Christmas

Back to Indiana for Christmas!

Here we are with Brad's family in Greensburg. We had a great time visiting, shopping, and making sure Brad got some White Castles!




We enjoyed hanging out with Daniel- he brought Guitar Hero- we stayed up until the early morning rocking out!


We also traveled over to Seymour, Indiana to see everyone there! The weather was beautiful and cold! We enjoyed seeing some snow!

Island Dolphin Care

In December I had the opportunity to join Regine, one of my internship supervisors, as she traveled to Key Largo with some of her former patients. Island Dolphin Care is an amazing program that gives children with many different types of diagnoses the opportunities to interact with dolphins through structured dolphin assisted therapy. We met two families there for a Dolphin Talk day, where one of their staff members taught them about the dolphins, allowed them to interact with them on the docks, interact with marine life in an open aquarium, and also to do arts and crafts! I had worked with one of the families during my internship- it was so wonderful to see how the little girl was doing 5 months later. We had a ball together!

http://www.islanddolphincare.org/

**Brad's Birthday**

November 14, 2008- Brad turned 29! I made him some amazing Sprinkles cupcakes from Williams Sonoma. They were his favorite- red velvet! I also made a batch of pumpkin cupcakes (his second favorite!) for him to take to class... poor thing- one day soon he won't have to worry about class on his birthday anymore! They all enjoyed that he shared them! I had fun shopping for him at Williams Sonoma and found him some fun kitchen gadgets- his new favorite? The "Ebelskiver"- a filled pancake pan. We've had fun using it and finding different fillings for the middles of the pancakes! Yum!

*The Daily Grind*

While in Indiana, we had the chance to visit one of Brad's favorite little coffee shops, The Daily Grind, in Nashville, Indiana. We caught up with one of our dear friends, Jeanne from WKU, while we were there. It was great to step in from the cold, enjoy a great coffee drink, and catch up!





It got down to just 1 degree one night! We loved the cold for a change!

Thanksgiving 2008

We traveled to Indiana for Thanksgiving to visit with Brad's families. We had fun sharing our time with everyone and enjoying the cold weather in beautiful Indiana!

Baby Jordan

Baby Jordan Malaya Carter was born shortly after I went back home- here she is making her entrance into the world!



She is such a little angel!


Here are several of her photos they had taken!

*October Visit to TN*

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in quite awhile- so I will work backwards! My visit to TN in October, Brad's 29th birthday, then our Thanksgiving and pre-Christmas time in Indiana!

In October I took a quick trip home after my internship ended and before I started back officially at the hospital. I was able to spend some great time with family (Mom, Dad, my gradfather- Smith, brother, and sister-in-law, Jenni) and we were able to head up to KY one day to visit with our dear friends Betty and George and to visit Jackson's Orchard (one of the places Brad and I loved visiting!). Here are some photos from my visit!








I was also in town the same weekend as Nick and Jenni's baby shower. They have since had their little one, Jordan, so I will post some adorable photos of her, too. I am looking forward to meeting her hopefully very soon!

Giving Back Part 4

This is a segment from Jon and Kate Plus Eight that includes their visit to St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Tennessee. In this segment, Jon, Kate, and all of their children are in St. Jude's and have been introduced to Jennifer Smith, a Certified Child Life Specialist (who taught my infant massage class back in May!). She is engaging them in medical play, which is something we do on a daily basis! Just wanted to share a wonderful glimpse of what I do with my new career! Enjoy!

Merry Christmas from the Shuck Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Fall Decorations

One day when Brad was in class, I went out and decided to buy things to decorate the house for fall! This is still our favorite season, and one we seem to miss more and more as we are here in Miami. We miss the leaves changing color, the nip of crisp cool air, and the smell that fall has. I found items to create a beautiful centerpiece for our table, new placemats and napkins, and the cutest metal napkin holder rings. I had such a fun time... I even bought pumpkins and pumpkin pie scented tea lights. He was so excited when he came home and saw everything. What a fun day!

**End of my internship**

Well, yet another adventure has come to a close. I presented my project on September 18 and the last day of my internship was September 26. I can't even begin to describe what an amazing experience this has been. The families I was able to meet and interact with, the patients I was able to help, and the observations I was able to make were all simply priceless. I had posted about working on the cardiac unit awhile back. The last part of my internship was spent working with families and patients in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). It was a challenge, but at the same time I enjoyed the activities and interventions I was able to provide for the patients. Through each rotation I had amazing supervisors. During the first rotation I was with Regine and for the last rotation I was with Karla. They have both been at MCH for awhile and were integral to my positive experience.

On the 18th, I presented my project and they had lunch from Olive Garden. Its a tradition that when the interns present, they provide lunch and a small celebration. My presentation went well and I was very pleased with what I had created. I hope that the hospital is able to use it for the siblings of hospitalized children. Here are some photos of this special day!



Me and Regine!

Me and Karla!

*Paella*

Thought these photos needed to be posted even though we went out for paella awhile back in the summer. We went to a neat little place in Hollywood that had live dancing and singing. Brad spilt a paella with Karen's husband while she and I had different types of tapas (think small appetizers). We had such a great time! We had never heard of paella until we moved to Miami... we had it a few years ago when we went over to someone's house to experience it for the first time. I'm not too big a fan of it unless its made with chicken. Usually it has mussels, clams, lobster, crab, octopus, rice, beans, and vegetables. It takes a long time to make and is certainly a process. Brad experimented with it one night and made chicken and chorizo paella. It was wonderful!

*Kennedy Space Center*

The weekend of my birthday we were able to head up to Titusville, FL to visit the Kennedy Space Center- one of Brad's birthday presents from last year! We stayed at a nice place that wasn't too far away from the main attraction of the weekend. We had an ocean view room and were able to walk the beach a few times.


Friday night (my birthday) we ate at a little place right there by the hotel. It was kind of like a Texas Roadhouse/ Logan's type restaurant. We were going to eat at "Oh Shuck's" right there on the pier, but decided against it.


The Space Center was amazing. Upon arriving, we purchased the tour tickets so we would be able to ride around and see the actual launch pads. The tour around the main center was amazing as well. Brad and I enjoyed looking at the memorabilia in many of the exhibits.















We didn't have a chance to get in the ocean until our last day, on our drive back home. We decided that would would look for a place to stop on the way. One of the hurricanes of the season was sending rain bands and strong winds towards our way and the waves were huge! I only got in about up to my knees, but Brad went out a little further. The currents were really strong, too! Here's what it looked like!

**Time to play catch-up!**

Oh my... our last post was July 31st... boy, how the time does fly! The rest of the summer went by so incredibly fast. I'm going to start with some things that happened in August...

My birthday was August 29th! For my birthday, Brad gave me an amazing day at the Doral Spa... he gave it to me a week early so I could take advantage of the weekend I was off to head over there for a day of true pampering. I began my at the pool, then had a massage, a facial, a manicure, pedicure, haircut/ style, and make-up, too. What a great day! Everything was beautiful and the soaps, shampoos, and conditioners all had the most amazing tropical smell. Mmmmm... it was great and relaxing!





Before my haircut, I had decided to go ahead and cut enough to donate to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program. I had heard of it awhile back, but wanted to make sure my hair was long enough for their minimum amount (8 inches). Mine ended up being closer to about 9, and it was great to know that it will go to help make wigs for women who have lost their hair due to treatments for cancer. It takes 6 ponytails to make one wig and so far their goal is to collect one million inches of hair for wigs. I received my letter in the mail the other day that they received my ponytail and that they will be able to use it.
http://www.beautifullengths.com/en_US/



My mom and Dad sent a special package that I had fun opening! I got a new Kathy Van Zeeland purse and matching wallet!


On my birthday after work, we headed up the "Space Coast" to Titusville/ Cocoa Beach, Florida to visit the Kennedy Space Center- and to take advantage of the long Labor Day weekend! That will be my next post! Stay tuned!

**Observations**

As part of my internship, I have the opportunity to observe different types of surgeries and procedures that children may need while in the hospital. The Congenital Heart Institute at MCH is nationally recognized by U.S. News and World Report. Here is their website:

http://www.mch.com/page/EN/580/Medical-Services/Congenital-Heart-Institute.aspx


There is also a working relationship between the department at Miami Children's Hospital and Arnold Palmer's Children's Hospital in Orlando, FL.
http://www.pediatricheartsurgery.com/

On Tuesday, July 29, I observed a procedure known as the Fontan procedure. This procedure is used on children around 3-4 years of age with congenital heart disease who have already had two prior procedures in order to prepare them for this one. This particular surgery is used on children who do not have two pumping chambers- the purpose of this is to assist in directing the blood coming back from the body to the lungs without being pumped to the lungs by the heart. They grafted a small tube (the fontan) to the outside of the heart chamber to assist in the blood flow. Before the procedure, the heart was emptied and the blood was kept flowing by a heart/lung machine. It was amazing to see everything in action. While I was there, member of the cardiac catheterization team came in to insert a stent to further assist in the blood flow. Today I will be observing a procedure in the cardiac catheterization lab. It has all been so amazing to see how these procedures take place and ultimately how it affect's the child's life.