One year old

The time is here! Charlotte has officially turned one year old. It is time to celebrate a difficult but miraculous year. It is unbelievable to look back at how far she has come. Charlotte is the epitome of resilience. It has been unbelievable to see how far David and I have come. We are stronger because of our daughter. All of our lives are forever changed. For several weeks we planned a beautiful princess party for Charlotte. (Thank you Pintrest for all the wonderful ideas!) It seemed the right thing to do because right after Charlotte was born, Kate and William had Princess Charlotte. We bought tons of pink and gold fabric and accessories to decorate the house. We had a close friend make beautiful pink and gold desserts. We invited 20 family members and had a wonderful celebration of a difficult but life changing year. Charlotte met her cousins Alyx and Karolyn Harris from North Carolina for the first time. The instant love between them was amazing. Charlotte had her own special outfit for her big day which included a beautiful headband and a pink ballerina tutu. Lot of memories were made. The day was perfect!

A confirmed donor

After a long stretch at home, Charlotte contracted viral pneumonia. We went on a long hike at a local park towards the end of December, and we think she might have gotten sick. It was a great hike though! Charlotte loves the outdoors. She looked at the rivers and trees with eyes wide open. After three days, Charlotte was discharged and is doing well. She has been home for the entire month of January otherwise! The really exciting news is that we have a confirmed donor for her bone marrow transplant. We got the call and apparently 3 people have been found to match Charlotte and are willing to donate. The doctor at CHOP has picked the best one, and we will start her transplant in May. The doctor wants her lungs to heal as much as possible, because the conditioning prior to transplant can be very hard on the lungs. The good news continues to roll in. We had a follow up with Charlotte's cardiologist and the hole in her heart has closed on its own! Her heart looked normal on the EKG and echocardiogram, so  we no longer need to see the cardiologist! Also, we had a follow up with the developmental pediatrician to assess Charlotte's progress with gross motor skills, fine motor skills, cognition, etc. He said that Charlotte is "remarkable given how sick she has been." She is developmentally right on track for her age! She smiled, laughed, and flirted with the doctors for the entire appointment. Hopefully February will be as good as January!

Christmas and New Years at home

What a wonderful way to begin the New Year. December was officially the first full month since she was born that Charlotte was not in the hospital. What an amazing feeling. We have soaked up every minute of time as a family. Charlotte finished her 2 week dose of the antibiotic which helped with the bacteria in her belly. It really helped reduce her vomiting! We attended our first church service as a family on Christmas Eve, and Charlotte did so well. We sat in the back so that Charlotte isn't surrounded by colds and germs. She is still easily susceptible to upper respiratory infections, so we have to be very careful about who she is around. Then, we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Nana's house. We had a wonderful dinner with the family. Christmas Day was better than we could have ever imagined. The best part was having Charlotte home. We played all morning and opened presents. Charlotte was definitely spoiled by her amazing friends and family. David and I even got to take a nice long run in the woods to get some fresh air while Nana watched Charlotte. Christmas Day was definitely wonderful. Then, we rang in the New Year together as a family at home. It was more than we could have hoped for. Charlotte was sleeping soundly in her crib, so we woke her up at midnight and watched fireworks on our rooftop deck. Here's hoping that January is another good month!