Absolutly Amazing!!

This is an incredible story that I wanted to share. I was privileged to meet this miracle man and his sweet little mommy the other day. I just love science and the giant leaps that it is making. Enjoy......
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=10921916

Two years old!!!

A big huge Happy Birthday to my baby boy!!!

Two years ago right now I was in labor with my little man. It was a long emotional labor(36 hours). We had just found out three days before that our son had a heart condition. The word "roller coaster" is a great way to describe our emotions. We were determined to look on the bright side of things and to put our faith in trust in our Father in Heaven who knows all and who had ours and Daxtons best interest in mind.

He came out fighting. When we decided to name him Daxton we looked up the meaning of his name and there was none documented. Since the beginning he has fought many battles and has risen above them, thus the meaning of his name is "Warrior". Ryan gave him the nickname Daxtonius Parkerius. He has and still is living up to his name. He is starting to get a wonderful little temper. When he doesn't want something that I am trying to give him he hits his head with both his hands. I wonder what he is trying to accomplish?

In his two short little years Daxton has:

-survived a heart cath at 3 days old
-survived a heart surgery at 5 days old
-survived 2 1/2 months on a ventilator
-had his first smile while on the ventilator
-survived a heart transplant on Sept. 10 2008 at three months old.
-lived through a g-tube placement surgery-because he was not gaining weight and is still struggling gaining weight.
-has endured innumerable blood draws, pokes, probes, etc.
-has lived through 3 additional heart caths and will need one once a year for his entire life.
-he struggled crawling, walking, eating but now is doing all of these like a champ....well the eating we could work on a lot more.
-enduring life at home with two very loving and protective sisters and always with a Smile!!!

Daxton loves his:
-Sisters
-Mom and Dad
-Dog,Xander(honestly the only reason I have kept the dog is because of how much Dax loves him)
-choo choo train, especially Thomas
-watching "How to train your Dragon" and "Thomas"
-playing outside
-legos
-toy cars
-and we found out today he loves swimming

I love this little man! I am so eternally grateful that he is a part of our little family and I am his mother!!

His birthday present from the cardiology team is to let him go from three times a day meds to twice a day!!!!! To those who know this is HUGE for us!! Since his transplant we have been giving meds at 8am 4pm and 12am. It is so nice to not have to give that late night dose. I am a happy camper!!

So thanks to our Donor family and our Savior my little Dax man celebrates two years of wonderful, glorious, amazing life!!!!

I love you little man!!! Happy Happy Birthday!!!

Catching up

I have not posted for a while and I thought I would just update with whats been going on. The girls have been keeping busy with the dinner theatre. They did a dance to Itsy Bitsy Bikini with their cousins Kiara and Kayli. They all had a lot of fun dancing and interacting with the high school kids. Last night was closing night and I am so glad that it is over.

We are rounding down the school year with lots of activities; dance programs, school tests, school programs, etc. May is always such a busy month.

My Dax man is growing so fast. He is a professional walker now and is getting faster and more independent. He has been eating really really well up until a few days ago. He seems to have a little bug and doesn't want to eat. It is times like these that I am exceptionally grateful for the g-tube. For easter he got a Thomas choo choo train which he absolutely loves. He loves anything boy; cars, trucks, dragons, and banging things. (Even his head when he is having a terrible two temper tantrum) But he still stays in touch with his feminine side by playing with his sisters and their barbies. We took Daxton to the full 3 hours of church last week for mothers day. He wasn't to sure about it, it was very exhausting but wonderful to have him there. He is so wonderful. I am so incredibly grateful that he is with us and we can watch him grow and develop, Thanks to our donor family and the Lord

.

Ryan started school again and hopefully will continue until the finish line. He is so close we just need to keep our eye on the prize. I am training for the Wasatch Back Relay right now and that is all consuming. I wonder if there will ever be a time when i can just go exercising without stressing about it all day. Probably not, but I do really enjoy running when I am finished with my run.

We are excited for the rain to stop and the sun to come out so we can come out and play and plant my garden.

p.s. I just added some random pictures that have nothing to do with the post, just for fun.

Running fool

I have registered to participate in the Wasatch Back Relay. What I was thinking I am not sure. Alas, I am on the training road. I have a few questions for all you runners out there.

1-What do you eat before you run?

2-What is your favorite music to listen to on a run?

3- When I get about mile 2.5 the balls of my feet start going numb. I have tried to loosening my shoes, that didn't work. So do you have any suggestions.

4- And last but not least, how the heck am I going to run 6.9 miles at one time?

Prayers for Mason

Sweet little Mason received his beautiful angel heart on Easter Sunday. What a wonderful and glorious gift to receive on such a beautiful sacred day. He is having a bump in the road right now. His little body is rejecting this new gift. The transplant team says that this can happen and it is more likely to than not. They can treat them with some heavy doses of anti rejection medicine. This is always a fear with us and we feel such relief after our monthly echos show no sign of rejection for our little Daxton. I ask that you spare a moment and send Mason and his family your prayers and faith. They have been through so much already and we have been a witness of Gods wonders. We are praying for continued miracles for miracle Mason.

Part two and pictures

Day two at Disneyland started out wonderful the weather was perfect the lines were not too long. After the first night at Disneyland I got a little stomach bug and was throwing up all night. So about 3 pm Ellie started acting really sick and just not feeling well, she didn't even want to get her picture taken with Mr and Mrs Incredible. We were waiting in the line for the new toy story ride in California adventure we were literally getting in the car for the ride when Ellie puked all over me and her. YUCK! Just moments before I had zipped my jacket all the way up so all I had to do was take my jacket off and I had brought an extra set of clothes for Ellie but only Ellie(weird). So we cleaned up nicely.

We ended the night with a wonderful ride of Pirates of the Caribbean(I love that ride) We parked our stroller nicely next to the hundreds of other strollers, and after the ride came back to retrieve it and was gone, no where to be found. We reported our stroller missing Mady and I walked with the security guard to the Lost and Found and she helped us file a report. Items that were missing; stroller, two backpacks, camera, Mady had purchased with here birthday money a new drawing book, the girls autograph books, and a bag full of pukey disgusting clothes with throw up all over them. They security guard told us that strollers usually show up with in 24 hours, normally people just think that it was theirs and then realize it isn't and just leave it. That was our hope, alas it was not to be. They never retrieved our stroller or any of the other items.

On the final day at Disneyland we were still in the hope that our stroller would be found so Mady and I ran ahead of everyone to check lost and found and rent a stroller if we needed to. Lost and found had not seen our stroller yet so frustrated we went to rent us two strollers, I was so frustrated and asked them since our stroller was stolen at their park if they would discount, give us a buy one get one free, anything. Nope, nothing so I pulled out the card to purchase the strollers and the lady told me she couldn't take the card because it had my husbands name on it, ahhhh. I showed her his ID, still no. I was so frustrated through tears of frustration I told her what had happened and that all I wanted to do was rent a dang stroller(and I didn't use any profanity's). She turned around and went and got her manager. Ryan got there just in time and we rented two strollers.

I decided I was not going to let that ruin our last day at the happiest place on earth and I didn't. We had a wonderful time. The weather was picture perfect, there were no lines. We walked up to every ride. It was wonderful. The kids got to meet all their favorite princesses. That was Daxtons favorite part He would run up to the pretty ladies with a big smile on his face and sit on their laps. He is such a ladies man.

I love Disneyland and it was so fun to be there with my parents, sister and my brothers family. And what would a vacation be without some adventures?

Good times and big adventures...Part One

Last week we were able to take a family vacation to the hap hap happiest place on earth...Disneyland!!! We had a lot of wild adventures and a lot of good times. It took us two days to drive there with a 2 am stop in Primm, Nevada. The highlight of Primm was the very overpriced over cooked buffet and the $10 gift shop.

Mady turned seven years old on Saturday and we were planning on going to the beach. While Ryan, my mom and the kids were shopping for some last minute items my dad was in the hotel room watching the news. The Earthquake in Chili just happened and there was a tsunami warning along the California coast. My Dad would not let any of us get near the Ocean so we decided to go to Disneyland. We were a little concerned because it was A. Saturday and B. overcast and the weather forcast was rain. But how fun would it to spend your birthday in Disneyland. We ultimately had a great day. Mady got a pin that said "It's my birthday" so all the cast members said Happy Birthday to her. At first she didn't like it but by the end of the night she just said "Thank you" and smiled. We did get rained on and poor Mady's feet were soaked. During dinner Daxton decided to throw up all over himself. Poor guy. So I walked back to our hotel room and changed Daxton and got a change of clothes for Mady and headed back to the happiness. By the time I made it back to the hotel room my pant legs were wet up to my knees. It felt good to get a change of clothes. Dax and I made it back to enjoy a few more rides. Ryan and I took Mady on her first ride of space mountain. She was not so impressed. Ryan kept yelling "faster, faster" so Mady thought that it was his fault the ride was going so fast.

The girls were disappointed that the tea cup ride was closed but there favorite rides were Dumbo and the roller coaster in toon town. Mady's favorite part or the day was getting Minnie Mouse's signature. Minnie wrote in Mady's book "Happy Birthday Mady, Love Minne Mouse" Madylin was excited. We ended Mady's magical day with a ride on Peter Pan. I love that ride and Daxton loved it also. Good times!

Sorry there are no pictures, maybe with Part two....