this week. On Monday she had an echocardiogram at Texas Children's and saw her cardiologist. Back in July, she'd had an EKG and a chest x-ray and met with her cardiologist. He diagnosed her with a tiny VSD (hole) between the ventricles of her heart, but she seemed fine and he saw no reason to worry. He ordered an ECHO and a follow-up. That was the reason for our trip on Monday. The ECHO confirmed what he had diagnosed, and now he wants to see her again when she's about 2 years old to check on her VSD (which may even close all by itself by then). We made it down there and parked in record time, and found again that everyone is SO NICE there! Joanna had her ECHO first. Now, she is a really good baby, especially when she's the center of attention, but she hates being on her back. As you can imagine, an ultrasound of the heart is a test where the patient is on her back. Matt and I held her down as best we could while the technician took the ultrasound. As Joanna got fussy and jiggly, she (the technician, whom I'm not sure I liked very much), started hinting that Joanna would need to come back and be sedated. I was definitely not having any of that, so I said, "um, I could nurse her, and she'll be really still." That's how I found myself leaning over the table, partially unclad, nursing my sweet baby in an exam room. It worked; she was really still, and they got all the images they needed.

Pictures of our Texas Children's Hospital Adventure:

Joanna and Mommy in the waiting room

Joanna and Daddy checking out the view from the 20th floor

Joanna having a chest x-ray. It's kind-of blurry, but look closely and you'll see the tech holding Joanna's cheeks up. She did so good, and got lots of compliments!

I think Matt needs a purple apron for Christmas -- definitely his color!

We ate in the food court after the visit. Matt and I had pizza. Joanna had broccoli or squash or something.

On our way out, Joanna got to have her picture made with a wooden giraffe. Almost as good as Santa. :)

And, of course we had to stop at A Woman's Work on the way home. I need to remember to take a picture of Joanna's new GIRAFFE shoes!

On Tuesday, Joanna had her 9 month well-baby visit. She was pronounced practically perfect (I think his exact words were clean bill of health, but I'm sure he meant perfect). She's still off the bottom of the chart for weight, but she is gaining, so she's fine. She is 26 inches long/tall, and a whopping 14 pounds. Whew. For those of you who care, she's wearing 3-6month clothes and size 2 diapers. She can wear some of her 6-9 month stuff: the length is great, but her tiny butt can't hold up the pants. I have actually started buying her a few clothes, not because she's necessarily lacking, but because I'm starting to feel a little tired of the things she's been wearing since like May.

This is getting to be a really long post, but I think I'm almost finished! Last night, we had the Women's Christmas Tea at the church, and I was invited to sit at my friend Kim's table. It was so beautiful! I got to drink wassail, sing Christmas songs, and feast on fudge and this incredibly delicious honey apple bread pudding thing. Yum! Here's my side of the table:

Also we had play group today, and it was Joanna and the big boys (sounds like a rock band, right?) She had fun watching them play and scootching around. She also enjoyed looking out the window, which she could reach.

Thanksgiving, 9 months old, and heart stuff

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving this year. For my family (and many others, I'm sure), it has always been our big get together day. People drive and fly in from all around to eat and eat and eat with family. Matt and I are very lucky that we both have lots of close family close by. We got to eat two turkey dinners on Thanksgiving plus a couple more days of pigging out. I actually made a couple of casseroles and a dessert this year which is my official first contribution to a Thanksgiving dinner. Yea me. Joanna was absolutely fabulous as we carted her around town and made her eat in her carseat (not in the car) and sleep in strange places. Here are some Thanksgiving fun pictures:

Yes, Joanna watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. And she liked it.Joanna with Mamma and cousin Kurt playing at Uncle Mark's house.

My Uncle John, Matt, and Joanna at my Grandma's house.Family picture in front of Great Grandma's treeWe also put up our Christmas trees and other holiday stuff this weekend. I got to thinking that this is really the first Christmas I've gotten to decorate. The past two years we've moved days before Christmas, and before that I've lived in a bedroom or a dorm room. It was very fun to get out ALL our ornaments, put lights on a tree, and set up the train. I love Christmas!
Getting Christmas decorations out: Joanna is so helpful!

Not my idea, but pretty cute: Joanna got one of her Christmas presents early so she can play with it in the season. I saw this Little People Nativity set, and I couldn't resist! So far she has enjoyed chewing on the animals and waving baby Jesus around.

My sister and her boyfriend drove down from Oklahoma late Wednesday night and headed back today. Here they are after church with sweet Joanna.
Here are some other cute pictures from recently:
Joanna's first school picture! Eating Cheerios and puffs -- yum! Helping "fold" laundry. Tomorrow we will head back to Texas Children's for an Echocardiogram and a check-up for her little murmur. She also has her 9 month check up on Tuesday, so I'll update here in the next couple of days with all her stats. Keep us in your prayers tomorrow. I'm eager to hear from her heart doctor, but anxious because it will be a hectic morning, I'm sure!

Eating Leaves

I just finished giving Joanna her first taste of Broccoli. So far, she's not a big fan. She made a terrible "why are you are torturing me? what is this stuff?" face. It was kind of funny (is that mean?). I wasn't sure how the broccoli would puree; it's such a different consistency than the other fruits and veggies I've done. It's definitely thicker that sweet potatoes and squash, but it really is a beautiful dark green color. I'm hoping it will grow on Joanna. I'm also hoping it won't upset her tummy.
We decided as Matt was raking leaves this morning that it would be cute to take some pictures of Joanna by the leaves -- a nice fall shot. I sort of forgot to take into account that Joanna must put EVERYTHING in her mouth. Including dead leaves. Oh well, I think we got a couple of cute ones.Notice Matt's hand in several pictures going to retrieve the leaves from her mouth.

Yesterday evening Matt, Joanna, and I ate at Skeeters, just for fun. We brought Joanna's usual fare of veggies along, but I think she wanted a little meat: That is a tiny tooth-mark in my hand -- ouch! A little reminder to STOP putting my hands in/near her mouth.

Joanna loves to explore around our house these days. I try to keep things as "Joanna-proof" as I can so I don't have to redirect her, and she can be safe to play pretty much anywhere she can go. Normally I keep her closet door closed because there're all kinds of random things in there, but the other day I forgot and I heard the silence that only comes from children who have found something fabulous to play with. I was a little worried as I turned the corner in her room and realized she was in her closet, but she had only found the toys from her play mat that she hasn't seen in months. She was just becoming reaquainted with them. She is so cute! I will leave you with a shot of Joanna becoming aquainted with a new toy.

Pulling Up!

Or really wanting to, anyway. We went over to Mamma and Pop's house on Sunday evening to hang out. Joanna enjoyed exploring all over their house, and she discovered that they have TWO stairs in a row. Having mastered ONE stair, she decided to give two a try. I must say she gave a valiant effort!

But she never made it to the second step. She LOVES "standing up," though. She pulls up on everything around the house.

She's managed a very stable kneel and squat. She's even gotten into a sitting position. I'm pretty impressed. No longer limited to the belly crawl, this girl. She makes me a little nervous because she looks so wobbley, but she really seems pretty sure of herself. Or maybe that's just the total abandon of fear glinting in her eye. Maybe I should look into a tiny helmet and some knee pads. :)

Also, back when Joanna was 6 months old, we got her hand and foot impresstions made. There's a lady in town who does a beautiful job! We just got Joanna's back a few days ago.

So precious!

More from Oklahoma

Joanna and I are safe and sound back at home, but we had many more adventures after the last post. So...

On Sunday, Kathryn and I did a little investigating into our past. We were born in Oklahoma and grew up in a church that used to be in a building close to where Kathryn lives but is now out of town a little ways (it's huge!). Anyway, we've visited the new location a few times since we were kids, but I'd never been back to the old building. Why would I want to go there, you wonder? Well, back about 23 years ago, my mother painted a mural of Noah's Ark on the wall of the 2 yr old nursery room. I've thought of it many times and actually ran across an old picture of it last year. I wanted to see if it was still there and to take a picture of us in front of it for my mom. We found it! That section of the church is now a preschool during the week so it wasn't being used Sunday morning by the church that's there now. We couldn't move the furniture out from in front of it, but you get the idea...
After church on Sunday, we did some antiqueing (not totally sure how to spell that word) and stuff. Joanna was very good but very tired. Traveling combined with daylight savings was really taking its toll on her.
For lunch we grabbed Braums and ate at Kathryn's apt. Braums is my very very favorite place for ice cream in the universe. They have good burgers, too. So I had burgers, fries, and a MIX for lunch. A MIX is like a blizzard only about twenty-seven thousand times better. Yum.
Here's what happens when Popo and Auntie Kathryn take care of Joanna in the antique store. Yup. She sure liked that. Cute Joanna sitting on the table at Panera.
Sisters.
Packing for home. Joanna is such a big help!
Before we left I had to snap a picture of the "Joanna wall" at Nana and Popo's. Self-explanatory, I think.
Joanna and Daddy, reunited at last.

We had a FABULOUS trip, but are both glad to be back at home, sleeping in our own beds.

First flight and Oklahoma

I am sitting in my dad's house typing as we speak. Joanna is (hopefully) having a little more sleep this early morning. I'm off to check on her in a minute because I'm not totally sure I can hear her from here. Joanna's first airplane ride was fantastic! I spent Wednesday and Thursday being a little frazzled getting things together. I tend to stress about packing, and I wanted to make sure I had everything all planned out (as if that would help.) Matt dropped Joanna and me off at the airport around 6:40 Friday morning. We flew out of terminal B, which is smaller, and at that time there were no lines! A very nice check-in lady helped us check in and got my bag where it needed to go, then pointed us to security. I had Joanna in the carseat at the time, and I was also carrying the diaper bag and my computer bag. I ended up right in front of a lady I know in the security line (yea!) so she held Joanna as I put my shoes, belt, and laptop in a little tray thing on the conveyor belt and fed all of our bags through. Joanna and I didn't set off the metal detector, none of our bags were suspicious (yea, again!), and it was a short walk to the gate, so we ended up ready and waiting for our 8:30 flight at 7:00. Oh, well. Much better early than frantic. Here we are waiting for our plane. It was one of those teeny-tiny express jets with only 3 seats across the whole plane. Joanna and I had the best seat in the house: the bulkhead window seat, so there was lots of leg room. There was a nice lady sitting next to us who slept most of the flight. Joanna nursed for the first bit, looked around for the middle bit, and nursed again. Here she is looking out the window. After the flight, my dad met us at baggage claim and helped us out to the car. The whole thing was a very good experience!

We stopped by the hotel where my sister works to say hi, and to pick up a port-a-crib for Joanna to sleep in. Yea for sisters who work in hotels!

Joanna and Aunt Kathryn

Joanna spent most of yesterday exploring Nana and Popo's house and sleeping in the car. She took some pretty good car naps; she was whooped. We also went to Target and Barnes and Noble, two of my (and Joanna's) favorite places.

A new trick: steps are not a problem. She went up and down it for a while once she figured out how. Nana and Popo have a sunken living room, so there are a few spots to go up and down.

Still sleeping after a car ride

Meeting the dogs The big dog is Matilda, and she's crazy about Joanna. She spends her time guarding her while she plays. There is also a little dog, Missy, and she worries a little if Joanna tries to play with her toys. But there have been no problems so far.

Well, Joanna's up. I think she didn't go back to sleep when I layed her down earlier, but she had a very good night in a strange place. I'm very proud -- what a good girl!