{the looking back part}

With Callie Jayne being home, I've actually had a chance to REALLY look back on what has transpired in the past two months. It still doesn't feel entirely real somehow. Is that possible? For those of you who have not heard Callie's story, she is my 22 month old baby sister and she is a miracle. On September 8th, she was backed up over by a family friend in my parents' driveway. She was critically injured as you can read here and here. Her first days in the hospital were trying. She was comatose for the first few weeks and her body was fighting a very difficult fight. After being air evacuated to Phoenix Children's Hospital, one doctor gave his 'opinion' that if Callie were his child he would let her go on. He felt that there was no hope for her case. My parents stayed so strong through it all and put their baby girl's life entirely in the Lord's hands.

A lot has transpired since that scary day. It's hard to accurately put into words what we have experienced. I don't think anyone can put into words what Callie has personally experienced. She has made SO much progress and she has been so happy all the way. We went from wondering...Will she walk again? Talk? See? Live? To seeing that yes, she would. She has been so feisty and determined. Much like the personality that we loved prior to her accident. You can go here, here, here and yes even here for little snippets of her PICU experience.

It's so exciting to get to tell you all that she left that hospital talking and walking {with support}! There is still damage that we are praying will be healed, but we feel so incredibly blessed to have Callie in the form that she is now. She truly is a miracle.

So many prayers have been given on her behalf. So many good deeds have been done. For me not only have I been renewed in my faith of prayers and healing but also in the goodness of people. Even strangers. It has turned into such a beautiful experience. We can't change what happened to our little Cal gal but we can see the beauty and the miracles in the circumstances.

So now we look back with gratitude and thanks. But mostly, we look forward with hope and faith for her future.

Thank you so much to all of you who have kept Callie and our family in your thoughts and your prayers. We are so grateful for everything that has been said and done in our behalf. We can truly say that we love you all. And certainly if you should meet Callie Jayne one day, she would love to share and HUGE smooch with you. She seems to have become the Queenie of Kisses! And we all love it!

You can go HERE to read more of Callie's physical therapy experience {per my Mom} as well as her return home. You can also read through my September and October posts to read more on little Callie Jayne!

And now some Callie News!

Our shining starlet will be featured on Channel 3 News, tomorrow morning during their 'Your Life A to Z' section at 9:00 am. So if you are in Arizona, watch for that!

Also, don't forget that this Friday and Saturday {the 14th and 15th} you can buy one of these adorable onesies from the etsy shop ONESIE TWOSIE and 30% will be donated to "Kisses for Callie". All you need to do is put "Kisses for Callie" in the comment section when making your purchase! This girl is awesome! She just finished a similar benefit sale for Nie Recovery and has been so generous to also help support our little Cal! So stop by and see what she has! This is only ONE of her adorable designs!

And don't forget to check in on KISSES FOR CALLIE to see the good works that are being done for this sweet little girl!

Thank you everyone!

{lots of love.ash}