"COME WHAT MAY....AND LOVE IT"

I was just thinking of how blessed we have been this year. Last year on this Saturday Session of conference Kaidence was admitted back into the PICU with her heart function only at 3-5 %. Ahead of us layed a heartbreaking yet amazing journey that would change our lives forever. I had taken her back into the pediatricians office because she was not feeling well and they told me to drive straight to the hospital and to call 911 if anything happened. I did quickly stop by the house as it was on the way to the hospital so that I could pick up Mike and have him give her a blessing. I felt strongly that this was what she needed before getting to the hospital. I still remember my little baby girl sitting on the kitchen counter in her little car seat as Mike and our neighbor gave her a blessing. I had no idea that it would be that last time that she would be in her house for a very, very long time and that she would be coming home with a new heart. I remeber that as I was driving to the ER I was trying to listen to conference, I needed that peace and comfort. The only talk that I remember from that day was about giving service to to others. Maybe it was because our ward, neighbors family, friends and strangers had already been so great to us and my heart had been so tender to the love and compassion they had shown our family. This was basically the only talk I heard from the whole conference that October but it filled my heart with such love and peace. Kaidence quickly became severely ill within days and this was truly when it all started to unravel very quickly. Kaidence had beautiful blessings and we had complete faith in them but Heavenly Father knew that we would not grow and gain as much if we did not have to struggle and try our faith. The next 3 months were the hardest months of our lives and our faith has never been tested so much as it was then. Having faith in the blessings that Kaidence was given required us having the faith that a medical miracle would transpire. Many caring for Kaidence doubted that these miracles would likely take place but Mike and I had to keep looking forward and with time and patience we have seen MANY medical miracles since those blessings. Miracles that saved our daughters life, time and time again. Miracles that fill our hearts with graititude.

I am so grateful that I could listen to conference today in my house with my 3 healthy children and husband and for the miracles that have transpired, for all of you that helped carry our families burdens and who took it upon yourselves to pray for, fast for and care for our family and "Our little Kaidence." She truly has become a little bit of everyones life.

I try to keep positive and embrace life and truly feel that we have tried to make the best of our trials but I sometimes find myself worrying about the unknown of Kaidence's future. After today's talks I have decided that I need to take upon myself the same attitude that I had when Kaidence was so sick and in the hospital. If I did it then, I can definitely do it now. We will make the best of whatever comes our families way and like one of the talks in today's conference stated "Come what may... and love it!"

WE HAVE GAINED WEIGHT AT LAST!

Life has been busy but at least no longer passing us by. We are all over our colds for the most part. Camden and Kaidence still have a cough but most likely will for the winter. I took Kaidence into the doctors about 10 days ago and she had an ear infection and was given an antibiotic which in turn with the combination of the medication and the virus broke out in itchy hives. We have had them ever since and they will sometimes just flare up. Her G-tube site is also having a few issues and we have been working on that. She had a cardiology appointment on Thursday I am sad to say that after a week on antibiotics Kaidence still has an ear infection BUT she has gained weight.... finally. When I took her in for her ear infection the first time she weighed 21lbs 13oz. Thursday in cardiology she weighed 23lbs 5oz. I am so happy. The only bummer is that I have been getting ALL of her feeds through her G-tube and has not taken a sippy for over a week. We have also switched one of her immunosuppresion medications. Kaidence is no longer on Cyclosporin (the hairy medication) we are now on Prograf which has less side effects. We are happy about that and hope that we have good luck with the medication switch. We also have Kaidence's annual cath lab coming up(yuck). We are currently scheduled for December 26th. Not a fun way to spend Christmas break but if we did it earlier in December and they find that she is in rejection then back in the hospital we go and she will once again be on heavy immunosuppresion and on house arrest. I must say that I would love to have a Christmas with all my kiddos this Christmas morning at our house and not our other "house on the hill". Physical therapy is going well and Kaidence is making a lot of progress. She pulls herself up to everything and is starting to walk around furniture. She is not very steady on her feet but we are still so proud. Also today she discovered the stairs and seems to have a great interest in them even though she still doesn't want to crawl but who said she couldn't climb? I love to look at Kaidence every day and embrace the miracle that she is. Tonight I was helping the kids put out the Halloween decorations and Camden pulled out some decorations and said "hey mom, these use to be in sissy's hospital room." I must say I became very emotional as a flood of memories came back to me. I am so grateful for the life I had then and for the life I have now!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMDEN!!!

Today my sweet little boy Camden turned 4 years old. All he wanted for his Birthday was a pink Bike. So we knew that getting a pink bike was not going to happen for him ... so he got a blue and yellow bike. Super Speedy if you ask me. Camden is such a sweet and loving little guy. He has a very tender heart. He is my little snuggle bug and I love him so very much. He is a wonderful helper and a very protective big brother for his sister and loves to try to mother his little cousin Ryan. Him and McCaden play very well together and are bestest buds, most of the time. Unfortunately he is sick on his birthday today (myself and Kaidence as well) from whatever we got this last weekend at the cabin but he is still as happy as can be because today is finally HIS Birthday. Happy Birthday buddy, we are so proud of you and thankful that Heavenly Father sent you to us!

I am having trouble posting his picture but will get back to it soon!

DAXTON'S NEW HEART!!!

Today is such a great day for one family and a heartbreaking day for another. I received a phone call about 2:35 this morning to tell me that Daxton has a heart. Unfortunately my phone ringer was off and I did not know. So I saw the message first thing this morning and was able to run up and see Daxton. I am heading up again in a few to sit in the waiting room with his family. I am so grateful for this beautiful miracle. Daxton melts my heart and he has the sweetest family. We are so happy for you DAXTON!!! We will continue our prayers not only for you and your family but for the family who's heart aches to hold their little angel.

MY VENTS WERE.....NASTY!!!

Let me start off by saying that I am so happy that we had our vents cleaned out. They were filthy and I needed no explaination as to why my house looked like it did after dusting. I can't believe that I had my whole family (all kids that have asthma) breathing that 50-60 years of yuck! Anyhow, the guy that came out to our house did an awesome job and I would highly recommend him, Soot and Cinders cleaning. He knew our situation with Kaidence and so he made sure that he got them as clean as possible. He had his mother come and help wipe down all of the hoses before bringing them into the house and she also scrubbed all of my vent covers amongst other things. They even cleaned up after themselves. I am so glad we did the negative pressure cleaning and not the $99 special. I couldn't believe all of the dust, dirt and grime.....a little embarrassing I must say. I just need to do a little in the laundry room and then I am all done with the cleaning and de-junking.

Kaidence spent the day at the neighbors while we had the ducts cleaned out. She is teething on her right side now that she has all of her bottom teeth (even molars) on the left side. I am hoping that is the cause of the fast poopies and the runny nose. She is eating better than ever (but stopped solids...teething) and seems much happier. She has started to throw her head back when she laughs and she thinks she is pretty darn funny.

A CLEAN HOUSE.... FOR ONCE!

I think that I am finally all done with my house, thanks to the girls that came over tonight. A huge thanks to Amy, Angie, Paula and Becky. Thanks for your help and most of all your company. Paula, your next!!!! Tomorrow the Duct cleaner man will be here to do the rest. I hope it works.

Kaidence looks so much better. She is eating, but has lost a lot of weight. Hopefully I can get the weight gain going because the doctors are starting to put on a lot of pressure, but when she keeps getting sick with the throwing up and the fast poopies that doesn't help much. We will keeping moving forward. I am starting hope that Kaidence's gross motor skills (walking or crawling) will kick in very soon. I hope that I can keep her healthy and happy.

NO MORE HOSPITAL!

First let me start off by thanking all of you for your prayers and the comments that you leave. We have the greatest family and friends ever and we are always so grateful for all of your support.
Kaidence came home today. Every test they sent came back negative and they sent A LOT. So They figure that Kaidence either has a virus that they do not have a test for OR it all points to her Cellcept drug ( I think that it is the drug). We have been dealing with this vomiting and diarrhea issue since she came home and started full immunosuppression with that particular drug. I have seen the patterns for months and months and have tried getting them to try something different. Today they finally took Kaidence completely off the Cellcept and placed her on a different medication. We will wait and see what happens. The vomiting has stopped (I hope) and the fast poopies are getting better. Her appetite is not the greatest and so I will have some feeds to make up throughout the night. She looks much better and seems very happy. I couldn't help notice that within a few minutes of being home her nose started running pretty bad. So I basically walked in the door and stripped down Kaidence's room and washed all of the walls, floors everything. I hope it helps. She has an air purifier in her room so I am hoping that will help keep the dust down until Friday when the vents are cleaned. We will not be using the AC until then because I don't want to dirty what I have done, in fact the wood shutters that I wiped down on Saturday are already collecting some dust on them. So basically our plans are to keep Kaidence happy, up on feeds and get the house cleaned. She has a Cardiology appointment on Thursday and we should know the results of the 24 monitor that she wore. I am so happy to be home and so happy that I can be there to get my kiddos off to school as well. I just want to be a mommy. Anyhow, once again thank you for all of your love and well wishes and for still checking in on Our Little Kaidence.