11 Months...Ahhhhhh!!!

So Sammy is officially almost a 1 year old!  I just can't believe that I was huge preggo last year, hips hurting, peeing all the time, and uncomfortable as I'll get out!  Our little lady has made great strides in these past eleven months, and we are still madly in love with our little girl!!!

This sweet smile is on her face most of the time, and tells a lot of who Sam's become!  She really only fusses if she's sick or hungry!

Sam is a crazed lady in the tub and it is getting harder and harder to bath this slippery little sucker!  She's fearless in the water and will plop down on her belly  to crawl for toys across the tub...sometimes over sister to do so :]  Water gets in her face...so what, she keeps moving!  She slips and goes under the water for a moment...so what, she pops up ready to move some more!  You cannot turn your eye for a second when Sammy is in the tub!!  Johnny has started calling her "splashy McGee" because if she's not crawling, she's like shamu at sea world...if you are with in a foot of the tub, wear your rain slicker, you are in the splash zone!  Joey can't quite get splashy mcgee out, so she often says things like "splashy degee, stop splasing!!!".  

Sammy is pulling up on everything now and when interested in getting something, can even cruise the furniture!  We have a walking toy that she can now work, but I'm not confident enough to let her go while I get the camera :]  Soon I'll get some video and put it on here :]

Sammy is soothed by song, which Joey was not.  When we sing to her she lights up and grins from ear to ear!  This probably means she's going to be an awful singer, know the words to every song, and want to sing at the top of her lungs in the car all the time....I'm preparing myself people!!

Sammy loves "people" food and has tried graham crackers recently....they are messy but she squeels when I get the box in front of her!  Too Cute :]

While we were gone in Alabama, my mom let us know that Sammy can now climb the stairs :]  She's not solid at it, but that doesn't mean she won't try when you aren't looking, so we have to keep a close watch on our little mover!

Sammy now has 3 teeth :]

We love our sweet girl, and can't wait to celebrate her first year next month!  Here's some pics to wet your whistle :]

Our Poor Girls :]

So our sweet girls get some weird genetic make up from Johnny and I.  They both have heart conditions, and have been tested for several genetic disorders {all coming back negative so far}.  They have been poked and prodded since the day they were born it seems, and we are sorry for that little ladies!!

At Sammy's 9 month check-up, they ordered some routine blood work and also added a thyroid test since she's on the lower end of the curve.  Like the awesome parents we are, we kept putting off the blood work, not because of laziness, but because of forgetfulness!  We finally got her tests done after getting a "reminder" from our doc, and some disturbing results came back.  Sammy had a high thyroid, and she also had high hemoglobin.  Our doc was concerned and had us make an appointment to an endocrinologist to see what we needed to do about Sammy's thyroid.  She also had us make an appointment at Children's to get more blood work done just to double check things.  In that blood work we were testing for a laundry list of things....it was literally a quarter sheet of testing.  Among the things being tested were thyroid, and a genetic disorder called DiGeorge Syndrome.  The Doc wanted to test for DiGeorge Syndrome because of the combo of high thyroid and Sammy's heart condition.

We got to Children's and the nurses were great.  For Sammy's weight, they can take 30 mL of blood in a 24 hour period.  For all the tests they had to run, they took 27 mL and divided it up among 9 viles :[  Sammy did great and fussed what I believe to be a reasonable amount for a 10 month old :] The nurses warned me that her vein may collapse and we may have to stick her other arm to get all the blood necessary for testing.  I just prayed that that wouldn't be the case, and the Lord blessed us! They were able to get all they needed in a short amount of time from the initial stick.  Sammy slept really well that entire day :]

We got the thyroid test back and her thyroid is completely normal!  Her kidney counts or something like that all came back fine too. Our sweet doc apologized for having us go through the testing and said she felt bad we had to spend the money.  I let her know that in the case of our children, I'd rather be over pre cautious, and not to worry about it.  Since her thyroid is normal, we were able to cancel our endocrinologist appointment, and though the DiGeorge Syndrome test will take a few more weeks to come in, it is probably safe to say we are in the clear since Sam doesn't really show any signs past her heart that there might be something wrong.

So that was a lot just to say that our girl is doing fine!  Johnny said "our girls have heart conditions, and so what, we are not letting them be stuck anymore!!!"  I guess that's all :]

He is Risen!!!

Easter has come and gone and it was as good as it could be!  We started our day at church worshiping our Lord with amazing music, a drama, and phenomenal sermon! Once we got home, we discovered that the Easter Bunny had visited our house!  Can you spot all the eggs???

 Joey's Basket on the left and Sammy's on the right :]

Joey loves Barbie these days so she got a little one in her basket :]

Sammy's getting so big!  Doesn't she look pretty in her dress??

 This is Joey's "cheese" face these days...it's really hard to get her to smile "normal".  She's still so cute though :]

 Time to hunt for the eggs {if you are wondering why we are hunting inside, it's because we live in a town home without a yard so the Easter Bunny hid our eggs inside!

 When Joey found them all, she wanted to hide them and find them again!!

 Next it was off to Mily's to get some Easter grub and play with cousins...pretty sure this picture was before the Joey meltdown of Easter 2011!

After the dinner was had, the kids went out front to play in the sprinkler!!

 Our niece Mily loves the water!!!

Time for bubbles!!! {I just love that ruffle butt!!!}

Bike time!!!

 And we ended the day with some kisses from Grandma!

The Lord blessed us with great weather on Easter, and great time with family!  We are so grateful for our Risen Lord and know that we should recognize the sacrifice he made for us daily!  If you don't know the true meaning of Easter, please ask me, and I'll let you in on the good news!

Worship Wednesday - Marvelous Light

Sin has lost it's power, and death has lost it's sting. and from the grave you've risen victoriously!  Considering Easter was this past Sunday, this song is perfection!  enjoy.......

{facebookers will need to click on the original post to see video}

Holy Cow, we have a 3 Year Old!!

That's right folks, John and Christy Stout are the proud owners of a 3 year old!  She walks, she talks, she's potty trained, and more!  We are so proud of our little girl and who she is becoming.  Joey is in school these days and comes home with lots of fun information.  She loves to tell us all about her bestie Cooper and she loves to sing the songs that they are learning at the moment!  The other day she came home singing about how Jesus rose from the dead and is alive forever more!!!  I love that :]  

Anywho, it wouldn't be right to have a birthday pass without a birthday post, so here goes....

The day starting with a birthday breakfast with cousin Mily!  The girls were both in their leotards ready for gymnastics class!!

 We got Joey a Strider Bike for her birthday!  It's awesome :] No pedals so that she can learn how to balance before adding the pedals into the mix!  Joey loves it!

The girls wanted to play a game before leaving for class......

.....then entered the Sammy monster....

....so the girls moved the game to the bed so the Sammy monster couldn't distruct :]

We dropped Mily off at her house and went to gymnastics.  When we got home, it was time to decorate the cupcakes.  I iced them and Joey sprinkled them :]

She would stick her entire hand in the sprinkles, sometimes eat a few, sometimes not, then she would dump them onto the cupcakes.  I would shake them off then put them in the cupcake holder :]

 All Joey wanted for her party theme was "pink and purple" and she wanted her cupcakes to be "chocolate with pink icing". Note all the sprinkles on the counter...

....and on the stool.....

....and on the floor....

.....and on the counter from another angle....

so I put Joey to work cleaning up her mess :]

 after the clean up, it was nap time, then off to the gym for Joey's party!!!

 This picture explains it all!  The party was super fun :] Go Brandon!!!

So another year is ahead of us, and our sweet girl is having moments of not so sweetness.  We pray that the Lord gives us the strength and persistence to continue raising Joey with Him in mind!  We love you Joey and we love everything about you!  We love that you can make us laugh every day, we love that you talk about Jesus, we love that you put on concerts on the landing of our stairs, we love that you are a book lover, we love that you are such a sweet sister to Sammy, we love that you love going to church, we love that you have the craziest hair, we love that you discipline yourself {true story, you will go and sit on the step if you even think you should be in trouble regardless if we make you or not}, we love that you are independent, we love that your favorite color is pink despite our best efforts :], we love the sweet little girl you are, and feel so blessed to have you in our lives!

Joey's stats for those interested...

Weight: 28lbs {21st %ile}

Height: 34.5" {34th %ile}

She did great at her 3 year old check up and kept asking for a shot.  She obviously doesn't know what a shot is :]  Anywho, Dr. Frank says she's doing great, and she even told Joey that she was quite the conversationalist!  Joey was so excited and said "thank you!!!"

Easter Eggs!!!

This was Joey's 1st year to dye Easter Eggs!  We went to hang out with the cousins, and the craziness ensued :]

Our charming nephew Dakotah :]

Claudia is so creative and did some really cool eggs!!

Daddy was teaching Joey how to do it...

this handsome man is our nephew Brandon who is about to turn 7!!!

Joey loved using the dipper!

Claudia is NOT camera shy :]

Not sure if you can read it, but her egg says Mily!!

Claudia, Mily, Dakotah, Brandon and Joey :]

Daddy having fun with Jo!

She was so proud that she took the egg out of the dye all by herself!  Johnny kept saying "take the picture, take the picture!" because she didn't have a great grip on it :]

Concentration is key when dying Easter Eggs!!

The finished product

"SAM"

"JOEY"

Dying eggs was a lot of fun!  Joey did great and only cracked 1 egg while slamming them into the dye :] After the fun, we took Mily to our house and she and Joey had a sleepover!  It was such a fun night, and I can't wait for next year!!