Upcoming Heart Catheterization for Little Miss Ivy

 2 1/2 Amazing months of a healthy girl! No hospital stays, No pulmonary effusions, No Edema! 

 This little girl has amazed us. Not just by the way she carries on, but by the way she does it with such joy! She wears her oxygen day and night but gets so excited for  her moments off the oxygen to play un tethered for a while. She takes her 21 syringes of medication with no hesitation now, no bribery needed. She loves that she has become a little girl and can run and play now. She has discovered her independence and is often found trying to do big kid things saying, I Do It MYBYSELF!

On August 5th Ivy will head back to Lucile Packard Children's for her next heart Catheterization. It will have been 3 months since her last one and we have high hopes that this Cath will hold wonderful news for our baby girl!

 We need to hear that Ivy's pulmonary hypertension has lessened. That her pressures are at an acceptable level for a transplant. Or, our biggest hope, yes, this one is our hope for a miracle, we pray that the results show that her heart is recovering and after some much needed rest and all of these heart failure medications, it is working! That it is recovering and that we may be able to save the heart she was born with. We know whatever the plan, it will be the perfect plan for Ivy Joy. 

Before We head to Stanford, the girls will be in their cousins wedding and we will get to spend a whole week with our family there. So many relatives still yet to meet little Ivy! The girls can hardly wait! 

Thank you for keeping our daughter in your thoughts and prayers. So many of you have emailed to check on her and left comments assuring that your family continues to keep her in your prayers. We love and appreciate you all so much! 

Heart Cath work up/pre op August 5th, 2013
Cath August 6th, 2013 

Dear Daddy, it's me, Lexi

We miss you!
We are having lots of fun on our special trip and wanted you to see us in action here! It is soooo green!!! And there is so much to do outdoors! We wish you were here!

When we arrived the big boys were ready to have a tea party with us!

 They made Ivy feel very comfortable and, well, you can tell by the look on there faces how they were feeling about her!

Ivy caught her first fish! Timmy is our best buddy!

 We went to the lake for the first time and all these boys were so kind helping us bait our hooks.

 We went on a boat ride, on a kayak and we were pulled in a tube across the lake. I was so brave daddy! We went super fast and I kept putting my thumb up to go faster and faster!

         We really really like the lake daddy!

We were putting our feet in the water off the dock but Ivy's little legs just weren't long enough! 

 I went surfing on this giant surf board. Well, sort of. I had my own driver and there weren't really many waves. See me way out there in the middle of the lake with Daniel?

 I caught the most giant bass in the lake! It was HUGE!! The boys had to help me get it up on the dock because it was about to break my tiny pink fishing pole. I was so proud of my big catch!

Ivy has been such a good girl too daddy! She loves her little breaks to go outside without oxygen and she goes all day without a nap and doesn't even get fussy! 

          Look daddy! My toes reach the water!  

Ivy has been her usual good eater and I have been my usual 2 bites and I'm done. But I have a surprise for you... Last night I took 3 bites of chicken!!!! It was good but I'm still full from it so I don't want to try it again.

Cassidy went to see Taylor Swift last week. She had lots of fun!!!

I am practicing my golf... but sorry daddy, it's really not my sport. 

 Ivy is trying to learn to swim! She is very comfortable in the water here!

Having a friend my age to play with is super fun! 

             Here we are on our way to the frog pond!

                   I wasn't one bit afraid of the frog we caught! 

Mr Wonderful gets mommy starbucks every morning daddy! Just like you when you are home! 

Here's another fish I caught from the pond!

    Here's Ivy in her baseball hat! Isn't she adorable?

Ivy drove the boat with Mr and Mrs Wonderful but she didn't like the life jacket.

The 3 of us little girls have been matching almost every day! Mommy thinks we are the cutest threesome on the planet!

 Even though we don't stand still long enough to get a good picture of the 3 of us!

Today we went raspberry picking in the rain! It was so fun! We wore rain boots and filled our buckets with 6 pounds of raspberries! We have had so much fun in the cooler weather with our friends! And guess what daddy? Tomorrow we are coming home!!!!!!! We miss you like crazy cakes! See you tomorrow night daddy!!!!
Love Lexi