Crazy toddler

Ember has been getting along pretty well since Autumn has arrived. The novelty of having a new baby has not worn off yet. I am waiting for it to happen, but so far so good. She constantly wants to love on and hug Autumn. She even tries to help us burp her whenever she can. Though, sometimes she does try a little too hard!

Aside from getting along with Autumn, she is getting into EVERYTHING! I do mean everything. She is absolutely her father's daughter. She is way to smart for her own good. She is trying to figure out both baby gates that we have. She watches us open and close them and then walks up to them later and tried to push on the buttons. Luckily she isn't strong enough for that yet. She has also been tyring to figure out how to plug the cord back into the swing. Every once in awhile she will get a hold of the cord once we have unplugged it from the swing and the wall (off of mommy or daddy's desk!) and walk up to the swing, with the correct end mind you, and try to plus it back in. It is neat to watch how she figures things out, but it is also not such a good thing.

Right now she has been getting into a lot of trouble for grabbing things off of mommy and daddy's desks. Especially drinks. I can't tell you how many times I have had to change her right before we leave the house because I turn my back for two second and she has dumped a drink down the front of her! I should have learned long before now that I can't turn my back at all!

She also knows exactly where her snacks are in the pantry. She will run right up to the door and knock on it if it is closed. If it is open, she just dives right in and grabs a few snacks then runs away! She is always laughing when she does it. I fail to find the humor in it sometimes. :) Other's I must admit that she is just too stinking cute.

One of her latest laughs is standing in front of the humidifier mist. She stands there and just laughs and laughs. Then she walks about for about 0.2 seconds and runs back to it and laughs some more. It really is cute. She just can't quite figure it out. She is also a big fan of music. Almost any music at all will get her dancing. Especially anything from The Laurie Berkner band. Any time something from them comes on, she drops whatever he is doing and just starts dancing away. It used to just be one big screaming and spinning in a circle fest, but now she is actually getting some moves down. She bends her knees and bounces and swings her arms! Too cute as well! I know that I am bad about leaving the TV on all day for her, but I do it because of all of the music. NickJr is very good about having tons of music videos in between their shows. Most of the shows she actually plays through so I feel that it is a good compromise.

As far as LuLu the Liver is concerned, she is happy. Ember's numbers have all come back great. We are going again next week for another round of labs and hope to hear that they are just as good. She is growing tall and gaining weight as expected which is very good. We are just so blessed to have her as healthy as she is.

I'm the big sister!!!!

On 11/24/09 Ember welcomed her new little sister Autumn Therese into the world. She decided to make her grand debut a little earlier than anyone expected so Ember was a little less than prepared. She thought that she was just going to have a fun day at home with Grandpa and then mommy would return to her. Well, that was not the case. Autumn decided to be too lazy for the Dr's liking so he said she needed to come early. So, Ember did get to spend the day with Grandpa, but mommy nor daddy returned to her. Instead, that afternoon she got to take a ride to the hospital to meet her new baby sister.

We were all worried that the minute she got into the hospital and saw the nurses and dr's she would freak out. She has been having a lot of major anxiety about dr's and dr offices lately. Enough so that she just starts crying at the sight of a white coat or blood pressure cuff. However, she did amazingly well. She was also VERY happy to see her baby sister. She immediately wanted to touch her and love on her. Due to this event she also got to have another first. She spent her first nights away from mommy and daddy. The first two nights she stayed in her own crib with grandparents staying at our house, but the third night she stayed the night at Maw Maw and Paw Paws house. Her first official sleep over!

Since we have been home, Ember has been great with the baby. She has been a little fussy, but it's not really from being jealous. It is because mommy can't pick her up on her own yet. Not sure when I will be able to, but I want to so bad. Now, two weeks out, I can have her put on my lap and I can hold her, but it's not the same as being able to just pick her up whenever she wants/needs to be held. Plus, she has gotten a cold and has been very stuffed up the past few days. She has continued to be VERY loving towards Autumn and loves hugging, patting, and kissing her on the head. It is so sweet.

Today we had a slight meltdown however. Ember wanted to love on Autumn and hold her like mommy was so I told daddy to sit her on the couch. We then let Ember "hold" Autumn. She was beaming and just kept staring at her. We did take some pictures. The meltdown happened when we tried to take Autumn back. Ember yelled at us and held onto Autumn. So, we let her hold her for a little bit longer. Then I tried to take her again and Ember did the same thing. She yelled and tried to pull Autumn closer to her. I explained to Ember that Autumn was not a baby doll and then took her back. Ember threw an all out fit. Crying and yelling and actually laying down on the floor kicking her feet!!!! It was actually pretty different. She has thrown mini tantrums before, but nothing like that!

The rest of the night she was alright with her. She continued to want to try to hold Autumn, but didn't really throw any fits when we said no. I am sure that the novelty will wear off soon and Ember will want us to take her back! hehe For now though, I am enjoying that she is being such a great big sister. I look forward to them growing up together and becoming fast friends. They are both such beautiful little girls and I feel confident that they will be best of friends and love each other no matter what. At least that is what we are going to try to teach them. We are truly blessed to have Ember still with us and now we are doubly blessed to welcome a new little girl into our lives. Hopefully Ember will teach her all of the things that she has taught us the past 18 months and even more as they grow up together. The picks below are Ember meeting Autumn and Ember in her "I'm the big sister shirt". She also got the puppy she is holding as a present.

Pictures of me

Here are some pictures of Ember from the vacation we took to branson. I have also added them into her slide show along with a few others taken from that vacation!

Butt changing time!

Daddy took me on a ride. Doesn't he look comfy?!

Vacation wears her out!

I'm going to be a great big sister!

Ember has already started to display the qualities that everyone wants in a big sister. Much to the dismay of the cat. I can see where she would be confused that he is a little person. I mean he does way 19 pounds and for the first 8 months of her life, he weighed more than she did! I'll give you some examples of what makes a great big sister and how she meets these requirements!

1) Be loving and caring at all times - This includes sitting on, laying on, and using the cat to push off of when standing.

2) Help out with feeding time - eat goldfish while running around the room and then notice that the cat, as thin as he is, looks like he needs food. Proceed to chase him around the room, goldfish in outstretched hand, trying to get him to take it from you. Never mind the fact that if you DO happen to catch up to him, you hit him in the face with said goldfish!

3) Help out wherever you can - If mommy is cleaning up, try to clean up to. By cleaning up, this includes the cat. And it means that he needs to move from where ever he is so it can be cleaned. This can be done by either patting him on the head or trying, unsuccessfully, to pick him up. Who cares that he still weighs over half of my body weight!

So, I have a feeling that this big sister stuff is going to come SO naturally to her that we have nothing to worry about! (uh huh!) I do have to say that she does really well, most of the time, around other babies. Here's hoping!

New pics!

Just wanted to let everyone know that there are new pictures that have been added to the slide show. I will post an update later!

6 months ago....Thank you

It has been 6 months today since Ember received her Liver Transplant. Though there have been a few bumps along the road, they have been mild and easy to cope with. I think about her donor family every day even though we do not know who they are. I can't imagine living life without her and I am so grateful for everything they did for us. I can't even imagine what they had to go through to save my baby. In the past 6 months Ember has made an amazing amount of progress. She is gaining weight steadily and is really starting to fill out. No more bird legs as Michelle says. :)

It is hard to believe that 6 months ago at this time I was sitting in her ICU room staring at a flat little belly for the first time. It was such a relief to be on the other side of Transplant. Sometime during the night, I cried for my baby and her donor angel. Sometimes, just looking at her, I tear up knowing that she went through more in the first 5 1/2 months of her life than most will go through in a lifetime.

She is now walking with assistance from hands or furniture. I am sure that in a few short days or weeks she will get brave enough to let go and take off on her own. She has never really gotten into the who crawling thing. She takes one or two "steps" of crawling before either rolling the rest of the way or just sitting up. It is amazing that this is where we are today. She is living proof that Organ Donation is the right choice. If you have ever, ever doubted, just look at the pictures on this page.

Thank you to our donor family where ever you are. They sound like such simple words for the sacrifice you made, but they are all we have. We love you from the bottom of our hearts. We keep you and our donor angel in our thoughts and hearts daily.

Meeting new friends is good

Last week when Ember got her labs drawn, everything was alright with the exception of her white blood cell count. It was on the low side so they asked for us to come back this week and get them drawn again. So, that is what we did yesterday. We also were asked to visit with a family who was here from Indiana for a transplant evaluation.

Their little boy has BA and needs a transplant as well. It was nice to get to share Ember's story and hopefully help them feel a little better about Transplant. I think that the first thing that I said to them was that Transplant is scary, but in the end it's worth it. Hopefully seeing Ember as healthy as she is now helped them feel better also. I am so glad that we got to meet them. I really want to be able to help others who are going through this as much as possible. I know that Liver Families and The Patterson's helped us get through the toughest time. Hopefully, we can do that for this family.

Also, I got Ember's labs back today and her WBC is still a little low. It is higher than it was last week, but not where it should be. This could be for any number of reasons. Most likely her medicine or she might have a touch of a viral thing going on. Her transplant coordinator said that when she talks with the Dr's to see what they want to do, she would let us know. For now we just need to keep her clean. Which means keep her away from all the sick people out there!

Also, this is kind of sad, but for the second time in a row she didn't cry when they stuck her to draw blood. She just sat there and watched them do it. Sad because she is 9 months old and getting stuck with a needle is old hat to her. However, I am grateful that she allows herself to let it be that easy. I wish I had that when I was little. Heck, I wish I had it now. I'm still not fond of them. She's happy though and I plan to keep her that way!