What a difference a year makes . . .

I was looking back at our blog from last year and came across the following post:

Many of you know of the uphill battles we've faced with Alli and gaining weight. She's always been a little peanut but growing fine until last Fall when she got repeated ear infections. She lost weight and we've been struggling ever since to get her to eat and gain. We've been working with a team of specialists to address her low weight and had another meeting today. In the past, the main advice we were given was to "relax" and things will get better. Well, in the last month, we've tried to do that and thought it was working. We could not have been more wrong. Since her 1 year appointment on Feb. 4th, Alli has LOST 5 oz. We thought for sure that she would be at least 18 lbs, but nope, she was less than she was 3.5 weeks ago. I think the most frustrating part was they gave us absolutely no advice ~ just said that we're doing everything right. Apparently NOT or she would not be losing weight!!! I feel so helpless. My one job as a parent (aside from loving her with my whole heart) is to feed her so she can grow and I'm failing miserably at that basic job. I have gotten as creative as I can and I am out of ideas ~ what do you do with a child that just won't eat enough?
Posted on Fisher Family Updates 2.29.08 http://garrettandnikkifisher.spaces.live.com

So much has changed in a year. Not long after that post, we met Dr. Duro, a GI attending at Boston Children's Hospital. She gave us hope and a solution. Now, a year later, the little girl who was previously diagnosed failure to thrive, refusing to eat and off the weight charts is 25 lbs 7 oz (2oth percentile!!!) and 36.75 inches (90th percentile!!!). We went to see Dr. D (as Alli refers to him) for a growth check today and she is staying on her weight curve but exploding on height. She's tall and skinny just like her daddy :) What a little trooper she was. She loves Dr. D but usually cries once he comes in the room ~ not today. Nope, today she kept asking the nurse when Dr. D was coming and when he did come in, she smiled and chatted up a storm ~ he was very impressed. She got one shot today and while she didn't like it (who does?) she cried for only a moment then gave everyone a good chuckle when she walked out and asked the nurse for a sucker and stickers :) Life was good.

Yard Work and Supervising ;-)

Last week was fairly uneventful, I continued to take it easy and work from the couch as Alli enjoyed playing with her grandparents and friends. Garrett was busy with work. Fortunately, we've had a few nice days which allowed us (think Garrett) to get some work done in the yard. We decided to put in a vegetable garden but have not been agreeing as to how best to design it. Luckily, yesterday, we were able to compromise a bit and it is finally completed and ready for us to begin planting. Gardens are not new to us as we had one back in MA with both fruits and veggies but we have a new wild card here . . . deer. We have a lovely family of four deer that frequent our yard and as much as we like them, we do not want them eating our veggies! One of our neighbors suggested planting garlic around the outside to keep the deer out so we will give that a try. If anyone has other tips, we are all ears :) Since I'm still on modified bed rest, I wasn't exactly the most help but being me, I enjoyed playing the supervisor role ~ not too sure what Garrett thought about that ;-)

Aside from working in the yard, we've been going through all Alli's baby clothes to get them ready for our upcoming garage sale. This has been a slow process because I have such great memories of each little outfit and remember all sorts of things that she did while wearing them. Garrett has been patiently listening to me reminisce but I think he wishes I would hurry it up already! I cannot believe what cute clothes she had and as excited as I am to be having a little boy, I must confess that I am a little bummed that I will not get to reuse her clothes. Even Garrett would tell you though that I'm being good about what I'm keeping ~ very little actually!!!! The sale is in two weeks and we are hoping to get rid of everything so we can have our garage back. We are pricing to sell so wish us luck!

In other news, I have been given permission to fly back to Boston for one day to clean up my office and box up files I need to work from home. I fly out tomorrow morning and have to admit that I'm a bit nervous ~ silly huh? I'm sure I will be just fine and be back on my couch on Wednesday. We'll let you know how it goes.

A Busy Weekend

These pictures pretty much sum up our weekend ~ Alli being quite the little helper around the house and yard. Here, she was "helping" Daddy design our new vegetable garden. It wasn't long before she was bored with this and was off to play on her slide, swings and tricycle ;-) I spent my time sitting in a lounge chair supervising ~ Garrett was thrilled. We also had the chance to see our nephew Kyle play in a Little League game, which was fun.

I'm still on modified bed rest. I had another OB appointment yesterday and was actually given permission to take Alli for a short walk around the neighborhood!!! As soon as she awoke from her nap, she saw some of her buddies walking down the street and excitedly exclaimed "Mommy, friends outside, I wanna play" she kept saying "friends, friends" while I got her changed. Since I had the okay, we took our walk and found her friends playing in their yard. She happily joined in the fun of playing on the slide and swings :) It was very cute! When it was time to go back home for dinner, she was done with walking so guess who got to carry her??? That wreaked havoc on my body. I won't go into details but let's just say, today I am back on stricter bed rest ~ keeping legs elevated and me off my feet :( So much for flying again anytime soon. Good news is that yesterday's test came back negative so we have some relief in knowing that it is unlikely I will deliver within the next two weeks ~ woo hoo!!! Keep growing little guy. We'll keep you posted.

Another Small Scare

Tuesday evening, I just really wasn't feeling that great. I was taking it easy but the contractions and pressure were just getting worse so I finally called the doc who advised me to stay off my feet completely and call again in the morning. Wednesday wasn't much better but I spent the entire morning working on the lap top from my bed, got up only to use the bathroom. By the afternoon, the contractions were getting worse and I had to go back in for monitoring and another ultrasound. Fortunately, the little Muffin is just fine (and definitely still a BOY) and the contractions, while strong, are not doing anything yet, which is a great thing!!! However, I'm still at high risk for pre-term labor so I am now on stricter bed rest, which I am actually doing my best to follow. I'm going completely stir crazy but will do whatever is necessary to make sure this Muffin arrives safely :)

I just have to say how fortunate I feel. First, to be near our families has been such a blessing as they have all really been going above and beyond for us. Second, our neighbors are without a doubt the nicest group of people and we feel so blessed to have moved here. Finally, the people I work with have been so supportive, I truly could not ask to work with better people. I was trying so hard to complete a brief for one of the partners yesterday but finally had to throw in the towel when it became obvious that another doctor visit was necessary. Fortunately, I had almost completed every section and not much work remained but the partner did not care about that at all, just whether the baby and I were okay. Wow!

Thank you all for your support and assistance right now, it means the world to our family.

A Swift Kick & a Couple of Tosses :)

Yikes, it's only been a few days on bed rest and I have to say IT IS HARD!!! Who knew staying put could be so frustrating and exhausting?!?! Suddenly, I have the urge to be cleaning, organizing, gardening, pulling weeds, you name it and I want to do it. Oh well, we are all surviving. Muffin (a.k.a. the blue fish) seems to be doing well despite the contractions. He's much more of a mover and shaker than Alli was and even Garrett got to feel a nice swift kick last night :) I'm still crampy and uncomfortable but definitely notice a difference when I'm taking it easy versus moving around. Luckily, we have the most amazing family and the grandparents have been very helpful. My mom comes over regularly to play with Alli and take her to all of her activities ~ both Alli and I are so thankful for this! Garrett's wonderful mom has offered to help us with the cleaning of the house ~ woo hoo!!! I'm thrilled because I hate a messy house and Garrett is so happy to not have to spend all day working only to come home and have full Alli duty plus cooking and cleaning. He has been such a trooper but the brunt of this is really falling on him. I have such a wonderful husband and feel so fortunate to be his wife!
We actually had a warm, sunny weekend again so it was back to the beach at Treasure Island for tossing rocks. Okay, so I couldn't do much but sit but a great time was had by all as you can see from the pictures below . . .

So I'm not sure if Alli knows that I need a break or if she has just turned into a different child but she has decided in the past week to eat. This child is now trying new things and finishing whole meals!!! I realize this is not a big deal for many but for Alli, this is HUGE! We can actually reason a bit with her now (or bribe her, however you want to look at it!) Turns out, she really likes the Easter candy but she knows she can only have one piece IF she finishes her meal or snack. Suddenly, she is gobbling down anything we put in front of her to get to that candy. Who knew those little bite-sized pieces of candy could be so helpful :) Okay, so we realize that this is not the most conventional method but it's working for us right now and she's eating meat, veggies and fruit so we're going with it! It's hard to believe that it was only one year ago that she was nearly hospitalized and given a feeding tube. Luckily, Dr. Duro (GI specialist at Boston Children's Hospital) decided enough was enough and prescribed her the stimulant that got her back on the charts. We will forever be grateful to her.

Well, since the little one is down for a nap (well down in her crib singing right now) I need to get back to work. Thanks to all for the support and well wishes. Keep praying this little guy stays put for a couple more months. I go back in next Monday (hopefully not sooner!) for more tests and we'll keep you posted.

Modified bed rest

Yep, this little guy is being a stinker so I am now at a risk of preterm labor and as of yesterday afternoon am on modified bed rest. According to my doctor, I can get up to attend to my basic needs but for the most part need to hunker down and stay put. Any suggestions on how to do that with a very busy little toddler???? We are concerned but just have a feeling that everything will be fine and are hoping this guy stays put until 39 weeks when he is scheduled to arrive via c-section. The doctors are hoping to keep him in until at least 32 weeks ~ we are currently at 25 weeks. Never a dull moment with our kiddos! In all seriousness, prayers are much appreciated right now and we will keep you posted . . .

A Busy Easter Weekend

What a busy weekend we've had! Garrett had Friday off work so he was able to play "Easter Bunny" for our neighborhood playgroup. Alli and her buddies had a lot of fun searching for eggs. We wore her out and she took a great nap when we got home, which was a huge help as Garrett and I had decided it was time to paint our garage and reorganize. I naively thought it would be a quick and easy task. Garrett correctly thought I was nuts! It took all Friday afternoon and evening to get it painted and we were using my brother Tony's commercial grade paint sprayer (thank you Tony!!!!!!). Thank goodness we had the sprayer or we would never have gotten it done. Turns out we had a lot of boxes we never got around to unpacking when we moved ~ oops! Some of it, was brought in the house so we could figure out what to do with it, other stuff was added to the junk pile (which my other wonderful brother, Danny, kindly helped us take to the local dump ~ I have the BEST big brothers!). The remainder was neatly (sort of) organized back against one wall in the garage. Once we finish repainting Alli's new dresser, we will actually be able to get both cars back in the garage. It is fairly amusing that we have a four car garage that currently only fits one car :) We turned one spot into our exercise room (and storage) and another into Garrett's work room for his tools and work bench. Right now, Garrett's spot is taken up with Alli's dresser. Guess we need to get moving on that huh???

Here's a shot of our messy garage in the middle of our work and one of Alli "helping" us . . .

I definitely overdid it on Friday with moving stuff around and threw my back all out of whack. Fortunately, my wonderful mom came over to entertain Alli while Garrett finished up in the garage and I laid on the couch. I was much more careful on Saturday when we were organizing the garage!

Sunday was surprisingly relaxing. We woke up early to get ready for church, where we had a great time at breakfast and greeting before the service. It was a very rainy day so we spent the afternoon playing inside before going to our neighbor's for Easter dinner. Alli's whole playgroup was there for a yummy potluck dinner. Luckily, the little ones all played well together and let the adults have some time to chat. What a wonderful day!

Here's a shot of the whole family at Church, Alli was looking towards her Adventures in God's Kingdom room :)

I was supposed to fly back to Boston last night, was packed, checked in for my flight and ready to go but all afternoon and evening I had been feeling very crampy and just not right so we called the OB who had us go straight to Labor and Delivery. This was a very scary experience as it is not somewhere you want to be at our stage! I was hooked up to tons of monitors and had some tests run to make sure it wasn't preterm labor. Fortunately, everything looks good but I still don't feel like myself so I'm taking it easy today and working from home (still waiting for a follow up call from my doc to let me know what I need to do or not do). I have to say that I work with the most amazing people who are concerned about me and our baby, not just the work ~ I am so lucky!

For all those who have been asking, here's a shot of my belly from Easter (the dress makes me look bigger than I am as the little guy is measuring small) . . .

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

Time for a change

Well, it's been awhile since we've posted a Fisher Family update so we decided to make a change. As much as we have enjoyed our MSN site, we made the decision to switch over here. Hope you enjoy the new blog!

As you can see from the picture of Miss Alli, we finally had some beautiful, warm, sunny weather in WA last weekend and we were so excited we headed straight for the beach! It was definitely not warm enough to hop in the water but we had a great time tossing rocks on the beach. This was the first time Alli really got into playing at the beach and was so bummed when we had to leave. She was so excited by the rocks and shells that she could not nap. After lunch, which she actually ate, we put her down for her nap and listened to her play for a good hour before we decided it was a lost cause. As soon as we opened the door she asked for "more beach" ~ too cute! Being the very "cool" parents that we are (hey, she's two so she probably still agrees with this statement!) we went right back down to the beach.

Here's a slide show of our little princess enjoying the sun . .

We finally decided to head home around 4:30, figuring that she really needed some sleep. Sure enough, she zonked in the car and slept until almost 6.

When she woke up, it was back outside to play in the sun. She had a great time riding around the patio in her little car (think Flintstone's style!) and going on her slide. I think she was as ready for warm weather as we were! Sadly, that night G and Alli had to take me to the airport to head back to Boston for work. It's tough, I love my job, my firm and everyone I work with but getting on that plane Sunday nights is so tough. I do pretty well once I'm here but I sure do miss my family!

Work has been very busy for both of us lately and I think we could both use a vacation, or at least some more beautiful weekends ;-) I think we will have to settle for the weekends as it is not likely a vacation is going to happen anytime in the near future given that we are both saving time for when the 'lil blue fish arrives. On that front, we are 24 weeks along now and so far things are going great. For all those who have been asking about names, we can honestly say, we have no clue. Hopefully we come up with a name before the little guy arrives!

Well that's about all on our end. We are looking forward to Easter this weekend and Alli is excited for the egg hunts. May you all have a wonderful week with your families!

What a Wonderful Christmas

It's the most wonderful time of the year . . .

This was certainly true for us as we thoroughly enjoyed this holiday season ~ our first living in WA since we were married.  What a great feeling to not have to get on a plane to see our family!!!  Turned out to be such a blessing this year as well given the snow storms that hit WA beginning the Thursday before Christmas. Once it started snowing, it just didn't stop.  We got probably a foot and a half of snow where we live and they do not plow or treat the roads out here, which meant we were stuck for the most part.  Even G was forced to work from home for two days because there was no navigating out of our neighborhood.  Unfortunately for many, the airport was pretty much shut down and very few flights were getting in and out.  Many people were forced to spend the holiday at the airport because the hotels were all booked.  We were so thankful that we were all home already before the snow hit.  I flew in that Wednesday night from Boston and thank goodness, because if I had gotten a later flight (which I tried to do!)  I would not have made it home before December 26th!!!  YIKES!  It is so scary to think about

We had an amazing time getting ready for and enjoying the holidays.  The biggest excitement and joy for us was waking up in our own home on Christmas Day.  Since were moved to MA the day after we were married and flew to WA every year for the holidays, we never actually spent Christmas in our own home.  How exciting it was to wake up in our own bed and head downstairs with our little Alli to see what Santa left for us . . . Alli was so much fun this year and really got into opening all of the presents.  In fact, in the days leading up to Christmas, she would pick up packages and beg "open, peas (her version of please), open"  Too cute!  Can't wait to see her on her birthday in a couple of months ;-)

Alli about to wash her hands after making rice krispy treats Christmas Eve morning ~ messy!

Mommy & Alli ready to go to Ducky Gramma and Papa's house for Christmas Eve

Christmas morning ~ presents from Santa and Garrett trying on his new clothes!

We hope that all of you had a safe and wonderful holiday season as well.

Let's pray that 2009 is good to all!

Happy Holidays!!!

We have been enjoying the holidays here in WA with our family and friends.  This was our first year celebrating Thanksgiving in WA since 1999 and we convinced the family to let us host.  What a great day we had. My entire family (minus Jenee, my wonderful sister-in-law who had to work ~ nurses don't always get to take a holiday break!) and G's brother Zach were here for a turkey dinner.  We had a great time and the food wasn't too bad, not as good as my mom's cooking but still respectable :)  G's parents joined us all for dessert and Adele was a huge help with the dishes, she even had Alli helping her!  The guys played cards after dinner. All in all, I would say our first Thanksgiving in WA as a family was a huge success!

That weekend, we went and picked out our tree at the Stock's tree farm, owned by G's grandpa and now run mostly by Uncle Greg.  Alli loves playing in the trees and especially loves the candy canes!  With the tree up, the lights on the house, and presents under the tree, we are ready for Christmas. R emarkably, Alli pretty much leaves the tree alone other than to point at the "baby" ornaments that we conveniently placed higher than she can reach

Enjoying a candy cane before we pick out our tree

This is such a fun family outing!

Alli and Garrett cutting down our perfect tree!

Alli having fun with Barbie Gramma and Pop Pop in the trees

Alli loves watching the ice skaters on the pond ~ it took all of her restraint not to touch ;-)

Lights on, it's time to decorate!

Fishy face

Should it go here Mommy?

Finally, the star goes on and we're done!

Now it's time to hang the lights outside . . .

This past week, my friend Cori and her son Cohen, who's 1 week older than Alli, came for a quick visit. We had a wonderful visiting and the kiddos had a blast playing together. The are the same age, size and development, which made for a lot of fun for everyone! Cohen is a little daredevil and Alli a fraidy cat so it was very entertaining. We have singing/dancing snowmen that Alli loves but was afraid to touch, fortunately, Cohen would do it for her ~ such a little gentleman! Alli was sad to see him go, as was I. We love you guys and hope to see you again soon!!!

They both loved the pizza :)

And snuggling with Ducky Papa!

Guess they like each other too ;-)

Playing at the tub provided lots of entertainment ~ notice neither has feet on the ground :)

This weekend was full of holiday fun as we enjoyed the Port Orchard festival of lights and chimes, went to a Santa breakfast this morning and a holiday party this afternoon. Alli wasn't too sure of Santa but loved all of the activity and is actually very good at decorating cookies.

Alli at the Port Orchard library during the holiday festival.

We all had fun, although I wasn't feeling too great this weekend. I got the flu shot this year but I'm thinking it may not have worked. Hopefully, I start feeling better very soon as being run down with a toddler is a tough situation!