Visitation and Funeral

The Visitation for our precious Addi will be Sunday, April 1st from 4-6 at Rosewood Funeral Home in Pasadena.

Funeral will be at our amazing church, Clear Creek Community Church at 10:00 a.m on Monday morning.

Again, Darrell and I, and our entire family thank you for all of your prayers. We love reading all of the texts, emails, messages, etc. Thank you so much!

Addi and Mr. G

Here are two more pictures that I meant to attach.

What a Reunion

Today our precious Addi went home to be with her Heavenly Father. I can only imagine the joy and love that she felt upon her arrival. I am so ecstatic that her big brother, Cade, was also there waiting! Darrell and I have been blessed with two beautiful and amazing children. I guess they were so great that God just couldn't wait to have them.

Thank you so much for ALL of your prayers, love, and support. We are absolutely heart broken right now. The Lord will carry us through.

Another Wonderful Day

Addi was a busy little girl today. After we got her hair washed she took a little nap. Then she woke up and the physical therapists came. She stood on her own for a few minutes, took two or three steps, and sat on her own. They were happy with her progress especially since she has been laying in her bed for an entire week.

She is finally sleeping and we're hoping she sleeps well tonight. She is so tired, and now that she is more alert, she's afraid that if she falls asleep we won't be there when she wakes up. Needless to say, she hasn't been doing much sleeping.

A friend wrote to me today that it was so wonderful to see me holding Addi in my arms, just like He has been holding her in His arms...especially this past week. I thought that was so perfectly said! With that, goodnight!

Terrific Thursday

Today our sweet girl is doing great! She ate a little yogurt and a few Cheerios. They wanted to make sure her mouth muscles were working like they should. Then we washed her hair. She slept in my lap for awhile. We needed her to sleep a little bit since she didn't sleep much yesterday or last night. Later the physical therapist will come by and work with her on sitting up and maybe walking. They need to get her up moving.

She looks great and are just so thankful to God that she is here and doing SO well!

One Happy Mommy

I got to hold Addi tonight! I have been waiting so long to wrap my arms around my precious girl and I finally got to. Our sweet nurse made it happen. The nurses here are truly amazing!

Addi had her pic line put in today. Tomorrow they are planning on getting Addi up and moving. We'll see how that goes. I'm excited to see her up. I'm also anxious about how she'll do. She's been through a lot and it may take awhile to get her back to "normal".

Thank you for your continued prayers! God continues to do amazing things through Addi. We're still praying for a heart...sooner than later. I also pray for the donor family who will be giving Addi their child's heart. This is heavy on my heart and I just pray they find a little comfort knowing that their precious child is living on through someone else.

Back on the List

Today has been going good. We were told this morning that Addi was put back on the transplant list as a 1B. She is now this status because she no longer has the breathing tube. She is definitely getting back to her normal self. She was excited to see us this morning, almost like she was trying to say, "Where have y'all been?". She also doesn't appreciate the nurses.

Today they are planning on taking out a line that is in her leg and putting a pic (spelling?) line in her arm. They are also thinking she may be able to start sitting up and walking! Busy day, but we're loving it!! We are LOVING watching the plans God has for her.

Tuesday Night

Today was a good day. Addi was awake off and on today. She will be getting more and more alert and active as time goes on. The nurse asked her today if she could cough for her and she told her no! She also drank some juice from a sippy cup and held it by herself. She is doing so well! The night nurse put a gown on her tonight and she looks so comfortable.

Thank you so much for all of the prayers. Please keep them coming!

No More Breathing Tube

Today's plan was to get Addi off of sedation and get the breathing tube out. They took her breathing tube out about an hour ago and she looks BEAUTIFUL!! We went up to check on her and I snapped a quick picture. I didn't want to wake her up because she looks so peaceful!

The doctors did make her inactive on the transplant list today. They want to make sure by watching her interact with people that her brain function is fine. They said they want to see if she still can do appropriate things with all of the medicine and sedation out of her system. They don't seem to be concerned about it at all, especially with the CT looking like it did.

Addi is making progress every day and it's all because of God. We are still in awe of how far she has come and are so excited about her getting a new heart...the sooner the better!

Goodnight Monday

Well today has been a great day! The CT scan results came back good. At 7:15 this evening they turned off the breathing machine and she's been breathing on her own for a little over an hour. She is still intubated, just in case she starts to struggle. Hopefully the tube will come out tomorrow. I'm really wanting to hold her, and I think the tube has to be removed for me to be able to.

She looks great and has been awake quite a bit. She watches what the nurses are doing and I wouldn't dare leave the room with her awake. She watches to make sure you don't leave. We're looking forward to another good day tomorrow. Praying hard for a healthy heart while we wait for a new one!

Here's a picture of her breathing on her own while she's sleeping!

God is Good

Today has been an awesome day and it's only half way done. Addi had her CT scan today and we were told that "unofficially" it looks good. Because of this, she has become active on the transplant list once again, this time as a 1A. This is the highest priority on the list. So we can be getting a call anytime about a new heart for Addi. We were told that there is still no way of knowing when we'll get the call, but we pray it will be sooner than later!

Words can't describe the feelings and emotions that I'm having right now. Again...thank you so much for all of the prayers, sweet texts and emails, and everything else! We appreciate it more than you know.

Sunday Night

Today has been a good day! Addi has been awake off and on. She has been alert, looking around, and moving her arms and legs, and even moving her whole body at times. She recognizes our voices and I even asked her if she could open her eyes for Mommy and she did.

I'm in awe of what God is doing in our lives. It is truly a miracle that Addi is here and doing so well...and it is ALL because of Him. Please continue to pray for a strong heart, healthy lungs, and good brain function. We feel pretty good about her brain based on her activity, but we have nothing "official" yet.

Here is a picture of her with her eyes open.

The Plan for Sunday

Today the plan is to start weening Addi off of the sedation to get her to wake up. This is exciting news...I can't wait to see her awake. This process has to be done carefully. They have to make sure she doesn't get too excited or too upset and cause stress to her heart.

Hopefully I'll get some pictures today of her awake. Thanks again, for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Bow Time

I got to go up and fix Addi's hair a little today. I braided her hair so that it would be easier to keep under control. They also told me I could put a bow in her hair too!! She looks precious!

I can't say enough how blessed we are to have SO many people in our lives who love us. It is overwhelming each time I think about how many people are praying for our precious Addi (and I think about it often). Keep them coming! We love y'all.

God is Good

Addi is off of life support and has been for a few hours now. She is doing great! She looks a lot better. The only concern is that she has some fluid in her lungs, however, this is normal with what she went through on Thursday. The hopes is that the fluid will go away on its own. Now we take baby steps with getting her back to "normal".

We are by no means out of the woods, but this is HUGE progress! We have faith that God has good things planned for us. We just have to be patient. Please continue to pray that Addi's heart continues to function well on its own and that the fluid in her lungs goes away. God is good!!

Here are some pictures of her after the procedure. Her hair is, as she would say, "a mess". She's such a fighter!

What a Night

So tonight was really exciting. Darrell and I went up to see Addi and her eyes were open. We started talking to her and her eyes started following us. She spotted Mr. G and looked at him. I got her to SMILE at me and she made a sad face when we had to leave. It brought tears to my eyes. They are glad that she is moving, but right now they need her to be still. They kept having to give her more sedation medication to keep her from moving. Talk about a little fighter!!

Tomorrow they are going to try and ween her off of the ECMO machine. Please pray that her heart will be able to function on its own. Currently it is functioning with the help of the machine. That is the big goal for tomorrow. She has been doing so well! We appreciate your prayers more than you know....keep them coming!!

Friday Update

We went to check on Addi this morning and received a good report from the intensive care doctor. He said that she is doing "amazing". He said that we are by no means out of the woods yet, but she is doing well. Her organs look good and she moved more during the night which is a good sign for her brain activity. They even have had to increase her sedation because she has come out of it a few times. Today they want her to relax.

She has accumulated some fluid around her heart which they think may be from the trauma yesterday. They are now deciding how they want to get rid of it...there are two options.

We are hopeful that things continue to move in the right direction. Please continue to pray for her and her heart function. God is good and we know that he is in control and has special plans for us!

Pray

Today Addi had a scheduled doctor's visit, and it quickly turned into an emergency situation. Darrell took her down to the lab for bloodwork, like usual, and things quickly changed. When they tried to get the blood for the second time Addi got really upset. She started getting sick and then began to turn blue and her body temperature dropped. They quickly took her to the ER and started CPR and administering meds to figure out what was going on. They did an echo and discovered that she had quite a bit of fluid around her heart. They drained that and she was put on an ECHMO (spelling?) machine to help her heart pump.

As of now, we are waiting to see what happens or how her body responds with the hope of ultimately trying to get her off the machine. The doctor's are waiting to see how other organs in her body are functioning.

The good news is, she woke up and looked around at one point and moved her arms and kicked her legs. We were told that this is a good sign regarding her brain!!

Darrell and I are so blessed to be surrounded by people who love and care about us. Our family and friends filled up one of the waiting rooms. The texts and emails mean the world. Please, please, please continue to pray for our precious Addi! She is a fighter and we are so proud of her.

Wristbands

Like I've said before, the school where I teach is absolutely wonderful. I work with the most caring and compassionate group of people. As one of our first fundraisers for Addi, a few of my good friends at school designed one of those silicone wristbands to sell. It is red and they say "Remembering Cade" and "Embracing Addi"! I thought it was so sweet how they included Cade on the bracelet too.

The bracelets are one for $3 or two for $5. If you would like one, or some, email me or let me know and I'll figure out how to get them to you! They have already sold over 500!!

Here are two pictures of the bracelet (I tried to show each of the phrases). This is the best I could do, and they are a little hard to read. My email is scarpenter0104@yahoo.com.

Another Thursday Appointment

Addi had another check up today at TCH. Her X-ray looked good! The doctor said it looked the same as last week. She has to wear a halter monitor for 24 hours. They like to have their heart patients wear them every few months. They just want to make sure something out of the ordinary isn't happening with her heart. We also don't have to take her back for two weeks. That's progress since Darrell has been taking her once a week.

She was one tired little girl today. She went down at 6:30. Because of the timing of her appointment she didn't get much of a nap. She's such a sweetie, but she doesn't really appreciate having to wear the monitor. I think the tape pulls on her and ever since her surgery she's a tad bit dramatic when it comes to things being on her chest. I've attached a picture of her with the halter and one to show how tired she was.

I know I say this all of the time, but I really can't say it enough. Thank you so much for all of your continued prayers and support. They mean more than you know!!

Beautiful Belly

Wednesday night, during bath time, I was able to get the remaining five pieces of tape off of Addi's chest. Her belly looks great! The scars are so thin and I am really impressed with how good they look!

Every time I look at her stomache it reminds me just how special this little girl truly is. Her tiny little belly tells such an amazing story! I thank God every day that He gave her to us!

Back With Her Friends

Today Addi went back to Ashley's. Her six week recovery period ended on Friday. I was really nervous about how she would react to me leaving her. She has spent the past four weeks with her Mimi. When we got there she was so excited to see Lucky, Ashley's dog. Then she went right to Ashley.

I was so relieved that she didn't get upset. She loved on Ashley and got busy playing with her friends.

We just love Ashley! She kept Cade at eight weeks and started keeping Addi at about eleven weeks. We are so blessed to have her in our life!

Here is Addi playing in the school room today!