Baylor vs. Woffard

Here we are folks.  Yep, its that time of year when Football starts and most things in life are put on hold.  Ha!  Baylor U had its first game yesterday against Woffard and it was a smashing success with a final score of 69-3 Baylor.  The whole family went to enjoy the game as well as Gamee/Grampee.  We even got a special treat after 1st quarter with Daddy getting to be on field as they recognized some of the players from the last decade of Football.  It was comical to watch some of the guys as they used to compete with who had biggest muscles, but now, some appear to be in the race for the biggest beer belly!  Cade's favorite part of the evening was watching (and directing with his hands from the stands) the band at halftime.  I can see an interest forming in his mind.  Caelin's favorite was by far the cheerleaders.  She watched in awe, yelled with them, jumped, and even threw in some high kicks with Daddy's help!  It was a great night to remember and I did fairly well being about 60 hours post surgery.  Thank heavens for pain meds.  After the game, Charles, Caelin and I headed home.  Gamee, Grampee and Cade stayed the night in a hotel so they could take Cade to Legoland for his BD present on Sunday.  More to come on a Legoland post later!  For now I will leave you with a Sic 'Em Bears as we start a fantastic Season.  GO BEARS!

 

The Morning After

Early yesterday morning about 1:30 I woke up to severe abdominal pains and started pacing the house.  For the last few days I had gotten these kind of pains, but with some Ibuprofen, they had always gone away within a few hours.  However, I could tell the intensity of these pains were here to stay.  About 2:00am I woke up Charles and told him we had to go to the ER.  I could barely walk and had tightening in my chest.  It was a scary thing, and I had a terrible feeling.  So, as usual, Gamee/Grampee saved the day and rushed over to the house to be with kids while Charles rushed me to the ER.  Upon arrival at 2:30am, the doc originally thought it was a kidney stone.  I remember thinking I would be so mad at myself if that is what it is and I wasted a $250 hospital copay.  To confirm his thoughts, they rushed me off to get a CT scan.  Right after the CT scan, I began throwing up.  When they wheeled me back to the room, I got Toradol and Finagrin for pain/nausea. That really only lowered my pain level from about a 10 to a 7.  I was still gripping the bed and it was not pretty.  The ER doc walked in about 10 minutes later with news that it was not what he was expecting at all.  I braced myself as I knew the level of pain meant it was gonna be something bad.  In that moment, crazy as it sounds, I remember thinking, please do not be life threatening as I have my babies at home.  Praise the Lord for what came next as it was not life threatening at all.  It turned out to be a 11cm Ovarian Torsion (about the size of a grapefruit).  Fancy term for a large ovarian cyst that had wrapped itself around the fallopian tube and ovary cutting off the blood supply.  This is where the extreme pain was coming from.  The ER doc quickly got me in for a sonogram and consulted the OB/GYN on call and decided it needed to be emergency surgery.  I couldn't have agreed more!  So, about 6am I was wheeled into surgery and had the cyst and right ovary/tube removed.  Surgery took about an hour and when I woke up, I felt like a new person.  God is so good and we were discharged at 9:15am.  I was happy I could go home and recover in my own bed and not have the excruciating pain.  Praise the Lord for everything in the last 36 hours!  Tomball Hospital staff was fantastic.  They attended to every need, had numerous staff members right there to help everyone being served, had no wait, was always professional, patient and moved quickly.  Who else can say that in under 7 hours you went to ER room, had numerous tests, underwent surgery and was discharged feeling much better?  Just amazing to me.

Today I woke up feeling good.  Pain is manageable with meds and I have even been able to shower, drink a cup of coffee, and eat a banana/yogurt.  Taking a shower can make you feel like a whole new person!  I will return to work on Tuesday, so will be resting up the rest of today and long weekend.  What a roller coaster it has been, but a blessing that it is over and that the cyst did not wrap around any other major organs being so large.  Thank you God!

Meet the Teacher

Cade/Caelin both had meet the teacher this morning at CFBC.  Cade will be attending Preschool Tues/Wed/Thurs, and Caelin will go to MDO on Thursday.  I had an emergency (more in next post on that), so Charles/I could not attend.  Which means once again Gamee saved the day taking BOTH kids to "Meet the Teacher"!  This involves many things like collecting papers, visiting two classrooms, etc...and can be a bit hectic.  So, we are blessed the kids did not miss this important event.  Cade and Caelin both seemed to be happy and love their classrooms!  Cade has Mrs. Nancy and Ms. Ivania this year.  We lucked out and even got our friend Abby in our class again.  Caelin has Ms. Stefanie and Ms. Lauren.  I cannot wait to meet the staff myself and take the kids to their first day of school next week.  Cade is excited to use his new Legoman backpack and lunchbox!  Caelin just opened her Owl backpack and lunchbox a few days ago, and is already wearing it around everywhere.  It will be fun to see them all excited for their first day.  We are jumping in to the 13-14 school year!

Go Texan's!!!

Thanks to a wonderful gift from someone I know my dad and I were able to attend the Texans 3rd preseason game.  The Texans started out strong and jumped to an early lead. As the game went on though the Saints kept scoring and the Texans just couldn't seem to keep up. Still though, it was a blast and fun to watch an NFL game for the first time in person with my dad.  

Our FIRST babysitter!

That's right folks...our FIRST!  I know some of you are thinking, isn't Cade 4 years old and Caelin 2 years?  The answer is yes, and we are blessed.  Somehow between LOTS of Gamee/Grampee watching, Parents night out at Church, etc...we have never actually had a babysitter at our house!  Anyway, tonight was a milestone and Cade was so excited for Ms. Jasmine!  Jasmine is the daughter of a beautiful friend of mine and I have watched Jasmine grow from an Elementary age kid I helped transport to school, to a beautiful and mature woman of God.  I couldn't be more excited.  Cade talked all day and even checked the window a few times.  Caelin has no idea what was going on throughout the day, but was excited when she got there.  Jasmine reports they were great and had no behavior problems, so I guess it went great!

While the kids were having a blast with Jasmine, we had a date night with Gamee and Grampee!  We went to dinner and then headed to a casino benefit night at our Crossfit gym.  All proceeds raised went to benefit the Wounded Warrior Charity.  It was so much fun and truly nice to spend some time with Gamee/Grampee without kids.  It was a great night by all, and even better to come home to a quiet house with sleeping kids!

45 years of Marriage

45 years ago, my parents were married in Lubbock, TX.  That day in 1968 started the love that has grown into a family of 10.  Thank you Mom and Dad for being such solid examples of marriage and what commitment is all about.  We are all blessed by your legacy.  Keep up the good work you two lovebirds!  :)

Happy 4th Birthday Cade!

How is it that today is not only here, but almost gone?  There is a lot to say about my lil man...his special day, annual update, and doc apt.  So, I will attempt to post this in 2 parts even though I know it will be lengthy!

His Special Day:
We started the morning with donuts of course as most birthdays in our house.  Who doesn't like a donut on their BD?!  Shortly after breakfast we headed up to the clubhouse for Cade's BD party.  We had a few last minute details to do with decor and the annual cake surprise!  For those of you who might be new readers to the blog, you should know Gamee is an AMAZING artist and cake maker.  She started a tradition where she makes every cake for her Grandchildren's Birthdays.  And they are AMAZING!  You give her a theme, and she runs with it!  This year was no differrent with Cade's Lego theme.  Before each party, Gamee comes early to show us the cake.  No one can see it before the actual day of and that is just part of the fun.  We have no idea what shape/size/color/etc.  Best surprises EVER though!  Once the party got underway, Cade had friends there from T-Ball and his PS class "Green Catepillars".  I was so proud of Cade during the party.  He went to the door everytime a friend arrived to welcome them, take their hand and show them where everyone was playing!  What a nice friend.  A few times during the party, I even caught him patting friends on the back, or telling them what they were going to do next.  His kindness showed through for a 4yr old and I was very proud.  The kids ran around being as loud as they could (a main component of any kids party), while playing Legos and some games.  Games included a Lego Table, bean bag board that Daddy made (kudos to you Charles!), guess the legos in the jar, a "Pin the head on the Lego Man" (thanks for idea Pintrest, and then Daddy made it!), and a lego tower race (we ran out of time for this one).  Between games we ate hot dogs, fruit and chips before diving into the cake and ice cream.  The cake was just as yummy as it looked with 3 types of cake inside (Chocolate, vanilla, and cake sprinkle).  Everything besides the candles was edible.  The top was formed with rice crispie treats and the lego bricks coming out were made of chocolate from a rubber mold she bought on Amazon!  SO YUMMY! After the cake, we started opening gifts.  This had me laughing as Cade was so excited and even let his friends help him unwrap ONE gift toward the end.  Hahaha...just one though!  [NOTE: For those new blog readers, you will find out real quickly that I write this blog for my kids to document their lives growing up.  Thus, I enjoy listsing things like gifts so that in the future they can reflect on what was "cool" and fun at that time.]  Gifts Cade received included: Lego backpack/lunchkit/pencil bag and Fly Guy Books (Mom and Dad), $4 cash/Lego young builder case and a TICKET to Legoland in Dallas (Gamee/Grampee), 6 drawer lego organizer and Lego tote (Nana/Papa), Lego Set (Uncle Christopher/Aunt Heather/Andrew), Hot wheels storage case on wheels and hot wheels cars (Nonnie/Poppie), Hot wheels storage/20pk of Hot wheels cars and a Lego box set (Cousin Stephen), Spiderman action toy/puzzle (Friend Brooke), Lego City Coast Guard/Shark Set (Friend Abby), Lego City Police Car Set (Friends Jack/Dixie), "Cars" Ball and matching drum set (Friend Cole), and a Hot Wheels Monster Jam track set (Friend Logan).  Cade could not believe his eyes with all his new toys and was polite enough to say thanks after each gift.  Again, my lil man is growing up...cue the crying now.  After cleaning up from the party, we spent a quiet evening at home playing with all the legos and putting together every little piece.  It was actually fun for everyone.  Even Caelin got a kick out of trying to snap a few together.  Cade was not brave enough to "trust" her with any large items we built, but she was able to still play.  It was a fun day for everyone.  Thank you to everyone for making Cade's day so special!

 

Annual Update/Doc Apt:

Well, this is where the crying starts.  How do you sum up joy, adventure and growth into one posts?  I tell you how, with LOTS of tears!  Ha!  Looking back at posts from the past year, I am reminded of so many happy memories and ways that Cade has grown as a young boy.  Cade is one of the best gifts I have ever been given.  He lights up a room no matter where he is.  His energy reminds me of myself, and will be a gift to others as he grows.  I can see it in his eyes that he will always attack life head on with enthusiasm, and as a Mom, I love that sense of confidence and adventure about him.  He loves to build things.  From Legos, blocks, and Transformers to stacking up his food during dinner.  He is also very creative and an "out of the box" thinker.  I can hear him playing with toys/animals and listening to the conversations is always a good laugh.  He builds robots with legos that have intricate details such as fingers/hats/etc.  He is a social little fellow and likes to engage others in play most of the time.  He enjoys talking to others and/or himself, which may drive a Kindergarten teacher crazy in a few years. :)  His favorite person in life I would have to say is Caelin.  Although at times it can be a love/hate relationship, make no mistake that she is his little sister and he will protect her at all costs!  At times, when Caelin gets in trouble, he will jump in and tell us, "It's Ok, she will be better next time!"  If someone asks his name in public, he will respond and then reply with "and this is my sister Caelin".  It really is fun to watch them together.  I can tell it will be a lifelong love between them.  Cade will say the prayer at dinner time a few times per week and is learning to pray more openly without the typical "scripted" prayers for meal time.  He also has his bedtime routine down pat which includes brushing our teeth, pj's and picking a book.  Fly Guy are his favorite books still and the ones he usually picks for bedtime.  A close second would be the Curious George books.  He loves to laugh at these stories.  Cade is definitely a morning person.  No matter what time we go to bed (usually around 8pm), Cade is up by 6:30-7:00am.  I will give him credit though, that if everyone else is still sleeping, he will play quietly until we get up!  Yeah for us!  As for food, he is not really a picky eater at all.  He prefers anything that can be smoothered with ketchup and has his Daddy's sweet tooth.  He will eat just about any meat, but does not typically like veggies so much.  He will eat corn, broccoli (aka: trees), potatoes, peas, cauliflower (if mashed and called mashed potatoes), beans, etc.  He will not eat brussel sprouts, squash, or aspagragus.  He does enjoy fruit and his favorite snacks are fruit, raisins, nuts, yogurt, sliced cheese, and fruit snacks.  All that nutrition has continued to help Cade grow and our lil man now wears 5-6 size clothing and wears a size 10.5 tennis shoe.  He is growing fast! 

At his 4yr check up, Cade did well and passed his hearing and vision test with flying colors.  He thought it was cool to say "beep" everytime he heard the machine beep in his ear.  His height/weight are below and as you can see he is going to be my BIG lil boy always.  He also had to get 3 shots and the flu mist.  During the shots as he did not cry, but made funny sounds of wincing pain after each shot while looking at us.  The nurse was very good and quickly got them all finished so it seemed painless.  Just when we thought it was over though, we found out we had to do a routine CDC bloodraw which was NOT fun.  I made Daddy go back there as I stayed with Caelin.  I could hear him crying back there and saying, "I do NOT want you to take my blood!".  Then, I found out afterward that they actually had to stick him twice to get the bloodraw.  Poor little man!  But, not to worry...Mommy/Daddy had a bravery toy for him in the car which as a new Ninjago lego set.  After 5 minutes, we forgot all about the lady who "stole my blood". 

 

Height: 43inches (96%)

Weight: 49lbs (99%)

 

Cade,

Happy 4 years of life.  We could not be more blessed by who you are.  God makes us laugh everyday through you and one of our favorite times of the day is getting a squeeze hug from you.  One smile, wink, or thumbs up from you can turn our day to sunshine in no time at all.  Thank you for everything you are.  We love you all the way around the world and back again!

Mommy and Daddy