Here she is...

Ella's glasses came in the mail on Tuesday afternoon, and I prolonged checking the mail all day because I was dreading them. But, when I put them on her I couldn't wait to show her off. I think she looks adorable, it may just be the mother in me, but either way she looks so cute! She has been so great with them too!! The first night she took them off several times, but always handed them to me and never fussed when we put them back on. Yesterday she hardly took them off, except in the car. I'm not sure if she sees any better because she never really acted like she couldn't see before. I am so relieved that this transition has been so smooth. God is truly amazing. Everytime I have felt something was going to be too much or very difficult throughout all of this He has stepped in to make it easier. I couldn't do this without Him!

So, here are the first pictures I took of Ella with her new glasses!!

This was taken in the first 3 seconds she had them on.

Ella posing in front of our Christmas tree.

Ella reading her first book with her new glasses!

Ella's eye appointment

Today we made the trip to Arkansas Children's Hospital for Ella's latest eye check-up. I really like our doctor, and today he reminded me of why. He is concerned of how Ella's crosses when she isn't patched, but he isn't ready to jump into surgery (which I am A-okay with!). He said the decision to have this surgery is tricky because there is no way to know exactly how it will turn out because there isn't a set guide of how to manipulate the muscle, and there could be negative consequences with her eye. So, we are going to meet with another doctor at ACH for a second opinion (the doctor's suggestion). So, in the meantime, Ella will start to wear glasses to help with straightening her eye. This will be interesting because she HATES to have glasses on, and I'm sure it will be a constant battle to get her to wear them all the time. We ordered her some pink glasses today. They aren't the cutest glasses ever, but they are the most practical for a baby and doctor recommended. They are completely plastic and flexible so there is no bending or breaking them as she is pulling them off 1000 times a day!! Our patching time has been reduced to just 4 hours a day (woohoo!!), which should seem easy now since we were patching for 6 hours a day. Although we probably will have to have this surgery sometime, I'm relieved that it's not going to be right away. Ella once again amazed me today during her exam. I was nervous she wouldn't cooperate with the doctor since she is older, but she couldn't have been any more still as he looked in her eyes. She just kept looking at his little light just like she was supposed to. She is the best baby!!! Please pray that all this works for Ella and her little eye and for the doctors who are taking care of her.

Halloween '08

Halloween is always a fun time, and this year was no exception. Ella had a blast dressing up as a butterfly for the fall festival at church and to show off on Halloween night. We carved pumpkins with Ella's cousin's earlier in the week. And, although Ella didn't help out much she had fun playing and watching. This has been something my family has done together for several years now, and it's always fun to see the end result. This year Todd carved names into the back of the pumpkins, and that was a big hit with the kiddos.

Wednesday night we had the fall festival at church. Ella had so much fun!! She just walked around the whole time going from game to game (stealing the toys!). She would come back to my game for a minute before taking off again. She was showing off her independence big time!!

Last night, Ella helped me pass out candy at the house for awhile. And, she really enjoyed seeing all the kids come by. It didn't take her long to figure out that the kids were getting candy from the big bowl, so we had to open up some for her!! We also made the rounds of showing off to the family. I think we made 5-6 stops...so that means we had to put on the tutu, wings, shoes, and antennas 5-6 times because they would all fit in the car seat! But, Ella loved every minute of it. She smiled so big every time we put the tutu on her. She was a little ham all night with her costume on!!

I really enjoyed Halloween this year, and I'm a little sad it's over. But, there's always next year!!