"Each day I love you more ...
today more than yesterday ...
and less than tomorrow."
~Rosemonde Gerard
Brenden, Scarlett & Daisy...
Three beautiful blessings who are connected by the strength of their spirits.
I will talk more about these beautiful souls in the update that is on its way.
January Update 2007
Coming soon...until then enjoy the photos...
Proud Papa
gives Scarlett the gift he has so longed to give...
A Shiny Red "L'il Giant" Tricycle
It will be awhile before her feet touch the pedals :)
A Shiny Red "L'il Giant" Tricycle
It will be awhile before her feet touch the pedals :)
At Baba & Dydo Fedorak's on Christmas Eve...
Then to the Robertson Christmas on the Sunshine Coast...
True gifts of the season...our children.
Scarlett & her cousins, Ava & Maegan
Poker Night
Notice how nobody is happy except Grammie. Grammie had Scarlett (her lucky charm).
Look at all her loot!
Scarlett enjoying her many many gifts...
Look at that Menace-at-the-wheel look in her eye!
(She takes after her mama! That-a-girl!)
Scarlett's Spiffy New Boots!
Who says mealtime can't be relaxed, casual & fun?
"Now listen egg, I'm going to eat you & you better not bite back!"
Hmmmm...feet on the table may be a little too casual Miss Scarlett?
Do you like the rice stuck in my hair mommy?
Drinking from a creamo cup at the Pancake House. Too cute!
Magical Mist...Canuck Place Children's Hospice...
A Heavenly Vista for the Most Special & Beautiful of Children...
Believe in the power of wishes, prayers and the beauty of life.
Never stop believing.
The holidays this year were filled with so many feelings, which I suppose isn’t much different from any other year for me given that I'm an overly sensitive over-feeler. Of course, there was the happiness and thankfulness for the blessing of Scarlett Rose and yet more than ever there was the longing and sadness for the loss of my most precious angel, Chloe Isabel. I miss you more and more my beautiful girl. Oh, how I miss you.
The month of December turned out very differently than the idyllic affair I dreamed of in my head (the power of imagination and dreams can be a blessing sometimes and without which I’m certain my heart would have long ago stopped). And yet behind the tears and the heartache were moments of such love and beauty that any hardships seem to pale in comparison and I was left to cherish all and everything that keeps me believing.
As with every flower, especially in the cold of winter, it takes a moment… a moment that you really will wish to take pause for… to peek beneath the petals. For it is within that moment, deep beneath those petals, that I promise there is beauty beyond beauty that awaits you, glistening beneath the frost and dew…
A week before Christmas Scarlett became very ill. She began vomitting from the moment she awoke and proceeded to vomit for the next 24 hours. We took her to the Emergency and it was determined that Scarlett caught a flu bug, as well as an infection in her urinary tract. Poor baby. Luckily it was caught early enough and she was treated with heavy duty antibiotics. The downside of her hospital stay was that she lost quite a bit of weight (she had so little to spare to begin with) and lost quite a bit of her strength. Thankfully though she has recovered quickly and was released in time to celebrate Christmas with our families. She still wasn’t feeling great during Christmas, however she trudged on with such determination and glee that it was hard not to trudge along with her. I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing she is. I know I’ve said it a million times but until you see her and witness her “always-with-a-grin” adorableness and miraculousness you just wouldn’t believe that she was born with the same disease that stole our beautiful Chloe way too soon.
She IS a miracle.
Speaking of miracles, determination and trudging on… I received a phone call on Christmas Eve with devastating news… mere moments before Christmas we learned that a very dear family to us lost there son Matthew. Matthew was a beautiful young man of 18 years old (yes Matthew was 18! He was the oldest surviving child of Krabbe that we have ever met). Matthew lived life with such courage, love, joy and inspiration. Matthew was an incredible young man and we feel honoured and blessed to know him and his amazing family. We met the Shilling family in 2002 at the Hunter's Hope Family Symposium and it was there that we first met the happiest young man with the biggest grins and smiles you have ever seen. I have since become very close to Matthew's younger sister, Marissa, who is a shining example of what it means to live every day to the fullest. Marissa and Matthew have been my inspiration to try and always greet each day with a smile no matter what may lay before you. We love you Matthew, Marissa, Dawn and Bill. We love you so. Click here for Matthew's Journey.
And then… bless the then… there were moments over the holidays… moments beneath the petals and under the dew… moments of such love and beauty that the burden of our hearts soon lightened….
We were blessed with the most special of visits with the strongest and most inspirational little souls you could ever hope to know… Brenden and Daisy... two little friends and neighbours from 3B at BC Children's Hospital.
Brenden.
Daisy.
Brenden… smiles… energy… delight… love of animals… mimicking animal noises… laughter… more smiles… determination… handsome… so handsome… superhero… strength… pow pow… family… Scarlett's boyfriend... LOVE.
Oh how we love you Brenden.
Daisy… beauty… miracle…. cherub…. kindred… amazing… determination… blossoming… growing…. petal by petal… so beautiful… LOVE.
Oh how we love you Daisy.
I will never ever forget the first time I saw Brenden. We were on the Oncology Ward (3B) at BC Children’s Hospital and it was still the early days of Scarlett’s transplant. A new family was admitted (which of course always made my heart ache)… one glance over my shoulder as I scrubbed in at the communal sink and I saw a reflection of something so familiar… a mom glancing at her most beautiful little boy… his cheeks red, healthy and gorgeous… tears stream down the momma’s cheek… the weight of the world on her shoulders… so terribly sad… I know that sadness… I' ve felt that sadness... and yet there is a magical sparkle that remains… a sparkle that will forever be as she gazes into her son’s beautiful brown eyes.
I’ve seen that look of LOVE.
I’ve had that look of LOVE.
The baby’s father puts his arm around his wife as she cradles their beautiful son. LOVE. I feel the depth of their love. I feel the desperateness of their love. I know their love. Oh how I know their love.
They are beautiful. I want more than anything to hold them. To tell them it will be okay. To embrace their fears. To tell them how I know their love.
I’m helpless. I want to take away their pain, their hurt, their worry and to tell them how much I know their love.
All these months later we are connected to their love. It is our love. We will share their love… as it is true… so true… how much we know their love and know the feeling of loving an extraordinary child.
Brenden needs our love, our wishes, our prayers and our belief in miracles now more than ever. Please join us in our belief. Seeing Brenden and Scarlett play together is one of our greatest joys. Please believe. Click here for Brenden's Journey.
And then their is Daisy... sweetest Daisy. Daisy received a Cord Blood Transplant just over a year ago...her journey began just after we left the hospital to go home following Scarlett's transplant. Daisy has leukemia. Daisy is a miracle. Her treatment is an astounding success. Truly a miracle. Daisy and her family are lovely and loving and we feel blessed to be touched by the miracle of Daisy's life. Click here for Daisy's Journey.
Our wee Scarlett is doing better than ever these days. She soon gained the weight she lost back (and some!) and she is stronger than ever. Frank and I pinch ourselves daily; she is everything we ever could have hoped for and so much more. We have never ever met a girl like her. She has personality to spare. Our bellies ache from laughing so hard day in and day out. She is hysterical. She is adorable. She is absolutely loveable.
For those of you interested in Scarlett's development I will try to capture some of her recent milestones; however I’m certain I will be missing many as she is developing in leaps and bounds (quite literally!).
- The “Bum Shuffle & Spin” – very adorable as she spins in full circles to get from point A to point B.
- Nods head up and down and pouts her lip and says “Un-huh…un-huh” – this is how she says “Yes” (before she was shaking her head from side-to-side to indicate “No”. Her yes is so much more adorable.
- Pulling up to her knees and reaching into her toy box for her toys.
- Pushing forwards and backwards on her tippie toes on her Winnie-the-Pooh Car Rider.
- Taking steps (one...two...one...two...) from one end of our home to the other while holding onto her Daddy's hands - this is her favourite thing and she wants her Daddy to walk with her day in and day out.
- Pointing at everything and anything and saying “Ohoooo-ohoo-ohooo” and “Ahhhh-ahhhh-ahhhh” (we’re trying to say the words for the things she is pointing at in hopes that she will try to mimic our words). We are also beginning baby-signing so that she can use gestures if it is hard for her to vocalize.
- Does the hand motions for “Itsy Bitsy Spider” – sooooo cute!
- Tongue – you simply have to mention the word “tongue” and no sooner is her adorable little tongue sticking out…proudly, happily, oh-so-adorably.
- She knows what ‘eyes’ are and will point to yours or hers.
- We are having trouble with identifying "nose" because she thinks we are saying "No" so she shakes her head back and forth.
- She LOVES Elmo or “Mo” as she adorably refers to him as.
- Scarlett loves to dance! Oh how she loves to dance! She has her own special signature bum-dancing.
- She can wave “Bye-Bye” with her delicate little fingers and hands.
- Eating of solid food is coming along… still not to the point to sustain her, she still loves mommy’s milk most of all (still every couple of hours) – however she is getting more adventurous with each passing day and is not afraid to experiment as long as she is left to explore without help. A very independent girl she is! She loves fruit & veggie puffs, cheese, cheese and more cheese, pasta, rice, egg yolk (cooked), Dorito chips, and chocolate cake.
Let me just say - Scarlett is amazing! Truly amazing! If you only knew what Krabbe disease is…was…you would truly appreciate what a miracle Scarlett truly is. Truly unbelievable. So unbelievable I’m having a hard time believing my eyes, my heart. Chloe should be here. Chloe should be witness to the miracle. Chloe is the miracle that brought her sister to life. Chloe is the love that made the miracle of Scarlett possible. Chloe is our belief. Chloe is the angel on Scarlett’s shoulder… the beat of Scarlett’s heart… the beauty of Scarlett’s life.
We love you Chloe.
We love you Scarlett.
More than you can possibly know.
For as long as I live I will never believe how blessed we have been to have two such beautiful, amazing daughters. I’m humbled by their beauty. Humbled by their love.
Life can be so beautiful when you least expect it.
~ Believe. Just believe. And never ever stop believing. ~
At the "Carnival of the Animals" Music Concert
Click
on the Rose to Float into February...