happy halloween!

happy birthday laila!

Today Laila turned four years old.  At four years old she loves washing her hands over and over, all day long; putting soap on tooth brushes left out on the bathroom counter; stealing her sister's medicine syringes and filling them with water to squirt on people.  She loves cuddling her mama and giving her baby sister way too many kisses; sassing off to her big brothers and daddy and playing barbies with her big sister.  We love our sweet, sassy little Laila and all the sunshine she brings into our home!

a little break

Recently we went on a little get away to South Toledo Bend State Park.  My sister and her family joined us and we had a nice, relaxing time.  We stayed in the cabins there; my kind of camping!  In the past we had always gone in August and it was always so hot, that being outside was miserable, unless you were swimming.  This time we had perfect weather and were able to enjoy being outside.  It was also perfect weather at night for a campfire and s'mores.

glasses

Back when school started Dario told us that he couldn't see the board anymore.  So we took him in to get his vision checked, and sure enough he needed glasses.  Brian and I both started wearing glasses around Dario's age, so it didn't surprise me at all that he needed glasses.  Luckily children's glasses are much more stylish now, than back when I was a child!

this past weekend

We spent this past weekend with my sister's family and celebrated our niece Lorelei's first birthday.  It is always cute seeing Dahlia and Lorelei together.  When Lorelei saw Dahlia she patted her on the head and tried to kiss her cheek.  I can't wait until Dahlia learns to walk and those two can run around and play together!

dahlias

Beautiful dahlia flowers for baby Dahlia's first birthday.  It still amazes me that Brian and I both chose the exact same, uncommon name for our baby without ever mentioning anything to each other.

happy birthday!

Dear Dahlia,

Today we celebrated your first birthday and the miracle that is your life.  Little did we know when you were born, what a year we would be in for!  There were times we felt like our hearts would break, seeing you so sick and being completely helpless to do anything, except hold your tiny hand and pray.  There were moments of pure joy, when we received the news that a heart was available, and because of a compassionate and generous donor family, your life would be spared. We feel honored and blessed to be your parents.  You have been nothing but a blessing in our lives.  Thank you for teaching us what is important in life, that miracles exist, and that God does not abandon his children.

love, mama and daddy

sick again

On Friday Dahlia came home from being admitted to Texas Children's for a couple of days.  She went in on Wednesday because she had been throwing up.  Right now because Dahlia is so young and recently had her transplant, any time she is sick with something other than a common cold, she will have to be admitted to the hospital to be monitored.  Dahlia has been admitted to the hospital about every two months since she was discharged from the hospital.  I'm hoping this time we get a longer break in between hospitalizations.  It has become pretty traumatic for her and she is now afraid of anyone wearing scrubs, as soon as they come near the tears start flowing!  Brian went in with Dahlia because I was sick also with a horrible cold.  Brian is such a good dad and Dahlia is really attached to him.  The kids were very anxious while Dahlia was gone and kept asking if she was going to be okay and when she was coming home.  We were all very happy and relieved when Dahlia and daddy came home.

sweet baby

We have gotten a little break from the summer heat here lately.  It has been so nice to take Dahlia outside to play and not have to worry about her having a heat stroke!  Now that school has started it's just Dahlia and Laila at home with me and it's been so relaxing and peaceful compared to the chaos of the summer!

first day of school

The kids had their first day of school on Monday.  Dario started fourth grade, Aiden started third grade, and Ava started kindergarten.  It was bittersweet to have sweet Ava start school, but her excitement helped ease my anxiety!  She loved getting to pick out which outfit she would wear on the first day.  She has the same teacher the boys had in kindergarten, and had a great first day.  All of the kids rode the bus home from school.  I told the boys to be sure and sit near Ava on the bus and help her when it is time to get off.  Laila was so excited when all the kids got back home.  The day before school started Ava told Laila, "tomorrow I won't be here, I'll be at school." Laila told Ava she would miss her so much.

11 months

 Dahlia turned 11 months old this week.  I can't believe she is almost a year old!  Her heart catheterization and biopsy she had a couple of weeks ago went great.  Her heart is functioning well with no signs of rejection. Dahlia is working with a physical therapist each week and she is slowly becoming more mobile.  I can't wait until she starts crawling around everywhere!

Ava has been wanting to get her ears pierced for awhile now.  We took her to get them pierced on Friday as a special treat for her before school starts. She will be starting kindergarten in two weeks!  She was excited but a little nervous also. We let her pick out which pair she liked the best, and of course she picked the most expensive white gold pair!  Daddy was able to hold her on his lap while she got them pierced.  Afterwards she looked at her ears in the mirror every chance she got!

six months post transplant

It's been six months since Dahlia received her gift of life, and she is doing wonderful!  Before her transplant, she was a very sick, very fragile baby, clinging to life; now she is a happy, thriving 10 month old, full of life. This week we received word from Dahlia's transplant nurse that they had been contacted on behalf of the donor's family, for an update on how Dahlia is doing. It touched my heart that they were thinking about Dahlia and wanted to know how she was.  I have been working on a thank you letter and it has been so hard to find adequate enough words to express our thanks to a family who has given so much.  Today, I finally finished the letter and will bring it to Texas Children's on Monday, to be passed along to her donor family.  On Monday Dahlia has her first heart catheterization and biopsy to check the over all health of her heart and check for rejection.  Hopefully the results are good!

10 months old

Dahlia turned 10 months old today.  She is starting to sit up on her own really well.  She has also started rolling over.  She may be behind on her motor skills from being in the hospital for so long, but cognitively she is not behind at all.  She loves interacting with her brothers and sisters and gives them the biggest smiles. Dahlia is also babbling a lot.  I love hearing her sweet little voice, and her cute laugh. She also loves playing with toys.  She will intently study them, even every day objects like her diapers, the fringe on her blanket and paper entertain her, it is so cute.  Dahlia will be one before we know it; I am already starting to plan her party and it's going to be a huge celebration!

what a week!

Dahlia was admitted to the hospital on Monday night.  She started throwing up during the day on Monday.  We called her transplant team and they wanted Dahlia to come in to see what was up.  Dahlia had picked up a stomach virus from who knows where.  Originally we thought we would be at Texas Children's for about 48 hours and then discharged.  But, because Dahlia didn't feel good, she didn't want to eat, which caused the level of one of the anti-rejection drugs to go threw the roof, which can be toxic. So long story short, once Dahlia started eating again and the drug level was under control, we were finally able to go on Saturday.  It always amazes me how we leave with a couple of bags and come home with so much stuff!  Once again Dahlia was such a good little baby despite being sick and despite being constantly poked and prodded. 

vacation

We went on a little getaway this past week, and stayed at a lake house not to far away.  The day we were supposed to leave it looked like we were going to have to make a trip to the hospital instead. Dahlia was screaming and crying pretty much nonstop, so we knew something was up.   Luckily, before we took her in, I decided to check her gums, just in case this was a common baby issue like teething, and not a scary heart transplant related issue. Sure enough her gums were extremely swollen from three teeth coming in at the same time!  After some Tylenol, Dahlia was back to her happy self.  Once we got to the lake we were blessed with a crisis free, relaxing time; well as relaxing as you can get with five kids!