Happy 3rd Heart Anniversary!

We are celebrating a very special anniversary at our house.

I'm sharing some pictures and wording that will look familiar to some of my long-time followers. I originally starting blogging to document our special needs adoption and although most of my attention has shifted to crafting and my obsession with vintage items, I still love sharing our family's adoption story with others.

On April 22, 2008 we spent the day at the University of Michigan hospital in pre-op.

Josie would be undergoing open-heart surgery early the next morning for Tetralogy of Fallot. We spent the evening in a hotel outside of Ann Arbor holding onto her, praying, talking about the day(s) to come… unsure of what God’s plan for us was… or for Josie. In some ways, April 23rd is more important than Josie's gotcha day/adoption anniversary (if that makes any sense).

I remember barely sleeping that night. We hadn’t even been home a month from China and despite her extreme night terrors and attachment issues, we were completely in love with this little girl. Chris and I were scared at the risks, but we knew the quality of life would be forever changed once her heart was repaired.

At 22 months of age, she was wearing size 9 month clothes. The simplest of activities (even eating or bending over her toy box) caused her to pant and become short of breath. Her lips and toes would often turn blue. Sleeping was less than a pleasant experience…picture constant spinning around in MY BED (cosleeping was a matter of survival) and crying out all night long. Chris often referred to her as our little clock.

This surgery was going to be the beginning of a new life for her. It was everything she deserved.

God gave us our miracle the next day. He healed Josie’s heart through the work of an amazing surgeon (Dr. Ohye) and medical team.

See this post for more information on her procedure.

Three years have passed and unless you knew her prior to her surgery, or saw her chest scar, you’d never know that she was once so very sick. Additional surgery will be needed as she gets older, but we aren't letting that slow us down (Josie doesn't even know the meaning of slow...she never stops MOVING). As we get ready to celebrate Easter, we have many reasons to give thanks.

We give thanks for the gift of life!
We give thanks for the gift of Josie!

We give thanks for two special daughters
who make our days crazy happy (most of the time)

We especially give thanks for the incredible medical team
at Mott Children's Hospital!
Happy Heart Anniversary, Josie!

XOXO

♥