Welcome Kannon Ethan & First soccer practice

My nephew, Kannon Ethan, was born early Sunday morning weighing at 5lbs 3 ounces. Not too bad for being 5 weeks early. We are just so happy that he is here and doing well. He is another miracle in our family. He is doing great and should be released out of the hospital in a couple of days. It was a long pregnancy for Lara, but well worth it. I got to hold him on Monday, he was so light and cuddly. Not like the 20 lb weight I have been hauling around lately. I think he is a good blend of Russell and Lara, though I see a little bit more of Russell in him. Can't wait until he gets out of NICU so I can hold him some more and Katherine is anxious to meet him and kiss him!


Kannon is at the same hospital, the same unit Colin was after he was diagnosed with HLHS. Kannon is just a few rows down from where Colin was before his first heart surgery. It was hard for me to go back into NICU Level 3, I have to admitt I got a little queasy. I don't feel that way about Cardiac ICU, the 15th floor where we lived for a month, Cardiology clinic, BUT NICU is hard for me because that's where we learned of Colin's special heart and there was so much confusion, sadness, uncertainty in our lives for the week we lived in NICU.

Katherine had her first soccer practice yesterday. When we were leaving, she had her shin guards, cleats, soccer shorts on BUT added a pink boa, pink sunglasses, two necklaces, a purple ring and bracelet. We had to break it to her that you can not wear all that while playing soccer! Matt took over coaching for the night, so I could wrangle Colin. Which Colin will be limited on soccer practices, he was mad he couldn't be out there with the big kids! Katherine is the only girl on her team, but she doesn't mind. Her friend Jacob is on the team, and at one time during drills, I could hear Matt telling Katherine and her and Jacob don't need to hold hands to dribble the ball down the field… oh how she keeps us laughing! Her first game is Saturday, this should be interesting!

Labor Day Weekend and Kick off College Football

What a great way to end summer. We had a cook out at my brother's house Friday night with my brother, sister-in-law, mom, and dad. Saturday was the first Texas A&M Football game of the season, GIG'EM AGGIES! WHOOP! Of course our whole family was marooned out!

Saturday we also had a pajama party to go to. Katherine's friend turned 5 and they had a cute party with twister (which Colin really liked), a pinata, and the girls played Wii Dance games. Colin loved playing with all the girls AND kept up with them the whole time! Colin also loved the balloons!






Sunday we went swimming with my mom and did a little shopping. Katherine was having a blast jumping in the pool, got some great action shots. She also swam 3/4 the width of the pool! Sunday evening we smoked ribs and Matt's mom came over (his dad was dove hunting).
Monday we relaxed around the house, went for a wagon ride, watched a movie while it was raining, made cookies.

Ending summer with a splash!Look at her go!

Movie time on the portable DVD player Yes, we get dressed up for wagon rides around here!

17 Months Update

This month Colin will start transitioning to the next level class at school, the two's room (18 months - almost 3). The director wanted to make sure we are ready for him to go, not because of his development, they feel he is a little ahead of some of his classmates that just moved up, but they were worried about his size. He is still small for his age.. I told her that Colin will be small for awhile, but I don't want to stop his learning development because he is ready for the two year old curriculum. Plus he beast up on his 4 year old sister, so I think he can hold his own!

He did get in trouble yesterday for biting two of his friends. They said he did not do it to be mean, but they think he has more teeth coming in, so they put teething gel on and he didn't bite afterwards. Colin is a rough and tumble boy.. He is a man's man. He likes to tackle, wrestle, climb, pounce. I think he will be fine in the two's!

Developmental updates:
- Weight - About 20 1/2 pounds. Big belly.. No baby fat rolls at all! His body is more of a toddler than baby. He has no baby fat, just a beer gut! :)
- Height - 29.5 inches.
- Lots of teeth, lost count, most of his teeth are in
- Runs everywhere!
- Says a few three word phrases.. I wanna go, I wanna snack, I go sleep
- School said yesterday he said a 4 word sentence.. I wanna go home.. But I haven't heard him say that.
- New words lately .. Doggie, kitty, seat (when he wants to eat in his hair chair)
- Says about 30 different words
- LOVES to eat, will try new food
- Favorite word: SNACK
- Still loves to cuddle, which I love!
- Loves to be his big sister's shadow, where she goes, he goes.
- Next cardiologist check up - September 29 - 6 months from his last appointment
We are so proud of Colin's development, love of life, and his happiness. We know each day is a blessing. I know there are going to be hard times ahead and we are just in a peaceful time right now. I get anxious thinking of his next surgery, how to communicate with him and Katherine was is going on. I know he will go through challenges in life and I hope as a family we can make those a little easier for him. He has made me appreciate life so much more.

THREE CUTE VIDEOS TO WATCH OF COLIN

Baby Shower, Mom coming home, Soccer Team

Saturday was my sister-in-law's baby shower for my soon to be nephew, Kannon Ethan! This has been a long pregnancy, with bed rest and anti-contraction medicines! But Saturday we got to celebrate the joy of Kannon most likely arriving at the end of this month! Lara was beautiful and Katherine had a great time helping open presents and helping herself to the candy bar! Colin stayed home with daddy for male bounding at Academy Sports and Outdoor! :)

Sunday afternoon we picked up my mom from the airport, she has been gone 2 months helping take care of my grandma who has been recently diagnosed with cancer. It has been a hard journey on all of us, but my mom has done a great job of being there, helping out everyday. She plans to be home this whole month to visit and meet Kannon when he comes.
I have missed her so much, but I think Katherine has missed her more. Katherine was so excited to see Sunshine (that's what she calls her, from the song "You are my sunshine") after this long break. That evening we had everyone over (except my dad who is still working oil clean up in the gulf) for dinner at our house with more cupcakes and candy from the shower.
My dad flew in last night for a few days off from work, so hopefully over the long weekend, we can squeeze in some family time.

Update on the kids:

- I officially became a soccer mom and LOVING IT! Katherine's 1st soccer game is Sept. 18th. We got our team assignments yesterday and start practice next week. Our neighborhood is a very large master planned community, we have 32 teams for Under 6, which Katherine is playing in. There are 6 kids on a team and Katherine is the only girl, but her friend Jacob is on the team. We asked her if she wanted to switch to a team with girls but she would not know anybody or stay on Jacob's team with the boys.. She chose to stay with the boys!

- I am so proud of Colin's speech. He is saying two 3 word phrases, I wanna go and I wanna snack. Colin is eating up a storm lately! Last night he had a very large section a watermelon, 2 strawberries, 2 slices of turkey, one slice of cheese, and about 1/4 cup mashed potatoes! Listen to the video and you can hear him say, I wanna go.. I couldn't get him to say anything else because he found that playing with a wrapper is WAY MORE FUN!

Saturday = Party Day

Saturday we had two parties to go to, one wedding shower and a birthday dinner for Matt's mom. We got the kids all dressed up and ready to go!

We got a little lost on the way, so the kids took a nap. Sometimes it's nice to have silence in the car!

We had fun at the wedding shower visiting with family, playing with other kids, and of course eating the food!
Afterwards we went to Lupe Tortilla's Mexican restaurant for my mother in law's birthday. Yummy food and even yummier margaritas! The kids were very well behaved, both sat in their chairs the whole time and ate their meals. They have a sand pit playground outside, so after dinner the kids got to go play for awhile. For being so good at the restaurant, we got ice cream on the way home!
Sunday we had a nice relaxing day. We went out to lunch with Russell and Lara. I colored my hair for the first time in almost 8 years.

And Katherine got a big girl hair cut! Her hair was getting so long, but she doesn't like braid, ponytails, or anything like that, so we cut off about 2 1/2 inches. I love it and she does too!




Getting her to take pictures sometimes is a chore!

Beat the Heat

Now that we are in the hottest month, it's tough to find activities to do with the kids. They love outside so much, but it's just too darn hot.

Saturday we took a walk around the block at 8:00am to beat the heat. Colin pretty much walked the whole way, only had to carry him just a little bit.

So here are the things we do to beat to heat:

We go to Barnes & Nobles or as Katherine calls it, "The Library" to enjoy some books and the AC!
We play in the sprinkler after 7:00pm when it cools off, it's even too hot to wear pants :)

We have movie time, Katherine with her popcorn and Colin with his Gerber Crunchies
Real men eat pink donuts with sprinkles to beat the heat!
We play chase after a bath -- and sometimes pee on the carpet :)

This weekend we got Katherine a big girl booster seat for the car and Colin got out of his baby seat into Katherine's old seat. They both really liked the switch. It was about time! Saturday evening we took the kids to Matt's parents house so we could go to a party. It was great to have a night out with friends and have some good laughs, we really needed that. My dad was also in town this weekend from his work cleaning up the Gulf in Louisiana, so it was great spending some time with him. He will go back tomorrow.

Whew.. What a weekend

Sometimes being at work is easier than being at home!

Thursday Matt had a discectomy. They had to shave down a bulging disc in his back that was pushing on his nerves making his leg and foot go numb at times. The doctor said it was one of the largest bulging disc he had ever seen. We spent Thursday night in the hospital and was released Friday morning. We weren't too impressed with our hospital stay. They told me I can stay overnight, showed me how the chair folded into a bed. So I drove home with Matt's mom, packed up the kids, went back to the hospital (30 minutes away), then went home a second time to take care of the animals for the evening/night, came back, then at 9:15pm the nurse came and told me I had to leave because visiting hours were OVER. I ended up talking to the charge nurse and she let me stay as long I didn't leave the room (where I was I going to go anyways at 10:00pm at night). Matt had a bad night nurse that put leads on him for no reason and just wanted even sure what was going on. We were very glad to be discharged the next day. Matt's parents were so great and kept the kids Thursday night and most of Friday.

Saturday we began the hot day with a water balloon fight! The kids ran me ragged on Saturday.. Man it is not easy when Matt can't lift a finger. These two can give you a run for your money! Saturday night we went to Russell & Lara's for Lara's birthday and to give Matt some piece and quite. We had cake and ice cream.. Yummy!

Sunday I got brave and took the kids to the zoo all by myself. I wanted to get the kids out of the house to burn off some energy and to give Matt some more piece and quite so he can rest and heal. I figure the faster I get him healed, the quicker he can help me with the kids! Katherine and Colin were so well behaved at the zoo. I normally would not go in August in Texas but they have a little splash pad water area, so we would go look at some animals, play in the water, go look at some more animals, get back in the water, and so forth. That way once we started getting hot, we would go cool off. We got there right when it opened at 9:00am and left right before noon, so it wasn't too hot YET! Colin was in the stroller part of the time and walking part of the time. Katherine had fun in the petting zoo, Colin wanted NO PART of touching the goats, he would talk and wave but NO TOUCHING! On the way home I asked Katherine what her favorite part of the zoo was and she said "Being with Colin"! How sweet is that! I am glad I have this written record for when she is 16 and he is 13!




Katherine was so great this weekend helping daddy! Since Matt can't bend over or lift anything, Katherine would reach and grab things for him that he needed. She was his little nurse and did such a great job at it. Colin now does NOT want you to feed him, I can do it myself. Matt had a banana and Colin wanted some, Matt pulled of a piece to hand to him and he got MAD. I had to get him his OWN so he could hold it, he ate half of it! I made cookies Friday night as a little treat for everyone, I broke of a piece for Colin and once again got mad, he wanted his own cookie, but hey who really wants to share chocolate chips cookies anyways!