Reflection

The picture above is our LAST Mommy/Daughter picture of 2011. Wow - 2011 is finished. In reflecting back on all that 2011 had in store for us I have so many emotions.

The first emotion is happiness and I literally can't stop smiling and giggling over all of the things that have brought me joy in 2011. Cami learned to walk, Cami learned to run, Cami learned to put together strings of words, Cami has a sense of humor (I love it when she waves her hand and says "Gus farted" even when he didn't because she wants a laugh), Cami says things that melt my heart like "Mommy, I love you", "Don't be sad, Mommy", and "Have a good day at work, Mommy" etc., and most importantly of all, Cami and Jon both ended 2011 the healthiest they both have been in the past 2 years!

I also have a bit of anxiety in looking back on 2011. What caused anxiety for me in 2011? Here are a few: Cami had 3 hospital stays, 1 trip to the ER, 9 strep infections and 2 surgeries (1st for just ear tubes and the 2nd to replace ear tubes and remove tonsils and adenoids), became resistant to all antibiotics for treating strep, confirmed a peanut allergy after a blood test and a skin test showed us scary results, diagnosed with an eye condition (acommodative esotropia) and got glasses at the age of 2 (being the trooper she is, thankfully she took beautifully to them) and I started back to work full time.

After reading and reflecting on the list of challenging things in 2011 that our family dealt with, I honestly wouldn't go back and change anything. Yes there were days when I cried uncontrollably and asked God why he gave me the challenges he has. Yes there were MANY days when I wanted (and still want) to take away the medical conditions for both my daughter and my husband. Yes there were many days when I held total pity parties for myself for having to deal with all of this. Despite that, I firmly believe that every single one of the challenges we have dealt with have made our family stronger, despite making our bank account more broke.

The most important thing is that we all ended 2011 happy, healthy and ready for a fresh start. Cami hasn't shown any signs of strep and/or ear infections since August and Jon is stopping his steroids in February because his kidney function levels have improved so much. Jon and I both have great full time jobs and Cami is at a daycare that we couldn't possibly love and trust any more. We. Are. Blessed.

Happy 2012! We hope 2012 continues to bring our family more blessings, health, giggles and smiles.

( First Picture of 2012 - I just LOVE how happy we are!)

Christmas 2011

So, Christmas 2011 has come and gone. We had a very busy but wonderful Christmas.

We started the season out with LOTS of oo'ing and ahhh'ing about the Christmas Tree.
We also did a lot of talking, reading and more talking about Santa Claus. Cami seemed to have the right idea...check out the pic below. Her shirt says "I've been good, just ask Grandma."
We did lots of festive Christmas things such as attend the Bull Run Festival of Lights, sing lots of Christmas songs, wrap presents and Cami's favorite...decorating the tree. Here she is checking out some ornaments.

Christmas Eve was fun but exhausting. Cami didn't get a nap because we had to get ready and get to church extra early for a decent seat on the aisle so we could cater to her antsy self and keep her in church for the entire time. Needless to say, not having a nap was hard for her and she fell fast asleep on our way to church.
Christmas morning was magical. Cami was amazed that Santa came to visit her and she was THRILLED with her new kitchen that he brought her. Jon and I had so much fun enjoying Christmas through the eyes of our own child. That has to be one of the best feelings.
In two days we will be going down to Jon's parents so that we can do Christmas all over again. We got word that Santa made a special stop there for Cami too!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Day!

Our Latest Adventure

Our latest adventure has a new medical issue for Cami. We noticed a few months back that Cami's left eye was turning inwards a bit when she looked at things close up and/or when she was tired. We finally made it to the Opthamologist for this issue and found out that Cami has accomodative esotropia. The Opthamologist informed us that Cami would need glasses to (hopefully) fix the problem. He said that in aout 80% of kids glasses will do the trick and fix the eye from moving inward, strengthen the eye muscle and then in a few years many kids can even be taken off of using glasses and have perfectly normal vision. This is our hope!

Soooooo...with the news of the latest medical condition for Cami we began the hunt for glasses. I definitely underestimated the difficulty of finding glasses for a petite two year old. We went to a variety of places and this is what we found.
All of the glasses seemed to be swimming on her and literally sliding off her face. After much research and looking around we found out that it is impossible to find cute wire framed glasses for children as small as Cami. She needed a size 38 and the smallest wire frames made were a size 42. We did the best we could and found Cami the cutest and ugliest frames we could find. I just keep reminding myself that her friends can't make fun of her yet because she's still too small and also that next year we can upgrade to cuter frames. For now though, these are the frames we had to go with.


We ordered the frames in a cute lavender color so that it will look better with her skin color than the gray frames they had in the store to try on. The upside is that the frames are rubber and therefore virtually indestructible. Let's hope the transition to wearing glasses full time is an easy one. Look for an update in the next week or two when her REAL lenses and frames come in. Wish us all luck in the transition process!

Cookie Monster

Last Sunday my Mom came over and we decided to make some homemade chocolate chip cookies. Cami LOVED the entire process and she couldn't have been more helpful. She began by checking everything out.

She then took on the responsibility of 'stirring' up the dough. She took this job VERY seriously!

Once the dough was stirred Cami decided to take it upon herself to make sure the cookie dough tasted a-okay. She gave the ultimate approval by eating endless amounts of cookie dough - THAT'S MY GIRL! :-)After Cami ate endless amounts of raw cookie dough she decided she was a bit thirsty. She came to me and very clearly said, "Cami thirsty, Cami want milk". Let's be honest - who doesn't enjoy a good glass of milk after eating cookie dough?
When the cookies were finally finished baking we enjoyed them for days to come. Cami LOVES chocolate chip cookies and we LOVED making the memories of making chocolate chip cookies for the first time with the help of Cami. We look forward to doing it again, and again, and again, and (okay....you get the point).

Photo Montage Update

I know that I haven't updated much lately and I REALLY am going to try and change my ways. In order to catch you all up on what's been happening with Cambria since August I decided to do one post with a photo montage of what has been happening. Here goes nothing...

Late August Cami was admitted to Fairfax hospital for the 3rd time in her short little life. This time she was admitted due to a strep infection that became resistant to all oral antibiotics and they had to admit her to administer IV antibiotics and also to come up with a plan for how to handle future strep infections. The ENT came to the hospital each day she was there and it was determined that although risky for her age, we NEEDED to have her tonsils out for fear of another strep infection that would NOT clear up even with IV antibiotics. The two photos below are from Cami's hospital stay during this escapade.

Because Cambria's surgery was scheduled for 4 weeks after we were released from the hospital we had to be EXTRA cautious about germs for fear that she would get strep again before her surgery. We did not want to end up back in the hospital again and have to postpone surgery and even her ENT didn't have a real clear idea of what we would do if she contracted strep again before surgery. Needless to say, the next month was stressful for all of us and included a lot of laundry, hand washing, hand sanitizer, clorox wipes, etc.

In between hospital stays Mommy and Daddy managed to escape for a MUCH needed weekend away to the Outer Banks for Jon and Crystal's wedding. We were so thankful to have the weekend together and to relax by the ocean, laugh together and just enjoy eachother's company without other stressors added in. Thanks to Gimi and Gipi McNamee for taking PERFECT care of our girl while we were gone!



We did sneak out to have some fun the weekend before her surgery thanks to Gimi and Gipi (Grandma and Grandpa McNamee) to attend Yo Gabba Gabba Live at the Patriot Center. As you can see from Cami's face below she was in total shock and disbelief that her favorite TV characters were actually live in front of her. We had a fun night and we couldn't have asked for a better stress relief for Cami and Mommy and Daddy the weekend before her surgery.

Monday, October 3rd, 2011 Cami went in bright and early to Fairfax Hospital to have her tonsils and adenoids removed and her ear tubes replaced. We were SOOOOO nervous for this surgery because of how risky it was for a child her age and the risk factors associated with bleeding, her SVT, etc. Cami was in surgery for just over an hour and we were so relieved when the surgeon came into the recovery area to let us know that all went perfectly. He told us that her tonsils were large and that her adenoids were blocking more than 75% of the back of her throat and that he was really glad he made the decision to do the adenoids too. We couldn't wait to get back to the recovery area to snuggle our girl and get recovery underway. Here are a few pictures from Cami post-surgery in the hospital.
The two weeks after Cami's surgery was a painful recovery for all involved. I (Mommy) took off work for the entire week after her surgery and boy am I glad I did. We had 5 nights of no sleep, 2 full weeks of gagging and vomiting, endless amounts of tears and pain, numerous bottles of tylenol and prescription pain relievers and LOTS and LOTS of rocking and snuggling. When Mommy had to go back to work Daddy took a few days and Gimi McNamee was an angel and took 2 days off of work as well to take care of our little angel. Although we were stuck at home dealing with a child recovering from surgery for two weeks we managed to get some Halloween preparation underway. We somehow managed to carve a pumpkin and roast pumpkin seeds (please excuse the bags under my eyes, my non washed hair and my sweatshirt that probably has throw up on it...it's the glamorous life of being Cami's Mommy).

Almost two weeks to the day from her surgery Cami turned 2! On her birthday she was definitely feeling better and had more energy than she had since her surgery. I went out and got fresh Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast and she devoured an entire chocolate donut (don't worry - I made darn sure there weren't any rough edges on any pieces to harm her throat). She got 3 balloons and you would have sworn she had died and gone to heaven and she celebrated with having vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and caramel sauce since she still had to have a soft diet. Although we didn't have a party for her this year, we are thankful she will never really remember this and we promise to make it up to her anyway next year when she turns 3. :-)
Here's the birthday girl after her chocolate donut...


And here is our little 2 year old at her 2 year pictures. I can't post all 73 pictures but they all are AMAZING!
After surgery and birthday celebrations we really started getting into the Halloween spirit. Cami was a butterfly and she had an amazing time trick-or-treating. She would knock on the doors and we will work for next year on waiting until someone answers the door to say "trick-or-treat". We will also work on being less nosey about what is going on in other peoples houses when they answer the door with treats. Numerous times Cami was heard saying "ohh - they watching TV" and "look at the dog" or "they doing laundry". Ohhhh our girl.

Two days after our fun Halloween Cami spiked a fever and was feeling miserable. She developed a hoarse voice and awful cough and after a late night Pediatrician appointment it was confirmed that Cami had a bad case of croup. On the bright side - they also did a strep test at the Dr. because her throat was red but the strep test came back negative. Thank god - the surgery appears to be working! It was our first negative strep test in over a year. They gave Cami a dose of oral steroids in the Pediatricians office because of her labored breathing, I took off the next 2 days to snuggle and care for my sick girl and she appears to be back on the mend tonight. She still doesn't have much of an appetite but she is getting a bit more energy each day. Here she is snuggling on the couch with her big brother.
Okay - I think that about catches us up to today. Now hopefully I can post as things happen rather than waiting for another marathon photo montage post. Thanks for hanging in there and catching up with us!! Here's to Cami's third year of life being the healthiest thus far!

Look Who's Two!!!

Dear Cambria,

Wow - two years old! I can hardly believe the time has passed so quickly. When I look at this picture above of you in your new two year old body I am overcome with so many different emotions: an immense amount of love and adoration, sadness, fear and never ending amounts of joy and happiness. Let me explain...

Love. You are my definition of love. Every time I look at you I grow more in love with you. I think everyone that comes in contact with you loves you just as much as me. When we had your two year pictures taken (the photo above is one from this shoot) the photographer even said that you "stole a piece of her heart". You have that way about you. You are sweet, funny, caring, inquisitive, strong willed and becoming more and more independent by the day. There's really no other way to describe how much I love you. I just want you to know forever that I will love and adore you just as much in the future as I do today.

Sadness. Although I love to see you grow and change it makes me a little bit sad at the same time. In the two years since your birth our little family has been through a whole lot medical wise. Between taking care of your Daddy and you I feel as though I may not have enjoyed every moment with you as I should have. This makes me a bit sad. I wish I had a rewind button and could go back to relive and cherish every moment again and again. Also - as I'm sure every Mom agrees, it's just plain hard for me to watch my little grow up. Can't I just freeze you and keep you little for a while longer?

Fear. Look at you - you are ADORABLE. This scares me. Some day some boy is going to think the same thing and Daddy and I are going to be in trouble. I also fear that as you grow you will encounter mean people and things in this world and I want to save you from all of that. I fear that you will be let down and encounter sadness as you grow and change. Although I know its a normal part of growing up this gives me, your Mom, great fear. I NEVER want to see my little girl sad, hurt, broken hearted, etc.

Lastly, never ending amounts of joy and happiness. Look at your smile - you are the definition of joy and happiness. Despite all of your hospitalizations (SVT, cellulitis, strep infection, ear tubes, tonsils/adenoids removed) you are so happy and content. You are the most resilient and trusting two year old I know. You see the good in people and already at only two years old you show caring and compassion for others. Whenever someone needs a smile you are right there to offer one. It brings me so much joy and happiness to watch you learn new things. You LOVE to read and explore nature outside. Although you are becoming more and more independent you are still most happiest when Mommy and Daddy are close by. You have brought more joy and happiness into my life in the past two years than I ever could have imagined.

Cambria, thank you from the bottom of my heart for teaching me so much about life and love in the past two years. I could not have asked God to have given me a more perfect daughter. You are my WHOLE world! Happy 2nd birthday - I love you!!!

Love,
Mommy

Sleping Beauty

One thing that Cambria inherited from me is definitely her love for sleep. She is an excellent sleeper and I could not be more thankful for that. As long as she feels well and nothing is bothering her then she needs a solid 12 hours at night and then she takes one nap in the afternoon that ranges from 2-3.5 hours! It's glorious!!

Now - onto her sleeping habits. When she sleeps she has be 'cozy'. Last week when I took her up for her nap she was dressed in a tank top and jean shorts because the weather was 105 degrees outside. As soon as she saw her crib she said "No, cozy Mommy" and she whined until I put her in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

She must sleep with her care bear blanket and her little stuffed dog, Violet, that sings her lullabies. At night she has a little ladybug that puts stars on the ceiling in various colors that she has to have on in order to fall asleep.

She is a creature of habit too (another thing she inherited from her Mom) and we must say prayers before nap time and then again at night before she goes to sleep and she always says "Amen" at the end and has just recently started saying "Jesus Amen" when she hears us say "In Jesus name we pray, Amen".

Now for a Mommy confession: I LOVE watching Cami sleep. If you know Cami then you know she does NOT sit still. She is soooo busy and is constantly moving and so when she does finally fall asleep it is the most peaceful thing ever to just watch her little body rest. I couldn't love that sleeping beauty any more, that's for sure!

It's Summer, I'm In Love!!

I know that my summer vacation is officially half over but I have to say, I am loving every second of it. The other day I was thinking while Cami was napping and trying to decide what it is about this summer that is so incredibly wonderful. I have come to the conclusion that it's been so great because we have kept busy with LOTS of things to do. First it was a beach trip then it was swim lessons then it was a trip to New York then it was a trip to see Grammie and Grampie and next week we will be taking another trip to New York!

I do think though that some of our most special summer days we have had are our lazy days at home at the pool.

Just look at our little pool Diva!
No, we don't have a pool in our neighborhood but lucky for us Cami's best buddy Ava (whom she goes to daycare with) has a pool in her neighborhood and her Mommy is also a teacher so it's been PERFECT! We usually pack a lunch, head up about 10:30 AM before it gets TOO hot for the day and we stay until about 1:30 when the girls are then practically begging to go home and take a nap. The girls swim their hearts out, Cami flirts with the lifeguards, we eat lunch at a corner pool table in the shade and most importantly the Moms get some adult interaction and time to chat about life too. It has been a highlight of our summer. We couldn't be more thankful to have found better friends in the area! Thanks Erika and Ava for all of the fun memories!

( Don't you just love toddler hugs? They are the cutest!)

A Weekend of 'Firsts'

This weekend Cami experienced a bunch of new 'firsts' while visiting her Grammie and Grampie.

She went to her first carnival, played her first carnival game, won her first carnival prize (a couple stuffed fish) and rode her first carnival ride - the merry-go-round.
She was all smiles while at the carnival, but then it started thundering and lightning so we had to take a break. What better way to experience her first snow cone? SHE LOVED IT!
Probably the most important first that Cami experienced this weekend was meeting her newest cousin, Stella Grace, for the first time ever. She was very gentle and gave her lots of kisses and Mommy really enjoyed snuggling with her too. She sure is precious!
Wow - what a fun but busy weekend at Grammie and Grampie's!

Inseperable!

I am home for the summer with Cami and I am loving EVERY minute of it. At first I was a little nervous about spending so much time in our house with a toddler with endless amounts of energy but it's been great. We've kept busy and couldn't be having more fun. Today was one of those days when I put Cami down for her nap when I thought to myself "Does she really need to take a nap? I'm going to be bored for the next 2 hours without her." We really are inseperable.

Here's a few pictures of what we've been doing together this summer...

Dressing up for fancy dinners out (this was on our great beach vacation)!

Smelling lots of pretty flowers (this was in NY visiting the Kusak side of the family).

Eating lots of yummy summer treats.

And of course, doing lots and lots of snuggling every chance we get!!!

I really couldn't be a luckier Mom to have such a fabulous little girl as my daughter. I really do cherish every moment that I get to spend with her!

Baby It's Cold Outside

It's FREEZING cold out lately and each time we go out of the house Cami gets all bundled up. Her latest fashion trend is her new hat. When I bought it I really didn't think she would keep it on for more than a minute but surprisingly she LOVES it. She even keeps it on at daycare for an hour or two while she plays and she cries when you try to take it off of her. She couldn't look more adorable in it and Mommy and Daddy sure are happy she doesn't mind being all bundled up in this cold weather. We hope everyone is staying warm!!

Santa Visit

Today Jon and I took Cami for her first ever picture with Santa. Cami showed courage, grace and MUCH interest in Santa. Although all of the workers were convinced that our picture would be a disaster due to her age being prime 'stranger fear' age, Cami proved everyone wrong. When we finally had to leave she reached for Santa and tried to hang tight to his beard so Mommy wouldn't take her away. She MUST know this big man will be bringing her presents in a few weeks.



All in all, it was a great little family Christmas outing. Not only did we get Cami's picture taken with Santa, but we also went out to lunch, did some Christmas shopping AND got our annual family Christmas ornament. Now all we need is Christmas Day to get here quickly!

Box Fun

Cami is definitely feeling better because lately meal times are some of her favorite times of the day. She is eating a ton (last night she ate half of my plate full of food) and she is thoroughly enjoying everything about time in her high chair - especially "THE BOX".

Cami has discovered that putting cereal boxes on your head makes for a hilarious looking hat. If she can get her hands on an empty cereal box her life is complete. She giggles, puts it on my head, puts it on her head, tries to dive into it, etc. I can't help but giggle and watch with complete adoration as she experiences some of life's simple pleasures. I need to take some life lessons from her. :-)

Curly Cami

As Cami's hair continues to grow we are noticing more and more little curls and waves in her hair. The latest is the intense curl behind her right ear that you can see above. I couldn't love it more and I wish she would keep it forever and ever, but only time will tell!

Mystery Solved!

So after a scary evening, the night of November 18th, Cami landed herself back in Fairfax Hospital. This time, she ended up being admitted and having to stay for three days.

Remember last post titled "A Long and Painful Week"? Well - it appears that when Cami spiked the mystery fever that was discussed in that post it was most likely due to an infection in her esophagus which wasn't found until almost 2 weeks later. Obviously the Doctors never suspected anything wrong with her esophagus simply due to the fever, so it was not detected at the time.

A week later though after severe drooling, followed by intense vomiting, followed by severe drooling, followed by intense vomiting (okay you get the point) and a frantic Mom who had to rush her baby to the ER, the ER Doctors decided they needed to do an X-Ray of her throat to make sure there wasn't something caught in it causing the drooling, vomiting and trouble breathing. The X-Ray showed a 'mass' in her throat which needed to further be investigated with a CT Scan. The CT Scan thankfully didn't show anything too serious, but it did show that she had a severe esophageal infection causing a lot of swelling in the soft tissue of her esophagus which was partially blocking her airways (hence the drooling, vomiting and difficulty breathing).

Cami was admitted to the hospital in order to get IV antibiotic treatments and after 3 LONG days in the hospital we got the green light to continue antibiotic treatments at home so that we could be discharged.

Indeed it was frightening, scary, exhausting and another challenge for our family to go through but thankfully it's done.

Here are a few photos of the little patient during her stay in the hospital. We had to get very creative to find ways to keep her occupied since we couldn't let her down on the floor at all to crawl around. Needless to say, if you have a toddler you know HOW difficult it is to contain them for 5 minutes, none the less 3 days!

(Lots of tickles and giggles!)

(Lots of reading)

(Lots of kissing her picture book of family)
(And once the antibiotics started to kick in she was finally able to get some rest)

We hope to stay far far away from that hospital for a very long time, however at the same time we are so thankful for that hospital and the excellent care they have given to our little Cambria during both of her stays there.

It's Been a Long and Painful Week

This week has not been one of the best, to say the least.

Monday afternoon Cami came down with a 102 fever and it all seemed to go downhill from there. Jon left Monday morning to go out of town for work, so I had to take Tuesday off of work to stay home with our sick girl. Cami woke up on Tuesday with a 102 fever still and we did a lot of lounging and laying around all day.

Then late Tuesday afternoon things took a turn for the worse. Cami's temperature started to steadily climb, despite giving her ibuprofen and tylenol. I spent all afternoon/evening trying every trick in the book to bring the fever down. The only thing she didn't mind me doing to her was putting the wet washcloth on her neck. Poor baby - she was SO out of it!

After trying it all and Cami's fever reaching close to 105 degrees despite my hard effort, I decided I had to take her to the Emergency Room. We were at the ER for about 2 hours and Cami was such a trooper. They gave her an additional dose of Tylenol, gave her a popsicle, tested her for a Urinary Tract Infection (which came back negative) and sent us on our way home once her fever came down to 102 again. Thankfully after some sleep Cami's fever came down on Wednesday and by Wednesday night was gone.

That isn't the end though. Wednesday night Cami was up most of the night crying in pain. After a long night of rocking and comforting we decided she needed to see the Doctor again. So - we took Cami to the Doctor this morning only to find out that she has a severe double ear infection. Poor girl! She has the antibiotics now and when she wakes up from her much needed nap she will start on them. Here's to hoping she is feeling better just in time for the weekend!!

Even with feeling so miserable though, she still tries her best to flash us a smile every now and then. She's been through so much in her life and yet she continues to face each challenge with a go getter attitude. What a gift from God she is!

Reflection

As I woke up this morning I realized that the holiday season has officially begun. All morning I found myself getting anxious any time I thought about Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up. At first I thought it was just the anxiety of the craziness that comes with holiday shopping but I quickly realized that wasn't it at all. The anxiety was arising from simply thinking about last holiday season. Let me explain...

Last October was one of the best months of my life - hence probably why I looked so forward to October this month and all it had to offer: the great memory of Cami's birth, Halloween, snuggling with fall scented candles lit, etc. Last November did not leave me with the same fuzzy feelings unfortunately and it all seemed to spiral downhill from there.

Last November, December, January and February were some of the toughest times in my entire life. November 15th my precious angel from above was admitted to Fairfax Hospital after a long day in the ER and an extremely nerve wrecking ambulance transport ride (almost a helicopter ride) only to find out that she had a heart condition (Supraventricular Tachycardia) - I felt like my whole world was falling apart. How could anything be wrong with this precious gift from god? Did I do something wrong to cause this? After what seemed like forever (5 days) she was finally released from the hospital but not without more SVT episodes at home. The next month of constantly checking her heart rate and constant fear that she would end up back in the hospital had us asking over and over again, "Why us?" This alone caused a lot of stress and tension for us during the holiday season, but that was not the end.

Early January my husband went in for a kidney biopsy only to find out a few weeks later that he has a rare form of kidney disease. Once again - my whole world seemed to be crashing down on me. I had to try so hard to take care of a baby with a heart condition AND a husband with kidney disease and yet hold myself together and stay strong for them both. Just thinking about all of the stress and worry that I dealt with back then makes me well up with tears right now as I type.

Early February I got a call from my Mom - who flew out to Rochester, NY suddenly when she got word that my grandmother was not doing well - to tell me that my grandma had passed away and that we had another angel in heaven to take care of our family. Not surprisingly this added to our stress even more but at the same time this is when things started to look up for our family.
I truly believe my grandmother got right to work when she got up to Heaven.

In late February Jon got an appointment with one of the best nephrologist's in the Northern Virginia area and since then he has gotten nothing but good news at his monthly appointments. His medications are decreasing and his kidney function remains stable (in fact it has actually improved a bit). He feels good and we are so relieved to know he is under the best care and doing so wonderfully. STRESS RELIEVED!

I am SOOOO proud to announce that Cami has not had any heart episodes since early December of 2009 (almost a year!) and just last month she came COMPLETELY off of all of her heart medications with NO problems! Her EKG's look great and show no signs of SVT! STRESS RELIEVED!!!

I guess when I actually think about last holiday season, although it gives me great anxiety due to to memories of all of the difficult times we dealt with, it should actually give me great happiness and anticipation for this holiday season and all that I have to be thankful for. I can't wait to spend Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years this year enjoying my family and without so many stressors and worries weighing on my back. Last year at this time was such a difficult time for us, but it just made our little three person family so much stronger!

We have come a long way in the past year and I can honestly say that I am now looking forward to a stress free holiday season and lots of love, snuggling, and just good quality fun family time!


P.S. - I think what Cami is saying in this picture is, "Bring on the food, fun and endless amounts of Christmas presents!!!"