Stretch

Byron thinks it is ridiculous that even though my birthday was

a few weeks ago, we are still celebrating.

Since Ron and Elly Moomey were out of town, they had us over for dinner tonight.

Elly made my favorite-- Mexican food and an incredibly

delicious carrot cake.

Trust me, this girl can cook!

 We all got the giggles tonight.  Elly is turning the big five-oh-no

in a little over a month and we were plotting her birthday celebration

and looking at the few pictures from her childhood (she was

the 6th of 7th children-- enough said).

This was our favorite-- just after she got over the chicken pox.

 Dear Elly grew up to be a classic beauty.

That makes us all love this picture even more.

The Annex

Oh my.

The Cars binge continues.

One of the kindest women I know, Heather Davis, had lent our family

an artificial Christmas tree (since Kean can't have a live one).

When we took it back today, her children had a little present for Keanut--

a Mater Pillow Pet.

 The boy's collection of all things Cars continues to grow.

We've had three new "acquisitions" in the past three days.

Byron has asked me to put out the plea... no more 

items for the Cars museum until we raise the funds to build 

an annex onto our house to display it all!

We've got one spoiled little guy on our hands.

Thanks for all the love.

Lightning McKean

My spirits got quite the lift today

(momma medicine as I like to call it)!

My girlfriends Stephanie Simpson,  Amber Allen and

Sheryl Alderman opted to bring lunch in-- since I can't do a girls lunch out.

We had so much fun talking, eating, talking, eating... you get the idea.

And Kean, wow, he was loving it.  He gobbled on the food

and was the happiest he's been in days.

I think it was just what we both needed.

 Byron brought home a box for Kean that was delivered to his office.

Grandma Kay (Byron's mom) made Kean a blanket for Christmas

(and finished it a bit late).

 It is super soft and cuddly and has Kean's beloved Cars

all over it.

The boy has been given so much Cars stuff, I'm seriously

\considering opening up the Mountain West Museum of Cars.

We'll call it Lightning McKean.

Whaddya think?  

Scarface

Since many of you have asked about and kept my dad in your prayers,

I thought you'd like an update and a picture.

Don't ask my why it is sideways.

We just have to be grateful my mom figured out how to take a video

(she thought she was taking a picture) on her phone and send it to me!

I think my dad is actually doing better than my mom.

She was so exhausted that while she was napping, my

dad went in, changed his clothes and then went outside to

do some yard work!

He should be back to his old self in no time.

p.s.  Kean was a bit better today.

I'm learning patience through all this.

Snore, Snore!

Enough about bodily functions.

As much as I'd like a break from it-- I'll at least give you a break

from the "Poop Chronicles" (even though it wasn't quite as epic today).

Kean had two therapy sessions-- he was just okay and a doctor's appointment

with his ENT.  He had a lot of wax in one ear

and it took three of us to hold him down for the doc.

Trust me, he's much stronger than he looks.

Here's the good news:  even though he still has one tube in one of his ears

(it's not functional), the doc says we don't have to come in for SIX MONTHS!!

And if he is in good shape then-- we get to graduate from his office.

I can't tell you how nice it will be to have one less doctor on our long list.

When we got home... we had a surprise on our doorstep-- a package

from Lexington, Kentucky.

If you are a regular reader, you'll know that Kean is part of the 

I Run For group and has been matched with a runner who

runs and participates in races with Kean as her inspiration.

 Clair's 7 year-old daughter, Amanda made Kean his very own

Cars pillow.  Not only did he keep reverently saying Cars over and over again...

but he put his head down on the pillow and made a snoring sound.

We about died laughing!

 Thanks Clair for making a sick boy very happy.

He got Methotrexate today-- dang, just when he

seemed to be turning a corner!

As for my dad, he had his skin cancer surgery today.

The doctors told my mom all went well- they took

out pretty wide margins on his face and are pretty

confident they got it all.

Thank you for the prayers and support.

The Poop Chronicles

Oh my, what have we done?

Day two of the dam has broken.

The boy hasn't had any Miralax in a few days-- but those

triple doses are haunting me.

For those of you who would like to feel my pain... let me

share with you the highlights of my day:

I got a whiff of something that wasn't so sweet while Kean and I were out in the barn.

By the time I got him back to the house, he had "stuff" all the way down his legs and up

his back to his hair.

And I had it all over my pants and shirt.

Thank heavens nobody came to visit about that time.

They would've gotten quite the eyeful.

This picture is from the other day-- but he's feeling good and light as a feather!

My dad's big surgery is tomorrow.

He goes into the hospital at about noon.

One of the cancerous spots on his face is so deep, when it is

removed, his eye will droop.  So immediately after the cancer is

removed, they will take tissue from somewhere else and do some

reconstructive surgery.

Keep him in your prayers.

Sleeping Beauty

I'm not sure what to think.

Kean had moments where he seemed fine today

and moments where he still seemed miserable.

I think the good moments outweighed the bad though.

He got a good nap today and ya gotta love

that Cars body pillow

but....

triple doses of Miralax finally caught up with him

and let's just say some of his clothing wasn't worth cleaning

and is now in the garbage.

He's off to bed for the night.

Tomorrow he should be even better.