The Jelly Belly Factory

For my birthday, Andy and the girls surprised me and took me to the Jelly Belly Factory. Ive been wanting to go there for awhile. It's an hour away, but it free so that made up for it. Andy blind folded me all the way so I had no idea! If you've never been there, id recommend it :) They have a cute little train that you take to tour the factory and stop from station to station to watch little videos on how they make the jelly beans. And in the end you get a free little bag to take home. Then you also have access to their jelly belly shop and everything is cheaper! And we got to try all the different flavors too! We did leave however feeling sick never wanting Jelly beans again! But it was worth it!

The girl's and I in our Jelly belly hats on the train~



Daddy and Mia

Mother's Day

Better late than never... I thought id share some pictures from Mother's day. Saturday we went to the fish park to let Mianna play and then walked down to the beach there. I love that park and that walk. Its so pretty, but only if you look one way because if you look the other way, its the Sewer plant! Andy lifted Mianna up to see it for some reason and now whenever we go there, all she talks about is poopy water! :) Then, Sunday we went to the Domes in Milwaukee. They were suprisingly busy, but it was a lot of fun to have so much family time!

Casting appointment scheduled

Hadley's going to have her cast removed on June 25th at 1:30 and will be recasted on July 1st at 6am! Because her casting is so early on Tuesday July 1st, we'll probably have to stay down there the night before if we can.
Just thought id keep you updated!

Hadley's follow up apt for her 1st cast

Hadley had her follow up appointment and Shriners Hospital of Chicago yesterday. The apt. was to check and see if her cast was fitting her properly without problem, to X-ray her and see if the cast was still holding her spine at a descent curve angle, and to determine when they could do her next cast.
The appointment went very well. We got there early and they got us in right away. First they X-rayed her and then we waited for a bit.
*Funny story- while waiting in the waiting room after x-rays were taken, the technician came out by us with the x-rays and asks us, "are you missing a hair barrette?" Hadley had one in her hair, so i said, no. (it was one of those little metal barrettes that just clip in your hair). I thought maybe there was one back in the room and they might have thought it was Hadley's. So, the technician pulls out Hadley's x-rays and points to it saying, she must have a barrette stuck in her cast. And sure enough, the x-ray had a clear picture of a barrette by her ribs(on her back). It was so funny. (maybe you had to be there!) The technician reassured us that it doesn't look like she ate it because it was too low to be in her stomach. So, it was clearly stuck in her cast, but its not causing any problems so its OK. We'll get it when she gets her cast taken off! :) *
After the x-rays, we went to the waiting room to wait for the Dr. And he said everything looked great! He didn't even comment on the barrette! You can tell she is definitely growing, but she has some growing room left. There were only minor bruises under her arm pits, but thats to be expected. Her curve is now 25 degrees in the cast so it did relax a bit and the cast loosened up a bit. But compared to her 74 degree curve without the cast, 25 degrees is good. (i don't know if you remember, but when she first got the cast on, they straightened her into a 17 degree curve).
So, he wants us to come back in July to recast her. We'll drive down there the wk before her casting day to get the cast off. That means a full wk of baths and splashing in the water! YAY!
They like taking the cast off a wk before they put the new one on because it allows the spine to go to the shape is going to take. That is how we will actually see if the cast is correcting her spine or just holding it.
I asked the Dr. again if he thinks the cast will correct her or if she'll need surgery. He said again, since her curve is over 50 degrees, she has a 50 50 chance of going either way. If it were under 50, he thinks the cast will correct her. But either way, if she does need surgery, he will most likely cast her off and on for 3 years so they don't have to do surgery when she's this young. He said he really couldn't tell if she would need it or not. Just depends how her body reacts to the cast. This is a little frustrating because I like to know what is ahead for her future, but it all comes back down to trusting God.
So, that's where were at now. Ill keep you all informed on the dates in July when we'll be recasting her!

The big helper

When Hadley got her new cast, I was a bit worried that Mianna would be a bit jelous of the attention. But I was wrong. She has been so helpful and sweet with Hadley. She's been more gentle and careful with her than she's ever been. And more of a help to me! She helps get diapers and wipes when its time to change Hadley, she loves to help feed Hadley, She enjoys pushing her in the stroller, she shares her toys with Hadley and sits and plays with her showing her how they work, and she likes to try helping with mommy chores! She sure is being good about all these changes! She's getting to be such a big girl!

Happy 1st Birthday Hadley

Our baby is already 1 year old today! Wooh- that went too fast! We had a birthday party with our families yesterday to celebrate! She had a blast! Enjoy the show! :)