1st Day of Preschool Pics/Video's

As promised, here are some pics and video's of Lil' Chris' first day of preschool. Sorry it is so long, but I don't have much time to edit it b/c I have to go to work...

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He said he had a lot of fun and wants to go back again:) His teacher said he did a great job taking his pills at snack time and played well with the other kids:) YEA!!! He made me VERY PROUD today as I watched him:) Go Lil' Chris!!!

Pray for a healthy year!!
M

All Excited about 1st day of Preschool!!!

At "Open House" last night...
First pets...3 goldfish:) My kinda pets;-) LOL!!!!...

Ayla likes them too:)...

I can't believe my lil' boy is all grown up...well, not quite, but too close for me;) LOL

Today he starts his first day of preschool at the age of 4! He has been so excited to start and the day has finally arrived!! I'm surprised he got any sleep last night...I sure didn't!! LOL!!! We went to his preschool last night for "Open House" to meet his teachers and the other kids and their parents. He was able to point out his name on the door, the wall in the hallway where is backpack goes, and all over the walls in his classroom for different things:) I was soooo proud of him!!!

After we checked out his room, we went to the playground. My husband and I thoroughly checked everything for bacteria and such, and we found some nasty standing water in the 2 sandboxes. Freaked me out, b/c it was screaming BACTERIA, BACTERIA, BACTERIA!!! My biggest fear!! I told the teacher not to let him go near those, so hopefully he will stay away from them. There was one truck that was kinda gross too, so I asked if they could throw it away and I would donate one to replace it:) LOL!! A CF mom can't be too safe, right?!?!

Lil' Chris also donated a HUGE bottle of hand sanitizer;) LOL!! I asked the teacher if all the kids could sanitize every time they enter or leave the classroom, since this seemed to keep down the colds and such in Daniel's(fellow local CFer) preschool room last year. She said there are laws about kids sanitizing and she would look into it. Another mom was standing there when I asked, and she seemed to be against it....DARN!!!!! She was saying that the alcohol seeps into their skin and they like become alcoholics or something...blah, blah, blah.... Oh well, I tried;-)

I just wish I could be there everyday to make sure he is sanitizing after playing with the toys, and to make sure he doesn't go in the sandboxes where Pseudomonas could be lurking, and that he stays away from any sick kids. I won't be able to forgive myself if he catches Pseudomonas, since we didn't HAVE to send him this year. I'm such a worrywart!! LOL!! I've been up since 3:30am worrying about those sandboxes and that one other lil' boy who was coughing at the open house last night. I just have to give all my worries to God and let Him handle it to His Will.

Well, I gotta go wake up Lil' Chris, b/c he has to get dressed, brush his teeth, comb his hair, eat breakfast and do his Vest at the same time hopefully, take all his pills, feed his new fish, get his pills and backpack, and walk over to his school for his very first day at Preschool!! Woo Hoo!!!! I love that it's so close and in walking distance:)

Pray he has a safe and healthy first day and school year!!! I'll post 1st day pics soon, I promise!!

M

PS. His cough is getting much better and he usually only coughs during his Vest now, so it should be gone soon...well, now that he is starting school, IDk, we'll see. He has a CF clinic appt this Wed and unfortunately will be missing his 2nd day of preschool;(

Another Successful CF Fundraiser Tonight!!

We had another GREAT fundraiser tonight for Cystic Fibrosis!!! Thank You CiCi's Pizza for always letting us do fundraisers there!! :)

BIG Thank You to Kohl's for yet ANOTHER $500 grant!! I actually had 6 Kohl's associates help out tonight!!! Thank You....

Jill
Rebecca
Barb

Kathleen

Kim

Thank You Barb and Jill for doing the CREATIVE face painting:)

Thank You to our Awesome neighbor Jeff for coming out and supporting Lil' Chris and Cystic Fibrosis for the 2nd time in a row!! :) Thanks Jeff for explaining to me where you got the name Federal Photo from for your AWESOME professional photography business:) If anyone is looking for a GREAT photographer, click here. You won't regret it!!! :)

Our total was around $750!!! WooHoo!!! Thank You Everyone who came out and donated for a CURE for CF!!

There were 3 different customers tonight that had all been at one of my previous CiCi's CF fundraisers, which was really cool!! One of them was actually the raffle prize winner of the 1 hour free massage at Tips, Toes, & Beyond!! :)

Congrats to Cassy Brown who was the winner of the raffle prize tonight:) Thanks Cassy!!!

My next, and possibly last, fundraiser at CiCi's for this year will be on Wed 8/31 from 5-8pm. The raffle will be a 1 hour massage at Tips, Toes, & Beyond and a Buy One Get One Free Indians ticket. Hope to see you there!!

M

PS. You can click on any of the underlined words to follow a link to that site:) I highly suggest checking out the Kohl's one;-) LOL

1st Disney Vaca Pics/Video!!

In May we took the kiddos to Disney World!!! YEA!! It was sooooo much fun!!! They had a BLAST!! I'm so glad I achieved my goal of taking Lil' Chris to Disney before his health may decline(hopefully never;) Of course, I did tear up a couple of times when I was watching his face light up with excitement! It's hard not to when you think of what could have been these last 4 years and what may be in the next...who knows how many years.

This was our first "real" family vacation!! I can't wait to do it all over again!! Hopefully we'll get a chance to do it once every year;-)

Thanks to a fellow CF mom, we got a letter from our CF clinic so that Lil' Chris wouldn't have to stand in long, hot lines which may cause him to become dehydrated. It truly was a blessing, b/c we would not have been able to go on half the rides we did if it wasn't for the pass we got. It allowed us to stand in the handicap line instead of waiting in the long lines, and there was never anybody in the handicap line, so we usually got right on the ride. It was soooo nice!! Although I would MUCH rather Lil' Chris didn't have CF and have to wait in the long lines with us all being healthy! ;(

Ayla did a GREAT job! She is potty trained, but we weren't sure how she was going to do at Disney where you might not be able to find a potty right away. She wore a pull-up in the long car ride there and back, but at the parks she DIDN'T!!! WooHoo for no accidents!!! Way to go Baby Girl!!

Special Thank You to my sis and her fam for letting us stay with them on the way up and back from Disney. It cut the long ride in half which was VERY nice!! Plus we got to visit with them for a couple of days, which was AWESOME!!!

I hope you enjoy this video...beware...it is like 19 minutes long;) There was just too much good stuff to cut out ;-) Although I did cut out a lot b/c it WAS over 30 min long;-) LOL! What can I say...I like capturing precious moments:)

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Coming soon....more Disney pics that the professionals took(way better than mine;-) lol

M

PS. Don't forget...CF Fundraiser at Wooster's CiCi's Pizza tomorrow Tues 8/16 from 5-8p!!

Yikes, Preschool time already!! / CF Update

Decisions, decisions....:)

I guess we have a winner!!

Ayla had to get one too:) Hopefully she still likes Dora next year;-) LOL

It's official...Lil' Chris is going to preschool!!! We went to his preschool orientation the other night! I can't believe my baby is even old enough for preschool already!! Where has the time gone?!?

It was a very hard decision. I don't care about the money(even though we don't have it;), or that he is my baby, as much as him getting sick. I'm just worried that this may be the start of the decline in his health. I told my husband I just want one more healthy year before he HAS to go to Kindergarten. I originally wanted him to go to preschool, b/c he wasn't catching on with me teaching him his letters and numbers, but lately he has really taken an interest in it and is really starting to catch on! He can even write his name now!! I really think I can teach him and get him prepared for Kindergarten now, whereas before I didn't think that. My husband still thinks we should still send him for the experience. I'm just so worried with all the germs. He went to VBS for 2 days and then church that Sunday and got sick. I can't imagine 3 days a week EVERY week, esp in the cold and flu season!! I'm not looking forward to him getting sick all the time and then have to start on nebulizers everyday like most CFers;( We still haven't paid or anything and can still not send him, but he is all excited about going and has his backpack all packed and ready. How can I say no now?! My gut says keep him home one more year, but I guess I'm going to have to let him go and just pray that he doesn't catch too many colds or any bad germs that could really affect him for the rest of his life. It is a church preschool, so there are a total of 15 kids they said. It is Mon, Wed, & Fri from 9-12. At least it's not all day, I guess. lol. Poor thing is going to have to miss his 2nd day of school already b/c he has a CF clinic appt on 8/24. I may try to get the time changed if I can.

Big Thank You to my sis-in-law for letting me vent to her. I thought I might as well vent on here too;) LOL :)

Another BIG thanks to my fellow local CF moms, Alma and Mary, for giving me some good advice on educating the teachers about CF, and for putting my mind at ease a little bit:) THANKS GIRLS!!!

Look...I can FINALLY fit all of Ayla's hair into a ponytail:) YEA!!! I was sooooo excited!! She's 2 1/2, I thought it would never happen;-) LOL

As requested by Victoria's mom, here is the nose suction thing I was talking about in a previous post. I've seen them at Kmart and Babies R Us usually for about $19.99.

Lil' Chris' cough turned wet after my last post. He is still coughing, but not as much as he was. I'm hoping that it will go away on it's own without any antibiotics like the last 2 coughs. Everyone else is all better, PTL:) Thanks for all the prayers!!

This Tues(8/16) I have another CF Fundraiser at CiCi's Pizza in Wooster from 5-8pm!! Hope to see you there!!

I've got lots more to post about, but house chores are calling me;(

Pray Lil' Chris stays healthy throughout the school year!

Thanks,
M

Cold / Cough Update

Well, I guess it was inevitable...Ayla is sick too with a runny nose and cough;-( My nose was runny a little bit today too, but not too bad yet...it will probably hit me tonight or tomorrow;( Boooooo. Oh well. I hope my hubby doesn't get it or Oma and Opa since Nathan and the boys will be staying at their place next week.

Lil' Chris was so stuffed up today, that he asked to get his nose suctioned...shocked, right?? I know!! Me too!!!!! So I did a little, then he did a little with the lil' ball thingy, then I brought out the big guns(the battery operated thing that sucks out the snot, sorry I know it's gross;) LOL! To my surprise....he did GREAT!!! He was always afraid of that thing!! He just hit the button to play the music and then suctioned his nose, and then I got the rest!! The part he really liked was seeing the snot drip down in the little holder....I know TMI;) LOL Sorry!! I'll stop now, but in the CF world, it's common to talk about all these gross things:) To know that he likes the suction thing is a BIG step for him!! GO LIL' CHRIS!!!! BTW, Ayla tried it herself for a second, but would not let me go near her with it;-) LOL

I guess that's it for now, oh yeah...his cough still sounds mostly dry, but will probably turn into a wet cough soon unfortunately;(

Thank you everyone for all your prayers for Lil' Chris and for Phoenix, his fellow CF buddy. I am happy to report that Phenny is doing much better and is home:) YEA!!! See prayer does work!!!

I'll keep you posted,
M

CF Updates on Lil' Chris & Phoenix

I thought I would give an update on Lil' Chris' cold. His nose has been stuffy all day and he has been coughing quite a bit too. Although it is a dry cough as of right now, it still worries me, b/c it usually turns into a wet one. Yesterday his nose seemed to run more, but today I think it thickened up a bit like it usually does. I think it's b/c of the CF, you know...all that lovely thick sticky mucus;) Gotta love it!

He did a decent job wearing his mask today. I would say he wore it about 50% of the day. I tried getting Ayla to wear one too, and to my surprise she loved wearing it!! I guess it made her feel like a big girl;) I just hope she doesn't get sick too from when he wouldn't wear it, by the end of the night, I noticed her sneezing a few times and sniffling...uh oh:0

Lil' Chris ate pretty good today, so I was happy about that!! It was probably b/c I kept telling him that if he was done eating then he would have to put his mask back on.....so he kept eating;-) LOL!! I should do that more often;) LOL

As for an update on Phoenix...his mom wrote(hopefully she doesn't mind me copying this:) "Positive thoughts, well wishes, and prayers are working! Things are looking better for Phenny Man! Think we may of found the right combination of medicines! Go Phenny Go! (And yes I do mean that literally)" All I have to say is...it's about time the dr's got it right, poor kid!! Please keep praying for both our boys!!! We know prayer works wonders!!

I'll keep you posted,

M

PS. Thank you so much to those who sent Phoenix a card from my last post!! I know it put a smile on his face whether he knew you or not:)

Cold & Cough / Send Phoenix a Card Please!!

Lil' Chris woke up yesterday and first thing he said to me was, "Alya's sick." I said, "How do you know? She's still in her crib!" Then the rest of the day HIS nose was running and he was sneezing a lot. Today he woke up and first thing he said was, "I have a cold." Poor kid;( He was coughing on and off throughout the night and he is so stuffed up. No one else is sick yet, so I'm going to try to keep it that way(like that's possible LOL;) Luckily I asked for boxes of masks last time we went to the CF clinic. I'm trying to get Lil' Chris to wear a child mask today so he doesn't get Ayla or myself sick. Poor kid, I know it's a pain when I get sick and have to wear one for a couple of days;(

Lil' Chris asked to take his mask off to got to the bathroom, and while in there he coughed and Ayla yells, "COVER YOUR MOUTH, CA'S!!" LOL!! I wonder where she got that from?? ;-) LOL

Please pray that he gets well soon and that it doesn't turn into anything worse, and that he won't need any antibiotics or anything. Also pray that no one else catches it, b/c their cousins Nathan, Lincoln, & Tyler are coming this Sunday for a whole week. YEA!! We don't want to get them sick tho, esp Nathan since he has Leukemia and his counts are low, so he is even more susceptible to germs;( We were all planning on going to Cedar Point next Tues 8/9 with all the kids and for our 8 year anniversary:) (WOW!! 8 years already!! Seems like yesterday we were married;-) So pray we are all healthy enough to go have some fun together!! I'm hoping he is all better by his next CF clinic appt on the 24th.


I have one last prayer request...one of Lil' Chris' CF buddies, Phoenix, is sick and in the hospital and could really use some prayer. He is in a lot of pain and the doctors can't seem to relieve it(that's all I can say for now without permission from his Mommy;). GET WELL SOON, PHENNYMAN!!! WE LOVE YOU!! He is loving the cards that are being sent to him. "Family and friends are invited to create and send personalized cards to patients who are currently hospitalized. The card will be printed and hand-delivered by hospital volunteers." All you need to do is go to http://www.childrensmercy.org/patientcards/chooseCard.aspx then choose your card and click "next" at the bottom. Type in Phoenix Entrikin age 3 and they can send him a card from you! His wall of love is growing and I don't know about you, but I'll do anything to put a smile on his lil' face right now:) Please do it, it only takes 2 seconds!! Thanks:)

I'll keep you posted,

M

PS. So far, he hasn't been keeping the mask on;( I have a feeling Ayla & I will wake up tomorrow with a runny nose;(