St. Patrick's Day, Parents in Town, Elle Turns 2

What an eventful week. First of all Aly Jean's surgery was postponed to Monday March 28, she had to be pushed back for an emergency heart transplant for a newborn. I pray that all is well with that baby and of course continued prayers for Aly Jean's surgery this coming Monday! She is going to rock it like a superstar!

Thursday was St. Patrick's Day and I did not start off with the luck of the Irish! Coming out of the driveway, I heard.. Thump, thump, thump. So I got out and looked to see not just a flat tire, but one that had NO AIR and I was riding on the metal rim. I turned around and called Triple A (Thank you Dad for getting me the membership!) Katherine was all worried that she was going to miss her St. Patty's Day party and pizza delivery at school. I assured her that it was only 7am and I would get her there in time. Triple A took about an hour to come and put my spare on, thank God I was at home and not stranded on the streets somewhere with the kids! Here's a picture of us waiting on Triple A, all decked out in our green!
I took them to school, then spent the next 3 hours at the tire shop getting 3 new tires, I had two others that looked really bad. My wonderful, amazing husband knew I was having such a hard day, took off half a day and convinced me to do the same. We went out to Rice Village where there's lots of shopping, restaurants, and bars and celebrated St. Patrick's Day there with green beers and green margaritas! It was a nice day to sit out on the patio of a few places and have some drinks and go shopping. Matt always turns my bad days around for me! Seems like most our days off together, we end up drinking :) I was surprised to see so many people out celebrating St. Patty's day in the mid afternoon.. and some of the costumes.. Wow!
Friday at work, I got a surprising phone call from my parents that they were just a few hours away. They have been in Phoenix since New Year's Eve taking care of my grandma. So Friday night we told the kids that we were having dinner at Uncle's Russell's house but did not mention the special guest that were going to be there. Russell sat them on the couch and did a "magic trick" and had grandma and grandpa appear. The kids loved their surprise! They brought some gifts from their travels, but most important, my mom brought me some of my grandma's possessions to keep. I will treasure them always!

Saturday we went to a VERY special little girl's birthday party, Elle was turning 2! We met Elle and her parents during our first stay at Texas Children's. We were in the same pod area of the NICU, I ran into Elle's mom a lot of the milk bank, Elle and Colin had their first surgeries on the same day, they were roommates in ICU for a couple days, and we overlapped stays for Colin & Elle second surgeries! We became friends in the hospital, it is great to find a friend in the same tough situation as you, one that really understands what being a heart parent is all about. I am so proud of Elle and how well she is going. It is just a joy to see her grow up. Please also keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she is facing her 3rd heart surgery sometime this summer. She has an amazing family and support system and I am so excited to see many many more birthdays to come!
After the party we went to Matt's parents house to see how his mom was doing. That day while setting out a pot of flowers on the patio, she tripped and broke her wrist. She is having surgery on it tomorrow. We have such exciting families! Hoping for a quick and easy recovery, and of course it was her right hand!

Sunday afternoon my parents came over and have been staying with us since. The kids have really enjoyed them being home and I know they will be very sad when it is time for them to leave. We are gearing of for Katherine's first soccer game of the spring season. Matt and I are coaching again, we had equipment pick up and coaches camp this past Sunday. We have the full team returning from the fall season and the first game is this Saturday.

Here are also some random pics from around the house. Last week, Colin took a big likely to Katherine's barbies, snuggling them in bed and hiding behind the toy box. Colin and Uncle Russell racing down the slide, technically Uncle Russell got a head start, and Katherine riding her bike. She is doing so well at it, glad we have nice weather again!