I bought a little notebook today to carry in my purse...I just have to jot down things that I hear and see...Savvy just cracks me up all of the time!  Gotta jot things down for her scrapbooks...just too cute!

At dinner, Robert and I had chicken, rice and black beans...oh and yummy plantains...my personal favorite!  Well, Savvy finished her rice and beans and wanted more...she HAD PLENTY ... she refused more chicken...so I said..."Do you want a galleta?" Yup...Spanglish all the way...so I took out an Oreo cookie (She LOVES them) and said...would you like a galleta for dessert since you are done with dinner and she waved the cookie away....NOPE ... no galleta!!! She wanted more rice and beans....so rice and beans she got....who is going to argue with a kid that turned down a cookie for beans?????  So my little black bean faced girl .... I LOVE YOU to pieces but Mami is sooooooooooo NOT looking forward to changing your diaper in the morning....Nope, not one bit!

Little Diva Warrior Princess spent her afternoon sneaking into her Abuela's closet and putting on her high heels...and the funny thing about it is that she walks better then I do in them! She is so particular about shoes...she is only two and already obsessed..if she does not like the pair of shoes you have chosen for her outfit in the morning she will go back into the closet and pick out the pair she wants to wear...yeah...sometimes that means she wears patent leather "church" shoes with a pair of shorts but there are much worse things in life....I love the fact that she is already developing opinions on things like shoes and clothes...such a girly girl!

Savvy continues to do really well....she is amazing...I kiss that beautiful belly of hers everyday and she laughs and at times it seems surreal....Almost as surreal as the words I heard coming from her Super Papi today at dinner time.  "Savannah, if you eat the rest of your fish sticks you can have more peas."...WHAT???  A 2 year old being bribed by peas?  Yup!  She loves them!  and String Beans!!! For lunch today she had string beans and was not pleased with her Mami because she wanted "dip dip".  I told her that it was "mami's dip dip"....we just ran out of ketchup and go figure I did not pick up a bottle at the grocery store last night.  She kept insisting..."dip dip"....pointing at the hot sauce bottle since I had just poured it on my Jamacain beef patty...."dip dip!!!!"...luckily I squeezed a tiny bit of what was left of the ketchup...then she proceeded to "Dip Dip" her string beans....Yeah.....not a great visual but the kid likes them...I figure better string beans and ketchup then french fries (especially with the lack of gall bladder thing we got going on).

I washed her stuffed animals today and when I put her to bed I had a little girl yelling for Pooh and Elmo....I mean DEMANDING them....sorry...slacker mom had them in the dryer and not in the crib where they belonged....I won't make that mistake again!

So as you can see Savvy is keeping me on my toes...she is vocalizing her opinions and full of energy! She is just yummylicious!

I wanted to thank you if you wrote a letter on behalf of Emerson White.  It worked!  Emerson's insurance has been re-instated!!!!  Now her parents can focus on what really matters and that is their beautiful children.  Emerson still has a long road ahead of her but she is an amazingly strong little girl - please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

www.cotaforemersonw.com

I also wanted to update everyone on our little English Rose, Bethany, who is doing remarkably well after her transplant...already riding her bike up and down the corridors of the hospital!!! Another little Warrior Princess!!! Miracles do happen...become an organ donor!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/bethanysalmon

Woohooo!  I have my laptop back...I seem to work much better on my laptop then the desktop and when we moved I did not have access to it...well...the wireless watchamacallit is up and running now (Yup...can't wait til Savvy can help me out with this stuff!).

Savvy is getting cuter and cuter by the minute...seriously...this child is ridiculously cute!  She is now "walking" the dogs with Super Papi at night...yeah...Mami gets the poop bag...NO SURPRISE there!  Poop is my middle name!!  She is so serious about her new responsibility....just too cute!

We are heading to CHOP next month rather then this month and from what I can tell I am hoping that we will miss all of that snow on the ground.  I almost feel guilty because I wore a sweater with my shorts the other day as I went outside...it was chilly....

Cutie Savvy update....she is going to be a flower girl in her Padrino's wedding!  The wedding will be in June so we have time to practice throwing the flower petals down and NOT picking them up...she is more at a let's put everything in My Basket  stage so this should be interesting!  But I can not wait to see her in a cutie patootie dress....oh.....flower girl.....what is next???

Speaking of stages...she is in a HUGE ELMO stage!!! ELMO, ELMO, ELMO!!!!  In her crib we must have Elmo, Pooh and Mouse (as in Minnie Mouse) with her at all times BUT ELMO is the number one hero!  She has a cute little chant that she does in the car...she rocks back and forth and will say, "Mama Mama or DaDa DaDa"...and then she claps and cheers....she can do this for ever!  Well, no we have added Elmo to the list...."Elmo, Elmo, Elmo, YEAH!"....so far I am still ahead of Elmo during the chant but I fear that things will change soon and I will drop below him....

We are going to visit Savvy's great-grandmother tomorrow...this is a funny story too....my abuela walks with a walker and at times with a cane.  The first time Savvy saw her (post-transplant) she was walking with a cane....a few days later Savvy grabs Robert's long shoe horn and starts walking hunched over and using the cane to brace herself...we could not figure out what she was doing until it hit us...She was imitating her Great-Grandma!!! What a little turkey!!!!!  So tomorrow I expect she will come back home and walk around with her "cane"!

I have never met Emerson or her family.  I know her the way many of you know Savannah...through her COTA site.  She is a Warrior Princess in every sense of the word.  I am cutting and pasting her mother's journal entry simply because I am disgusted.  NO CHILD should be denied life saving medical treatment - NO CHILD!  I am simply disgusted...I know the fears, I know the love, I know that this little one needs our help and I am asking you to join in to help her.

From her COTA site:

www.cotaforemersonw.com

URGENT CALL FOR ACTION Submitted by Erika on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 5:48pm.

Colorado won’t budge. Period. Nebraska already knows about Emerson and has preemptively declined her any and all medical coverage insisting she is NOT a resident of Nebraska. Clearly they cannot be expected to pay transplant bills for every out of state patient that comes to this hospital for treatment. They are writing a formal letter to Colorado stating their position.

So – for all who have ever wanted to help us, here’s your chance. I am officially organizing an all out campaign to address this absurdity. I am asking for letters, phone calls, &/or media contacts.

The main thing to remember is this: Colorado will NOT reinstate Emerson’s Medicaid unless (&/or until) her little body is physically in Colorado. That is impossible. If Emerson were to be transferred back to Colorado she would DIE. Make no mistake about it. There are NO hospitals in Colorado equipped to manage her right now. There are NO hospitals in Colorado that perform small bowel transplants. As a matter of fact, there are only 4 hospitals in the WORLD with established small bowel transplant programs.

This is a story the media should be all over – a beautiful young child who’s fought through every possible post-transplant complication & overcome all the odds to now be denied a life-saving second transplant because Colorado won’t acknowledge her residency. Meanwhile her father, her brothers, her home, her bedroom… ALL in Colorado. It’s nonsense. They chose the wrong person to make a point with. Emerson has already fought much harder than any of us will have to. I’ll willingly fight this one for her. The law MUST be amended. Through all our efforts we can help other families too. No one should be faced with this situation.

Your letters do not have to be lengthy. You do NOT need to recount Emerson’s entire story. A few key points & reference to “Emerson White” should be enough. They’ll all know her story soon enough. Pictures, also, are great. Additionally, on the outside of every letter & under the address, please write “re: Emerson White”. My goal is that by this time next week the governor of Colorado is asking, “who’s Emerson White?”

Quantity, quantity, quantity – please ask everyone you know to help us out. We need hundreds, even thousands of letters all flooding the Governor’s Office at once.

Following are the addresses. Write as few or as many as you’re able. Start at the top with the Governor, then his Public Health Administrator, etc. Again, you don’t need to write a lot.

Governor’s Office

Bill Ritter, Governor

136 State Capitol
Denver, CO 80203
(303) 866-2471

Internet messages can be sent at:

http://www.colorado.gov/apps/oit/governor/citizen/assistanceUtility/welcome.jsf

Department of Health Care Policy

Joan Henneberry, Executive Director

1570 Grant Street

Denver, CO 80203

(303) 866-2868

Diana Degette, Chief Deputy Whip

600 Grant Street, Suite 202
Denver, CO 80203
(303) 844-4988

Doug Lamborn, U.S. Congressman

1271 Kelly Johnson Blvd.
Suite 110
Colorado Springs, CO 80920

(719) 520-0055

Your help is immensely appreciated. Together we can make a real difference – for Emerson and for the many children who will walk this path after her.

Thank You…

Robert comes home and tells me that there are reports on the news of a monkey running around town and throwing poop at people in Tampa.  I think the reports are little late since Savvy has moved out of Tampa....apparently our little monkey has a twin!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090115/ap_on_fe_st/odd_loose_monkey_3

Speaking of our little monkey she found a new friend at the park today.  We found the cutest little girl who was 3 1/2 and announced that she had to go "poopy" as we were entering the park...and then turned around at Savvy and said..."you will wait for me so I can play...I have to go poop".  Well, all I could think of was OF COURSE WE WILL WAIT...nothing like a little girl talking about poop to warm my heart!  Her dad was with her and told me that she did not have a lot of friends...she had problems with her kidneys and was on steroids so she is much larger for her size then a child her age.  I told him I knew she was on steroids...how? Prednisone cheeks...you can spot them a mile away.  How would I know he questioned...Savvy had the cutest prednisone cheeks and we spent time talking while the girls had a nice time.  It was a lovely morning.

On the medical front....Savvy and I are off to Philly soon.  We have an appointment in two weeks....I hear it is Chilly in Philly....haha ... that was original!  Well, atleast I am not rhyming about poop today!!!  Because that would not be a scoop...it would not throw you for a loop that I would rhyme about goop named poop...okay...okay....I know.... :)

What a lovely weekend we have had!

On Friday we met Dr. Ponytail...our new pediatrician.  First impression...Like him! So that is a HUGE relief...I explained that he had huge heals to fill because Dr. Wonderful has spoiled us and I am sure he will do his best.  I loved the fact that he would be calling Dr. Wonderful to speak to her himself....good vibes with that! AND he was not even flustered when he walked and saw Savvy and I covered in stickers...

Savvy had one quick "pokey" but a bag of oreo's worked well as bribery so no tears...well atleast until she heard a baby crying in another room and she decided to imitate the baby...that was funny to watch her pretend cry and then laugh at herself for doing it.  Now...my task tomorrow....have Savvy pee pee in a cup and drop it off at the dr's office....this should be fun!

This weekend was lovely ending with a visit to see our dear friends, Savvy's Madrina and Padrino (Godparents).  They live across the street from Bayfront in Miami...SUPER COOL!  It is an exquisite looking building with the most amazing ammedities...you feel like you are in a fancy dancy hotel as soon as you walk in..pass the waterfall background where the valet takes your car for you...fancy schmancy! I have declared it my new vacation home!

If you have not been to Bayfront it is hard to describe...we hung out at the playground after eating some SUPER YUMMY Peruvian food ... even Savvy had a great time eating..the chef came out and recommended a dish for her that was safe...LOVED it!! Bayfront has a bit of everything from shops, to a carousel, to a swinging trapeze school to a playground all by the water.  We hung out at the playground and were invited to watch a magic show..Savvy really did not "get it" but clapped along with the other children.  Then after running around the playground she sat by the water with her Super Papi watching the boats and looking for dolphins...oh...I had forgotten how much I missed Miami!

Savannah was so tired when we arrived home she did not even wake up for her medication she simply opened her mouth then puckered up ... took her medication and rolled over in her crib and kept snoring!

Savvy is down for a late nap today.  She got a super short one today since Abuela came into her room and wanted to play and of course...Savvy obliged!  After we finished coloring a beautiful Picasso inspired portrait for Super Papi and putting stickers on our hair, cheeks and nose Savvy kept rubbing her eyes...clear sign that nap time was too short.

So down she went for a nap....but although she fell asleep within 2 minutes of laying down in her crib she protested like the best of them...as much as I miss my beautiful baby girl I just adore this cute, feisty little toddler that she has become.  She is pretty laid back in nature but she has her strong willed moments that are almost just too funny!  The other day she was running around in the backyard and I told her not to grab the dog bones...I counted to One and said...if you do not listen and Mami reaches Three you know you will have to go to the corner for Time Out.  Well...I guess she figured...what the heck I am not going to listen.  She smiled dropped the bone and just proceeded to the corner - she looked up at me and said her version of Sorry ran and kissed and hug me without me saying another word.  It was hysterical!!  She put herself in time out and out of it while I stood there dumbfounded.

Well, I doubt that this nap is going to last very long since it is part 2 so I best finish getting the laundry done.

Our sweet friend, Bethany did not receive a liver transplant when she received "The Call"..this time it was not to be for her but for another person whom will reap the reward of this selfless and beautiful Gift of Life.  Please continue to keep our sweet Little English Rose in your hearts and prayers.  Here is a link to an article about Bethany and organ donation.

http://www.tesco.com/todayattesco/li...mpaign_1.shtml

Hope all is well with everyone reading these words....and please let us not forget all those who are still waiting to receive their Gift of Life.  If you have not considered becoming an organ donor please do so...Organ Donors really do save lives...Precious, beautiful lives.

As per unos.org:

Waiting list candidates

Savvy is listening to the song "the wheels on the bus go round and round" with Elmo and is just grinning!  This is FAR from what happened last night...poor thing.  I sat Savvy with me and we went onto Sesame Street and looked up Elmo videos.  The first one came on and Elmo was being sung a lullaby...since it was getting closer to bedtime I thought PERFECT!  We will sing Elmo to sleep and start to get ready ourselves.  Well...out of nowhere Savvy started SCREAMING, "ELMO!!! ELMO!!! ELMO!!!" and tears were pouring down her face. We had never seen her behave this way before.  Robert yells from the kitchen...asking what was wrong...I DO NOT KNOW???  The video has Elmo in bed and is being sung to by  his bed...then Brilliant Super Papi says, "does it look like a hospital bed?"....OH MY Goodness!  I would have never put that together but......Oh my.....Frantic I am trying to calm her down but she keeps pointing at the screen and yelling ELMO!!!  Robert runs and starts to click on Elmo dancing Happy Happy clips....we started to gather all of her Elmo toys but it took a long while to calm her down and distract her.

Of course, we do not know for certain that Savvy thought Elmo was sick in the hospital and that was why she was hysterical but it sure did seem that way...which makes me wonder how much she remembers.

Funny little Savvy story that I want to remember....Savvy is starting to put short sentences together...this was something that we were concerned about because up until now she only had one word to make her statements.  Well, her first "sentence" was .... "All done Mama"...yup... we were sitting on a tree stump watching Super Papi fix Abuela's fence and she decided that she no longer wanted Mami sitting with her...the stump was for her....I was so tickled with her sentence that I obliged when she pushed my tush out of the way!

She is growing up so fast!!! I actually just purchased her first....drummmmroollll....I am still in shock that I did this.....pair of underwear! Big Girl undies!!!! Can you believe it???!!!

Well, Savvy is going to meet her new pediatrician this week....we already miss Dr. Wonderful so very much!!!  She is due for another round of vaccinations...fortunately, this pediatrician has had atleast one child with a liver transplant in his practice so we will go check him out....he is going to have Big Heels to fill!!! Miss ya Dr. Wonderful!

Wow...I am still not used to typing out 2009.  Savvy had a great day today.  She is just darling.  She ran around the backyard this morning with Robert and the dogs and played catch with them...well...she threw the ball and they caught it...too cute! She then got dressed for mass and walked into my room carrying her purse like a little diva!

She is still getting use to the new routine with new people and places but is adjusting pretty well.  We heard services in Spanish today which is different then what she is used to but it did not stop her from clapping and cheering after the choir stopped singing each and every time.  I have always felt that Savvy believes the choir is singing just for her.  We attended my mom's church and it was so sweet to have the priest wave at her as we were entering the church and then say a special prayer of thanks for her amazing health.  So needless to say this little diva said hello to a lot of special people who have prayed for her throughout her life and she was just as wonderful as can be.

She is a treasure and I am loving every moment with her!

Savvy is doing great.  Her allergic reaction meant a long night for me but when she woke up she was back up to par.  She is running around after her dogs and making sure that her parents are exhausted at the end of the day!  Guess we can say that on most days she is a typical toddler...nice to type those words.

Sometimes it is so hard to have a child that has gone through so much that even the smallest of things can feel like huge things and other times things seem so normal.  I mean is it not normal for your toddler to give her dolls medicine with syringes?  She simply takes her syringe and makes sure her doll, monkey and Winnie the Pooh get their meds for the day (well, Winnie is VERY jaundice and I am convinced that he too suffers with liver disease....his yellow skin and bloated belly....sure signs he too needs medicine!)

But today was a regular day.  Savvy hugged and kissed her doggies, she went to the grocery store with her Super Papi, ate pasta on her Super Papi's lap (apparently all princesa's do this), read books, ran around the backyard, danced, went into time-out (twice!) and did everything that a typical toddler would do.  She is so darn cute it is ridiculous.  When you ask her who Daddy's princess is?  she points at herself. When she sees the pasta boiling she says, "yum yum", when I ask for a hug she comes running at me, when I ask for an apology when she is in time out she gives you a quick one, a hug, a kiss and then states "all done"....ridiculous I tell you!

How did I get so lucky to be the Mami of this Warrior Princess?