"no change" - what beautiful words

I know I have many things to catch you up on but I just haven't gotten to downloading my camera - it seems the minute I get home I am caught up in the chaos and forget that objective.  And telling you about Cate's birthday is just not going to do the trick without the elephant pictures - so I'll try harder to get that download taken care of and get you a post about it soon.
We did have a great time on Cate's birthday and on our many days of celebrating Christmas.  Everyone is well fed, gifted to the max, and happy to be home for a few days in a row.

I do have one thing I can report - the cardiologist says there are no changes in Cate's heart condition which is music to my ears.  For those not in the know - Cate had her Complete AV Canal Defect repaired over 6 years ago.  For the last 5+ years, we have only seen the cardiologist annually for checkups to make sure things are status quo.  Cate's heart defect included a large hole along with a shared valve between the top two chambers of heart.  The hole was successfully close and has healed around the patch with no signs of it anymore.  The valve is the part we have to watch very closely.  The shared valve was successfully separated into two parts that work independently but it is not a completely tight fit so there is some leakage around them.  A little leakage isn't that bad and the prognosis is for it to continue to be no problem but there is always the chance it could get worse and we'd be facing either activity restrictions at best and another surgery at worst.  Cate takes a daily blood pressure medication already to ensure that it doesn't get high and cause stress on the valve.  Friday we went in for our annual check up and even though I'm sure everything is fine based on her high level of activity with no heart stress symptoms, I still get nervous for the appointment.  Probably a little residual fear from the pre-surgery days when every time we went there a new medicine was added along with the news her grow was slowing or her fluid was building around the heart/lungs.  We are lucky to still be seeing the same cardiologist we saw in the NICU a couple days after Cate's birth.  He is easy to understand, gentle and very nice.  And when he says "No change and her blood pressure is perfect", I'm the happiest mom on the planet!  Cate was perfectly behaved, very cooperative and very curious.  She had a million questions for the nurses - what is that, why are you doing that, can I see it again?  A good day for sure!

The EEG - Cate was fascinated by the stickers and wires but refused to lay down but was able to hold very still sitting up. 
(I added a modesty strip here since this a big 7 year old now - no naked baby pics anymore)

Echo cardiogram
She was obviously relaxed with her legs crossed.  So much so she told me to go sit down she didn't need me to hold her hand.

HAPPY NEW YEAR
and
Wishing all of you the best of luck in 2013!