Life Is Good: December 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Wrapping It Up

Here's a few of Evan wrapping Christmas presents with me. I hope it brings you a great big smile to wrap up the year 2011.

Good-bye 2011! Hello 2012!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

(I'm playing a little blogging catch-up tonight).

The kids and I made cookies the other day. Well, actually, it started as just a Ryan and I kind of project. I figured Ryan, being older, would understand and enjoy cookie making whereas Evan, being much younger, would only be interested in eating the cookies.

Ryan enjoyed making cookies.

He really enjoyed the eating of the dough.

The bell shape was his favorite.

Oh, but the tedious work of making cookies was short lived. Soon our flour covered table and tools and our sugary sweet dough were entered in a captivating episode of catapulting fun.

Ryan enjoyed the decorating of the cookies the following day. He decorated several. I don't recall what his favorite shape for decorating was but I can assure you his favorite icing to use was the reddish-pink color of deliciousness. He decorated 6 or 7 and promptly ran off to the living room to enjoy his treats. His decorated cookies were his cookies. After all the cookies were decorated (and all his cookies were gone) he always wanted a candy-cane to eat because of its "bumpy road frosting" (red and white stripes) or a Christmas tree because it had lots of colors.

We did most of our cookie making and decorating while Evan was napping. After Evan's nap one day he came to the table and found the bowl of icing. He actually tried to decorate a few of the remnant cookie pieces laying on the table. But...he soon discovered that eating the icing was way more fun and especially more tasty!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christmas Morning

Here it is...Christmas morning...in pictures! Let the story be told...

Friday, December 23, 2011

Omniplex Outing

The other day the boys and I took an impromptu trip to the Omniplex. The day was in need of some serious help and the boys and I just had to get away. It was the most PERFECT day to go to the Omniplex. It was this past Tuesday and I guess everyone else that could have been at the museum was out doing Christmas stuff. There was no one there! The place was essentially empty. Just a few kids here and there in each area. The kids of course loved the "kid area" but they also loved the *new* construction area. Unfortunately we didn't discover it until the end of our outing. Next time I think we'll go there first. They had scaffolding, and conveyor belts and dog houses and "painting" and blocks and "gardens". It was great!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Last Night

The kids and I have been having so much fun lately that I am way, waaay behind on picture and story posting. Last night the kids and I went with Nana first to Miss Sherry's house. We fed her horses some carrots.

We saw some cows too. It was lots of fun being at Miss Sherry's house. She said we could come back. I think we will

After our farm exploits we went to Oklahoma City for a little Christmas fun. We started by going to the mall. The mall had lights hanging everywhere and all of the lights twinkled in rhythm with the music. It was neat and Evan was just enthralled with the whole thing. Ryan really enjoyed it too. Of course Santa and his magical display were there too, but for some reason I didn't take a picture. We didn't visit Santa last night. The kids weren't up to it and the line was too long.

After the mall we went to PetSmart. Ryan picked out a grand amount of goodies for his two ~~spoiled~~ amazing little kitties for Christmas. Sammy and Sally each got a new bed...something they've never had...and basket full of toys and balls and such.

After PetSmart we drove around Chesapeake and through Nichols Hills to look at the Christmas lights. The kids enjoyed it, but we lost them to slumber around 7:30 which is their normal bedtime. Nana and I sure did enjoy driving around, visiting and reminiscing. Ahhh...great memories!

Brandy Danielle

Brandy is our firstborn, our precious angel baby girl. Her entry into this world wasn't without excitement. At 26 weeks I started preterm labor with contractions 5 minutes apart. With 10 weeks of strict bedrest, most of which were in the hospital, she made it to 36 weeks.
Brandy was diagnosed with "possible/probable" heart defect around 28-30 weeks gestation. After her birth she was whisked away to the NICU for monitoring and after a few days her defect was formally diagnosed and labeled...atrial septal defect and a cleft mitral valve.
Brandy, upon indications of failure to thrive and pulmonary hypertension, underwent her first of 2 open-heart surgeries at 4 months of age. A week after her surgery on the day of her anticipated discharge home Brandy coded for 13 minutes...a stoke.
From that point on Brandy's life was full of doctor's visits, endless crying, pain and suffering. She underwent another heart surgery, fundoplication and g-tube surgery, treatment for infantile spasms, and a mountain of tests and procedures. Her brain damage was extensive.
Upon counseling of our wonderful, most amazing heart surgeon, Dr. Christopher Knott-Craig, and many hours of prayer, we finally called in hospice and called off all of the extensive medical interventions and surgery needs that would prolong her suffering while possibly prolonging her life. Brandy, our precious baby girl...our angel...passed out of our arms and into the arms of her Saviour, Jesus at the tender age of 17 months.

Ryan Andrew

Ryan, our micro-preemie miracle, is a ball of life. After nearly a year of trying to conceive imagine our delight when we finally knew he was on the way. My pregnancy with Ryan was uneventful at first. It seemed perfect and with all of the precautions for preterm labor being taken and monitored we entered this pregnancy with cautious anticipation covered over by a whole love of naive excitement.
At 20 weeks we discovered our "Baby Peanut" was going to be a little boy. We began to make plans and began dreaming about the day we would meet our son.
Almost 2 weeks later everything changed in our lives. It wa a whirlwind of fear and emtions as I began to bleed, was sent for monitoring in L&D and eventually had an appointment with my OB only to find out that it was serious. I had incompetent cervix with hourglassing membranes. The doctor admitted me to the hospital immediately and an emergency cerclage was placed. The statistics were grim, but the hope was to keep our son inside for at least 10 more weeks. We only made it 10 more days.
Early in the evening of February 11, 2007 our son, Ryan, came into this world in emergency fashion at only 23 weeks 5 days gestation. He weighed 1 pound 8 ounces and was 12 ½ inches long. He was so tiny. All I could think of was “oh my goodness is he really that tiny? And is there any way he could actually make it?” I tried to hold on to hope, but in all honesty I had never met anyone with a baby born that early and that small that ever made it.
Ryan did make it! It was a long, hard road, but in the end he spent 90 days in the NICU. He was on a ventilator for 2 months. Finally on one fine glorious day in May we bundled up our 4 pound 4 ounce baby boy and went home...May 11, 2007.
Ryan is now a spunky, lively, strong-willed little boy. His laughter is contagious and his spirit is compelling. He is our miracle. There are no words strong enough to share our delight and joy that God has blessed us with this little boy.