Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

Dax Ryan Locke - 6/26/07-12/30/09

Tuesday night, Mommy decided it was finally time to take down the Christmas tree and she got a picture of the tree stripped of all it's glory. Maybe she shouldn't have been surprised when she got notification early the next morning that just a few hours later, Dax had passed away. Dax had defied the odds and made it to Christmas but wasn't able to hold on until 2010. Like many following Dax's story, Mommy took great meaning in the message - Cherish Every Moment. If you would like to order a bracelet to remind you each day you can do so here:

http://decoratefordax.com/

There is still time today to make a year end donation to St Jude on his behalf:

https://www.tg.stjude.org/donate/?siteSrc=home_nav

Peyton Nicole Smith

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

When I got my Children's Craniofacial Association newsletter for Fall of 2009 imagine my surprise when I showed up in a picture with Daddy on page 17! Go check me out!

http://ccakids.org/newsletters/NL09-04.pdf

Peyton Nicole Smith

Monday, December 28th, 2009

One final gift awaited me when I came back from Salt Lake - my Little Tikes dollhouse. As of now, I am using dolls and furniture on loan from SCOE but my parents plan on locating some furniture and dolls of my own. Although the house is large, I can't quite fit through the front door!

Peyton Nicole Smith

Sunday, December 27th, 2009

Although I slept great last night, my parents were pretty restless in anticipation of leaving this morning. Uncle Jeff and Daddy took the luggage and returned the rental car while Mommy and I got a ride to the airport from Aunt Kristin and Uncle Lonnie. Then, we all met up at the terminal to check in. The airport was busy but not crazy as they had anticipated. The security lines weren't too bad, either. Mommy and I met a screener who has a child with developmental disabilities who is wheelchair bound. She has a suction machine at home for her daughter as well and she was completely at ease with me and my machines. She asked a few questions about me and helped Mommy get all my stuff through security and back into my stroller which Mommy appreciated. Since we were early, I took walks around the airport with Uncle Jeff and Mommy while clutching tightly my See's lollipop. With two extra sets of hands this time it was no big deal to get all my stuff and me on the plane and I settled in for the flight home.

After Uncle Jeff's unfortunate flight out, the flight back was pretty smooth. The flight left on time and because it was a bigger plane he got to watch ESPN on the TV which made the flight go by much faster. I enjoyed my Barney video until the battery died. Once we landed, it didn't take long to get all my luggage and we started to head towards the parking garage when Daddy remembered we had forgotten one - the medical bag. Luckily he was able to go back quickly and get it. On the way home I fell asleep still holding my lollipop.

Once we got home, I woke back up and my parents got all my machines set up so I could take a nap. I was so excited to get home that it took me almost 2 hours of rolling around in my bed to fall asleep - I spent most of that time having conversations with each of the stuffed animals and dolls I had left behind catching them up on my time away. While I was asleep, Daddy went to go get my furry brothers and I was very happy to see them when I woke up.

Despite cold meds, when the plane was landing Mommy's ears refused to pop and she was pretty miserable most of the night as the pressure resulted in a lot of pain. She went to bed early while Daddy got me down for the night. I think both my parents were pretty happy to have a night nurse tonight so they could get an uninterrupted night's sleep!

Peyton Nicole Smith

Saturday, December 26th, 2009

We all had an uneventful night last night and although my stomach flu seemed to have passed I started having some symptoms of a cold and so did Mommy. Even so, I was in a much better mood and the crew headed to The Fox Hole for lunch. Aunt Kristin got shirts made up for everyone with the Fox Hole logo - you can see my sporting it above while I showed Uncle Shawn how to sign "fox".

When Jackson and I got sleepy, we headed back to the house while Uncle Jeff and Daddy headed down to Cabela's (Daddy's favorite place in the world). After nap time we went to Grandma and Papa Smith's house to say goodbye since we are flying back to Salt Lake in the morning. My coughing had increased and Mommy wasn't feeling great either so we stopped to get some cold medications before getting back to Aunt Kristin's. I played with Jackson for a little while until I started coughing up blood. It is much drier in Utah then California and despite the trach mist during sleeping hours and trying to keep an HME on me during waking hours I still get dried out. My parents did a quick trach change and then got me to sleep so they could begin organizing everything to go back to Sacramento.

Peyton Nicole Smith

Friday, December 25th, 2009

After jumping around on the bed last night in my monkey jammies my parents figured I was over my quick bout with stomach flu but they were mistaken. At 4 am I woke up and started crying and a few minutes later I started vomiting again. This time there wasn't much in my tummy. Mommy changed my jammie shirt and I went back to sleep a little longer. By early morning it was time to get up and see what Santa brought but I was grumpy and didn't feel much like opening presents. My parents started me back up on Pedialite but I kept signing that my tummy hurt.

There was a mad dash to open presents by my parents, Uncle Lonnie, Aunt Kristin, Jackson, Uncle Shawn and Gavin before Shawn and Gavin had to leave. Uncle Jeff came up a little later and then a second round of present opening began with his gifts. Uncle Jeff and Gavin both love the Miami Dolphins so they compared the gifts they had received with the Dolphins logo.

After Shawn and Gavin left, Uncle Jason and Traiton came by. Traiton had been up all night vomiting as well so he wasn't in much of a mood to open presents either. Grandma and Grandpa Mower came by a little later and then it was round three of opening presents. I got lots of fun toys from them but still was not feeling well enough to want to play too much.

I was still holding my feedings down but was pretty tired so I went down for a nap mid-morning. When I woke up I was in a little better mood, so Uncle Jeff, my parents and I went to Karen's for Christmas dinner. Karen made a great home made vegetable soup that hit the spot on such a cold winter day. I was still pretty grumpy until Nikki, Michael and her three girls showed up. Suddenly, my mood improved dramatically! The girls were fascinated by all the things about me that were different - my trach, my g tube, my signing, my hands - and they followed me all over the house which was fine by me. Before it got too late, we started into round four of present opening. I'm pretty much an expert at this point and even helped Daddy open Mommy's presents for her.

Despite the tummy troubles, it was a wonderful Christmas Day and I got lots of great gifts. Thanks everyone!

Peyton Nicole Smith

Thursday, December 24th, 2009

Due to the vomiting last night, my parents started me out slow and easy this morning with a little bit of Pedialite. As the day went on, they started adding some 20 kcal soy formula in with it and thankfully I held everything down.

Mid-morning Mommy, Daddy, Uncle Jeff and I went to Joanna's Kitchen for a late breakfast. Last year when we went on Christmas Eve day it did not end as well (remember the exploding diaper incident in the high chair?). My parents got to enjoy their meal and the scone this time! After breakfast, they made a quick stop at the grocery store before heading to Grandma and Papa Smith's house for the day. Papa was working until the early afternoon but Grandma Smith was off and she was at the airport getting Uncle Steve (his flight was delayed too). I had a little play time before it was nap time. Mommy and Daddy had brought my trach mist machine and they had some trouble getting it working. Good thing Daddy is handy and after taking it apart and fiddling with a few parts he got it back up and running. Mommy stayed next to me on the bed while I slept. By the time I woke up the entire Smith clan was home and we sat down for a nice turkey dinner. After cleaning up and burning off some of the food we gathered around the tree and opened our gifts. I got lots of wonderful things but my favorite was a book from Grandma and Papa. It was "The Night Before Christmas" and as I turned each page Papa's voice read the story to me. So even when I am far away in California, I can pull out the book and hear Papa read to me.

Peyton Nicole Smith