Wishing you a happy 2009!

We found out great news from the doctor on Tuesday that Jada is 100% better! Right before Christmas we learned that the breathing treatment was taking care of the pneumonia and allergy problems, but that she had since gotten an ear infection (her first one ever). So it was such a relief to find out this week that she is finally over everything. The next few weeks we will be weaning her off the breathing treatment and hopefully can keep her off unless the allergies come back.

We had a wonderful time with family over the holiday. The week before Christmas was spent in Kansas with John's family. We had a great time (as always) and really wish we could see them more often. Jada's cousins are growing so fast - they are bigger every time we visit! We love seeing them grow up together: I think Jada and Abby will be great friends when they are older.

Grammy & Jada

Jada can actually say "Abby." It's too cute!

The Friday after Christmas was spent with Paige's family. Grandma & Papa surprised us with a little chair they actually made for Jada. So cute! You can't see the whole chair in these photos, so I'll have to post a better one later. Jada continues to have the nicest furniture in the house. :-)


And now I have to brag on our little genius: Jada has been learning sign language and has recently just taken off with it. She has a Signing Time video that she loves to watch (it's actually the only thing she will sit down & watch all the way through) and every day she will show us a new sign that she has learned. I think I've counted twelve so far. She is such a little talker too. She tells GREAT stories: you may not be able to tell what the story is about, but you can tell it is very interesting! It's been amazing to see her grow and learn this past year and we can't wait to see what this new year brings.

New Layout

Well we updated the layout of the blog. Bigger Pictures to follow like this!

doctor appointment

We are so glad we took Jada in for a second opinion. After checking her out, the doctor said she does notice allergies, but also thought she had an infection. She noticed her wheezing a little and gave her a breathing treatment, then sent it home with us to continue giving her at home. She also thought it would be a good idea to get an x-ray, which we are thankful for, because it turns out she has a spot of pneumonia on her right lung. I got very emotional over the news, but now I am so thankful that we know what it is and can treat her. She is already noticeably better after the breathing treatments and that is so encouraging! She still has a slight cough, but is already getting back to her happy playful self. Thank you for all your prayers and support - we are so grateful for our wonderful family and friends!

update

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We really enjoyed getting to see the Rumbaugh side of the family since we don't get to see them very often. Jada did great - we brought a whole bag of toys to keep her entertained and she was basically content with an empty water bottle the whole time - carried it everywhere, taking the lid off and on over and over again. :-) And even though she's been going through a little clingy phase lately, she pretty much went to anyone that held their arms out to her (she especially loved going to her Great-Grandma). Unfortunately, we were having so much fun visiting that we didn't take any pictures with the family. :-(

Since then, we've been dealing with a little sickness in our family, which is never fun. Just this last week Jada's been running a slight fever off and on, and been noticeably not feeling well: she is always the happiest baby with so much energy, but there have been a few days when all she wants to do is curl up in my lap & read a book or sleep. The doctor told us she has no infections and may just be teething or have a cold. We have a lot of confidence in our doctor, but since she's also been dealing with allergies for so long, we thought we would take her to a different doctor tomorrow - maybe we'll at least get an insight into her constant allergies.

Family Pics

We had our wonderful photographer, Crystal, take some family photos of us almost a month ago & I'm just now getting them posted here. We've been busy as always, but always having lots of fun with our favorite little girl. Jada's new favorite word lately has been "baby" & she can even say it in sign language! Such a smart girl! She also has a new favorite game: finding and showing everyone her belly button. She also has started finding Mommy & Daddy's belly buttons, which could be a problem if she ever starts doing that in public (especially to strangers)!

These photos are from a recent "photo shoot" at Aunt Crystal's house. In the middle of her fall clean-up, Aunt Crystal got these great shots of Jada having a blast in the pile of leaves...

Halloween

We had such a fun Halloween this year! While Jada was a puppy dog for the Haunt the Zoo, she was Tigger for Halloween night... and what a cute Tigger she was! To start off the night, we went to see Great-Grandma Howland (Gi-Gi) and show off our costume. Then we went to the Bethany First Church Fall Festival and played a few games - Jada even got to bounce in the inflatable all by herself! And the fun continued through Saturday night when our Sunday School class had a Halloween costume party. It was so much fun to see everyone in their cute and creative costumes! Mom even won a prize for the hardest to figure out (black-eyed pea). BOO!!

Can you believe they actually gave me candy?!?

Hunting for pumpkins at the Sunday School party

the craft table