THINGS ARE WELL!

The last tw0 days have gone very well. Kaidence continues looking great and we are savoring every moment of that. We went on another wagon ride today and Nanna came with. Kaidence loved every second of it unless we stopped. We tried showing her the snow out the window but she cried and just wanted to keep moving. She wanted us to keep walking, She is starting to become a little busy body lately. She is always wanting to see whats going on.

They did her dressing change yesterday and today. Things are looking good and they were able to take off the wound vac. One less thing to haul around on those wagon rides. Here infection site is healing and so we are just waiting for the big moment that our pager goes off. I love how happy and healthy she looks right now and am hoping that a new heart will do the same thing for her so that she can get back to life. I know it won't be "normal" but it will be more of a normal for our family than the hospital life is. I wish you all could see her and appreciate how wonderful she looks.

The boys have had a great time playing in the snow. I stayed home with the boys last night and we had some good time together. They also all slept in my bed last night. Mike ended up on the couch and I ended up at the bottom of the bed, sideways of course. I was kicked in the side all night long and it made me wonder if my boys could really be that tall already. McCaden woke up perky and happy like always and asked, "did you sleep well mom?" I just chuckled to myself. We are going to the ward party tonight and the boys are pretty excited. A special visitor is coming and I am hoping that the Christmas wish list hasn't changed too much.

FIRST WAGON RIDE EVER!

Kaidence looks wonderful. I can't believe how great she looks. I put her in real clothes today and like a real baby she pooped all over them. She flunked her swallow study today but that is OK with time and some meds it should get better. Kaidence went on her first "just for fun" outing today. We took her on a wagon ride in the clean area of the PICU. She loved it and looked so proud of herself and yes, we did take a lot of pictures. I will see if Mike can post some for you to see. We feel so blessed that Kaidence is doing so very well. Those who never saw Kaidence so sick would never understand how far we have come. I am grateful for those that care for her and hope that they take some pride in how well she looks. They work so hard to care for Kaidence and her many needs. They have become like family to us and we are so thankful that they are in our lives.

ON THE LIST AGAIN

The last two days have been pretty busy. Kaidence has a new tooth for a total of two teeth and it looks as though another is on it's way. Her gums are VERY swollen. They tried feeding Kaidence again this time real baby food and it did not go so well. I think that she was far too tired to focus on eating. We called the speech therapist in the morning to feed her when she was really awake but it took them 4 hours to come to her room. By that time she was ready for a nap. Kaidence's fever continues and her counts continue to rise again. Today we took her in for another CT scan to make sure they can't see any infection. Nothing was found. She had a pretty good day today. She was happy and playing when we left the hospital tonight. Tomorrow she will have a camera sent down her nose to record her while she eats. They asked me if I thought it would bother her. I couldn't help but laugh. Seemed like a silly question to me. Things seem well lately and I keep waiting for the bottom to drop out on us again. We are grateful that things ARE going so well and best of all Kaidence was re-listed last night for a heart. Yea!!!! We are ready to get a heart, get better and get home!

MY FIRST SUCKER!!!

Well, I have got to make it quick today. Kaidence looks great and she has had a good day today. Speech Therapy came in and worked with Kaidence on taking a bottle. She did not want to open her mouth for them because only bad stuff happens lately when she opens her mouth. So we gave her a sucker and let's just say that she loved it and required a bath after the experience. We will continue working on the feeds. She has had a fever off and on and is still on many antibiotics. The boys held her yesterday and she loved it.

TUBE IS OUT!!!

Kaidence is much more awake today and her breathing tube is out. She looks great. Tonight the boys are coming up to the hospital to hold their sissy and we are all going to watch a Christmas movie together in her room and have some treats. We are all going to church in our home ward today as well. Her white count is the same but her CRP is still coming down. We will keep you posted. Thanks again for everything.

GO BYU!!!

Well, BYU had a good game today. We are hoping that the good luck will continue for us today. And for those of you that are U fans, good game and I sincerely mean that.

Kaidence continues to be very swollen. She wants to sleep all day long. She woke up and played some with the bells that my Aunt Deb bought her yesterday. She seems to really like them. Her WBC was down to 18 and her CRP down as well, so we are happy about that. They seem to be concerned about her sleepiness, but I think that she is so sick and I also think that she is depressed. She can't be held, she can't turn her head with that stupid tube in. Sometimes I think that it makes things worse in stead of better. She acts blah, but if you can convince her to wake up and play she seems to enjoy it. They are talking about taking out the taking out the tube tomorrow. I hope that they will. I think that it will help Kaidence's spirit a great deal.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving! Mike, myself and the boys have had a wonderful Thanksgiving together. We woke up and drove to the hospital to see baby sis on our way to Coalville. It was wonderful to see all of our family and it was fun to spend family time with the boys. They had fun taking the 4 wheelers over to the "farm" to see all of Aunt Karen and Uncle ken's animals and of course the big tractor. Dinner was wonderful as always. Mike and the boys are going up to Ogden to spend the night with all of the cousins. I have stopped by the hospital to spend some time with Kaidence tonight.

Kaidence is very swollen tonight and I hope that they can get that under control soon before we are dealing with wet lungs on top of everything else. She has had a fever again today. Her white blood count only dropped from 22.1 to 21.6 and the CRP 7.2 to 7.1. I think I was hoping for a bigger jump like we had the last few days. The other cannula site is starting to look more infected and I think they will clean that out as well tomorrow. I am praying that we can get this infection cleared fast and that nothing else is affected by it. We can't re-list Kaidence until her wounds are healed which could be a couple of weeks. Not sure though because I have not spoken with Doctor Everritt for a couple of days and we are not totally sure what her thoughts are. We had hoped to speak with her before Thanksgiving so we could at least know what the plan was and what we were looking at so that we didn't have to wonder and worry all weekend. The little glimmer of hope that we could possibly all be home together for Christmas is gone so we will find a way to make due.

We have so much to be grateful for and I could probably write a whole blog on this topic. However, we are so Thankful for the wonderful support of all of you. We honestly could not due it without all that you do. Thank You for following the blog and caring for us. We are grateful to the many nurses and doctors that take so much time caring for Kaidence. We know that they honestly do the best they can and that they want what is best for our little one. Of course, we are so grateful for the gospel and the unconditional love of our Father In Heaven. I have seen more families here turn back to the gospel after their kids have become ill than one would ever imagine. Trials can teach us so much, but only if we let them.

Happy Thanksgiving and we love you all. Savor this time of year and hold your loved ones close. Spend more meaningful time with your family then ever before and get back to basics. In the BIG picture it is all that matters.