Welcome to our new blog!!

Welcome to our new blog! This will be our new home for updates on Kaylin (& Brayden too) and her continuous journey through life as a child with congenital heart defects. We hope to bring further awareness to the fact that CHDs are the #1 birth defect and that they affect 1 in 150 births in the US! We also have struggled with 2 premature births (28 weeks and 31 weeks) and want to bring awareness to that as well. Please look for the March of Dimes March for Babies near you because the money raised goes to research why premature births are on the rise and how we might be able to prevent premature births in the future.

Now to the latest with us.....We had a great Easter and hope all of you did too! (It's hard to believe we actually got a pic with all of us looking at the same time and at the same camera.) Kaylin really got into Easter eggs this year. She helped me put them together and fill them with fun stuff and then she played with them for at least a week! I am still finding halves and parts and pieces of plastic eggs all over the house! She also helped us dye some eggs and even made some for her baby brother. We had to do an indoor egg hunt at our house due to rain on Easter, but later that day the weather turned beautiful and she had an outdoor hunt at her Gram and Papa's house. It was somewhat of a slow process though because every time she opened an egg she had to sit down and eat whatever was inside. We finally convinced her to fill the basket up with the eggs and then sit down to open them all at once - she stuffed herself with candy, fruit chews, and goldfish for the rest of the day. The day was wonderful and we just celebrated the many blessings in our life

Since our last trip to Houston, life has been pretty hectic but we can't complain because both kids are healthy and doing really well. And the cath must have given Kaylin renewed energy because since our return she only takes maybe 2 naps a week!! Ugh! Such a killer for Mommy because I basically don't get a break all day between her and Brayden, so when Daddy gets home the poor guy gets the "dump off" of kids as I collapse on the couch for a few minutes before Brayden's final feed of the night and our nighttime routine ensues.

Kaylin is also beginning to potty train herself (since Mommy is too tired and brain dead most of the day to focus on it!) and goes a couple of times a day in her "big girl" potty! She wears pull ups with big girl panties over them for part of the day and is just so proud of herself when she goes. I'm not pushing her to do it all the time - just whenever she wants to do it but at least we are moving in the right direction. She is fiercely independent these days and has pretty much figured out how to pull every toy, chair, stool, or piece of furniture in the house up to a counter or tabletop to get to what she wants. Nothing is safe from her anymore! She might be small, but she has certainly figured out how to get what she wants!

That's it for now! Gotta go and get ready for the day. Will update again soon and thanks again for all your prayers and well wishes for our family!