Memorial Day

Memorial Day was so much fun this year! We had Meredith and family (minus Steve - he was sick), our good friends the Bernigers, and it was so fun to have Andy's parents with us as well.

We began the afternoon with a ton of swimming! I didn't bring my camera out but the pool was full of kids, adults, and a lot of noise! Grandma stayed inside for this part, the craziness was a little overwhelming.

After swimming the kids (including Big Adam) had a watermelon eating contest. Meredith brought a few huge watermelons over for the kids to devour. I was actually pretty surprised at how much Hayden got into the contest, he hardly came up for air! It was a close race between Hayden, Lindsay, and Big Adam. I kind of think Hayden might have won, it was so fun to watch!

Brynley ate watermelon for awhile but then thought the slip n' slide looked a little more fun!

This is my only picture from dinner... I had to get a picture of it though, it was too good not to share! I made these amazing burgers, they are Basil Pesto Burgers. I got the recipe from my friend Kristin here. They are seriously so good... I am a basic cheese burger kind of person myself but I think I have been converted to liking these better. You must try them!

We ended the evening with yet another party for Hayden... More presents form the family and Bernigers ended a great birthday week for Hayden!

T-Ball Season is over!

So T-ball ended in May and I'm just now getting around to posting about it, oh well who cares right?!?!

Hayden had a great time playing T-ball. We can still tell that he is not going to be the world's greatest athlete any time soon but he had fun!

Poor Hayden... the big head, sticky outie ears and glasses made it very hard to fit a the helmet on his head. Apparently in a league like this, they only have one size of helmet. I felt bad for him every time he had to squish that thing on his noggin!

Good swing Hayden!

Waiting to run to the next base

Good running Hayden!

The entire team - Hayden was excited that his team was orange, his favorite color!

I must say this was our most disappointing experience with sports leagues around here. For what we had to pay, I felt pretty ripped off that all they got for it was a T-shirt, not even a baseball hat! And I think they only had 6 games. With 16 kids on the team, it didn't give them much playing time. I think we will seek out a different league next time.

Hayden's 6th Birthday Party!

I'm not sure why but it seemed like Hayden's birthday lasted forever this year! With Andy's parents coming to town we had time to do a lot of celebrating!

The week started with me bringing doughnuts in to Hayden's classroom. It wasn't on his birthday because school got out the day before his birthday so the teacher asked me to do it a few days before school got out. I forgot my camera so no pictures.

(This picture should go later in the post but since I am not able to move pics around when blogging, it will have to stay here. This is a picture of Hadyen's B-day party when all the boys were having contests with their paper airplanes)

Andy's parents got to town the day before his birthday so we decided to go out to dinner with them on his birthday. He ALWAYS chooses Red Robin but we were not in the mood for burgers so I somehow convinced him to choose Gecko Grill instead. It's our favorite Mexican/BBQ restaurant, Andy's parents loved it as well! We then made out trek over to Krispy Kreme for a free dozen glazed doughnuts since it was Hayden's Birthday. We go there about 4 times a year (when each of us has a birthday!) Gotta love Krispy Kreme!

The day after Hayden's Birthday we had a "pajama party" at our house for him. He wanted a sleepover (which was out of the question) so we opted for a pajama party instead. The kids would come in PJ's bring pillows and end the party with a movie! We ended up having 8 boys, a few had to cancel at the last minute but I think 8 was the perfect amount. As they arrived they each chose a paper airplane and had races with them outside. We then played some outside games and later came inside for pizza. I decided to let the kids decorate their own cupcakes - they thought it was super cool and I didn't have to frost and decorate them!

Here's a picture of the boys with their completed cupcakes!

Singing to Hayden

Opening presents! Hayden got some great gifts including some Bakugans, slip n slide, Bionicle, spider man lego ship, magnetic cars, a transformer, and money! He was not at all disappointed that's for sure!

The boys all settled down and ready to watch a movie!

This was by far the best/easiest Birthday Party I have ever thrown. The kids had a blast and there was very little effort required on my part! I overheard two of the boys talking about how this was the best party ever! Yay! They all left that night with a king sized candy bar. That was way easier than filling a small bag with crap and sending it home!

It doesn't end here though... Hayden had another small party a few days later on Memorial Day. That will be included in another post.

Summer Days

Fun in the sun!

It was only 105 degrees out today so the kids thought it was a perfect time for jumping on the trampoline! It only lasted about 5 minutes, just enough time for me to get a few pictures!

What a difference a week makes!

Zac - 1 Week Post Op

So, he's as cute as a button, what can I say? Zac is getting around quite well... however, he has not spent all of his time the last few days being this cute and happy! It's been a rough couple of days. Andy thinks he's going through withdrawals because he got addicted to the Hydrocodone that we have now stopped giving him. I think he's just still a bit uncomfortable and he can't quite figure out how to be still and just rest! Hopefully he will be back to himself in a few more days. These pictures are evidence that he is well on his way! We are so thankful that the surgery appears to have been successful. Zac has not vomited 1 time in the last 7 days, woo hoo!!! Miracles do happen!

Hospital Pictures

I never got these uploaded while we were still in the hospital so here they are:

If you look at Zac's poor face, this is how he looked for 4 straight hours, pacifier hanging out of his mouth halfway and scowling. It was really sad...

As soon as I brought Mr. Turtle near him he immediately grabbed it tightly and held on even in his half drugged state.

This picture shows both of Zac's IV ports, one at his wrist and one at his ankle.

Finally in his room and sleeping soundly (once he was given morphine) it knocked him right out!

The first time he actually woke up not screaming, this was taken Friday afternoon, 24 hours post op.

The first time he sat up, also Friday afternoon, and he's almost smiling!

We took him to the playroom but the IV's were bugging him so badly that he only lasted a few minutes.

Playing with dad and actually almost laughing on Saturday morning.

Saturday afternoon... I was trying to sleep and Zac figured out finally that he could stand up even with the annoying IV's.

Staring at me, wondering why I won't get him out of his cage!

You can see 4 of the 5 incisions here. I am so glad that they are so small, hopefully they will eventually hardly be seen! The scary cutting was on the inside, those were some big incisions!

Saturday afternoon, Zac is happy to see Hayden and Brynley and get some real clothes on! The kids wanted to sit in his crib with him, how cute!

To all the Dad's in my life

I am grateful today for so many things, but especially for my sweet husband and for being together today as a family and not in the hospital!

Andy is such a great Dad and Husband... He does so much for our family, he is a hard worker who provides for our every need. He is such a great example to our kids, he is up early on Saturdays doing the yard work or fixing up something in the house and he never complains! Often times I am still in bed as he is up hard at work. He cleans, does laundry when needed and helps with the kids without being asked! His favorite things to do with the kids are to have movie nights and play video games, and they love it! Andy and the kids have also had a great time playing baseball in our new big backyard! They also love to wrestle with him, apparently I don't really do it right! I am thankful for Andy's example of service to our kids, he never complains about what he is asked to do and he is always there to help someone in need. I love you honey!

Andy with Zac shortly after surgery

I am thankful to my Dad for his example of working hard to provide for our family when I was growing up. He always worked two jobs and hardly ever slept so that he could provide for us. He always came to our sports events and other things we were involved in even if it meant less sleep for him. My Dad will do anything for you if you ask. A few weeks ago, he was at our house within minutes so that Andy could be at the ER with Zac and me. He ended up sleeping on our couch until we got home at 5:30 in the morning, he never once complained about it. Thank you Dad.

My Dad with us at the Grand Canyon last year

I am thankful to a wonderful Father-in-Law, Henry. I have truly never met someone so selfless in my life. He would give the shirt off his back if it meant making us happy. In fact I think he has given Andy a few of his shirts... Every time he has come to visit, he is hard at work. This last time he was here, he was up every morning (as early as 6 I think) working in our garage, buying shelves and workbenches to make our little garage functional for us. There was hardly a moment that he wasn't ready to get to work! He always wants to make us happy, every time we go to visit he always has a few plans up his sleeves about some fun family things we can do. He is also a great cook, we are always very well fed when we go visit whether it's from his cooking or going out to eat! Henry is always anxious to tell Andy and I to go to a movie and they'll watch the kids because they know how important that is for us. Henry is a great Father-in-law and a wonderful Grandfather, we are blessed to have him in our lives.

Grandpa Henry and Hayden when Hayden was 1 and on Hayden's 6th Birthday!

I have been blessed with 2 amazing Grandfathers. My mom's Dad, Bill was the most service oriented person I ever knew. He would do anything for anyone... There was never any doubt in my mind that he loved me. He called his grandkids "pal" and "sausage", every time we came over we were greeted with one of those two names. I fondly remember going downstairs and sitting on his lap in his recliner while he watched TV. I remember doing this even when I was in college! My Grandpa was so involved in our lives, he attended every event he possibly could for us. Another fond memory I have of my Grandpa was going to the mall and visiting the pet store with him, this was a favorite activity of ours. I remember my Grandpa loving the show Seinfeld, it was fun to see him cracking up at all the jokes, I think of him every time I watch it now. I think my Grandpa would have loved to be here with my kids and to get to know them.

With my Grandpa on my Sister's wedding day

My Dad's Dad, Grandpa Ernie was also a great man. As a police officer, he was known as officer Friendly in his later years before he retired. He never forgot a birthday or Christmas and he always had his camera with him. Grandpa had shoe boxes at his house labeled with each of his grandkids names. He would get all his pictures developed and arrange them in those boxes. I have precious memories of going to his house and sorting through those boxes. My best memories of Grandpa Ernie were dinners out with him. We didn't have much money growing up and it seemed the only times we went out to eat were when Grandpa took us. I grew up to think that's kind of what Grandpa's do. My Grandpa also gave each of us kids a 100 dollar bill every year before school started so that we could buy school clothes. That was huge for each of us. As I grew older and went off to college, Grandpa even sent care packages to me filled with cup o noodles, hot chocolate packets and other snack foods as well as money!

My Dad and Grandpa Ernie 11 years ago

We lost both of my Grandpas within 6 months of eachother in 2001 and 2002. I miss them both terribly and can't wait to be reunited with them again someday.

Happy Father's Day!

Post Surgery Update

I wanted to update quickly, though I won't have pictures in this one, I think Andy left last night with the camera cord!

Zac's surgery went as well as could be expected. They were able to do the entire procedure laproscopically, yay!!! Because of this, his recovery should be way better than it would have been with traditional surgery. The surgery took about 3 hours, the surgeon gave us some awesome pictures to keep and explained all of them to us. After he left I looked at Andy and said, "Can you see anything he was talking about in those pictures???" We laughed as the pics pretty much look like bloody veins and organs!

When we went to recovery to see him, he was pretty miserable. Coming out of the anesthesia will do that! As soon as I was able to hold him he was more than content and sleeping peacefully. Unfortunately, we sat in recovery for 4 hours waiting for a bed to open up! Andy held Zac the majority of the time as he knew I would be up during the night with him.

Once we got to our room at 10:30 Zac was pretty awake and after being poked and touched he was quite mad. He was finally able to drink a bit of apple juice which helped but eventually morphine did the trick to help knock him out. We both slept from about midnight to 4 am, since then he has woken up quite a bit in pain, now he is on my lap sleeping.

Zac has 5 incisions, one at his belly button and two on each side of his abdomen. The incisions look great but he is in a lot of pain at the incisions and especially when he cries, poor little man. At this point they think we will not be released until Sunday. Zac will be on pureed foods for 6 weeks!!! This might be rough, not sure what we'll do at church when he would normally munch on cheerios and goldfish crackers!

I just need to add how much I adore Zac's surgeon. Oh my goodness, not that I ever want a child to have surgery again but I would come back to him any time. Watching other surgeons come to the waiting room and talk to family's I felt so grateful for ours, he has such a good bedside manner. And our anesthesiologist was awesome! I wish I had a picture of he and Zac, I got one with the nurse who was super cool as well, but that's it! I will post some post op pictures later today! Thanks for all the prayers!

Hospital - Pre surgery

Today is surgery day! This first picture shows Zac before we left the house, he had no idea what this day would bring for him...

Andy is attempting to entertain Zac while in the waiting room. It was a hard task, the poor kid hadn't slept in 5 or 6 hours and hadn't eaten in 8 hours!
Ahh, finally back to pre-op and new surroundings... At least he got some manly purple hospital clothes!

Zac thought the little hospital crib was awesome, he would stand up and shake the bars as much as he could!

Zac in the preop waiting room, it was like an amusement park for him, he was surrounded by any toy he could possibly want. He got pretty tired of it after 2 hours!!

This is Zac and I right before taking him into the OR.

Zac's nurse taking him away...

Luckily neither of us (Zac or I) were a wreck. I was really nervous about this part but I think we have been so prepared that I just knew things would be OK. Zac immediately took to the anesthesiologist, Zac even gave him his turtle! It was so cute... Andy and I are sitting her waiting for some news...

Off to surgery

We just left for the hospital to take Zac in for his surgery. Please think good thoughts at 2:30pm today when the surgery is supposed to start. I will update later! Thank you!

Last Day of School!

I cannot get the pictures to move around in my post so the first one is out of order, so annoying!

May 20th marked the last day of Kindergarten for Hayden! I can't believe he is out of Kindergarten already, he has become such a big boy!

The picture below shows Hayden on the first day of Kindergarten:

Hayden getting ready to go to school on the last day!

Hayden and his sweet teacher, Mrs. Tapia
With his cute friend, Penda

Hayden in line on his last day of school, I think it's funny that it looks almost identical to his first day of school pic. The uncertainty on his face is priceless!

Hayden finished the year strong! He is in the highest reading level in his class and his math and writing are above where they should be at the end of Kindergarten. He is excited to start first grade in August at a new school, we are also excited for this change!

Camping with Dad!

A few weeks ago Hayden got to go on his first Father's and Son's campout with Andy. they had to miss it last year because Zac was being born! They had a so much fun, Hayden especially loved the Smores and the healthy breakfast of donuts and juice.

Hangin in the tent, snacking on the Doritos

Self portrait

Yum, marshmallows!

My handsome men!

Andy hears Hayden yelling from the woods, "Dad, I got pee on my shirt!" Proof is in the picture.

Hayden woke up the night he got home puking all over the place. The next morning he made the conclusion that he had too many Doritos on his camping trip!