Bring it on!

Since it is now officially February, I had to post a few pics from the Rockies' last season. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in just two weeks! It's the only thing that makes February bearable in my book (OK and Kinley's birthday/Valentine's Day). When I retire someday, I'm going to park my butt in Tucson from February 15th 'til Opening Day. While the Rockies didn't sign any new big names, they did lock in contracts for some of the important guys, namely Tulo. We love that guy! We're hoping that his serious passion for winning carries the team to the playoffs again this year! I had to share this picture from last season. Kinley was definitely into the game. Ha! This was at the last regular season game against the Diamondbacks that sent the Rockies to the play-in game. I don't know what was more fun--watching the game or watching the guys in right field change the scoreboard to show that the Padres were losing--the two factors that were necessary to send the Rockies to the post season. Going to a World Series game, even though the outcome was poor, was an amazing experience. Great memories!

Is my baby really almost 4?

So, I had to post this hilarious photo of Kinley and her good buddy, Sophia. Too funny. Sophia is in her class at preschool and they instantly hit it off. Sophia's mom said she had to beg them to come eat lunch. What is so funny is how tall Miss Kinley is. Who is this kid? She is waking up every morning right now asking if it's February yet. She tells everyone (and I mean everyone) that her birthday is on "Valentime's Day" and everyone celebrates her birthday. She struck up a conversation with an elderly man at the grocery store checkout line yesterday and said, "See all that Valentime's decorations over there? Those are for my birthday!"

Surgery date set . . .. 4/10/08

So, Children's Hospital called today and we now have a date on the calendar set for Cooper's replacement pacemaker surgery. It will be on Thursday April 10th at 11:30 a.m. The surgery will take between 2-3 hours and we have to decide before then whether or not to take the old one out in his abdomen or just turn it off. It will be nice to not have to be there before the sun comes up, but not eating at all before that will not be easy for my hungry hippo. :( We will meet with the surgeon sometime before then to talk about the logistics. We wanted to do the surgery the week of or before our Spring Break, but no dice. Coop is ok with it because he thinks missing school is A-OK! He will be in the hospital one to two nights and has already tried convincing me that he needs a Wii for his rehab. :)

The annual cardiology visit

Because I'm the mom and I'm allowed to be sappy, I usually spend the month of January reflecting on Cooper's scary start to life. 10 years and 3 days ago, we brought Cooper home for the first time. As new parents, we had no idea what we were doing let alone a kid with home oxygen needs and a huge scar down the front of his chest.
Coop has taught us a lot about life and the importance of taking things one day at a time. He's a remarkable kid and I'm so proud to be his mom. We found out yesterday at his annual appointment that his pacemaker is on its last leg and it's time for a new model. The battery only has about 9 months left on it, which is plus or minus 5 months. So, it could konk out as soon as four months from now (when we are at Disneyland--no thank you!), so it is time to just "get 'er done." We will schedule the replacement soon. Because Cooper is now in total heart block (meaning none of the impulses that originate in the top of his heart are getting through to the bottom), he needs a more sophisticated model rather than just a new battery. They will put the new one under his armpit and then thread the leads through a subclavicular vein directly to the inside of his heart. As soon as we know more about his surgery, will will update everyone. I put this picture in because this is one of the places in the world that Cooper loves most--a combination of his favorite sport and his favorite pasttime--places where lawnmowers are plentiful as is the smell of fresh cut grass! He told me that's one of the things he loves most about the golf course. :)

Welcome, Willie!

Well, we finally bit the bullet and got a dog. I always said we wouldn't get one because I'm kind of a neat freak in my house. But, we told the kids we would think about it after I graduated. Well, they didn't forget! I did some research and learned that Shih Tzus don't shed at all, so that was our first choice. We also felt pretty strongly that we should get one from a shelter or dog pound that needed a home. We happened to find this little guy on petfinder.com in Wyoming. He and his sister were rescued from someone who wasn't treating them very nice. We drove up there and didn't tell the kids why. We told them dad had to get some paperwork and if they were good, we would go do something fun. We pulled up to the shelter and told them they had an important decision waiting for them inside. They all about fell over! It was better than Christmas to watch them. :) They had to pick between the boy and the girl (which was harder than I thought), but in the end, the little boy picked us. Kinley squated down to pet him and she fell on her backside in the process and this little guy just plopped himself on her tummy. He is between 1 and 2 years old, housebroken and crate trained. Hallelujiah and amen!! The kids named him Willie. Welcome to the family, Willie! So far, his favorite thing is lap time on the couch. The first picture was when he was only half awake and the 2nd picture was taken after we'd been home for an hour and the girls were watching TV. He came up and just snuggled right up!

Cooper turns 10!

This was an "off" year for a big birthday party for Cooper as well, but he got to go to ESPN Zone, so he was one happy dude. He could sing the SportsCenter theme song in his sleep. The kid knows more sports than his dad at this point, which is scary. If any NFL teams need a good scout, he's your man! He would kill me for being sappy, but being 10 years out from how his life began is nothing short of a miracle. He has turned out to be such a kind, witty, smart kid and we are so proud of him. He has his annual cardiology appt. on Jan. 23rd and we will learn when he has to have his pacemaker replaced with a more sophisticated model with more bells and whistles. He just wants the docs to set it to make him run faster!

Graduation Day!

After a long year and a half, we all made it to graduation day. It was a nice, short ceremony with the 32 of us that did the accelerated program together. I would have never made it without the support of my family and Karen and Laura. We had an open house on Dec. 15th and it was well attended. So many people helped us along the way with child care and sanity checks. It feels so good to be done! I will start working at Children's on the cardiac floor on March 4th. Talk about a full circle experience! My journey into nursing started 10 years ago with Cooper's birth at that very hospital (though the brand new one is much more impressive!).

The kids had a great Christmas. They are at such fun ages. Kinley was quite pleased to join the big kid bike club even though it's too cold to ride. Kaiya was thrilled with a loft bed from Santa and Cooper is happy that Santa likes to golf and gave him a new driver. :) It was a good Christmas, despite the fact it was hectic with my graduation just 10 days earlier. We feel like the kids actually grasped that Santa is great, but Christmas is also a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus and spend time with family!

This was our "off" year for a big friend party, so we had a nice family party. We went bowling as a family (on the off year, you get to pick a family outing) and then had family over for dinner. Kaiya was quite pleased with getting this Hannah Montana camera/camcorder from her Uncle Brandon. She also loves her Webkinz and her American Girl doll. It's hard to believe she's already 7! Right after her birthday, she finally lost her first tooth. She thought it was never going to happen, but after an hour of hard work, she got it out!

2 months worth of updates . . ugh!

Well, I knew I wasn't going to be nearly as dilligent in keeping up with this blogging stuff as most people, but it's still worth a try! I'm adding in some Halloween photos, photos of Kaiya's 7th birthday, nursing school graduation, Christmas, Cooper's 10th birthday and photos of our new dog, Willie. I guess a lot has happened in two months!!