Mylah's First Birthday Party

This past Saturday we celebrated the most difficult, stressful, amazing, wonderful year with our sweet heart baby! Her birthday isn't until October first, but this was the only free weekend that we all had available. We were all so excited to celebrate Mylah's first birthday!

The party preparations began early this morning. I woke up and went right to work decorating and preparing everything for guests to arrive. As usual I went about it the frugal way and tried to spend as little money as I could, while still making her party special! We went with a Heart Party theme and used her color purple and added pink and red to the color scheme.

Before I got too far into decorating I took Mylah out on the lawn and took her one year photos. They are adorable and I may be biased, but we have one of the cutest babies around!  I made her hairbow, designed the onesie and ironed it on, made her tutu, I added pink heart leggings to finish the outfit! It was so much fun to do and dang cute!

Back to the decor. Pretty much everything I made  by hand, the backdrop out of streamers and ribbon, the matching tissue paper pom poms, and I used my Valentine wreath with a number one in the center for the main focal point. I loved how it turned out. My friend Kristan cut out hearts for me to use for Mylah's photo banner. It was amazing and I always love seeing how different she was from month to month. 

For the table I used purple and pink tablecloths, tall vases full of red and purple licorice and heart shaped candy bowls with pink, purple and red candy. Her cake was displayed in the middle of the table. We added the food slowly, but ended up with quite the spread. Deli sandwhiches, chips, hawaiian punch, chinese chicken salad, veggies and dip, and melon. It was delish! 

For dessert we enjoyed heart shaped sugar cookies with purple icing (using a new recipe I found on Pinterest and LOVED), cake bites, and cupcakes with heart cupcake toppers. Mylah's cake was a german chocolate cake with purple butter cream frosting (piped on oh-so-carefully, by yours truly, yet another Pinterest find). 

The rest of the yard was decorated with balloons, the table with a purple table cloth, and a stitched heart tiny heart banner. Mylah's highchair was adorned with balloons and the tree behind her was covered in strings of hearts.

 

 

As soon as everyone arrived we started with lunch and visited. Mylah enjoyed melon, some cheese and some celery. She looked super cute in her birthday outfit munching away at her lunch.

 

The guests who attend the party included, Grandma and Grandpa C. Grandma and Grandpa H. Aunt Meredith, Afton, Brody, Aunt Jenn and our dear friend Kristen. We had invited more, but some couldn't make it. We missed them!

Grandma and Papa H.

 Grandma and Grandpa C.

 Auntie Jenn

 

I totally forgot to get pictures with Aunt Meredith and her kids and Mylah and her siblings, but Neil and I were able to get a picture with her! But little sis refused to smile.

 

 After a few pictures it was time for Mylah to open her gifts! She was spoiled rotten, but rightly so, for our girl who has been through so much! She was given a new Minnie Mouse chair from Mommy and Daddy, it was purple with a heart shaped back and just her size! It's been a birthday tradition for us to gift those chairs. No each of our kids have one! She also received a learning ladybug from us, and a few new Fall outfits. Grandma and Grandpa C. gave her a new toy for the car, and bath toys. Grandma and Papa H. and Aunty Meredith gave her a new bath tow boat with cute animals and a new outfit. And Kristan gave her some books. She also received a really fun gift of a ginormous flower balloon from my dear friend Angela! She LOVED it. Thank you to everyone who showered our heart baby with gifts!

The final and most exciting part of the party was singing to Mylah and letting her eat her heart cake. At first she was a little bit timid and very lady-like while digging into her cake, then she just decided to go for it and grabbed handfuls to eat! It was the cutest!

After munching on cake for a few minutes we took it away and enjoyed a piece. It was such a wonderful afternoon, I am so thankful that we were able to celebrate a year with Mylah. There may have been a time when I thought this day would never happen. I am grateful to doctors, nurses, surgeons, and the wonderful Sunrise Hospital for caring for our girl with such expertise, that she was able to celebrate this year! I am also continually thankful to my Heavenly Father for her healthy heart, healing body and contiued growth! We are truly blessed! Happy First Birthday (party) Mylah Leilani!

Replaced

Tonight I woke to feed Mylah. She still wakes once a night to eat, but now takes a bottle. So I fed her, rocked her, and took in that precious moment. As she finished and slowly slipped her thumb in her mouth as comfort, I listened. I listened to each tiny girl breath. The sound of a respirator machine breathing for her, replaced by the sweet strength of her lungs breathing as they should. The sound of a constant monitored beep replaced by her own precious and repaired heart.

My eyes filled with tears as I realized we are about to celebrate one of the most amazing and hardest years of life. Our miracle girl is turning one. It's hard to believe that a year ago I was struggling to come to terms with what a CHD was, and hoping that I wouldn't have to tell my children that their baby sister wasn't coming home. One year ago I scowered the internet for answers and promises that my baby would survive.

And now here we are and so much has been replaced. Fear with Faith, pain with precious memories, and heartache with happiness.

I wouldn't trade this year because it changed me for the better. It's been an amazing lesson in what the Lord knows I can endure.

I have learned to replace all of the painful memories with the goodness of each moment spent with Mylah.

I am so thankful she's here, healthy, happy and safe.

11 months old

Mylah turned 11 months old on the first of this month.
It's been such a busy month for me that I haven't made time to sit and blog for a while.
Better late than never, here are Mylah's monthly pictures and stats:








♥ She weighs 19 pounds.

♥ She is 29 inches long.

♥ She wears size 3 diapers still, small little bum. :)

♥ She wears 9 - 12 month clothes.

♥ She still has no teeth!!

♥ She crawls as loves her new found freedom!

♥ She loves to eat graham crackers, bananas, grapes, pizza, yogurt, blended fruit, cereal, and string cheese. She loves any table food we give her too.

♥ She is almost weaned from nursing. She is protesting by not taking a bottle. :/

♥ She is working on pulling herself up next to things.

♥ She finally had to have her crib moved down to the next lowest position because of these attempts to stand.

♥ She loves to be outside.

♥ She loves animals.

♥ She can say Hi and wave Bye Bye, she blows on hot food with you if you are doing it, she claps, plays peek-a-boo, knows that a pen will write on paper and can do it by herself, and she mimics everyone all the time.

♥ She can tell you what a chicken and dog say.

♥ She is 5 months post op (YAY!!) and doing spectacular!

♥ She has so much hair, I often don't know what to do with other than put it in a ponytail. :/

♥ She can shake her head no if she doesn't want something.

♥ We are working on Baby Signs, she knows the sign for More and that's about it.

♥ She finds anything and everything on the floor and shoves it in her mouth. I try to keep the floors really clean, but ya know, sometimes there's something that she shouldn't eat...Yuck!

♥ She is such a special girl and we are so blessed to have her in our lives. I am thankful everyday that she is so healthy and growing as she should!

Happy 11 months Mylah Lei!!

One Year Ago

Exactly a year ago today, we met with a Specialist, had an ultrasound and Mylah was diagnosed with a CHD.

Our hearts were filled with fear of the unknown.

One year ago today, our lives were changed forever.

Never could we have imagined all we have been through, all we have endured, and ultimately all Mylah has survived! She's a fighter, our inspiration and our precious miracle.

She beat the odds, she amazed us, she taught us, and now she's growing healthy and happy.

We are so blessed.

That day changed the course of our lives, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

It's been quite a journey but we are thankful that our Heavenly Father gave us this trial. We have become closer, better parents, learned empathy, felt His presence in our lives, and are grateful for all He's given us.

Today also happens to be Mylah's 11 month mark (blog post coming tomorrow). I can't believe she is almost a year old!! It's a day of remembrance and celebration. We love you Mylah and can't imagine our lives without you!


{Our Heart Baby at 4 months old}


{Fresh out of the bath - 10 months old}