07/18/04

June 12, 2004

It has been a long time since our last update.  We've celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas and three of our four birthdays.  We hope everyone is having a wonderful 2004.  Our family has had a busy one.  In March, Rich took two weeks vacation to keep the girls while Kim took a trip to Australia with a friend.  Rich and the girls visited family in New York while Kim was gone.  Everyone had a lot of fun but Kim will NOT be gone for that long again!!

Mallory is now one year old!  She celebrated with family and close friends recently.  It is so hard to believe it has been a year.  She isn't walking yet (and given her destructive nature, we aren't pushing for it to happen anytime soon LOL!) but she is standing and cruising.  The two words she uses most is "NO" and "CAT" (pronounced "AT").  "NO" is usually accompanied by a finger and "AT" occurs right before poor India gets tortured.  Our other news is she FINALLY has teeth!!  We were wondering if that was EVER going to happen.  We joke about her destructive nature (ok, it isn't really a joke) but truly she's been a great, happy baby.  It's been a wonderful first year!!

Morgan is four this year.  She had an arts and crafts party in March to celebrate.  She also started Preschool in January.  She loves it and loves her teacher.  Kim thinks she enjoyed her school party more than the one at home.  She got to make her own cake at school!!  As many of you know, Morgan had to have a chiari decompression on April 9th (Kim's birthday).  It was a tough surgery but Morgan is walking independently again and getting stronger.  It will be months before we know if this improves the quality of her life.  She had to have it or the fluid on her spine would have caused diminished functioning but we also hope that it rids her of the frequent headaches she was having as well as assists her with improving her ability to eat a variety of foods without gagging and vomiting.  We thank everyone that has kept her and us in prayer.

October 5, 2003

Mallory had her 4 month check up on September 4th.  She weighed 16 lbs 4 oz and was 25 1/2 in tall!  So far she is doing what she should be doing.  She turned over so early that I thought she might end up being a real go getter but no, she is laid back and seems to do things at her leisurely pace.  She is eating solids now.  So far she is doing well except she likes to sing when she eats so on occasion, I wear more than she eats.

Morgan had her yearly follow up with her specialists in Birmingham during September as well.  All looks pretty good and we will just continue our usual follow up schedule.  We still have concerns about her limited diet and eating problems but the developmental pediatrician feels that as long as she will take pediasure, we should back off for a while.  Trying to overcome feeding issues in a 3 year old is a losing battle.  We are still having her touch, smell and talk about food but we don't push putting them in her mouth.  Below is an article for those of you that need to understand a bit more about this.  A friend found it for me. We go to Shriners in November.  I wonder what they will think when they see her WALK!

Article on feeding

August 6, 2003

Mallory is growing like a weed!  She is in the 96th percentile for height (can you believe it with us as parents?).  She is also the same percentile for weight so she is a chunky monkey.  A few days before she turned 3 months, she decided to turn from her back to her stomach.  By the time she turned 3 months, she was a pro at it.

Morgan is doing well as usual.  We decided to keep her home this year instead of sending her to preschool.  Kim will just work with her to be sure she learns the skills she needs.  She loves playing "school" so it is pretty easy to get her to do her work!  The good news is, after her initial assessment, she seems to only need a few skills before she is ready for kindergarten!

Jun 29, 2003

Mallory is getting chunkier with every feeding. It is amazing how much a little baby can eat. She starts to crack smiles more often now and seems to be a pretty content baby... as long as someone is feeding her!

Morgan is doing well and enjoyed attending a birthday party yesterday. The birthday girl lives on a farm-like setting so Morgan was able to enjoy ducks, goats, chickens, cats and a few other animals running around. The pool is used more and more often as we settle into summer weather.

A few new pictures have been added to the Photo Gallery.

May 28, 2003

Mallory is now 3 weeks old and we have been fortunate to have grandparents helping every week. With the jealous 3 year old and late-night-baby-crying- pooping-thing, Grandpa, Mam and Nanny have made things SO much better. As I type this Morgan is going to sleep with Mommy and Mallory, the cuddle bug, is crashed on my chest. All is good for another few hours. Uh, I should have said minutes. Thank God I don't lactate.

Only 2 more months to 3 month mark! Wahoo!

Check out the Photo Gallery for recent pictures; there are about 23 pictures... mostly new ones!

May 7, 2003

Morgan's baby sister, Mallory Adriana Bachmann, has arrived. She came a few days early so we know she is punctual. It has been a busier than normal week for us but the experience here has been wonderful and virtually stress free! The hospital, doctors and nurses have all been superb. We are fortunate to have lots of family helping out this month. There will pretty much be a grandparent over every day in May! We have been truly fortunate and we thank you for keeping us in your prayers.

Morgan continues to be a brave girl as she returns home today from her visit to the Tampa Shriner's Hospital for an orthopedic checkup. Once again, Morgan's grandma Judy and Uncle Bob (also a Shriner) were instrumental in making this Tampa trip easy and stress free by traveling with her since this was baby Mallory's arrival week!