2010 Family Christmas Pics

Here they are, our 2010 Family Christmas Pics....

I hope everyone has a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

M

3 1/2 year CF Clinic Visit 12/15/10

So sorry it has taken me this long to update you on Lil' Chris' last CF clinic appointment 5 days ago. I have been so exhausted lately!! It's tough working retail full-time, taking care of the house chores, and being a full time mom (especially to a CF kiddo) this time of the year. I'm trying my best though.

His 3 month check up went well. His weight was 36.2 compared to 34.5 3 months ago. His height was 40 inches compared to 39 1/4 inches 3 months ago. His BMI was 55% which is good(not sure what it was last time). The clinic updated to be all electronic now, but the printout that we get at the end of the visit STILL doesn't show all the measurements and percentiles like I wish it would!! I still have to ASK what they are and then try to remember them. I may have to talk to someone about that;-) lol

His CF doctor said his lungs are clear and he is doing GREAT!! She said not to change a thing! Question....is it weird that she didn't ask one thing about his Vest?? Like...is he doing it??? LOL!! Maybe she just forgot;-) At least WE know that he is getting his Vest every morning and night for 30 minutes each:) LOL

She put in his (electronic;) file that we are giving him 500mg of Vitamin C and Coromega Omega 3 + Vitamin D every day. She didn't seem to object that we are giving him these, and they seem to be keeping colds away, so we are going to continue to give it to the kids, esp Lil' Chris. CysticLife posted this on Facebook and I thought it was interesting since the extra Vitamin D seems to be working so well for Lil' Chris...http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Non-food/Drug/denufosol_helps_cystic_fibrosis_1912100916.html

2 cool things happened at clinic this time....1. Ayla wanted to wear a mask(you know...she DOES have to do EVERYTHING her brother does;) so I put one on her and she left it on!! I couldn't believe it!! She's becoming such a big girl! 2. The cool nurse let Ayla have a hospital bracelet too!! She was sooooo excited!! Sometimes she wants to be so much like her brother that she even asks to take pills before she eats and will once in awhile ask to do the Vest too:) lol! Poor kid doesn't realize how good she has it yet.

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

Lil' Chris got a throat culture, so please pray that it comes back normal. I'll let you know when I find out. I was telling the nurse that Nathan(my nephew with Leukemia) was planning on coming to visit us soon, but his counts are down right now...she said that it would definitely not be a good idea for Lil' Chris to be around him when his counts are down, especially with what Lil' Chris has cultured in the past. It's just too dangerous for Nathan. So please also pray that Nathan's counts go back up so that we can get together in the next couple of months.

I think that's it for now, I've got to go to bed and get up early for work tomorrow again...housework didn't get done AGAIN, but oh well, I really wanted to update you all on how his visit went:)

Thanks for all your prayers,

M

PS. Next update......Christmas pics!!! YEA!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Let's All "Tackle CF"

Hey Everyone, I got this really cool email about raising money for CF, so I thought I would share it with you so you can pass it along too so we can all help raise money for CF. I've shared this on Facebook once already, but here is a more extensive explanation....


Hi M,

My name is Seth Gonzales and I’m the coordinator of social media here at the Boomer Esiason Foundation.

My purpose in writing is first to introduce myself and extend to you an invitation to follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boomeresiasonfoundation).

As a follower of your blog, I also wanted to make you aware of our brand new social media initiative that might be of interest to you, called “Tackle CF”. The Boomer Esiason Foundation is partnering with Samsung and Sears this month to help fight cystic fibrosis in a new way.

The idea is simple. For every one of these three social media actions taken, Samsung and Sears will donate $5 to BEF:

1) Twitter - tweet using #tacklecf
2) Facebook - share the Tackle CF clipboard with your FB friends (found on the Tackle CF website)
3) FourSquare - check in at any Sears or Samsung store

If any one of these social media actions are taken, Samsung and Sears will donate. The goal is $150,000. Even better, you can tweet, share on Facebook, or check-in on Foursquare as many times as you'd like. The program started earlier this month. As of now, we're near the $50,000 mark, but we need your help to reach our goal of $150,000.

If you would like to post about this, I can answer any additional questions you may have. Any help we get in spreading the word within the social media sphere would be greatly appreciated.

This is something very new we're trying with Samsung and Sears that's been a long time in the making. We're hoping for a great start to 2011 by reaching our goal.

Again, if you have any questions, my contact information is below

I appreciate your help!



Seth Gonzales
Social Media Coordinator & Rimington Trophy Media Relations
Boomer Esiason Foundation
483 10th Avenue, Ste. 300
New York, NY 10018

Office: 646-292-7946

Fax: 646-292-7945

WWW.TACKLECF.COM
The easiest way to help us in the fight against CF.

facebook.com/sethbef

www.esiason.org

Facebook Causes:
Boomer Esiason Foundation
Team Boomer

Facebook Community Pages
Boomer Esiason Foundation
Rimington Trophy
Team Boomer


TEXT: BOOMER
TO: 90999
Donate $5 to the Boomer Esiason Foundation

Santa Pics / Cookies / Snow / CF Update

Lil' Chris(3 1/2) and Ayla(23 months) getting their pic with Santa:)
Lil' Chris telling Santa what he wants for Christmas:)

My lil' Mrs. Clause;)

They are getting so big!!

Lil' Chris giving Ayla a hug:)

The other day I took the kids to get their pic with Santa at Walmart for free!! They did a really good job (even though you could tell they were a lil' scared;) NO TEARS!! YEA!! Lil' Chris actually told Santa what he wanted for Christmas!! I was SHOCKED!! I didn't think he would say anything....I felt like I was watching "A Christmas Story" when Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas and there was that long pause.....then finally he said "A Robot!!" They had a whole bunch of the Alphie the Robot a few feet away, so he even pointed to it and showed Santa when he got off of his lap!! Too cute!! I was SOOOOO proud of him:)

Everybody kept saying how cute Ayla was in her Mrs. Clause outfit:) While we were walking around Walmart after their pics, all I kept hearing was "Awwww! Look how cute!!" It was so funny! A stranger even snapped a pic of her with his cell phone!! A lil' creepy, but I'll take it as a compliment for having such a cute kid;-) LOL!

When we got home, they took their naps(Lil' Chris woke up dry again:) so we made Christmas cookies!! They had lots of fun!! Afterwards they decorated them with these cool decorating markers!! They had a blast!!

Cool roller with different cutouts on it...

Decorating them with markers....

Finished product:)...(they tasted pretty good;)
This morning Lil' Chris was doing his Vest, but still wanted to watch Daddy get the snow blower out of the shed:)....

As for a CF Update....Lil' Chris was complaining of a sore throat all day yesterday and then threw up twice in the middle of the night. The first thing he said today, was that he feels better:) He said his throat doesn't hurt anymore. YEA!! Praise the Lord!! I just hope it stays away!

Thanks for all your prayers and keep them coming that we all have a healthy winter,

M

Clinic Visit Coming Up!

Here is a pic of Lil' Chris and Uncle Greg in the big U-Haul when Oma and Opa moved into their place just 10 minutes from us... (he was giving a thumbs up;)

I am putting together my list of questions for Lil' Chris' CF doctor, b/c we have a clinic appointment coming up this Wed the 15th. Here's what I got so far...

1. New insurance: We switched insurance for 2011, so I have to make sure they get a copy and everything they need. Instead of using Kohl's, we are going to use Verizon, my husbands job. BTW, does anybody need an air card or a Verizon phone???? Lol:) Seriously...he can do it for you;)

2. The last time I tried calling for refills on his Prevacid and Enzymes, the automated thing said that there are no more refills remaining....JUUUUUST GREAT!!! So I figured since we are going soon, I would just ask them in person. (BTW, we still got them in the mail...isn't that weird???)

3. The last time we got our enzymes, one of the bottles had different enzymes in it. He takes Creon 6000, but this one was Creon 1212. The sticker said Creon 6000, so I think they just made a mistake and put the wrong ones in.

4. Will cats effect Lil' Chris and his lungs. Oma and Opa have a cat, and the people that lived there before them had a dog that shed. Just wondering if it will effect him.

Well, I'll let you know how the clinic visit goes. Please pray for a good weight gain, for a "normal" throat culture, and for no problems.

Thanks,
M

YEA!!! LIL' CHRIS IS ALL POTTY TRAINED!!!

Guess what?????


LIL' CHRIS IS ALL POTTY TRAINED!!!!! YEA!!!!!!


He has been waking up dry at nap time AND in the morning!!! He has been wearing his undies too instead of pull-ups!!! I know he is only 3 1/2, but he seems like such a BIG boy now!!! ;)

Now if only we could get his sister potty trained;-) LOL!! I tried for a day a few weeks ago, but she had 8 accidents(on my FLOORS!!) and didn't go on the little potty at all. I could get her to sit, but as soon as she would stand up, she would pee on the carpet;( I was too stressed at that time already with Thanksgiving coming up, so I decided to wait til after the holidays. She's so funny though....when I tell her to go pee pee on the big potty, she goes and stands in front of it and holds her shirt up....one problem though....SHE'S NOT A BOY!!!! LOL!!!! She want to do EVERYTHING like her big brother;-) When I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING!! LOL!!!! She'd probably be easy to train if she was a boy, but....well....she's just not;) LOL

This was her first time wearing big girl undies:)



I've been getting questions as to how I potty trained Lil' Chris, so I thought I would share my secrets;) Every kid is different, so this technique may not work on your kid and it may not even work on Ayla. I guess you just have to know your kid and their likes and dislikes.

1. Click here to find out how we potty trained him during the day. We started potty training him in August of 2009, he was 26 months old. You can look at my archive on the right hand side of this blog(down a bit) to read all the potty training posts from then.

2. To potty train him during the night, we used the same potty chart as we did when we trained him during the day. This time he got 2 stickers when he woke up dry....one for his shirt, and one for his potty chart.

3. Every time he woke up dry he would get his stickers and a "small gift." I went to the Dollar Store and bought about $20's worth. Sometimes I would just give him one, or I would let him pick which one he wanted, or I wrapped them and gave it to him. He liked opening the "present." I think that's when he really started waking up dry every time;)

Here is a pic of him playing with one of his "presents" after waking up dry from a nap(he likes crafts;)....

4. Another thing that I think really helped, was him hearing me talk to one of the babysitters one day. I was telling her that he just wasn't getting it YET, but pretty soon one day he would just realize "OHHHH, I'm not SUPPOSED to go in my pull-ups!!" It seemed like after that conversation, he started waking up dry every time, except for that one time when he was up all night throwing up.

He has only had one accident in the last couple of weeks, so not bad!! All in all, it only took maybe 2 weeks to train him and one of those weeks he was waking up dry but in his pull-ups. He caught on pretty quick! I'm just sorry I didn't try it earlier;-) LOL!

Now for a CF Update:

Lil' Chris is still doing GREAT!! No coughs or colds for any of us yet!! YEA!! You know what that means though, right?? We are probably going to all be sick for Christmas;( Lol! Oh well, as long as we are all healthy by the time Nathan comes for a visit!

BTW, Nathan(my nephew who has Leukemia) is doing well. His hair started to fall out from the chemo, so my SIL got him a buzz cut...I like it!! If it wasn't winter, I would do it to Lil' Chris! :) Please pray for Nathan and my SIL and BIL as they will have to give him shots at home the next couple of days and then I think 4 days next week too. That's gotta be hard. "WE LOVE YOU NATHAN!"

Thanks,
M

Video of Ayla locking us out / No more Pull-Ups YEA!!

Here is the video if you couldn't see it in my last post where I explained how Ayla, my one year old, locked us out of the house the other day;-)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I still don't know how she did it, b/c she can barely reach the deadbolt!! I can't believe how fast that hour and 10 or 15 minutes went by!! Good thing it was 50 out instead of freezing cold;)

Lil' Chris has been doing so well with waking up dry, that I just put him down for a nap with his undies on instead of a pull-up. I sure hope he wakes up dry;-) LOL!! I'm praying for NO MORE PULL-UPS!! YEA!!
M