Happy New Year's Eve!

So much has happened over the past year and I have a lot to be thankful for.

The biggest event of 2011 was Scarlett turning two-years-old. I know I’ve mentioned this before but we were told that Scarlett wouldn’t live past TWO. She is now officially 30 months old. We don’t know what the future holds for Scarlett. She is on her own path and I hope & pray that she continues to live a happy life full of love.

In the spring of 2011, we decided to move from Scottsdale to Cincinnati. This was not an easy move and took a bunch of “Scarlett Angels” to make happen. A close friend of mine offered to fly us in his jet. The inside of the jet was like a mini-hospital room equipped for almost any life threatening event that Scarlett might encounter. I didn’t know how Scarlett would tolerate flying. To be honest, I was terrified. So many things could’ve gone wrong with Scarlett... Thankfully we didn’t have any problems. She actually enjoyed the flight and even took a nap.

We moved in with my parents when we relocated to Cincinnati. They graciously opened up their home to us. I had a lot of anxiety about how they would handle having a terminally-ill child living with them. Before we moved in, I asked my parents how they would feel if Scarlett passed away in their home. They quickly responded, “It would be an honor.” I feel very blessed to have such accepting and loving parents. I also feel lucky to have such an amazing husband. He’s been living with his in-laws for over eight months (and counting). Ha! To be honest, I don’t know if he’s going to want to leave. Grandma Suzie has been spoiling him by doing his laundry and cooking homemade meals every night. I almost forgot to mention that she bakes homemade cookies every day.

In November, we decided it was time to plant some roots in Cincinnati. We purchased a ranch style house close to family and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. We looked at a lot of houses. It was a difficult decision because of Scarlett’s limitations. We needed a one-story house, with wide doorways & hallways and a handicapped bathroom. It also needed to be on flat land with a large garage to accommodate Scarlett’s handicapped van. We soon discovered that those kinds of homes didn’t really exist unless you built them. So, that is what we decided to do. Well, kind of… We found a fixer-upper that we could remodel to accommodate Scarlett’s needs.

We are still remodeling the house with the help of family (Ryan, Grandpa Don, Grandpa John, Grandma Liz, Uncle Tommy and Uncle Ben have already put countless hours into the house). We plan to move in early 2012. Scarlett will have access to every room in the house. She will be able to eat dinner with us in the kitchen, watch movies with us in the family room, watch the sunset from a beautiful picture window in the living room and even take a shower with ease. I have so many hopes and dreams for her in this new house.

2011 has been so good to us and we can’t wait to start creating more memories in 2012!

Thank you for reading Scarlett’s blog and for your support!