FINALLY!!!

I am SO thrilled to report that we got the green light and finally had Sam's surgery today! Thanks to each of you for lifting us and the doctors up in prayer... we definitely felt them! The surgery took less time than we thought it would and his recovery has went well so far. He did have to come home with a catheter that will not be removed until next Friday. This was slightly unexpected on our part as the doctor had mentioned the possibility, but didn't seem to think that it would be something he would need to do with Sam.
Please continue to pray for Sam's speedy recovery. We definitely don't want to deal with an infection on top of everything else. Also pray for Brian & I as we try to figure out how to coordinate Sam's care and our two jobs next week. We will figure it all out, but the added stress is not fun! :)
Again, thanks for all your prayers! We love you!

More Christmas Fun!

Christmas is never complete without a trip to Waldron to celebrate there! :) We truly had a fantastic time with Brian's family.

As you may expect, Sam really didn't get the concept of presents... but boy, Kevin sure did!! His favorites of the night were the new lightsaber & the cowboy boots. Although since then, we have gotten lots of use out of the Kung Fu Panda DVD and the paints! :)

The boys with their Ninny and NeeNaw (great grandmothers)

Kevin opening his Kung Fu Panda DVD

(Note: the child now thinks he is the Dragon Warrior)

Kevin with his new green lightsaber (fairly certain that he has his boots on too -- you just can't see them!)

Sam -- he got some boots too (you can see the corner in this picture). He was much too busy to care about all the presents! :)

Sam's Surgery: New Date & Time

Sam is now scheduled for surgery on Wednesday (12/31) at 9:00 AM in Joplin, Missouri. Please pray for Sam, the medical team, and the surgeons. I will post an update as soon as I am able on Wednesday.

Christmas Eve Fun

Christmas Eve was kinda a roller coaster of emotions for me... church was a serious disaster since there is no childcare and my 3 year old can't sit still. I was ready to take him out and give him a good spanking... but alas I had Sam, Jacob, & Jonathan sitting with me too. Kevin should be eternally grateful to them for saving his life tonight! :)

But when we got home we had an amazing time together... eating dinner, decorating cookies for Santa, reading the Christmas story to Kevin and opening a few select presents. Here are a few of the pictures... video to follow later (maybe tomorrow or Friday!).

Kevin decorating cookies for Santa... there is no such thing as too much icing for this child!

More hard work by Kevin while Sam looks on.

My three boys on Christmas Eve... having a ball!

While Sam didn't get in on the decorating, he did get in on the eating and he LOVED it!

Kevin and his two presents that we let him open tonight...the little Transformer on the floor and the jacket he has on. I really thought he would love the Transformer and wrinkle up his nose at the silly NASCAR jacket that I got on clearance after Halloween. Boy was I WRONG! The child didn't even want to take the jacket off to go to sleep! :)

More Christmas Fun!

Just wanted to share some pictures from the Christmas Party we went to at my boss' house a couple weeks ago. We had an amazing time... good food, fabulous friends, and even tons of fun for the kids! The picture below of Kevin is sure to be a "classic" that I will someday show his future wife! :)

Postponed...

Okay, so we are really bummed out that Sam's surgery didn't happen today. We know that God did answer our prayers... just not in the way we anticipated them being answered. Since he had an ear infection and cough, the anesthesiologist would not agree to go forward with the surgery. It was a bit frustrating since it seemed like he made up his mind before he actually saw or listened to Sam. Not to mention that we took the day off and went all the way to Joplin for what turned out to be nothing. There are actually lots of negatives to all that happened today... but as I said, we are confident that God answered the prayers and this is how it is supposed to be for now.

On the positive side, we did get the chance to spend some time together today, which is always good. Brian & I took the boys for breakfast before we dropped Kevin off at school. We also got to eat dinner all together (which seldom happens on Wednesday night) and I got to be at AWANA tonight! I forgot how much I loved being there and hugging all those little Cubbies. So... lots of positives too! You just have to find them! :)

Just wanted to share a few pictures from the day...

Sam on the way to Joplin

Sam all ready to go for surgery (obviously before they decided not to do it!).

Some more firsts for Sam...

His first apple (although I don't think he really ate any with one little tooth!)

His first candy cane (yes, he cried when I took it away!)

Kevin's first performance

Kevin started Children's Choir at our church this year & he absolutely LOVES it! He tells me about all the instruments he gets to play & sings me their songs each week.
At 3, these kids don't really "perform" in church, so they have a little performance in their choir room. Due to a little mix up with notification, daddy, Sam & the video camera didn't quite make it to the performance... so the picture below was taken with my cell phone.


Kevin got to play Joseph. The boy next to him is his friend Chandler (who was a shepard). It was pretty amusing... mainly because Kevin kept running from their little stage over to Belinda & I and back. He is a crazy kid! But he was very excited that he got to be Joseph (note: he did kinda leave Mary in the dust on the way to Bethlehem, but what else would you expect from Kevin?)

Santa's Little Helpers

Family Picture Fiasco!

To say that our family picture outing this year was a fiasco, may be an understatement. I really wanted to get our picture taken outside this year, so I scheduled it and didn't think twice about the weather (it has been SO super nice here). Well, as luck would have it, Saturday was sunny, but cold. I just knew that my babies would never smile when it felt like 20 degrees outside! So, much to my dismay, we moved indoors.

Things seemed to go downhill from there...

When we got to Jeff's, Kevin completely lost it and start bawling and clutching onto Brian and I. I figured he would settle down a bit... which didn't really happen until about 2 minutes before we were ready to leave. And then it was just because I bribed him with a sucker.

Then, just when Kevin was cooperating, Sam decided he had enough! So, you know that I gave him a sucker too! Why not? Kevin had a stick hanging out of his mouth, so the more the merrier! Despite all that we went through, the picture of all 3 boys with suckers is my absolute favorite...

New Hat for Sam

Just couldn't resist to share a picture of Sam in his new hat (from the Target $1 bin!). You know that we love hats in this family as we only know bald babies! :)

Halloween Fun

We had alot of fun on Halloween! The boys had a party at daycare which of course meant that Kevin already had too much candy collected before our night even started! :)
Our church had a Trunk or Treat & it was a blast! Brad & Belinda handed out candy, so Brian & I tried to handle all 4 boys without losing anyone! :) Quite the time!
We stopped in at a local photographer to get their pictures taken... Can you believe that I didn't even remember to bring my camera with us???? Here the rascals are...

Jacob (5), Kevin (3), Jonathan (2), Samuel (7 months)

New toy for Sam

Okay, so I didn't say the toy was new... just that it was new to Sam! :) This Drop & Roar Dinosaur was Kevin's first Christmas present from Brian and I. While I was in the attic this week getting out the Christmas Stuff (yes, you read that right, I said CHRISTMAS stuff!!) I saw it and got it out for Sam. He absolutely loves it (in case you couldn't tell by the huge smile in the picture). He doesn't quite have the hang of getting the balls in the holes, but that is what big brothers are for! :)

Another Crazy Kevin Story

Brian & I went to the football game on Saturday and left the boys in the hands of a babysitter. We don't get one very often but Courtney has kept Kevin before. Although it has been awhile, because she hadn't ever met Sam.
In preparation, I started talking to him about Courtney a few days beforehand. I don't know where he gets this stuff, but here is the conversation as we laid in his bed for nap time:

Me: "Kevin, you need to go to sleep because Miss Courtney is going to come play with you in a little bit"
Kevin: "Mom, I like Courtney"
Me: "Good Kevin, I like Courtney too"
Kevin: "And you know what else? I like Courtney's dad"
Me: "Baby, I don't think you know Courtney's dad"
Kevin: "Yes, I do... his name is aww choo aww choo" (which is what the child calls R2D2 from Star Wars)

While I tried to contain myself, I couldn't help but laugh, which of course only encouraged his silliness. Needless to say he never did take a nap! :)

The Chicken Show

So, in what appears to be more & more "normal" for my child, here is a conversation Kevin & I had on the way home from church...

Kevin: "Look mom, there's chickens on that truck"
Me: "Yep, where do you think they are going?"
Kevin: "They are going to the plant mom"
Me: "What do you think they are going to do at the plant?"
Kevin: "They are going to sing Veggie Tales" (note: here he broke into the Veggie Tales song)
Me: "What do you suppose they will do after they are done singing Veggie Tales?"
Kevin: "Well, they are gonna get a trophy, a BIG purple one"

I have no idea where this child comes up with these things! But good to know that thinks all the chickens go to plants to sing Veggie Tales. If he only knew!:)

A few more pics

So, I couldn't quit tonight without a few final pics of the boys. These two are some of my favorites and PRICELESS! :)

Sam in the swing outside a couple weeks ago when it was nice (thus no shirt). I love it when I get this look... it is like an old man that doesn't have hair or teeth!

It has now turned a little colder here and mornings are usually in the 40's (to which Kevin tells me that it is too cold -- I am convinced that the child would not survive winter in Nebraska!). Anyway, Kev loves jackets that have hoods and trust me, the hood is ALWAYS meant to be UP! :)

Six Months ALREADY!!

How hard it is to believe that my BABY is already six months old! I guess time flies right by when you are busy! :) We had our 6 month check up last week and are diong great! Dr. Lovell was terribly shocked by how much the boys look alike. He is fully convinced that if I was able to sit a 6 month old Kevin next to a 6 month old Sam, that Brian wouldn't be able to tell them apart! :) Note: he says it is a little more difficult to fool moms! :)

Samuel is 27 1/4" long (85%) and weighs 17 lbs and 3 oz. (50%). He is doing all the right things for his age and we have started on FOOD. He absolutely loves eating and definitely prefers anything orange to green. Carrots and Sweet Potatoes are his favorite veggies and I have only allowed one fruit (pears) because I know that he won't want to eat anything else if I am not careful!

He doesn't officially crawl, but the child is very resourceful and can get to just about anything that he wants if you put him on the floor. I wasn't near as nervous about all that when Kevin was his age, but then, we didn't have an older one that liked to leave little toys lying around either! :) This morning I set him in the middle of the floor and he was 5 feet away from where I had put him when I came back in the room.

Samuel & his slinky (thanks aunt Tonya!)

We are AWANA Cubbies...

Kevin started AWANA Cubbies this year and absolutely loves it! I was a little concerned about my ability to teach him his verses each week, especially considering that he seldom sits still. But apparently his memory is really good... even if he can't sit still while he says them! :)

Kevin's Performance

As promised... some fun video of Kevin rocking out.

Sam's Belly Laugh

Last night Kevin really had Sam tickled. Not sure what the real reason for all the laughter was, but needless to say it sure was fun! We thought it was the whistle, but so far today the whistle hasn't had the same affect. Must be a brother thing! :)

The video was too large to upload here, so I put it out on You Tube. The quality isn't as good once you put it out there, but you can hear the laughter which is really the funny part anyway!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC2VuvnGagw

Enjoy!

School Pictures

The boys got their pictures taken at school a couple weeks ago. They are SO big!

We love the Razorbacks!

Football season has started and so has our support of the Razorbacks. Here's some pictures of the boys sporting their Razorback gear! Go Hogs!

Great News

Many of you know, but several of you don't so I thought that I would update everyone. Several weeks ago, I found a lump and went to my doctor (just to be on the safe side). We decided not to tell anyone before we went to the doctor, so that no one would worry. The doctor really thought the lump was nothing, but wanted to be on the safe side given my family history with cancer, so she scheduled a mammogram & ultrasound.
Now several weeks, much prayer, and several tests later, we know that the lump is benign and all is well. PRAISE GOD! :)

"Mom"

So, this week I officially became "mom". I honestly can't tell you when it happened, but I can tell you that I don't like it at all! :) I am not really sure what I expected -- you don't hear many adults refer to their parents as "mommy & daddy" but I guess I wanted to stay "Mommy" forever.
Just another sign that Kevin is growing up each day and that somehow the things you take for granted will just creep right up on you! I know that "mom" is a very special word too, but somehow it just seems so foreign. Although, I must admit that when he is excited he says "mom, mom, mom" really fast which is kinda cute.
I look forward to the days that I will get to be Samuel's "mommy". Somehow those days just didn't last nearly long enough with Kevin.

What Kids Won't Say

Okay, so Kevin is a bit on the crazy side and has done & said some funny things lately...

• In the car, out of the blue, Kevin announces "I have my running pants on." To which, Brian and I both say "What?" His answer, "You can't get me cuz I have my running pants on.

• Tonight I said, "Kevin's a Hog" to which he replied "No mommy, I'm a Boy!"

• Last week he came out of his room singing "Who let the dogs out... ruff, ruff, ruff"

• The other day Sam was crying on the way to daycare and Kevin said... "mom, he wants his mom." To which I replied that his mom was driving and Sam would just have to wait until we got to daycare. Kevin then changed his approach and responded "mom, he wants his dad"

Our "Family Vacation"

We took a trip to Tulsa yesterday, which Brian termed this year's "family vacation". Mainly because we haven't really managed to plan anything else this summer and somehow it seems to have gotten away from us! :) Besides, who really wants to go any further than Tulsa with 2 small kids!


We took Kevin to the zoo last year, so this year we thought we would check out the aquarium. The aquarium was nice, but it was quite expensive for no more than it was. Nevertheless, we had a great time. Kevin's favorite thing (and motivation for going) was the SHARKS. He called the big ones "grandpa" and the little ones "babies". He didn't quite understand the concept of them all being behind the glass and kept saying "I don't want to touch them". After we had been there about an hour or so, Kevin decided that he wanted to eat and much like Sam, when hungry the child has a one track mind. Needless to say about every other sentence from that point on was "I'm hungry" or "Let's eat lunch".


After the aquarium we headed to the mall. Our original plan was to eat at the food court there, but on the way we spotted a Cheesecake Factory and so on to plan B... although not really a place for children, we braved the unknown and ate there anyway. Kevin was really good which was an answer to prayer as you never can tell with a 3 year old! :) After we ate WAY too much yummy food and cheesecake, it was on to the mall. We walked around for awhile and finally decided it was time to head home.



It was a GREAT day being together -- just the 4 of us! :)

Once Kevin realized that this alligator wasn't real, he LOVED it! :)

Kevin feeding the turtles

Kevin & Brian at the aquarium

Samuel at the aquarium

New Toy at the Davis'

Each year, Brian has my permission to buy ONE Playstation game. Usually it is NCAA football which comes out about this time each year. However, this year Brian decided he wanted to get Guitar Hero instead. So Friday night, he and Kevin went out to Sam's in search of a game. When they got home, I was one the computer and Kevin comes running in saying "mommy, mommy, daddy bought me Rock Guitar Band". Although the child cannot play it, he absolutely loves it and wants daddy to be the "pink girl" quite often! :) Sam,on the other hand, will sometimes watch, but has also learned how to sleep through guitar hero rather well!

Brian offered to teach me to play -- although you know my coordination skills aren't really that great (not sure they have ever been good). It seems he will have some takers on that though as folks in Sunday School this morning were already discussing the need for a second guitar! :)

Kevin & Brian playing

Sam watching the boys play

Just a Swimmin'

Last weekend Brian & I managed to wrestle 4 boys and live to tell about it (can you believe it?). Seriously, though, we got to keep our nephews Jacob and Jonathan while their parents went on some crazy BBQ excursion to Kansas City. I will tell you that I get to have all the fun as the kids are SO much more FUN than meat! :)

We had a great time! The boys play great together... the only problem is the occassional opportunity to teach "sharing". Friday night we ate pizza and watched Disney. They couldn't decide between Little Einsteins or Mickey Mouse, so we alternated.

On Saturday, we set up my bargain blow-up pool ($10 clearance special) and had a BLAST. Even Sam got in on the FUN!

Cereal Time

You may not be able to tell that he loves to eat from the picture, but Sam is getting accustomed to "real" food. I am not sure that is what most folks would call rice cereal, but at least we eat it with a spoon! At first he hated it and everything got spit (and I do mean SPIT) back out at me. But lately we have tried mixing in a touch of pear juice and it has seemed to do the trick. He would probably lick the bowl clean now (if he was that coordinated!). He is probably wearing as much in the picture below as he actually ate! :)

Samuel's 4 month appointment

Samuel had his 4 month doctor's appointment today. He is 26 inches long (90%) and weighs 15 lbs. and 9 oz. (75%). He has grown a whole inch and gained 3 lbs. in the last 2 months!

Dr. Lovell says he is doing great and that he will see us again at 6 months. We got 3 shots and another dose of the oral vaccine we got the last time. They are supposedly the exact same vaccines we had at two months, so I am hoping we won't get sick/run fever this time either!

In the last couple months he has probably done more than I can really remember, but a couple noteworthy things are...

1) He learned to hold his bottle on his own. Kevin learned this one early too, so I guess my kids love their food! I find that really hard to believe! :)

2) He discovered his feet/toes while we were at my mom's in July. He doesn't put them in his mouth and "chew" on them like Kevin did, but he loves to hold onto them (see picture below).

Samuel still has an issue with his tear duct/eye. Dr. Lovell had always told us that his tear duct would open on it's own and thatthe "goopy" eye would go away. This time he did tell me that it could still open on its own but the older he gets, the less likely it is to correct itself. The good news is that they won't do anything with it until after he is one, so we have plenty of time for it to fix itself! :)

4th of July in Nebraska

We had a great time in Nebraska over the 4th of July. We hadn't made the trip home since November, so it was time! :) The trip was a bit trying to start with...

We got a much later start than we wanted to -- it was about 6:00 PM when we left town, which of course means... TRAFFIC. We didn't get far when Kevin said "I have to potty", so we pulled over on the side of the road to allow him to "pee on a rock". It would have worked out just fine, but unfortunately he didn't want to pee on just one rock and managed to cover his shoes and my leg as well! :) Once we got that taken care of and got back on the road, Samuel puked all over himself & his car seat. We pulled into a gas station in Joplin to attempt to clean up Sam and just as I got him undressed and clean, he puked again. But this time ALL over ME! :) Needless to say, I had to go inside and change clothes! Eventually we got back on the road and headed North with very few issues once the boys fell asleep. It was a long trip (I think it was nearly 4AM by the time we arrived!).

The good times were more than enough to make up for the car ride -- which is always the case! We got to go to one of Lexi's softball games which was especially fun since we are never around to attend anything she does (such a bummer to miss out on all the dance recitals, basketball games, school programs, etc.). Not to mention that it was a perfect place for Kevin to run around, play & get dirty -- although he did want to go out on the field with Lexi! :)

Lexi playing 3rd base

Lexi getting a base hit

Kevin & Ethyn cheering Lexi on

We also got to spend time with Troy's kids, Hannah & Austin too! They are both growing up so much! Hard to believe that Austin is a teenager! :) Kevin absolutely loved playing with them! Between Lexi, Austin & Hannah, there was always someone to entertain Kevin!

Austin feeding Sam ( I think Sam managed to puke on everyone but Hannah!)

Hannah & Kevin at the ball park

We did get to see my dad's family for a little bit while I was there. It was great to get together as many of them aren't home when we are back and many hadn't met Brian or my kids. Somehow it gets hard to stay in touch, but it was so good to see & hug people. Even if it was for a short time!

Aunt Nancy (my dad's oldest sister) with Sam

My grandma (Sam's great grandma)

Probably one of the best parts of the trip was when Brian & I helped the kids (Austin, Hannah & Lexi) shoot off fireworks on the 4th. They had such a blast, about caught several things on fire, and occasionally threw them in the wrong direction; but all in all everyone survived with all their parts! :) It reminded me of times when I was younger and getting to shoot off fireworks was such a thrill! Brian was happy we did it with the kids. Definitely a memory-making experience!!