February Birthdays

Whew, glad I fit this post in before the month was over...=)

Man, we have some birthdays to celebrate in the first few months of the year!  In February we had Aaron's cousin, Kellye, his grandma Linda, and his youngest sister, Emily!  I didn't take pictures at the parties...but Emily took a few of her and Hayley (Aaron's oldest niece).  (She said I take horrible pictures of her, so she wanted to take some herself...go figure.)

Happy Birthday girls!  Hope your special days were FABULOUS!  We love you!!

Side note:  It may have taken me TWO years to finish that birthday hat request...at least I finished, right?  

5 Minutes Time

The other day I decided to capture some of Nora's play time.  I sat beside her for about 5 minutes and mostly watched while taking pictures.  Here are some:

Her new fav toy:  Daddy's ties he leaved on the floor in their shared closet.  =)

She tried on a few hats, in remembrance of her dear old band...

Then, she was on to her fabulous wooden toy from Gramma.

It has beads to move...

doors to open...

wires to hold onto while looking in the toy bin...

Then, it's on to other toys.

Love some play time!  All in 5 minutes' time...

EXITed

It's offically over!  Nora FINALLY went to her Exit appointment at Cranial Tech last week.  Long story short, they had to re-schedule her appointment and it seemed like a LONG two weeks of waiting to see the final results in measurement & photo form.  I love all the people who work at their Charlotte office.  They are so positive, nice, and caring.  You should have seen them oooh-ing and aaah-ing over Nora's dance moves.  Or how they patiently helped her walk around the office as we moved from room to room for various parts of the appointment.  They have a wonderful way of doing business there to put moms at ease and create a positive environment.  We'll miss them!  (But we are definitely glad it's over--no more sweaty head for one thing!)

Wasting time before the appointment.  Doesn't everyone dump out the toys to climb in the basket and play with a tape measure??

Sorry I couldn't get it turned for some reason.  This is Nora posing with her band and her head.  It is a replica of her head before treatment.

She graduated!


To show us how much her head grew, they took before & after measurements and photos.  Here's a link to that info in a Google document.  (That's the only way I could figure out to share a pdf...hope it works!)


Head Growth 

BREAKING NEWS!!

Nora had a big night!  She figured out how to walk.  1 step, 1 step,1 step all day long...then, tonight SIX STEPS!

We have proof:

SHE WALKS!

(click on the link to view the video on You Tube)

Isn't she Amazing!?!?  <3

Work It Baby!

Nora's been hard at work--working out lately.  Here she is showing you some of her moves.  Take note if you want to stay fit like her. =)  Oh, and the outfit definitely helps!!  (Especially the true legwarmers...that was the inspiration for it all.)

First, you get your exercise outfit on & take a break from playing.

Then, you get your exercise equipment out.  Like weights, if you have some.

Let's start with bicep curls.

Then, you do some lunges.  If it's hard--grit your teeth.

Take a breather and then start squats.

When you're finished be sure to stretch.  Especially your hamstrings.

Don't forget the rest of your legs!

Exercise can leave you with a big appetite!  So, you look for a snack. 

Just don't get shut in the fridge!

We saw a sign that says it all:  Merry Fitness and a Happy New Rear!

Bear Builders

For Christmas, we got Hayley & Ellie Build-a-Bears.  We gave them Rudolph and Clarice (the girl Rudolph).  We left them un-stuffed, so we could take them to stuff them later.  Since they aren't usually available (busy girls!!) on the weekends, we FINALLY got to take them this past weekend.  They loved it!  Oh, and wanted almost everything there!
!

The girls opted to switch out their reindeer for others.  So many to choose from!

Finally made a choice and now ready to stuff!  

Stuffing away!

Added the heart!

Washing & Brushing the bear & dog!

Finished.  Happy.  Now going back to their Mom.  =)

Merry January, girls!  WE LOVE YOU!!

Oh, and Nora was FABULOUS during it.  Sat happily in her stroller through all the madness.  We're so lucky!  

Photo Shoot...Cranial Technologies Style

Recently, at a DOC band check-up, we had the opportunity for a fun photo shoot.  This shows you a little about Nora's head check-ups.  Oh, and she didn't mind any of it!

Aaron is holding her head mold.  It's what her head started as.  They use it to compare visually with us at each appointment.  We're hoping we get to keep it.  =)  Normally, she doesn't have the hose over her whole head...we were just playing with her & she didn't care!

This is more like where the hose goes during the check-up.  Its a little low and sloppy here---she looks a little thug-ish.

To keep her attention, her therapist lets her play with the tape measure.

The hose is quite stretchy!  Look at that hair!!

Here's happy Nora.  Pretending to measure her head.

While she waits for adjustments to be made to her DOC band (shaving out the foam for more room to grow) she gets to play with all their great toys!

We're really going to miss going to see her therapist, Kathy, each week!  She's so sweet and really likes Nora.  Nora even convinces her to buy toys for her own kids.  (Like this pop up purple toy she has above...Nora always loves it so Kathy decided her son needed one.)  At our last check-up (last Wednesday) they scheduled her exit appointment.  Next time we go (in a little less than 2 weeks) should be her last time and graduation day!!  We're scared for her to go without her head protection, but it'll be so nice to not get head-butted with hard plastic anymore!  We can't wait!