Surgery or No Surgery...That is the Question

We had our appointment today with the reconstructive/plastic surgeon, Dr. Gosman. The final verdict is.........(drum roll).........NO SURGERY! We really weren't anticipating that she was going to say "Yes".

This plan was determined by two good reasons:

#1: Kali is still so petite and tiny

#2: The G-tube site poses a monster infection risk.

SO....our ultimate goal, before any surgeon will possibly do anything, is to get Kali on a full eating course and be able to be G-tube free. It is so easy to say...but such a hard battle to go through.

Good news though...Kalista has now added cheeses (provolone, cheddar and mozzarella) and taro bread to her "OK" list of foods. She's like a chipmunk-mouse when she eats. Nibble..nibble ....nibble....store....maybe swallow....store some more...nibble..nibble...

Welcome 2012!

We forgot to tell all of you about the elaborate Gingerbread house we saw when we were in San Francisco for the holidays. If any of you get a chance to visit the Westin Saint Francis in Union Square during the holidays, they display a Gingerbread House in their lobby. It was more like a Sugar Castle to be honest. There was also a train that circled along the bottom and it was made of sugar too.

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We kept our tradition and continued with Wednesday Zoo Day. We were amazed how packed the zoo was today. Families must still be on vacation. Well, it was giraffe and orangutan day. The orangutans were lively and hanging all over the place. Kalista is a monkey magnet since the orangutans always find a way to sit next to her through the window. The giraffes were gorgeous as usual. Don't be jealous..but the temperature for today was 85 degrees. Gotta love San Diego winters!!! Kalista traded in her thick parka for a bonnet and sunglasses.

(Sorry this last picture isn't that great =( )

Last Day of 2011

As we say goodbye to 2011....we look forward to what 2012 will bring us.

When we reflect upon the year we are happy to say that it was a fairly mellow year. 2011 was deemed the year of healing.

1. We were happy to have a surgery-free year.

2. Kalista celebrated many milestones -walking, crawling (almost at the same time), her 1st birthday, first set of teeth (now she has molars-top and bottom), talking a little and most impressive is her willingness to try various textures and types of food flavors. We even got her to use kiddie toothpaste (fruit flavor) with her toothbrush and she didn't flinch. =)

3. The dogs, Bella and Joey, are still healthy and active as ever. Kalista would agree that they keep her on her toes too.

4. Matt and Jen still have jobs...whew!

5. Kalista got to finally meet the infamous Karsie (our NICU nurses and doctors use to mention her in passing as they compared our similar medical marvels). The girls got to compare belly scars and stories last month during our first playdate. We hope 2012 will bring more playdates.

6. We got to venture up to the Bay Area for the Christmas holidays this year. Our last time up there for the holidays was almost four years ago. It was great being able to see everyone in our extended family and having all of them meet Kalista for the first time.

We hope that you and your family had a great 2011 and an even better 2012 to come.

Here is to a fabulous year to come.....HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Cheers.

Merry Belated Christmas

We made it back to the Bay Area for the holidays. Here are some pictures of our trip (sorry they're not in chronological order):

Hanging out with Matt's high school friends and their babies

Matt with all the babies

Jen's BFF and her little girl

On Christmas Day, we made three stops to see various relatives throughout the entire Bay Area: (1) Great-Grandma Tam for lunch then (2) The Lee (Tam) family's early dinner and lastly (3) The Lam family later evening dinner. It was exhausting and it felt like we barely got a chance to chat with everyone.

The "kids" hanging out

Kali opening gifts with Grandma Evelyn.

The Lam, Low and Martinez Crew

Kalista barely made it through this last group photo. She signed to us that she wanted to go to bed and poor thing was in tears by the time we were done because she was so tired. Although, she must gotten a second wind since she opened one or two gifts after this and then finally passed out in Grandma's arms.

Grandpa Greg, Grandma Susan with Kali

Our traditional family photo

On Christmas Day, Kali spent some time with Great-Grandma

Kali loved bouncing on Great-Grandma's lap

Auntie Steph and Uncle Preston with Kali

Auntie Steph couldn't wait to give Kali big hugs

Grandparents and the grandkids (with the exception of Auntie J)

The big Christmas Tree at Union Square was a delight to see

We got to spend some time in San Francisco to enjoy the big city feel

Kalista took BART for the first time

Kalista found all the musical ornaments on our tree

Kalista's new coat from Santa (which came in handy since it was super cold in SF)

Holiday Cheer

Our family wishes you a very Merry Christmas!!!

Hello Santa

It's the holiday season and we decided to celebrate a little early. Our Christmas tree is up and our holiday lights are strewn across the house. We even got a chance to wrap a few gifts for our family members and placed them under our tree. Not bad for being only the first week of December.

Kalista got dressed up yesterday to see Santa and told him what she wanted for Christmas. Here are a few pre-Santa pictures that we gathered throughout the day:

Our cute little elf by our Christmas tree

Kali showing off her new house slippers

Holiday lights are always so mesmerizing

Ta da!!!

Oh Dear Santa...

As you can tell, Kalista didn't want to crack a smile at all while she was with Santa. Bless that gal's heart who was the photographer, since she tried almost everything; all those cool noise-making and moving toys didn't make a difference. Kalista must have had a serious list for Santa because she was all business about it.

Yummy in My Tummy!

Kalista ate her first tater tot yesterday and a small bowl of mac and cheese today. Yay!

The Pat Down

So...in our last post we showed you a picture of what looks like Bella starting a conga line with Kali.

Here is what really happened:

December Already??

Hi everyone! I can't believe that November has came and went. Sorry for the lack of post entries last month.

Well...after Halloween came and went,it was only a few weeks before Jen's family came into town for Thanksgiving. It has been awhile since Grandpa Greg and Uncle Bill saw Kali over the summer so they were anxious to come visit. Grandma Susan was just down in October for a two week stay. Kalista has a good memory; she knew it was Grandma as soon as she saw her.

For pre- Thanksgiving dinner, Jen made her first turkey on the stove top. Yes...stove top. We invested in a cookware system called Saladmaster. It's a waterless and oil-less method of cooking and essentially uses a pressure cooking method to cook your food. So we threw a 12 pound turkey on the stove, added some vegetables and let it go for about 3 to 4 hours. We'll just say it was so tender that the meat started falling off the bone. Mmmmmm good!

Ironically, we spent Thanskgiving evening at a restaurant. We had dinner at Soleil@K in the Gaslamp since they have a wonderful buffet spread. We definitely enjoyed the endless supply of turkey and prime rib with all the fixings. Yum!

During our Thanksgiving week, we finally got a chance to meet up with Karsie Gene. She is one of Kalista's baby "O" friends. It was the first time we all met each other in person. We have been following each other's blogs for awhile and emailing back and forth. It has been so great being able to share our stories and our journey with each other.

We set up a play date/food date while they were in town to see if Karsie would rub off some good foodie vibes. We thought it would be such a positive experience to see another little girl, just like Kalista, eat yummy things like hash browns and scrambled eggs. And you know...we have to thank Karsie and her family because Kalista is now on this food kick. She started drinking "Icy Water" (watered down whole milk) in place of just plain water and today she ate 12 graduate puffs in a row. Not bad in one week's time! She has also accepted Fruit Loops into her repertoire of foods. We couldn't be happier! 12 sweet potato puffs...in a row....that's a record!

Kali at the park with her friend

As we transition into December, we have sadly caught this wicked little cold that has plagued everyone around us. We think this early Christmas present was sent to us by mistake. This time the grownups got hit harder than Kalista. Last time she got sick...it was a nice trip to the ER...times two. This time she got the sniffles for a few days, but seems to be doing fine right now running around the house. She is the only who got the flu shot this season..so maybe that helped. Hopefully, we can all rest up this weekend and be back to good health by next week.

I feel good.....let's conga!

November Updates

Kalista had her GI appointment at the beginning of the month and she is still on the growth curve...barely. She weighed in at 18 pounds, 2 ounces; which is actually a half pound more than last month. Pretty good! Her g-tube site didn't look that great since it has still been leaking a little every time she retches. The granulation tissue that formed at around the opening had to be burned with silver nitrate. The site looked fantastic for about a week as the area healed, but now it looks the same again. Bummer!

And yes..those teething woes again. Kalista has some new pearly whites We thought she had chunks of food in her mouth at first, but then did a second take to find that she had some monster huge molars coming through. She loves the tooth brushing part of her nightly regimen. It must feel good having the bristles massage her sore gums. Nonetheless, such a blessing that she knows the importance of good oral hygiene! Our dentist would be so proud.

It is official, the Tams have announced that they will be joining us for Thanksgiving. Yay! Now, it's time to go defrost that turkey of ours and give thanks for many great things that have happened this year.

Wishing everyone an early "Happy Thanksgiving"!