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So since I’m now doing this update thing, once a month when the 20th rolls around, I’ll be posting a Montly Update. So she’s

22 months- only 2 more months til she’s 2. I will normally take a photo on the day I post this, but today was hectic. So why not post the cute picture from 3 days ago of her on St. Patrick’s Day? Right? I know you must be thinking what I am… she’s too cute!

I
started the party planning. We’re gonna do it in my house. I’m
currently trying to dwindle the list down more and more because well my
house isn’t that big and it’s hard because I have a lot of people in my
"immediate" family, plus my friends who have children that can play
with her… I just hope it all goes over well.

We were going to do Strawberry Shortcake theme. She does love
her! But I am saving that for next year I think. We’re doing a Hello
Kitty theme this year. (Last year- Love a Lot Care Bear). Target had
the decorations on sale so I already picked some up. I’m kinda weird
and particular, but I found a toddler bedding set for her, we’re starting to
work on her new room (girly- the nursery will stay there, neutral for
future babies) and this prompted the Hello Kitty theme this year (ya
know gotta have it all go together). Anyway, though I’m doing the room,
she won’t go in there til she’s ready but since I don’t know when that
will be and she certainly doesn’t need more toys than she’s already
gonna get- I’m gonna get all her bedding/bed stuff for her birthday. I
was going to get a plain butterfly & flower theme. But then I
thought- she should have something more toddler-ish. A lot of the
themes are a bit gaudy for my taste so it was hard. But I found an
adorable mix of what I like and what SHE would like.

  So here it is: (Click the pictures to make them larger/clearer)

Isn’t it adorable!?! Yep and it still has butterflies and
flowers too! The walls are already lavendar so it works out well. I
ordered it all today as I realized I only have 2 months and it may take
a while to come in. I will not do it til the weekend of her birthday,
so that I can do it all up and show her on her birthday. I’ll put a big
bow on the bed and then get her a hello kitty doll and dvd to go with
it that she can open. That’s my plan. The good thing is, she really
loves cats, (well all animals) but as you’ll notice from a lot of the pictures that I will send at the end of the month, she’s wearing an orange cat shirt. It’s actually
part of a pajama set, but lately everytime she sees it- she wants to
wear it – because it has the cat on it. So that was just extra
incentive for me to go with this theme.

ME herself has been doing very well. She’s doing more and more things
lately and acting oh so cute all the time (aside from a little temper
and wanting her way at times). She is very much the copy-cat. And
mimicks everything. Her new thing is walking around with her nose all
crunched and waving her hand as to say stinky (followed sometimes by
holding her nose). It’s pretty funny!

I’m now reminding myself to weigh and measure her tomorrow so I can put the
information in her growth chart. Check back on that next time you’re in 😉

So
Mary Elizabeth had surgery on 2/28 (tongue lasering etc). A couple days
later she had swelling in her face, which was not even worked on. Not
really sure why, but thinking it might have been a flare up. (Sometimes
when she’s sick her face will swell a bit, or perhaps when her body is
working hard to heal itself from surgery). It got so bad that her face
was very hard and the next thing we knew she looked as if someone
punched her in the face (that totally didn’t happen). I guess the blood
vessels must have bursted causing this bruising.

No worries though, the swelling went back down. Yes, the regrowth is
still there from before, but it isn’t overly swelled. The bruise is
starting to lighten and she is feeling great and back to her happy
little self.

Though, she’s having some temper tantrums lately here and there.
Welcome that good ‘ole 2 year old stage. haha. She doesn’t have all
that many compared to some children I’ve seen, so we’re ok thus far.
We will probably be starting to potty train soon, but I don’t expect it
to happen overnight. She just seems to understand and be more aware of
when she’s ‘going’. Her potty has been in the bathroom for a while now,
she sits on it a lot, but always clothed. I took her pants and diaper
off the other night to see if anything would happen. Then I got on the
phone (duh!- big mistake!). Had I been paying attention, when she got
up and pointed to her diaper and pants and put her little knees
together, I would’ve sat her back on the potty and encouraged her.
However, she walked near the tub, pulled the shower curtain in front of
her and peed on the floor. HAHA, lesson learned!

Also warning to those who are around her, watch what you are doing,
cuz we have a copy cat on our hands. She copies things we do, which is
very cute. But we just hope those around us keep doing cute things that
she can copy and nothing bad. She does love her Dora The Explorer
cartoon and she copies dances and stuff like that, it’s adorable.

Anyway, She goes to see the radiologist that works with the team at
Dr. Waner’s office at the end of the month to discuss the sclerotherapy
(injections).

She has such great doctors right here in NY that know so much about
something that few doctors know anything about, and we are truly
blessed for that. I will be talking about these doctors a lot so I
figured I’d give you a few pictures to put a face with a name:

From left to right: Dr. Waner, Dr. Levitin, Dr. Bernstein

Dr. Waner is the big hancho, he’s her main Dr concerning her condition.
Dr. Levitin is his partner, participates in her surgeries, we often see
him for follow-ups, and he is a very sweet man who understands both the
technical and emotional aspect of it as one of his twin daughters had a
rapidly growing hemangioma.
Dr. Bernstein is the one that will be handling any sclerotherapy injections and works along with Dr. Waners team as well.

All 3 men are experts and Dr. W and Dr. B are world renowned. Keep
these men on your prayer list. Their continued knowledge is so very
important to so many people. And if you ever run across any child with
a condition from even the tiniest thing to something as major as Mary
Elizabeth’s that is like this… I’d highly recommend them!

And just a side note, if you ever wanted to Donate to their cause in
changing the lives for those who are affected by Vascular Birthmarks
(her Lymphatic Malformation is one of the many types), visit www.birthmark.org. Just had to throw that out there

I’ll be back soon, don’t forget to ‘comment’