Grilled Elmo Anyone?

Okay, let's see if I can describe these pictures in order, I'm not sure if it will upload in the same order. 1) Riley grilling Elmo (or as she says, Memo), 2) Riley in the kitchen, 3) on a horse, 4) Uncle Donnie and cousin Corbin on turkey day, 5) Miss cousin Conley struttin' her stuff on turkey day, 6), 7), and 8) at the park on turkey day.

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted anything. Here are some updated pics of Miss Riley. She is walking pretty well now. She walks a lot, but not consistantly. She will walk clear across the room, lose her balance and fall, and then just crawl. She doesn't know how to get from the floor to a standing position without pulling up on something....but as Angie heard on the phone tonight....she is trying.
Riley finally started saying "HI" (of course not near the phone when someone is on it, but always when no one is on it!), but it sounds more like "Ieee". She also says ou, ou every time she falls. She will be an attention grabber for sure. Her ringlets already reel people in, and she doesn't mind it a bit.

We met with a genetics doctor yesterday to get some more information on our chances of having another baby with SB. Her opinion is that Riley's birth defect was completely unrelated to mine. She really feels that I do not have any syndrome of any kind and that Riley's SB just happened. Any mom has a 3-5% chance of having a baby w/ any birth defect, we have an increased risk of having another baby with SB by 2-3%, and if I take 4x the recommended dosage of folic acid, it reduces it to 1% chance. (note: taking the recommended dosage of folic acid, that is what is already in prenatal pills, reduces the risk of having a baby with SB by 70%....which I did for 10 months before I even got pregnant....I guess we were in that other 30%, or it had nothing to do with a folic acid deficiancy). Anyways, I will always search to find a reason why this happened to Riley.
So.....we still are not decided either way, but my heart is more at ease at possibly having another child of our own one day. Like I said before, we are in no rush. We still feel like we have more research to do as well.

We are so excited...tomorrow will be one of those days when you have no reason to be out on the roads. We are housebound because of the "Winter Freeze", good excuse to just veg. out.

Ducks and Yoga!

Here is Riley with Pappa ET/Grandad at the marina. They had lots of fun feeding the over-fed ducks and the very big, always hungry carp. Riley just soaked it all in. She loves saying and signing duck and also says kakak (Quack, quack).
ET and Riley also had time for some yoga with JoJo's Circus. They learned the downward facing dog.
Riley had a blast showing off to ET and Sandy. She walked for them and chatted a lot about her toys. Her favorite word right now is "yeah"....we will have to work on her manners (although she does sign please and thank you)!

Donnie comes home from Vegas tomorrow.....YEA! He is at the Ocularist/Ophthamology Convention. Mommy is ready for a break!
He went to see the Blue Man Group last night and loved it. Can't wait to hear about the rest of his trip...ocularist stuff! (I have to admit, I miss that stuff....maybe in the future I can finish what I barely started).

Decision 2006/2007

The past few days have been full of deep thought and heavy duty prayer! We are preparing, with a lot of research left to do, to make a very important decision....do we adopt or do we have another baby of our own ?????????????????????? ??????? ???? We are in no rush what-so-ever, but feel the need to embark on this scary, yet wonderful (either way) adventure now, (I have to be on extra folic acid at least 6 months prior to getting pregnant, and as I am sure you know, adoption is a very lengthy process as well)! We have so many questions that need to be answered! We are getting different answers as to the chance of us having another child with spina bifida....1%, 3-5%, or same chance as everyone else if I take 4x the recommended dosage of folic acid. What scares us is what if it is not related to my folic acid intake....what if it is related to the possible genetic disorder I may have (they can only prove I don't have a genetic disorder by 60%.....well, 40% is a big #, and obviously something went wrong the first time). If we knew that the worst it could be would be like Riley's severity of SB, then hey....we'll take the risk and FROG it (Fully Rely On God) :) . Riley's case of SB is mild (it's the most severe type, but a mild case of myelomeningocele). But spina bifida is crazy. It affects and involves more than you would think, ie. the eyes, brain, eating, breathing, major nerve damage (paralysis), bowels, bladder, and on and on and on. And the severity of each thing I just mentioned varies greatly too. Some of these things are things that we have to still watch for with Riley. Could I do it again.....but worse? I don't know? It would tear our hearts apart. So I guess what I am asking from you is heavy duty prayer. I do hope God makes the answer clear to us. Until we get that answer, let the research begin! Information and advice (we may take it or leave it!) :) on both topics are greatly welcome!

Picture incl.: We have found a great babysitter who we just adore. Riley just loves her! Riley's top choice of communication is signing, she says stuff, but would rather sign. Jessica is very fluent at signing and helps Riley along! Jessica took these pictures of Riley the other night. Clif, Angie, Jonathan....you would be so proud....a future concert pianist niece!
Sorry for the spelling errors...I am so tired and spell-check isn't working!

OH! AND MOST IMPORTANTLY....RILEY IS TAKING ABOUT 8-10 STEPS IN A ROW, BY HERSELF. She is getting so brave, just taking off from the couch or a big toy and walking away. IT'S AWESOME! She needs more work on her balance, but she is almost there. She is also doing well learning how to stand up by herself without holding onto anything to get up. God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good. (just shout it, like we do in church...it feels great!). Okay.....off to bed!