A Dozen

Twelve years.  Count 'em.  That's how many Byron and I have been married.

I won't lie and say it's all been bliss.

He and I are way too spicy.

But I wouldn't trade these years or him in for anything.

 My folks took the baby chicks overnight over the weekend

and Byron and I went out-- no kids, no noise.

It was fabulous.

We had a lovely dinner with some dear friends,

then went to a historic home overlooking the Capitol Building downtown for a night away.

Thanks honey, for all the great times... incredible kids...

 And crazy memories.

P.S.  That is not a beer in my hand!

Her Million Dollar Idea

If you are a regular reader of this blog,

you know the girls have been saving for Disneyland.

And you know that the fire burned up their money making enterprise--

 all the raspberries and blackberries.

They and we are hoping for a comeback crop this summer.

Meanwhile, they are trying to figure out ways to make up for the loss.

Here came Reese with the idea of the century.

Reese:  "Mom, I have the best idea."

Me:  "Okay, I'm ready, give it to me."

Reese:  "You know that game, Beenopolee (Monopoly), we can take all the money from it and put it in the Disneyland Fund.  Then we'll have enough!!!"

Oh, if only it were so easy.

His Turn

 We're at it again.  Breathing treatments galore (which he hates). 

Kean started wheezing a week ago. 

I took him in on Wednesday and the poor boy has pneumonia.

Not the same type as Reese had two weeks ago. 

No fever, just a cough and a horrible wheeze.

His, they think, is a bacterial infection in his lungs.

So we've been to the doctor's office yesterday and the day before.

We were supposed to go in today, but hallelujah... the boy sounds somewhat better today!

So I'm rebelling.  No visits until next week!

Excuse the pun, but I'm sick of doctors!

 Reese is doing everything in her power to keep Kean entertained.

She made a huge mess... oops, I mean a fort.

Lucky for me, other than one day, Kean has felt pretty good considering.

And blessing of all blessings, he's sleeping well at night.

Momma especially appreciates that!

Need I say more?

The hazards of being the only boy with three sisters!

'nuf said.

Grouch-ola for a day

We had a big week for the little guy.  On Wednesday, he had a playdate with Spencer.

Spencer is 6 months older than Kean and has Down Syndrome.

It was fascinating talking with his mother about all they've gone through.... and all the similarities of our lives.

Kim, Spencer's mom, didn't find out they had a Down's baby until after giving birth. 

Sound familiar?

And it was just as initially devastating for them as it was for us.

Of course, knowing what we have now we both wish we could re-wind the clock and erase all that anguish.

Guess it's all just the process of life.

 It was fun to see Spencer doing his "Mowgli" crawl and walk with the aid of furniture. 

I kept hoping Kean would pay attention to his friend's mobility and get some ideas of his own-- but it will come.  And that was what was great about having Spencer and his mom over...

it reconfirmed that it all will come with time.

 I'm hoping the two of them will be friends as they grow up and amaze us.

Yesterday (Thursday), Kean had minor surgery to clear out the gunk in his ears, the mucus in his throat and put tubes in his ears.

We had to be there at 6:45 in the morn.

Kean was the first up and did just fine.

The doc said he had to use a tool to inflate his ear canals so he could get in there.

All D.S. kids have tiny, tiny canals and tubes-- so that wasn't a surprise.

Our boy was grouch-ola all day yesterday-- quite a detour from his normal disposition.

But I'm happy to report he is getting back to his ol' smiling self.



One of our Pied Pipers

Change is not always so fun.

Today, we said goodbye to one of Kean's therapists, his developmental specialist, Melissa.

She's been with us for well over a year-- most of Kean's life.

Melissa and Kean on Melissa's last day

Melissa and her family are moving to the Northern part of the state.

  I'm not sure who will miss her more,

Kean or Reese.

Melissa teaches Reese a new sign language sign each visit (and Reese in

case you did not know, is quite the aficionado when it comes to sign language).

We wish Melissa the best.

On the Kean crawling watch-- we're getting closer.  Twice today he got up on his two hands and scooted backward.  Hey, it's a great start!!!
P.S.  Tonight at bedtime, Reese was trying to tell me how much she loves her baby brother.
She says she loves him more than Holland and Greer.
In fact, she says she loves him as much as Heavenly Father loves him...
"and you know, that's really a lot"!

Back to our version of normal...

Reese Magoo is back to near full velocity.  I swear, antibiotics are miracle drugs! 

Let's just hope we've payed our dues in the flu department.

Kean had only one therapy session this week and it was a doozy.

Maureen worked him hard and said he did his best ever at practicing crawling. 

It will click one of these days.

By the end of the session, he was pretty grouchy.

Just look at what happened, oh about 2 seconds after she picked him up to comfort him.

Don't ya just love that little finger?

P.S.  He is so happy to have her back.  The worst thing for Reese about being sick

was not being able to get near Kean.