Second Christmas--January 7th

 For Annika, Christmas finally came!  She made it home from the hospital about 5:00 pm on Friday, January 6th.  Saturday January 7th was Christmas.  I'll let the photos tell most of the joyful story.

Here's our girl breaking free from the hospital.  It was a good thing Jason had his Dad's truck, because over the two weeks we accumulated a lot of stuff!  (Mostly in the form of amazing stuffies.)

While we loved each of our care providers, I generally tried not to get photograph them in order to respect their privacy.  Still, I wanted to tell you the story of Liv, our last nurse.  After greeting Annika, Liv helped her create goals for the day--four times out of bed and four drinks.  Then she got down to Annika's eye level and explained that she has the same thing as Annika: HCM or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. She adjusted her scrubs and showed Annika the spot where she also has an ICD, placed about a year ago.  This tender moment felt like a beautiful conclusion showing the glowing possibilities of life with a heart condition.

Annika rode with Brooklyn and NomiAnn while Jason and I toted all the stuff in his father's truck.

Welcome home!  Annika was greeted by colorful signs made by Anders and Eila.

Siblings!

Talia made Annika an amazing sign as well.

Time for smoothies and games!  Annika was glad to get home where we could thicken her smoothies with banana instead of the hospital thickener she dislikes so much.  

Salmon for Chistmas Eve dinner.  Yum!

All tuckered out.  Time to head upstairs and dream of Santa.

Home, sweet home!

Chistmas in January!  Waiting to come down the stairs.

Pictures in front of the hearth.

While in the hospital, Annika and I made a list of all the traditions that needed to be honored for our Second Christmas.  Meat pie made the list! Appropriately, it donned the sign of the Deathly Hollows.

All ready to open packages!  Only thing missing...

...cousins!  We were so glad that Anders, Eila, Callie, Adam, NomiAnn and Papa Kay could join the celebration.

Pausing to play a few carols.  This might be my VERY favorite part of Christmas.

At last!  Time to open gifts.  Eila did a great job distributing.

Annie loves the sweater from her Uncle Lance and personalized hat from NomiAnn and Papa Kay.

Turns out clothes are a popular choice all around!

We were all amused by the collection of Sriracha gear given to my spicy husband from multiple sources.  When you're hot, you're hot!.  Best of all, he just happened to be wearing his Sriracha shirt already.

The Crunch Cup--perfect for Brooklyn as she gets ready for college.  Fun music earrings too.

Everybody loves Zoe.

We now have Alotalotls.

The grown-ups soak in all the joy.  Christmas this year felt so very precious.

I'm not sure you can ever have too many stuffed animals, but if you can, this gal pushes the limit.  She loves each one so much!  They all have a different name and personality.

This stuffie is extra special, having been sewn by some young friends in the neighborhood.

My favorite gifts of the day were these pine cone ornaments that Callie made out of paper, whether music or children's books.  This one for Annika is especially tender, having been made from Primary Children's literature and a band-aid.

Annika hand made some presents too, including these little books for Eila and a gorilla family for Anders.

Her horse Icy actually received the most Annika presents as she dressed her in pink felt.

More Christmas happiness. 

Time together has always been precious, but we feel it more deeply now.  For months we've been emotionally preparing for Brooklyn to run off to college.  Just glad Annika didn't escape off to heaven first!

Last but not least, Christmas dinner, complete with turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberries, and all the fixings!  Due to a failed swallow study, Annika got to enjoy her meal with a smoothie instead of water.  Otherwise, it was holiday tastiness as usual.

Merry Second Christmas everyone, and a Happy New Year!