Baptism

November 10, 2013

Coon Rapids Methodist Church

 Pastor Randy Koppen

Abigail's baptism was such a special day.  Of course, all babies are blessings, but knowing we could have lost Abby makes her feel like an even bigger blessing and miracle. We were so happy to have our families with us as we committed to nurture Abigail in Christ's church. The service was beautiful.  It just so happened that the sermon series was titled Count Your Blessings.  Towards the end of Pastor Koppen's sermon, he picked up Abby again and told about her journey.  The kleenex were being pulled out in our pews! 

Abigail hates baths.  The second she touches water she starts to cry so we thought she would cry as soon as the water hit her head.  But she didn't make a peep!  

Afterwards, everyone joined us at our house for brunch. 

Some pictures from Abby's special day.

 Godparents: John & Jessie Zins

Justin & Lindsey Burkhardt

Grandparents

5 months

5 Months on November 11th, 2013

Don't my cheeks look chunkier!?!

Getting so big!

Must put EVERYTHING in my mouth!

Gotta have this bear!

Not an easy crowd to photograph! This is all of Abby's cousins and great grandma Burkhardt.  Brie had just had her tonsils removed and Lane had his wisdom teeth removed. 

Abby's First Thanksgiving was celebrated in Fargo with the Burkhardt family.  She slept through the meal!  She's been working hard at rolling from her back to her tummy.  She did at on Thanksgiving, but used the couch to push off of.

Abby loved this shirt because there were so many things to grab!  Emily Zins was born on October 11th making them exactly 4 months apart in age.  This was Abby at Emily's baptism.

Luke is so sweet with Abby.  He loves playing with her. 

Emily being baptized.  Scott and I are her Godparents.

4 Months

4 Months on October 11, 2013

At her 4 month check up: 

 11 pounds 1 ounce (2nd percentile)

23 inches long (3rd percentile)

40.7 cm head circumference(48th percentile)

Abby loves to stand up!

First trip to the Minneapolis Farmer's Market.

My cousin, Tyrell, got married in Minot.  It was a LONG trip, but Abby did great!  It helped that we stopped in Fargo to break it up.

At the wedding, we asked Justin and Lindsey to be Abby's godparents.

The bathtub and Abigail do not get along.  She screams the whole time!  We've tried different things and no matter what she still hates bath time.  Scott did an experiment to show my parents how much she hated the water.  He filled a bowl with some water and stuck her toe in it...instant crying!

Abby is wanting to sit up so she enjoys being in her high chair and bumbo seat. 

Abigail attended her first "fall party" at the Jim Zins house in St. Cloud.

Whoo....Whoo loves a cute little owl!  At daycare, they had a parade around the cul-de-sac and the older kids decorated treats.  Poor Ronnie, the dog, was covered in chocolate!  Abby wore her costume at home for pictures, but fell apart quickly!

Additional Notes:

• Abby slept through the night for the first time on October 23rd!  We didn't have one of those "oh my gosh is she okay" moments because we were both up during the night and checked on her.  

 

3 Months

It was my intention to write a little update each month about what Abigail was up to.  Instead, I'll just put up some pictures with a caption while I play catch-up.  Let this be my lesson to stay on top of this!

Abigail turned three months the day after she had surgery so there isn't a picture in her onesie this month.

Grandma Shelley came to watch Abby for 4 days when I went back to work. It was so hard to leave her!  Every time I thought about her the first day back, I'd get teary eyed.  Scott's Aunt Jane came over to meet Abby and took some beautiful pictures.  This is one of our favorites.

Abigail had her CCAM removed by Dr. Hess at the University of MN Children's Amplatz Hospital.  This is her cuddling with daddy in the recovery room after surgery.

 Abby's surgery was on Tuesday the 10th of September and she went home on the 14th.  This was outside of her room.  We could change the picture and write different messages on it. 

My good friend, Courtney, got married in Fargo and I was a bridesmaid.  Abby came to visit for a little bit because I was missing her.  I hadn't been away from her for an entire day, yet.  Grandma and Grandpa Burkhardt were babysitting.

Here's the baby with the bride, Courtney!

She's getting so strong and can hold her head up high!

Abby had her first day of daycare.  She is going to a home daycare near our house. Monica is caring for her and we are impressed with her daycare. The other girls at daycare thought she should wear a headband so she had this on when I picked her up.  This picture was taken on a Friday.  She already knows it's a great day!

You had a check-up with Dr. Hess on September 30th.  This is Abby after the appointment. She was pretty excited when he gave her a clean bill of health!  My favorite part was when he said, "You never have to worry about this again!"  Hooray for only going to the doctor for wellness visits!  She also weighed in at 10 pounds.  That's the fastest she's ever gained weight.  We're sure glad that thing is out of her!

Additional Notes:

• At your preoperative examination you weighed 8 pounds 9 ounces, which is still in the 0 percentile.  Doctors describe your weight gain as slow but steady.  They believe you are burning up calories breathing because your respiration rate is high. The doctor that did you pre-op said you should be "rolly-polly" with the amount you are eating!

• The pathology report came back confirming the mass was indeed a CCAM/CPAM (congenital pulmonary airway malformation) most consistent with type I.  The left upper lobe that was removed measured 9 x 6 x 3.4 cm.  Pretty big for Abby's little body! 

Family Hockey Night

It's been so long since I've blogged!  And I only have 3 more days left on winter vacation!  Hopefully, I'll play catch up over the next few days.  I'll start with something that happened tonight.

Scott plays "skippy ball" (aka a form of hockey a group of guys made up) on Thursday nights.  Tonight they bought an extra hour of ice time for family night.  The kids enjoyed getting out on the ice with their dads.  Abby participated sled style!

Scott pulling Abby around! She was taking in all of the action.

Abby's "cousin" Aly was a bit grumpy.  Abby's all smiles.

Too cute!

This sled is just right!

Hamming it up.

My "cousin" is getting pretty good at skating.

Loving daddy.

This is as good as it gets.  The Thursday night orphans.  : )