Gymnastics, Chili cook off, Gators, and Bake Sale

 

Katherine decided for this spring season not to do soccer. This will be in the first time in 2.5 yrs that we are not spending our Saturdays on the soccer field. At first, I have to admit I was a little bummed, but excited to see her start something new and it might actually be nice to have our Saturdays back. She has had 2 lessons now for gymnastics. She really likes it so far and it is picking it up pretty good. She goes every Tuesday night until the end of April. Sorry for the poor picture quality, it was taken behind some dirty, smudgy glass.

Learning how to do a handstand

She is all legs lately

Learning to flip on the bars

Saturday we took the kids over to my parents for a little while so we could go down to Galveston to see some of my friends at a Chili-cook off. It was a nice day to have some adult time. Though I learned later it hurt Katherine's feelings that we went & did something without her. Her words to me were "I know you love daddy, but it unfair to do things without me. I need you too". Very sweet, I think part of the neediness lately is her not knowing how to express some of her fears about Colin's upcoming surgery.  Though Saturday night she got to pick the movie "Beverly Hills Chihuahuas Part 2", glad I had some wine in the house to sit through that one.. talk about unfair :)

Sunday was a gorgeous day so we took the kids down to Brazos Bend State Park, known for it's alligators. We saw 20 of them and about 60 turtles. The kids loved the nice walk and off course the playground!! It was a great family outing. 

This week at work we held a bake sale to help raise money for Team Colin's Annual Heart walk. I just have to say how amazing of a company and co-workers I have. First of all for my volunteers to bake on their own time for 3 days to supply us with all the goodies. We made $416 from the bake sale. I am so grateful for the support my whole office shows for Team Colin. As of today, Team Colin has raised $1,886, which my company matches dollar for dollar, so REALLY we have raised $3,772. It's not to late to sign up to walk with us, the walk is free and there will be a family funfest afterwards with live bands, moonwalks, rides, games, and food.

http://events.itsmyheart.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=5218

Time to get out your walking shoes.. Team Colin is on the move!

Time to get out your walking shoes.. Team Colin is on the move!

This will be our 4th year walking in the It's My Heart Annual Heart Awareness walk. Over the last 3 years, Team Colin has raised about $13,000 to support families with children diagnosed with Congenital Heart Defects.

1 in 100 babies will be born with some type of Congenital Heart Defect. It is the #1 birth defect worldwide. Congenital Heart Defects are the #1 cause of birth defect related deaths. Each year 100,000 babies (under 1 year old) will not live to celebrate their first birthday.

Of course the passion behind the team is Colin.. My son is 1 in 100 born with a CHD. He is currently awaiting his 3rd and hopefully last open heart surgery this summer right after his 4th birthday. As a parent, I cannot even begin to explain what it means to have a child with only half a functioning heart but I will try.

- Blessed – We are blessed that Colin is still here with us today. Over the years, I have seen too many children with Colin's condition not make it to their next birthday. This year we are walking in honor of Addison Scott, our heart friend who lost her battle with HLHS just a few weeks shy of her 4th birthday. She is a reminder that life is too precious.

- Terrified – Coming upon Colin's next surgery, I am scared of the "what if's" What if this happens, what if the surgery doesn't take, what if after all this he still might need a heart transplant one day. I am afraid of his heart failing one day, I am scared how this affects Katherine. I am scared that he will be teased as a kid for being smaller. I am afraid that one day a girl will break his heart because she won't want to deal with the "what if's". I am terrified that one day my son won't be here with us.

- Hopeful – Medical technology has come a LONG way. Even though the oldest person with Colin's condition is early 30's, the medical field has advanced so much in the last 30 years. I have so much HOPE when I look into his face.Even though Colin only has 1/2 a functioning heart.. he LOVES to swim, fish, hike, run, play, loves boats, "surfing". HE IS FULL OF LIFE.

- Strong - Colin has taught me so much about strength (his, my own, and my family’s), love, and what really matters in life. He has taught me how special my family is and how precious life really is. Every day brings a new day of hope and thankfulness. We do not let this keep us down for our strength grows out of our weaknesses! 

- Supported – I know I need my support system to lean on. We cannot do it alone. We have a great network of family, friends, other heart parents, and co-workers that help.

This is what the walk is about, that support system. For those to come and celebrate Colin, his strength, his journey, his future with our family. To all walk with our heads up high that even though Colin will have struggles, he is LOVED by so many. And all these people will be there to support him. And to have fun doing it

The walk will feature the following fun-filled activities
- 5K Walk for all ages.
- Post-walk entertainment: Live music and performances.
- Post walk family oriented activities such as, face painting, raffles, bounce castles, rock walls, gyro rides and more.
- FREE food!
- Creative Sponsor booths with additional activities.

DATE & TIME: Saturday Feb. 9 at 9:30am at 900 Bagby Street Downtown Houston

To join the team, please click here http://events.itsmyheart.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=5218 and select the "Join this team" button at the of the page. When registering select, Join a Team, and select Team Colin. The entry fee is $25 for adult, free for kids.

If you are not able to join us, but would like to still donate, please click here http://events.itsmyheart.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=4251

Colin right after his 2nd open heart surgery, he was 5 1/2 months old

Happy Birthday Matt, an Aggie win, a pretty BUT cold day on the island, AND TEAM COLIN UPDATE!!

 
Last Friday we had a birthday/A&M bowl watching party at our house. This week was Matt's birthday.. I will keep a secret of how old he turned.. let's just say he's not 21 anymore. We had our family and friends over for a great Cotton bowl game, pizza, drinks, and lots of celebrating.

I will try to minimize the mushiness, but I do want to say how much I love my husband, he is truly my best friend. Though our life may not be "perfect" in some ways, our love for each other and our kids is. We face the challenging times together and enjoy all the fun that life has to offer.  So Happy Happy Birthday Matt!

Back to the real news of A&M beating Oklahoma 41-13.. WHOOP! What a great season we had this year. First year in the SEC conference, Manziel winning the Heisman, beating the National champs, and ending the season ranked #5, can't wait until next year!! Saturday we had another game watching party for the Houston Texans.

Sunday we went down to Galveston for a few hours to enjoy the sunshine since it has been raining so much! It was still cold but a pretty day to get out of the house. The kids of course wanted to go to the ice cream & candy shop, who could say no! So there they were eating ice cream in their winter clothes. Matt bought me some much needed NEW wine glasses, can't wait to try them out.

We are gearing up for our annual Team Colin Heart walk. This of course means a lot to us to help raise money for such a great cause, Congenital Heart Defects. Team Colin is also walking in memory of Addison Scott, Colin's heart friend who lost her battle with HLHS in October, just a few weeks shy of her 4^th birthday.

DATE & TIME: Saturday Feb. 9 at 9:30am at 900 Bagby Street Downtown Houston. After the 5K walk, there will be live music, face painting, raffles, bounce castles, rock walls, gyro rides, and food vendors. It is a great time for families to get some exercise, support a great cause, and have some fun.

To join the team, please click here http://events.itsmyheart.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=5218and select the "Join this team" button at the of the page. When registering select, Join a Team, and select Team Colin.

If you are not able to join us, but would like to still donate, please click here http://events.itsmyheart.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=4251

Matt's birthday "cake"

Matt & DJ being silly

Lunch by the ocean, too bad it was too cold to play on the sand

ice cream in winter

Decisions, Decisions

This should help he gain weight, it's bigger than his head

My new wine glasses, might have to get them a test run tonight

We had a VERY Merry Christmas and a HAPPY NEW Years

Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas Break. I was able to take off 2 weeks with the kids and Matt was off on and off, wish he could have been home the whole time with us. Katherine got out of school early on the 21^st, so went to the mall and had her nails painted red and green for Christmas.

Saturday the 22^nd my mom came over and helped us bake over 100 Christmas cookies. We kept some but dropped most of the off at Texas Children's Hospital on the heart floor and one of the Ronald McDonald family lounges. I love baking and decorating cookies with the kids, but it feels even better doing it for such a great place as the hospital. It's hard imaging spending the holidays there, so we try to spread some Christmas cheer to those who are not spending Christmas at home.

My favorite activity.. making Christmas cookies with the kids!!! They had so much fun, we made over 100 cookies.

We delivered over 100 Christmas cookies to Texas Children's Hospital

 We had a great Christmas eve and Christmas day with our families. The kids got LOTS of new toys to play with. Santa was good to them this year J Both Katherine and Colin got a LeapPad2 and LOVE THEM!  We already have had to replace the batteries within 3 days.

We had fun playing with our new toys and going on some outings (movies, Chuck-E-Cheese, indoor moonwalk bounce house).

Then it was already time to ring in the New Year. Can't believe we had to say good-bye to 2012, it was a great year with lots of fun family time! I am excited to see what 2013 has in store for us but in a way I am scared.. I know 2013 brings a big challenge, Colin's 3^rd and hopefully last open heart surgery. We have to hit our weight goal for the surgery, we need to keep him and the whole family healthy, and this will mean slowing down our active lifestyle some (which might be hard for us). A few weeks before surgery, we have to pull Colin out of school and he will have to remain out of school for about 2 months post-surgery, so for about 3-4 months this year, we will be at home protecting Colin from germs that could be bad for him.

BUT with 2013 brings HOPE that my son will have more energy, that he will be able to grow, and be a normal little boy. This will not fix him, but it will help his body out so much. 2013 also brings a BIG celebration.. OUR TEN YEAR wedding anniversary.. no plans just yet as we are waiting to see when Colin's surgery will be.

Took lots of pictures of course over the last 2 weeks. We did get to have lots of fun, now back to real life. I am back to work and the kids go back to school next week.

Christmas Eve

Matt and Katherine

He wanted a mohawke for Christmas Eve

Love my silly girl

We "mustache" you a question. My mother in law got these for Christmas Eve, they were a BIG hit!

Opening presents Christmas morning

Katherine wanted to dress in her cowgirl gear to ring in the New Year

Smoke bombs and sparklers to ring in the NEW YEAR

They ALMOST made it to midnight, they crashed at 11:45pm.

Right after Christmas, it got really cold here, so we had lots of fun inside making forts, playing with our new toys, doing science experiments, and making cake pops

We also got out of the house and went to see a movie, went to an indoor moonwalk bounce house, rode a mechanical bull & played air hokey, and went to Chuck-E-Cheese