Slip and Slide!

Several weeks ago, we got to have a weekend with the Evans' cousins while my brother and sister-in-law went on a trip to celebrate their anniversary.  We had a great time with them hanging out with them at my parents' house.  We even decided to break out the Triple slip & slide!  What a blast they all had!!!

We never pass up a time to swim in the pool.   After this summer of living with my parents, I can say that  both of our kids are swimming now.  Addison was really close to swimming at the end of last summer and after about 1 month of swimming this spring, she was great.  Cooper has really been swimming now for about 2 months - the advantage of living with a pool in the backyard has made a HUGE difference! 

Kendra, Addison, Cooper, and Emorie Claire

Unlike the other 4 kids, Trey isn't into swimming anymore.  I guess he is "over" it now, so we didn't even get proof that he swam that weekend!

Goodbye Westlake...Hello Woodcreek!

I can't believe that my first born is entering Kindergarten!  Really...where does the time go?  In a lot of ways, I think we were ready and she was ready.  She has done so well at Westlake Child Development Center, but I think it was time to move onto a different environment.  It was emotional for her to leave there, both for her and for me, but since I still have Cooper at Westlake, I see all the staff and teachers.





Addison's last teacher, Miss Kristen.



On her last day, there weren't too many kids left when I went to pick her up, but here are a few.  The boy on the left, Luke, has been in the same class with Addison since they were first in school! 

And below is Nyla, who has also been in the same class with Addison since day 1!  They have been the best of friends, but have a little bit of a love/hate relationship with one another!  I know they will miss each other, but we hope to keep in touch with Nyla and her family once we are living back in Katy. 

Another one of Addi's good friends is Jordon, who is shown below.  She is such a sweet girl and they played so well together.

Addison is going to Woodcreek Elementary School in Katy. 

 It's going to be very CRAZY for the first 6 weeks-2 months while we are still living in Spring while the house is being built. The poor girl (and her daddy) have to commute 1.5 hrs a day just to get to school and work!

Add caption



Nana and Grandad came to see grandchild #4 start Kindergarten!

 

Addison and her new teacher, Mrs. Wright

Day 2 of Kindergarten

Addison has had a great first week of school, but she had a more difficult time on Thursday and Friday.  Those days, she had to be dropped off at the front of the building and we could not walk her to her classroom.  Both days she cried when Kevin left her in the front office...he said it was so sad!  Luckily, someone at the school walks her down the hall and helps her get to class.  I talked to her teacher about it and she has noticed that she is upset, but does fine after a few minutes.  She has also said a few times that she doesn't want to go to school...she wasn't excited at all when I reminded her that tomorrow is a school day. :(

Since she is used to taking naps and having to get up super early, the poor girl is so exhausted after school.  She doesn't want to talk hardly and it's really tough to get anything out of her about her day.  I want to know all the details and I am used to knowing what's going on, so I feel a little lost right now.  Hopefully, it will get better and we have a Kindergarten Curriculum meeting on Tuesday night where I hope to learn more about the routine.

She has made some new friends and she says she knows all the names of the kids in her class already.  One of the boys in her class named Mason told her last week at lunch, "You are so pretty!"  :)  I thought that was so cute!  I hope and pray that Addison loves her new school and things will improve after the initial adjustment period! 



We love you Addison!  Good luck your first year as a Woodcreek Ranger!



Goodbye tonsils!!!

Over the last 6 months, we have had 3 doctors make comments about our little guy's tonsils being HUGE.  They all recommended we visit the ENT and get his opinion, but thought that he was going to need them removed.  It turns out, after talking to the ENTand the doctor listening to our little "raspy-voiced" dude, before he even looked in Cooper's throat, he was sure his tonsils would be touching.  He was almost right...not quite touching, but still gave him a 4 out of 4 on a scale.  He did have some snoring, but mostly just trouble swallowing and obstruction of his airway.  I mean, how could they not be obstructing when they are pretty close to touching?  Also, because of his raspy voice, he wanted to do a larenscopy because he believed Cooper would have nodules on his larnex.  We scheduled his tonsils to be removed July 15th. 



Playing in the big waiting room at TCH.

Cooper was able to ride in this police car back to the smaller waiting room, which made him a very happy little guy!  They do it right at TCH...I can see why they are very well known.  We are lucky to have them in Houston!
 

John Deere tractor in the small waiting room with his hospital jammies on!

 When he got back to the small waiting room, he set his sights on the tractor and did not want to get off of this thing.  After the child life specialists, nurses, and doctors had talked to us, it was time to head back to the OR.  Cooper had just asked a few minutes before if he could ride the tractor in this certain area and we said no because of all the doctors and nurses around there.  But, when it was his turn to head back, we asked him if he wanted to ride down the hall on the tractor and he said "Yeah!"  Kevin and I both kissed him and told him that we loved him.  He just followed the nurses down the hall with a quick glance back at us and no tears!  We were so proud of him (and shocked too!)!



Our patient in the recovery room

The doctor said the surgery went very well and he did fine.  He showed us pictures of the nodules that he found, but he wasn't overly concerned with them.  Cooper woke up in recovery very sleepy and started coughing immediately, which couldn't feel good!  He wanted to snuggle with me and had 2 juices and a popsicle within 20 minutes of waking up.
 


Cooper and his new Lightening McQueen toy ready to go home!



As soon as he started talking, I noticed a change in his little voice!  It was so much higher pitched then it had been previously!  It sounded like a little baby - so, so sweet!

Over the next few days at home, we took it easy and did a lot of snuggling, eating popsicles, ice cream, yogurt, and drinking any fluids that he wanted!  He didn't sleep as much as I thought he would, even with the pain medicine that was suppose to make him drowsy.  We are so glad that it's over and it went well.  Now we have a follow up appointment at the end of August.

And a special "THANK YOU" to our friends Tiffany and Adam for having Addison over during this time!  She and Rylee had a fun playdate and slumber party!

4th of July in New Braunfels

 After having such a great time last year at New Braunfels over July 4th, we decided to go back again.  The kids went up on Friday with my parents, which was the day when Rob, Jennifer and their 3 kids went up too.  We got there on Sunday.  The day we arrived, we went and rode the train around Landa park like we did last year. 



All Aboard the train!

We also decided to go on to the Griste Mill for dinner in Gruene. We all sat on the beautiful patio and enjoyed delicious food!



Cooper trying to make a "cool" face with his cousin, Trey!

Last year in New Braunfels, Addison really turned a corner with her swimming and this year was even better!  I love how well she can swim by herself and keep up with Emorie Claire.  They are like BFF's - I love that they are so close in age!

Cooper wanted to play in the game room a lot - ping pong, pool, air hockey, fuseball or whatever the boys were playing!

I think this is part of where he got the idea from - Trey loves to play in the arcade!

Cooper was also having fun in the Comal river even though it was pretty cold!  He caught a ride from Daddy back to the side after he attempted to do the rope swing - of course, I didn't get that on camera! 



Kendra enjoying a 4th of July treat!





All American girls!




Happy Birthday America!



Our adorable river rats!



Cooper and Daddy coming to pick us up in the canoe.



Relaxing with my girl!



While we were there, Kevin, Rob, my dad, and Trey got in a round of golf.  We also did a half day at Schlitterbauhn, which was very fun for all of us and was plenty of time for the kids!

What a fun way to spend the 4th of July!  We loved getting to spend several days with the family and celebrating America's birthday!

Lake Travis 2011

In June, we went on a family vacation to Lake Travis in Austin with the Knott side of the family.  Scott and Katie brought their boat and we had a blast exploring Lake Travis, doing some tubing and wake boarding, and relaxing.


G-Pa and Cooper relaxing on the porch


We rented a cabin right on the lake and we were REALLY lucky that the dock was still in the water to be able to come and go from the house.  The lake was 20-30 ft below normal because of the drought!  Instead of the water  in the picture below being just beyond the lower deck pictured, it is much further out.  It was a hike to just get to and from the boat!

Our little chef.

Margie relaxing - she didn't do much of this!  She was hanging in there with us the entire time! 



Kevin and Katie



Margie, Addi, and KK

Scott, Dylan, and Coop

 


Scott and Katie





Addison building up the courage to jump in the lake - she was a little hesitant because of the fish!



Cooper, Kevin and Addison enjoying the view from the front of the boat



Coop loved this do-rag and wore it everyday - I wonder where he came up with that idea???



Finally convinced Addi to ride the tube with Kevin - and they lasted about 5 seconds and she would NOT get back on!



The fam!

 

Katie and I had so much fun!



The boat rocked Cooper to sleep - he got drowsy each time we drove for more than a few minutes!



Scott and Dylan - pros on the tube!

Several times during this trip, we agreed that we need to do this every year!  I hope we can make that happen and make more great memories!