Exhausting...no other way to put it...Kahlia is busier then both Brendon and Makenna combined when they were her age, and though David gave her a run for her money, she is officially the mischief QUEEN of the family. She literally goes from one thing to the next. Yesterday alone, she climbed onto the table at least 6 times. She gets into food, throws it all over the floor (I especially enjoy the chicken noodle soup and yogurt splattered from one end of the room to the other), scribbles on the kids' homework that they left on the table, swished her hands in the toilet, on and on and on... I know - it's just a season - but I'm ready for this season to pass!!! Because she is unable to talk, her new default is to scream....all the time....over and over... sigh... On a positive note...She is walking SO SO well these days!! She can walk all the way through the living room into Makenna's bedroom with out falling. Yes, she still looks a bit like a wet noodle, but we'll take it. She's doing great. To think that just 9 months ago, she couldn't even pull herself into a sitting position. I need to focus on the positives right now - her cuteness and sweetness is definitely getting her by these days...whew!!! Did I say exhausting???!!!

We're now on kid #2 with fevers this week! Brendon had a fever for 3 days, missed most of his swim meet, and now David woke up with a fever this morning. So far, Kahlia has not gotten the fever. She has an immune deficiency, so we are really watching her closely, but so far so good!! :-) Next Tuesday we can turn in another lab sample to see if she still has Giardia. That is spring break, so who knows where or what we will be doing - depending on what we do, we may not be able to get the sample in until the following week. Looking forward to the break - what I really need to do is repaint - permanent black marker on our walls isn't exactly the "reminders" of Kahlia I would like to keep...she is fast and furious with a pen!
Her walking is getting better and better by the day. She attempts to walk a lot more, and go farther then she has been able to go. My hopes are still alive for her walking by summer! :-) We will see...

Tuesday, Kahlia and I drove to Eugene for her Cardiology appointment with Dr. Carlson - her Cardiologist. From a Cardiology stand point - she couldn't be better. She had 99% oxygen, and she continues to grow - slowly but surely. She is now just over 21 lbs. She's gained almost 5 lbs. in 10 months. Hopefully after we get rid of her Giardia parasite - we will see a more dramatic weight gain...we finished her 5th treatment on Tuesday, but we have to wait 2 weeks before we retest her. I am no longer optimistic...we'll see I guess.

The honeymoon period is officially over. Though Kahlia is as lovable as ever, she is officially exhausting!!! She is into absolutely everything - most recently, she has an infatuation with markers - she writes on her arms, legs, clothes, walls, chairs, couches, and cabinets - you name it, she's probably marked on it. Exhausting beyond words....Scott learned today on the internet that toothpaste can take permanent marker off of wood - good to know - will definitely come in handy in our household! So - washable and permanent markers alike are no longer allowed ANYWHERE that Kahlia can reach - because if she can reach them, she WILL find them. Toys are now boring - CD's, DVD's, kitchen drawers, and the kid's "stuff" is much more exciting then her "boring" toys that we have all over our living room for her!! Looking forward to this stage passing right on by!!

Her hearing aids aren't going so well. I barely put them in her ears because they don't fit well, and fall out constantly. I will only let her wear them when she's at home, and since most of our days are either spent out at her appointments, the other kids' activities, or home taking her nap, she doesn't get the chance to wear them all that much!

Life seems hard right now, I'm hanging on in survival mode - but I am very grateful to be right where I am going through exactly what I am. God is my anchor, and I will continue to keep on keeping on, because that's what I'm called to do!! :-)

I admit, it's been a while since I've posted. Hard to keep up!! Kahlia was tested positive for Giardia for the fourth time. GRRRR... we will begin her 5th treatment tomorrow...we are doing the same medication we tried last time, but doubling the time. I have less and less optimism with each lab test. It's discouraging that she can't get rid of this parasite she has probably had her entire life!! So, she will take this medication for a week, then we have to wait another 2 weeks after that to test her again - so we're looking at another 3 weeks before we will know anything...

Kahlia got her hearing aids today - they are actually really cute! She has HUGE holes in her eardrums caused from her chronic ear infections, and the doctors cannot surgically close them until she is older or they would burst open again with her very next ear infection. Those huge holes have a huge impact on what she can hear. Though she doesn't seem to have a problem hearing, it's the small sounds and frequencies that she doesn't hear. She has mild to moderate hearing loss that can likely be corrected after surgery. We are hoping that now that she has hearing aids, she will be able to hear and start recognizing consonant sounds, so she can start making those sounds herself! The only consonants we have ever heard her say is "m" and "n". She either vowel matches words, uses no words, or uses sign language. She is getting really good with her signing. I only wish I knew more! Makenna went to the library today with her class, and she came home with a signing book, and she read 80 pages tonight!!! She now meets with a signing lady from ESD a few times a month, as well as speech and physical therapy. She started a small group session with other 2 year olds last week which she really liked. They do fine motor skills projects, story time, gym and obstacle course time, snack time, art time, and free reading time. It was really good for Kahlia to be around kids her own age with the supervision of 2 speech therapists. My life is getting SO busy with all these appointments, waiting for life to settle down a little this summer!! :-)

Kahlia's walking is improving - ever so slowly...she can sometimes take 6-8 steps at a time before falling down. She wants to walk so bad, she just can't seem to balance herself at all. I think there is an equilibrium problem with her ears - I am truly concerned, but no one else seems to be too concerned since she is slowly improving. It's just hard being patient - I really wanted her walking by this summer so we can spend time outside with out her getting every set of clothes filthy diry from crawling everywhere instead of walking!!

That's the update - I will try to be better as we have "updates"! Thanks for your support and prayers - we are truly blessed...