While playing she will often look at the front of the oven and see her reflection- her playmate. She'll jump up and down while laughing and cooing.

Grandma Wanda bought this exercise bouncer for her.

She is starting to understand how it works. Oh so interesting!

Our kids!

Oh big kiss! Daraby loves Abby kisses! We spend a lot of time playing with toys on the floor and looking at Abby. Abby steals several toys but Daraby doesn't mind. On the floor Dara rolls all over.

Hanging out with Dad!

Thanksgiving at Alice's home-our friend and neighbor.

Hey! Happy Thanksgiving- Belated! I hope you all got stuffed, enjoyed family/friends and thanked the Lord for all the things he has given you. This year we made a thankful list of 26 items since we are 26 years old. Every year our list will grow and change. Surprisingly, we completed that list relatively fast. We have so many things/people to be thankful for.

On Thanksgiving Day we headed on over to Alice's home. She made the big meal and it was yummy. We had a great meal and great conversation with her son-Tuff and her best friend-Jean. After lunch we lounged and chatted the afternoon away. Tuff and Alice talked guns for a while and boy are they sharp shooters. I can't believe how far away they can shoot down an animal. Crazy thing-Once when Alice's husband was shooting a hand gun at a target it blew apart and hit her in the back of the head. Thankfully it only grazed her skull but it still bled a lot. She said, "I grabbed the back of my head and my hand was covered in blood." I think I would have fainted. I love all the stories. I think you learn so much in life just by listening to other's experiences. Thanks Alice for having us over! We had a wonderful time!

On Thanksgiving night we debated about going to Byron and Shelia's home but we finally pushed our tiredness away and drove on down. It was a good thing we did because their granddaughter, Britley, was wanting to see Daraby all day. Britley is only three but loves babies. It was darling as she fed Dara the bottle and gave her the pacifier. Byron and Shelia's three girls were home and their daughter Shilo had her four kids. We spent the night eating leftovers and playing games on the Wii-what a cool video game system! The kids beat us badly at all the games we played, but we had fun.

Our friends Aaron and Jessica DeGraaf from Michigan are coming out tonight, so we're getting the house in order. Aaron wants to shoot a deer out here and we'll take the horses out to the refuge hunting on Monday. We're excited to have them out for the week and spend time together before they take off to Germany for a year. They will be working for a landscaping company over there and are looking forward to a new challenge. Stay tuned for pictures and a summary of our week together out in the hills!

Answers!

This weekend was a long one. Last night Daraby was up throughout the night and was very unhappy. It was a long night. Thank goodness hope comes in the morning. Shelia and I started out early. She had three spinal taps and then a blood draw. I can't imagine. She is one strong woman. I took Daraby to the chiropractor again and felt better. She is turning completely to the left and rotating both ways. For so long she has only looked to her right.
After lunch the pediatrician was able to work us into his schedule and I was so happy to see him. Last week we had to see a substitute pediatrician as our ped. was in Indonesia seeing his missionary parents. Dr Taylor is a very kind man who takes the time to check Daraby over and love on her. It didn't take him long to tell me that she is allergic to this soy formula and so he put her on some hypoallergenic formula. (He could tell by the blotchiness of her skin, her snazzly nose and sore tummy.) If after a week this formula doesn't work she will need the "big guns"- which is some super sensitive expensive formula. We hope this formula works.
In addition he prescribed an oral stool softener. He doesn't want her to consume so much sugar by drinking the white grape juice. The stool softener should help her feel better and eat more. He also wants her to go back to the other GERD medicine that is more appropriate for infants. If need be we will go back to this really powerful medicine that she was on. Less is best! We are all hoping that the new formula will do wonders. The protein in this new formula is broken down so it should be easy for her to digest.
All in all I'm worn clear through and so is she. We are hoping she sleeps so we can sleep. I know you all may laugh but it is 7 PM my time and I'm going to bed. Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts. I know the Lord has His hand on Daraby today!

A Draining Week!

I think this week has had its share of ups and downs. What a roller coaster we've been on! It all started Sunday. We had been anticipating Sunday for quite some time. Our friends Shelly and Blake asked us to come over after church for lunch and hang out for the day so we didn't have to go home and come back into town for the church's Thanksgiving Supper on Sun. night. During church Daraby started to scream in pain and rejected the bottle even though she was so hungry. Eventually I had to go sit in the suburban with Daraby because she was to loud. Throughout the day she had up and down moments. She would scream in pain, sleep a little, eat a little and then coo for a bit. It was a bit confusing. In the end, we had a pretty enjoyable day. It was so nice to connect with Blake and Shelly, catch up with people at church and eat great meals.
On Monday Daraby continued to eat less and I figured she wasn't feeling so well but didn't want to get overly worried. The books and people say kids will vary in the amounts they eat. She was still cranky and cried quite a bit so I kept a close eye on her. By Tuesday she had only ate 7 ounces in 16 hours. I was horrified and took her into see the local family Dr in our town. I was hoping it was an ear infection and we wouldn't have to drive 2 hours to see the pediatrician. No such luck- Daraby was sick and the Dr was concerned. She told me to keep her hydrated with Pedialite and as much formula as she would take. I was stressed and very worried but didn't want to flip out. That night my mom drove down to help me out.
On early Wednesday morning we drove to the pediatrician. After seeing her reject the bottle he ordered a GI test in the hospital. For the GI test Daraby had to drink barium and then they took a whole bunch of x-rays of the fluid in her stomach to monitor the acid reflux/GERD. They also wanted to see if her intestines were in the right place. During the testing the nurses took Daraby and shooed us out of the room. In 10 minutes or less they called us back because Daraby was being inconsolable. When we got out of the hospital we went back to talk to the Dr. He said he didn't see anything of major concern. She has GERD and we've known that all along so once again we don't really have answers. He prescribed a different drug and said he hoped that helped.
At this point I'm really frustrated. Daraby has been on 3 different drugs and so far there has been improvement and then she regresses so they up the dosage amount. I hate having her on drugs especially drugs that haven't been approved for infant use. I don't want her to be sick and I want her to eat. I hate hearing her scream for hours in pain. I feel terrible as a mom for not being able to take her pain away. I just want answers.
On Wednesday afternoon we took Daraby to a wonderful Chiropractor. She was great. She wanted to know all about Daraby and her condition. Unlike so many Drs she wasn't rushed, she didn't want to give easy answers, she didn't just adjust her and say see you later. She sat and talked to us for 45 min or more and then loved on Daraby. She hung Daraby upside down and adjusted her hips and back. Daraby relaxed, cooed and drank an entire bottle. Something she hadn't done in days. It was a relief!
In the last three days Daraby has ate some but has been constipated. She has had happy and mad moments. She hasn't slept well and has been up several times a night. It is rather frustrating and concerns me that things aren't improving as much as I would have expected.
Today mom and I set up a booth at the Wesleyan Women's Craft Fair. I had been planning for this craft fair for at least a month- so I was so excited. I had made cards and Mom had sewed some pillows and burp cloths to sell. We did sell many items and got to socialize with many people in the community. Daraby, on the other hand, was upset and cranky so when Andrew got done hunting he came and got her and took her home. After the craft fair mom helped me pack up and get home and then she went back to SD. She is a true blessing. She stepped in several times when I or Andrew was to tired to take Daraby. It doesn't seem to phase her when Daraby is screaming her head off. I was thankful for help getting to the Dr and coming home. Thanks Mom!
Funny thing is after mom left Daraby seemed to get worse again. She was screaming and mad as can be this afternoon. She really didn't want to eat and couldn't go potty. I'm so worried, frustrated and sad. I suppose Monday I'll be making the trek back to the Dr to try to get some answers. In the meantime please add little Daraby to your prayer list and we try to understand what is going on with her body to make her feel so bad. Pray that she would start to eat more and digest her food properly. We just don't know what to do.

Life is Busy! 16 weeks!

Hello! It has been a few weeks since I've been able to update. Sorry about the lapse in time. We've been so busy and tired. As most of you know I've gone back at work. Thank goodness Daraby sleeps through the night! We put her down at 7:30 PM and she awakes at 5 AM and we leave the house by 5:45 so we can start work at 7 AM. Everyday we commute an hour to work and then we commute an hour after work. Many days I eat breakfast and put on my make-up in the pick-up. No need to get up any sooner! By starting earlier in the morning we are able to work more bison. On a good day we can work 275-300 bison. All in all we will run 5,000 head. We are hoping to be done by spring. :) Many weeks we only work bison 4 days a week and then play catch up on that extra day. When I say we "work bison" I mean we gather them with four-wheelers, put them in pens, bring them into the chute, give them vaccines and sort them.

It has been wonderful to get out of the house but tough to leave Daraby. Tracey and Johanna really enjoy having Daraby. They love her like their own and probably take better care of her than I do. She is pampered and loved. During the day Daraby gets to be outside with them doing chores: collecting eggs, milking goats, feeding hay etc... Every morning Daraby greets Tracey, Jeff and Johanna with a huge smiles and at the end of everyday she greets us with those same smiles. Daraby has grown so much. Currently she is 27 inches long but only 12 pounds. She is a long slender reed so her clothes don't fit very well- they are wide and short. She is continually moving arms, legs, and her head. Jeff-the husband of our sitter- has started to call her "wiggles." It is very appropriate. I have to make sure I hold on to her tight and she will throw herself around. When she lays on the floor it looks like she is riding a bike and waving her arms. The other day while she was laying and chilling out she let out a belly laugh. It was great! She chuckles all the time. Her best times are in the morning. Isn't she her father's child? Many times she will lie awake in her crib in the morning just cooing away for at least 15 minutes or more. She believes she is talking to us. She is very vocal. Isn't she her mother's child?

This last weekend we had a couple of our neighbors over to hang out. Brandon our co-worker came over with his girlfriend- Corrinda and her baby. It is great to get to know her better and put a name with a face. Then on Sunday we had our retired neighbors Jack and Barb over for buffalo steaks and bbq pork ribs. Yum. Jack and Barb just moved here last year so they are getting settled in like us. It has been a life long dream of Jack to live in the sandhills. Jack, like my neighbor Alice, loves to work with leather so he made cute little leather buckles for the stirrups he gave her. We love all the homemade gifts!

Well I suppose, I better get ready for bed. Andrew has been pestering me about bottles, laundry and left overs. I tell you, if it isn't the child crying it is the husband asking questions. By the time I get to bed to ask him questions he is dead asleep. Our work is pretty demanding on the body. The transition for me was a bit tough but by now I'm doing well. My body cried in pain for a couple days-rough four-wheeler, cold bitter wet weather, running in mud and muck, wearing 20 pounds of warm clothes, climbing up and down the catwalk, opening solid gates in strong winds, and standing on iron beams all day. Mind you, the boys never knew I was in pain and let's keep it that way. :)

I hope you all are doing well! Keep warm!

More Estes Photos

Emerald Lake