Beach Bum

All ready to hit the waves!!!

Yum! I love to drink pool water.

This one is for Grandma Bonnie - she loves me in hats!

Peeky! I see you!

Thanks for letting us come swim Grammy and Grampa! I had a blast.
Love, Emme

Back to normal

We went in for Emily's head Dr visit on Monday this week and she is 99% sure that we will be done next Monday. We are sooo excited! She got her helmet on June 23rd, so we are just over the 8 week mark - which is what they had expected from the beginning.

Mary (her Occupational Therapist) gave us the head mold to have, so we took some pictures today to show you how much her had has changed.

Here she is showing the top of her head with her face up. Notice the lower left of the helmet (near my wrist) and see that lump? Now look at her head and see how the lump is pretty much GONE!!!

This one shows the top of her head with her face down. Notice the top right of the mold where that lump is. It's totally gone on her head!!

This one shows her face (obviously!!) Before her forehead was protruding on both sides and now it looks totally normal. She's so adorable!

This is Em wanting to hold her own head. Too cute!

We go back on Monday, and hopefully will get all our measurements and she will get her helmet off. We will post again after that with the final measurements.

Can Emme really be 7 months old?

Yep! She is.....Emily is 16.5 lbs now!! She's growing into a beautiful little girl. She still has her helmet on, but should be done with it anytime soon. She is rolling all over the place, but not really sitting up by herself yet. She loves books and toys. She loves to watch Otis and Bea run around her..and sometimes right over the top of her!! She loves her mommy and daddy--she finally knows who we are! She loves car rides and stroller walks. She is such a good little girl. Everyone keeps telling me how lucky I am, and I'm finally realizing it. She will go anywhere and do anything!!!

Let's hope the terrible 2's never happen :)

Sorry there aren't a lot of 7 month pics, here is the link: http://photos.walmart.com/shareethumbnailshare/AlbumID=32300455/albumcount=1/p=525261219791643381/l=11762543/g=3242809/cobrandOid=1011/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB/pns/share/p=525261219791643381/l=11762543/g=3242809/cobrandOid=1011/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Sugarland Photos

Thanks to everyone who came on our trip to see Sugarland! The HUGE Badger Bus

showed up promptly at 10:45am and the bus was loaded with our 7 coolers and lots of snacks. I was told I had to stay in the house while the bus was loaded...I guess there was some big surprise. By about the 5th person showing up in hawaiian attire,

I figured it out :) Thanks to Kacey for planning all the decorations and everything.

Even the driver had a lei!!! It was awesome. Tony looked hot in his coconut bra and grass skirt too!! ha ha

We got to Peru, IL around 1:30pm and there were cars all lined up waiting to get into the gates which didn't open until 3pm. So we got our big bus in line and waited patiently...drinking lots of alcohol and having a good time. When the gates opened, most of the girls decided it would be faster to walk through the gate instead of wait for the bus to get in, so we did!! We ran and walked about 1/2 a mile to the entrance and ended up 2nd row. It rocked!!! It was a LONG, HOT day though. We had fun waiting for Sugarland to come on. Finally around 9pm they came on the stage and there were only 5 people from our group left up in the 2nd row. The rest of us got sick of all the shoving and went to the back. It was still great though. We got back on the bus around 11pm and got home at 1:30am...wow....a long day! But it rocked. Thank you to everyone who came. Some from far away, some pregnant....it was so nice to have a lot of my close friends there to celebrate my birthday. It was definitely a celebration to remember.





Here are some photos: http://photos.walmart.com/share/p=441201216596737641/l=11612547/g=3242809/cobrandOid=1011/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Ready for the party?

We hope everybody is ready to have some fun and some beverages. Good thing we have a trailblazer, because it was full coming home from Sam's. 8 cases of beer, 5 gallons of vodka lemonade, caffeine free coke for prego Brenda and water for the lightweights. Let's party!! If anyone still wants to go, we have a couple tickets left. Just let Teresa know.

Em's First Beer Tent

I got this picture off Heartbreaker's website of Emily at her first beer tent. The pic is a little blurry, but thought it was so darn cute that I had to post it!!!

Professional Photos Link

As promised....here is the link to the professional photos: http://photos.walmart.com/share/p=86861215386226398/l=11551384/g=3242809/cobrandOid=1011/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

I uploaded them to wal-mart.com with Krista's approval :) So you can order whatever you like. We will be ordering some and sending them out. Not sure which yet though.

Again..photos taken by Krista at www.kristaroderphotography.com

Thanks!!

Professional Photos - 6 month

Emily had her professional photos done by Krista at http://www.kristaroderphotography.com/
She did an AWESOME job!!! If you want her to take your family pics, feel free to contact her via the website and let her know we referred you. She is such a sweetheart.


We are leaving for Hayward tomorrow morning and don't have time to upload all the photos, but here is a sneak peek....

Hope you liked them. We sure do!!!

Emily is 6 months old!

I can't believe Em just had her 1/2 birthday. She is growing into such a beautiful little girl. She went into the Dr last week and weighs in at 15 lbs exactly. She is in the 32 percentile for weight. She is 25 inches long which is the 33 percentile for height. So she's growing just fine!!

Here are her 6 month pictures: http://photos.walmart.com/shareethumbnailshare/AlbumID=28997632/albumcount=1/p=203301214868222914/l=11530105/g=3242809/cobrandOid=1011/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB/pns/share/p=203301214868222914/l=11530105/g=3242809/cobrandOid=1011/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
We have had a busy month doing a lot of fun things. We just got home from Indiana today and are leaving for Hayward on Wednesday. I will post more soon, I just wanted to get her 6 month pics out. We didn't take a ton of pics, but she had professional photos taken. We will post those when we get back from vacation.

Indiana Trip

We had a great time in Indiana. I don't have a lot of time to write, but here is the picture link: http://photos.walmart.com/share/p=406301214866575812/l=11530104/g=3242809/cobrandOid=1011/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Thanks to Randy for flying all the kids home. I am so happy that Emily got to meet all of her cousins finally. It was great to see the whole family.

Love to you all! Miss you already.

A Poopy Diaper?

Daddy home alone with Em + A poop blow-out in her diaper = DADDY CHANGED HIS FIRST POOPY DIAPER!!!

Just shy of 6 months old! It's about time!!
He even survived the big event.

Emily Updates

We haven't written in a while, so thought we'd send some updates. Emily is growing like a weed and learning new things every day. She is starting to roll over, but is more interested in 'scooting' on her back. You put her down somewhere and before you know it she has moved herself!! It's pretty entertaining. She also loves to play with her toys. Here is a video of her laughing at her little kitty:

Her helmet is doing very well. She doesn't seem to mind it at all. Kory and I can't believe how much her head shape has already changed. It's really amazing. Her face looks different as well. Sometimes I look at her and think...she doesn't even look like my little girl!!! Of course she's as cute as ever!! So here are a few pics we took tonight after washing her hair:

I never did post a blog about our Mothers Day/Fathers Day weekend, I don't think. Kory surprised me with a weekend trip to Milwaukee. Grandma Bonnie watched Em over Memorial Day weekend and Kory and I went to Milwaukee. First he got us tickets to the Body World Exhibit. It was awesome!! Brought back all these memories of anatomy and physiology in college--studying with Ali!! ha ha Then we went to this neat pub and grill called the Miller Time Pub-it's attached to the Hilton and we had the best cheese curds there!!! Then we were off to our hotel...at the PFISTER!! It rocked. Very fancy, but lots of fun. We got to our room and got settled in, then went down to the Well Spa for our couples massages. They were by far the best massages we've ever had. It was really nice. That evening we went to Mo's Steakhouse for dinner. Spent $140 just on our meal, but it was awesome. We had such a nice weekend.

So our first Mother's Day and Father's Day has been great. Thanks everyone for the well wishes.

Welcome Braenna Paige!

Cori and Jeff welcomed their new baby girl on June 7, at 2:10 PM Her name is Braenna (pronounced Bray-En-Na) Paige. She weighed in at 6 lbs 2 oz. She was a little over 4 weeks early. Braenna is doing okay, but is in the NICU to get some breathing help due to fluid in her lungs. Please say a little prayer that her little lungs clear up fast!

Welcome Braenna! Your cousin Emily can't wait to meet you!!!!

I love to jump!!!

Emily loves to jump!! Thanks Aunt CeCe and Uncle Mike for the jumperoo!!!

Torticollis & Plagiocephaly Article

Doctor notices more cases of condition that causes flattened skulls, tilted heads
by Pat Shellenbarger The Grand Rapids Press
Wednesday May 28, 2008, 6:35 AM

GRAND RAPIDS -- It wasn't all that noticeable at first. Then, about three months after their daughter, Ellie, was born, Tom Nyenhuis said something about it.
Doesn't Ellie's head tilt to the side? he asked his wife, Lisa.
"I kind of thought he was crazy," Lisa said. "I thought, she's a newborn; they have floppy heads. I'm with her all day long. Why wouldn't I notice it?"
But then a friend said she, too, had noticed Ellie's head always tilted to the right. Lisa called her pediatrician, Dr. Ken Fawcett, who diagnosed torticollis, a shortening of the neck muscles, pulling Ellie's head to the right. Plus she had a related disorder called plagiocephaly, a flattening on the right side of her skull.
The Nyenhuises had never heard of either disorder.
Press Photo/Emily ZoladzAll better now: Ellie Nyenhuis, nearly 1, of Cannon Township, holds the helmet she wore for four months to help correct her case of torticollis, a condition that shortened the muscles on one side of her neck and flattened her head.
Dr. Dayle Maples had.
"I see it very commonly in my clinic," said Maples, a pediatric orthopedic specialist at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital and Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital.
In fact, she has seen an increasing number of babies with plagiocephaly since 1992 when the American Academy of Pediatrics initiated its "back to sleep" campaign, urging parents to place newborns on their backs to avoid sudden infant death syndrome.
Maples said parents should continue following that advice, but they also should be aware that infants who spend too much time lying in one position can develop the misshapen skull characteristic of plagiocephaly. When awake, babies should be given more "tummy time," she said, allowing the skull to develop the more-typical symmetrical shape.

FACT SHEET
On the lookout
Plagiocephaly warning signs:
• Flatness on one side or back of head.
• Irregular, unbalanced head shape
• Uneven cheeks, ears or eyes
Torticollis warning signs:
• Head rotating or tilting to one side
• Low tolerance for lying on tummy
• Poor head control
• Visible arch in trunk of body

Plagiocephaly can occur without torticollis, Maples said, but torticollis can cause plagiocephaly.
About one in 300 babies is born with torticollis, and 80-90 percent also develop plagiocephaly. In many cases, the torticollis results from the baby's position and limited space in the womb, Maples said.
Lisa Nyenhuis believes that caused Ellie's torticollis and plagiocephaly.
Ellie sat in a high chair at their Rockford-area home one recent morning, eating pancakes and bananas, offering a soggy handful to a visitor. She's a year old now and shows no sign of either condition.
"I think I actually made it worse by the way I was carrying her," Lisa said, "but I didn't know anything about it."
She usually carried Ellie with her right arm, leaving her left hand free to care for her older child, Sam, now nearly 3 years old.
Last fall, her pediatrician referred Ellie to Mary Free Bed for therapy. Using a laser scan of her skull, technicians there custom designed a plastic helmet for her to wear 23 hours a day, allowing her head to grow into a normal shape.
Twice a week, Lisa Nyenhuis took Ellie to Mary Free Bed for physical and occupational therapy.
Several times a day, she exercised her at home, stretching the muscles on the right side of her neck and strengthening the muscles on the left side.
Left untreated, Ellie's head would have remained tilted to the right, her skull would have developed an asymmetrical appearance, and her jaw would have protruded to the left.
She likely would have developed vision, hearing and spinal problems.
She no longer wears her helmet or goes for physical therapy.
"Everything's fine," Lisa said. "It was curable. It was a matter of sticking with all the exercises. I keep watching for it now."
She decided to speak publicly about it, hoping to alert other parents.
"It was amazing to me how common it was," she said.


I just thought this was a really great article explaining what Torticollis & Plagiocephaly are and how they are related. It sounds like Ellie's case is very similar to Emily's. I am happy to read that Ellie is now doing so well! Just thought I would share.

5 Months Old Already!!

If you can believe it, Emily is 5 months old today.
We were quite busy this month. We started cereal for the first time, it's been a month of trying to get her to eat it and she still is not interested. Maybe some day :)
She went to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Miiller and Great Grandma Marion in Indiana. She met Great Grandma Harms when she came up to our house to visit after she got home from her winter in Las Vegas. Emily also got her mold done for her DOC band and got her helmet last week. Things are going well so far.
We celebrate our first mother's day which was really fun and Ali and Morgan came to visit from Minnesota.
So it's been quite busy!
Enjoy all the pics: http://photos.walmart.com/shareethumbnailshare/AlbumID=28570424/albumcount=1/p=869261211811073817/l=11393103/g=3242809/cobrandOid=1011/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB/pns/share/p=869261211811073817/l=11393103/g=3242809/cobrandOid=1011/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Planning Ahead...

The rising cost of college is really starting to scare us, so we are planning ahead.

We're going to have to start charging....

Em and her helmet

Emily is doing great with her helmet. She got it on Friday afternoon and stayed overnight with Grandma Bonnie on Fri and Sat nights. She slept through the night both nights, so she is doing great. She seems a little uncomfortable, but is adjusting quite well.

Keep us in your thoughts!!

Busy Few Weeks...

It's been a busy few weeks and I am so far behind on blogging...let's see...where to we start? ha ha

Well my last post was Emily getting the plaster mold done of her head for her helmet. We go in today to pick up her helmet and do her first fitting. Kory and I are both a little nervous that everything goes okay. We are hoping to start her wearing it Monday morning. We'd like to get the painting done the next few days if we can and Ryan Congdon is going to help us on Sunday night (thanks Ryan!!).

Early last week we had some issues with our water not coming out very well. We called the plumber and they said the filter was clogged and the pressure valve needed to be replaced. So he did both things and went on his merry way. Well that lasted a day or two and then the water started acting up again. This was just in time for our house guests (Alison and Morgan) last weekend. So it was a little hectic. We were able to flush the toilet (kind of) and wash our hands/brush our teeth, but there was not nearly enough water to take showers. So we packed everything up and showered at Kacey and Tony's (thanks guys!!). It ended up okay. Then I showered the next two days at my sister Casey's. We called the well people on Saturday and were going to charge an insane fee to get it fixed on the weekend, so we had to wait until Tuesday. They came out and $3,000 later we got a new well pump. Supposedly it will last us another 20 years, but that was totally unexpected. So with the last two weeks of finances with Emily's helmet and the well we are a bit tapped out (ha ha!! that's a joke!!).

Now to my fun weekend with Ali and Morgan. I was SOOO happy they came down from MN for a girls weekend. We had a blast even if we didn't get to shower! ha ha Here are some fun pics:

Here Morgan is doing Uncle Kory's hair. He was such a good sport!

Here is Em getting a bath before we ran out of water!!

Here is a cute pic of Ali and Morgan at the outlet mall.

Here is Morgan riding one of the cars at the outlet mall. She's having a blast!!

Here is the 4 of us after we're all cleaned up at Kacey and Tony's. We're heading out to Laredo's for a Mexican feast!!

Lisa and Calvin also stopped over to visit! Thanks guys!!

Here is Tina, Ali and me after we stuffed ourselves with Mexican!!

Here is Miss Em and Miss Morgan at the farmer's market.

We had quite the busy trip, but had a great time! Thanks for coming down girls.

I will post more this weekend after we get Em's helmet.

DOC Band Update

Emily had her appt today to get the plaster mold of her head for her DOC band. Kory and I were prepared for a very traumatic Dr appt. We got there and Mary was so nice. She walked us through all the steps and then said...okay...strip her down!!!

So here we are all nice and clean, ready to get started. Mom was the holder and Dad was the distractor and photographer!

She started out by putting a sock-like thing over her head. Then she cut a space out for her mouth. Her eyes stayed covered the entire time.

Then she wet each piece of plaster and put it on Em's head. She used her hands to flatten it as much as possible so we could get a good quality mold.

After she had the top of the head done, we had to sit her up and hold her very tight. She didn't like it too much, but did very well. Then she did the plaster on the back and sides of her head. By this point, her head was very heavy so she had some trouble holding it up on her own, but she did great!

Finally, Mary pulled the plaster mold off and out came our adorable little peanut! The only time she cried during the entire 10 minutes was when Mary pulled the mold off. Can you believe it?

Mary said she had never had a baby that was so good. She does about 2 - 4 of these a week and she could not believe how good Em did. She said 'Oh my gosh!, you have the best baby'. We were like...yeah, we know! ha ha

After everything was done, we gave her a nice bath.

The band should be ready in about 8 days. Then she will wear it for 8 weeks, we will need to keep it on 23 hours a day. We are not looking forward to it, but we know this is the best for Em. Her head shape is just getting worse and worse, eventhough her neck strength is getting so much stronger.