Happy Birthday, Dear Evelyn

Yep, it's really been a whole year! Look at the difference.

eyes open--a rare sight during that month

Can you see the baby in all those cords?

One year ago, Evelyn Pearl was born and our medical roller-coaster began. Now, she is doing great!!! We had our follow-up with the cardiologist on Monday. He was very pleased with Evelyn's progress. Her pulmonary valve seems to be growing right along with her body, which is quite an accomplishment. She still has a hole between the upper chambers of her heart, which isn't currently a problem and may close on it's own. It's not something they won't worry about until she is 4 or 5 years old anyway. Overall, Evelyn has made terrific progress and doesn't have much to worry about from a Cardiology standpoint.

On Tuesday, Evelyn had her 12 month appointment. She weighed in at 22 lb. 3 oz. (75th percentile), height was 31.5" (95th percentile) and head was in the 95th percentile. She's a big, healthy girl.

Today, to celebrate the big 1 year milestone, we turned her carseat around so she can see her world. When I turned her carseat around, I moved it to the outside seat instead of the middle, thinking that Jacob would like a little extra room. When he got in the car and saw what I had done, he said, "No, I want her closer." Then, he moved everything out of the way so I could put her back. I know I've said it before, but he really is the sweetest big brother.

We also made a cake and some cupcakes for the staff and families in the PCTICU at St. Joe's. We saw some of the nurses we'd had and they were all excited to see Evelyn (and Jacob). One of them kept thanking us for bringing her so they could see that their job really is worth it. We also visited a couple of the families who are on the Eller Family council with us. It was good to be able to break up the monotony of the hospital for them. They seemed grateful as well.

MMMMMMM...yummy food!

I will post more as soon as my house is clean enough that I don't feel guilty blogging instead of cleaning.