Family's Visit

Ticket were really cheap for a certain period of time so my family took that opportunity and came down for a visit!! My dad, my mom, and Lisa and Aaliyah came.  It sure was a houseful but we had fun.  I especially liked seeing the cousins play together.  Aaliyah has officially passed Elisa in size! She is two months younger and super cute.  Here are a bunch of pics for ya:

My dad was very helpful in watching all the babies.  He took Elisa to the park and took this picture and video:

Elisa loves dancing and she loves watching people dance! So cute:

We celebrated my mom's birthday while she was down here.  I made her a heart cake and we sang happy birthday to her.  I don't know what was going on with Gabe though!

Christmas Crafts

 Now that Christmas is almost 2 months past, here are some fun Christmas crafts I did this year.

Beaded Ornament.  This hobby is going on the back burner for the next several years.  It takes too long and I have not the patience for it.  Beading is so very tedious! 
I made this ornament for my in-laws, and despite the time put into it, it still didn't turn out that great:

 

 

I made some Borax Crystal ornaments with Gabe.  It sure was fun seeing how dumpy pipe cleaners could turn into somethings so sparkly and pretty.  I made everyone's names and put them on the tree.  The lights on the tree made them really sparkle! They are so easy and quite cheap to make, click here for the tutorial.

 

Made this train for Gabe on a whim.  He loves it!

Little Miss Personality

 As Elisa gets older, her personality comes out more and more.  She is a very sweet girl but definitely has a sassy side!  We love her giggles and funny faces.  I don't know where she gets her personality from but it will be amusing to see how her strong personality plays out in a family of laid-back personalities.
She is loving but vicious.  She will bite (hard--she'll draw blood if you let her), pinch, scratch, pull hair and screech deafeningly into your ear--she's a feisty one!  We love her so much and wouldn't trade her for the world! We love her just the way she is. 

Christmas 2011

Whoops, almost forgot about this post!!  Better late than never.
For Christmas my sister Cindy came down for a visit.  Gabe absolutely loves her!! We had lots of fun:

At the mall

Making Elisa laugh

Aunt Tootsie taught Gabe the "Jello Dance"

Erik's parents also came down to spend Christmas with us.  We all got spoiled! 

Look at all those gifts!!

Trains wrapped in train paper!

Love this pic: Gabe and Elisa in their Christmas outfits

So silly!

Gabe's trains that he got just from this last Christmas

All of Gabe's Thomas's, lined up

Bike trailer: one of my Christmas presents from Erik!

Gabie Cuteness

Before I forget, here are some adorable videos of Gabe.  He has improved SO MUCH in his speech and these videos prove it!

Say Cheese! Gabe loves the camera:

Elisa's Little Heart

 Since Elisa's birth, Erik has heard a heart murmur every time he listens to her heart.  Despite us mentioning it several times to the nurses and pediatrician, nobody heard it.  It wasn't until her 6-month check-up that the pediatrician FINALLY heard her heart murmur. She then referred us to AZ  Pediatric Cardiology Consultants.
Elisa's appointment was set up for 12-28-11.  The nurse gave Elisa an EKG, asked questions, and weighed Elisa.  Then the PA came in and listened to her heart for awhile.  She said the murmur sounded unlike a typical murmur (whatever that's supposed to be) and proceeded to tell me that she would need an echo (aka heart ultrasound), and that someone who had an echo scheduled that hour didn't show up so we could get one right then instead of coming back.  I thought that was a good idea so I agreed. 
Elisa did NOT like being held down, she fussed and cried and I tried to distract her the best I could.  She did alright while I distracted her.  It seemed like the echo took FOREVER! I guess it was only a half hour long procedure.  Then we waited. And waited, and waited.  I'm so glad I brought some food for her.  She was a really good girl the whole waiting time.  Turns out she really likes spinning on those spin-y chairs.
The doctor finally came it with the results of the echo.  I came to that  appointment thinking that her murmur meant nothing and everything was just fine.  Apparently not.  I could tell right away that the results were not desirable when the doctor took a seat.  She told me that there is a sizable hole in her heart.  I will try to explain it the best I can:
Elisa has:
1.Moderate to large atrial septal defect (see below)
2. Mild to moderate right heart enlargement
3. Otherwise normal heart structures. 
So Elisa has Atrial Septal Defect (ASD)--a hole in the atrial septum (the muscle wall).  Because of this hole (the doctor said it is about 9 mm), oxygenated blood from the lungs moves from the left into the right atrium, which then proceeds into the right ventricle, and is pumped back to the lungs rather than to the body. 
As heart defects go, this is rather mild.  She won't die anytime soon from it, and in fact, there are really no symptoms-though we may notice later on that she gets tireder faster than other kids while she's being active.
As far as parenting goes, it is not a pleasant knowing your child has a hole in her heart and will more than likely under go open heart surgery.  For now, we will just need to take Elisa in every six months for a checkup, but if the hole as not gone away (which it probably won't considering it's large size) she will need to get it surgically closed when she is 3 or 4 years old.  So we will just wait until then.  I dread her ever having to go through surgery, but we are thankful she is otherwise normal, happy, and healthy.  Poor Elisa.  Poor Elisa's heart.  She is such a sweetheart.

 The EKG

Waiting for the results