Hitting the 15 lb. mark at 14 months!

We are so thrilled to report that Leona has had her biggest weight gain month EVER! I am sure you could tell from my last posting that I was pretty frustrated by everything! The Lord is so good! He doesn't always give us positive situations to deal with in life, but He is ALWAYS GOOD!

I took Leona to get her weight checked & the scale said 15# 12oz. I had to think back to her appt with the specialist. I was thinking she was 14# 10oz, but that couldn't be right...over a # in one month!??!?! When I got home I checked the dr. sheet from Riley's...it was 14# 5oz.!!!!! I couldn't believe it! That's 1# 7 oz! I was SHOCKED! She hasn't gained over a few onces a month since like 10 mos.!!

What helped? She was switched from her 25 calories per oz. formula to a 30 calories per oz. Pediasure equivalent only with soy, called Bright Beginnings. She has also had a fat supplement called Duocal! It seems to boost her drive to eat, plus adds a lot of calories per day to her diet. These changes, plus lots of bologna, grapes & green beans!!

Our 14 mos. old is all over the place. She is learning to pick up her bath toys so Mommy can put them away & how to put her dirty clothes in the laundry. She is still working on the "Bring it to Mommy" or "Bring it to Daddy" when she has something she wants to play with!

I am really working on my tone with her. It is so easy for us to raise our voice to get obedience! She likes to test the waters; she has since a very young age, so it is sometimes difficult to keep a quiet, firm tone! LORD change me!

These are some pictures of our trip to St. Joseph Michigan!





Here is Leona playing in the back yard!



Thanks for keeping up-to-date with us!

Riley's Children's Hospital with Leona

We were at another doctor's appointment today, only the 6 hour round trip in the car made it all the more interesting! Leona actually enjoyed the whole trip! She barely fussed, which is not normal for such a long time in 1 day.

We met with Dr. Stanley. She spent 2 HOURS with us! We really felt listened too! She confirmed that Leona's regular pediatrician, Dr. Wendy, was doing everything right! We guessed this all along, but it was great to hear that out loud from a pediatric developmental specialist.

Dr. Stanley's first step will be to look at how she intakes food. She has ordered a Feed Study. This is basically when the doctor's x-ray her while she eats & drinks. She also wants to have a pediatric specialist review her recent MRI. All in all, she feels there is definite concern to watch her growth carefully! Her length to weight ratio is not well balanced. Due to this concern we met with the dietician for ways to beef up her calories. We will be changing her to a Pediasure equivalent only with Soy.

We are praying that we will be able to do the Feed Study here in South Bend, but the dr. only approves of 1 dr. up here to do it. Otherwise, we will be traveling the trip twice in the next 2-3 months!!

The ups & downs of 2009 have continued into 2010, but we are so thankful for God's faithfulness in our lives! We are truly thankful for His peace & provision. Not only are all of Leona's medical bills taken care of, but He has provided a tutoring job equalling over $300 the past 2 weeks, several Leona's Lovely Bows orders, an on-call pay check for Ben, a free gift card for our anniversary meal on Friday & some free cash from Ben winning the Biggest Loser contest at work---losing 20 lbs. in 6 weeks! Need I say more?