This child makes me smile..yeah my heart smiles all the time I am with her!  This morning we had a swim lesson...she was so excited about everything EXCEPT the lesson...unlike the other times she wanted out...not in the mood but even with that said..I think she did really well!  Oh....and looked precious with her tutu bathing suit.

We then went to Super Papi's office...this was the CUTE moment of the day...okay she had many cute moments but this was the BEYOND CUTE moment of the day!  Our little Warrior Princess was tired and since Mami and Super Papi had some things to talk about she played with her toys and then we turned to see that she had taken some papers laid them out grabbed her toy and had made a BED for herself!! and laid in it!!!! She was ready for her nap and nothing was going to stop her...okay...it was a MOMENT...just too cute! That little Smarty pants!!

I wanted to thank all of you who continue to keep our little Warriors and Warrior Princesses in your positive thoughts and prayers....I know what it means to their parents for it means the world to me!

Sending you lots of "wov wov"!!! 

See Bethany's Transplant Assessment online.

Please continue to keep all of our little Warriors and Warrior Princesses in your prayers and positive thoughts. 

Please...If you read this...please join us in prayer for baby Eme tonight at 8:00 pm eastern time.

You may read her journey at www.cotaforemersonw.com ...but please lift this baby up in your heart.

KrystenaSun, 10/12/2008 - 3:27pm

(part of psalms 91)..."I will say of the Lord he is my refuge and my fortress. My God "in whom I trust".

~Lord we give Emerson to you. Please touch her little body with your almighty hands. Heal her from the top of her head to the souls of her little feet~

To all who love Emerson~
We have to lean on God - let us all join in a united prayer at 8:00PM EST/7:00PM Central.

Let us remind God of these verses below.
Let us have enough faith to be given what we ask for. Faith is a hard thing to have when things look so grim but please know God is real and God can and does heal. Let our faith come alive for our little Eme.

Matthew 18:19-20
“Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

(we are agreeing)

Mark 11:22-24
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

We believe God --- Give Emerson life
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have yet to hold her little hand or touch her precious face. I long to do those things. Emerson is the daughter I will never have(thanks for sharing her Erika :). I have loved spoiling her from afar. She has my heart, that's for sure. I cannot imagine the pain of losing her before getting to hold her. I further can't imagine the agony Erika and family are going through right now. Emerson has a family that loves and NEEDS her. I don't see why God won't honor those things.

Let us pray,
Krystena

Yesterday I spent a beautiful day at a scrapbook crop. I went to this crop with a purpose...I wanted to work on Savvy's donor family album. I wanted to thank the family of our donor angel for each and every moment that they have given us with our baby girl. I could not work on the album alone for I just kept crying....thinking about how close we came to losing her and then about how GRATEFUL we are for having her and then for the pain the family of our donor angel is feeling in their loss and yet for the love they have shown complete strangers....so many emotions.

So, I went...I spent so much time looking at every detail thinking am I making it to simple or too ornate?...is the the right picture? Am I choosing the right words? Is this a good idea? How do you thank someone for saving your little Warrior Princess? How do you express gratitude in a way that is tangible? How do I share our story without details for we are not allowed to provide them without screaming....YOU SAVED SAVANNAH!! She is the most precious thing in my life...YOU SAVED ROBERT... YOU SAVED ANA...How????

So...I did the best I could...with my husband's help..who overlooked every picture I was choosing and every word...he too I know feels it...feels this .. this intense feeling...I do not know how to describe it... but I guess gratitude is the best word.

Well, the day was nice and I even decided to become a Creative Memories consultant. I decided to do this primarily to help others the way we have been helped time and time again. For those of you who know anyone who needs help with their medical expenses I will be happy to host an online "crop" and donate the profits....just email me at analiz0211@yahoo.com with Creative Memories on the subject line so we can make arrangements..when I have the website through Creative Memories set up I will share the link.

Afterwards I met up with my amazingly handsome husband...boy was he looking cute yesterday!!! I am a lucky girl! and my beautiful daughter chilling out at the beach...so Savvy has grown up to be an official beach bum...she is so at home on the beach...it is precious.

I am so grateful...so very, very grateful for today and all of the possibilities that tomorrow brings!

A Charity Sparring Match will be held to benefit Savvy's COTA fund and Marlon Pastora's medical fund who has also received a liver transplant due to Biliary Atresia.

youngtigersfoundation.com

	Marlon Pastora 1 Years Old Nicaragua $378,000

Ulysses "El Corazon" Ocon (and dear friend of ours) take on Eric "El Tigre" Castano.

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It was a whirlwind evening last night...warning I am in the typing mood...so this is going to be long!!!

As we drove into our complex Robert casually says, "oh there is the gator in the lake"...WHAT?????????????????????????????????? I know common sense in Florida is not to walk to close to lakes and to look for the birds....no birds...bad sign...but to actually see the gator oh....as we turn into the complex!!!!!!!!!!! So NATURALLY I yell...turn the car around...I wanna see!!! There he/she was .... chilling out in the water...so I grabbed my camera and took pictures and then I notice that the gator is looking at me...hmmmm....time to run back to the car...don't want to make the local news....."Scrapbooker mom could not resist picture of gator and was eaten alive clutching onto her camera!"

So we went gator watching .... not the normal evening for us!

Then our little fiesta girl was the life of the party!!! Last night we went out to dinner...an out of the way little restaurant that we could not imagine would be busy in the middle of the week...well.....there was a FIESTA!!!! Two birthdays were going on and there was a HUGE table down the middle of the restaurant with about 30 people and a woman on a microphone singing DooWop music! Our little Warrior Princess started clapping the moment she walked and shaking the tushy!!!

The nice thing was that other then this huge party the restaurant was empty so Savvy had a dance floor and boy did she need it...can't stop a little dancing queen when she feels the music in her soul! She had on pink little cowboy boots and a cute little jean skirt and she showed off her moves...it was so cute that the fiesta goers stopped their party to join Savvy's!! They all turned around and started clapping and cheering her on as she showed them her Super Papi's best 1970s moves that she has learned!! She was so darling! The birthday girl came over and gave us a huge piece of cake for Savvy (although Mami and Papi ate it since Savvy couldn't...yummy....raspberry filling! )

Savvy got a little pumpkin from someone else and just kept on grooving..this went on until our meal came out. Then she sat like a little princesa and ate her meal. We always ask the manager to read the ingredients on the boxes of what Savvy is being served and we have been really lucky so far that everyone has always been understanding and so far so good (although we always carry the Epi Pen) so we explained the whole allergy thing and liver transplant thingy and the birthday girl learned about it and then I guess the news traveled REALLY fast because I had left to clean the dancing queen's tushy and I understand that a Shriner came to our table. Robert thanked him and his father (also a Shriner) for all of the work they do for our children ... and they said they did not work with liver transplants...we know ... Robert explained that although they do not work with transplant kids we know of so many children whom they do help in a direct way..at the RMHouse the Shriner's help so many...and helping our children is the greatest gift any man can do.

My heart went to my dear friends at the RMHouse ... we thank you too... you help our children and it is the greatest gift any one can do...and those who volunteer their hours...they only do it because they already know there is no greater reward...I went to sleep last night thinking of all of them and thinking of Dan...Super NJ RMHouse volunteer...thank you for making my heart smile!

So as you can imagine the dancing Diva was EXHAUSTED when we returned home...YEAH! Maybe she will sleep in ... WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think she may have been overly stimulated or drunk on pineapple juice (she had it for the first time last night and LOVED IT!) but she woke up at 2 am...then at 3 am then at 4 am...then decided she was not going to go to sleep...it was like having a newborn in the house.....tired Mami....and tired Super Papi that needs to head t to work....ahhhhhhhhhhh...no worries...the dancing queen woke up energized this morning ready for the next fiesta!

So for lunch this little diva has her dogs at her feet...not sure how they snuck in because we tend to separate them during meals...Why? Because she feeds them...and "we" do not feed them table food....she breaks all of the rules!!! So, I look up and see her giggling while her fingers our in their mouths and they lick off the preserve that she had on her toast...then she sticks her fingers in her mouth guess the doggies missed a spot....yeah...I am just sharing THIS story hoping someone reads it to my mom...Savvy's Abuela (hahaha).

So, as you can imagine it is naptime in the household ... even the dogs are sleeping...Super Papi is at work and hoping to hear more about Savvy's results. Turns out her white blood cell counts are still low...too low for comfort...this is the third lab in a row...not good. So we have to go to the hematologist ... can't imagine that the BLOOD doctor is not going to require more BLOOD.....errrr....but I was told not to freak out yet....yeah... our transplant coordinator knows me...and knows my fear of the "C" word... just could not handle that not now....not exactly a year after we had to move out of our home... NO this Halloween my little princesa is GOING to go trick or treating!!!! So, as I have often selfishly asked so many...familia, friends, strangers...please keep our little Warrior Princess in prayer...please let her continue to lavish in her good health and let her stay out of hospitals beds....please...

And our little friend, Xander, we learned that his daddy is not a match...same thing that happened to us with Savvy...please continue to keep him prayer...that his "Gift" arrive soon and that like our little Warrior Princess that it be the "perfect" liver for this little Warrior.

http://colbykids.blogspot.com/

I know that I sound like a broken record...I have no problems going up to strangers and telling them that the family of our donor angel saved our Savvy's life....please...it means so much...please share the stories of these little Warrior's share their stories so that one day parents like myself do not have to beg and plead and live with broken hearts for their child was placed on a LIST...a list...NO this is not acceptable!!! 

Please become an organ donor and tell your loved ones.

As per unos.org - As Savvy was last year, Xander is this year...represented in this number...it is not just a statistic...

Slowly but surely I am feeling better.  This fluid in the lungs thing is not fun...but fortunately the pain is going away...but then when you live with a yummilicious little Warrior Princess it is hard not keep a smile on your face even if your body is not 100%.  Savvy is so darn cute it is almost to the point of ridiculousness!!! I know...I am biased...but I do not care...I will share my bias viewpoints. 

Robert aka Super Papi is amazing but we all know that by now...but when I am down it is so fabulous to have someone who can and does pick up the slack with no problem...so on Monday morning my little Warrior Princess goes off to work with her Super Papi (I understand his office looks like a sticker explosion hit it...) and then to the courthouse with him to drop off whatever it is that these Super Papi lawyers drop off in courthouses....so here is a cute story that was shared with me.  Savvy has a new purse...yup..SHOCKING!  Super Papi HAD to buy this Hello Kitty purse for Savvy when Mami was out of town because well...it was just so darn cute like she is...pink and glitter....what every Warrior Princess needs!

The two of them trot on down to the court house and the officers in the court house tell Robert that it is okay that she does not have to put her purse in the conveyor belt to walk through (the purse is empty)...but Savvy so use to going through airport security is ready, willing and able to place her purse in the conveyor belt walk through and wait for it on the other side....just made me smile...for I remember the first time we went through security at an airport with her she had a diaper wrapping her IV on her arm and now she carries a Hello Kitty purse....my heart smiles!!!

Then after coming home for lunch and naps...they get ready to drive Mami to school for I could not breathe very well and radomnly went into coughing fits with pain...so thinking it would not be a great idea to drive my little familia takes me to class...and they head to the park as I sit in class.

Tuesday morning again...I have to go to class ... which I could stay home but that is not the reality of my program...and in the back of my mind I am always thinking if Savvy goes to the ER then I have to reserve not going to class for that ... not because I do not feel well...so I go to class and I felt better then I thought I would ... meanwhile Savvy goes to the park with Super Papi and DISCOVERS puddles!!!!  I know this because when I got back in the car she was wearing a different outfit....Yeahhhhhhh!!! A different outfit and it was not because of VOMIT!!! WOOOHOOOO for the Warrior Princess!!!!

Then we head to Chick-Filet for lunch (love this restaurant...they have hand sanitizer wipes in the bathrooms and play areas!!!!  Kudos to them for this!!! AND  Savvy is not allergic to their chicken!!! WOOHOOO!!!)  So she is a bit overwhelmed at first with all of the kids playing in the play area so we take her out and have lunch...Super Papi gets a "work call" that he has to take care so Savvy and I go back to the play area...I sit and catch my breath while my now energized Warrior Princess starts "talking...I mean lecturing" the other kids...now it hurts to laugh but I could not help myself...she is the smallest thing in the play area and she is yapping along with such a serious note ... the other parents in the play room started to laugh too.  She just makes me smile....this time last year...she was so sick....actually it was right before Halloween when we had our VERY SCARY final admission at All Children's before we moved up to the Ronald McDonald House to be close to CHOP...so a year later to have her "lecturing" the big kids with such ENERGY...just makes my heart smile!!!

So today, I am feeling much better...things still hurt but they are not as bad as they could be so I am happy!!! We have received Savvy's CBC results back from her "pokey" last week and have forwarded them to her transplant team...just waiting to hear back now on what the results mean....but meanwhile as I type I listen to my little Warrior Princess "talking" to her doll trying with all of her might to skip nap time... I just love it!!!! My heart is smiling and smiling BIG!

My heart smiles....not a day goes by that I do not think of our donor angel...our angels family does not hear me but I thank them daily for our "Gift"...for without this gift I know ... I KNOW...my heart would not smile today.  Thank you for letting my heart smile...Thank you!

Savvy went to work with Super Papi today.  I woke up to Super Papi asking Savvy to be really quiet on the baby monitor...too cute.  He had dressed her like the cutest little preppy girl and she had a grin from ear to ear.  He took her to work today because I had a really hard time last night getting any sleep....oh that darn breathing!  Well, I have an appointment set...oh...what do I hear?  The garage door just went up guess Super Papi and his administrative assistant came home from lunch...gotta go...I am sure his administrative assistant needs a nap and I need a kiss and hug before she goes "night night"!

Savvy went "night night" early today...she had a long day today.  I went to Texas to visit one of my dear friends...Margarita's!!! Okay...well it was more like "Hi, I set foot in Texas and need to go to the nearest ER".  The good thing about going to the ER with a friend is that even ER visits can be fun!  

I am healing (turns out I have fluid in my lungs) but feel like dooodoooo big time so I am going to keep this brief...just wanted to share that Savvy is doing well.  She greeted her Mami with a huge smile at the airport...it was the most beautiful site on earth to see her standing there with her Papi!!!  

So glad to be home with my familia!!!!

Happy tears were shed today...just thinking that my sweet Savvy has not had one overnight hospitalization since she received her liver transplant....one ER visit but that was viral....lots of drs...lots of "pokeys" but not ONE overnight hospitalization...tears of joy were shed today thinking about how amazing that is.

Savvy is sleeping... on her closet door there is a Snow White costume hanging...the costume she will be wearing this year... she will go trick or treating this year....I am so looking forward to this. If you have followed Savvy's little life you know that last year right before Halloween she was hospitalized it was the hospitalization that scared us so badly we decided it was best for Savannah and I to move to the Ronald McDonald House in order to be close to CHOP.

I was so determined that my little girl was going to dress up for her first Halloween that before we took her to the hospital I put her dress on...she could barely fit into it because of all of the ascites (fluid around her organs) ....Belle from Beauty and the Beast...AKA Jaundice Doll...and took pictures of her...I also have pictures of her in the hospital the same day holding "Jaundice Doll" with "Jaundice Doll" with blood all over her face from the IV that was taken out...yeah...very Halloweeny...but not the type of Halloweeny thing that one normally scrapbooks. Her Snow White doll came out after transplant...she laid next to her the day she was transplanted...for my little jaundice doll was no longer jaundice...so I can not wait until Halloween and my daughter gets to go trick or treating...to ask for chocolates that she can not eat...I will be the happiest Mami in my neighborhood walking with her little Snow White!