Today our church celebrated Pastor Apprecaition Day. They have always gone above and beyond on this special day, but today they even went even further. Here are some pictures of our stuffed kitchen!

Each person picked their favorite thing:

Stacy - T-Bone steaks

Katelyn - Hot Chocoalate with mini marshmallows

Sarah - Puffy Cheetos

Lizbeth - Juicy Juice

Me - oranges

Sarah and Katelyn did go on record saying ALL the snacks were their favorite.

We have been blessed with such a good Church family. They love us, our PKs, our cats and our extended family. God truly blessed us by sending us here. Without this day, we would still know how much they care for us. They have taken care of our family for six years now. They prayed so earnestly for little LizBeth, came to visit, allowed Stacy two months off with pay and made sure to dote on Katelyn (who now wants to be called Katie) and Sarah while we were away. God is so good to us!

LizBeth is responding well to her antibiotic, and even better to her breathing treatments. She's still a little snotty, but was able to take a whole bottle last night without any issues. Poor girl, she's been so clogged up, she couldn't eat without gasping and choking. We are so relieved to have the g-tube still in place. I'm not happy she has an artificial tube in her tummy, but it has kept her from getting dehydrated through this. She likes the game "A-Boo." We leave the peek off. Someday, maybe we can figure out to video the Princess and post some of these activities on here for you all to see.

We are set to go to the City on Wednesday afternoon of next week. LizBeth's appointments (Neuro, ENT, Genetics) are all scheduled for Thursday. Please pray about these visits: 1. We would have travel mercy. 2. The ENT would recommend the best closing procedure for LizBeth's stoma. 3. I'm not sure how to say this one... Pray that the Neurologist and the Geneticist visits would not be discouraging. We know that LizBeth is not where she should be, but she has improved so much. I know that God has answered our prayers for Liz. Since Stacy and I see her every day, we can tell these things. I'm not sure one visit in six months will reassure the doctors that she's getting better. I know they will give their best medical opinion and they will do it kindly, but I want to keep trusting in God and not give into the temptation to bottom out based on what the medical world can see. I want to enter their offices with the right attitude and do what's best for LizBeth. We know God has done exactly that for the last nine months! Thank you.

LizBeth has her first cold. That's not really something to be excited about, but she is handling it like a trooper. She's just very "rattly" and "gurgly" sounding. No fever or bad attitude, just trouble eating at times and lots of snoring at night. She is on a round of antibiotics and breathing treatments. She tolerates the treatments for about two minutes, then that's enough by LizBeth's standards. She has PT tomorrow morning. Hopefully, she will cooperate!

We enjoyed our trip to Ada, Oklahoma. It's always nice to go and visit family. But, Stacy and I always gain weight when we go to visit our parents. They take us out to eat, fix our favorite meals and buy us all the junk we want. It's always nice to come home and feel "skinny" again in about a week.

We are in Ada! Our trip was uneventful, thankfully. The girls are really enjoying themselves. Tonight everyone is going to the service. It's not official, but LizBeth may have been adopted by the Oklahoma State Free Will Baptists! I went to a women's meeting yesterday morning, and wrote my name and "Elizabeth's Mom" on my name tag. The speaker had all the ladies who had received emails about a baby girl named Elizabeth raise their hands. More than half the ladies raised their hands. It was amazing! God is so good! Oh, how I know He answers prayers.

We are getting ready to leave tomorrow, which means I'll be up late tonight! That is okay with me. I can do laundry and pack much better when everyone else is in bed. (I learned this little trick from my Mom.)

We were all sort of lazy bums today at the Ross House. It has rained all day long here in the Panhandle. The girls and I went to breakfast with a friend this morning. They all three enjoyed themselves.

The Vision Consultant came on Thursday and once again said Liz could see. She said could see improvement in her too. The first time the VC came, I had to turn LizBeth's head so she could track an object. Of course, she can turn her own head now. She also does better tracking (following an object or face) when she's holding her head up by herself.

Last thing, I overheard a Katelyn and Sarah conversation Friday morning while we were getting ready for school. Sarah did something that prompted Katelyn to say, "I will not help you at recess when I see you crying. You'll probably just be fighting with someone anyways." Sarah's response was about two seconds in coming. "You're... Evil Michelle. That's who you are." (Katelyn's middle name is Michelle.) At that point, the discussion ended with some tattling on Katelyn's part. Sometimes it is so hard to keep a straight face with them!

LizBeth has begun lunging for Stacy and me. We can't really call it pulling for us, because she throws her whole body in the direction she wants to go. The first time she did this was at church Sunday night. While our guest preacher was preaching, LizBeth noticed Stacy sitting beside her. First she laughed, then she lunged. Of course, he made me promise to put that little story in the blog, or he was going to hack in and post it himself! Well, today she lunged for me! That's even better news:)

While LizBeth is improving, she is also becoming quiet the Social Butterfly... sometimes. Sunday afternoon, she didn't like anyone. Today, she loved everyone. She's pretty fickle.

Katelyn and Sarah are ready to go to Ada next week. They are especially excited because they are getting to miss two days of school. And Nana said we could have a bonfire in the back yard. That's like the greatest thing ever. They get their own sticks and everything!

We received a good report today at the eye doctor. The doctor said LizBeth could definitely see. She said the parts of eye were perfect. There was no evidence of any damage to her eyes or its structures. The nystagmus, involuntary twitching of her eyes, is something she could possibly outgrow. The doctor and nurse seemed to think it is related to the muscle weakness. LizBeth performed well at the clinic. She laughed and cooed and rolled all around. It was wonderful!

Last night was indeed a great night! We went to the park to walk around, collect rocks and walk in the stream. Katelyn and Sarah led the way, while the other three Rosses followed. (Katelyn has begun calling us the "Odd Numbered Family." I told her it was very important for her to leave the word "Numbered" in that name.) Anyway, Liz was sitting straight up in her stroller, with two trunk supports along her side, and loving it! She jabbered almost the entire time. At one point, we were sitting close to the stream watching the girls jump on rocks, when Liz said "Nananananananana." Ha! She did not specify which Nana she was talking about, so she has scored some major points with both of them.

I am usually the Eeyore of our family, seeing the cloud behind every silver lining. When it comes to LizBeth's progress, I tend to be that way too. However, I will have to say that she IS making lots of improvements. She sat up last night (with support) for 40 minutes before getting tired and resting on my arm. She likes talking to us. I've also noticed if things are too noisy or unfamiliar, she still "shuts down." She will go to sleep while in a new or loud situation, and then wake up immediately when she's removed from it. When she comes to visit at school in my class, she is wide awake and curious. When we go to pick up the girls after school and 100 children are out running around and yelling, she goes to sleep until we get back in the van!