School is Out!!

We closed out the school year on Thursday. I'm still recovering! :) I'm so thankful I got the opportunity to work a job-share this year. Initially, it was hard to go back to work thinking about Gavin (who was just learning how to take the bottle while I was learning how to speed pump during quick recess breaks). We soon got into a rhythm and though the days I worked were crazy busy, it was so fun to teach for a couple of days a week. 

Grammie is amazing. I'm so thankful my boys get the privilege of being with her and learning from her. She's an inspiration to watch and I learn something every time I'm with her. 

We were praying for someone to come and help my mom with the boys. Just days before I began working, we found her!! Miss Esther is exactly what I wanted/needed/prayed for! She is doing her coursework online, so she has an amazingly flexible schedule. She is the sweetest, most sincere, and selfless teenager I've ever met! Most importantly, she loves on my kids with genuine affection. We all love her! 

Grammie kindly brought Gavin to me every lunch time so I could nurse him in the car! Such a fun part of my day to look forward to. Kyle often came, too.

And Daddy came every Tuesday (his early day) to help out.

My old bedroom has been transformed into the boys' playroom. 

The family room has it's own grandsons' corner, too.

Lincoln Logs were the latest thing to come out of the garage. Grammie's got a lot more tricks (and toys) up her sleeve! 

Playing with PVC pipes. Water and marbles like to travel down Kyle's many configurations.

Gav loves to be pushed around in his car. The whole time, he talks to himself or says, "Ehye!!"

The boys went on fun outings like to Kyle's music class, the park, and library.

Kyle loves the computers at the library.

And sometimes Miss Esther's older sister, Amy, came. Here, they are playing with his new "Busy Town" set that connects perfectly with his train set.

I can't believe it's already June. Thank you, Grammie, Miss Esther, and Miss Amy. What a blessing you 3 are to all of us! I'm so glad it worked out so well. Now, looking forward to spending the summer at home! 

Kyle

I haven't talked much about Kyle's GI history or various appointments. It just didn't seem necessary to share information about our son's colon, if ya know what I mean. Recently, however, it's become apparent that we need to do more diagnostic tests. :( So, on Wednesday, June 5th, Kyle will have a sigmoidoscopy. That's a procedure to look inside the rectum and sigmoid (lower) colon. He will have to go under general anesthesia (something that makes us pretty darn nervous!), and will be out for just over an hour. Agh!

We had our pre-op/procedure appointment today and got the run down of how this will go. The poor little guy will only be allowed to drink (clear) liquids the day before and will have to do some things to get himself flushed out (not easy when you're 3). Then, he'll have to fast all night and half the next day (again, not so easy when you're 3). Unfortunately, there are a few other younger kids/babies going in to surgery prior to Kyle, so he'll have to wait his turn and somehow forget he's hungry! (How do you explain to a child that he can't eat for a day and a half?) We'll get a call Monday night telling us the exact time to show up to the hospital and Ru and I will be able to be with Kyle for everything except the procedure itself.

It's one thing to experience this as an adult, but it's quite another when you're Kyle's age and easily scared. It was heartbreaking to watch him nervously answer the nurse's questions and scream while getting his blood drawn (his veins are so small and he's been poked/bruised way too many times to get a good draw). And most of you know that we've gone down this road before with Rudy... so we know what we don't want to hear when this is over. :(

I'm blogging about this now to ask for your prayers. Ru and I need prayer for wisdom to know how to answer Kyle's questions. We will also hope to act as normal as possible and stay positive. And, needless to say, we hope and pray that this procedure will give us some answers but that it would be something minor and treatable.

Thanks.

Someone's Standing!

Last weekend, I walked in to pick Gav up from his nap and saw this! We quickly gave Rudy another "honey-do" and the crib mattress was dropped down.

We've now entered the phase where Mommy gets little done at home and spends much of her time walking with and protecting Gav from harm. Not only does he want to stand up on everything, but he likes to walk while holding hands. So big! It's a lot of fun to see him explore his world from a different vantage point. One of the cutest things we love seeing, is how much Gav wants to stand by Kyle and hold hands while we pray and sing songs before bed. He'll stand there for 15 minutes just smiling and staring at Kyle. :)

A GG Package!!

What is more fun than coming home to see a surprise package waiting at your doorstep!?!? Kyle was smiling ear to ear and told any neighbor we saw about his package from "my GG!" He made sure it was for him, but reading "Kyle and Gavin" on the top, then pushed that sucker straight to their room. Since we usually wait for Daddy to open any IL packages... we called him and waited...and finally, we got the green light and Kyle oohed and awed over every thing in the box. I don't know how GG does it (she must reads minds!), but she always sends things that are exactly what we're into or need. Her packages are always so fun. Both boys played the rest of the evening with their things though Gavin mostly chewed on his. :)

Sending an e-thank you to GG!! :)

Gavin's 1st Bike Ride!

Last weekend, we went on our first ever bike ride as a family of four. Gavin seemed to like it and Kyle was amazing, riding right with us for quite a distance. There were water stations set up (as so many were training for upcoming races) and the people working them commented when we passed back around that this "little guy" could ride for so long and didn't at all look winded. We love Kyle's adventurous spirit and it was great to be out riding again. 

We stopped in the middle of our ride to have some snacks.

Gav was so quiet back there behind Rudy, that when Gavin reached out to touch Ru's lower back, Rudy swatted him away, thinking it was a bug or something. Ru felt so badly to have forgotten he was even there, let alone swat at him!

Gavin seems to be forgiving, and we look forward to our next ride. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Me and my boys, with Jonathan very much in my heart. 

After a great church service, we had my parents and sister over for brunch.

We took my mom to Roger's Gardens in Corona del Mar, a place she had been as a little girl with her Mommy. It was gorgeous! We picked out a couple of climbing rose bushes to add to her garden.

I thank God for my wonderful mother. Every time I drive away from her house I breathe a prayer of thanksgiving for the gift she is to me and my boys (Rudy, too). I also thank God for the privilege it is to be Kyle and Gavin's mother. And I ask that he give little J a hug for me. 

Happy Mother's Day to our friends, Moms and Grandmas!! 

Gavin - 8 months

This little fella is 8 months old today!! Mr. Happy loves cruising around in this hot rod while Kyle skates, scooters, bikes, and runs along side him. 

This smile melts us every time! When I look at Gavin, I think of God's answered prayer and the miracle of life. To have him be such a happy baby only accentuates the idea that there can be joy after sorrow. Our little sunshine after the rain. :)

At 8 months, Gavin:

• can bounce/jump like nobody's business!! He loves that doorway jumper.
• has a strong attachment to those he sees on a daily/weekly basis. 
• lights up and crawls as fast as he can to get to Daddy when he gets home!
• crawls
• loves pickles (?!)
• smiles at happy faces
• is interested in everything and tries to be involved in as much as possible
• loves touching grass and sand and playing in water
• tries to put everything in his mouth
• hugs us!! (really, truly hugs us when we pick him up!!)
• went on his first bike ride!
• loves Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin Jr. 
• smiles non-stop

He finally feels real. Happy 8 months, Gavin!

I'm so proud of my man!

I always knew Rudy would be a great physical therapist. After graduating from college and beginning his first career and not enjoying it as much as he thought he would, he took a few career counseling tests and they all pointed towards the health field, specifically being a PT. So, after working about a year as a PT aide, he started the looong process of getting all the science coursework he needed to apply to PT school. Once in the master's program and throughout the many really hard classes and arduous studying, he would occasionally question if this would all be worth it. He'd wonder if he could make it. His employers, colleagues, and his wife all knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was exactly what he was gifted for.

A year into the job (!!!It still hasn't lost its wonder, folks!!!), and Rudy is the therapist we all knew he'd be. He's learned so much, loving what he does, and making a difference in the lives of his patients! They are extremely complimentary and appreciative, but sometimes when discharging a patient, the person will show his/her appreciation in a more tangible way. The other day, Rudy came home with a card that made me so proud. It says,

"Thank you so much for everything that you've done. You have helped me more than you know. When I first came here, I was still using my walker and afraid of possible re-injury. Now, I 'm starting to feel more like myself. I appreciate all your hard work and generosity. It really paid off and while you helped me recover physically, I also really appreciate how you helped boost my confidence as well. Due to my accident, I've had to deal with numerous physical therapists over the past few months. I can confidently say that you're the best physical therapist I've ever dealt with. Please continue doing what you're doing. Just know that my family and I truly appreciate your commitment to your patients. I also want to thank you for pushing me hard, I needed it."

:) Thanks for letting me brag about my man. I'm sure this means more to us than it will to anyone else reading, but after the journey we've been on to get here, this sort of thing puts a huge smile on my face.

Gavin's 1st Dip in the Pool

It's that time of year again. When May comes it always brings the heat full force (90's - 100's) and we get all geared up for summer only for June Gloom to take the sun away. Since we're experiencing the kind of heat only a dip in the pool can cure, we decided today was a good day for Gavin's 1st! :) He loved it!! And Kyle absolutely loved having Gavin join him. Kyle kept exclaiming, "It's our first time back in the pool!" and, "I love you Gavin! I love you swimming with me!" :) 

A neighbor was kind enough to take this picture and help me capture this 1st memory of the boys in the pool together! :)

 Gavin and his two bottom teeth!

 Kyle was all smiles (even for Mommy's camera!).

 I have a feeling, we'll be in here a lot. Tomorrow, we get to take Daddy! :)

Knott's Berry Farm!

We have several friends who are annual pass holders at Knott's and rave about the little to no lines during the weekdays, easy parking, significantly cheaper rates (than Disneyland), and all the fun that is Camp Snoopy. We finally decided to check it out with our friends Elsie, Vance, and Zane. Since an annual pass is just 12 or so dollars more than a day rate... I went ahead and joined the bandwagon. :) I had been hesitant because theme parks with 2 little ones and one mommy doesn't sound like something I want to do all the time... but when you go with friends, it's easier and a lot of fun. I have to say that Camp Snoopy (and Knott's in general) was pretty easy to do. There wasn't much walking or standing in lines. In fact, we could almost stay on every ride for as many turns as we'd like because no one was in line behind us. Kyle was tall enough to ride on all but 3 rides and there were enough rides for Gavin to ride on, too. I loved that this area is located right past the entrance and the rides are really close to one another (again, not like Disneyland where a stroller for every young child is a must!) The best part was having a friend to go with (for me and for Kyle!). Fun times.

This roller coaster was actually pretty fast. Kyle and Elsie went on it by themselves while I nervously looked on. He was so brave.

Kyle, the truck driver.

Gav was a bit overwhelmed! ;)

On Kyle's favorite, the Ferris wheel!

Brothers ;)

And Snoopy!!!!

After watching a bit of a Peanuts stage show, we called it a morning. Since Rudy works so close to Knott's, we were anxious to surprise him on his lunch break! (We had spontaneously gone to Knott's after a friend invited us this morning, so Ru didn't even know we'd be close by.) It was so great to see how much it meant to him to have us stop by. Kyle loves Daddy's work because of all the machines and contraptions Daddy lets him tinker with. Kyle is very mechanically minded and loves to see how things work. He could stay and "play" for hours.

Gav's 1st visit!!

I think we'll get a lot of use out of the pass and it will be fun to see Rudy at work more often!