Well, Its been a little bit since i posted. Mainly due to the fact that nothing of any major interest has happened.

Caitlyn has been growing well, Had a visit to the doctors for usual checkup - ALL clear.

Today we had the 2nd attempt at fitting her prosthetic eyes and well.. She took them well.

She looks so different with them in. It is actually quite scary to see them as i am used to her normal eyes.

Will post pics once i am able to get some really good ones.

UPDATE: have posted 1 pic so far - Click link

Well the day after the Hospital visit and we look back over what happened yesterday. It was a very long day for us all. Caitlyn was an absolute angel. She had fallen asleep sunday night at about 11pm. We couldn't give her anything to eat or drink after 2am. By 7am she finally woke up after the trip up to Brisbane. She had a bit of a grump and grizzle about 8ish but soon forgot that she hadn't eaten yet. 8:30ish they took her down for the surgery. She was back on the ward by about 10:30ish. By THEN she was hungry.

We just received the notification for Caitlyns first moulding for conformers. To do this she will be put under a full anaethstetic (not sure how to spell that one!!).

It is Monday morning (8th September) at 7am.

Well, the cleanup from the combined birthday parties is still on-going. Caitlyn and Andrew had a combined birthday party yesterday. Quite a few people showed up and it was a rather enjoyable day. The biggest problem now is the left-over meals etc we will have to go thru.

I will post a few pics here in the next few days. Wasn't able to take many pics as things where always happening. Hopefully some of the others who attended might have one or two pics as well.

I can't believe it is almost 1 year since the birth of my special little girl. There are a lot of things that have happened in the year and only some of them have been posted here. I really do need to thank a lot of people who over the past 12 months have provided the support network that both my Wife and I have required to get thru as we have.

Firstly I obviously need to thank my Wife who without her none of the joy and happiness of Caitlyn would have been possible. She has been beside me all the way as I have been beside her. Not saying it has been easy in any way. We have both at times blamed ourselves and each other for Caitlyns condition. We also have asked on a number of occassions why this wasn't detected in all the scans we had prior to her birth. This is something that we have found appears to be a common question from others affected by Microph/Anophthalmia.

Secondly I need to thank my direct Family. Their support and encouragement has not only allowed us to get thru all the hurdles but allowed us all to grow as a Family. It certainly has brought out the needs of each person within themselves. It shows how hard it is to accept yourself for how you are. People often Judge each other by their first impression or appearance. With Caitlyn we have all had to learn how to judge people by how they react to you rather than how they look to you. Vision Impairment has show us that sometimes as a Human Being we often make the mistake of judging someones appearance firstly before we know anything about that person. Watching Caitlyn judge people by touch, smell and hearing has taught me to value what we do have.

Thirdly, Several people have been of a great support simply by knowing that they are there. Tim and Judith from Jethro Consultants as well as the entire network of readers from Real Live Preacher who supported us not only with their words of support on their websites and by email but also by their prayers and thoughts for all of us.

Lastly, and certainly not least of all, I need to thank my friends who have helped in any way possible. We also need to thank the fantastic people at Narbethong Special School, RIDBC, Vision Australia, Guide Dogs and Seeing Eyes Dogs. The network of all these specialists and friends has helped us in many ways. Our next biggest hurdle is to start the construction of our new house. It has been specially designed and built on a family members property to allow us to provide the best environment for Caitlyn. It is quiet yet not too far from main roads etc to allow us to get her to her hospital and specialists visits. We will have specially designed sensory gardens as well as marked pathways and fully fenced yard so as to ensure her security and safety. I have designed and will implement a complete video surveillance system so that she is able to walk around the yard and yet be watched at all times by my wife and myself.

At no point have I ever asked for support in the past however due to recent price increases and decrease in our general family earnings i am asking that if anyone can donate to help keep Caitlyns-story.com going i would really appreciate it. This website has been not only a source of information for myself and my family but it is now also beeing used as a reference by many other families who are affected by this condition.

Caitlyns-story.com will continue to grow in the future but may require additional funding options such as additional advertising banners. At this point i would rather not put them on until absolutely required. If you are able to help with any donations please register yourself and make a comment here for this post. I will then contact you personally to arrange for the paypal donation details to be passed onto you.

Please also keep an eye out for a post i will put here shortly. I am about to upload a video sequence that i have made. It is a collection of the photos we have taken of Caitlyn over the last year. Please once this post is only feel free to pass this onto your friends as well.

I just found a report i tend to find rather offensive in some ways. It suggests that Muslim Taxi Drivers will refuse entry to a Taxi for a Disabled or Vision Impaired person when they have a Guide Dog or Assistance Dog.

I find this to be extremely short sighted by these taxi drivers as their religious belief states that animals are Unclean. Every single Guide Dog i have ever met has been the most clean and well looked after animals around.

What amazes me is that these people certainly wouldn't stop and think twice about refusing a guide dog for their own needs if it ever arose but they will not allow a dog into the car???

This is the link STORY ON NEWS.COM.AU

We went to the Guide Dogs open day on the 6th July. The visit was sensational. Caitlyn was able to meet and pat several of the dogs. She was also allowed to sit on a mat with one of the retired guide dogs. You could see the look of absolute joy on Caitlyns face each time she was allowed to pat one of the dogs. Several of the dogs actually gave her big sloppy kisses on the cheek too.

Well only one thing can describe Caitlyn getting her teeth cutting thru - HELL ON EARTH for mum and dad.

She is cutting all 4 top front teeth at once. THis is by no means an easy feat for her. She is really suffering with the pain and so are we!!!

How can I express the feeling after today, McDonalds Coorparoo and Variety Club Day!!... A few words come to mind.

1. "TOTAL EXHAUSTION!!"
We had a fantastic day there. Mick and Anne (McDonalds Coorparoo owners and Variety Club members) put on a day well and truly worth every cent. They together with their crew at McDonalds ensured that everything went smoothly and that everyone was able to have an enjoyable day.

2. "Total Joy"
To receive the Perkins Braille Machine was just something that cannot be described. Variety Club is a fantastic organisation who provide much needed support to families, like ourselves, who may not be able to provide much needed equipment due to the over-the-top pricing of some items. To give an example of the costing involved - a Perkins Braille Machine is in excess of $1000. Today, Variety Club provided 4 of these units to needy families (ours included).

3. "Complete Satisfaction"
Knowing that we in our own way helped out some of the others there by selling some of the Golden Hearts made us feel really good. There are still more that can be purchased by visiting the McDonalds Coorparoo store.

I will be posting quite a few photos from the day as well as links to various groups that where involved in the day. My family and myself cannot express enough our thanks to Mick and Anne from McDonalds Coorparoo as well as Trevor from Variety Club for organising the day. Our heartfelt thanks and love goes out to all

Today we received our information pack from the staff at McDonalds Coorparoo and Variety CLub.

The pack contains 2 posters for us to put up around at our workplaces, a letter from Scott who is co-ordinating the day as well as a request for information from Variety Club.

All things seem to be underway now. More information will be posted once i receive it.