Adam & Andrew

Ben's Special Day

2009-11-10T22:59:00.004-06:00

I'm way overdo on this post. We had the honor of celebrating the baptism of our nephew Benjamin Lee. It was a very special day and the whole family joined together. Adam & Andrew dressed in their Sunday best, ties and all. Ben was just perfect and smiled the entire time. He is the best baby! Praise the Lord for bringing this joyful child into our family, what a gift he is to us all!

ALL the cousins

I feel very old now that we have a kids table at family gatherings again and my children are sitting there instead of me!

More October Fun

2009-11-07T21:51:00.008-06:00

These photos sets should finish up October for our family.

First up are from a fun afternoon at Lauren & Blake's. The kids painted with their hands and feet, I think they enjoyed the squishy slimey paint under their feet.

Are they sweet or what?

Fun with the Wagon

These pictures are from a Halloween party at Kaylie's house. The kids had fun wearing their costumes and eating goodies.

Adam & Lauren, can't keep these two apart.

Whoa, Hubba Hubba!

My Two Turtles

The boys wore their Buzz Lightyear costumes to their school Trunk or Treat party. Sadly I was under the weather so I had to stay home instead of coming to the school. So fortunately some of the other moms took pictures of my kiddos for me. Thank you!

What a cute pair of Space Superheroes!

Adorable Class!!

October was such a blast!

Celebrating Life

2009-11-06T23:26:00.004-06:00

Today I had the honor of attending the memorial service for a precious baby girl named Kaiya. She was perfectly formed and created by the Lord but she was born far too early to survive. My heart broke in pieces for her lovely family who is grieving such a devastating loss. In spite of this grief, baby Kaiya's grandfather spoke on behalf of the family and proclaimed that God is always Good even in times such as these. What truth and hope to remember when things just don't seem to make sense. Parents just shouldn't have to bury their children and we don't understand why, but God does. And sweet Kaiya is free from pain, celebrating with Jesus today and because her parents are believers, one day they will be together again.

In the words of Kaiya's grandfather, please join me in storming Heaven's gates with prayer for this sweet family and most of all for their daughter Kaidyn, Kaiya's twin sister who is fighting a very brave battle in the NICU.

I hate prematurity, I absolutely hate it. I hate how it steals lives and destroys the hopes and dreams of parents and families everywhere. But thanks be to a God who is Good all the time and has overcome even this.

Hmmm, where to start . . . . .

2009-11-04T23:59:00.006-06:00

I guess I'll start with yesterday's marathon to Houston and back. Andrew & I left at 6am and because of traffic we just made it to our appt three hours later! The PM&R doc was very pleased with Andrew's mobility but wants to combine his botox treatments with serial casting which will all be done at Texas Childrens. The casting will be good for him and hopefully keep him from needing his heel tendons cut any time soon but they will definitely be annoying since Andrew loves to get in sand and dirt and water and splash around.

They also recommended we look into him receiving therapies at an exclusively pediatric facility, the closest of which is in the Woodlands so we will be pursuing that though driving all that ways once a week will be stressful. We've had some awesome therapists here but the doctor thinks our community doesn't have enough specialized pediatric equipment and experience with cases similar to Andrew's.

After PM&R I went to see my dermatologist where I got one the best reports in ages and didn't have to have any biopsies done so we were in & out, YIPEE!!

Next we met our friends Sarah , Payton, & Avery for a quick lunch, it was fun to see them, we miss them since they moved away!

Then we went back to the medical center to the orthopedic surgeon. He thought Andrew looked good and was happy with the plans to continue with botox/casting/braces. His leg length discrepancy hasn't improved like we hoped so they will continue to monitor that. If it should worsen he may need a procedure down the road for it but hopefully the botox will allow that leg to grow without facing so much resistance. He sent us for a hip x-ray and Andrew's hips look great, which is such a blessing! He wants to see us back in 8 months to repeat it.

After all our appts we got a special treat with a visit from our friends Hill & TJ who were passing through on a short trip home (they are living abroad). SO fun to see them!

Fast forward to today. My kids are now 2 for 2 on xrays the last two days. Not a trend that I care for. I was sitting in biblestudy this morning when I heard some crying down the hall. My kids LOVE going to the church nursery so I didn't think anything of it, assuming it was a baby wanting their mama. But then I looked up to see Adam being carried in and he was COVERED in bright red blood, all over his face. My initial fear was that he had fallen and busted out all of his fragile teeth but the sudden swelling of his nose told otherwise. He had apparently fallen off a step and didn't put his hands down to catch his fall and his nose took all the impact.

I'm thankful and amazed that his teeth were totally fine and he didn't bust up his mouth. But his poor nose look like a marble had been shoved up one side and he was bleeding profusely and could only breathe through his mouth. He told me "I . . sniff sniff . . . need . . .sniff sniff . . Tylenol", poor baby!

Our pediatrician was able to work him in and by that time he was bruising pretty badly but was in amazingly high spirits. The pedi was pretty sure it would be broken and sent us for an xray but I was relieved to learn that he just has a severe soft tissue injury and despite looking terrible there is no fracture, the septum looks good and he should be just fine. What a relief, I had these visions of him having a nose like Owen Wilson or something. Pain meds and a follow up appt are all we have to do. My little man was so brave and tough!

And then somewhere in between all that I got a call from my doctor with the results of some blood work I had done a few weeks back and learned that I have a MTHFR gene mutation which is really interesting because it's known to cause miscarriages (which I fortunately have never had before) and pregnancy complications and the doc said while it probably wasn't the exclusive reason for my preterm labor, it did play a role. Fortunately I don't have the severe form of this and now that we know how easily it is to treat it, there is no reason why we can't have another baby in the future. So going forward for any future pregnancies I have more information to help be as healthy as possible. They put me on a presciption of special vitamins plus an additional high dose folic acid because the mutation impedes the body's ability to absorb folic acid and we are actually fortunate that niether of our boys had any neural tube defects since I wasn't getting proper levels of folic acid. So if we are able to have another child someday I'll be on baby aspirin through out the pregnancy to prevent blood clots to the placenta that cause miscarriage. Interesting stuff!

Now for some pictures of my sweet Adam: I can only imagine how it'll look in the morning, probably gonna have a black eye. The bridge is so much wider than normal.

Not to be left out, Andrew said "Mama, take Andrew's picture too!" And so of course I did!

Going along with the first part on Andrew's medical update. He just got in his new braces. They changed his left foot from a smo to an afo in an attempt to maximize the effect he gets from them and help with his stability and such. It will be a pain to keep clean, makes him sweaty, and is more obvious but it will help him and that's most important.

Check out the theme this time. We have such a great orthotist. When we went in for the molding they had me select the straps and I joked that they really needed to update their selection and he told me I could bring in anything I wanted and he would make it work and so I was able to make my sweet boy smile with his cool new "Aggie braces" and I think it's safe to say his are the only pair like them in the world.

Pair Number Three & The passage of time

Anyways, I'm super exhausted! I'm going to try and keep my family from needing anymore xrays the rest of this week!

A Full Day of Specialists plus a Pumpkin Carving

2009-11-02T22:33:00.005-06:00

Tomorrow is going to be a jam packed day at the Medical Center in Houston. Since I have to be at Texas Children's before 9am and that's crossing Houston during rush hour, I really should already be asleep because it will be an early morning. Andrew has an appointment with a PM&R doctor (Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation), then I have my dermatology check up, and then we see Andrew's Orthopaedic Surgeon and then we'll have his biannual hip x-ray. Hopefully everything will run smoothly and we won't be stranded anywhere for too long.

My parents are out of town so Kenny is taking Adam to school in the morning and then my sister is picking him up and watching him until we return. I'm praying I don't need any biopsies done because I won't have anyone to sit with Andrew during that. I had some done last time and they were fine so I'm hoping I get a pass this time. Dana loaned me a single stroller since I don't have one so I can strap Andrew down, park him in the corner of the procedure room with a movie while they cut on me if I have too. But I'm praying it won't even be an issue ;-).

It will be an exhausting day for both of us but it will be nice to get all this done in one trip instead of several.

Backing up a bit to last week. We carved our very first pumpkin in the nearly 5 years that we've been married and the first also for our boys. They enjoyed watching and Adam was more than willing to dig in and help but Andrew wanted nothing to do with touching pumpkin guts. I think it turned out nice, way to go Daddy!

Adam helps with the nose

Andrew helps cut out the eye

Another fun "first" and another good memory made

Some funny videos

2009-11-01T15:09:00.001-06:00

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T22:07:00.014-05:00

Today was a long but fun day. We watched our beloved Aggies beat Iowa State here at Kyle Field. Before the game we hung out at my brothers house and then walked from there to the stadium. Today's weather was perfect making the jaunt very enjoyable. We also got to stop by the new Aggie Ring sculpture, it's pretty cool! We made it to the stadium early enough to watch the Cavalry ride by, followed by the band, the corp and Lady Reveille.

I wonder if I can get my whole head in here?

Precious Kate

I LOVE this one, it's such a classic Andrew face!

We got a surprise visit from Lady Rev!

The BOB came in handy today since we walked to/from the stadium

We busted out the choo choo wagon for trick or treating and the kids had a blast playing in it before hand.

If you know Pa, this photo is hilarious! He was just holding this puppy for a moment for our friend, I promise it's not his. Ha Ha!

Family Photo in front of "The Scahwee Kitty Cat"

The Whole Crew

Love that mane, Ben!

First time ever to trick or treat, they went on in uninvited to nearly every house but they figured out the handing out candy concept quickly.

The "Trick or Treat Express"

Gotta Love Granny Becky!

You had to watch Andrew, he is a bit of a candy addict and he would keep grabbing handfuls of goodies at every house until I could pry him away

Ben slept through his first trick or treating experience, SO sweet!

The girls wagon

I don't know about you but October 2009 was a blast but extremely exhausting! I have tons and tons more pictures from various activities over the last two weeks I need to post but since today is Halloween I thought I'd just go ahead and post today's pictures.

You were a great time October, but I'm ready for you to be over with! I won't miss your piles and piles of candy all over my house mocking my will power and turning my children into sugar monsters!! See you next year!

Sometimes I hurt when He "can't"

2009-10-29T22:53:00.005-05:00

Today the boys were riding the tricycles that Aunt Dana got them for their 2nd birthday last year. Adam has been able to coordinate the pedaling for some time now and until recently Andrew hardly showed any interest in it. Now he's decided he wants to ride the tricylce too and the past few weeks he's been getting on and off and attempting to push it into motion.

Today it just about broke my heart because he seemed to come to a realization that he "can't" do it. Not because he's too young, or too short, or isn't trying hard enough. He just physically can't coordinate the muscles and gather the strength to push the pedals forward and keep his feet on the pedals. That's not to say that he won't be able to in his own time (perhaps even tomorrow because he always surprises) but as of today he just plain "can't".

"Can't" isn't a word I really care for because it's usually used in the context of "I'm too lazy" "I'm not patient enough" "I don't want to" "I'm not willing to try hard enough". But in all sincerity I've never seen someone try so hard to do something and he just was not physically able to do it, "can't" took on a new more appropriate meaning today for someone I dearly love and it was painful.

To make matters worse, his brother, without intending to be mean, was riding laps around him at a super fast speed around and around and around while Andrew was stuck there in once place.

I attempted to help Andrew get started but he couldn't keep his feet on the pedals and he is a two year old that wants to do it "by by self" so he wouldn't let me keep helping him.

At one point when the realization hit Andrew that it wasn't going to happen, he cried out in physical agony over his situation. Ouch, I felt it deep inside as if it were me.

You might disagree or think this moment was rather insignificant but looking back I really think it's okay for him to be sad/frustrated/whatever over his limitation. So long as he doesn't wallow in self pity and he does not.

We encouraged him to keep trying and told him "You'll get there, Keep trying, Way to go!" but that didn't really seem appropriate because in fact he wasn't giving up and he did keep trying and he never once uttered the word "can't". In fact he refused to get off the trike when I called them in for dinner, unwilling to give up until he'd triumphed. But no matter how hard he tries, there will certainly be days where he just flat out "can't" and at the risk of sounding ungrateful, it really does make me ache for him.

Yes, we and he are SO fortunate, Yes we try to focus on what he "can" do, Yes he "can" do quite a lot, Yes we know he is doing more than anyone ever predicted, Yes it could be SO much worse, Yes so many other parents would love for their children to be able to do half the things Andrew is able to do.

But none of those things change the fact that his little heart and mine hurt today in that moment. And I think that's okay to say outloud. It's okay because it's his story.

Sometimes triumph is not in the "can" but the "try". And frustration, dissapointment, or sadness just makes us real and I think it would be unfair to not allow Andrew to grieve his losses so long as it doesn't become a "crutch" for him and I don't see him taking that attitude.

Andrew, even when you "can't" you always "do" make us proud!

This & That

2009-10-27T15:04:00.004-05:00

I think I'm overdue on a general update on us. The boys are almost THREE!! I can't believe it and it will be here before we know it. Since Andrew is still in ECI (early childhood intervention through the state) he is being tested to see if he qualifies for any services through the school district. He had a full morning of testing last Friday and will have some more this coming Friday. They are testing his skills all the way across the board: cognitive, gross & fine motor, speech and sensory processing. It will be a while before we hear anything on that but I think he did pretty well, especially cognitively. He identified several letters for them that I didn't even know he could do.

He is scheduled to go back for more botox right after he turns three in December and they've ordered him new braces as he's about grown out of his current pair. They are switching his left brace from a smo to an afo which comes up higher on the leg. He is still struggling to walk long distances, go up/down stair or jump but we continue to be amazed at what God has done for Andrew. He can get around super fast when he wants to, his run is more of a trot with his right leg doing most of the moving. He sure knows how to take what he has and make the most of it! Some people that have seen him getting around without his braces wonder why he needs them but if he goes without them for long he tires quickly, his gate deteriorates, he falls often and walks on his toes.

A few funny things I want to remember them saying at this age: They love to give kisses, especially Andrew and at naptime when I've scolded for getting up before sleeping, he'll be crying and say through his tears "I wanna . . . give you . . a kiss". So sweet!

When Adam misses a basketball shot we'll tell him "Almost" or "So close". I think he has determined now that these are compliments and the other day we were talking about baseball and I asked him if he was going to play and he said enthusiastically "I'm gonna hit the ball close and almost!!!"

Potty training has brought out some funny moments. I've had to use some analogies with Adam which has lead to some embarrassing moments for me. Several times in a group of people he's announced "I need to put out a fire!!" and once when we returned from a potty trip he declared "I have a BIG fire hose!"

Gotta love sons ;-)!!

Pictures from a birthday party. Adam is getting some air!

Dressed in their new fall "Sunday Best"

Daddy's Birthday

2009-10-25T21:25:00.008-05:00

For daddy's birthday last weekend we enjoyed the awesome weather playing in the backyard, cooked out and then ate dinner at the kids picnic table under the playground. It was a fun memory we made!

Playground Picnic Dinner

Stargazer

We've had some other fun stuff this week too. All the kids wore orange to school and did pumpkin activities. Then we had a cookie decorating day with our playgroup and the kids helped me make the homeade sugar cookies.

This is my new favorite photo.

Could they be any sweeter??

Orange day at school

Halloween Cookie Decorating

Hudson & Adam were sharing laughs and playing very nicely together all day!

The kids love Miss Sarah!

All dressed up for Kenny's Birthday dinner out at the Republic

Fall Fun

2009-10-21T22:34:00.006-05:00

We've really been enjoying the lovely weather here lately, I love Autumn! Here are some pictures from the last week or so of some of the fun fall related activities we've had. We went to a really fun pumpkin painting party

Lots of twins in attendance!

I took the boys to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins

This was the first year Andrew wasn't terrified of them

Helping Daddy test his new hunting blind

Pictures from our last home football game

All the grandkids together

Hope you are enjoying October as much as we are!

I Love Etsy

2009-10-16T21:14:00.004-05:00

If you haven't shopped at Etsy.com yet you are missing out! It's like a virtual craft show where there are tons of vendors that offer all kinds of cute and custom products for good prices. I recently bought Adam, Andrew, & cousin Ben name shirts. I also bought the boys custom Aggie Jon Jons from someone on there too.

Happy Boys

Adam is so sweet with Ben

iPhone App for Preschoolers

2009-10-14T22:40:00.002-05:00

I recently got the opportunity to demo Parents.com's new iPhone / iTouch Application, iPlay 'n Learn, designed to entertain/educate preschoolers.

It's very simple, cute, and my boys seem to enjoy it. It's sort of like digital flashcards. I've used it to distract them while waiting for doctor's appts and stuff like that when I'm in a pinch and don't have anything but my phone to entertain them.

You can check it out here. Pretty good for only $0.99!!

We have a Big Boy in the house!!!

2009-10-12T22:43:00.003-05:00

Adam is officially Potty Trained!!!

For my records, Adam is 2 Years and 10 Months old.
If he had not arrived early he would be just over 2 Years and 6 months old. I know it's not a world record but I'm SO proud of him!!

Adam has not been in a diaper since last Wednesday.

And not even for night time or naps since Friday!

He's had less than one minimal wet accident a day since last Thursday, including night/naps.

I wish I had some magic recipe for what's taken place because unlike our last attempt at potty training there has been no power struggle. No trips to the potty every 10 minutes. We even left the house right from the start in big boy pants.

I guess something just clicked!

I feel like my life has just gotten about 1,000 times easier!

But I know there will still be set backs and accidents, but I couldn't be happier!

Way to go ADAM!!!!

And since I'm so proud of how far he's come, here's a little video in honor of Adam's BIG Day!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

More Pictures

2009-10-09T21:09:00.008-05:00

I forgot to post the pictures that I took with my other camera before the battery died. These are all exploring the atrium and grounds of the Gaylord Texan. what a pretty place!

Our Family of Four

The Bonfire Tree

Contemplating Sawing his Horns off

Happy Boy!

Family Fun

2009-10-07T20:52:00.006-05:00

This past weekend our little family of four went to Dallas, joining the rest of my side of the family, for a new annual tradition, The Southwest Classic. We stayed at the really fun Gaylord Texan and went to the awesome new Cowboy Stadium to watch our beloved Aggies take on Arkansas. Sadly our boys couldn't make it happen on the football field. But we still had an awesome weekend! Thanks to Uncle Steve for watching the boys during the game!

Playing with Cousin Ben

So Sweet!

Cousins in the Gaylord Texan Atrium

Dinner at Pappasitos

Getting ready for the game and wearing the awesome Aggie overalls that Granny made for all her grandkids!

Singing Saw Varsity's Horns Off!

Checking out some of the cool model trains

Daddy and his boys

Before the game we went to the mall which had a Thomas themed playground with a train. The boys loved it!

Adam was obsessed with this train, he rode around and around for twenty minutes straight!

Love this face!

Before the game

Walking to the HUGE Cowboy Stadium

Really good margaritas

The Big Screen was AWESOME!!!

Go Mister Jerrod!!

Welcome October!!

2009-10-01T23:28:00.003-05:00

Time to bring out the Orange & Black!

Watching Ben on the video monitor

Watching a video of Pa's Chipper Machine

Football Season is My Favorite Season

2009-09-27T20:13:00.010-05:00

As usual I'm running about a week behind in posting pictures. We took Adam and Andrew to the game last weekend and they had a really good time. Adam was pretty into the game for a two year old and would cheer and yell just like the grownups. Now after this week the Aggies are 3-0 and our friend Jerrod is looking really great. Next week we travel to Dallas to play Arkansas in the new Cowboys Stadium.

The sweetest little pair ever!

"For you Mama!"

Aggie Cousins

All the grandkids minus Kate

Aggies are Number #1

My favorite Adam in the whole wide world!

"I see Mister Jerrod!

Touchdown

Silly Boy, I guess he was excited!

All the Aggie Cousins

We ran into the boys favorite Ms. Sarah

My favorite little men

And here's a cute picture thrown in that Sarah took of the kids with clown faces painted on them at gymnastics for Circus Day!!

Hope you have a blessed week!!

Soccer - Sort Of

2009-09-25T22:30:00.005-05:00

Adam and Andrew started a beginners soccer program for very young children. There are no teams or games or anything like that. It's mainly learning to listen to the coach and basic soccer skills. Several of our friends are in our class too which is fun. It's hard for my kids to stay focused for very long, especially when the playground is in view and very tempting. But they sure look cute out there!

We look like we are bowling but we are taking "a bowl of ice cream to feed the giant's mouth". Isn't that what all soccer players do?

Adam just kicked it into the goal

Adam, Kai, Benjamin, & Andrew

The boys favorite part was when I let them play in the water puddle to clean the mud off their shoes

New Profile Image

2009-09-22T23:15:00.002-05:00

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Phillipians 4:4

Vegas Baby

2009-09-20T22:24:00.005-05:00

Did I mention I went on a girls trip last weekend? Granny, my Aunt Julie, my sis-in-law Rachel, Baby Kate and I went to Las Vegas for a quick getaway. We had so much fun shopping, eating some awesome food, and playing some Bingo ;-). We saw the musical Jersey Boys and it was wonderful! My niece Kate was a doll and I can't imagine any other baby being as accommodating as she was.

People always ask me why I go to Vegas so much and I guess because there is a little something for everyone there and you don't have to go for a long time or spend a fortune to have a fun trip. You can find some really good deals right now and stay in some of the nicest hotels you've ever seen. In fact we stayed at the 5 star Encore Resort for only about $15 more a night than what we paid to stay at the Denton, TX Hampton Inn two weeks earlier. You can't beat that folks!

This photo was taken maybe 10 seconds before a bird pooped on me, I'm just lucky I guess ;-).

Sadly we only had one bingo among us this trip

Right behind Rachel on the street below a cop fired 4 times at an SUV that tried to flee after the cops tried to pull them over. Fortunately we were already inside the restaurant when that happened but we got to see all the crime scene investigation take place.

Yummy Spaghetti

I'm telling you by the end of the trip I was craving a baby girl so bad! Kate is the most adorable sweet bundle of pink ever!

She really is this happy ALL day!

Hey Kenny, I want one of these for Christmas this year!!

Things They Say

2009-09-17T15:31:00.006-05:00

Things I want to remember them saying:

Right now I'm listening to Adam sing over the baby monitor that he's gonna make a crane and it goes up up up up up and doooooooooooooown
"It's stuck on there": this means the door is locked
"It'll bite you", everything from a rabbit to a dinosaur to the electrical outlet
"What is that?": pointing at every person we see, really means Who is that?
"I'm gonna need more cake/candy/etc!": Adam says this after desserts and it cracks me up that he's gonna need more
"I wanna do spirit": this means sing the fruits of the spirit, aren't they so spiritual already ;-)
"I want Aggies": means they want to hear/sing the Aggie war hymn on Granny's iphone
"Wanna sing Bum Bum": this means they want to hear Rhianna's Disturbia, its a one of their favorites
"Daddy lays down his life"; there is a song on one of their cd's about Jesus Christ "That He" lays down his life for his friends, they think it's saying "Daddy" lays down his life. I've tried to explain it but they insist, "NO Daddy lays down!"
"Lady Bug Bite You!!" Adam got stung by a scorpion in his bed, it was really sad, but he didn't know at the time what a scorpion was so he called it a lady bug. poor child will be scared of gentle lady bugs for life now!
"Mama Lay Down!!! SNUGGLE!" This is an order for me to get back in my bed and let them snuggle with me. It's very tempting to do when it's really early and we need to be somewhere.
Now I can hear Adam saying "Get on the big boat Daddy!!" He's supposed to be taking a nap. "Hold on tight!"

And now for a really embarrassing moment.

My kids are fascinated with body parts right now and with who has what. Their Peepaw is a pediatrician and he told me to teach them the correct names for things but I wish I hadn't listened to him ;-). In Kindermusik recently Andrew ran around the classroom screaming "____ (a female family member) has a PE.NI$, _____ has a PE.NI$!!" The other moms looked at me like he was screaming the F word, I was mortified. Then to top it off Adam says "No A-new, ____ have Lady Parts!" I'm glad I didn't teach them all the correct words, no more anatomy lessons for now!

(intentionally mispelled that word to prevent this blog entry from turning up in a search for who knows what)

New Orleans Part Three

2009-09-12T01:06:00.009-05:00

On our final full day in New Orleans we went to the zoo, visited the historic City Park including Storyland, spontaneously visited the family crypt and then spent more time with our family there.

If you can't tell from Kenny's face, he was not too thrilled with the french bakery we went to for breakfast. It was a bit of a disaster trying to find it because after walking over half a mile we learned it had relocated so we had to walk all the way back to our hotel and get our car and drive to a sketchy part of town and then it wasn't really everything we'd heard it would be. Someday we'll be laughing ;-)!

On our way to the park we Peepaw happened to notice that we passed the cemetary where Kenny's Grandpa & Great Grandparents were buried so we decided to check it out. We found the family crypt and it's fascinating to me how the dead are buried there. There are two shelves inside this thing where they keep the most recent caskets and then there is a pit below it. When the next person dies, they dump the bones in the pit and then burn the old casket. Creepy right?? Well there are 27 people buried in this crypt but not all the names are listed. Apparently they keep records on who all was dumped, I mean buried in there. Not all the records had been transferred to the computer system and when Katrina hit they lost the old paper records. So only 17 names were in the system and now the other 10 people will be forever a mystery!

Andrew's namesake is his Great-Great Grandpa

Time for the Zoo!!

This creepy Gorilla had his eyes locked on Adam and wouldn't divert her gaze. It made me a bit nervous!

Storyland is a neat place in the City Park where they've turned children's stories into a playground, the boys had a blast!

Kenny's Grandpa served on the New Orleans Fire Dept so it was neat to see this old firetruck

Gammaw & Peepaw relax while we take the kids on the train

Wonderful family memories we won't forget!

New Orleans Part Two and Andrew Update

2009-09-09T21:24:00.010-05:00

Thank you all for your prayers for Andrew!! I really liked the doctor and we had a good discussion on what is best to help Andrew achieve as much mobility as possible. After reading his chart he was surprised and impressed to learn that Andrew can walk at all given everything he's been through and even more surprised to see him running/galloping around like he does. What a testimony to God's grace and mercy!!

After our evaluation we had a two hour break before returning to the procedure clinic for the Botox injections. The doctor likes to start out very conservatively to make sure his patients don't have any adverse reactions. So this time he did two injections into Andrew's calf.

The Botox they use is different than Botox Cosmetic and is a much higher concentration. He used electrodes to make sure he was in the muscle, used topical lidocaine to help with the stick, and then a nurse and I held Andrew face down while the doc did the injections. Fortunately he was very quick and it was over fast but I've never heard Andrew scream so loud before, it was a hard moment for me. The stuff is pretty thick and burns. The nurse brought him a bouncy ball, a Nemo sticker, and a lollipop and he stopped crying pretty quick. He's such a tough boy.

He seemed fine afterward but now just as the doctor said, he must be pretty sore because he was pretty out of sorts this evening.

We go back in 6 weeks for a re-eval and they will likely increase the number of injections and probably do some in his hamstring and possibly his left arm. Next time will probably be much harder because we won't have the element of surprise.

For now we will be focusing on deep stretching to help get the optimal results and he's going to wear his night splint during the day as well, as much as he'll tolerate it.

Thanks again for your prayers, God is so Good!!

New Orleans Part II

A visit with Great Grandma, Uncle Lawrence, & Aunt Cheryl

The boys were welcomed with a jackpot of Black & Decker tools, they were SO excited!

Andrew trying to sneak some of Daddy's "juice"

Adam & Great Grandma

Aunt Cheryl

They weren't quite sure what to think of Uncle Lawrence at first

Great Grandma surprised them with gifts to unwrap, so much fun!

Checking out the boat

Three generations of "B" Boys

The boys thought feeding the fish was the coolest thing ever!

At first only Adam would feed them while Andrew watched

But he finally warmed up to it and then was hooked!

But he threw in the cup and Daddy had to retrieve it

Beautiful Scenery!

Chase Me Peepaw!

Playing with their cool new air hockey gift

Time to fix things!

I LOVE this! Kenny and Mini-Kenny

Time to go to work!

The boys had a blast playing with Silly Uncle Lawrence

Hey, Give it back!!

Andrew's keeping an eye on Lawrence

Thanks to our family for such a wonderful day and for showering the boys with gifts and love.

They had a grand time!

New Orleans Part One

2009-09-08T23:13:00.000-05:00

This past Friday we loaded up the kids, Gammaw & Peepaw, luggage for six and drove 7 hours to New Orleans, Louisiana to visit Kenny's grandmother, aunt & uncle. It had been two years since we were there last and the boys were ten months old and had just gotten their doc band helmets, wow have they come a long way!

The boys did awesome on the drive there, enjoying movies and their new little einstein laptops purchased just for the trip. We stopped in Lafayette and ate at the famed Blue Dog Cafe, very fun!

Andrew typing away on his laptop, must be updating his facebook status.

Notice the bulge in his cheek? He saved a shrimp from lunch for nearly an hour before spitting it out. We knew immediately because it stunk up the car, DSIGUSTING!!

Sweet Adam with his "Blankie", don't even try to call it a "Lovie" because he will correct you!

Once we reached New Orleans we checked in at our hotel on the Mississippi River and then after relaxing for a bit, we ate dinner at Deanie's. I highly recommend it, delicious!!

Sleeping Arrangements? Not quite but it was fun to see the four B boys watching tv together all cozy like

Bright and Early we road the Cable car from our hotel to the French Quarter, the boys were still half asleep but they were excited about the "Train Ride"

We ate breakfast at Cafe DuMonde, YUMMY!! I guess Andrew didn't want to be in our picture ;-)

Adam was in heaven, he kept one piece of Beignet and dipped it over and over in the powder sugar

No time to stop and pose for a picture, he was too busy!

Andrew liked them too and was covered in powdered sugar

After walking around the French Quarter we took in the Aquarium

I LOVE this pic of Adam

Touching the Baby Shark, they weren't at all afraid to stick their hands in there but they couldn't really reach him

Yucky Albino Alligator, I wouldn't want to run into this guy in the wild. Check out those teeth. As Adam would say in his best unintentional hick accent "He'll Biiiiite Yeeeew".

We wanted to take a paddle boat ride but never got a chance

After this picture it started pouring so we took shelter under the cable car depot and were fortunate to catch a ride without much wait, back to the hotel

Back in our room Daddy & Peepaw wrestled with the boys

Who needs to sight see when all you have to do is play in the hotel room bed to have a blast!

During naps, Gammaw & I went shopping at the attached mall and bought a few souvineers for the boys: Puppy Masks and Mardi Gras beads, one with a train and the other with a bulldozer. I should have gotten them the same because they had a big fight over who got which.

What cute sad faced little puppies!! You can't tell but I promise they were really smiling behind the masks.

I have lots more pictures to post in the coming days from our trip, so stay tuned!