Valentine's Day

Kendall's school does a really good job of having some fun things for the kids at the holidays. They usually make a cool hat, sing a few songs, eat some great treats, and have a holiday related story time. Her school also does gymnastics so they pulled out the parachute.

Jayden had fun at her school too. The room mom does a great job of bringing yummy treats and crafts for the kids to do

January 2010

We welcomed in the new decade at a friends house. They even had party favors for the kids to let fly at midnight. It was such a great time.

As I said we also spent many days outside in the snow in January. Right now my kids have to make up 8 snow days and won't get out of school until the first week in June when they usually get out at the end of May.

This is what we look like right now...

We were the new family spotlight at our church and so they took this picture of us to hang up on a bulletin board. I'm happy that you can still see a small curve in my waist but I definitely have the prego face going. I have a feeling it's about to get messy for me :) The rest of the family looks absolutely great though don't they?!!!

December 2009

December all about Christmas, Carson's birthday, and the beginning of many uncommon snow days. First we found out were were expecting again, due July 28th. We find out the first week in March what we are having. Carson really needs a brother so he can stop pulling Kendall's hair but we will take a healthy baby. I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of Christmas. For some reason I decided to video tape everything.

Carson turned 2! He is IN LOVE with Spiderman right now. He really wanted this bike we saw every time we went to Wal-Mart so he was pretty happy to get that for his birthday. Here he is laying on it so nobody will take it...

We also started the first of many snow days on Christmas Eve. They don't have the equipment or manpower here to handle a lot of snow so even a small icing or a few inches will cancel school for days because the roads aren't safe for the buses to travel on. We also have a people who live in a small mountain community here so if they can't come in, it cancels school for all. Luckily we have friends who have fun toys for the snow. Here she is with 8 kids and herself going to a clearing in our neighborhood so she can drag them on the sled behind her quad. My kids have never done that because we've always had a nearby sledding hill in NY so they had a blast. I think Amy even had room for a few more kids too.

November 2009

November was all about Kendall and the true meaning of being Thankful. I have told most of you who read this her story through email, mail, or on the phone so I'll keep it short. She told me she didn't feel good on the night of the 1st so I put her to bed with some Motrin and was hoping it wasn't the Swine Flu. The next morning she woke up burning up so I took her in. The doctor we saw said he couldn't confirm it was H1N1 but to just keep taking the Motrin and wait and see for a few days. She wasn't getting any better so by Friday of that week I had her back in the office. Her doctor was able to see us and had me take her directly to the hospital after viewing her X-Ray. At this point we new she had a bad case of pneumonia we now just need to find out what kind. Her doctor followed us over there and didn't like the progress or her blood work so Kendall was airlifted with Matt to Arkansas Children's Hospital, normally a 3 1/2 hr ride in a car. Luckily he got to stay with her for the ride and they made it in 1 hour. We were there for 10 more days. It was an up and down ride for our family but luckily we had help. We had friends who watch the other 2 kids on the first day until my dad could get here as well as care for our dog the whole time we were gone. My parents and Matt's Mom all took their turns and watched the other 2 kids while Matt and I traded off at the hospital.

The Ronald McDonald house was full but we were lucky to find a extended type hotel that the rest of the family could relax in while Matt and I took turns at the hospital. Jayden and Carson new all the staff by name when we left.

It was never confirmed, after 3 different tests, if it was the Swine Flu but the at least identified that it was a severe case of bacterial strep pneumonia and the rehab begin from there. She had to be on a lot of medicine and do breathing treatments every 4 hours for many of the days in the beginning. As she progressed they backed it down but she was always have to blow bubbles or use this "toy" they gave her to make noise.

It was a blessing for us that she was at a children's hospital because it made her time there a little easier. They had a wonderful playroom that she could go to once she was better and do all sorts of crafts, listen to story time or just play. It helped take her mind off all the pokes and various interruptions for treatments or exams.

The last few days she was there were probably the scariest for us. She was out of ICU but still not progressing like they wanted and there was talk of having to drain her lung. A surgery that would have set her progress back. In the end they decided to take the more "wait and see" type of approach and she was able to come home just before Thanksgiving.

We had a wonderful team of doctors who made sure we were taking care in more ways than just Kendall's health. The woman with the red hair was her Pediatrician and the point person for us but she also had a Infectious Disease doctor and a team of surgeons who inserted her PICC line and decided not to drain her lung. We are so thankful for the care they gave Kendall and the over all kindness they showed our family.
After 11 days of total hospital time, both in Bentonville and Little Rock, she got to see Jayden and Carson. It was a moment none of us will ever forget.She had to continue with her IV medicine at home through her PICC line for a while so I got really good at playing nurse. Luckily I had a real nurse here everyday to check her and watch over my care. Carson and Jayden even got used to all the stuff we had to do that they started playing doctor on their own.

We talked Matt's mom into staying with us for Thanksgiving so that was a good end to our month. She is all recovered now and is should have not lasting side effects. She may be more sensitive to her colds going straight into her lungs but nothing we really have to worry about for a lifetime. We are so lucky and thankful to have made it through such a tough time with prayer and thoughts from family and friends.

October 2009

We moved into our new house at the beginning of the month.



Then it was off to my cousin Brandon's wedding in Chicago.
He married a very beautiful girl named Carrie and they really put on a great time for all who were invited. It was so nice to be around family again because we always seem to have a great time.

Of course we had Halloween. In our house we had a Spiderman...

A Gabriella from HSM3, a Selena Gomez from Wizard's of Waverly Place, and an Elvis...

I didn't dress up but still had fun. Matt's work puts on a wonderful event for all their families. They open up all their office buildings at 3:00 pm and everybody can go up and down all the cubicles and offices and trick or treat. It was awesome. The kids bags got so heavy that we had to stop after 1 building and 2 floors in the second building. The employees really get into it and decorate their areas. Some were themed but mostly were spooky. We also did Trunk or Treat at our church parking lot. We were definitely covered in the candy department this year.

Getting My Act Together

As most of you know Kendall was really sick right after we moved into our new house and then we found out we were pregnant again during that time too. All of that just really put me behind in blogging and following all my friends' blogs. It also didn't help that I can't find the wire that goes to my camera so I can download pictures. My friend just told me she has a card reader for her computer. Who knew they even made those? Certainly not computer illiterate me! So I'm going to try and be brief and recap our lives since Oct 2009.

Happy Birthday Kendall!

Kendall had her 5th birthday will all her new friends and Chuck E. Cheese. I couldn't find my good camera in all the boxes so these are from my cell phone. She had a great time and my Dad and Stepmom were able to come with my little brother and sister.




Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!