YEAH!!!  We could not be happier (okay, so we could if the price was higher but you take what you can get!)  We have been in negotiations with the buyers for the past week and it wasn't looking too great.  Needless to say, after counteroffering to multiple rounds of low ball offers, we finally settled on what was pretty much our bottom line.  Actually, their final offer was a little below our bottom line which led to our re-negotiating our realtor's rate from 6% down 4.5% to make the deal work.  I can quite honestly say that I'm pretty sure our realtor hates us but we can live with that.  It came down to a horrible market and some great negotiating.  We are thrilled!!!  The plan is to still stick around MA for part, if not most of August and be home by Labor Day.  Please pray that this works out for us!!!

By now, I'm sure that most of you have heard the GREAT news . . . Alli is continuing to gain weight!!!!    At her appointment with her GI doc last week, she weighed in at 19 lbs 8.6 oz.  So all of you mathematicians out there now realize that Alli gained 2 lbs in 3 weeks ~ Woo Hoo!  We are so thrilled, now if only we could get her to eat a bit healthier of a variety of foods, oh well, that's tomorrow's battle.  For now, we are just so happy that she seems to be improving.  Now, to be fair, she still is not a great eater, very picky and eats small amounts, but she's a small gal so we're not expecting her to eat a ton yet.  We are a little nervous for when we have to take her off of the stimulant (6 weeks on, 2 weeks off).  She has to go off of it so her body doesn't build up a tolerance to it.  Although we have been warned that it could be stressful, we are trying to remain positive and hoping that she will at least not lose weight even if she doesn't gain.

 

We had a very touching experience at Children's Hospital at her last visit that I wanted to share.  We were down at the lab because Alli needed to have her bloodwork re-checked.  While we were waiting, Alli saw a little infant with her Mommy and was very intrigued.  The other Mommy thought Alli was very cute and we began chatting while the little girls were watching each other very intently.  Turns out the little one was 7 months old and had just received a heart transplant.  You could just see the love and joy pouring out of her Mommy.  We were absolutely amazed by this and were reminded once again how fortunate we are to have Alli in our lives.  As we were leaving Children's that day, we saw a sign for a 7 mile walk to benefit the Hospital and we decided to sign up.

 

Although we have nothing to compare it to, we think that Children's Hospital in Boston is a wonderful place, a truly unique hospital—one of the best pediatric institutions in the world, giving hope to so many kids and their families, constantly finding new ways to treat or cure an amazing variety of diseases. The doctors and nurses here never say "never" and they treat kids from all over the world. We're fortunate that we have insurance but some of the kids have families who can't afford to pay for their care and Children's takes care of them all! If you are interested in supporting Alli in her walk for Children's, please visit her Walk page at http://howtohelp.childrenshospital.org/walk/pfp/?ID=FA0032.

Thank you! Your donation will make a difference in kids' lives, including Alli's :)

Alli had her 15 month appointment yesterday and it was AMAZING!!!!  She is up to 18 lbs 13 oz and 31 inches.  We were just hoping that she might hit the 18 lb mark finally, we never dreamed she would surpass it and almost hit 19 lbs!!!  I cried when the nurse told me the weight   I couldn't help it, I was just so excited.  It was a great appointment all around.  Alli only cried when she got weighed (go figure!)  She was such a little champ during the exam and chatted the whole time.  Although she has her own language and doesn't say a ton of recognizable words, her doc thinks she is right where she should be and was impressed by how well she understood directions ~ she showed him her belly, how she can shake toys, how she dances, how she can "pet" animals (he gave her a baby animals counting book) and she gave Mommy smooches when asked   Here's the most impressive part . . . she got two shots (one in each arm) and our big girl didn't so much as wimper!!!  That's right, she just looked at the nurse as if to say, "are you done yet?  I want to go play."  When we went out to the waiting room so I could book her next appointment before we left she played and flirted with the women at the front desk.  The consensus in the office was "WOW!  not a usual 15 month old reaction"  She was such a brave little girl!!!  I was so giddy yesterday that I couldn't stop smiling and crying ~ silly Mommy!