COOPER IS ALL BOY.....

Happy Monday to us!

And to think this morning I was upset with him because he scribbled marker all over his lenses. At least that could be fixed with a little windex! After Lisa called to tell me Coop bent his glasses I headed home to get his spare pair. Then tonight after work we headed down to Wink, again! The owner, Mike, is wonderful. He and his entire staff are nothing but kind and try to assure me that this happens all the time. His frames could not be fixed but because Coop has special transition lenses in these glasses to help his eyes with the sun, Mike took time to take apart both glasses and use the parts to make one good pair with the transition lenses. Then he'll send off to have the spare pair fixed. We are so lucky to have found Wink! He really has taken very good care of Cooper and today he saved Cooper from having to start earning his keep!

Sunday was the Ironman 70.3 Kansas. We had a group volunteer for Cooper's Cause and we helped with an aid station. We had a great time! I knew it would be interesting to see but I did not expect it to be so much fun!!! The athletes were amazing! My friend Kelly was on a team with Raelynn and Cooper's swim instructor and another friend of theirs, Crystal. Kelly ran, Claudine swam and Crystal biked. They took 2nd which was fantastic! Anyway, other than having to give up a day with the kids, it was wonderful and I can't wait to do it again!

A STORY THAT HAS TO BE TOLD.......

This week was a little weird. There seemed to be some really grumpy days, busy days, gloomy days.....it just was weird but the one thing that really stands out in my mind and makes me laugh hysterically is a little incident involving Steph and Terry. Now Steph warned me I could not post this on the blog so the following is just a fictional story about a morning at the Jone's house (wink, wink). In our story there are a few characters, we will call the first Harry. Harry is the husband, dad, brother-in-law. Then there is Sue the wife, mother, sister. Next is Peggy the younger sister of Sue. One morning Harry had to leave very early for work leaving Sue and Peggy to get ready and get Sue's 2 kids, Patsy and William ready too. Sue and Peggy were running around crazy trying to get ready. Sue had just got out of the shower and was in one bathroom getting ready while Peggy was in the other bathroom getting ready to get in the shower. Sue yells for Peggy to bring her some eyeliner before she got in the shower. Peggy comes out of her bathroom with a jog bra only on thinking the two girls and the two kids were the only ones home. Peggy brings Sue the eyeliner and then stops to tend to William who was being especially winy. As Peggy looks up there stood Harry. He had returned home. So there stood Peggy in a jog bra only, no pants in front of her brother-in-law. The story only gets funnier. So Peggy grabs William, the 1 year old boy, and holds him in front of her to try to conceal the area she is not comfortable exposing to her brother-in-law. Now Sue is right behind her cracking up! It takes a second for everything to sink in to Harry but when he hears Peggy say, "I'm naked!" He laughs and very calmly in a "no big deal" type of way, turns around and walks away. Steph, I mean Peggy, was so embarrassed I thought she was going to die. All I, or I mean Sue, could think was the fact that she was holding my son at her exposed crouch and that just couldn't be comfortable for him either. The whole thing was hysterical! I laugh every time I think about it. As for Terry, I mean Harry, he just laughs too!

We did get a few things accomplished this week. Raelynn has officially decided on a 4th of July Birthday theme which I am quite pleased with. It should make things very simple. We sat down and made her guest list and then her wish list. When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday there were the things I already knew about like the DSi and the Scooter but then she went crazy. She added to her list a pinwheel. A pinwheel? Really? But yes she wants a pinwheel which made Aunt Steph very happy because we had just seen some earlier that day and made for an easy gift. After that Raelynn says, "am I old enough for a cell phone?" I let her know she was not but could not believe she was already going to ask for a cell phone! Then she decided she wanted a club house. After inquiring about this she told me she wanted a big club house in the back yard. Well I guess she won't be getting everything she wants this year!!!

Coop had his 18 month check up on Wednesday and is doing great. He is 19lbs and 2oz and is still i the 0% for weight but at least he is gaining. He is now 29 3/4" and is actually on the charts in the 2%. He is doing great and is just getting funnier by the day. He is saying new words every day and repeating everything we say. The most excitement came when he said "Steph". She had been working on him saying that for weeks! Today when we were trying to get ready he looked and Raelynn and said "ets Gooooo" for Let's Go! It was so cute!

Today was a wonderful day as the weekends always are. I love spending the day with Raelynn and Cooper. They are so great and the days go by way too fast. Tomorrow Terry and I and several other volunteers are working an Aid Station at the Ironman. I think it will be fun and I am glad we are doing it but I am sad I have to give up one of my days with the kids. It is for a good cause though and we are earning money for Cooper's Cause also.

WE SPENT OUR ANNIVERSARY AT A HORSE SHOW.....

I would have never guessed that I would ever spend my anniversary at a horse show, but today was Raelynn's first horse show and it was so much fun. I was full of questions. I had never been to anything like that and it amazed me. Who knew so many people loved horses and were so into it. I am sure Bonnie was about to strangle me with all the questions but I was just so interested. Along with Raelynn, her Aunt Bonnie competed and her cousin Megan. It was great. Raelynn did so good for her first time. She had this completely cheesy smile and she even yawned one time but all in all it was great. She even placed 4th by both judges and got a little prize. I was very proud of her. We videoed the whole thing but I have not figured out how to download the video to the computer yet. The pictures are a little grainy because it was so dark in there, but you can still see how perfectly cute she was.



Cooper had a good time as well but would have had an even better time if he could have competed. All he wanted was to be on the horse! Of course at the end Aunt Bonnie saw to it that he got to ride.


It was a great day and Terry even remembered our anniversary! He also got me a traditionally 6th wedding anniversary gift of candy and a Calla Lily Flower. I was so impressed that he would research to find out what the traditional gift was; it was very unlike him. Then I heard him high five Steph in the living room and knew that having Steph here continues to have its perks :)! Regardless it was another wonderful day with the family and I don't need an anniversary to remind me how much I love Terry and how lucky I am to have him!

A LITTLE OVERWHELMED..........

Sometimes when I get down here to work on things from our personal stuff to the foundation I get completely overwhelmed. I really, really wish there were more hours in the day, it would help greatly!!! My mind is whirling with things that need done tomorrow, what is coming up next week, the ironman, various things for the foundation, Raelynn's birthday party preparations, the laundry that needs put away upstairs, the dishwasher that needs emptied....the list goes on and on and anything that can be done tonight has to be because I could never go to bed without the laundry being done or the dishes being put away. The only good thing about this is it is almost midnight and I am not tired at all. The bad part is, when the alarm goes off in the morning to go run....I will hate myself! I should be used to my crazy, neurotic self by now but it sometimes still overwhelms me.

Raelynn was exhausted tonight. She went swimming with her cousins, Kent, Kylie, Skyler and Cassie, today. She had a blast. It was so nice of them to invite her along and I tell you she thinks she is pretty big stuff when she gets to go somewhere without her little brother. Everyday I watch her grow up more and more. She is into music and she is starting to like grown up music now instead of all the little kids stuff. I am so thankful. I think if I had to listen to Vegie Tales or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse too many more times I might really consider breaking the car stereo myself! Anyway, she and I both love the new Miley Cyrus song, The Climb. I love this song but I love it even more when it is turned up loud just like Raelynn wants it and she is in the back seat singing along. Coop is into music just as much if not more. This morning when I got to Lisa's The Climb came on just as I drove into the driveway. I told Coop we could not go in until the song was over. Coop sat there in his car seat with one hand holding his sippy cup and the other tapping away. He was bobbing his head right along with the song. It cracked me up.

Raelynn has her first horse show this Sunday. I cannot wait to see how she does. I really won't know because I have no idea what they are looking for but it will be kind of fun to just think she looks so cute ad is doing wonderful even if she is not. I told her to just smile, sit up straight on the horse and if any of the judges looked grumpy to just give them the princess wave, you know the elbow-elbow-wrist, wrist, wrist wave, and they would hand out great scores. We practiced a little tonight. I was the horse of course! Tonight after our story Raelynn and I were laying in bed snuggling and she told me she loved me. I told her I loved her too. Then she said, "I'm not just saying that, I really love you." Then she kissed me on the forehead. What a grown up thing to say! I told her I knew just what she meant because I felt the same way. She smiled and gave a little giggle and snuggled even harder. I lay with her for a few minutes after story and prayers almost every night and still I can never get enough of it. I don't know how long she'll do this, but I hope whether it is laying in bed or standing doing our hair in the bathroom mirror we will always have that special time that just seems like ours and no one elses.

Cooper is a talking maniac! Today Lisa bought him a new bubble machine and he said "bubble". After work we went to the store and Raelynn was singing the Mickey Mouse song...."Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Digittie Dog" and Coop said "Hot Dog". Tonight I asked him what story he wanted to read and he went back to his room, got his favorite book (Goodnight Moon), and as he handed it to me he says, "Goodnight Moon". It is awesome. We have waited so long to hear his sweet little voice. I really can never wait to hear or see what he will do next. He surprises me all the time. He is such a happy little boy and just wants to do just what his big sis is doing. They put puzzles together, read books, color....it really is the most amazing thing to watch. Sometimes I do the whole sad thing about how this is my last baby I will hear say his first words or watch learning how to do certain things but the truth is I don't think I will ever run out of seeing their "firsts" for either of them. Watching Cooper do things is just as memorable and moving as when I saw Raelynn do them and even though Raelynn is getting bigger there is still something new and amazing that happens every day!

Well Coop's surgery is officially scheduled. We will go in for pre op on Wednesday September 23rd and his surgery will be on September 24th. Due to the extent of his surgery, he will be their only case that day. His surgery is scheduled for 8:30am. It will be a 6-10 hour surgery. As of now, he will be their first Hybrid procedure. There will be 2 teams of doctors; the cardiologist team and the surgical team. Dr. Kaine and the cardiologist team will put angioplasty in the arteries on the right side of the heart and stints and angioplasty in the arteries on the left side. Dr. O'Brien and the surgical team will close the VSD(hole) between the two ventricles and insert a conduit. This is the valve apparatus they have been trying to insert since day one. This surgery is again complicated and lengthy but supposedly not as scary as the last. A lump swells in my throat every time I mention the upcoming surgery. I know things will go as they are suppose to I just hope "the way they are suppose to" is the way we want. I can't help but cry now as I think about it and I still wonder how I will hold myself together when the time comes. I surprised myself at the cardiac catheter because I did not really shed a tear but this is the scary one. I just hope by September I have figured out how to hold the tears back and just show Cooper that it is going to be ok and he has nothing to worry about, that is what Mom is suppose to do right? Well I have a few months to work on it so if I can just keep the million thoughts of what need to be done swarming in my head so there is no empty time to think about September 24th, I should be fine!

Well I think it is time to go start on the clothes and dishes. Cody came into town to surprise Steph tonight and he has made it so I guess there is no other reason to stay up as everyone is where they are suppose to be or sound asleep. It is quite a job keeping track of everyone,hahaha!

"IWuvOOOOO"!......................

On Sunday evening Cooper said "I love you!" It was not exactly 3 separate words but more like all one word slurred together, "IWuvOOOO!" but I knew just what he meant. Raelynn and Terry were gone so I texted them and called Aunt Karli. He finally said it for her and today he said it to Noah, Lisa's son. It is so cute and he is so proud of himself. When I try to get him to say it he just smiles and leans forward to kiss me as though to say, "not now Mom, I will tell you later, just settle for my sweet sloppy kiss for now". Tonight Aunt Steph got back from being in Manhattan for a few days and Cooper ran into her arms. It is was so cute!

Raelynn had her first day of summer camp. She said it was a lot of fun but come to find out Raelynn thought summer camp involved tents and spending the night out in the woods. When I told her it was just at her school from 9am to 11:30am she was a little disappointed. I told her when she got bigger she could maybe go to a summer camp where she spent the night. She was happy with that and said, "maybe I could just spend the night with Kaden and Kelly in their backyard". Kelly is a dear friend of mine and Kaden is her 2 year old son. I said well maybe and Raelynn said, "Let's call her!" The girl is dying to spend the night with someone and it is killing me to think of one night without her! There will be plenty of those come hospital time. So I told her kids couldn't spend the night with other kids until they are 5. She looks straight at me and says, "Ya right Mom!" When did she get so smart?!!! I just laughed and told her she could spend the night with me. Needless to say she was not thrilled with that idea and I don't think that is the last I will hear of that topic!

So I guess I have spurred some curiosity with my reference to the Chocolate Cake in a Mug so here is the recipe. Give it a try....it really is good!

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 Tbs Flour
4 Tbs Cocoa
1 Egg
3 Tbs Milk
3 Tbs Oil
3 Tbs Chocolate Chips
Splash of Vanilla Extract

In a large coffee mug add all dry ingredients, mix well.
Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips, add vanilla extract and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little and tip out onto a plate.

Enjoy!!!