HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY KAIDENCE!!!

As I am sitting up working on Kaidence's blog at 12:30am on February 23rd. Mike has been trying to find her blessing pictures, but no luck. Kaidence is sitting with me. She decided that she should be awake as she brought in the big 1 year mark. A little weird since Kaidence never wakes up during the night, she is a great sleeper. She is in an incredibly happy mood as she eats her daddy's head phones. She has also pulled out her feeding tube twice since she was supposed to be sleeping. It is still out.

Last night for the first time I watched the birth video of Kaidence. My heart broke as I watched this sweet little girl being brought into the world and knowing what she would be going through. What a year it has been. We are so grateful for the many blessing and ultimately the many miracles that we have seen manifested in Kaidence's lifetime. We are so proud of her for the way that she has brought so much love, joy and meaning into peoples lives. She has brought us all a lot of perspective on life and what is most important. We are overwhelmed at the many kind deeds that have been given to us. For the fasting and prayers. I hope that we all understand the true power that they hold. The video above is for Kaidence and all of you that have given so much love and support. It is a small review for a big year. The music is from a CD that Kaidence listened to often in the hospital. These songs are very fitting of Kaidence.

Happy Birthday Kaidence and thank you for being your strong, beautiful self. We love you more than words could ever tell. Our family would not be complete without you and we are grateful that we have been blessed enough to continue holding you in our arms everyday. On Your Birthday we remember and thank the family that gave Kaidence her second chance at life. Kaidence you HAVE been a star shinning brightly ..... for the whole world to see!!!!

Love Always and Forever,

Mommy and Daddy

SERVICE PROJECT IN MEMORY OF IAN!

We went to Cardiology today and had another echo and blood draw. The echo still looks the same with the LPA smashed. Kaidence is trying to teeth. It's a hard on both parent and child when teething starts, but with Kaidence's extra thick gums as a side effect of the meds it is making it very difficult. As always, she is a real trooper. For those of you that watch "Good Things Utah" Kaidence will be a birthday baby on tomorrow's show. It will be on Channel 4 sometime during the 10:00 am hour. Look for her cute picture.

McCaden had a performance at school tonight. The kindergarten class did the hokey pokey and also displayed artwork that they had done. My mom came and watched Kaidence so both Mike and I could go with the boys. It was fun and he did a great job!!!

Also if anyone would like to help with a service project please link over from my blog to Little Ian's. His family will be collecting different items for both Primary Children's as well as the Ronald McDonald house. The Ronald McDonald house is where out of state families can live when they have a very ill child in the hospital. It is a blessing for many of these families. They are in need of normal household items, cleaning supplies, light bulbs..... This collection is being put on by Ian's family in memory of him as his 1 Year Birthday approaches. Please link over to his blog if you are interested in helping.

Yea!!!!! Spell check works again.

BAD NEWS BUT GOOD NEWS AS WELL!!!

Today we had a very busy morning. Kaidence had Cardiology as well as a swallow study. We always knew that we would have some bumps in the road. Kaidence's echo showed that her LPA (left Pulmonary Artery) was very small. They are afraid that it was damaged back when her original heart was so big that it collapsed her left lung. It was most likely smashed by her heart. They will take her in to have a balloon or stint placed in her artery to her make it larger sometime in March. They will have to do an MRI first to learn the severity of it. On a happier note her EF is still looking great and she passed the swallow study today. She passed for thin liquids to be taken from a bottle, sippy cup or cup. We may move to the sippy because she cannot suck very well. As soon as we can get her taking her feeds and meds all by mouth, bye-bye feeding tube. That will be great. We have had the tube since July, this is a huge milestone for us and for Kaidence. We have been asked to do a the PCMC Medical Radio Network on Tuesday. It sounds like we are interviewed for the KSL morning radio program with either Doug Wright or Grant and Amanda. The interview will be on anywhere between 9:20-10:00 am. They are trying to raise money for families that cannot afford their medical bills and all procedes go directly to these families that qualify. Then in June we will be doing the televised Children's Miracle Network. We are keeping busy and hopefully we can help others along the way. I am still trying to get ready for Kaidence's birthday. I am trying to get a picture of her that I can send to "Good Things Utah" for the birthday segment they do. I am having a hard time deciding what route I take for my talk in sacrament meeting on Sunday. WE have been asked to speak on our experiance. Hopefully things will slow down after this week.