Off to a GREAT Start- 2009!

Wow! Where to start? First, Happy New Year to Jordyn's wonderful friends and family who are reading this! I hope you all had a great holiday break! Jordyn's health and well-being has been at it's utmost greatness lately and we couldn't be more happy or grateful.

She had weathered so much in 2008 with her fractured femur, teeth grinding, skin rash, gastritis issues, diet change (due to her gag reflexes), and ongoing food allergies; but has come out on top like a champ! She has healed up nicely, had a new "grill" put in, and we have been taking care of her newly diagnosed Eczema. Her diet change has helped her gain 3 pounds in the last 4 months and she was put on a better GERD medicine.

She's Itch-free, Grind-free, Fracture-free, Acid-free, and FAT! :) And most importantly, SEIZURE-FREE!!! It's the most unusual (and awesome) thing- even if she misses half a dose of her medicine lately (due to falling asleep early, etc), she still doesn't have any signs of spasms or seizures. It's not too unusual for kiddos to grow-out of epilepsy, but we can't make that assumption towards her unique case until we do another EEG. I'm making arrangements with her Neurologist to see about her recent brain activity to see if there are improvements in that area. Just out of sheer curiosity.

She's also smiling a lot more, tracking well, and her head-control has gotten stronger. She is enjoying having her new baby sister around and still, of course, loves Joslyn playing with her and loves receiving her kisses.

We are still planning on a fun-filled trip to Disney World this year, compliments of Make-A-Wish Foundation. We may wait until October to go once Jaylee is a bit older for travel. I'll keep everyone updated on those plans as they unfold!

Other Family News:

*Jaylee Rain was born December 1st, happy and healthy! She is now a month old and is filling out quite nicely. She has begun holding up her head and Joslyn calls her "Kiss-Kiss". :)

*John's mom, Annie, will be living with us soon, and we are so thankful! She is a huge help with the girls, especially Joslyn. They are complete BFF's! Joslyn follows her around everywhere and even calls her "Ma-ma". Bad news for me being her real Ma-ma, lol, but the two of them are so cute to watch together. They almost have their own secret language! :) Annie is a blessing to have around the house full-time.

*Jacob is doing great in school and has a lot of fun with his little sisters. He is such a smart and witty kid! He is a huge help with the babies and loves making his famous Smoothies every time he visits. I swear, he's 10 and a half going on 20!

*Joslyn has been having some issues with her bowels, but we think we have figured it out. I held off her sphincterotomy (surgery) plans set for next week because I may have figured out what has been wrong with her "Making #2" problems... she may have an intolerance to the milk enzyme Casein. Jordyn went through the same thing- couldn't even have Lactose-Free or Soy. Whatever she ingested had to be completely free of Casein (often listed as sodium caseinate, calcium caseinate or milk protein). We're knee-deep in troubleshooting Joslyn's issue so that she doesn't have to go through any unnecessary surgeries or painful procedures.

*John and I are doing great! We're enjoying each other's company while work is slow and love playing with our funny children. We are planning a special trip (Belated Honeymoon, if you will) to Vegas this year. We deserve it! :)

Thanks for reading! Love you all! Click the title above to see more pictures via my Myspace page!

Kristen