I AM SO THANKFUL......

I am making this post a little early because the rest of the week is bound to be hectic. My family is coming for Thanksgiving and Coop's birthday. I am so excited for them all to be here; we have so many fun things planned. Wednesday night Mom, Sherri and Karli come in then Thursday of course is Thanksgiving. We are all spending Thanksgiving with the Keefer side which will be great having everyone together. Friday morning we will start Black Friday shopping bright and early (3am or so) and then I take the kids to pick out their Christmas ornament and get the house decorated for Christmas. Then of course we head downtown Friday evening to see Santa arrive. Saturday will be full of preparations for Coop's Bday and then his party. Sunday Raelynn and I are going to Disney on Ice with our wonderful friends, Kelly and Kaden. So needless to say it will be a fun filled week and weekend.

I always like to stop and really think about what I am thankful for this time of year. I am always thankful for my family and friends and that still hasn't changed, but the level of thankfulness has. I cannot think of one thing I would change in my life. I have a wonderful husband and the most amazing kids. I love them all so much I cannot even remember what my life was like before them. I have a wonderfully supportive family as well. I cannot even imagine what I would do without my parents and sisters. There are just so many things I am truly thankful for. Over the past year we have had a couple "challenges" that have made me appreciate who I am and what I have even more than ever before. I cannot thank everyone in my life enough for being such wonderful friends. I am surrounded by good, loving people and I truly believe I could never need anything more than I have right now. I am also thankful that I can continue to give of myself as a wife, mother and friend. I am thankful for the foundation. It has introduced me to more wonderful people and been a constant reminder of how lucky we are to have Cooper. I am thankful for my faith. My friend Kelly brought me to the church we attend and I really like it and it again helps lead me in the direction I want to go. I could go on and on but really I am just thankful for the life I have been given and hope that I never forget how fortunate I am.





I am also thankful for these pics of Raelynn as well :)

COOPER IS GROWING....AND SO IS RAELYNN....

We went in for Coop's first synagis shot today and along with the shot comes an exam. Coop is up to 21lbs 4oz, yipee! So he is still gaining which is great. He has a head cold, you know the basics, runny nose and watery eyes, but is good otherwise. When the nurse came in to give him his shots, they were much bigger shots than they had been last year and there were 2 of them. He was sitting on the table, the nurse laid the syringes down beside him along with the band aids. Coop looked at them and started shaking his finger at her and said, "no....no,no,no!" It was so funny. Unfortunately the nurse did not listen to him and he was soon in tears. He did manage to blow her a kiss before we left.

So while Coop is talking up a storm and learning new ways to be ornery, Raelynn is becoming quite the little girl. Her new thing is being completely helpful. The more she can do by herself the better. This week it has been helping with Cooper. She has given him a bath all week. Of course I am close by supervising but I wouldn't need to be. The girl is amazing, she doesn't miss a beat. After bath time she brushes his teeth and the whole works. It is making my job way too easy. She is also into healthy snacks. It seems all she eats these days are bananas and apples which of course make me very happy. The other morning she and Terry were talking about who she was taking her to school. Terry told her she was going with him and she said she would rather go with me. Terry started acting all sad and Raelynn says to him, "Dad, it's not the end of the world!" I was walking by them at the time and Terry and I just cracked up.

Every year we do a shoebox gift through our church and a mitten tree for Raelynn's preschool. With the shoebox gift, you fill a shoebox with gifts for a child that may not have a gift at Christmas. Last Saturday we headed out to buy the gifts for the shoebox and a hat and mittens for the mitten tree. This year Raelynn had been saving some of her money so she was going to buy the gifts. We went to Target and got a bunch of great stuff for the shoebox. As we were checking out Raelynn was telling the cashier all about what we were doing. He was a high school age kid and really had little interest in what she was saying. As he totaled it Raelnn knew she did not have as much as he had asked for so she hands him her cash and tells him with a little wave of her hand, "Mom's got plastic for the rest." Now the cashier did think this was funny not only because of what she said but because we were talking about a $.28 difference. Then Sunday we took the box to the church and as we were at the table with the lady who was making sure the boxes were put together right and such, Raelynn proceeds to tell her the whole story about how she saved her money and bought this gift for a kid whose Mommy and Daddy do not have enough money to buy them one and how she hopes they really likes it because she would. This completely sweet woman listens intently to Raelynn and when Raelynn is done, she says to Raelynn, "Can I give you a hug for doing such a nice thing?" Raelynn looks at her and completely nonchalantly says, "Sure, if that will make you feel better." This woman tries so hard to hold back her laughter. She is crying she is laughing so hard and trying to keep it in. As Raelynn and I leave church Raelynn says to me, "Why was that lady crying?" I told her she was crying because she thought what she did was so sweet. Raelynn says to me, "huh, I wonder what she does when she's sad?" This time it was me trying to hold back my laughter.

So these are just a few of the stories from the last few days. I have never in my life experienced so much growth than I have through my kids. I honestly believe that being a parent is the best education I have ever received. I wish I could find a way to describe to someone without children what it is like but I know it is a feeling and experience you cannot describe with words. I cherish every second I have with them and hope I can remember every second of every minute but hope even more that they will know how much they are loved.

WHAT WAS I THINKING.....

I just finished craft time and I did survive. Any of you that know me very well know that crafts are not one of my strengths. I was horrible at them when I was little and nothing has changed. I used to avoid anything crafty and since my extremely creative sister lived close by, she always included my kids in decorating Easter eggs and doing fun little Valentine's things and all that good stuff. However, when she moved I knew I was going to have to suck it up and do a few things here and there. So this Christmas I have decided that the kids will do these little craft kits for their friends. This afternoon I decided we better get started because we have quite a few to do. It started off just great.....I opened the kit and come to find out you need a glue gun. A glue gun???? Doesn't the kit come with that???? It said everything included! Anyway, thank goodness Terry is much more crafty than I and he has a glue gun. The craft project was back on. Raelynn and I spread everything out and things were going just great, that is until about the 3rd one when both Raelynn and I got bored.

So Raelynn left me to finish and headed to the living room to watch Blues Clues. So now not only am I doing something I despise, I now am doing it while listening to Blues Clues another thing I can hardly stand :). But finally it is all over. I am done with craft time and now I am listening to the kid's dance party which is always fun.

Yesterday we went to a birthday party at Monkey Business for friend's of Cooper and Raelynn's. As always it was a lot of fun. This time Raelynn did the rock wall and that was great to watch. She is just getting so big! Cooper had a great time as well. He has no fears so he was right there with the big kids.




This passed week we got the news that Coop was approved for synagis again this year. This is a shot to prevent RSV, an upper respiratory disease. Cooper has had them every year since he has been born. The shot has to be preapproved by the insurance company which is quite a process to begin with. Then when he is approved, we have to monthly coordinate their call for our approval and copay, their shipment and then the appointment with the doctor to administer it. It all is time sensitive. But the real kicker of it all is the cost of the shot. It is amazing to me how in the world something can cost so much. The shot is based on weight so in this case, thank goodness Coop is underweight. I try not to reference money too often in this blog but these synagis shots have always astounded me. This first shot was right at $4,000! I do not know what drives the cost on these so much but it is obvious now why insurance companies have to pre approve them. Anyway, I have horror story after horror story about synagis shots but when it all comes down to it, Cooper has never gotten RSV which could be fatal to him so I should simply be thankful, which honestly I am. I just have to complain once in awhile :)

I have some Cooper's Cause business to address too. This Thursday night back in Scott City, where my family lives, they are have a fundraiser for Cooper's Cause. Their local Pizza Hut is giving 20% of their proceeds from the people that dine there from 5 to 9pm. I am so thankful for them participating and for my little sister, Karli, who puts so much effort forth in organizing this event. This is the 2nd year they have done this. THANK YOU KARLI AND THANK YOU TO THE SCOTT CITY PIZZA HUT. The other big news is that the application for grant money is now available online. We will be taking applications from now through December 15th. Please spread the word as we are so excited to be helping other families! Thank you to everyone who has made that possible! We are so lucky to have all of you in our lives!

WHAT'S IT GOING TO BE.....

WILL IT BE RINGO STARR............


OR MICHAEL JORDAN..............


AND YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN HIS GOLF SWING YET!

TERRY'S BIRTHDAY WEEKEND.....

Yesterday was Terry's birthday, for his sake I won't announce what birthday :)! Raelynn had it all planned out. She wanted to get up early, make him cinnamon rolls and serve them with OJ in bed. So I got up early and ran and when I returned I woke Raelynn. It was all very cute and even though we decided to make Dad come to the kitchen for breakfast, it turned out well.

Terry had to work but when he did get home he and Raelynn spent a little time doing what Daddy likes most.

We finished the day making his birthday cake and then took him out to eat at his favorite restaurant....Henry T's. I think he enjoyed the day and Raelynn definitely enjoyed trying to make it special for him. Terry....we love you and hope you enjoyed your day. You make every day special to us so hopefully we made this one special for you!

Besides birthday celebrating, we had a wonderful weekend. The weather was amazing. Saturday the kids and I headed to the park for a picnic lunch and play. Today, Terry and the kids played outside while I cleaned which was nice to get things done. I can only dream that this weather will stay. However, Cooper was allowed to skip his nap and well, I think he is not yet ready for a day without a nap because this was the scene about 4pm.

Raelynn was hysterical as usual. Her vocabulary is growing in ways I did not know possible. I was explaining something to her and when I finished she says, "So let me get this straight...." and then she carried on to reiterate things so me. She also is big into "discoveries". Everything she goes to find and explorer becomes an extravagant discovery. Cooper likes their discovery missions as well. We were in a conversation the other night and she was talking about friends and I asked her if I was her friend. She said, "no silly you are my mommy!" I asked her if I couldn't be her mommy and her friend and she said, "No, you should just stick with being my Mommy, that keeps you busy enough!" Oh how right she is. Seriously, every day she grows older and older and not just in years. On the other side of things, today after church I went to the kitchen to get a 9 X 13 pan I had taken to a funeral a few months ago. I kept forgetting to get it. Raelynn and I went to the kitchen to find the pan. As I opened cupboard after cupboard I was not having any luck. Raelynn began to get very upset. She was insisting I ask someone for help and as I neared the end of the available cupboards she was sobbing and begging me to go ask someone for help. I stopped and picked her up and asked her what was going on. She said that we have to find the pan or we will never be able to make a cake together again because we use a 9 X 13 pan when we bake our cakes! It was so touching that our baking together meant so much to her but also so sad that she was getting so upset. I assured her we could always get another pan and she answered with a huge hug. My eyes swelled with tears. She is so sweet!

I know I keep talking about how much Cooper is talking but he really is. Today over lunch Raelynn and Cooper argued about who was Boo. (Boo is Cooper's nickname). Raelynn would say "I'm Boo" and Cooper would say "No! Me Boo!" Then they would both giggle. He is also big into telling everyone "No No!" Gee, I wonder where he gets that one. He is just so incredibly cute I can hardly stand it. Raelynn has chores she is responsible for and she has Cooper help her with them. He is so proud when she includes him and she is sooooo good at teaching him things. She reads to him and plays school and has him help her make her bed, and he is happy to do it all.

So another wonderful weekend with the family! The week ahead looks pretty quiet so I am sure it will be crazy and I am looking forward to it because I know it will end with another wonderful weekend with the family!!!!

HALLOWEEN FUN.....

Friday started our Halloween fun. Raelynn had a little Halloween party at school that started with a singing program for the parents. Terry drops Raelynn off so he had planned to stay for the 15 to 30 minute program. Raelynn asked me early in the week if I would be there and I had told her I wouldn't but Daddy would. This was followed with the guilt trip, "all the other Mommies are going to be there". I felt horrible but after taking 2 1/2 days off the week before due to sick kids I was very hesitant to ask to come in late. I was fine with my decision until I received and email that Raelynn didn't want to sing the songs at school because her Mommy wasn't going to be there to hear her anyway. With tears in my eyes I quickly walked back to Tom's office and asked to come in late Friday so I could hear Raelynn sing. Of course, as always, Tom was great about it and with a smile told me he was leaving early to see his grand kids for Halloween which did make me feel better. I am so lucky to have a boss that cares about me and my family. The program was cute and Raelynn had a great time.

Saturday night we headed out with Bat girl and Batman and again had a great time. Coop wasn't sure about it all but eventually warmed up to the idea. We were amazed that he left his mask on without any problem. Raelynn was great with him and always made sure he got plenty of candy. When we got home we picked out a few pieces of candy and then sat the rest out for the witch fairy. Sunday morning Raelynn woke up bright and early. She didn't even talk to any of us before she marched right outside with Cooper tagging along to see if the witch fairy came which of course she did. It was awesome, they were both very excited and pleased with what she left behind.




Sunday we had Coop's 2 year old pictures and our family pictures taken. I think we are going to end up with some amazing photos. Amber, the photographer, was really good and took over 700 pictures. Thank goodness we won't have to weed through all 700 but even if there are 50 it will be hard to choose. Coop was unbelievable. She would put him in a pose and he would just stand there, no moving at all. He never got fussy or anything. It was hard to get him to smile, but he definitely didn't mind posing.




Cooper continues to say more and more words. He is starting to communicate with us constantly and really telling us what he wants or needs. He gets cuter every day. Raelynn has been great as well. She is so helpful and does so much around the house. She always includes Coop too which is great. She does need her alone time and she makes that clear to Cooper but they are great together. When I put Raelynn to bed last night she says to me, "just 5 more days". I asked her 5 more days until what. "5 more days until it is spending the whole day together again". My heart melted.

Tonight I learned that a local family we had been following whose daughter was born with heart defects, lost their little girl. As I read the Mom's email, tears came to my eyes. I cannot imagine the grief they feel. Everyday I cherish every little thing the kids do, the good and the bad. After our last surgery with Cooper I promised myself I would always stop long enough to really take time to enjoy the kids. I do this or at least I really try. I take time to learn and grow with them, but when I get a reminder like this of just how precious their lives are I instantly know I need to try harder. They are the most important thing in this world and I will cherish every second I have with them.