Vegas Baby!

We had a fun trip to Las Vegas last week to celebrate Gordon's 60th birthday!

Kevin and I went on Wednesday and the rest of the crew (Karen, Gordon, Margie, Katie and Scott) came on Thursday. We all stayed until Saturday.

We stayed at the Mirage which was a great hotel! I was very pleased with the room, restaurants, view, and the casino (although the could have been a little more loose with their money for us!).

We walked until our feet were about to fall off - I am sure it was at least 5 miles a day or more! By the last day, I didn't care what I wore except tennis shoes was a must! We saw all the hotels, the new City Center, Bellagio fountain show from the ground and from up in the Eiffel Tower at the Paris hotel, and some very interesting people!

We had a birthday dinner for Gordon at Stack in the Mirage and it was delicious. We ate at several other yummy places including Battistas Hole in the Wall - very good Italian food, but not a "Vegasy" place at all! Kevin and I decided to see the Cirque de Solei show called Love with the Beatles music - it was AMAZING! I am so glad that we got to see it!

We had a great trip and it was really fun to have some "adult" time, but of course we missed the kids.

They had their own adventures with Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Rob, Trey, Kendra, Emorie Claire, Nana and Grandad! From what I gather, they got to watch several of Trey's basketball games, go to the park, eat with Trey's basketball team at a burger place, and lots of playing outside! Thank you so much to my family for taking care of our sweet babies while we were gone! This was the first time we have left them both more than one night while we were far away, but it was a much needed break!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Cooperman!

Somebody turned TWO this week...

It's been a busy week with so many things going on, but the highlight was Cooperman's big day! We had a very successful birthday party on Saturday at the local Fire Station.

The weather was perfect and the firemen were very friendly. All the kids from (1-11 years old) enjoyed getting inside the firetrucks and ambulances, seeing some of the equipment, trying on some gear, seeing my dad up in the ladder basket and hearing the sirens. Each child got a plastic fire hat and a firemen's badge to wear too! The station got a call while we were there and one firetruck and 2 fire fighters had to leave, but the party went on without them!

We all gathered back at the Knott firehouse afterwards for some snacks, cake, ice cream and playing. We were happy with how everything turned out and several families commented on what a great idea this was! I can't take the credit though...I got the idea from a someone at the daycare! Of all 6 parties that I have done for my kids so far, I think this one was near the top!

On Cooper's actual birthday, we all woke him up with the "Happy Birthday" song and opened his gifts before school. When you asked him who's birthday it was, he shouts, "Coopahhhh!" We also brought a cookie cake to school to celebrate and continued the "fire truck" theme. We brought more firehats and badges to school to share with his friends there too. Cooper was a pro with blowing out his candles - I think we had him do it on 4-5 occasions over several days!

We haven't taken him for his two year check up and shots yet, but at the Pulmonologist yesterday, he weighed 29.6 lbs and was 33 1/3 inches tall. From checking out the growth chart online, looks like he may be around 60% in weight and 20% in height!

Happy Birthday, to our energetic, adorable, sweet, crazy, lovable, ONE AND ONLY SON, Cooper! We are so, so proud of how far you have come! We love you as high as the sky and deep as the ocean!

Heart ache

My heart is breaking for some friends today. Randy & Cristy lost their 3-month old son, Connor, yesterday. He has lived in the hospital since the day he was born - he never had a chance to feel fresh air or sunshine on his skin. He never had the chance to play with his twin sister, Chloe, at their house. He had a heart condition that kept him in the hospital and has already endured several surgeries. The sweet little boy left this earth way too soon, but I know he made an impact on lots of people while he was here. Unfortunately, we never got the chance to meet him in person. He was a lucky little guy to have great parents here on earth, but now he is wrapped up in the arms of our Father. I pray for Randy & Cristy to have strength to make it through this pain and remember all the beautiful days that they spent with Connor.
We will celebrate his life and remember him forever.

Gettin' our groove back!

We have been getting back to normal this week after a whirlwind of things happening last week. Addison was released from the hospital on Sunday mid day. She had to have one more blood test done on Sunday and the results were ready for us Tuesday - everything came back normal this time! Thank God! The doctor told us that she needed to stay home for several more days to get herself back to normal - Kevin stayed with her on Monday and I stayed with her on Tuesday. Luckily, she was well enough to run an errand or two with me because we have a party to get ready for this weekend! Addi was well enough to return to school on Wednesday where she was greeted by lots of hugs and people that were happy that she was back. Her classroom was nice enough to make a huge Get Well card for her and send her a teddy bear to the hospital. It brightened her day to see familiar names and great drawings from her friends and teachers. She seemed to have a normal day back and it was nice to get back into our regular routine too. We are so thankful that she is better!

Cooperman's 2nd birthday party is going to be on Saturday at the local fire station and at our house. We will get to see firetrucks, ambulances, firemen, and hear a presentation about fire safety. Then we will have a few activities and cake back at the house. Hopefully they don't have a fire emergency right when it's time to go to the station! We are super excited to celebrate the big day with him - he has reached the 2 year mark when they no longer adjust his age because of his premature birth. I will take lots of pictures of the event! He makes us laugh so often when he dances...he really does "get down" when a fun song comes on or when we are singing something he likes. He gets his fists clenched, bends his arms, and puts his hands up near his chest/shoulders. He starts moving his little arms while they are bent like that and stomping his feet. You can see in the picture, he is doing a modified version of this dance. He is a hoot!

These two really do love each other. Addi has always been very affectionate toward Cooper, but he was not always that way. But, he has been giving her more hugs without us initiating them and saying "sorry" when he hurts her by accident. But the best is lately he says "Love you!" without us prompting him or even saying it first! We just can't get enough of them!

Update on Addison

Well, I have to say that I never would have guessed we would still be here at Texas Children's with Addison. She is doing better today than any day so far. They have stopped giving her fluids through the IV now. She has had more of an appetite today too. She actully had a half bowl of Cheerios and a little applesauce for breakfast, a bagel for lunch, and a mini muffin this afternoon so far. She needs to pick up the fluid intake more but has had a little Gatorade and probably 2 cups of water. She is having less diarreha which is good. Her fever still gets up there unfortunately. The last high fever was today at 10ish - it was around 102.1 under her arm (103.1 adjusted). We gave her Motrin and it has helped.

The majority of the day, she has been sitting up on the bed or couch. We have been reading books, making wooden jewelry with me, watching movies, doing her sticker book or playing I spy out the window (we are on the 12th floor and have a pretty far view). She actually even let me brush her hair and teeth today which has not been important over the last several days. She even looked like she was happy at some points. Even had enough energy to act silly with me and pose for a picture as seen here...also notice our beautiful necklaces!







Yesterday, the nurse suggested that we give her a little Sprite to help with her tummy and she seemed excited to try something new. It was the first time a carbonated drink has touched her lips and boy, did she HATE it! She screamed like we were putting needles in her tongue or something! She kept saying with her tongue hanging out, "It's still on my tongue, it's still on my tongue!" She made us wipe her tongue with a napkin and wash it down with water. It was a very strange reaction!



We are hoping that we will be able to go home tomorrow. Kevin stayed home with Cooper last night and for the morning untill her woke up from his nap. He came up here and my parents met us here to take Cooper to the Children's Museum and an afternoon of playtime. Here is a funny picture that Addison laughs at each time she sees it of her little brother who she misses so much.

Addison's crazy week

On Monday, Miss Addison started having "crusty" eyes so she stayed home from school with Kevin, assuming she had pink eye. She played and ate as if she was feeling normal. That evening she started complaining about her stomach and head hurting and around 8ish, we realized she was running a fever. By 10:30, it was 104. The rest of the night she was very restless, crying out, and running a fever. We went to the doctor on Tuesday morning first thing and she was tested for strep (negative) and flu (negative). They also took blood (which was terrible!).
We left the doctor and ran an errand and got a call that the blood work was back and she had a very elevated white blood cell count (average is 4.8 and she was at 22). She asked us to come back in and run another blood test, get a urine sample, and have a chest xray. On the way back in the car is the first time she threw up. Getting blood drawn the second time was even more terrible for her and us! She was so upset - poor Addi! Also, getting a 4 year old to pee on demand is not easy - let's just say we were in the restroom for 30 minutes trying to get this accomplished.
The urine sample results showed that Addi was dehydrated. The radiologist thought that there was a spot on her lungs that showed signs of pneumonia. Our instructions were to get her hydrated and get on the antibiotic and return to the doctor Wednesday morning with another urine sample. We did all of that as best as possible, but she was not showing improvement and still had a vey high fever when the Motrin or Tylenol was wearing off. Not to mention, that she was throwing up, or at least trying to, more often (even though it didn't have much consistency). They told us to take her to the ER at Texas Children's Hospital.
This is where we have been since Wednesday at 11am. After IV fluids were given, she still wasn't showing much improvement. They ran more blood tests, flu test, and another chest xray. They didn't agree about the pneumonia, but also weren't able to determine what else was wrong. They gave her some strong antibiotics, anti-nausea med, more motrin for fever, and decided to keep us around longer for observation. She perked up for about 1-2 hours yesterday afternoon before Kevin left and we were really hoping for a good night.
That wasn't the case, unfortunately! During the night, she had periods of very high fever (104.7) and most of the night, the battled lots of diarreha. I only brought 3 pairs of panties for her and that was used up really quick. We had to resort to what the hospital had - diapers. She was not happy about that at all, but I wasn't going to leave the hospital to buy underwear in the middle of the night with her under any condition, but especially in the condition she was in. It was a very long night for her and I just hope tonight will be better.
Today, it has been more of the same. They finally gave her some anti-diarreha meds too and that seems to help some. She still has high fevers and they are still running more tests. We are waiting on the results of some of them still. Some of the tests have come back with better results - she's not as dehydrated and her white blood cell count is practically cut in half. They think all of this is a virus, but don't know much more - which is so FRUSTRATING! I would love to figure out what it is, to determine what treatment she needs, and get her back to normal. She has been through the ringer this week, but she has been very brave. Unfortunately, it looks like she is traumatized with the blue rubberband that they use before they take blood/give an IV and she not hates any and all medicine taken by mouth - even they yummy cherry Tylenol. Looks like we will be here again tonight, but we are hopeful that she is well enough to go home soon. I will be going home with Cooper this evening, while Kevin takes a turn here. Let's just hope it's much better than last night!
Please say a little prayer for our sweet girl!

Ever since we started having computer problems back in the fall, I haven't done too much with all the pictures we have taken. But, for Christmas this year, we got a new laptop from Kevin's parents (thanks!). I have been dragging my feet in trying to get pictures from my camera to the new computer, but I finally took some time to organize and upload them today and it feels great!!! Here are just a few pictures from the past month or two!

Celebrating Christmas in Lufkin with G-Pa, KK, Uncle Scott, Aunt Katie, Dylan, Maw maw, Aunt Sharon, and Kaylon. Celebrating Christmas with Nana, Grandad, cousins Trey, Kendra, Emorie Claire (and of course, Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Rob who aren't pictured).

A visit with Margie at her house in Lufkin.

Cooper's new ride from Mr. Claus.

All dressed and ready for Christmas Eve service.

She looks like a little old lady with the curlers and robe!

Cooper playing at Discovery Green in December.

Addison playing at Discovery Green.

Our family before Christmas Eve service.

Look forward to learning how to more easily post these pictures...I really don't think it should have taken as long as it did...still learning!