Happy Halloween!

We had a little Halloween party at the house on Saturday and we set up a photo booth downstairs to snap some pics of us and some of our friends at the party. Check out a few pics of us :)

Super Heroes + Princesses

Our beautiful princesses :)

Alyssa - " Sleeping Beauty"

Sofia - a not so happy to take pictures "Snow White"

Batman + Batichica

LOL



We hope everyone had a great Halloween.

~ Carla, Sky, Alyssa, Sofia, and angel Joseph

Family update

Sorry for not posting to the blog in sooo long. I had to take a much needed break from CDH. Sky and I noticed that I had got obsessed with CDH blogs, articles and anything you can think of that has to do with CDH. I felt and still feel like I need an answer to why CDH happens and why it had to happen to us. The obsession got really bad and was affecting my life and family a lot, so I need to re-focus. The more I read the more depressed I got. Sorry again for not replying to emails and blog posts. Thank you again to everyone that emailed, called, and has been there helping us since day 1.

We are back to "normal" and very excited about the holidays :) Sofia turned 2 in August and thinks she's the boss of the house telling people "No" all the time and throwing tantrums if you don't give her what she wants :)
Alyssa is also doing very good she turned 6 last month but thinks she's 12, lol... We decided to homeschool Alyssa this year (Kindergarten) and she loves it. We are doing a lot of fun family stuff together that we didn't do before so that's very exciting for us.

Everyone keeps asking me if we are going to have another child and right now I just don't know. Sometimes I say yes maybe in two years and then I take it back and say no, thinking that this could happen again but we'll see :)

Check out a few pics below:
Sofia

Alyssa and Daddy




We had to take new bio photos for our new website :)


I hope everyone is doing GREAT!!! :) and thanks for checking on us and not forgetting about Joseph.

~ Carla

Happy Mother's Day

This weekend we celebrated Mother's Day by taking the fam out for some fun. We've been working hard for the past few weeks so it was nice to finally get away from the office and enjoy some family time. We started out by going to ZOOATLANTA and letting Aly and Sofia get a little exercise running around the park. Today we took Mommy shopping and to eat at her favorite Japanese steak house - Kani House.

Here are some pics I took yesterday at the Zoo. Shot with my little point and shoot Nikon.









I hope everyone else had a great Mother's Day.

-Sky, Carla, Alyssa, Sofia, and our angel Joseph.

Need Prayers for the NICU at Egleston

2009 was supposed to be a GOOD year, what happened? I hope everything starts to turn around in a good way for everyone as of right now 4/29! Lauren one of Joseph's favorite nurses just emailed me with more terrible news :(
Terri Wade one of the nuses at the NICU at CHOA-Egleston passed away. Terri was merely having headaches two weeks ago and went to the doctor to get some medicine. The next thing they know is that Terri's being taken to have brain surgery. Unfortunately, her body was just not strong enough to recover and yesterday she went to heaven with all the NICU babies that have passed including Joseph. Please keep Terri's family and the entire staff at the NICU at Egleston in your prayers.

Terri:


2009 people that passed away "related to me/that I know": (Yes, I made a list)

1- Our beautiful son Joseph, we will miss you forever!
2- Ryann (CDH baby)
3-Addison (CDH baby)
4- Maxton (CDH baby)
5- Kaden (CDH baby)
6- Skylar's Grandfather (passed a few days after Joseph)
7- Clyde's Grandmother (a friend)
8- Terri (nurse at the NICU)
9- My mom's co-workers sister
10 - Father Mendez
11- 2 of my grandma's friends
and the list goes on...

I know we haven't posted in a while I just haven't been very happy with God lately so I didn't want to write something I will regret. I got very upset the other day, when I read the news about a father in WA killing his own 5 children b/c his wife was leaving. I just don't understand why would a person like this gets to have his children while Sky and I and many other parents that just want nothing but to love their kids, have their kids taken away?
Sky and I are doing okay, we still have our days but we are doing a lot better. We have been working non-stop which is helping us. We also decided that we need to start having more family time so we have been going out with the girls a lot. Sky and Aly's new hobby is fishing. Sofia likes to talk very loud and scares the fishes away, so her and I have our fun at the park and eating candy :) while they go fishing. I will post more about how we been doing later.

Thanks again to everyone for your support, prayers, and donations. Also, we will be taking all the items we bought with your donations to the NICU this week and post pics soon. Shopping for baby things and no bay was very hard but something I felt I needed to do.

Hugs,

~ Carla

CDH - Awareness Day Slideshow

Thank you to everyone who wore turquoise on 3/31 to support and spread awareness about CDH. Check out the slideshow to view some of our supporters :)
Oakley and her family released balloons in memory of Joseph and other babies who lost their CDH battle. Thank you so much for always supporting us Brian and Sheree. We would also like to send a big thank you to my family out in Puerto Rico and Skylar's fam out in Texas that are raising awareness throughout the state. The students pictured in the slideshow are Dave's (Skylar's dad) media students and have been supporting us throughout our CDH journey. They are all so awesome. We really appreciate all the love and support you all have been sending us and others who are enduring the CDH roller coaster.

Love,

Carla, Sky, Alyssa, Sofia, and Joseph (our Angel)

March 31st - CDH Awareness Day

Next Tuesday, March 31st is CDH (Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia) Awareness day. Please wear turquoise to show your support for CDH and honor Joseph.
Feel free to send us a photo of you wearing turquoise so we can post them to the blog. Email your photo to cdh@sky-carla.com

Thanks,

~ Carla, Sky, Alyssa, Sofia and angel Joseph

Thank You

First of all we want to thank everyone for all the comments, emails, yummy food, beautiful flowers and cards we have received. It means a lot to us that Joseph has touched so many lives in so many ways in so little time. Sky and I have learned a lot through this CDH Journey and one of our new goals is to help raise awareness and research for CDH. We know one day they will find the cure and the faster they can find it the less babies will pass and less families will have to suffer.

We would like to provide other options for everyone who wants to send their condolences. We are encouraging people to choose one of the options below for donations in Joseph’s honor.


Option 1: For Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta NICU (Things for the newborns)

Sky, Joseph and I made lots of new friends (nurses, doctors, other parents, other workers) while we were at Egleston and everyone was very nice to us. The money collected from option 1 will be used for buying the newborns mittens, socks, hats, pretty blankets, small stuffed animals, books for parents to read to their babies and more. We will also get a few outfits, so parents can use them if the baby passes. Sky and I will be taking photos of all the items purchased and post them to the blog.


To make your donation click below:

Option 2: For Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta NICU (Hospital equipment)

I tried getting the hospital to open an account for CDH research but is not something they can do right now. So if you want to donate directly to the hospital please send your donations to the address below. The money collected from option 2, will be used for new equipment for the NICU at Children’s at Egleston.

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Attention: Tribute to Joseph
1687 Tullie Circle NE
Atlanta, GA 30329

On the memo line please write "in memory of Joseph Carter DeJohn."


Option 3: Breath of Hope

You can either send a donation or purchase CDH Awareness Wristbands so you can wear them March 31st (CDH Awareness day.) Elizabeth has been really nice to us and sent us a lot of helpful documents and nice cards. Thanks Eli! We will be wearing the items you sent us on 3/31.

Website: http://breathofhopeinc.com


Option 4: CHERUBS

Dawn is also very nice and is working with hospitals/doctors with CDH research.

Website: http://www.cdhsupport.org


Thanks again for everyone’s support :)

Sky + Carla + Aly + Sofia + angel Joseph