CHD Awareness Week

Do you know a kiddo with a heart condition?

Well yes, you do.

My kid.

Caydence was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which basically means the left side of her heart didn't fully develop and wasn't functional. After 3 successful surgeries, Caydence lives off just the right side of her heart.

Can you believe that's even possible? Most people who have never met Caydence can't even tell she is a heart kiddo. She is so full of energy!

Before she was born I had never been to Children's Medical Center.

I didn't know anyone whose kid had a heart condition.

But here we are. February 7-14 is Congenital heart defect awareness week. A time to bring awareness to the fact that there are quite a bit of kiddos with heart defects. As the years go by, I hope awareness will bring funding to continue research and cures for future heart babies to come.

God bless our heart babies and their families.

God bless the doctors that help our babies live longer lives by performing surgeries.

God bless the nurses who take care of our babies and help us learn how to take care of them.

1st blog of the year and it seems so funny to me that it's about food. Specifically pasta.....we'll specifically baked ziti.

I can eat the fire out of some pasta. There is a joke that Olive Garden isn't really Italian food but it's my favorite place to eat. Is there anything better than a big bowl of noodles?

Anywho, I am trying to be better at this whole domestic thing. 

With that....cooking. I hate cooking. You have to buy the ingredients and then make everything, which makes a mess. Then the dishes. Blah....too much work! But I'm trying to do 1 new recipe a week so I went in search of a good ziti recipe.

Which always leads me to Pinterest. How are they even selling real cookbooks anymore? Beats me. All the good stuff is on Pinterest.

The link below is the one I went with. It was AMAZING! The only thing I added was a bunch of garlic powder cause my man loves him some garlic! Enjoy.


http://www.thecountrycook.net/2011/12/baked-ziti.html

A new post?

Say what!

To say I have neglected the blog would be a huge understatement. My last post was in March....March 2012.

I think the main reason I haven't blogged has been due to lack of material. I used to blog because I had a kid with heart surgeries and a husband with kidney cancer and people wanted to know how they were doing....and it was therapeutic for me.

I am happy to say there is nothing to report (please oh please I hope I didn't just jinx myself).

Caydence is happy and healthy. Beyond brilliant for her age and a true miracle. She lights up every room and gets more beautiful every day.

Joe is also doing well. Still cancer free. Still loving his job. Still has an amazing wife.

And about that wife...I am great. Work is good. I get to travel and I work with the coolest people, which is what you want if you are away from your favorite people for 8-10 hours a day.

So up next:

Caydence starts kindergarten this fall
Stephanie does a better job of updating the blog
Joe and Stephanie celebrate their 10 year wedding anniversary
Stephanie gets back to her dissertation writing
The Barrett's list and hopefully sell their house soon
Joe continues to rock at everything

Our Make a Wish is.....

So, as many of you know Joe and I had gone back and forth about what to do with Make a Wish.



The question was: Will Caydence remember this trip? Should we wait until she is older?



First we were going to wait.

And then I got to thinking…



This is our life. Right now. Today. Tomorrow is never promised. Not for healthy kids, and especially not for kids with hypoplastic left heart syndrome.



Sure, if you look at Caydence, and you didn’t know us, you would probably see a perfectly “normal/healthy” 4 year old.



But the fact remains that even though she is doing VERY well, that can all change. Instantly.



I don’t want any regrets. I don’t want to wait for a trip, and maybe Caydence will be sicker when she gets older. Who knows? I don’t.

As her birthday approached I began to think about how last year she was in the hospital and had her ulcer. Even though it wasn’t my fault, I felt I owed her a big birthday party this year since she didn’t get one last year.



So, why not take a trip.

Why not live our lives now.

Why not make memories and make my kiddo happy now.

Because today, at this moment, she is healthy and is able to go to on a trip.



So, we have chosen Disney, and I predict it will be a GREAT time. We don’t have a date yet, but we will keep you posted.

Dear Caydence

Dear Caydence,

I never ever ever wanted to be a stay at home mom. In fact I drove your father to countless interviews with daycares and had even picked one.

Then you came out with a heart defect. The doctors suggested against daycare. I still fought staying at home. I went back after 3 months and worked while aunt and mimi watched you.

And then you had your 2^nd surgery at 5 months old and I finally relented, but I was very unsure.

See your momma is a type A busybody who doesn’t like to stop for 1 minute. How on earth was I going to be a stay at home mom?

I know….stay busy. The 1^st year I stayed home with you our calendar was like this:

Monday- shopping day/errands.Tuesday- play dates. Wednesday- church. Thursday- Kindermusik. Friday- swim lessons

We were always somewhere and that made me feel less like a stay at home and more still like a busybody. It made the transition less traumatic for me.

As the years went by I started loving staying at home with you. I saw everything. 1^st steps. 1^st words. 1^st foods. We took fun trips to the Aquarium, Arboretum, Dallas Art Museum, and everything in between. You were my little buddy. People would marvel at how good you could speak at 2 years old and I thought well yah, I talk to her all day long. She’s my buddy.

And now, tomorrow, I start a new adventure. Going back to work. My heart hurts some thinking of not being with you everyday. I know this will be good for both of us but I will miss you more than you can imagine. I am so very glad I stayed at home with you. It was never in my play but it was better than anything I had planned. Those 3.5 years went by so fast and I feel so blessed to have been able to capture every moments with you.

I love you my pretty princess.

Momma.

2012 Goals

2012 is fast approaching. I have never been one for resolutions but thought I would try making some goals for the year.



1) Lose weight. Always trying to do but really going to try and get motivated.



2) Sell our house.



3) Buy a new house



4) Learn how to knit once and for all



5) Try to make 1 new recipe a week



6) Make a difference at work, aka, earn my keep



7) Read the Bible beginning to end in 1 year



8) Reduce our debt by 50%



9) Volunteer Monthly at Children's by donations, time, and any other ways I can help



10) Get my CHL (Concealed handgun license)



11) Get my SPHR (HR test)



12) Start my dissertation



13) Make this the year Caydence really starts to read and write well





So that's it. What are your goals for the year?

BLACK FRIDAY

Sleep is for when you die! I love Black Friday and every year I learn something new. Here’s what I learned this year:

1)             Old people can’t drive. Still. That’s a fact not a just a statement. I counted no less than 15 old people driving 20 in a 50 mile an hour lane. Move it people. We got stuff to buy!

2)           The recession is still going strong and anyone who tries to argue that point with me did not see the football field size line at both Target and Toys r us. No exaggeration, there were at least about 1,000 people in line when I got to both stores.

3)            Some stores were not prepared for the above. Targets lines were wrapped all around the store, and one line to check out became entangled with one line for the electronics line, causing people to be in the wrong line, causing frustration.

4)           If a store opened at midnight, and you showed up at say 1:30, the crap was gone. Not kidding. I showed up at 12:45 to Target, they opened at midnight, and I got the last of several items.

5)           Organization is key. I had an excel spreadsheet with columns sorted by time/store/item and finally price. Again, if you want the item you need to get in and get out with it quick because the good stuff will sell out. This is not the time to just walk the isles looking for stuff.

6)            Some people are smarter than others on Black Friday. Note: the people that were selling coffee and donuts to the people in line at Target and Toys r us. Very smart!

7)           For the most part, Black Friday shoppers are very nice. We are all just trying to get the deals and get home. I couldn’t find an item and a dude that had found one for his wife snagged me one.

8)           Nobody cares about Home Depot on black Friday, except me. They opened at 5. I showed up at 530 and there were 15 cars in the parking lot, 14 of which were workers.

9)           Black Friday is more fun when your husband goes with you. Although mine didn’t technically go with me, he worked it and told me where the bad lines were. Score!

10)    People will bring their 4 week old baby (also not an exaggeration) out in the 45 degree weather for a good deal. No judgment. It’s not my kid, who by the way was sleeping at the grandparents house. She will cut me with no sleep but more power to you if you want to shop at midnight for hours with your kid. It made standing in line more fun for me to play with a baby.

11)        Black Friday deals are worth it. In looking at most of my receipts I saved as much as I spent. For example, we needed a new crockpot. Random but we did. I got a very nice one. Originally 40 bucks. On sale for 20 bucks with a 10 rebate form. $40 crockpot for $10 bucks. Yes please. This is just one example. 90% of what I bought was for Caydence.

And now, Santa needs to go wrap up the treasures. Happy Black Friday everyone!

Santa through the ages

2011 Santa picture is in but 1^st a look at the past.

Here is 2008 santa

Here is 2009 santa

Here is 2010 santa

and finally, 2011 Santa

Halloween part 4 of 4

Rather than go door to door we like to go to our church’s Fall Festival. Those of you that know our church, shout out to Prestonwood, know this isn’t 20 pumpkins and a photo op. This is a huge to do and is so much fun.

This year daddy had to work so me, mimi, and the kid headed to the Fall Festival.

And drumroll……

Caydence went as a cheerleader.

halloween part 3 of 4

Ofcourse no Halloween would be complete without a fierce Halloween costume. Here’s our precious costumes of past:

2008- ladybug

2009- Mrs. Pattycake

2010- Dr. Caydence Barrett

2011-?????

Off to the Halloween store we went.

Now when I asked Caydence I got 2 response- Rapunzel and a bumble bee. Interesting enough, she ended up being neither of those costumers. Here are some pics of the ones we tried.

Halloween- part 2 of 4

If you have known me longer than 5 minutes, you probably know I would rather stick my head in a book than be anywhere else. And I am trying to get my kid to be the same way. So far so good. She loves books.

With that, we usually go to several story times during the week. Our favorite being the Saturday morning storytime at Barnes and Noble.

We have missed the past few weeks but decided to pop in this past Saturday. Apparently I missed the “dress up for Halloween” memo. Oops.

Thankfully, the lady at Barnes and Noble had mercy on me, and her and the kiddos dressed Caydence up as a mummy, and then they all went trick or treating around the store.

Attached are pics. Good times!

Halloween- Part 1

I have never been much for Halloween. All of the costumes at the store make you look like a hooker, it seems way too commercialized, and really what does this holiday even mean?

But the kiddos like it so now that I am a parent I have a responsibility to suck it up for a day and let Caydence have fun.

No Halloween would be complete without a trip to the Pumpkin patch. Below are pictures. I am experimenting with picture uploading websites, hence the multiple posts for Halloween until I figure out which one I like. More pictures to follow tomorrow.

Like me?

Everyone always tells me Caydence looks like Joe. It’s true, and that’s ok cause he’s handsome! But it got me thinking about ways Caydence is like both of us. Here is what I got.

Ways Caydence is like Joe

·                  She likes to be outside, especially playgrounds. The Swing is her favorite.

·                  Stubborn. Very stubborn. (you might say I am stubborn. No, I am argumentative, and if you would like to discuss the differences I will argue them with you….at a later time).

·                  Bread eater- bagels, waffles, dough, you name it.

·                  Loves the old cartoons like Pink Panther and Loony Tunes

·                  Loves playing video games with her daddy, specifically the ones where they shoot things. Ahem. Not moms favorite.

·                  Thin. 10% of her weight class.

·                  Cool scar, just like her dad.

·                  Had had multiple blood transfusions, also like her dad.

Ways Caydence is like me

·                  Loves to read

·                  Likes to play school (I am still “playing” school)

·                  Likes to sing even if she doesn’t know the words. She will make them up, which I do as well.

·                  Falls asleep in the car….often.

·                  Loves sitcoms like Good Luck Charlie.

·                  Has started putting everything in her mouth (Some of us may remember me and the paintball story)

·                  Likes to twirl her hair, sometimes to the point of getting her finger stuck.

·                  Very empathetic towards children crying. I am not a fan of the “cry it out method”. I see a baby crying I want to pick it up not let it cry for 45 minutes. That’s just me. Caydence is the same way.

Ways she is like both of us

·                  Loves to swim

·                  Likes to make a mess and not clean it up (getting slightly better about this. Her not her parents).

·                  Doesn’t like to share. I blame this on her being an only child. We are working on it. Not sure what Joe and my excuse is.

·                  Republican (we can just tell).

·                  Loves Jesus.

Ways she is like neither of us

·                  Slow hair growth. I know what you’re going to say- look at Joe. Joe had hair until he was about 17. Lots of it. Caydence’s grows very slow. It seems to be picking up speed now…finally.

·                  Likes to cook. Not sure where she got that from. Neither Joe nor I like to cook.

·                  But doesn’t like to eat. Not sure where she gets that from either. Joe and I love to eat.

·                  Smart beyond belief. I think Joe and I are of course smart, but Caydence amazes me. She can knock out a puzzle fast. Can write her letters. Her memory is impeccable. She speaks well for her age, as I am told by people we meet. She has a great imagination. She is light years ahead of where I was at her age.

And because no post could be complete without a picture, here is my sweet baby on the swings.

Bad Blogger

When I was pregnant with Caydence I would blog every week to the week. It was therapeutic for me, especially after learning about her heart.

I haven’t been the best about blogging after Caydence was born, which was about 3.5 years ago. I have a long list of reasons why, but rather than list excuses I am going to try and rectify that.

So, here we go.

Caydence has been teaching me how to cook. It’s a skill I never learned. She loves cooking and is very patient in teaching me.

These first two pictures are her making a cake.

Followed be her making a peanut butter sandwich. Can’t believe she is old enough to make that on her own.

This last picture is what I attempted to make for Joe’s birthday. Kinda hard to make whoopee cookies without the whoopee cookie pan. I thought I could improvise and save money so I used cupcake muffin tins. Instead of whoopee cookies I made cupcakes. Oh well, they were still good.

 I have become addicted to pinterest, which has tons of recipes. We are going to get ahead and start on some Thanksgiving recipes soon so I can do them a few times to get them right (Caydence's suggestion).

Gone Hollywood

Ok, well not exactly, but we have all been super excited here about Caydence's tv debut.

I think the day of surgery I was in kinda of a state of shock. I mean, my 3 year old kid was about to go in and have her 3rd and hopefully last open heart surgery. EVERY, and I do mean every emotion was pouring through us. Would she make it? Would it work? How long would she recover? We were excited, nervous, anxious, and ......

So in watching the video's of her surgery, it seems like I have my emotions in check, when in reality I am a mess. The video/camera's concept was weird. I woke up at 4 the day of surgery to get ready. They came at 6. Surgery started shortly after 8.  They were in and out the entire day. Joe had to work the night before so he got to the hospital at 7. Craziness.

And....after we got home, Children's sent me the pictures, which were hard to look at but not blood and guts. Then in this week's episode, I see the actual surgery. Heart open. Blood flowing to the bypass machine. Caydence being worked on. Reality. I mean, what did I expect? This was about her surgeon...it was just hard to watch.

Anywho, I wanted to consolidate all the links on one site for everyone.

Here's part 1 of Caydence's story. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4A4FO0DlHw&sns=fb


and part 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4A4FO0DlHw&list=FL3P5eClaasjTO17pQFCbSIQ&index=1


and meet Caydence- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH2gbxBq-2g&feature=relmfu

and the local paper article- http://www.lewisvilleleader.com/articles/2011/08/15/lewisville_leader/news/9810.txt#share


They shot some video of us leaving the hospital, and I didn't see that in this week's episode, so I imagine that will in a  further episode.

Latest checkup

Caydence stopped all diuretics last week so we had to go in today for xrays to make sure the fluid was gone.

And it was.

Which means we don't have to go back to Children's for 6 months for her annual checkup.

Woooo hoooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a picture of our princess.