Updates are finally HERE!

Oh my how have we neglected our blog this long...we had such high hopes to update everyone about Lottie's palate surgery but obviously we failed!  Everything went beautifully and hoping on this dreary, wet, sleeting day here in Austin we can play catch up...so here goes.... (in order to keep the blog dates accurate we may be post dating some of our posts!)

Here is our Sweet girl 2 weeks post palate repair on New Years Day Happy 2014!

Look how WE have grown!

 

We recently took a second photo shoot to document our last few weeks waiting for Lottie's baby sister.  9 months later since discovering we were expecting- the first photos were taken on June 1, 2013 and these recent photos on January 18, 2104.   It is still amazing to us how much she has changed in just a short amount of time, not just physically but emotionally.  Lottie is no longer a little baby- she is a full fledged toddler full of personality and love.  She actually could wear the same outfit we dressed her in 9 months ago, although she's growing everyday she is still a tiny little girl.  It was a fun little photo shoot and Lottie LOVED wearing the tutu.

 

 

Month 10

Month 10 was a crazy month for all three of us, as it was the month Lottie recovered from her palate repair.  So we don't have too much new milestones, she was so strong but needed lots of extra cuddles.  Here are some of her monthly photos.

Merry Christmas

Its amazing to think a year ago, we clung to our three photos of our daughter dreaming of the day we would hold her forever, Christmas last year just didn't seem quite right.  What a difference a year makes.  The Grinch got it right, Christmas doesn't come from a store, its about family.  This year we decided not to exchange gifts, we donated to our favorite charities instead, this year we didn't plan any fancy vacations or expensive dinners, we just decided to stay at home and cook together.  It was by far my most beloved Christmas, for so many reasons, but having my daughter here after years of wishing and hoping seemed so surreal.

What a magical time of year, Lottie's first Christmas home was celebrated with her grandparents Lola & GrandT, CeCe, PopPop, Aunt Kelley and Uncle Dan. It was wonderful watching her see the look on her face opening all of her gifts.  Santa was so good to Lottie, she was opening gifts days after Christmas.  Although she is still recovering form her palate surgery a few days ago, it was a wonderful day, and we are so grateful to be surrounded by family holding our daughter in our arms this year. Wishing you and yours the joys of the season.  Merry Christmas to all. 

Love,

The Castagnos & Fogartys

Twas the night before surgery

We made it to Dallas, and checked into our hotel room.  Lottie is definitely aware that something big is going to happen.  Sadly, she was very clingy and emotional in the hotel room.  But given some time she was more comfortable and began to play.  We wanted to keep her up as last as possible, since surgery was scheduled for 11:30am the next day and Lottie couldn't eat or drink past 2 am.  We knew she wouldn't understand and how heartbreaking it would be if she signed or requested food.  We were hoping a late hotel room party would equal sleeping in until 10-10:30am.  We also had bags full of distractions- mostly Elmo toys. 

It was a great football night, as our beloved Ravens were playing the Detroit Lions.  And the game didn't disappoint.  We ate room service and cheered on our team.  Lottie really loves to watch football so it was a great distraction and kept our minds off of the surgery.  Our plan unfolded seamlessly, Lottie stayed up until 2 am playing in our bed and eventually dosed off shortly after her last official feeding. 

Month 9

Wow 9 months!  we are getting closer and closer to our 1 year anniversary of becoming a forever family. We could not love this little girl any more, she is our world!  Lottie continues to blossom in front of our eyes, she is talking more and loves playing with various toys.  She is really starting to imitate us, answering play phones and pretending to eat play food.  She continues to love Elmo and is beginning to sing the Elmo song, that goes "La, La, La, Elmo's world"  Lottie is starting to have a preference to toys she plays with, besides Elmo some of her favorites are balls,  small books, and small miniature items-think little gadgets you get in a goodie bag.  Lottie also loves cars and trains. Lately she has been fascinated with birds, and living in central TX, when they say birds fly south for the winter they aren't kidding...she is finding it so fun to see all the birds and signs bird with her tiny fingers..it is priceless. She has a new fascination with the moon, and enjoys looking out the window each night to point it out for us, of course we are reading Goodnight Moon and this is also becoming a quick favorite, a must read every night.

This month was somewhat uneventful, Lottie is staying cooped up at home to prevent exposure to germs, in preparation for her upcoming palate surgery.  She is starting to miss school and we can tell desperately wants to go "bye-bye" but with cold and flu season being at the peak, we are really trying to keep her in a little bubble.  Literally a bubble- she hasn't left the house in weeks.  If we need to run errands one of us stays home.  Its hard for her now, but in the long run it will pay off as we need a healthy little girl for surgery on 12/17/13.

Lottie is enjoying the holidays and really loves our Christmas tree, she loves to pull some of the ornaments off and hand them herself (thank goodness for plastic holiday ornaments that actually look pretty) She is very gentle with them and so far has only rearranged the ornaments with our permission.  She looks at the tree and will say "wow" over and over again.  We know she doesn't understand the meaning behind the decorations or the season itself, but it is wonderful to see the joy in her eyes over the little things like sparkly ornaments, bright lights, and wrapped packages. 

Homebound for December

In preparation for surgery, we decided to keep Lottie home a full 20 days before surgery to avoid any illness.  Unfortunately, if she was to get sick, we would need to cancel her surgery and this isn't an option for our growing family.  It was quite the juggling act as we both work fulltime and trying to adjust our schedules and work from home with an active 2 year old was a challenge!  But we did survive- looking back we joke and wonder how we did it!  One day we both had important meetings and needed some help!  Thanks to our friend Brandi, she offered to help watch Lottie and took some real cute Christmas photos!