Let It Snow!

I was so excited to see snow yesterday. I wish I had a sled to take Emma on her first sledding experience. It was just fun being able to experience something that is so rare here.


What is this white stuff?




It is never too cold to play ball.

It was really funny watching Emma try to throw her ball with mittens on. She was determined.

Baby Dedication

This weekend we got the opportunity to spend some time with our good friends Kristin and Geoff and their sweet baby girl, Allison Kate. They had a baby dedication for her at their church and we were honored to be a part of such a special day.

Emma was very much in love with the church band. She could not get enough of the guitar player. When the pastor was speaking she just kept asking for more music. I guess their church is more upbeat than Catholic mass, which is the only church exposure she has had. I think I am going to try taking her to the local methodist church where she goes to school because they hold a modern service that I believe has a band. Gotta love rock n' roll music!!

It's all about the park!

Thankfully this week we had fabulous weather to enjoy some much needed park time. Everyday it was nice I think we went to the park at least twice, except when Emma had school. Emma has gotten very good at asking for the park and I always feel bad when I have to tell her no b/c it is either too cold or brr in Emma's language or it is too rainy. So thank you sunshine for finally showing yourself! Now what can I do to keep the sunshine around?!

Happy Valentine's Day

This year we decided to refocus what we celebrate on Valentine's Day. In the old days (pre Emma) it was of course all about Andy and me but now that we have a family it is not just about us. Andy and I still believe it is important to celebrate our love but is also important for us to celebrate the heart defect that Emma overcame. By becoming involved with local and national congenital heart defect organizations we have learned that this is the time of year to raise awareness about the defect. So we are now going to make it a tradition to celebrate Emma and her major achievement and of course the love of our family.

To celebrate Emma this year we took part in a walk sponsored by Milagros (that means miracles in Spanish). Milagros is an organization that supports families affected by congenital heart defects. We had a blast being part of something so special and can't wait to do it again next year.


Emma and Andy before the walk began.


Emma meeting the Chick Fil A cow.


Emma and me walking.


The champion with her medal. Go Emma!!

Inspiration

I am very excited that the winter Olympics are starting this Friday. For some reason I just love to watch the Olympics. The people truly inspire me and I just cannot get enough of all the sports. This year I am looking forward to watching my favorite male snowboarder compete, Shaun White. He won the gold in 2006 and I am hoping he repeats it again. He is an amazing athlete and if you have never seen him before I highly recommend checking him out. Well recently there has been lots of news coverage on Shaun White since the Olympics are about to start. Something new I learned about him that just caught me off guard was that before he was one years old he had two open heart surgeries to fix a heart defect called Tetrology of Fallot. This is the same type of heart defect that Emma had fixed. It is amazing to see what one can achieve even if they have a tough start. Thanks Shaun White for providing inspiration to my life and hopefully one day to my little super girl. She could very well be an Olympian one day or whatever she wants to be.


Shaun White catching some air


Emma demonstrating her hat wearing abilities

More Me, Please?!

Lately Emma has been on this kick of watching her first birthday video. Every time she sees my computer she signs more and says baby. We have found ourselves needing to limit her daily video watching b/c if she could have it her way she would do it all day. The video does come in handy when I need to get something done, like eat lunch on days when she has OT during our normal lunch hour.

Heart Update

So happy to say that we got a clean bill of health today at the cardiologist. Emma was a very uncooperative patient so they decided to skip the ultrasound. Everything else looked good, her EKG and oxygen levels. We are very excited to not have to go back for another year! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!!