The end of 2016!

2016 was so much better than 2015 for us! It was still full of challenges, but it was also an incredibly blessed year for our family because Emma is alive and thriving with her new heart! She spent the entire year living life outside of the hospital!!! We are rejoicing and praising God for that!!

Not once did Emma have to go to sleep at night in a hospital bed like she had done so many times the year before. This year alone she had hundreds of appointments and blood draws, took thousands of doses of life saving medication and had a heart catheterization. But it was all outpatient. At the end of the day, we always got to take our baby to our hotel or home. No surgical floor, no ICU, no sleeping on hospital couches, no open heart surgeries, no blood transfusions, no extra oxygen...just a whole lot of living. 

It was only a little over a year ago that it looked like Emma would never leave the hospital. It was unlikely that she would even live long enough to experience her first Christmas. We were running out of options. We stood at her bedside heartbroken as we were staring death in the face. 

But then we were given word of a most incredible gift. Another family who was in the midst of tragedy had made a decision to donate their child's organs, which ultimately saved the life of Emma and likely other children around the country. Emma made it through that high risk surgery better than any of the doctors expected, which was an answer to thousands of prayers. She beat all of the odds, and continues to amaze us every day.

Yesterday marked 3 years since Mickey proposed to me, which reminded us that we've only been married 2.5 years and have a 19 month old who has had three open heart surgeries including a heart transplant, we've lived in 7 different places, and we bought our first house! 

We are so thankful for a full year together outside of the hospital, and are looking forward to many more! But we are also hoping this coming year is a little less eventful!