Life Is Good: May 2012

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

My Pet Gofers?

No! Although I occasionally have a gofer mound decorating my backyard I didn't suddenly adopt a gofer village.

I've been moving dirt by the bucket-full from my mom's yard to fill up all the holes and low-spots in my backyard. Eventually I'll turn this moon-type landscape created by the destroyers (dogs) into a smooth blank canvas ready for beautification.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

12 Wonders of the World...Little Boy Style

I can quite imagine that nothing says "Great Day!" to a little boy quite like these dozen *Wonders*

#1: When something like this pulls up into the backyard!

#2: When a toad is unearthed!

#3: A huge hole!

#4: Being with Nana and Papa

#5: Finding a great big worm!

#6: A crane!

#7: An enormous box flying high in the sky!

#8: Driving the backhoe!

(and loading it on the truck)

#9: A mountain of dirt!

#10: Finding toys that look like the equipment that just left!

#11: Being King of the mountain!

#12: A new hidey-hole in Nana's backyard!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Preach It!

Friday, May 18, 2012

Day Off With Benefits!

I had a day off today! It came with benefits...I SPENT THE DAY PLAYING! The boys and I started the fun times off by cruising over to Guthrie for a sweet breakfast treat at Missy's Donut shop. We then hit the interstate for a short trip in search of some garage sales. We found 2 (or 3). Ryan found a toy fishing pole with a magnet for picking up all sorts of treasures, a fire station with a microphone that works. Evan found a bus and a toy pistol. We also found a couple of Nerf guns, a bunch of dinosaurs, and a couple of airplanes (for decorations).

I suppose the highlight of the day was THE ZOO! We spent several hours at the zoo looking at tigers.

and all the other cute "kitties", and elephants, and more.

Cousin Addie and Aunt Shelly joined us for our fun day.

We had some fun while waiting for Tram rides too.

But the most fun was had with these pretty little birds...

Of course we couldn't leave before a quick splash in the water. A wonderful way to cool off!

And when it was time to go everyone had had lots of fun and was ready to call it day. Well almost...

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Crashed

One of my extra special little's woke up a little too early from his nap...

He crashed...

And so did the puppy...

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Class of 2012

Here he is...the awesome and wonderful Mr. Ryan! The graduate!

He's dressed to impress!

The Preschool graduating class of...

And his proud little brother watching the show...

And here they are...the cuties. The "big" kids ready for "big" school!

Across the stage and Ryan has his diploma...

So proud!

And the highlight of the evening...cupcakes and cookies with friends!

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.

Evan Alexander