Despite the Grinchpox, we had a great Christmas!

Due to the mysterious Grinchpox epidemic, Gracie was able to celebrate Christmas morning 3 times over the course of Christmas Day. First was our personal little family Christmas- it was here that Gracie learned the joy of ripping the paper from her gifts and playing with all of the great new stuff. Santa brought her a ball, some blocks, a few books, a pop-up toy, crayons and a coloring book, and the big gift- a Fisher Price Learning Kitchen. She LOVED it all! Wave #2 came when Jimmy's family came over in the mid-afternoon with tons and tons of wrapped gifts that Gracie could hardly wait to rip into. She cleaned up again with lots more toys and some big boy cousins to play with. :) Wave #3 came in the evening when Uncle Mack, Noni and Munts showed up with arm loads of more toys and clothes, and a little Radio Flyer wagon that Gracie has been pushing all over the house. :) By the time the 3rd wave came along, Gracie was opening everyone's gifts for them. It was too cute. So while the Grinchpox tried to ruin our day, it managed only to spread the fun throughout the day and well into the nighttime. I can assure you that Gracie was not disappointed with that... although I am positive it would have been even more fun to have the little cousins around too. All in all, we had a wonderful day.

In medical news, Gracie has managed not to catch Grinchpox, and her surgery to remove her central line is scheduled for this coming Friday. We absolutely cannot wait! No more fumbling with lines and remembering to flush them, no more paranoia about the line coming out-getting snagged-getting infected-clogging up-kinking and breaking etc., no more long stretches between baths (aka stinky baby), no more attempting a sterile dressing change with a wiggly toddler, and no more itchy-rashy-inflamed skin that is irritated by the bandage. This will be a huge step back to normal life for us and for Gracie and it will alleviate quite a bit of stress from our lives.
Gracie will also be having her eyes examined while she is under anesthesia, and I am looking forward to seeing what kind of progress the doctor will see from her last exam which was done prior to starting this journey. We also plan on scheduling another hearing test and hopefully Gracie will FINALLY pass it. :) I am confident that she will.

We are hoping that our loved ones all had a Merry Christmas and we're wishing you all a wonderful New Year! We're hoping that 2009 will continue to bring us many blessings and good health to our precious little girl.

Much Love.