6 Month Appointment...

Was a little disappointing... Her length and head circumference are holding steady on the chart (length is still at 50%) However her weight is not doing well. She was at 13 lbs 4 oz. Since she is eating rice cereal and just started solids, I had dropped off the "forced" tube feeding about 2 weeks ago. Dr. Chiong's advice was to add back in the feeding (10 kcal per ounce) and to add a tsp of safflower oil to her food (~40 kcal). He said 50-60 kcals extra per day would do alot with her size. He wanted to follow up with her in 2 weeks for a weight check. He said if she wasn't gaining he wanted to start testing her for celiacs and other things.

She was a little congested, but she got her shots and just like last time, she threw up the next morning all over her crib. Then the next day she was throwing up as well and had a slight fever. Her cough and congestion got worse over the weekend. On Wed, I took her in for a sick appointment to make sure it was not in her lungs. She had lost weight and was down to 13 lbs. My heart sank. The PA suggested upping her solids to 3 times a day, and I added oil to all 3, plus 2 scoops of formula in her night cereal as well. Since she had been sick they wanted to give her 3 weeks to get over it and start gaining. I was now a nervous wreck. 3 weeks...I'm praying she will have gained in those 3 weeks and we won't have to test.

Thanksgiving 2010

What a wonderful week...My brother Michael and his family came down, as well as my baby sister Kellie, and my sister Cindy and her family. All of the grandkids had a blast playing together, swimming, playing in the cul-d-sac, and going on the boat. I was brave and decided to help make some of the food for this year, mainly so Kelsey could have stuff to eat. As usual, Lou fried a turkey and I made gluten free/dairy free stuffing (seriously from scratch), cranberry compote, gluten free/dairy free mini pie crusts and filled them with pecan pie and a gluten free/dairy free no bake pumpkin pie mixture. Kelsey had been talking about pumpkin pie for weeks, so I knew I had to figure out a way to make it. I also made a pumpkin cheesecake for the rest of us to enjoy.

Eating her special pumpkin pie

I saw these cute jammies a month or 2 before and decided that we needed to take a picture of all the grandkids in them. I ironed on everyones name and put their birth order # on the back. After dinner we hid all of the kids in Aunt Kellie's room and got them changed to surprise Gma/Gpa McD. They were all so cute and had a blast. It's very hard to get 9 kids to do exactly what you want at the same exact time to take pics. We did the best we could.

First Food...

Kaylee got her first real food (non cereal) on Thanksgiving day. Just like with Kelsey, I started with Avocado. An easy first food and you do not have to cook it. She wasn't too sure...

McDonald Family Photos 2010

Impromptu picture that Colin did NOT want to be a part of (missing the 3 youngest cousins)

The Whole McDonald  Crew



Gpa McD starte playing the guitar so he can play for the grandkids




Gma/Gpa McD with all 9 of their grandkids




My family (minus spouses and kids)



Halloween Season 2010

While Lou was out of town I took the girls to the Fall Fest at the Methodist church. Kelsey did a bunch of crafts, they had free face painting, free popcorn, & free drinks. We waited in line for a while for the bounce house, but Kelsey got bored so we skipped out.

Lou found some templates of characters and let Kelsey pick what she wanted on the pumpkin. She chose Tinkerbell. For this we needed a tall pumpkin. With that in mind we went back to the Methodist church we go to every year to pick the perfect pumpkin.

We met up with friends in their neighborhood to trick or treat. But first we fed Kelsey and got the girls dressed. Well, one girl because Kayle wanted NOTHING to do with her peapod outfit. Kelsey was Tinkerbell. I bought green and purple toole and hot glued it to her crocs to make tinkerbell shoes. As we do every year we make sure to bring Kelsey by Ms Brenda & Mr. Lloyd's house. The always have a special treat that she can actually eat (they are such wonderful neighbors) As we were leaving our neighborhood (which is finally almost at full occupancy with no more foreclosures), we realized that next year we need to stay here. People were out in their driveways in chairs with tables and making an evening of it. Plus our neighborhood does a hayride as well.

We met up with friends, at Megan & Matt's, just as they were walking out the door. They really do have a great neighborhood for Trick-or-Treating. Kelsey had a lot of fun this year and Kaylee was a trooper. She was good at saying Trick or Treat and enjoyed getting candy, even though she knew she couldn't eat it. We played Trade-or-Treat and she got to trade all of her candy in for a special treat...we made gluten free/dairy free chocolate chip cookies. She did enjoy counting her candy and moving it from basket to basket.

The next day I was able to dress Kaylee in her costume. Kelsey wanted in on the fun as well.