What's New?

Hey folks! Time for another update.  As usual we've been swamped and another month has gone by.  Abby is now 14 months old and her personality shows more each day.  We get a kick out of watching her discover new things.  She is getting much more mobile and we love that but it does bring new dangers into the mix.  We have to keep an extra watchful eye on her now as she motors around.

We'll pick up where we left off with a bunch of pictures.  In late March we took another trip back to Cook Children's to tour Stephanie's new workplace.  Cook's expansion is massive and the Hemotoloty/Oncology & Bone Marrow Transplant addition was ready to move into.  They let families of the staff  come and tour the facility before they officially opened so we had a look around. This is where many kids battle for their lives.

Abby & Mom (Abby's Castle in the background)

Typical Patient Room

Abby & Mommy @ the Nurse's Station

Abby & Mommy @ the Nurse's Station

Stephanie & and her friend & co-worker Heather

Stephanie loves what she does despite the emotional and physical toll it takes on her quite often.  I am thankful for her heart for helping children and respect those in the nursing field tremendously.

At the start of April we headed down I-35 to San Antonio to follow up with the Liver Specialist we have been seeing periodically.  We met up with some of Stephanie's friends and had a good time visiting and catching up.  

Steph's Nursing School Friends & their kiddos - Abby & Steph, Katherine, Finley & Meredith, Carrie & Grace

 Next we headed to the hotel for a nap and a swim.  It was the second time Abby had gone for a swim. The last time she was teething and couldn't have cared less.  This time though she was tentative at first then quickly found out that it was a lot of fun to splash.  We look forward to taking her more often as the summer comes around.  She enjoyed it so much that she wanted to get back in after we were ready to leave.

Abby & Daddy

Testing the water

Abby & Mommy

Abby & Mommy

I'm not ready to go yet!

We had fun the day before our appointment but the time came to go see the doctor and we never really know what to expect on these trips.  We've been staying in touch with the GI doctor at Christus Santa Rosa in San Antonio as well as the GI doctor here in case Abby needed to be listed for a liver transplant any time soon. 

Waiting room fun!

Get naked

Tearing up the exam bed paper is fun.

Thankfully this visit was a good one.  Abby is doing great and does not need to come back for another year!  Everything we have seen indicates things are stable for now in terms of her liver.  Abby will need blood work done as the GI doctor we see here recommends and hopefully things will keep trending up.  We are of course thrilled by this news.  So we celebrated on the way home with some good food at "The Salt Lick". 

Ribs

Mommy & Abby

Things were getting pretty wild back in Arlington as we headed back.  Several tornadoes hit our area and many neighborhoods were torn up.  I am glad we took our time getting back that afternoon because it was pretty scary just not being able to get in contact with family members so I can't imagine being in the midst of it.  Our home was just fine when we got back.

The next weekend we celebrated Easter with our families and Abby got to meet the Easter Bunny.

Easter Bunny & Abby

The only picture we got of her in her Easter Dress

A proud Dad

Another big deal occurred in our little world: At the beginning of April I (Jody) took a new job.  I have joined a former colleague at his new architecture firm and look forward to what the future has in store for us.  We have opened up a new office in Mansfield, Texas and we are Level 5 Design Group.

So, to sum it all up, the Lord has blessed our little family immensely lately.