Good Times

We decided kind of last minute a few weeks ago to go stay the night with my Nanny in Kentucky while Ryan went duck hunting in Arkansas. We really wanted to do this, but I REALLY needed a break from the kiddos full time:-) 

To make long stories short, here are a few things they did that week to make me finalize the decision to indeed go to KY while Ryan was out of town:

1) While I was cooking, Kylie came upstairs and said "poo-poo," and I said "Oh, you need your diaper changed." Kylie said "NO, Braden poo-poo." So I knew this was not good so I ran downstairs to find Braden and Reed hovered over a wicker basket laughing.  It took just a second for me to realize that Braden had emptied the toys out of the basket and pooped in the basket. I asked him why and his response was "Mommy, I couldn't make it to the bathroom!" Yea right! 

2) Two days later, I thought it would be safe to take a 5 minute shower while the kids played. I come downstairs after and think "Wow, they are all three playing nicely in the playroom." (I should have known bettter!) The first thing Reed tells me is "Mom, Braden did it." Me: "He did what?!" Reed: "Mom, he was just helping me!" Me: "Reed, what was Braden helping you with?" Reed: "He helped me get some syrup!" No more questions from me as I madly rush to see where the syrup was. I looked in the kitchen, nope not that lucky! I did see that the syrup comtainer was COMPLETELY empty on the kitchen counter. As I come out of the kitchen, I notice sticky footprints all  the way down our hallway leading from the den to the playroom. I go into the den and syrup is all over the hardwoods and my rug. Ugghhh! Let's just say that the next words out of Reed and Braden's mouths were "Mommy, please don't spank me!!!" 

So onto where I began....going to Kentucky to relax with Nanny. She welcomed us with a great dinner and delicious homemade sourdough rolls. They are the best!   

Kylie Reese is 22 months old. 

 

Things that we did while at Nanny's house:

•  Played in the dog food

•  Played school with Nanny's pencils and phonebook

•  Had a dance party

•  Wrestled with each other before bed

•  My sweet Nanny slaving away in the kitchen...She will probably kill me for putting this picture of her on here! 

•  Helped Kylie put on big "girl" underwear...Does Thomas the Train count?! 

•  Tried on Aunt Tula's hats...She would have thought this was hilarious if she was still here with us. We had no idea the kids found these until they came out with them on. 

• We went to visit granddad and grandmom on Saturday

•  Ate lunch at Ferrell's Hamburger 

•  We always laughed at Aunt Tula's lions in her driveway, but the boys sure do love to ride them! 

•  We headed back home on Saturday night after a fun weekend in Kentucky with the grannies! 

Oh, by the way, there was one more story that the kids decided to add while we were in Kentucky...
3) While my mom, nanny and I were peacefully eating our banana pudding, the 3 kids were in the hallway playing "Jack be Nimble" jumping over a votive candle. We were listening to them and laughing and them singing the nursery rhyme. The next thing I know is that the 3 are in the bathroom. As I am going to check on them, I hear the potty flush and Braden turns to me and says "It went under the water!"
The next 6 hours, my mom boiled pot after pot of water to pour down Nanny's toilet hoping this would melt the candle and unstop her toilet. Thankfully, her method worked, and we didn't have to call a plumber!
NEVER A DULL MOMENT!!!

Relief

I am a little late in updating this but I wanted to have all of this for their "baby" books. Two weeks ago, Reed had his heart catheritization and a bronchioscope. For those of you who have no clue what a heart cath. is, let me explain. It is the insertion of a catheter through his groin area that goes up into a chamber or vessel of his heart to get a great look at everything. Reed had one at 1 year post transplant, now 3 years after and will be required to have another one in 2 more years. At that time, he will not have to have them as often. 

I like to consider myself relatively calm, but on these days I am a little bit of a worrier. If you don't believe me, just ask Ryan! I can tell myself a million times, this is all in God's hands, but I guess the mother/human side of me takes over and lets my mind go a million places usually thinking of the "what ifs". Not good!! 

Reed was also getting a bronchioscope to get a good look at his lungs to see what is causing all of his congestion and reoccurring pneumonia. 

Well, Reed was his little trooper self and just went on back with no tears with the doctors. I, of course, shed a tear or two or three! Even though we are "used" to this, it is still hard to see your little child being taken back. After an hour in surgery, the pulmonologist came out to talk to us. Long story short, he has to have his tonsils and adenoids out February 15th. He will also do some treatments to help get his congestion out so it will not be a home for bacteria to grow. His right middle lobe is a little weak but this is not uncommon with what he has been through. So good report! 

Then a couple of hours later, the cardiologist came out. I couldn't stand the wait and just said "Tell me Dr. if it's good news or bad so I can listen to what you are saying!" He said "His heart looks perfect!" Praise God!! Once again, I had that feeling of a weight being lifted. I guess that weight was really just worry though.    The Dr. then proceeded to show us this really cool video of Reed's heart and all the plumbing that works perfectly.

When we finally got to see Reed, he was pretty ill. Who can blame him though. The rest of the afternoon was just spent holding him until he could be released. When the cardiologist came by before we left, we spent some time talking to him. Ryan asked the Dr. what his feeling was about heart transplants(this was not Reed's transplant cardiologist), and his response was "They are little miracles...look at him...he IS a miracle!"   He then proceeded to tell us that he truly believes that Reed will outlive us with how much things have changed. Now, that may mean that he has to have another transplant on down the road or maybe not. Who knows....the big man upstairs is the one in control of this crazy little life!!! Thank you God for granting us with our wish of a heart transplant for Reed. It was 3 years ago yesterday that we got the best call of our lives. We are so grateful for the family who gave us this blessing!

Cold Weather Days

What can you do to kill time with the kids when it's freezing outside...bake cookies!

Even though it's really cold, we still have to get out side on these days. Otherwise, we go stir crazy! The boys absolutely love driving their gator. Kylie rarely gets to ride in a seat. The boys will say "Come on Ky, get in the back" and she will crawl right in.

 Braden taking a ride in Kylie's stroller.

We went to Craig and Tina's one afternoon to play. It was supposed to be great weather but it was far from that. I don't think that cold weather even phases the kids. I need their thick skin! 

One of Craig's friends got Charley a pony for Christmas. His name is Chili. Isn't he so cute?!

Poor Kylie gets a fair dose of being picked on by Braden and Reed. They know how much she loves her paci so that is the first thing they go for to get under her skin.

Who can resist giving this little face what she wants?!

Reed doing a little bit of bribing to get Kylie to give him her popsicle. It worked!