This story melted our hearts...

A news anchor woman and her husband have sure gone thru quite a lot for their miracle baby boy. We saw this story on the news last night and in some ways it does hit close to home. Danielle also has Hydrocephalus, which is one of the reason's for her shunt. As we can relate to these parents, we go to great lengths for our children, all children are miracles and you just have to believe!


http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Health/medical-bills-mom-finds-resources-cost-care/story?id=10657084


In reading the comments from parents in similar situations, hearing scary things from doctors about the medical needs of their children, we remember that we continually must be strong! We go on and continue to be optimistic that we will prove them wrong! Children have a miraculous way of touching our hearts.

No matter how many times we take Danielle to therapy each week, how many times we need to leave work for appointments, no matter what the cost is of anything she needs, only one thing matters at the end of the day....that she is with us, we are home together doing everything in our power to help our little girl every day of her life! She is doing great and for that we are SO blessed! We see her smile, the twinkle in her eye, her little giggle and her greeting us by saying 'hi', we will never give up, our precious baby girl is our life, our children are our life. We fight for the best doctors, the best medical care, the best therapists for our little girl and for those people who help Danielle on a daily basis, those whom we are fortunate enough to have in our lives...we are SO thankful!

Meet Lisa, she is our most favorite therapist EVER! We love her and ALL she does for our baby girl!

"Miracles happen every day, change your perception of what a Miracle is and you'll see them all around you." Jon Bon Jovi

We are so happy that the parents in this article also continue to fight and pray and give their little boy the wonderful life that he deserves! After all.....that is what the wonderful gift of parenthood is all about ;)

Spring Checkup....

Last week we took Danielle to IC for her MRI and check-up with the Neurosurgeon. I was a little nervous because this was also the first time that we needed to take Danielle's earrings out because she couldn't have them in for her MRI. Well that was no issue at all. Danielle did great, didn't even flinch and her pretty little ears with earrings continue to look great! Danielle did extremely well for her MRI. She did not have to be sedated which again, is a blessing in itself. Normally we have a few of the same MRI techs, this time it was a few young men. Mommy was nervous that they wouldn't get her tucked in just right, but after a few pointers from us as to what Danielle prefers, she did great. She didn't even let out a peep, we didn't have to hold her hand or tap on her leg as we usually do. This big girl did great!

We met with Dr. Menezes for the results and re-programming of her shunt. Dr. Menezes is the most fabulous doctor for Danielle. Is is truly the best and every visit we have with him reminds us of this! He asked us what Danielle is doing new and different, how she is eating and sleeping, acting and how vocal she is. We revealed to him the new 'things' she is doing. Little things that she probably could not have done back in December without assistance, that she is now doing on her own. He was very happy and what we told him.....conveyed also what her scans showed. They looked great! There is less fluid in the brain cavity and the cavity is going down which is wonderful.

So we got the all clear to not go back for another 4 months. This is wonderful news. We have the whole summer without having to go to IC except for her eye exam. He encouraged us to start giving her more table foods to help pack on some more pounds. She is gaining length in huge strides, while her weight is increasing slower. So although this is new, we will be experimenting with new foods for Danielle. She is already eating yogurt for breakfast, baby food for lunch and dinner but we are going to slowly take away the baby food and add more table food. She is still taking a bottle after each and every 'meal', we will continue this for extra calories and vitamins and also nutrition! We have been adding Vitamin D milk in with her formula and occasionally some Vanilla or Chocolate Carnation Instant Breakfast....which of course she loves! So we were very happy with this visit!

Uncle Chase is home for the summer and the kids really enjoy his company...and so do Brad and I! He gets on the floor and gives each child lots and lots of snuggles and play time and the just eat it up! We are very happy to have him staying with us for now and being able to see Chase frequently this summer!!!

Danielle and Daddy are back in another session of Aqua Tots with our dear friends Kirsten and her hubby Mike and their daughter Lila. The Daddy's and girls are having a great time and us mom's really enjoy chatting and watching too. This session is also at the exact time as Dylan has his lessons, so one side of the pool is Dylan and straight across are the daddy's and girls. It works out great! Danielle and Brad have a new instructor. This lady that teaches the class also brings her little boy to partake in the class also. This brings a whole new variety of songs and games as the instructor is truly joining in the learning with her little one also! So we are enjoying our lesson time!

That is a great back float peanut!!! The girls love to sing songs!!

This weekend we had a big play date with the Eddins' and Hahn's and the kids. The kids played, we grilled out and enjoyed the nice afternoon sunshine out on the deck. We had a wonderful time with our friends and letting the kids be kids. The 3 little girls on the floor playing is such a wonderful sight. Danielle and Henley were sharing the play yard and all of a sudden we looked over and Danielle's foot was in Henley's mouth and she was sucking on it! SO funny, kids will be kids right?! Dylan enjoyed the company of his friends as well!

We are excited for the month of May. Lots of fun things coming up and we have started planting flowers around here to add some color to our landscaping!! This is one of our favorite times of year....sunshine warming our hearts, bright colors galore; from green grass to blooming flowers, and chirping birds.... reminding us of all of the beautiful nature around us!~

Baby talk!

As we have mentioned before Danielle is quite vocal these days. Giving us a little 'sass' at times and telling us all about what she is thinking. Her little voice is music to our ears! This weekend, just before her bedtime, we caught a little bit of her story on video. It's pretty cute watching her busy little body move all over and listen to her telling us all about her day!

In Danielle's words

Spring Show 2010...

Last night Danielle and I had an evening together.....at Spring Show 2010! Cousin Mackenzie is on the Monticello Expressions Dance Team and last night was their year end performance. Danielle and I really enjoyed going to watch Kenzie.... dance her heart out!

The Stage was set....

The girls were all escorted by their parents, aww...

The team and their parents....their biggest supporters!

The evening started out with a variety of dances and in between were a few solo's and impromptu skits. We had great company with Cassie, Zach, Cody, Aunt Linda and Great Grandma Holub. Danielle was really in aww looking around at all of the action around her. But when the first round of applause happened, she didn't quite know what to think. She nearly jumped out of her skin and the big pucker lip came and the tears started to flow. Aunt Linda had her snuggled pretty tight which really helped a lot. She even took Danielle into the hallway for a little break! Thanks Aunt Linda!
And the girls took to the dance floor!!

Kenzie is a very talented dancer, being just a freshman, she has many years of dancing ahead of her. For not ever, have, taken a dance class in her life, you would never know it by watching her, this girl has talent!!!

Mambo #5, dancing with the guys! So cute!

The girls did a 'mother, daughter dance' and a 'father, daughter dance'. Dan and Connie both got out there and busted a move. I was quite impressed! Great job mom and dad!!

I caught just the very end on video!

For the last routine the girls were in these hamster like body bags. Oh my goodness! These things were just hilarious! They did the whole dance in these bags, talk about having your timing down, that was a must because they couldn't see a thing! I was just cracking up, so much that I had to take a short video, too cute!!

I believe the girls danced 15 dances in the show. That is just amazing! Changing outfits, gearing up for each dance in just a matter of minutes, smiling and showing all of their friends and family what hard work they have put into each and every routine throughout the year. We were very happy to be there for Mackenzie, and are already looking forward to watching her next year!

Great Job Kenz!!!

Getting in some snuggles with Cassie!

Danielle and I really enjoyed our evening together! It was very nice to have some mother/daughter time and for Daddy and Dylan to have their time also! I look forward to many more of these 'girl' dates sweetie! Mommy loves you SO much (and so does Daddy too), thank you for being my little STAR!!!~

Girls just wanna have fun....

Danielle has been having fun with 'girl time' the past few weeks. We had pictures taken with her little friends Lila and Henley a few weeks ago. We headed to Jill Christine for a little photo shoot and the girls in their matching Leopard Print dresses. The experience was one for the memory books, lots of laughs now looking back on the whole thing.....pictures of the 3 pretty girls to come!

Danielle has been extremely vocal these past few weeks. More vocal than ever before....it is like music to our ears! When she is at therapy she literally talks back to the Therapist, when she is on the floor with some of her favorite toys she talks to them, to mom and dad she regularly says 'hi', the most precious little voice ever! She has quite the little personality, as you can see sometimes when she is feeling silly she prefers to move her body to chew on the toys without having to use her hands to hold the toy to her mouth...smart lil' cookie!!

Grandpa Kinney was over for a visit last weekend. Danielle got in some snuggle time, we all know how much she loves that! She was very excited to see her Grandpa, and he was VERY excited to see and spend time with the kids!

Last Monday night Danielle and Daddy started the YMCA's version of Aqua Tots! They are doing the class with our great friends Mike and Kirsten's baby girl Lila, Mike and Lila joined the class as well. Dylan just loved this class last year so we thought it would be perfect for the little girls to do as well. It was a HIT! The water was warm, but look a bit for Danielle to get use to. After that she was smiles, fluttering her little legs about as the sang, blew bubbles, played with rubber duckies and basketball. Danielle just loves bath time so we knew she would love this, and she did, she had a blast! Afterwards getting her dried off and dressed she was telling us all about it, talking up a storm, chatting and squealing, too cute! The happy words of our baby!

This is a weekly class on Monday nights, so much fun for the Daddy's to do this together with their little girls! Last week was a hit, the Daddy's and little girls had a great time and the mommy's loved watching. We are so proud of them and we can't wait to see what next week will bring!

This weekend we also had a little dinner/play date with our friends and the little girls! It was fun to see Danielle, Lila and Henley all together again. Looking at little Henley, only 6 weeks old, brings back the memories of Danielle that small, it wasn't that long ago but it seems like it has been forever! Even looking at Lila, now 10 months, thinking 'WOW in a few months she will celebrate her first birthday'! It seems like just yesterday the little girls were getting to know each other right after Lila was born! Time as a parent sure goes by SO fast. We really enjoy the company of each other, sharing funny parenthood stories, the joy's of everyday life as a Mom and Dad. It was a great night and the girls had lots of play time!

Today found us vising Great Grandma Holub in Prairieburg. Grandma was SO excited to see the kids and they were as excited to see her also. Both kids gave Great Grandma a very warm reception! As always Grandma had lots of goodies set out for the kids....after some goodies and play time the kids each gave Grandma lots of snuggles! Also visiting were Aunt Connie and Kenzie. The kids were very excited to see them. Danielle told lots of stories and had a lot of smiles to show off today. She is such a happy girl, loves snuggle time and lots of attention, but is also happy playing on the floor stretching out and moving all around! We love it, today was a super fun time at Great Grandma's house!!

Tonight it was supper time and early to bed. Neither of the kids have had naps this weekend, they have had lots of play time and were just exhausted. So it was early to bed for the wee ones, in preparation for a busy week!~