blogs are for people with real-life organizational skills.

I have two "drafts" of blog posts sitting on my computer waiting to be finished.  One is from our Thanksgiving trip to San Diego, and the other is from Ruthe's cleft palate repair.

To summarize those two things:

We had such a great time in San Diego!!  We got to see a lot of John's family and Ruthe was finally able to meet her Meemaw and little cousin Novalee!  It was a wonderful visit, and too too short, like those holiday visits usually are.  Someday we'll be able to spend nice long days at the beach and play with family and friends for as long as we want to!!

Ruthe's cleft palate surgery was a success!!  I'm not going to say it was "great" because it was actually very miserable - for both of us!  Her surgery was quick and perfect with absolutely zero complications, but afterward there was no room for us on the pediatric floor, so we had to spend HOURS and HOURS sitting in the awful recovery area.  The nurses were so nice, and tried their best to make us comfortable, but it just wasn't going to happen on a plastic chair.  And poor Ruthe was so drugged up and miserable, you could tell all she needed was a quiet dark room to sleep.  Eventually they found a space for us upstairs and we settled in for the night.  Ruthe's at-home recovery went really well!!  After about three days we just gave up on the arm restraints though.  They were terrible, and Ruthe really wasn't in the mood to put things in her mouth anyway!

[[ok, now we can fast forward!]]

Now that everything is said and done she is just blowing us away with her skills!!  She has started SWALLOWING ACTUAL FOOD!  It's still only about the equivalent of a large grape every few days, but she would spend all day taking tiny sips of water if we had that kind of patience.

And she is growing!  I know it doesn't seem like it on paper - she's only gained about a pound since her surgery -- but she is quickly turning into a toddler, and I am not a fan.  Although her hair has started growing and getting darker, so that's fun!!  She can pull herself up to stand, scoot her little bum anywhere she wants to go, and almost - almost! - crawl!!  It's pretty dang adorable!  But, oh!  I want it to stop!  I want need her to stay tiny and dependent on me forever!!

 Last week we saw her cardiologist and pediatrician and they were both really pleased with how well she's doing!!  I LOVE appointments like that!  She weighs 23lbs and is about 31inches tall!  She made a nice little jump on her growth chart that looks really impressive compared to that plateau she was on for the past six months.

In other news, we are FINALLY MOVING TO UTAH!!!  Yes!  Can you believe it?!  It only took us eighteen months to make the leap!  It's going to be so hard leaving my parents and our leisurely lifestyle, but it is hands-down 100% the best thing.  It would have been the best thing to do in January, but I'm half-blind & can't drive, which kind of puts a damper on taking Ruthe to doctor's appointments and therapy sessions.  So we're planning to move in March and we are SO excited!!  Terrified, but excited!

I will TRY to keep the blog updated with Ruthe's many accomplishments from now on, but I've said that before and it always ends up being a lie.