THE RESCHEDULING HAS BEGUN.....

The surgery rescheduling chaos has already began. We received a call while we were on vacation from CMH and I called them back today. Coop's surgery has been rescheduled for September 28th at 6 am, which means we will need to be there around 4 am and pre op is on Friday the 25th. I really don't mind them rescheduling. It happens every time but I figure the longer we can put it off the better :) not to mention considering what they do I think I can adjust my schedule to meet theirs. It just makes me laugh b/c when we got their message that we needed to call, both Terry and I chuckled because it was a call we expected to get at some point. Anyway, so the 25th of September is the new dreaded date. Speaking of Coop....the boy is a talking maniac. He said "Gloria" today and tonight he has talked non stop. He now is saying so many things but nothing is very clear so when I don't know what he is saying he gets a little frustrated. Tonight he wanted some ice cream but Terry didn't know what he wanted. After awhile of repeating himself he just broke down crying. I know we shouldn't have but we couldn't help but laugh. He was so hurt and frustrated and he was in full tears. When we do figure out what he wants he smiles so big and is so proud of himself. He came up to me after dinner and said "bath". I said, "you want to take your bath?" He shook his head yes. So we got ready for his bath and I put him in and he shut the door on me and said "play"! I was cracking up. I told him he could play for a little while and he said "bye"! There was no doubt he wanted to play in the bath without me! It is so great that he is finally starting to communicate. He is also starting to eat new and different things. This weekend he ate some of a pop tart and tonight a rice krispie treat. My hope is some day he will choose to eat something that does not consist solely of sugar.

I made it through my first day without Raelynn and will get to see her tomorrow. I can't wait. I have been able to talk with her thanks to Blackberry Messaging. It is like instant messaging on my phone but you can send voice notes. She sent me 4 voice notes today and it was great to hear her little voice. Tonight I called her and she talked and talked some more. When I told her I should get off the phone she said "no let's talk a little longer" which of course I was happy to do. She talked to Daddy and Cooper as well. Coop managed to tell her "bye" which she got a big kick out of. I really miss her. Even with Cooper the house still seems so quiet. Cooper misses her too. He went into her room tonight and said "NN Bye" NN is what he calls Raelynn. It was so cute. I asked him if he missed her and he shook his head yes and gave me a kiss. Wow, if that didn't bring tears to my eyes! If those two only knew how much control they had over me! I honestly wonder how parents keep that a secret?

WHAT A FUN VACATION...........

Well we are back from vacation and we had a great time! We went to the Osage Beach area at the Ozarks. Tom and Jan have a lake house there we stayed in and it was great, much thanks to them. We arrived late Wednesday night. Tom had told me the neighbors had a couple dogs that would run up barking but not to worry they were very nice dogs. Well I failed to pass that information on to Karli, my little sis, who always comes on family vacations with us. She got out of the truck and seconds later was leaping back in terrified of the "giant" dogs that were running towards her barking. I was laughing so hard!!! By the way, the next day we saw the dogs again and they weren't quite as "giant" as she had thought. The next day we headed to "Big Surf", the water park Raelynn had been talking about for weeks. We had a blast. The last water park we were at was our vacation 2 years ago to AZ and I was pregnant with Cooper and wasn't able to do any or the rides. This year I think I had as much fun as Raelynn. Coop on the other hand would have preferred spending his day almost anywhere else. He is not a big fan of water and therefore was not too excited about anything other than flirting with girls. Take note of the picture below, this lady Coop is flirting with we have never met. Coop walked right up to her and her daughter and struck up a conversation. She was so taken by him they talked for almost 10 minutes. This wasn't Coop's only girlfriend on the trip. The following picture is another picture of Coop and a little girl he met while Raelynn was going down water slides. They played and then when we were at the wave pool she found Cooper again! He is a lady's man!


While Coop was busy making his rounds with the ladies and staying as far out of the water as he could, Raelynn was going crazy on slides. She started out with the little kid slides and ended up at the adult slides. She didn't spook very easy but did get a little scared in the rapids but that could have been because I was right beside her on a separate tube trying desperately to hold onto her so she didn't flip and I was terrified for her! She loved the wave pool and we had several people astonished that she was right in the middle of the huge waves being pulled under and swallowed up and laughing the whole time. I think Terry, Karli and I had just as much fun. The scariest ride was a slide that went straight down and then back up on the other side like a skate board ramp. It was terrifying and my bottom side hit the bottom and tore a hole in my suit! We each went twice and that was more than enough.

The next day we were off to the Bridal Cave. It is an old cave that you can tour. It was pretty neat but all Raelynn kept saying was "oooo", "gross", "yuck". It was just a little dirty for her liking. Coop was just thrilled we were not swimming again :)

After that we headed to the outlet malls for some shopping, a definite highlight for Karli and I!
Saturday Tom and Jan came down and we spent the day on the lake. We had a blast. The kids had never been on a boat or a jet ski and they loved both. Coop would fall asleep as soon as the boat started going. It was really a lot of fun!





So the vacation was fantastic but things did not end so well. Terry got stopped for speeding on the way home which you have to find humor in because he always drives slow! He did not believe the officer that he was speeding but she was not bursting with personality or humor so he took the ticket and went on. Steph was going to drive Karli back to Scott City once we got back to Lawrence. We were getting stuff unloaded from our truck and loaded in Steph's car and Raelynn catches on that Steph is going tp Grandma's house to drop Aunt Karli off and she wants to go too. I was afraid this was going to happen! I have no idea why I have such a hard time letting Raelynn go. I would have to spend 2 nights without her. I try to make the idea seem awful to her by describing the long drive and nothing to do but it doesn't work. So literally in tears I repack her bag and she heads for Grandma's house. I spend the next couple hours crying and wondering if this is how all parents feel. Honestly, I cannot believe how sad I am when she is gone. I spent the night unpacking and playing with Coop which helped my mind stay off the fact that she is gone but I already miss her. I texted Karli and Steph about every 45 minutes until they threatened to turn off their phones :) I just love her so much and I don't think anyone can tuck her into bed or kiss her goodnight the way I do. They have made it though and I talked to Raelynn about 1/2 an hour ago and she assured me she is doing fine. I asked her how the trip was and she said it was good, she didn't smell any skunks but smelled the cows poop! So she is doing fine. I just got a voice note from her saying goodnight which of course once again makes me cry but also made me love her even more.....if that's possible! So she will be back on Tuesday and in the meantime Coop and I will have a little extra time together!

OH SO MUCH FUN WITH JUST A LITTLE SADNESS....

This past weekend we had a so much fun but as always ran out of time. Friday night Raelynn had her program for VBS. Before we headed over there we had a little pool party with some friends. This is top secret though because Raelynn was at VBS and all her little friends were at the pool party. She would not be happy with me! We made it to her program after that which is always a treat. Just to give you a little idea of the fun....
Saturday was a mixture of fun and sadness. Saturday morning we were trying to clean. Raelynn decided she wanted to help so to keep her occupied so I could finish cleaning I told her she could clean her mirror. I figured I would have to do it over but at least she would be busy. Before I knew it she said she was done and wanted to move on to vacuuming. I went in to her room to check out the mirrors and they were spotless. I am notkidding, there were no smudges or streaks. I was was very happy and told her she could vacuum. I started her in Coop's room. It had been quite some time so I went into Coop's room to see what was taking so long and there she was, hose removed, brush on end, vacuuming the base boards. I had never been so proud!!! She is no doubt my daughter. I flashed her a smile of approval and carried on with my own cleaning. Before she was done she had vacuumed Cooper's room, her room and all the rugs.
Saturday afternoon we celebrated the life of a good friend of ours that passed away at the age of 39 due to cancer. Although he wanted it to be a celebration I could not help cry. They showed picture after picture of he and his son and all I could think was that their sweet boy no longer had his Dad. They are wonderful people and are amazingly strong. I am so proud of both his wife and his son. I just hope Raelynn and Cooper will have both Terry and I by their sides for years and years to come.
Saturday night one of my friends came to town. It was great to see her. We hardly ever get together but when we do it is like we had never been apart. We had a great time chatting away. Raelynn insisted on creating her on the Wii which she was a great sport and let Raelynn create her. Unfortunately, the creature Raelynn created would scare any average person. Since then Raelynn has shown everyone "Amy" that has come to the house. She finds it quite comical.
Sunday, after church, Raelynn had an outing with her best buddy, Kaden, and Kelly. They had been unable to make it to her birthday so they had a little celebration of their own. It was a great idea and Raelynn loved it. She had a blast and was introduced to shaved ice. I am pretty sure we will be eating shaved ice every weekend now!
Tomorrow we leave for vacation to the Ozarks. I am so excited! Karli is coming with us and we have so much fun planned. I love the lake and found out they have great outlet malls, what more could a girl want! Not to mention the thought of having 4 whole days with no obligations to meet or a "to do" list, it will be like heaven!

THINGS ARE GOING GREAT......

So we have completed Day 3 of the new daycare and it is going great! I was so nervous on Monday I was about to cry. Everything was awkward and I was in a rush to make sure we left on time. Raelynn could tell I was tense which made her tense but everything turned our perfect. We got there and Coop was off. He absolutely loves it. There are other kids his age and so much for him to do. I could not believe how lively he was. They have this whole play land area where there are slides and tunnels and things to climb on which Coop loves. Every morning he eagerly hugs and kisses me goodbye and is off to play. He loves it. He is already babbling non stop and gaining more "words" daily. Everything has been really positive with him.

Raelynn, until tonight, I wasn't sure. This week in addition to starting a new daycare also started Vacation Bible School. So Gloria would drop the kids off to me at 5pm and Aunt Bonnie would be there to pick Raelynn up. So I would literally pick her up, kiss her and put her in the car to go to VBS. Then I would not pick her up until 8:15pm. By that time she was tired and hungry and the last thing she wanted to do was talk about the new daycare. In the mornings she was pretty clingy so I just wasn't sure. Aunt Bonnie suggested we take tonight off from VBS just to give Raelynn and I some time together. I love how Aunt Bonnie could tell it was a hard transition for us both. Anyway so we did and tonight she told me all about Gloria's, all of which was good. So after that I felt really good. Things are very structured there while still having lots of fun. Gloria has been fantastic as well by sending me pics and texts throughout the day to assure me they are happy and safe. So all in all I am very happy and relieved! I think we are going to be very comfortable here and as always look forward to every day to see what excitement it may bring.

BIG CHANGES......

We just got back from a weekend out west. We went back to Scott City for my niece, Cassidy's, 12th Birthday party. I cannot believe she is 12! My sister was smart this year and had her friend party Friday night before we all got there and then the family gathering Saturday. It was great to be there but unfortunately she had to leave about 3pm to go with her Dad so we saw them for about 4.5 hours. I know this is just they way it is but it sometimes makes me sad and poor Raelynn just wants to be with them.

Anyway, Saturday night our family and Cody's family (Steph's boyfriend) all went out target shooting. Now if this isn't something that only happens in Hickville I don't know what is. So we all load up, drive a few miles out of town to this guys house and out behind his house they have built a bunker. We put up our cardboard targets and we're ready to go. The whole thing kind of made me laugh. Things are so simple there. There are no hoops to jump through when you get the urge to do something, you just go do it. My Dad serves on the police department there part time and he has great respect for guns so before we could shoot, we had a lesson. Now if you can only imagine me and my sisters standing there with my Dad why he tries to teach us how to shoot. Most people would never even consider offering us a gun if they were within a mile of us! Steph has shot with Cody so she was reasonably good at it and Sherri is serious about everything so she didn't seem awkward there but then there was Karli who was just a little scared about it all and then me who had to borrow some flip flops just to go out so I didn't have to wear my heals! Anyway, it turned out to be pretty fun for us all. We shot a variety of guns between what my Dad had and what Cody and his family had. We also got the pleasure of seeing an enormous snake and millions of rabbits, non of which we shot.




The time all went by too quick and Sunday morning we were back on the road headed home. We made it home in time for me to rush to my aerobic meeting. I finally got home about 6:30pm for dinner and bathes. I sat down in the living room to have a few minutes with the kids and Raelynn asked if she and Coop could wrestle. It is so cute to watch, Terry and I just laughed. They wrestled and the chased each other and played hide and seek. It was hard to get them calmed for bed but all worth the smiles.

So tonight we got ready for our big week ahead. We have changed daycare providers for the kids; a decision that was more difficult than one could imagine. The kids will start their new daycare tomorrow. I am quite sure I am more nervous about it then they are but excited at the same time. There are so many things that change from our schedule to our financial responsibility and it all makes me a little stressed but I think it is going to be great. We are going to have to leave a little earlier in the mornings so tonight the kids laid out their clothes for tomorrow and agreed to get dressed when they got up. I can only hope that Raelynn does not change her mind :) This is a crazy week not only with the change in daycare but also with multiple doctor visits and Raelynn goes to VBS with Aunt Bonnie. We are just praying for a smooth transition and by Friday hope we still feel we have made the right decision. Another week that is sure to hold more laughter and tears!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAELYNN.....

This week was all about Raelynn and a lot of fun! Wednesday Raelynn turned 4. I cannot believe she is growing up so fast. We started the morning with birthday cake and presents. My Mom, Karli and Chandler were all here Tuesday evening and spent the night so they were here for our little kick off :) I met Raelynn, Lisa and the boys for lunch at McDonald's and then we were off to Henry T's for dinner. Raelynn had a great day and was looking forward to her party on Saturday. I went to bed Wednesday night just thinking how different our lives had been four years ago. I thought everything was good then but everything is amazing now. Raelynn is such a bundle of energy and everyday brightens just with her smile. I love every part of her, even the stubborn part. I hope she has been as happy in her first 4 years of life as I have been.



Saturday morning was party day. She had her party from 11 to 2 and then we were off to Leavenworth for their fireworks show at 4pm. The day was crazy busy but her party was a success. She had a great time and so did her guests, I think :) Everything really went great. Brianne, our neighbor and friend, made Raelynn star cakes each decorated as a flag and cupcakes. Everything was sooo cute!!! She did a wonderful job.




The whole weekend was fun with family and friends. After all the craziness, I sit here and wonder how we got so lucky to have such an extraordinary family and outstanding friends. I cherish every second of each! I could never make these birthday parties work without the help of my family.

Raelynn is now fast asleep and as I kiss her goodnight in a few minutes I will hold the kiss just a little longer knowing that the past 4 years have flown by and just for the split second of that goodnight kiss I will wish she could stay small forever. I know she can't and know really we don't want them to, but I will miss her needing me as she grows up and will miss the silly games we play and hilarious conversation we have, but I do know as these things past new experience will arise and I will cherish them just as much.