The Blood Drive was a great SUCCESS today!!! We had over 30 donors and had to turn as many away...the Red Cross was not equipped to take on so many in those 4 hours. They didn't quite believe us when we told them we'd get a great turnout so another one is being organized for the near future to accommodate all of those who wanted to give blood today but were sent home. It was a really fun day to see so many faces in our community. There were a few "first time givers" that just came in support of Maddie, you know, the "needle phobes"! We are incredibly blessed to have grown up here and now have the opportunity to raise our kids here. There isn't a face that we don't know or have some sort of relationship with. We're just very lucky... I believe that the event did "Raise Awareness, Spread Hope" for CHD like I'd intended. Our entire family wore t-shirts I had made and the video was nice for those who were waiting to give blood or had just finished up and were taking it easy. I'd also created an info. sheet on CHD as well as a small thank you with red ribbons attached to wear, which stand for Awareness of Heart Disease/CHD's. All in all, it was a fantastic afternoon and we just feel entirely blessed to be 3rd generation residents of such a wonderful community! Thank you Royal!!!

The Aunts & Grandmas (both sides of the family)

Maddie's Aunt Danyel, always beautiful...even when giving blood!

Ba and Maddie (my dad who can't get enough of his "Moomer")


The social event...besides the football game!

Aunt Maria was one of the first, brave donors

Where the magic happened...the bus! It was really nice and smelled just like a hospital inside! They could draw blood on 4 donors at a time as well as do the screening/interview process

Papa and the boys posing right before heading over to Mrs. Becky's to play for the afternoon

Wild girl with Grandma Allred, Aunt Danyel and Aunt Lesa

Kyla & Lisa...the best organizers ever, with Miss Maddie!

Maddie loving her brother Jace :)


The highlight of our day was when Maddie ROLLED OVER!!! She performed at the blood drive for Auntie Lesa then again at home...here she is, stuck. Daddy also braved the poke today and gave blood. Maddie's hero!

This is also our 100th blog post! Wow...what an exciting thing to write about!

Maddie's Heart Journey Video

I'm so looking forward to the blood drive today. It sounds like we're getting a great turnout! This will be Maddie's debut too...there are still some who haven't gotten to "meet" her yet in person! She was in the newspapers this week, which was a fun way to spread the word about the blood drive. The write-ups were great! Here's the link to the Columbia Basin Herald's article printed on Thursday, Oct. 2.

Here's the DVD that will be playing at the blood drive today. It showcases Maddie's heart journey as well as her little heart buddies. So for those who cannot attend the blood drive today, you can be with us in spirit this way! Just push play and enjoy. It was fun to make and I was inspired by some other heart videos I've seen on blogs. Thanks to those who have helped organize, baked cookies, and are planning to give blood today! I'll post pictures of the event later!!!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

More Information on the Blood Drive

Just a reminder that if you want to give at the blood drive or help on Friday, please call Kyla 346-2025 or 989-0476. Making an appointment will ensure that you'll get in and out...drop-ins may have to wait. We're really thrilled for this event! I'm also taking the opportunity to promote CHD awareness there. I created a DVD of Maddie's Heart Journey which also showcases her "heart buddies" as well as provides facts and statistics on CHD's. It will be something to watch while "recouping" with cookies and juice!!! There will also be a Plasma TV giveaway provided by the American Red Cross. So those of you who attend and give that precious "plasma" will have the chance to win a brand new Plasma TV! How cool is that?!?

Cade turns 3, Spiderman Style!

Happy 3rd Birthday Caders!

Today is Cade's actual birthday but we celebrated last night with family. The highlight of the evening was a REAL appearance by Spiderman, himself! Boy, was Cade surprised! Cade's big grin and sparkling eyes will be imprinted in my mind forever. He was truly intrigued with Spidey until big brother (a.k.a. "the party crasher") had to try to pull of Spiderman's mask. I know, B-R-A-T, why do big brothers have to do this kind of stuff? (Flashbacks to growing up with my brothers...) Luckily, Spiderman is Peter Parker in the flesh and it didn't seem to faze Caden. Phew! It truly made his birthday extra special and a big THANKS to Spiderman for taking time out of his busy super hero schedule to come! How will we ever top this birthday for Cade?

I do love the day after birthdays. I'm usually wiped out and the kids have all new toys to play with. Let's just say the boys were up at the crack of dawn to play with all of the new birthday loot. Fun times!

Blood Drive

A blood drive in honor of Maddie!
When: Friday, October 3rd 2-6 pm
Where: LDS Seminary Building, Royal City
To Schedule an appointment call: Kyla 509-346-2025 or 509-989-0476

More information to follow so check back!!!

Cardiology Appt.

Today Maddie and I drove over to Seattle for her cardiology appointment with Dr. Chun. After a chest x-ray, heel poke for labs, an EKG and visit with Dr. Chun, the consensus for her appointment was GREAT! After a little OD on Captropril last week (yes, the pharmacy had changed its recipe and was mixing it at a 5x higher suspension rate) I was a bit worried about my girl. As her mother, I felt HORRIBLE for giving her the wrong dosage but was totally unaware of it until the bottle ran out quicker than expected. I beat up on myself pretty hard and was so pissed about the pharmacy's part in this mistake!!! I had not been "prepped" by them prior to giving her the medicine and had no idea how they compounded it! Note to self: always ask them to give you a rundown on the perscription before giving it! Anyways, to put it simply, Maddie tolerates a lot. The only "signs" she had was little interest in eating (which is her norm more and more these days), funny looking poop, and she was sleepier than usual. Duh...her blood vessels were extremely dilated and lazy from too much Captropril! So she's now off of the Captropril, she's satting at 85% and seems to be feeling much more like herself. Her labs came back a bit high in potassium but Chun wasn't too concerned about those numbers. Everything else checked out great...she weighed in at 14 lbs 3 oz and is 25.7 inches in length. We also aren't due back for another cardiology appointment until the end of November! AHHH!?! I don't think I can make it that long but this is awesome news Maddie doesn't have to be seen until then. Dr. Chun has confidence in how she looks and overall, how she's doing. Even though I'm nervous not having a monthly checkup, it is a big sigh of relief and reassures that everything is going great in that little heart of hers!

Maddie with Dr. Chun, he's the best to visit with...he always answers all of my questions and I have learned so much through his explanations, he's a great teacher and is the nicest doctor!

The highlight of the day was going to see Teagan and Susie. Teags has had a rough couple of weeks after her Glenn surgery. Teagan is truly her "heart sister". Like I've said before, their hearts complete each other to make 1 healthy one. Although these two 1/2 hearts are pretty tough and hold their own quite well!!! Teagan is just a doll, and it was so nice to see them again. We check on her daily through their blog and Susie and I visit on the phone just about as much. We had a fun time as "visitors" on the floor this time. Different being on the other side, even had to get a visitors pass! We're looking forward to when they are home and rested so we can get together for a nice day with our "bestest" (as Jace and Cade would say) heart friends!!!



We couldn't help but stop by the CICU on our way out. We delivered some freshly picked apples (after many offers and promises made from our prior stays) and we got to see Joanna, one of our favorite nurses! We hadn't seen her since March so she was so excited to see Maddie "all grown up" now! We also picked up the empty "Maddie blankets" basket so we can make up another round of blankets and burp cloths for the ICU. Dr. Baden strolled by just in time and was able to take the box of apples...he's given us such a bad time about being farmers that I wanted him to have the "fruits of our labor" (literally)!!! I think he's now impressed about what "farmers" actually do. He's a good guy and is always fun to joke around with. So all in all, it was a super day for just Maddie and mommy!

6 Month Recap

Happy 6 Months baby girl! Wow...6 months already. Here's the recap & milestones Maddie's met since 3/13/08:

~ surprise birth a month early by emergency C-section
~ 2 open heart surgeries
~ 2 heart catheterizations
~ 30 days lived at Children's Hospital
~ 3 ER visits
~ 1 ambulance ride
~ 11 doctor's appointments
~ has "beat" the NG tube twice and oxygen cannula
~ almost tripled in size since birth!
~ laughs, smiles, jabbers, shrieks, spits, coos, blows bubbles
~ sleeps a 5-6 hour stretch at night now!
~ wears 3-6 months clothes and size 2 diapers
~ loves her thumb...it's for the long haul, no doubt
~ started rice cereal & some baby food, not a big fan
~ she's a snacker and a grazer...would prefer not to eat if she could!
~ rolls from side to side but not over yet
~ holds head straight up during tummy time & supports head steady
~ grabs toys and switches them between hands
~ stands up & loves it! Can even balance by herself holding onto something
~ adores her brothers, especially Jace...she comes ALIVE when he's near
~ not good in crowds or around a lot of people...cries and worries! She's a
homebody (house arrest does this to a girl)
~ a "mommy's girl" through and through and I love it, can't get enough!