Ella and Claire

Halloween

Potato Creek with Voorhees Family

Pictures from Nanna in New Jersey

I'm Back!

It's been a few months since my last post. Sorry for those of you who check regularly. Starting the new school year took more time and energy than I thought. And on top of that...

We found out that I'm pregnant again! In July, I had an ultrasound to determine dates, and the confirmed due date is March 1, 2008. I suffered through the end of summer vacation with fatigue and nausea, but gradually these symptoms disappeared by the time school started in September.

On October 12, we went back for a second ultrasound, the routine 20-week one to look at size and organs and most important... the sex of the baby. We found out that baby #2 will be another girl! That's great news because our two girls can share a room, clothes, toys, and hopefully grow up to be the best of friends.

Ella knows that Mommy is going to have another baby. When I point to my stomach and say "What's this?" She replies, "baby." One of her favorite books is "Where do babies come from?" however I just think she likes to see pictures of babies. Can a toddler really understand?

I've successfully changed the name of this blog from Prayers for Marcella to The Emrick Family, but you can still pray for us. I'm not sure how to change the web address and still keep my blog intact. Does anyone know how to do that?

I'd love to post some more pictures soon. My digital camera has been very temperamental lately, and therefore I choose not to use it. Grammy Voorhees and Nanna Emrick have taken lots, and I'm sure they'll send me some pix soon that I can put on-line.

Enjoying the end of summer

Labor Day Weekend

Mom, Dad, Michelle, and Michael came to visit this weekend and help Tyler along with our renovations. The new siding is looking great!

Lake Cottage

Ella's Heart Tests

Ella had a big day on Monday at DeVos Children's Hospital. She had a pulmonary perfusion scan in which they injected her with nuclear medicine and then took pictures of her lungs to see how much oxygen was flowing through each one. Then she had a chest CT scan. She had to be sedated for these pictures so she could lie completely still in the new machine which takes picture slices from different angles and produces 3-D images. Everyone at the hospital was lovely and caring and great with Ella. Other than getting the initial IV in her wrist, she was a good girl and did well with the nurses and doctors.

Today, Dr. Schneider called with the test results, and a had a very good report to share with us. The pulmonary fusion exam showed a symmetric distribution of oxygen between the right and left lungs. The right lung was using 54% oxygen, and the left lung 46%. This was pleasantly surprising, because surgery would not be necessary unless the percents were split dramatically, more than a 80%/20% split. The CT scan showed that the left and right pulmonary arteries are both average in size and growing. There was no discrepancy in size and no narrowing of the left pulmonary artery like originally noted in her open heart surgery.

Yes, she is growing healthy and strong, and her heart, too. This is the best news that we could have received, and we are praising God for our little miracle girl. She'll have a routine cardiologist appointment in 6 months at which time they'll listen to her heart and take blood pressure, just normal stuff. It may be several more years before they need to do in-depth testing like this again. It's definitely not something that will be done every year due to the high amount of radiation in the CT scan.

What's happening at ONE year old

Here she is, walking for the first time on June 2. Now, she chooses to walk everywhere she goes, unless she is tired and just wants Mama to carry her. She's still an explorer and tries to understand how everything works. This week she opened the oven and crawled inside. She likes to open and close the dishwasher and she also know how to turn that on. Tyler watched her play with the dog last night, and she was trying to put his collar on him. She is determine to figure out the buckles on things like the dog collar, her high chair, and her car seat. She is also strong. She was trying to get over our wooden gate, which is half of a door. Since it wouldn't open, because Tyler had blockaded it, she attempted to climb over it. Woah! She did a pull up to try to get over. Also, this week she has started to be more affectionate and loves to give slobbery, open mouth kisses on the lips. She'll take turns giving kisses, first me, then Tyler, then me again, and back to Tyler. It's cute. Then she kissed the dog on the nose, then she kissed her stuffed animals. I even saw her kissing the animal pictures in her book. So, watch out when you see her next. She'll want to give you a kiss, too!

Progress on our House

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Here it is! The latest pictures, taken over Memorial Day weekend by Tyler's parents. Yes, the addition is framed and roofed. Tyler is finishing electrical, plumbing, and hvac vents, then we can get our inspections. The windows arrived a few days ago, so I'm eager to install those. The next step will be siding. If anyone wants to help Tyler, I'm sure he would appreciate the encouragement.

Strawberry Picking

Saturday we picked a flat of yummy strawberries with the Lezan family. Ella mostly crawled around in the straw and ate lots of berries. And, we had to take turns holding her towards the end. We think she may be allergic to them because her skin got blotchy after eating so many. Saturday night and Sunday I made strawberry jam with a low sugar recipe. It turned out really great!

After picking berries, we visited some animals at the Krupp Farm "petting zoo." As you can see in the picture, Ella wanted to crawl into the pen with the animals. She crawls on everything these days including tables, chairs, ladders, and fences.

Vacation in Hawaii

Ella did much better than I expected on the 8-hour plane ride to Maui. It helped having my parents with us to entertain her. She barely cried at all and was mostly content. She enjoyed exploring the condo, crawling into cupboards, and climbing on the furniture.

The pool was her favorite. First she enjoyed climbing up and down the steps going into the pool. Then she got braver and like to swim back and forth from me to Grampa. Then she learned how much fun it is to jump in the pool and did this over and over again, with our help of course. She really wanted to put her face under the water, but I wouldn't let her yet.

The beach was fun, too, but much messier. Our first and only visit to the "baby beach" she had sand from head to toe including in her ears and on her eyelids. She liked throwing the sand in the air. Yuck!

We also enjoyed touring some gardens, visiting Haleakala National Park, seeing cool fish at the aquatic center, and going to a magic show. Upon our arrival home, we were exhausted due to the 6-hour time change. Ella had a fever for a few days, but with no other symptoms. Perhaps she picked something up in the airport. We're enjoying our summer vacation at home!

Ella's First Birthday

Ella's Easter Surprise

Grammy Sandy and Grandpa Russ brought Ella an Easter wagon filled with toys! Ella loves her wagon the best and likes to watch the wheels move round and round. Ella says thanks for coming to my house and playing with me! I love you!