Chris' 30th Birthday Montages

I made these montages and forgot to post them...oops;) The first one is when Chris opened his birthday present and realized that we were going to the Kalahari(indoor water park) for his 30th birthday;-) Yeah, he pretty much had the same reaction when I told him I was pregnant with Ayla. I should dig up THAT video!!! Anyways...this video cracks me up how many times Ayla tries to put the paper in her mouth;-0 LOL

The second montage is of Ramseyer Farm. It's our lil' tradition to go there on Chris' birthday every year. It's fun...Lil' Chris had a BLAST!! Somehow the camera got switched to black and white half way thru...sorry about that;-) lol

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Guess what Lil' Chris can do now??? Ayla is doing something new too. Can you guess what it is???
M

Harmful Fumes for CFers/New CF Mom Blogger/Organ Donation/Decision to have another child or not

Click here to check out the blog of a new CF mom I found thru Ronny;) Well, she's not new to blogging and her son is 14 months old... but she is new to me;-) lol

Ronny had a GREAT post the other day on his blog. When doesn't he have a great post though;-) The post was actually from his girlfriend, Mandi. Click here to get the whole post on his blog.

These are some very interesting things that I didn't know(except about the smoke;) and that I feel ALL CF families should know, especially us who have young CFers who can't tell us when their lungs hurt. Here is the post from his blog....

Caution: Harmful Fumes Ahead (for CFers)

On Thursday evening, I decided to paint my nails. I'm not much of a girly-girl, so I rarely partake in this form of pampering, but for whatever reason, I decided Thursday night was the night. Ronnie and I were watching TV, I jumped up, grabbed the the nail polish bottle, plopped back down next to Ronnie and began painting. Two nails in, Ronnie moved to the other chair. I didn't think much of it. After finishing my manicure and waving my hands in the air (who knows if that actually dries your nails faster), I moved to get closer to Ronnie in his newly selected location. As I started to get close, Ronnie lovingly said, "just so you know a little something about me," he paused, "nail polish really irritates my lungs. "IT DOES?" I replied, feeling a little bad for not knowing. How would I have known? I never paint my nails. It doesn't bother my lungs. I just didn't think about it. But after he mentioned it, it seemed like a no-brainer.


I decided to compile a list of things I know of that irritate Ronnie's lungs, in case you have little ones that can't/won't speak up:


-Smoke - this seems like an obvious one. And sure, if someone is blowing cigarette smoke in my face, I notice, but there have been many occasions where Ronnie will say, "someone's smoking, let's move" and I haven't even smelled it. This goes for other kinds of smoke also. Smoke from cigars, pipes, bon fires, burning meals, etc. After a night with a lot of smoke around, Ronnie will often cough up blood.


-Car fumes - When we're running or walking on the sidewalk of a busier street, Ronnie often complains of how the car fumes make his lungs feel and it often irritates his lungs making him cough more.


-Air fresheners and scented candles - Bathroom aerosol sprays, plug-ins, regular old candles, these often make Ronnie's lungs feel irritated and "itchy" in his words. If you're looking to "freshen" the air a little try potpourri.


-Perfume - If someone has too much perfume on (not just when spraying it) it really tightens up Ronnie's lungs. I'm not sure there's any way around this other than cutting back on the perfume usage. I do wear perfume and Ronnie has yet to complain, but when I wear it, I go light.

These are the only offenders that I know of. I didn't realize how much more sensitive CFers' lungs were. I hope this list helps.


If you have any others, please leave them here.


P.S. If you haven't made it over to www.naturemade.com yet to see Ronnie's story, check it out. I'm super proud of him :)

Click here for another great post by Ronny about being a good CF mom:)

Here is one more great post by Ronny about making the decision to have more children if both parents are CF carriers. Be sure to read all the different comments too;-)

I think that's enough for now...LOL ;-) Let me know if you have any questions,
M
PS. Lately on Young & the Restless(yes, I'm addicted to a soap opera;) they have been talking a lot about organ donation. I'm so glad that they are, b/c it is SOOOOOO important for CFers. Most CFers will need a double lung transplant when they get older. Please, Please, Please become an organ donor TODAY. Don't wait another minute! You could not only save 1 life, but you could save 7 lives!! Isn't that a great way to be remembered? I hold comfort in knowing that someday I may save a life or two or 7. Click Here to find out more about how to become an organ donor in your state and how to ensure your wishes are carried out upon your death.

Ok, now I'm done...for real this time;-)

Kalahari Day 2 Pics & Videos;-)

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

We had soooooo much fun at Kalahari! We had a waterproof camera, so we took a LOT of pics when we were there. This montage was originally 28 minutes long!! Don't worry...I cut it back to about 10 minutes;) Still long, I know, but they are just too cute to cut back anymore;-) lol

Click here to see the room we stayed in...it was the BEST room we have EVER stayed in!! It had 2 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms! Our room had a king size bed and had sliding glass doors that went out to our balcony. The tub in our room had jets in it...so cool! The kids room had 2 queen size beds, I think. There was a living room with a fireplace and sliding glass doors to the balcony. It even had a nice convenient high faucet sink so we could wash Ayla's bottles;-)

Can't wait to go back! Who's comin with us???? lol

Click here to see Day 1.

M

PS. Thanks everyone for the 14,000 blog hits;-)

"Local Student is Voice for a Cure"/Update

I thought this was GREAT!! Click here to check out an article about a local Christian girl who brings awareness to thousands of people!

Lil' Chris' cough is pretty much all gone YEA!!! He still has a few days left on his Augmentin though. He is really loving the taste of this one. This was our first time getting his antibiotic at CVS and I guess they flavored it better;-)

He is doing great with potty training still. YEA!! I was just thinking tonight as I was putting his newly washed undies in his drawer..."Man, I definitely don't miss the days when I had to keep all his undies downstairs b/c he was having so many accidents!" lol

Ayla is rolling around now getting into her big brother's toys:) She keeps going after his sippy cups...too funny. I move it, and then before I know it, she has it in her mouth again! She's sneaky sneaky;-)

Lil' Chris loves to sit on her back. Don't ask me why, but they both actually like it;-)

The yard sale this past Saturday went GREAT!! We raised a lot of money for CF! I was so surprised as to how many complete strangers gave extra money to help find a CURE for CF! I was so touched.

M

PS. I haven't had a chance to edit Kalahari Day 2 pics yet, but I will soon;-)

Yard Sale This Saturday for CF!!!

This Saturday we are having a neighborhood yard sale!! Yea I'm so excited!! My hubby and I both happen to have off work too! That's a first! We are donating 100% of what we make to help find a CURE for Cystic Fibrosis! I was a little too late to get the whole neighborhood involved in donating a percent, even 10% would help, so maybe next year:) Who knows, if I'm brave enough I might go around on Saturday and ask if they want to donate a percent or not. It's so out of my element to ask people for money, but I HAVE do it for Lil' Chris to have a better, longer life.

If you are in the area, please stop by this Saturday from 8am-2pm:)
M
PS. Please pray that the rain will hold off too.

CFF's View on the H1N1 Vaccine

Click here to get the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's recommendations on the Seasonal Flu and H1N1 flu vaccines.

Thank you to those who took my poll on the upper right hand side of my blog here. I greatly appreciate it. It's nice to see what other CF families are doing about such an important issue for CFers. So far it looks like everyone who took the poll says that everyone in the CF household will be getting the H1N1 flu vaccine. Sounds good to me! I know both Lil' Chris and Ayla are for sure getting both vaccines. I can't get the seasonal flu shot, b/c I am allergic to eggs. Apparently if you are allergic to eggs, they recommend you don't get it.
M

Kalahari Day 1 Video 9/13/09

Here is day one of our fun trip to Kalahari: America's LARGEST indoor water park!

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

We had soooooo much fun!! We did the indoor water park first, and then went outside to the little petting zoo, and then off to the arcade to win tickets for some cool prizes;-)

We had the BEST room EVER!! It was the African Queen Suite...and it sure was sweet;-) LOL

Day 2 coming soon:)
M

Potty Training Chart/2nd Hair Cut/First Bath With Ayla

Potty training is going GREAT! Today he got the most stickers EVER!! He got 12 stickers in just one day! Our system seems to be working pretty good! I had made a potty chart by hand, but my wonderful hubby made a potty reward chart on the computer for him:) Thanks Honey:) He gets 1 sticker for going pee pee on the potty and 2 stickers for going poo poo on the potty, but he gets a sticker taken away if he has an accident on the floor or in his bed. After he gets a sticker, he gets to color on his paper for a minute...he LOVES that part:) He's really into having us trace his hands;-)


He is still having accidents at nap time and we haven't even tried night time yet. Lately he has been having accidents while doing his Vest. Not sure why, b/c he used to ask to go potty even during his vest treatment, but ever since he had that last fever he has been having accidents during vest time. Weird. We're working on it though.


He now is going more on the big potty too! Maybe we can do away with his little potty soon:) Hopefully, for Mommy and Daddy's sake;-) LOL


His favorite part about going to the potty used to be flushing the toilet, but now he LOVES to wash his hands:) We were using a little step stool where he could barely reach the water, but now my hubby put a little step ladder up to the sink, so now he can reach the water perfectly. He LOVES IT! Sometimes I think he makes himself go on the potty just so he can wash his hands! The whole time he pees he says "Wash hands, wash hands?" Too funny:) Anything that works, right? lol


Tonight he got his hair cut for the second time! So exciting! I didn't get any pics, b/c I was getting my hair cut at the same time. I did however get some "after" pics though;-)


Also, tonight was the first time we put both Lil' Chris AND Ayla in the tub together for a bath! They loved it! It only took Lil' Chris 5 seconds to dump water on her head;-) Good thing she likes the water:) LOL

BTW, Lil' Chris' cough is much better and no more fevers so far with the Augmentin:) Yea!
M
PS. The Kalahari pics are coming soon, I promise;-)