McKenna’s Doing Great

We just wanted to update everyone on Ms. McKenna.  She is doing very well and has adjusted wonderfully after her surgeries 6 months ago. I was able to take a trip to West Palm Beach to visit the Conrad family earlier last month.  The whole crew was doing wonderfully.  McKenna has grown so much and she is a pretty excellent swimmer not to mention an adorable little girl.  Bela bear is also doing great in kindergarten and wow what a sweetheart she is.  I took the cutest photo of McKenna swimming with all of us.  She was sharing toys with Baby Zoey and Uncle Adam was playing “toss the baby” in the pool.  She thought it was the best thing ever. I was so sad when we had to leave our vacation early.

Tracy sent me Halloween photos at the beginning of the week and OMG Bela and McKenna were adorable. Bela was a flapper girl with the shimmy shake dress, boa and headband. She looked fabulous dawlin’.  McKenna was dressed up as the most adorable little gnome I have ever seen in my life. Tracy said that everywhere they went, people commented on their adorable and unique costumes. Too cute!

 

McKenna really is doing great and so are The Conrad's and that is in part thanks to all of you.  Your donations and purchases during our various fundraisers has truly relieved the financial burden McKenna’s surgeries have incurred. I am proud to say that to date we have earned $1504.46. $220.00 of that was solely from the A Mother’s Love kits that were sold through www.scrapoutsidethebox.com.  A huge thank you goes to Walter and Pam Pate for their generous donation to McKenna. We can not thank you enough for helping your extended family.

But there is still much we need to do to finish our task at hand.  Our current funds will take care of the minimum monthly payments through February of this year but we still need over $3,600.  We have some great ideas lined up for earning funds including art projects, bake sales, and much, much more.  We look forward to sharing more of McKenna’s adventures and our creative ideas with all of you. Be sure to visit our sister (no pun intended) sites to see what activities we have going on in the creative market.

Thank you again everyone and of course, Happy Holidays!

Brandy Pate a.k.a Aunt Bannee

Thank you for your Support

We wanted to post a general thank you to everyone that has donated to the Hope for McKenna fundraiser or purchased the digital scrapbooking kit "A Mother's Love" from http://www.scrapoutsidethebox.com/. So far we have received $660.00 in donations and sold $175 worth of the charity kits for a total of $835.00 reaching 18% of our goal. We are searching for alternative methods to raise money for McKenna's past and upcoming medical bills, so please be on the lookout for these upcoming offers.

A little follow-up on McKenna's well-being; she is doing well but still has a few doctor's visits lined up for the near future as well as a big move to southern Florida. The Conrad's are moving from Panama City to West Palm Beach in the next month. This is a good move because McKenna will be closer to her doctors in Tampa. McKenna is almost 17 months old and weighs about 21 lbs (the same as my 10 month old). She just healed from a double ear infection however the doctor feels that she may need to get tubes in her ears. She is scheduled to visit an ear, nose and throat specialist just to be sure. She also needs to visit the dentist because of the alignment of her teeth from her cleft palate. In addition, she will need to begin speech therapy to ensure that she will not have a speech impediment in the future. I don't think talking will be much of a problem, because just yesterday, she figured out how to call me on the phone. I listened closely to that adorable little voice as she jibber jabbered on and on about something so intently. She certainly had something to tell Aunt Brandy. Aunt Dani said she had called her as well and told her the most exciting but intangible story. What a cutie pie.

So, all in all, Ms. McKenna (or "Sister" as Bela calls her) is doing well. She has healed well and responded wonderfully to the surgeries and massive amounts of doctors’ offices she has been in and out of. We are hopeful that her physician visits will become fewer and farther between. She is eating well, growing strong and always playful. Her innocence and joyful spirit will heal her ailments, and she will grow into a beautiful toddler and young lady one day. I know this in my heart.

Thank you for all you have done and your continued love and support. Please share McKenna’s story of love, courage and community support.