End of Summer 2014

Labor Day is quickly approaching and there is so much to celebrate as we close this chapter of 2014.

Weston celebrated his 4th Birthday

Emily learned how to ride her bike sans training wheels! 

Someone FINALLY is potty trained

Mom had a minor freak out when she received this germ-laden picture

 Bebes took a plethora of selfies

Now we find ourselves at the end of August and the beginning of a new school year.
Weston is starting his first year of "official" Pre-K.

ALL of his pics are blurry!! :-(

Just in case you couldn't read in the first pic.
Yes, he wants to be an elephant. 

 Emily is starting 1st Grade!!

Emily says she wants to be a 2nd Grade Teacher so she "can give really hard homework"

 Bebes are still at the same school together and both go to Extended Care.
Emily likes to report on Weston's behavior.

My Loves!!
They're growing SO FAST!

Emily, 6 years old, 1st Grade

Weston, 4 years old, Pre-K

Emily requested to be photographed in the following pose:

 Weston quickly counter with his own 

I hope their teachers are ready for what's in store!!

My Husband is a Saint

One of the perks of being a teacher is having summers off...that is, unless your spouse doesn't and you have two small children without school or day care.
This is where the husbando finds himself every Monday thru Thursday. But, he handles it better than I could ever dream of doing.

Here's some pictures of their adventures:

















Chuck-E-Cheese on Monday, Thinkery and McD on Tuesday, Hoppin' House and Pizza on Wednesday.

I don't know how he does it. He's amazing <3




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Happy 6th Birthday, Emily!

My Lovie's 6th Birthday!! 6 years!!!






Last 5 year old pic








Special birthday balloon surprise avalanche!!!








Good morning, my birthday princess!








Making it official!!


















Started off her special day with a Texas sized donut at Round Rock Donuts




Then the Birthday Princess requested play time at the Thinkery. The water room was the favorite!




Shopping at the Thinkery

She wanted a "pickle burger" and that's what she got. And are every last bite!!

Daddy dropped mom and the bubby off at home and squired the Birthday Princess about town to spend her birthday money. What did she buy?? A cotton candy machine! O-o



Making cotton candy with Daddy




Because the donuts and cotton candy didn't supply enough sugar, mom would insist on making homemade milk chocolate buttercream icing for birthday cupcakes




Happy Birthday to you, My Love!!








Testing out her mermaid tail

Sick Days, Ice Days and a Little Circus

I've lived in Austin coming up on 18 years now and I have NEVER seen weather so bipolar!
The huge range of temperatures is totally normal; 29 today, 50 tomorrow and close to 80 by the weekend. But this ice business is seriously for the birds.

School has been cancelled at least three times. I had to drive in the Ice Apocalypse to go to work, because let me tell you, surgical patients are like mailmen; Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these people from their elective plastic and back surgeries.

 

Cedar Fever season coupled with this rapid cycling weather has also done a number on the kids with allergies/colds that progress into ear infections and sinus infections.
They've both had one round of antibiotics since Christmas, and I think they are currently working their way toward another round each.

 

So, we have found ourselves iced in/quarantined a few times here recently and the kids did pretty well with quelling their pent up energy.



Snuggling on the couch <3 p="">

"Helping" me sew
He's worse than a cat!

He knows he looks fabulous.

Catfishing

My precious, beautiful loves

One of the days Bubby stayed home sick, the Shriner's Circus had just come to town and they put on an "Elephant Brunch" for the kids.
Bubby, who recently has become OBSESSED with elephants, had to go. 

Studly Muffin!

He loved seeing them so much, we decided to take them to the circus.
Yes, all you tree huggers in Austin, I am with you.
I am not a big fan of the circus because of animal mistreatment and exploitation.
But, your 3 and 5 year olds want to see elephants, you see elephants.
Don't you worry, we will not be patrons any time in the near future.
I was very disappointed in the CONSTANT peddling of cotton candy, snow cones and light up crap.
It was very distracting and too tempting for the little ones.

Not going to lie, I really hoped the tigers would go all Siegfried and Roy on their trainer. I was shocked to see that they actually still hit them with whips. :-(

Same with the camels.

Favorite moments:
Elephants and $5 cotton candy. 

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Happy 3rd Transplant Anniversary!

On January 28th, we celebrated Weston's third Transplant Anniversary. Three blessed years! Of course, we know these three years have had their fair share of complications, but we know how fortunate and unbelievably blessed we are to have our little boy still with us.














You go Bubby!!


We may have done the whole candles and song thing 3 or 4 times.



It's weird to think that he has lived the majority of his life with a donor liver. It is heartbreaking to consider how different the outcome would have been if the advances in modern medicine that allowed for his diagnosis, transplant and maintenance did not exist.

I've met a lot of people recently (in the healthcare field) that are not organ donors and/or not supportive of it. While it usually feels like a kick in the gut to me, I calmly wait till it is appropriate and tell them Weston's story. Maybe it will put a new perspective on organ donation for them. Maybe they will be a little more open minded.

All I know is, our donor family made the courageous decision to say "yes" and our precious Donor Angel saved my son's life. He grows and thrives because of you, Little Angel. To me, you'll always be with us, laughing and living through Weston.

God bless.


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The End of Another Year

Another year, come and gone.
It's been a pretty big year for all of us.

We moved back to Austin this summer.
Billy and I both started "new" jobs.

Emily graduated pre-K and started Kindergarten, not to mention losing 5-6 teeth.
Weston had a bumpy fall with more test, blood transfusions, surgeries and an ambulance ride; but happily we were able to stop steroids and his hepatologist said overall he was in a better place now than a year ago. He also started a more enriching pre-preschool and we have seen a marked improvement in his speech.

It's been a rough last week of December.
Unfortunately, the Houston BA group is mourning the loss of a precious baby girl that passed as a result of multiple major complications before/during/after her transplant.
It has really upset us all.

Any loss like that is absolutely heartbreaking, but even more so because it hits so close, literally, to home. Please keep Madelyn's family in your thoughts and prayers.

Another baby also lost his battle with BA up on the East Coast shortly after Madelyn passed.
And, there was a really devastating situation that presented itself at work today.
Lots of prayers for that young patient and their family.

 

And not to mention, we almost lost our Max Cat yesterday from acute renal failure.
Billy found him lethargic and drooling and rushed him to the vet just in time for them to intervene. Evidently male cats can have problems with urinary blockage.
The people at the vet acted swiftly and though Max is still at the vet receiving treatment, he is doing better.

SO, even though 2013 has ended on a pretty sour note, maybe it is a sign for change in the New Year.
Many blessings to you and yours in 2014.


Golden Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas from the Goldens!

Pictures and commentary, to follow:

Homemade almond cookies and chocolate milk for Santa.
Reindeer food for the reindeer.

I had to work till 7pm Christmas Eve, so I had planned ahead and had the cookie dough pre-made so all we had to do was bake and ice. Well, Emmy was not feeling well and wanted to go to bed early, so Santa's treats were faithfully set out by Mama...around midnight.

After a marathon evening of wrapping and preparing, we were ready for Christmas 2013:

Santa and his reindeer liked her treats

Precious expressions full of joy!

Santa brought scooters!

Weston and his GupB:
So, Weston had a rough night coughing and carrying on; thus he was not too interested in Christmas morning and true to Weston form, did not really give two thoughts to the presents.
But...when he opened his first present, the Octonauts' GupB (orange submarine) he was so excited. So much so, that he literally did not open the rest of his presents until a day or two later.
SERIOUSLY.

He even cuddled up with it!!
SO SWEET!

Ok, no rhyme or reason to the order of the following pictures. My computer is dying and it is way to tedious to move the pictures around on the post...looking at you blogspot developers.

Roaring dinosaur head light

Weston made a -erm, ornament at school

Emmy Christmas morning

Bubby singing! So cute!!

Oh em gee!! The Barbie Princess Dream Castle!!

Bubby and his dinosaurs