Tuesday

Today Ashlyn went to see her Neurosurgeon. Not much to report. He said everything looks good. One thing I did find interesting that he said was that her bone would takes years to heal. WOW! was my response. I didn't realize it took that long. He will see her back again in July. No CT Scan or MRI done, but maybe in the future.

Yesterday when we were reading a Veggie Tale book. We were looking at Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato. So I pointed to Bob and asked Ashlyn what his name was. She looked up as if to think and said "Um... Bob" Wow! Then I asked her again after a few pages and she said Bob again. I was so excited to hear her say it. It's like when your toddler talks for the first time. God is good.

Monday Morning

Silly face.

This morning Ashlyn saw her Cardiologist. Everything looks great. Heart function is good. Her blood pressure is a little low, so we are going to slowly wean her off one of her blood pressure meds. She will also wean off of Lasix. He said that her risk of a blood clot is low now, because it's been 6 months since her last heart surgery. He feels very comfortable keeping her on Aspirin vs. Coumadin. She will go back in 6 weeks to have her blood pressure checked. Tomorrow she sees her Neurosurgeon, so I will give you another update after the visit. Have a great Monday.

Movie night

Last night we had movie night. We watched the Sound of Music and ate popcorn. Of course, Katelyn was only interested in the popcorn. Ashlyn loved just hanging out with her family and being silly.

Thursday Morning

I know, I know, I have not updated in a while. Sorry to all of Ashlyn's fans out there. We have been busy this week with evaluations and Dr. appt. She has been settling nicely in to her life at home. She loves her bed and sleeps great at night. She has been using her right hand more without us telling her to and is getting around better each day. She started using the potty more and has been doing great about going in by herself. She starts her therapy on April 6th and will go 3 days a week. We are so blessed to have her home again and hope this will be the end of her hospital stays. Thanks for checking in and hopefully I will be better at updating in the future.

Some more pictures from Today

There's No Place Like Home

Yippee! Hooray! Ashlyn is finally home. After another 7 1/2 weeks in the hospital she is finally home. She is definitely happy to be home. She is already fighting with her sister. It's funny, because neither of them can talk so they just whine at each other when they don't like what the other one is doing. She is taking a nap now. Next week she has a Dr. appt. and has a PT, OT and Speech evaluations (for insurance purposes). After that we should be starting outpatient therapy in about a week. She still has her G tube. But she is not using it. Her appetite has decreased a little, but I imagine as she is home longer and not under stress it will increase. Thank you all again for your tremendous support for us. We are truly blessed to have friends and family like you all. Thank you all who helped out financially so Todd could take a leave of absence. He is returning to work on April 1st. God Bless and have a wonderful night. As we will too with our little girl sleeping in her own bed tonight.

Sunday Night

Ashlyn was able to come home for a little bit this weekend. She came home on Saturday after her therapies, but then had to go back at night. And she came home the whole day today. It was a nice time for her. Although she is not feeling very well. These last few days she has not eaten much and has a cold. She is still getting her tube feeds at night so at least she is getting some nutrition. We are still on track for her to come home on Friday. We are very trilled about that. I hope she just takes off after being at home for a while. I know she doesn't like being away and you can tell she is a little stressed. Be praying that she starts to feel better and that her speech comes back and her right hand gets stronger.

Friday Night

As far as it looks, Ashlyn will be discharged from Sunnyview next Friday. Tomorrow she will be given a pass to leave for a few hours. So we will bring her home and hang out with the family and then probably go to dinner. This will be hard for Ashlyn to go home and then have to go back. But we feel it would be good to see how she does at home and if there are things she needs to work on this week at Sunnyview. She is definitely getting stronger, but she still is not talking. We are hopeful that will come. Thank you for your prayers. Keep them coming.

Wonder Woman

Wednesday

Today the Dr. and Therapists talked about Ashlyn's discharge. They are shooting for next Friday. They feel that she will do better in her own environment interacting with her siblings and just being at home. I agree with them. After her last long stay in the hospital, after being home for a few weeks she was back to her normal self. She will still get therapy on an outpatient basis. About 3 days a week for 1 1/2 hours. She has also started "jibbering". Sort of what Katelyn does. This is a good sign, and hopefully the words are not far behind.

Thank you all for praying for her and for all your support to us. We could have not gotten through all this without it. Thank you to all of you who have made us some yummy dinners and deserts. I have accumlated a lot of dishes. Please stop by and pick them up when you can.

Tuesday

Taking a ride!

She fell asleep yesterday sucking her thumb. The first time since all this happened.

Yesterday Ashlyn was upgraded to a regular diet. She had chicken nuggets for lunch yesterday. Oh my, did she eat them up fast. She hasn't had chicken nuggets in well over a month. She is also walking better. I walked with her down the hall yesterday only holding her left hand. She was almost running when she saw Katelyn in the double stroller, because she wanted to take a ride with her. Today she has a Dr. appt. to check her G tube. She still gets tube feeds at night to maximize her calorie intake. But it won't be long before it can come out. Maybe another week or two. She is also taking her meds. by mouth. They Drs. and therapist are getting together on Wed. to discuss discharge plans for her. She will more than likely have therapy as an outpatient once she is discharged. We will keep you posted on when they think she could be out of there. Maybe you all will be seeing us soon! One more thing I almost forgot. Yesterday as she was walking with her therpist, she said "MaMa". Her speech therapist thinks that she will eventually be able to talk again. Because she makes sounds, that is a good thing. It is just a matter of time before she starts talking. God is good all the time!

Walking

Friendly's Ice cream

Tonight we decided to go out for ice cream with the kids. Katelyn was so cute eating her ice cream cone. She just ate it with her finger and her spoon. So cute! Tonight the boys and Todd are going to "camp out" in the living room. We wish Ashlyn was here to join us in all the fun. Ginger is with her tonight and they are probably watching movies and reading lots of books.

More pictures

Katelyn
Ashlyn eating PB&J

Friday

Ashlyn walked stairs today and did wonderful. I think she was very proud of herself. Her eating is good. Although she is not always that hungry. She is using her right hand more and more. She is still not talking, but boy does she try. We are teaching her some sign language. Things like "more" "help" and "all done". Keep praying her words come back and that her right arm gets stronger and stronger.

Wednesday

Today Ashlyn got cleared from her Speech Therapist to now eat any soft foods. This morning she was cleared to eat pureed, but this evening her Therapist said she can eat anything soft. So tonight for dinner she had PB&J with milk. She can have things like soft canned fruit, bananas, yogurt, soft breads, etc. Today during OT and PT, she walked down the hall to the therapy room holding both Todd and the Therapist hands. I can't believe what progress she is making in just one week of being at Sunnyview. I don't have any pictures from today, but hopefully tomorrow night I will be able to post some.

God is so good. I have seen His faithfulness through all this with Ashlyn. How can I or anyone deny His presence in our lives and in the life of Ashlyn. Thank you my Lord Jesus for your faithfulness and goodness. I will forever sing "How Great is Our God".

Tuesday Morning

Silly faces!

Wonder Girl to save the day!

Ashlyn has been doing wonderful in her therapies. Today with Speech, she ate canned peaches, scrambled eggs, thickened juice and a little toast. She is getting ever so close to eating completely with her mouth. Yesterday during PT, she walked with me holding her hands. I was standing in front of her holding her hands while the therapist supported her from behind. She took a big loop around the room and the therapist was not giving her much support. She is definitely getting used to all these people and making great progress. She has been more happy too. I brought in her Wonder Women costume and she wore it most of the day yesterday. It made her day! She has made such great progress and I thank our Almighty God for His hand upon her. He has great plans for this little girl!

I think I see glimpes of Wonder Girl!

Sunday Morning

Ashlyn is starting to adjust to life at Sunnyview. She still whines alot when she has to have therapy, especially PT and OT. She likes ST because she gets to eat pudding, as you saw in the previous day. Her ST taught her how to sign "more". So if she wants more pudding she signs "more" and shakes her head yes. She gets so excited to finally eat something! She is doing wonderful with swallowing and it is just a matter of time before she is getting all the nutrition she needs thru her mouth. Yesterday during PT, with lots of support, she walked to me. She put one foot in front of the other and initiated walking. She is making wonderful progress in just the short time she has been there. Each day we see something that she has improved on or see something new that she does.

Last night CarolAnn stayed with Ashlyn so Todd and I could go out for dinner (it was his birthday yesterday) and come home together. Today the rest of the kids are coming up to see Ashlyn. I know she misses them and they miss her.

Thanks for checking in today and thanks for all your prayers for Ashlyn. Have a great Sunday.