Clap Your Hands!!!

"Clap your hands all ye people", because that is what our sweet Ashley Kate has decided to do today. Yeah, Ash! It may seem like a small thing to place your left and your right hands together, but it is a skill that our little one had lost for a while until today. I am being thankful for our small milestones because I KNOW that one day they will turn into BIG ones.

The last time our Ashley clapped her tiny hands together was the afternoon she went into cardiac arrest. My last memory of her clapping with joy in her heart came that day as she sat on my lap and we read or sang a book of Bible songs together. She would clap at the end of each page and then I would turn and start the next. Her breathing became more and more labored that afternoon as we sat in our "favorite" chair and played. This is when I first noticed something was changing in her little body, and it eventually led us to do an echo cardiogram, which led us to calling in the cardiologist, which led to attempting to drain the fluid that had built up around her heart, which led to a cardiac arrest, code, and CPR, which led her into heart surgery the very next morning. Wow, what a mouthful! All of this happened around the first week of January and this was the last day until today that she clapped her hands with joy in her heart and a smile on her face all by herself. I am so blessed.

Our Ashley has lost many, many skills she had before her transplant. We really believed she would wake up and begin to thrive once she had good, healthy organs inside of her. As you know if you have followed her story things did not go according to what we thought our plan was during her recovery, but they have gone according to His. He has brought her through many tough days and has worked many miracles and amazing things in her life and the life of our family that would have never been if she had done things the way Dave and I had planned. I have no idea if Ash will ever say the words, "My mama" again. I have no idea if she will ever speak again. I have no idea if she will ever learn to roll over, crawl, walk, run, jump, or read. All I know is that today she has regained something she had lost and I am grateful. I am so grateful to have her here. I am so grateful to be home with her. I am so grateful to be the one encouraging her as she learns or relearns things. I am so grateful to be her mom. I am so grateful, and I just wanted to encourage you with our good news today. We are so proud and I will be clapping my hands all day in honor of her accomplishment.

Thank you for your continued prayers. Our little pickle has come so far and she still has far to go, but I can feel the prayers of many encouraging her on a daily basis. Thank you for loving her. It means so very much to her mommy's heart. Have a wonderful day and clap once or twice for Ash. Take care. Love,Trish