18 months old

Alexis,
You are now a year and a half old and in the last 2 weeks you have become a new person. You have officially began the terrible twos and are such a toddler. At your 18 month doctor's appointment you were 22 lbs., 9 oz. (24 percentile) and 33.5 inches tall (95 percentile). Your language button has been turned on and you now try to repeat almost every word we say. You say almost a new word a day and it is so much fun to have a conversation with you and watch you learn. Just a small sampling of your vocabulary: shose (shoes), nose, eye, toes, teeth, knee, keys, car, go, bye-bye, daddy, mommy, nana (banana), peas, geen (green), beans, coat, cat, p (pig), dawg (dog), puppy, moo, quack, gobble, roar, eat, cup, wa-wa (water), bub-les (bubbles), baa, bath, hi, helwo (hello), pry (pray), cook-ee (cookie), crak-er (cracker) and the list goes on.
You are such a loving little girl. You blow everyone kisses and you especially like to give your stuffed animals kisses. You like to snuggle with mommy in the morning and you still like to drink your milk sitting on mommy's lap.
You have been introduced to the naughty chair a few times and throw your fair share of tantrums when you don't get your way. (Maybe that's because daddy spoils you too much, if there is such a thing.) :)
You are constantly on the go and enjoy your daily outings to the store, library, and park. You like to run non-stop and are full of energy. Pushing your baby stroller is one of your favorite things to do, but you still don't like your babies to ride in the stroller (only Cur*ous Ge*rge and El*o get to ride in the stroller). They both get fed pretty well, too, by you.
Your typical day is sort of like this:
7:30 am : wake up and hang out with daddy while he gets ready for work
8:00 am: cup of milk with mommy on the couch
8:30 am: take a bath (with bub-les), brush teeth, and get dressed
9:00 am: eat breakfast
9:30 am - 11:30 am: Play, go to the store, visit the park, or story time at the library
11:45 am: Nigh-nigh (night-night) take a nap
2:00 pm: cup of milk with mommy on the couch
2:15 pm: eat lunch (yup, it's a late lunch)
3:00 pm-5:30 pm: play, run errands, visit the park, or music class at the library
6:00 pm: cup of milk with mommy on the couch
6:15 pm: take a walk with daddy & mommy in the wagon
7:00 pm: eat dinner and have a cookie
8:00 pm: brush teeth & read books
8:30 pm: say a pry (prayer) & go nigh-nigh (night, night)
As you can see, you and mommy have a very busy day.
Sweet Pea, you are so much fun to hang out with and spend my day with - I wouldn't trade it for anything! I couldn't imagine my life without you - you always make the sun shine brighter. I hope to be the best mom you could ask for and I hope that when you are older you will remember & cherish the time we had together when you were younger. I don't want to blink because I know it won't be long and you will be a "Big Girl" going off to school. Please don't grow up too fast and know you will always be my little sweet pea!
Love, Mommy

The Beat of My Heart . . .

. . . is doing good! We are happy to report that today's appointment with Dr. J (Lexi's cardiologist) was good. The appointment itself didn't begin on such a good note ~ immediately when we walked into the exam room and Lexi saw the Blood Pressure & EKG machine she burst into tears and hung onto mommy for dear life. Steve (Dr. J's assistant) heard the crying and brought in the bubble machine and it made things a lot better. Next, we had our Echo appt. (ultrasound of the heart) and there was something about the Echo Tech that Lexi really liked because she sat so incredibly still I thought something was wrong. She did so well that she got to play with the echo machine when the tech was finished and print a picture of her heart. There weren't even any lollipops needed for the echo. Dr. J said that the echo looked good and the medicine is working nicely to open up some blockage below the valve. The gradient in her valve was 37% today and that is 10% lower than the last Dr.'s visit so we were very excited to hear that (heart healthy is 0%, so lower is always better). Her O2 Saturation level was 99% (100% is perfect)- up a bit from last time, as well. Overall, it was a good appointment. We will continue on the medicine and follow up with Dr. J in six months. This was a big appointment for Lexi because a huge milestone in the progress of her heart was to see how her heart would handle her walking, running, climbing, jumping, and everything else 18 month olds do. Again, we are so thankful and grateful that Jesus has blessed Lexi with this good report. Thanks for all your prayers.

Happy . . .

"Happy, happy, happy" is Lexi singing Happy Birthday to her daddy. Daddy's birthday was today and we enjoyed his favorite~ice cream cake!

a HEARTfelt thank you

Lexi would like to thank everyone for supporting her in this year's Heart Walk. Your generous donations will go to help with research and education and hopefully one day find a cure for all types of heart disease.My biggest fans - daddy & mommy!Michelle and Lexi

Hor-see

Alexis loves horses! It must be something about her hometown that brings out this great love. Living right in the middle of the wild west we couldn't help but attend the Parada del Sol. It was a great day for a pony ride and watching a parade.This was the look on her face the entire 5 minute ride . . . smilin' and squealin' the whole time.
Giving "Woody" a nice little pat to thank him for the ride.Lexi became friends with Jameson (the little boy beside her) on the parade route. He shared his toy cars and she shared her blanket and cow bell. Here is a quick video of the two of them dancing.

loving life with everything little

I love the little stool she stands on so she can help mommy in the kitchen.

I love the little "Keds" on her tiny feet.

I love her little socks.

I love the way her little bottom looks in these capri pants.

I love this little girl so much!

Lexi's Second Heart Walk

On Saturday, February 28th we will be walking in the Phoenix Heart Walk. This will be Lexi's second year to participate -I think she was the youngest survivor at last year's heart walk. Here are a couple of pictures from last year's walk:If you are interested in making a donation to the American Heart Association in honor of Alexis and want to help Team Lexi meet their fundraising goal click here: Team Lexi.

Happy Hearts Day!!!!

Love, Our Little Valentine

Fun with Daddy!

Daddy and I missed each other so much while I was away. Daddy took me to the mall today for some pint sized fun.One of my favorite things - riding the carousel!Daddy helps me at the top and then catches me at the bottom!

We're back from our Iowa trip!

Get ready for a LONG post . . . it's been 3 weeks! Lexi and I left for Iowa on Jan. 20th we had a pretty uneventful flight. She was very well behaved and enjoyed having a whole row in the airplane to play in. Here she is looking out the window to see what she can find.After we arrived in Omaha and got our luggage we had to go rent a car because Grandma's broke down on the way to pick us up. After about an hour of moving our luggage around and getting to the actual rental car we were on our way to pick up Grandma and Trystin at the rest stop where they were broken down. The two "Ketchup Queens" were friends immediately!

We had to then return the rental car to the airport in Des Moines the next day. The trip wasn't beginning on the right foot and thankfully it got better the next day. The next few days were filled with lots of playtime with cousins Trystin and Trevor. Trevor went to school in the mornings and then we picked him up at 1 pm and he played with us in the afternoon.Lunch time for Tweedle - dee and Tweedle-dumCaught by Trevor climbing the stairs!Monkee see, Monkee do
A trip to Iowa would not be complete without stopping to visit Great-Grandma Laurel. I just couldn't resist trying on her wig!On Monday, we went to visit my great aunts and uncles. Great Aunt Lois served up yummy pizza and Trystin and I had our very own table. We even shared food, plates, and traded seats every once in awhile.Great Uncle John, Mommy, Trystin, Great Aunt Lois, and LexiGreat Uncle Lorne, Mommy, Trystin, Great Aunt Marlene, and LexiTrysin - nothing about that smile says trouble, does it?!?!
On Wednesday, it was time to meet up with some of mommy's friends from college. We had lunch with Brenda & Eliana and then we went back to Brenda's house to play and Andrea and Kevin came over later. Kevin, Eliana, & Garrison all have really cool toys that they shared with me.Eliana, Kevin, Garrison, & Alexis
Over the weekend we went to stay with Grandpa Larry and Nana Sandra. The closest Lexi got to "playing" in the snow was taking a walk with Grandpa Larry to pet the dogs and mules. Both of which she was very excited about.Alexis, Nana Sandra, & Grandpa Larry
Then it was back to Aunt Jenny & Uncle Tom's house for the last week of fun. The girls really enjoyed playing with each other. They would look for each other when they got up in the mornings and from their naps. It was so cute - they were always together getting into trouble! They both received a little lesson in sharing and by the end of our trip they shared snacks well but the toys was a different story.
Trevor was the real reason we went to Iowa to help his mom and dad take care of him and his sister (during treatments). Thankfully, we weren't needed all that much. Trevor and his body are responding well to the chemo and he had a CT scan of the lungs to see if the 2 small nodes were still there and they were gone so that was great news. He will continue to have chemo once a week and follow up CT scans periodically throughout his planned 28 weeks of therapy. We are all so thankful that he is doing well and feeling well enough to go to school. We continue to pray that God is watching over him and will bless him with good health and news throughout his journey to recovery. The Friday night before we left a benefit was held to help raise funds to help with medical expenses. The turnout was phenomenal and the generosity from the crowd was amazing - we are so thankful for everyone's support! Here are a few photos from the event.Trystin, Jenny, Tom, Erin, Alexis & TrevorTrevor and ErinGrandma Cindy, Trystin, Jenny & Tom thanking the crowd.

Now for a few more fun photos from our trip:Walking Pluto the puppy dogMessy Spaghetti dinnerTrystin looking out the window of the Princess Castle
Giving each other hugsPlaying on the drum together, of course!Helping Aunt Jenny make Chicken Fried RiceTrevor and Aunt Erin - Trevor's modeling his cool dinosaur doo-rag!Lexi reading to TrystinOn our plane ride home - such a big girl!