It's been a long time since we've updated!  I guess I'll start from the beginning...

February 10 was Evan's second angelversary.  I can't believe it's been 2 whole years since we had to say goodbye to him.  I remember that day as vividly as if it just happened.  I don't think watching your child pass away is something that ever leaves your mind...it is permanently burned in my memory forever.  But this year we also remembered Evan's smiles and his calm demeanor.  We remembered how strong he was and the amazing, happy personality he had.   We were able to get through the day as positively as we could.  Of course it still hurts.  It will never completely stop hurting, but it's nice to remember the good too.  And I think a lot of that had to do with the AHA asking us to pick out a pearl for him that day.

We (of course) visited Evan at Trinity that day and then headed to the jeweler to pick out his pearl.  We picked the bluest one we could find to represent our baby boy.  We happened to meet a very nice couple who was there to pick a pearl for their parents who were affected by heart disease.  We talked to them for probably 20 minutes, sharing Evan's story and telling them that it had been 2 years (that day) since he passed away.  They asked us if we were going to the Heart Ball at the end of the month, and we said no.  It's not something we could afford even if we wanted to go, and besides, this event was for the higher ups of companies and medical professionals, so we never expected to be invited!  Well, after talking to them for awhile, they decided to invite us as their guests, and we could go for free!  At the end of the evening we found out that we were chatting with the CEO of First Commonwealth Bank and he was actually the organizer of the entire event!  I still believe that Evan and God had a part in us meeting this couple.  Because something else that meant a lot to me happened at the Ball.

We got the invitation a few days later, and this very extravagant black tie event cost $350/person just to eat.  To participate in their "street games" (skee ball, ring toss, etc.) you had to purchase a non-transferable bracelet for $200!  So basically it was $550/person.  I wish we could have afforded to pay that money since the AHA is near and dear to our hearts.  But we were very thankful just to have the opportunity to go.  My dad, Scott and my cousin Joe babysat Cara while we attended the Ball at the Convention Center downtown. 

Once we arrived, we checked our coats and then proceeded to walk around to look at the displays (and find the pearl necklace that they were going to auction off).  We started talking to a director of the Heart Walk that I have come to know and suddenly felt someone putting a bracelet on my wrist.  The couple who invited us bought me a bracelet so I could participate in the games!!  We talked to them for 20 minutes and they were so generous to us!  Of course once we found them, we talked to them for a few minutes and then went to play games to try to win prizes for Cara!  Greg couldn't participate since he didn't have a bracelet, but he had just as much fun watching me try to throw a football through narrow holes and toss rings onto baseball bats.  Unfortunately for Cara I didn't win anything.  :(  But it was a lot of fun trying!

In the midst of heading from game booth to game booth, two of our favorite CHP nurses saw us and came over to catch up!  I was HOPING we'd see someone from CHP and was really excited when it was two of our favorites!!!  THEN...this was the most special part of my night....we saw Dr. Wearden.  Evan's heart surgeon.  His primary doctor.  We haven't seen him since BEFORE Evan died.  All of our trips back to CHP, we have never run into him.  And what is even better...HE RECOGNIZED US.  He saw us, mouthed "Greg" and walked over to say hello.  I am tearing up just thinking about it again....he is such an amazing human being, a caring, down to earth doctor, and an amazing surgeon.  He knows we have been to Children's to deliver care packages and has been disappointed that he hasn't seen us.  We told him about Cara and he said he knew...he SAVES EVERYTHING WE SEND!  Not that we have sent them a whole lot....but we do send them Christmas cards and we sent Cara's birth announcement....he saves all of it.  And he wants us to page him when we are there in July!!!!  He said that he never gets to see visitors (well, duh, he is a surgeon!), so as long as he's not in surgery, he wants to come see us when we are there. 

You know, it never ceases to amaze me how much Evan touched the lives of so many people.  It has been two years since Evan died.  Yes, we were in the hospital for 3 months out of Evan's life.  But many kids are in that unit much longer that 3 months.  And he not only recognized us, he remembered us.  I just hope that he knows how much he has touched our lives.  And the rest of the CICU staff (well, most of them).  They have had such a profound affect on us.  We would never have the desire to put in the effort we do for the Heart Walk if it wasn't for their amazing abilities and caring nature.  We are truly blessed to have met them, and we are forever grateful to them for giving us seven full months with our son.

So that was by far my favorite part of the night.  We have run into Dr. Wearden's partner (Evan's other heart surgeon) a few times, but it was Dr. Wearden that we usually interacted with and who was Evan's primary doctor.  After talking with him for a little while, we had dinner (filet mignon and prawns) and danced to a great live band (I can't remember their name though!).   The evening was so nice and I know that my dad had a great time with the bear.  I selfishly hope we are invited next year too!!!

Anyway, that has been the "Evan" part of our life in the last month.  Now onto the Care Bear!  She continues to crack us up daily and has to be the happiest baby on the planet!  Always smiling, always giggling, always laughing!  She has now mastered crawling, though she is SO FUNNY when she's moving because she just wants to WALK!  She ends up crawling on her hands and toes instead of her knees because she is trying to stand up!  She pulls herself up on everything and walks along the couch.  She has had her share of bumps on the head, but they haven't stopped her from trying and trying again!  At her 9 month check up, she weighed in at 21 lbs, 6 ounces and was 28" long.  90% for weight, 65% for height.  She also had a "bulging" ear infection, so she has been on antibiotics the last 10 days which she loves!  Giving this child medicine has yet to be a problem.  She loves it!  She is starting to feed herself and it's getting harder and harder to feed her pureed anything.  So we eat a lot of waffles for breakfast!  We're having a little trouble getting her to eat meat, but she does ok with it.  It's hit or miss each day.  But we'll keep working at it!

In other news, we have decided it's time to move into a bigger place.  It is probably the worst time ever to list our house, but it's not a pressing need to get out and maybe we'll be lucky enough to sell in a reasonable amount of time.  Our house was small before...with Cara in it, it is getting smaller by the minute!  So we are scrambling to get things in order before we list. 

That's about it here!  Spring is coming.....and we are looking forward to the warm air after this cold, cold winter!