SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED.......

There has been so much that has happened since my last post so we will take it day by day through the good and the not so good. Monday morning I headed to work and got a call from Mom. There was possible high winds, sleet and ice turning to snow moving in to Scott City area Tuesday. Therefore, our plans to leave Tuesday after work did not look so promising. We started making arrangements to leave Monday night or Tuesday morning. As always Tom was great and let me leave a day early. Terry hustled around and got two days work done in one. There was no way we could be ready Monday night but Tuesday morning we hit the road a little before 6 am. The trip down went fairly well. The kids are not big fans of their car seats, especially Cooper so we got to experience his tears and anger for the majority of the trip. Raelynn did not sleep on the trip and except for a small portion did very well. For the first time ever, we arrived in Scott City in the daylight. It was really nice to get there and actually have some time to talk and settle in. We usually get there in the middle of the night so everyone is eager to get to bed. We drove in a little rain but the weather did not turn bad until late evening. They had blowing snow, it was not bad, but would have not been the best to drive in. Later in the day we received a call from my Aunt that my Grandma was in the hospital and they would not be here for Christmas. Grandma had suffered from several strokes and she had not been well for years. Aunt Barbara has cared for her and made so many sacrifices to do so. They thought she may have pneumonia but she was doing fine and was responsive but would probably be in the hospital until Friday. We were very disappointed because we have not seen them for a very long time.

Wednesday we spent the day getting ready for our Christmas Eve Bash. We had a great time. We went to Christmas Eve Service at six. It was a really nice service as always. As we stood at the front of the church while we gathered in a circle with lighted candles and singing Silent Night, Cooper decides to put on a show. I guess he is so use to being the center of attention, he thought everyone was looking at him. He started raising his arms and acting as though he was bowing and worshiping which was quite appropriate but also quite comical. The more we laughed the prouder he was of himself. Cassidy and Chandler were part of a little performance at church as well and it was really good.

Sherri and the girls!

The Coopers

Grandma and Grandpa with the Grandkids!

The Cooper Girls!

The Keefer's

After church we headed home and started the eating. After we ate too much it was gift time. It was insane! I suppose you could say there are too many gifts but when are there ever too many gifts? We have so much fun and it is always so much fun watching everyone open what you got them. That is the best part. The kids got wonderful gifts as well as Terry and I. Cooper wasn't much into opening his gifts but loved what was inside. Raelynn was awesome. She loves opening gifts and is so thankful. The good news is she didn't even have to use her fake smile and thank you that we had practiced just in case she got a gift she didn't really like. Everything was so mush fun. We actually finished by 10pm this year and we had some time to play. Then it was off to bed so we wouldn't be to awake when Santa came.

A House Divided!

Cooper applauds his gift!

Yes! Raelynn got her WII!

Thank you Aunt Karli for my perfume!!!

Cutest present ever!
The next morning Santa spoiled us again! Cassidy and Chandler stayed at Grandma's too so we could all have Santa together.


After that we started preparing for a late dinner. Mom and Sherri cooked and the rest of us started a Gilmore Girls Marathon. Karli had gotten all 7 seasons! The marathon continued through Friday night!!! Dinner was fabulous as always!!! As we were finishing up the phone rang, it was Aunt Barbara. Grandma has passed away. My Grandpa had passed 4 years ago on Thanksgiving Day and now Grandma on Christmas. It was very sad although also a blessing. As I had said, Grandma had not been well and now for the first time she was herself again, in heaven with God. We had grown up with my Grandma and she was wonderful. She was a classic Grandma. She made everything homemade and I loved her very much. Years ago I had actually mourned her loss when she had lost her ability to care for herself. I will never forget it. I had come back for Christmas and there was my Grandma sitting in a wheelchair and hardly feeding herself. I cried through the whole dinner. It was a very difficult day for me. So now, although I am sad, I am also very happy that she is free and happy again. She was not "living" these past few years she was just here. Now it was time again to tell Raelynn that her Great Grandma had passed away, just two months after Nanni. She said very little and I expect there to be more after the funeral. In addition my Aunt Helene who had also been very ill passed away on Christmas Eve, this is my Grandma's Sister-In-Law. So that is how our Christmas ended.

The past 2 days have been filled with funeral planning and just trying to figure out how Terry and I can make it all work. The funeral is set for Tuesday with viewing Monday evening. Terry and I have cautiously decided to just stay here instead of driving back today and then returning Monday. The 5 1/2 hour trip is a long one. I still don't know that this was the best decision. I just feel like there are things that need to be dealt with there and missing more work is very hard for me. This year has been a very long and hard one. I am truly blessed to have the boss I have and respect him more than he will ever know. I always hope he knows that I never take his kindness for granted and will continue to work very hard for him. I have always thought that your work says a lot about who you are and therefore missing days here and there for Cooper and funerals, although unavoidable and unpredictable, are always difficult for me and the reason I never just take a day off for me. I am just thankful for my job and what it has given me. We will stay here until after the funeral on Tuesday and then head back.

Friday my other Grandma on my Mom's side, my Aunt Linda, Uncle Bob, Uncle Wayne and Aunt Ann all stopped by to visit. My Grandma is 91 and looks fabulous. It was so great to see her. My Aunt Linda was crazy as ever and always makes us laugh. As Terry says, Uncle Bob has to be just as crazy to live with her. :) They are so much fun. Uncle Wayne and Aunt Ann were also well and it was such a nice visit. We do not get to see them very often and none of them had met Coop. Uncle Wayne and Aunt Ann had brought there granddaughter and she and Raelynn spent the afternoon playing. Grandma is now my last living Grandparent which just makes the visit even more special.

Great Grandma Branine and Cooper

Great Grandma Branine and Raelynn

Great Aunt Linda and Cooper

Great Grandma Branine and Cooper

IS TODAY CHRISTMAS????

Every morning Raelynn asks, "Is today Christmas?" before she even wakes up. This time of year has always been my favorite but it is even better now with the kids. Our weekend was packed with last minute cooking and shopping and packing. Raelynn, Cooper and I cooked all day Saturday making cookies, banana bread and candies. It was so much fun but my helpers pooped out a little early. Raelynn managed to always be in the kitchen when it was time to lick the beaters from the blender or lick a bowl or eat cookie dough, but cartoons called her away during the baking and clean up time. The kids were really great this weekend and I managed to get so much done. We are all just very eager to head out to Western Kansas to see Grandma and Grandpa and everyone else. I know these next two days are going to be very long. We have so much to do on Monday delivering gifts but then we will be ready to go.

We picked out Cooper's glasses on Wednesday and we hope to have them before we leave. He is still throwing up like crazy but cannot explain why other than his cold and coughing causing it. Other than that he is fine. He is getting very ornery. Today, every time Raelynn and I would be playing or I would be holding her Cooper would come over and try to disrupt us or push her off my lap. At one point he pulled Raelynn's hair and Raelynn says, "Cooper that is not very good choices, you need to make better choices." Cooper reached up and pulled her hair again and she says "Cooper you need to use nice touches!" With that, Cooper laid his little head on her shoulder and gave her a hug. Raelynn and I both cracked up. They are so cute and I find myself so proud of Raelynn with the way she handles him. I am truly afraid Cooper is going to be a terror because he is just so darn cute and you cannot help but laugh at his orneriness. He knows exactly what he is doing and finds himself quite entertaining too. Most of the time after you have told him "no" a few times he gets this little grin on his face and tries it just one more time trying to see how far he can get. When you scold him he sticks his pouty bottom lip out and you would think you just crumbeled his self esteem. It is all way too funny.

There is no real big news for us, just anxious for Christmas. Our family has such a wonderful time. Christmas Eve we spend all day cooking, well Mom and Sherri do, I usually help with one or two things before finding one of the kids that needs my attention more :). Then that night we always attend Candle Light service at church and then home to eat and open presents. This lasts way into the night but as a general rule we end things by midnight! Then Christmas morning it is up bright and early to see what Santa has brought. I still love this part! Then more eating and time with the family. It truly has to be the best holiday ever. I think I am so excited this year because last year we did not get any of our traditions and honestly I remember very little. We had only been home with Cooper for a few days and I had pnemonia. I was in so much pain Christmas Eve I really do not remember much other than our emergency room trip. That is why I can't wait to enjoy really our first Christmas with both the kids. So two days and counting.......

WILL THINGS EVER SLOW DOWN.....I HOPE NOT....

Well the weekend once again flew by. Saturday we went to the KU game at the Sprint Center which should have been a blast but KU lost so it wasn't as fun as we had hoped, however we did have a great time. We are getting very spoiled with tickets to KU games and I am so thankful because the kids really love going and we have so much fun watching them cheer the Hawks on. We went with our friend Julie and her son Marty which was a nice treat as we do not see them often. Sunday Raelynn went to Jill's annual sprinkle party where Jill has hundreds of little kids over to her house and allows them to decorate Christmas Cookies with frosting and sprinkles and candies. This would be my worst nightmare and Jill loves it. Imagine a room full of little kids, spreading red and green frosting all over your cabinets and floors and then touching your walls with sprinkled sticky hands. Raelynn loves it. She had so much fun and came home with a beautiful cookie for each of us, even Cooper.


Monday we had an appointment with Dr. Kelley for Cooper's second flu shot, synagis shot and 1 year well check (which also included another 2 shots). Cooper had lost an ounce but with all the throwing up he has been doing I was not surprised. Dr. Kelley did not have an answer for Cooper being sick lately and said we would just watch him. He had done better over the weekend and I thought maybe we were getting past it, until this morning. I will talk more about that later. So at 1 year, Cooper is 27 inches tall and weighs 16lbs 9 oz. He is in the 0% for both height and weight, and we thought he was getting so big :) The good news is developmentally Cooper is right on track. His language development is a little behind, but other than that he is doing great! We will keep working with him and I am sure he will catch up in that area.

Today was insane. I left the house and dropped Cooper off at Lisa's just in time for him to throw up all over her. I took him so she could go clean up and there he went again all over me and himself. So back home I went to get changed and get him new clothes. Back to Lisa's and dropped off the clothes. I got to work a little after 9am. At 11:30 am I picked Raelynn up from preschool and headed to drop her off at Lisa's. We had one little stop to make at the bank. As we were headed back to the car Raelynn missed the snow covered curb and took a nose dive right into the 2 inches of fresh snow. She cut her lip a little so as I was picking her up there was red snow. Back home we went to clean up and get dry clothes on. To top it all off the roads were a mess. Raelynn was fine and you couldn't even see her cut lip. What a day!!! By the time I was headed back to work I could do nothing but laugh. There was a day that this would have sent me over the edge but these days it is the norm!!

So I may be talking about this prematurely but I cannot help but be excited. Sarah, the wonderful women who made the call to Wink, Jr., has came up with an amazing idea. I received an email from her last week that she had been thinking about Raelynn through all of this and wondered if we might incorporate some small gift for the siblings of the families that are helped by Cooper's Cause Foundation. She obviously had put much thought into this and her idea is amazing. The idea is that we would give the siblings an appreciation party and show them that they are not forgotten in all of this and make them feel special. You that know me have to know what this meant to me. Raelynn has always been my rock. The girl is amazing. During all of this I have continually kept Raelynn involved in everything we do and tried to set aside time for just her. But as you all know there were almost a total of 2 months that she lived with my Mom or Sister and only got to visit me in the hospital, definitely not a way to make her feel special. There were days I would sob when she left and feel like the most horrible mother alive. I will never forget the day my Mom had to literally pull Raelynn off of me to leave. We were standing by the ground floor elevators at CMH, I had walked them back down as far as I could go. I was trying to tell Raelynn goodbye but she started to cry. "Please Mommy I don't want to leave, you come with me." I lost it. I remember them peeling her clasped hands from around my neck and I just had to get back on that elevator to go back to Cooper. It was one of the worst moments for me. At that moment I did not know how much longer I could do this to her. No mother should feel so split between her children. Since then, although we try to keep things normal with the kids, there is so much done with Coopers Cause Foundation you have to wonder if there will be a day Raelynn is resentful. And then along comes Sarah! Her idea made me so happy, a way to include Raelynn in the foundation directly. Sarah left it up to us as to what we would name this little part of the foundation but had given a few suggestions. Tonight I sat down with Raelynn to tell her what we were thinking. She was awesome. She thought the idea was great and loved Sarah's suggestion of "Raelynn's Rock Stars" because I tell her she's a rock star all the time! Raelynn thought it would be important to have doctor things at the appreciation party so that the kids could listen to their hearts like the doctors listen to Cooper's. She also told me she would need to be there so if any of the kids had questions about their brothers or sisters broken hearts she could answer them. She went on and on. She makes me so proud and I continue to be in awe at her understanding of the foundation and everything that goes along with it let alone Cooper's condition. Anyway, we will be meeting with Sarah after the first of the year to fully implement Raelynn's Rock Stars and continue to watch Cooper's Cause Foundation reach new levels. Thank you again Sarah!

A POST I HAVE BEEN AVOIDING....

I have been trying to avoid this post but simply cannot any longer. I will make this short because this is hard. One of the families we have been following and who's blog is listed to the right, The Heart of a Princess; Isabelle's Story, lost their precious little girl while waiting for a heart transplant. She was 3 years old. This is a loss I cannot imagine and just ask that you all keep them in your prayers.

GLASSES FOR ONE, THERAPY FOR THE OTHER....

So if you know me you know I am a little "anal". Yes nothing can go undone. I never procrastinate because what can be done today should never be left 'til tomorrow. I hand mop my floors at least daily. Even our junk drawer is organized. Ok, so you get the picture. Well last night we ran out of diapers in Cooper's diaper caddy. I got some more out of the closet and asked Raelynn if she would mind opening them and putting them in the diaper caddy. She eagerly agreed and I left the room to get Cooper a drink. When I returned the pictures below show what I came back to. There was my daughter telling me they needed organized by the color and characters before she put them away and this is just what she had done. After the extensive organization I helped her put them neatly in the caddy. She was very pleased with herself and I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that I am creating a monster! The truth is she had little chance not to be a little "OCD" because Terry is over the top as well. He is a perfectionist. He can take hours just to simply hang a picture because it has to be perfect. I am not complaining at all, of course I want the picture perfect as well.



So let me begin by saying the Wink Eyewear is fabulous and the owner, Mike, was wonderful to us. I picked Cooper up from Lisa's after I dropped Raelynn off from preschool. I was in a hurry as always and was to meet Terry at Wink Jr. at noon. It is downtown on Mass street so of course when I got there I circled the block several times looking for a place to park. Finally I decide to park in a little parking lot about a block away. By this time I am about 5 minutes late and have called Terry twice complaining about my lack of parking ability! The problem is I am horrible at parking so parallel parking is out of the question and a snug parking spot I don't even take a second look at. So I go to grab Cooper out of the car and am very excited to meet Mike at Wink. As I am grabbing Coop out of his car seat he decides to throw up. We have been having a lot of issues with him doing this lately and everyone thinks it is because of his cold but I am not completely convinced. Anyway, there I am reaching for anything to clean him up. Now I am freaking out as Raelynn would say. Again, if you know me, I believe first impressions are very important and I wanted little Cooper to look his best. Well he still looked fine but did not smell so great. I cleaned him up and now am about 15 minutes late....shoot me! I am walking as fast as possible down Mass street in my heels carrying Cooper. Then I realize the prescription card my eye doctor had given me had got launched when Cooper started throwing up so I had no idea where it was but too late now anyway. I see Terry and hand off Cooper and walk in the door with a smile on my face. From the very start Mike was great. He of course asked me for the prescription card and I told him little Cooper had gotten sick and he stopped me right there and assured me he would not have wanted the puked on card anyway :) It made me laugh! He tried on several styles and got a feel for what looked good on Coop and what we liked. He is ordering in a few in Cooper's size and we will go back on Monday or Tuesday and try them on and pick the best one. I have to say looking at Cooper in these glasses made me laugh. He is so stinkin' cute with glasses or without. So I guess I am saying I am coming to terms with it and everyone is helping by saying how cute he will be. Thank you! Whether you mean it or not, thank you :) Mike was generous enough to get his lab to donate the lenses as well and therefore are basically taking care of Cooper's first pair of glasses entirely. I cannot even tell you how nice and generous this is. They are cutting no corners either by giving him the best lenses the little guy could need. They had so many frames to choose from as well and it all makes us feel so blessed. Thank you to Sarah for making the call and thank you to Mike for being so generous and having a big heart! The pictures below give you an idea of Coop in glasses although these were too big.