I love being an Aunt...

I know I said I would post a slideshow of pics from our vacation... I am working on it but it's not quite ready yet & I've been wanting to comment on my sister's big news!

I'm so excited for them!! Isn't it awesome when God makes a decision for you & takes the stress right out of your hands? I've been there & I remember the feeling of relief when I realized I could just begin moving forward on the very clear path He set for me. I feel like that is what He's done for M & Big C. Granted it might be a little sooner than they planned for baby #2 & it is only natural that they be concerned about the CF aspect, but God has a plan! It is so comforting to know He is in control & has plans to prosper us & give us hope (Jeremiah 29:11). I know M & Big C believe that with all their hearts & rest in the peace that comes with faith God & His will for our lives.

Please pray for M right now as she isn't feeling well. As far as I know, she's not nearly as sick as she was with Lil Chris but it's still tough to feel nauseous all day long. I've said before how much Big Chris loves kids & I can only imagine how excited he must be. When M is feeling better I'm sure she will give us all the details on how she shared the news with Big Chris & how they're doing now.

Thanks for listening! Coming soon: Vacation slideshow!!

Another Bad Day:(

Hey Everyone,
Sorry it's been a while, but you know how 24/7 morning sickness goes:( Also, our laptop isn't working for some reason. Now I have to wait til Lil' Chris is sleeping to come downstairs to use our big computer. Oh well. It just stinks, b/c that means even less time I'll get to chat with you all:(

Well, Lil' Chris had another really bad day yesterday. We thought we would try some Vanilla Pediasure since he is supposed to switch to Pediasure, and the chocolate definitely didn't agree with him a couple of weeks ago. He drank about 4 oz. Went down for a nap. Then woke up puking all over! He then continued to puke every 5 minutes just like the last time. Poor thing was so exhausted, he kept falling asleep in between puking. His lil' body was just limp. This all started around 12:00 in the afternoon and he finally stopped puking around 4 or 5pm. We just gave him Pedialyte and water. He slept a lot, so I thought he was going to be up all night, but he actually slept all night too!

Today he seemed a little more himself, but threw up his first bottle a lil bit. So we are back to Pedialyte and water. We'll see how the night goes. We still are not quite sure as to why his body can't handle the Pediasure. It says Lactose Free, so it can't be that. I called the Dietitian and told her that he is not going to be able to switch to Pediasure since he can't keep it down. So, she is going to bring some different samples to my work this Sunday(what a great Dietitian:) so we can try them with Lil' Chris. Hopefully he can keep these down. I'll let you know how it goes.
M

Finally....I'm blogging!

Hark! What is that I hear? Ah yes! It is silence, dear silence...something I haven't heard very often in recent months. The kiddos are in bed, the hubby isn't home, & the laundry is caught up so it's officially me time now! Woo woo! Granted, I have two weeks to pack up this apartment & move several states away but what's the rush? I'll get it all done in time...I work better under pressure. =P

Anyway, sorry it's taken me so long to post....I know M tossed me the blog baton on Monday but it's been a crazy week! (Are you as tired of hearing me say that as I am?) Seriously though, we got back from our trip (which was awesome) late Sunday night & starting early afternoon on Monday commenced 3 days of dance dress rehersals & recitals for my girls. As much as I love watching their final performances for the year, it's a stressful few days for dear old Mom or Mommya as my oldest calls me - no idea where she came up with that one. Now it's all done, they both did a fantastic job & I can sit & catch up on my blogging...

We had such a great time visiting with Gram, family, M, Big Chris & Lil Chris last weekend!! Lil Chris has grown so much since the last time I saw him!!! He's chubby & he seems tall for his age to me. The only hint that he's a CF'er was watching M give him his enzymes before meals. I know they did his vest too but even though our rooms were side by side I never heard it. M & Big Chris are doing such an awesome job taking care of him! He's a happy, healthy little boy who happens to have CF. I give them so much credit for getting him out there & letting him experience things when I'm sure they'd love to just put him in a bubble & keep all of us coughing, sneezing, germy people away from him. =) I know that's what I would want to do but it wouldn't be fair. His cute lil personality needs to be shared with the world! He's such a good baby too & he just loved watching the big kids run around last weekend. I could tell he wanted to get down & run around with them! Next time we see him I'm sure he'll be able to do just that. I can't wait!

M surprised us with her announcement on Friday which honestly took the whole weekend to sink in to my feeble brain. On Saturday, we had climbed partway up our Gram's mountain, crossed a swollen brook & were on our way back down before it occured to me that perhaps M should have taken it a little easy. I don't know what I was thinking! She was a champ though (as usual). Made it all the way & didn't even bat an eyelash. Big Chris carried Lil Chris in one of those strap on carriers the whole way so I think he really had the rough end of that bargain. =) My hubby too...he carried our son on his shoulders most of the way which couldn't have been easy. We all loved every minute of it though! My oldest daughter hiked up with us & learned so much from my Uncle Joe on the way. The mountain, forest & fields on the property were Uncle Joe, Dad & their siblings playground when they were growing up & it was so cool to hear their stories as we were walking. My daughter can now pick out a white birch from a yellow birch, can see Moose tracks & tell you which direction he's walking in & knows how to make a cup from a leaf to drink from a mountain spring. How cool is that? Uncle Joe & Dad took her fishing too but I'll save that story for another day... Gram really loved seeing the boys & they loved seeing her even though my little guy didn't want to sit still long enough for anyone to get a good look at him. ha! I'm hoping to have some pictures for you soon. We have so many great ones that I think I'll just have to make a slideshow.

Gram,Uncle Joe, Aunt Diana, Aunt Gayle, Uncle Ken, Aunt Carolyn & family, it was so wonderful to visit with all of you! Thank you so much for taking the time out to spend the weekend with us. We had the best time & the girls are still talking about it! We love you guys & we miss you!

Visit and Some BIG NEWS!!

Hey Everyone,
We are back from vacation and back to blogging! I know, you are excited as I am ;)

This was Lil' Chris' first time meeting his Great Grandma! He loved her from the first minute he saw her. So cute!! It was also his first time meeting all my Aunts and Uncles! He loved each and every one of them. Lil' Chris was so good the whole trip. He even climbed a mountain with no problem! What a trooper he was. It wore him out so much, that he slept through his whole 20 minute Vest the next morning! That was the first time EVER!!

It was great seeing my sister, D, and her family too and my Dad. I wish we all lived closer:(

I would show you pictures from this weekend, but I haven't found my thingy to download the pics yet. Sorry:( Maybe D can post some pics for me. I think it's great that we both do this blog together. Especially since she may have to do most of the blogging for the next month or so until I start feeling better. "What do you mean, you ask?" Well....I kinda have some news for ya.......

We're

PREGNANT!!

Yup, I couldn't believe it either! I am 2 months along and sick as a dog:( But hopefully only for another month. It's still hard to believe that Lil' Chris is going to be a big brother! I get an ultrasound on the 18th of July, so I'll let you know how it goes. My due date as of right now is January 30th, 2009! The doctors have already asked if we want to get tests done to see if this baby will have CF too like Lil' Chris. We haven't really decided yet, but does it really matter? We are going to love and care for this baby no matter what he or she has or doesn't have! The Lord knows what he is doing, and we have faith in Him.

To any CF moms out there...did you get the test done to see if the baby you were carrying had CF?

M

Exciting Weekend Ahead!

Yea! Tomorrow morning we leave for a long weekend trip to visit our family up north! The kids, my hubby & I always look forward to our trips to visit Gram & our Aunt's, Uncle's & cousins.

This trip is extra special for a couple reasons.... 1) we'll get to spend time with Lil Chris, M & Big Chris who we haven't seen since March & 2) we'll get to introduce everyone to our two new boys, Lil Chris & my son R. My girls have grown a lot since our last trip so I know Gram will love seeing them now that they're "big girls". In their minds being 9 & 5 is all grown up & of course I am positively ancient. LOL!

I was looking for a good picture of all the kids from M & Big Chris' visit in March & of course I don't have a perfect one, but this one's not too bad. My little guy is on the left & the blondie on the right is our sister C's son (how cute is he?). My big girls & Lil Chris are in the middle. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to post after we get back so you'll be able to see how much they've changed since this picture was taken in March.

Just to give you a little taste of where we'll be spending our weekend...here is a picture of a small part of our Uncle's property.

Isn't it beautiful? This part of the land was where my grandparent's original home was when my Dad & his siblings were very small. They moved up the road a ways to a different part of the property when the children were older. When the time came for my Dad's oldest brother & his wife to build their own house they decided to build it themselves on the site of the original home. Pretty neat, huh? I love to hear the stories of Dad's family as they were growing up. Running in the fields with the cows, fishing, hunting & of course working. When your Dad is a lumberjack & your Mom is raising 5 kids on a farm that's miles from anywhere, work is a natural part of life & it builds character. It wasn't an easy life but they have wonderful memories of their childhood & it helped to shape some great men & women as did our Gram who is an amazing woman herself! I see a lot of her in M as she faces every CF challenge & weathers it calmly & with strength of character. We are fortunate to have been given a great legacy to carry on from both sides of our family!

Have a great weekend everyone!

More Spray Pool Videos

HAPPY BELATED FATHER'S DAY TO ALL THOSE SPECIAL DADDY'S OUT THERE LIKE THIS ONE...


I caught him saying "Da Da" in this one:)

M

Q&A and Update

Susanna,
He didn't get any shots at his last cf clinic visit, but he will get shots I think at his visit this Wednesday at the Pediatrician for his 1 year check up. Hopefully he won't get sick since the next day we leave for a short vacation(14hr. car trip:(
That's great news about the girls!! YEA!! I'm so happy for you all!! You are obviously doing a GREAT job with them:)

Everyone,
We got the spray pool at Babies R Us I think for only $14.99. Lil' Chris loves it! I'll post more videos from that day. I think I filled the memory card that day:)LOL

Lil' Chris has been doing much better. No throw up thank God! We tried to give him some of the Vanilla Pediasure tonight, but he wanted nothing to do with it. He barely even got a taste. So, this switch over from formula to Pediasure is going to be much more difficult than I thought unfortunately:( I still have to call the Dietitian to reschedule the sweat test, genetic test, and speech therapy section. So, I think I may ask her if there is something else that she can recommend for Lil' Chris to switch to instead of the Pediasure. Hopefully there is something he will like.

We did get his throat culture back a couple of days ago. He has Capnocytophaga species, a common mouth bacteria. They said that it is not significant for children with CF. He will probably not grow it again. It does NOT need any treatment. This could be found in many mouths-either CF or not. They said not to worry and to make no changes and to keep doing what we are doing;)
M
PS. Still working on getting the birthday pics, there is just too many! I think I filled 2 memory cards that day;)

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Just a quick post tonight to wish a Happy Father's Day to my two brother's in law, Big Chris & TA.
These two guys are not only great brother's in law & uncles but they're also really great Dads! I'm so glad my sisters found such great guys to marry & raise their children with! Thanks guys for being great uncles to my kids & great Dad's to my nephews. Hope you both had a fun day!

Happy Father's Day & happy birthday to my husband S. We had a fun time with family today celebrating both occasions!

To all our blog readers who are Dads....Happy Father's Day! Hope your day was happy!