Growing Up Golden

Hearts!

2012-02-14T19:51:00.001-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day from our Love Bugs!

We celebrated today by partying with friends at school!

V Day 3 Year Old Style:

Emmy enjoying the heart shaped gourmet sandwiches Mommy made

Digging for candy

Eating Candy

Posing in the "Photo Booth"
Cutest idea EVER


And then the Fireman walked in... Poor Mr. Jeremy.

Meanwhile, in the 1 year old room...

Cutie Pie

Sweet Valentine

NOT a fan of the fruit appetizers.
Bubby decorated a sugar cookie and managed to get icing everywhere!
I found icing behind his ear!!

Ladies, He Does Laundry!

2012-02-09T20:26:00.001-06:00

Someone discovered how fun the laundry basket can be

My bubby <3

He loves "helping" me with the laundry
Notice the clothes on the floor beside the basket.

My favorite!!
Trying to put a sock on.
Look at that fierce concentration!!

She Only Loves Me For My Chocolate

2012-02-09T11:36:00.001-06:00

Checked out the chocolate covered strawberries at HEB yesterday...5 for $5.95.

Are you kidding me?!

For just about the same price, I made 2 dozen.

Emily was super excited, wrapped her arms around me and proclaimed that I "make the best food" and that she loves me so much.

I know it was chocolate lust, but I don't care. ;-)

PS: Realized that she has been eating the WHOLE strawberry, foliage and all!
Do the greens count as veggies??

LMFAO

2012-02-06T20:51:00.000-06:00

No Longer Street Urchins

2012-02-02T22:06:00.001-06:00

The Daddy has been pressing me to get Bubby's hair cut for some time. I trimmed his baby tail months ago, but there is something sad about a baby's first haircut. I don't know why, don't ask.
But, I noticed as I was brushing Emmy's hair this morning, that her bangs were ridiculously long...and I had been toying with the idea of getting it chopped off because, truthfully, I can't stand the whining every morning and battle when it comes time to brush and fix the hair..

Funny how much older, and like a little man he looks and she looks much younger. Oh, and the haircut came with nail polish, glitter, rings and balloons.

Emily's Turn

2012-02-01T22:40:00.001-06:00

With all the recent celebration for Weston's Liveration Day, it seems that poor Emmy has been left of out the blogging.

It's not intentional, but I like to post pics with the entries, and she is a hard one to snap pics of...

What I got when I told her I wanted to take her picture


Profile, taken while she was distracted with tv

Let's see...what has she been up to:

1. When we went to Chuck E Cheese last Saturday, my black light-child abduction prevention stamp evidently didn't register and some little girl REFUSED to vouch for me and denied knowing me when we were trying to leave.

Ugh, what a butt!

I was just about to pull out the arsenal of photos in my wallet/phone, insurance cards, etc when The Daddy saved his baby girl from the potential Emmy Snatcher.

2. We've been a little flip and sassier than normal, these days. Her school has been teaching the kids to communicate their feelings instead of just acting out. Sometimes it is HILARIOUS.

Emmy's response to mommy closing the gate, thus exiling her from the kitchen

"I...DON'T...LIKE...THIS...BABY...GATE! It makes me bitter!"

Bitter is a pretty complex emotion. I was impressed.

3. Firemen. Not a fan. Ever since they came to class in full gear (helmet, mask, etc) she has been terrified of them. Specifically, the mask. So much so, that she FREAKED out when they had a fire alarm at school and had to evacuate AND saw the fireman.

Well, this week they are studying fire safety.
And,when you have a fireman daddy in the class, you get to have special presentations.
We have been dreading this all week.
Evidently, when they showed up and were explaining the gear, and the mask came out, she went nuts and ran to the next classroom for safety. :-(
Only after much coaxing and reassuring, did she actually get into the fire truck and watch them spray the hose.

Poor baby girl.


Emily and "Brock's Daddy"

She's a mess, I tell you.

But we love her.
<3

Happy 1st ReBirthday

2012-01-29T09:15:00.000-06:00

**Late Posting for Saturday, January 28th**

Before we celebrate, I'd like to please keep in mind that while this day is a joyous occasion for our family, there is a family in the Carolina's that is mourning their great loss today.

It is bittersweet for us, as we know the great sacrifice that was made to give our child a second chance.

I consider our precious Donor Angel one of my children, and pray that he looks down on Weston and all the other children he saved and smiles. His wings must be huge! Weston truly has a guardian angel <3 We love you.

I can't believe it's been a year! And how time makes you complacent! It always shocks people a little when we nonchalantly say that Wes had a liver transplant. "He's fine now!" always quickly follows to reassure them! :-)

Today, we celebrated the way any kid would...pizza (Bubby's fav) and Chuck E Cheese. Our best pals, The Harman's, joined us in our little celebration.

Funny how things that were so awesome when you were a kid, are just terrible now. (i.e. Light Bright, Spaghetti O's, Chuck E Cheese...)

Wow. I almost had a panic attack AND seizure upon entry. Chaos. Pure bedlam.

But, Emmy loved it. Weston and Addison, not so much.

I am not amused.

My favorite! Hilarious!
Creepy rat.

Monster Truck Driver

Foreshadowing

My love bug in a love bug

We spent the rest of the day at home with movies and surplus cupcakes.

Sweet, precious boy

God, we are so thankful to be celebrating our son's good health today. You have blessed us in so many ways. We know you are taking good care of our Angel up there.

God bless organ donors!

Celebrations at School

2012-01-27T16:34:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow is a HUGE day for our family!!

We wanted to share the cheer with our great friends at Emily and Weston's school.
With both of the kids birthdays being in summer, we haven't been able to do a special celebration at school before.

Two and a half dozen of the most amazing and heavenly smelling cupcakes

Weston and his sweet classmates

Yum!

Mommy's Little Man

We also celebrated in Emmy's class, but I didn't get pics.
3 year olds only have SO MUCH patience when they know you have cupcakes.
But, they all knew we were celebrating Weston!!
My heart melted. Emily is such a wonderful, proud big sister <3

Weston Wednesday

2012-01-25T22:10:00.000-06:00

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Sneaky

2012-01-18T19:54:00.001-06:00

I was picking up someone's room.
I had all the danger areas closed off (kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room).
But, I couldn't find him ANYWHERE!
Both front and back doors closed and locked.
I could hear him, but I didn't see him.
That is until I looked down at E's bed to brace myself to get on the floor to look under the bed...

The little prince climbed up on sister's bed and found a nice cozy spot to relax.

Goonie.

Weston had a repeat CBC on Monday. Results came back "normal".
We are cutting down on his milk intake and giving him his iron supplements.
He went back to school today and has CRASHED before 7:30.

Growing Too Fast

2012-01-17T00:16:00.002-06:00

A convo between me and E, getting her pj's on:

E: It was my birthday.

M: Yes, baby, in June.
E: When I'm done with 3, I'll be 4.
M: Yes.

E: When I'm done with 4, I'll be 5.

M: mmhmm

E: That'll be fun. Then after 5, I'll be 14.
M: What? No way.
E: Yes way. Then I'll be 17!!
M: :( Don't you want to stay my baby girl forever??

5 going on 14...then 17?!
I literally was just telling the Daddy that maybe ridiculous big hair and puffy sleeves will be back in fashion when E goes to her high school dances. (after seeing the ~~tube top~~ dress choice of a friend's daughter...aye yai yai!)

I mean, it was hard enough for me to transition from:

I mean really, Emmy, what's wrong with staying like this forever??

Seriously...what a crappy day.

2012-01-12T12:21:00.000-06:00

I'm not going to say that I'm psychic. If I were psychic, I would have known that it would be his CBC values causing issues, not his liver enzymes.
But, I am definitely in touch with my medical ESP. I knew something was going to be problematic.
But, I refused to pack an extra set of clothing because I was just being silly.
Yep.
So, his liver enzymes were only slightly elevated, due to his current cold. Nothing to get upset about, no signs of rejection.
Then, Dr. Fishman did a double take at his hemaglobin level. So surprised by it, that he double checked to make sure he was looking at the right patient.
Seems as though Weston was seriously anemic.
The cause, unknown.
After another round of labs, we know that it is not autoimmune and that his iron level was almost non-existent.

After sleeping in the car, someone was ready to party Tuesday night.

Wednesday Morning::My snuggle buddy

A stud and a muffin.

Waiting for his stat ultrasound. Already exhausted, and the hell hadn't even started.

Ultrasound.
Everything looked good. The liver portal vein was noted to be small, but had normal blood flow through.
Not a cause for concern right now.

Fishing.
Waiting for the second set of labs

Waiting for his unit of blood.
After a two-stick IV start.

Still waiting...
Poor little guy.

FINALLY

Done with this day.

Bubby received a unit of blood over THREE.HOURS.
If you haven't noticed, the majority of our day was spent "waiting".
So frustrating.
But, that's the nature of the beast, I guess.

The current game plan:
Check his stools for blood-may be that whole milk is irritating the intestinal lining
Start an iron supplement
Recheck his hemaglobin next week.
Recheck iron levels in 4 weeks.

While we were sitting in the infusion center, I noticed a family getting ready to leave.
The patient was a teenage boy; tired, but otherwise normal in appearance.

When they passed by us on their way out, the mother noticed Weston and smiled.
I couldn't help but wonder if she had been in my position years ago.
It was very disheartening to think that I could be in her position in the years to come.
Will Weston EVER have a normal life?

I know they tell us that their goal for him is for everyone to be unaware that he was ever sick...to look at him, you'd never know what he's been through. To do pretty much whatever he wants.
But, there we were, receiving blood.
Was it/is it foolish of me to think that with the exception of an occasional dose of steroids, we were done with this?

Who Knew...

2012-01-09T22:05:00.001-06:00

...the way to a little girl's heart was goldfish and extra pickles. Precious love <3

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Weston's First Day of School

2012-01-02T19:24:00.001-06:00

Weston, you're going to school with me today!

Don't cry, it'll be ok.

NO!
It's early. I don't want to be awake or dressed.

I don't think Wessy wants to go.

The drop off.
First kid there, but lots of new toys to play with!

Cruisin' the halls with his new friends.


Now which baby did you say was so sick and had a liver transplant?? Weston had a GREAT first day of school. As predicted, it was much harder on the mommy than the Bubby.

He played, had fun, took a 3 HOUR NAP and had a special visit from his big sister!
He is worn out this evening.
Maybe he'll sleep through the night???

Last Bit of Christmas Vacay

2012-01-02T18:56:00.000-06:00

It was nice while it lasted!
I went back to work on Saturday and worked the New Years holiday weekend; and Billy went back to work today.

But, Daddy and the babies made the most of their last few days of freedom:

She's pretending to be an elf and flying back to the North Pole

I guess they have a pretty lax pants policy out there...

Cheese!

CHEEEEEEEESE!

Park time with Daddy

So happy :-)

So sweet!

I think this is how Courtney Love started out...

Bubby loves him some running water!

2011 in Review

2011-12-30T18:57:00.001-06:00

Can't believe we are at the end of another year.
We had a bit of a bumpy start; but all in all, 2011 was an amazing year, full of so many incredible blessings.

January

January 28, 2011
Morning of transplant
After 13 days at TCH being treated for various issues secondary to liver failure,
Weston received his gift of life.

He had a rough immediate recovery.
Almost 2 weeks in PICU.

February

We are so lucky to have such wonderful, caring and supportive friends.
Wishes for Weston party organized and hosted by our amazing Lake Travis ISD family.


February 17, 2011 Hospital Discharge Day! One month at TCH and a new liver. We spent another few weeks in Houston (close proximity to TCH) at my wonderful uncle and aunt's house.

March

Homecoming
Emily hadn't seen her brother since January

Working on potty training

Spring Break at Dell Children's, surgery and all

April


National Donate Life Month

May

Keeping it real...real silly

June

Emmy turns 3!

July

Bubby's First Birthday!

Taste of victory
Completely Potty Trained!
Thank God for oreos!
(Good call, Claire!)

August


First Day of School

September


Future Texas Cheerleader

October

Wessy the Dinosaur and Emily the Nice Bruja

November

Cowboy Sundays

December

My beautiful girl. A true Christmas Angel.

My handsome, healthy boy

Happy New Year!
Welcome 2012!

Playing with Presents

2011-12-27T21:55:00.001-06:00

Daddy encourages playing ball in the house...

Mommy encourages cross-dressing...

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T10:34:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful Christmas at the Golden house.
A very happy and HEALTHY Christmas.
For some reason, I can't upload our pictures.
But take my word for it, the kids were precious and they made out like bandits.

Santa somehow fit a Jeep 4-wheeler (munchkin size) and a pink ~~guitar~~ keytar for Emmy and a race track and cars for W.

Today Emily says her favorite present is her Rapunzel dress and wig, aka the blonde rat's nest.
Not quite sure what Weston's favorite present is; perhaps Emily's iPod?

We spent Christmas day with our best buds, the Harman's. They kids were so cute and played so nicely together all day. :-)

So Much For Waiting

2011-12-22T20:40:00.001-06:00

Moms with small kids...what does your Christmas tree look like?
The lower third of mine has been destroyed...stripped of its ornaments and garland.

And the presents...I wrapped most of them at least twice, because little hands can't keep to themselves.
This is an example of one that I've wrapped twice:

In her defense, the little brother ripped it up the second time and Mama didn't feel like wrapping it for a third time. Christmas is starting a little early for the E.

Emily and her favorite toy of the moment.
Yes, Emily was DYING for a garbage truck.

<3A girl and her sanitation vehicle.<3

Wes decided that he wanted his handy work to benefit him, as well.

Playing catch with Daddy.

We are getting ready for the holidays here.
Every day, we take a room and CLEAN and at night, BAKING!!
I made some pretty yummy oreo truffles, eggnog pound cake and the infamous SLUSH tonight.
Not quite sure why I chose to clean the kitchen today...

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There are just no words...

2011-12-20T20:04:00.000-06:00

A Visit to ETx

2011-12-20T19:56:00.001-06:00

We are just back in town from visiting MeeMaw and PawPaw in East Texas.


Emily's version of how the Nativity scene should work. Baby Jesus is at front, as He should be.

Emily drinking coffee with her PawPaw


She wanted a mustache like her PawPaw

So, we think PawPaw is E's soul mate.
They fed off each other every minute they were together.
Good and bad, lol.

Emmy had some ~~hilarious~~ mischievous moments...
when being told Santa won't bring her presents, "I'll be good NEXT year."
After PawPaw said he'd take the fall for an unfortunate daddy deer acident, "YEAH PAWPAW! You broke it! You're on the naughty list!"
"Put Wessy on the naughty list. I'm on the 'Great' list."

She thought Mr. Mousey was Santa. Oddly enough, Mr. Mousey couldn't look less like Santa if he tried. She was hamming it up, trying to be sweet to her brother in front of "Santa".

PawPaw with his Golden grandbabies

Poor Wes.
He had another spill and scraped up his nose.
I don't know HOW his nose gets the brunt of his spills.
But, here we are again, with a scraped up nose...right before Christmas.

29 for 364 More

2011-12-15T01:15:00.002-06:00

I just celebrated my 29th birthday.
I am recovering of two self-inflicted nights of rich food and cocktails...multiple cocktails.
Not feeling so hot.
Getting too old to indulge two nights in a row?
blech

My friend, Claire, just celebrated her 29th as well and I'm stealing this from her:

My 20's:
20: Attending The University of Texas School of Nursing

21: Graduated with my BSN, started working in ICU and got engaged

22: Married! <3

23: Left the hospital to work in the schools

24: Expecting our first baby!!

25: Gave birth to our precious baby girl

26: Went back to the hospital to work in the OR, Baby #2 on the way
27: Welcomed our Little Man
28: Witnessed first hand the amazing grace of God and gift of life when my baby received his second chance at life

29: ?

Winter Wonderland

2011-12-12T11:39:00.001-06:00

Last Thursday was Emily's class Christmas Party.
Laura and Claire, the class moms, did such a great job. Adorable decorations, clever activities and games...so sweet!

Why does she look like she's always up to something??

Making her Winter Wonderland scene with cotton balls, marshmallows, coconut and rice
I think more marshmallows got in the tummy than on the page

Look at all the parents that were able to come to the party!!
We are so lucky!

The ~~book~~ gift exchange.
Hilarious!
"Look!! I got a book!!!" 14 times. So cute.

So Mommy banned Bubby from this party.
We learned our lesson the hard way from the Halloween and Thanksgiving parties.
It is just too hard to keep him out of trouble and be there for E at the same time.
Thus he was exiled to the Land of Misfit Boys...aka, Daddy's school.
Don't feel too bad for him, I hear he had a blast cruising for chicks and attracting attention.

Wordless Wednesday::Angel

2011-12-07T20:56:00.001-06:00

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Precious Baby Girl

2011-12-02T11:34:00.001-06:00

We had been going through a rough patch with Emmy.

I mean R O U G H.

Rough as in phone calls from school about her behavior.

Rough as in the Fire Department wouldn't take her.

Rough as in research conducted for a military boarding pre-school.

But, it seems in the last week or so, she has really turned it around and is just as precious and sweet as can be.

Her own, personal Christmas tree.
It looked cute, for about 2 minutes...lets just say that all the lollipops have been "tasted" and subsequently discarded.

I went in to check on her that night and she patted the bed beside her and wanted me to lay down with her. <3<3<3

I just love the way children look at Christmas trees!!

So yesterday, I was feeling brave. Got both kids dressed and headed out to run some errands. Not Indiana Jones worthy, but not a cake walk. The babies were great and so cooperative I decided to take them out to lunch.
We enjoyed a nice lunch at Panera, just the three of us. <3


Sweet girl enjoying a sweet gingerbread treat.

She had another great day at school today!
It is her turn to fill up and present the "Me Box".

She is SO EXCITED. She told her daddy that she needed to "put beautiful things in it".

Maybe it's Sparky...I don't know, and frankly I don't care.
It is so wonderful to have our sweet baby girl back to her normal self.

NBAAD and BAMF

2011-12-01T19:52:00.001-06:00

You've Come A Long Way, Baby <3

Prepare to be inundated with links...

Today is National Biliary Atresia Awareness Day and the start of the Biliary Atresia Man Fuzz fundraiser benefiting the BA research program at Texas Children's Hospital.

NBAAD:

Check out the awesome video, courtesy of SuperLiverMom Jen Guffey.
AND the first Public Service Announcement for BA!!
Making some waves!!

BAMF:
Today is the first day of the Bili Beard for BAMF 2011.
"Like" the facebook page so you can see the evolution of the infamous BAMF in all its glory.

Feeling generous??
Donate and mark your donation for BAMF!
Every penny raised will go straight to Texas Children's BA research program.

The cause of BA is still unknown...and there is no cure.

Feeling altruistic??
Register to be an organ donor.

Wordy Wednesday

2011-11-30T19:33:00.001-06:00

Meet Sparky...

Someone had a rough day, yesterday.
But, when Sparky moved and showed her that he was really keeping tabs on her, she turned it around and had a Gold Star day today!
You go E!

At first, we were pretty apprehensive on how she would react to Sparky and his spying for Santa deal.
We thought Santa was pretty much dead to E, as he didn't give her the guitar she asked for right then and there...
She holds a pretty mean grudge.

We shall see how long the Elf Extortion yields positive results.

Speaking of Naughty List:

Weston finally got revenge on his big sister for every time she disturbed his peaceful slumber!

He seemed pretty pumped about it,too!

But little Bubby couldn't stay on the Naughty List too long:

I mean, really...can you resist this sweet face and angelic voice??

Make sure to come back tomorrow!!

December 1st is National Biliary Atresia Awareness Day

and we have big plans to celebrate!!

So Thankful

2011-11-24T19:08:00.001-06:00

From our turkeys to yours...

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Winter Wonderland Wednesday

2011-11-23T23:27:00.001-06:00

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Turkey Day, NOLA Style::Day 1

2011-11-21T21:03:00.001-06:00

We were up bright and early this morning and heading to the airport.
3 suitcases, 2 car seats and a stroller. Oy! But the Sky Cap was awesome and hooked us up.
We breezed through security; did you know kids don't have to take off their shoes? What a life saver!

The babies were ANGELS on the flights. Weston only got a little restless during our layover in Dallas. I am one proud mama!

A little chocolate milk before boarding.

She's so excited!

Checking out the view

Emmy said "SNOW!!!"

Presh!!

No plane ride is going to keep him from missing his nap.

We had some delicious seafood gumbo and boiled shrimp waiting for us. Can't complain about that :-)

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Pumpkin Pie!!

2011-11-18T20:30:00.001-06:00

This girl loves her some pumpkin pie!!

Almost as much as she likes making whipped cream mustaches.

Someone else was not so impressed

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Wordless Wednesday::OUT!!

2011-11-16T23:33:00.001-06:00

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Debriefing

2011-11-15T22:22:00.001-06:00

1. W's Big Boy Bed
First night (Friday) was rough. He went to sleep just fine, but cried from 2a-4a.
This is a pic of him the next morning.
Billy said he was mad at me. :-(

He is doing much better, now. He goes to bed easy and will wake up maybe once or twice for a minute and goes back to sleep. Yea!

2. Kiddie Acres
GD came in for a visit and they took the kids to Kiddie Acres.

Bubby riding the train.

Boat ride!
I love E's determined look!


Our little cowboy

3. Speaking of Cowboys
Happiest and cutest Cowboy Fans in the world

4. Happy Turkey Day, 3 Year Old Style
Today was Emmy's T-Day party at school. Savannah's mommy did such a great job!

Emmy and friends chowing down on their feast:
Turkey sandwiches, cheese, popcorn, candycorn, pumpkin pie and apple cider

Someone L<3VED the pumpkin pie

W crashed the party and stole the turkey balloon


Turkey Bowling How stinkin' cute is that?!

30 Days of Gratitude
cont'd

Day 11::Something Old
My Meme's china, given to me for my wedding

Day 12::Hands
See those sticky, Emmy hand prints??


Day 13::Written Words W's medication "Bible"

Day 14::Movement
All of baby girl's pics are blurry because she never stops moving

Day 15::Technology
A robotic prosthetic? How badass is that?!
We can rebuild him...we have the technology...

What's goin' on?

2011-11-10T21:40:00.001-06:00

A stark contrast to last week, this week has flown by!
I guess we've just been busy.

Let's see...
Weston is walking like a champ now.
He is so cute toddling around with his little hands up in the air. You can tell he is so proud of himself. <3

BUT, with the new mobility comes new problems for Mommy.
He currently has two new monikers:
Weston the Destroyer

Goat

The first is pretty much self-explanatory; the latter is, well...because he likes to eat paper. Emily used to suck on the wipes, and I know other kids that have done that as well. WESTON EATS THEM. And anything on the floor, for that matter.
The boy knows how to balance his diet, though.
Fiber from the paper.

Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids from salmon and tuna...in CAT FOOD.
We can't keep him away from the cat food.


After a visit from Weston the Destroyer.

Poor Max. One night this week, I realized that he had been eating his food from off the floor and drinking tainted water all day. He for sure is going to kill me in my sleep now.

Babies have been sweet and mostly well behaved this week.

Sweet kissy faces!


Call him anything, just don't call him late for his nap.

Big news of the week:
W's big boy bed!!

So, here's my theory:
W has been sleeping with us, in a regular bed, since he was born.
Instead of giving him two major shocks of sleeping in his own room AND sleeping in the crib, I thought things would go much smoother if we bought him a regular mattress and I weaned myself out of his room.
I just don't have the heart to let him cry it out...I KNOW WE DID WITH EMMY! And I hated every minute of it.

Our little handy helpers. W has a crescent wrench and E is showing off her mad hammer skills.


My big boy and his protective gargoyle.

The crib converts to a double bed, but there is something wrong with the screws. Needless to say, this isn't the "ta-dah!" unveiling of the big boy bed, but it is ~~our~~ his first night in it!


Sleepy Head

30 Days of Gratitude

cont'd

Day 8::Favorite color
I am in love with peacocks. The colors are just so beautiful and amazing.


Day 9::Inspiring Person Chief Master Sergent John Gebhardt


Day 10::Nature Six weeks gestation

That's all for now. We'll let you know how tonight goes!

Gratitude (cont'd)

2011-11-07T19:23:00.002-06:00

30 Day Photo Challenge::Gratitude

cont'd

Day 4::Leaves
I see the start of fall!!


Day 5:: Morning Sky My morning sky view on the way to work. Got to love that burnt orange tower.


Day 6::Books An oldie, but mega goodie


Day 7::Something Silly Bubble Beards!!

30 Days of Thanks

2011-11-03T12:10:00.001-05:00

I've been reflecting a lot about this time last year.
It was a really difficult time for everyone. Weston was teetering on the edge of going into full liver failure and was preparing to be listed on the transplant waiting list.
I'm not going to lie. I was very depressed last year. I remember feeling guilty that I wasn't putting on a better face for Emily for the holiday season. I tried my best, but I'm sure it was obvious that my heart wasn't in it.

I am happy to report that I am whole heartedly looking forward to this holiday season and am enjoying my babies as the season changes. Nothing makes me happier than babies in footie pj's! Except little baby buns, maybe. :-)

I found a great photo challenge on Pinterest this week. In effort to remember all the things we have to be thankful for, I am going to do the 30 Day Photo Challenge:Gratitude.

Day 1::Favorite Food
(no, candy really isn't food, but it makes me happy)

Day 2::Smile
She is just precious <3

Day 3::Happiness
Nothing makes for a perfect, happy day like a cookie with breakfast

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T20:29:00.001-05:00

A Very Golden Halloween 2011

Starring:

Emily the "Nice Witch"

Weston the "Dinosaur"

Guest appearance by Maximus the Black Cat

The Dinosaur is not amused with the whole Halloween thing

Rawr! Godzilla attack!

Poor Bubby

My little bruja and her black kitty cat


Let's go Trick or Treating!!

Emily had so much fun Trick or Treating. She was a little shy at the first few houses, but quickly got over that. She made quite the haul and was very good with her "thank you's".
Wes enjoyed riding in the wagon and did a little Trick or Treating.
His costume was a big hit, and varied from plain dinosaur, to T-Rex to Godzilla.

Ready For Halloween

2011-10-30T22:27:00.000-05:00

We'll give you a little sneaky peek at our Halloween festivities.

Emily had her class party last Thursday.

Dubby the Dinosaur

Emmy the Bruja front and center with her cutie pie classmates

The Dinosaur was all about carnage during the party

My little bruja

Emmy looking spooky :-)


Ok, so she wanted me to take this picture of her. She ran out to the bench to pose and everything.

Weekend Pictures!!

Dub working on his fitness

A pumpkin with a pumpkin

Pooped!

Two little Cowboy fans.

It's been a slow week for pinterest.

Crocheted headband made just in time for morning temps in the 40's.

Wordless Wednesday::Nudist

2011-10-26T21:12:00.001-05:00

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TWO Week Review

2011-10-20T13:40:00.000-05:00

It's been a little busy over here.
Last Friday, Granny and Grandpaw came in from Nevada for a weekend visit.
We got a date night that evening and checked out Red's Porch and Gordough's. Yum!

The kids really enjoy running Granny and Grandpaw ragged. Weston and Grandpaw must share a special bond. I've never heard that child jabber and converse with anyone like he does with his Granpaw.

This week had been pretty uneventful, until today.

I had to take Emmy and Wes in for vaccines. E got a flu shot and Bubby got FOUR.
After an hour of restraining and baby wrangling, I was soaked with sweat.
But, with post-trauma Happy Meals and advil and tylenol on board, I am hoping for a better afternoon.

Unfortunately, tomorrow is not going to be any better for poor Weston. He is scheduled for labs and the heinous pentamidine breathing treatment. I think he would prefer to be stuck 100 times than have the pentamidine.

And now for pics...

When he watches his movies, he paces around the perimeter of the coffee table and then squats 4-5 times trying to sit down. It's so silly!

Emmy with some contraband suckers.


I got this at work, Sunday. I literally LOL'd. Goofy boy.

No week in review would be complete without:

How Pinterest ~~Consumed~~ Influenced My Life This Week:

(aside from the hours upon hours of pinning)

.:Good For You Cookie Dough:.


So the girl who posted this said that she brought this to a party as a dip with fruit and graham crackers and didn't tell anyone it was a "healthy" dish. She claims no one guessed it was anything other than a fat and sugar laden cookie dough dip. I was sucked in and intrigued. I had to check it out. First of all, it's made with chick peas. I'm sorry, if I were at a party, I would totally know something was up with this stuff. Don't get me wrong, it was horrible, but it wasn't good. So, the next logical step was... .:Cookie Dough Brownies:.

The real thing. Much better than the aforementioned cookie dough substance, but still not GREAT. The brownie part was from scratch and was really fudgy and good. But, I'm just not diggin' the dough.
Oh well, I need to stick to my diet anyway.

.:Toddler Magic Trick:.

So, I modified it a bit by using an empty oatmeal cylinder that I covered with scrapbook paper and cut a hole in the top. I would seriously recommend SEWING the scraps together as opposed to knotting them, because it is not easy for them to pull them out of the opening.
Not that it is actually used for this purpose.
Meet "Rapunzel"


Emmy hijacked the scraps and has been pretending that it is Rapunzel and/or her hair. She takes this knot of scraps with her everywhere, even sleeps with it. So, what's a good, crafty mother to do...

.:Rapunzel Reject Hair:.


I found a skein of yellow yarn in my stash and braided this up, attached a hair clip to the top so she could actually wear it... She came home from school and I eagerly showed her the surprise. She REFUSED to wear it and threw it on the ground, snatching up "Rapunzel". humpf.

p.s.::have you noticed the new pics on the blog? our latest treasures from robin winkles. <3

Wordless Wednesday::Grubby Bubby

2011-10-12T10:57:00.001-05:00

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Nothing but Pinterest

2011-10-07T21:41:00.000-05:00

How Pinterest ~~Consumed~~ Influenced My Life This Week:

(aside from the hours upon hours of pinning)

.:Fancy Pants Pizza:.

Also known as Fresh Tomato Mozzarella Tart with Garlic Basil Crust
and the kids loved it
annnnnnd I made the crust from scratch

.:Chubby Hubby Bars:.

Inspired by the Ben&Jerry's ice cream.
meh...probably not worth the calories

.:Audio Book:.


Always looking for something to listen to while I crochet at night. Ugh, it had the potential to be scary. Alas, it wasn't. It was ok, not worth the iTunes fee.

Fun projects in store for next week!!

T-Rex ain't got nothin' on me!!

2011-10-06T20:23:00.001-05:00

Weston vs tyrannosaurus rex

W shows off his war face

T-Rex goes down!!

Bite! Bite! Bite!

T-Rex tries an opportunistic strike

The victor reigns supreme!!

16 Hours in Houston

2011-10-05T21:36:00.002-05:00

There and back in less than 24 hours.

Phew!

Weston weighed 27lbs 8.9oz

and is 2'7.8" tall.

(88th percentile for weight, 78th percentile for height)

BIG BOY!

Everyone was thrilled to see him!

Weston and his Dream Team:

Stacey (dietician) and Julie (transplant nurse)

Dr. Fishman

One of his enzymes was slightly elevated, but nothing else was out of the ordinary.

Nothing to be concerned about.
We'll recheck labs in a couple of weeks and go for another checkup in January.

We had a change of plans, and decided not to go to the zoo today.
Probably a good idea, considering our big guy slept through lunch...

And this is what happened when I told Miss to smile...

Sunday Funday

2011-10-03T14:37:00.001-05:00

I've mentioned before that some of the best pics that make the blog are texted to me on the weekends while I am at work, and missing my babies and baby daddy.

The baby daddy has mad iPhone picture taking skillz :-)

SO, when these came through yesterday, it was the bright, shining light in the butt hole kind of day I was having.

I L<3VE this pic!! Makes me SO happy.

Chillin'

This is going to be a busy week!

Tomorrow, we are having family pictures taken by the lovely and talented Ms. Robin Winkles. It is a little bittersweet, because it's our last shoot. Robin has been our family photographer from our maternity pics for Emmy!!
3+ years of beautiful memories, courtesy of Robin.

Then, we will be headed to Houston for W's check-up at Texas Children's.

I can't wait for them to see how great he is doing!

Maybe sneak in a little zoo trip, Smashburger for the Daddy?

But today, I am not ashamed to say that I am enjoying a very lazy tv/movie day with my Bubby.

End of September

2011-09-30T22:02:00.000-05:00

Many happy birthday wishes to Granny and MeMaw this week!

This has been a "boring" and uneventful week for us.

In fact, most of our fun pictures were taken THIS afternoon.

We did get about 5 minutes of hard rain this week. It was nice while it lasted.

Yep, playing the WT card letting the baby frolic outdoors in diaper solamente.

People talk about coming back as the family dog...

I want to come back as a house cat.

This is what Max did ALL week.

Regardless of the chaos occurring around him, "zzzzzzz".

My sweet bubby.

The mustache:

So, I acquired some fuzzy adhesive mustaches for a project (featured below) and I had extras sooooo.....

Mustache Madness!!

And we ended our week enjoying the cooler temps with a little backyard swinging.

LOVE the hand on the hip :-)

::And now::

How Pinterest ~~Consumed~~ Influenced My Life This Week:

(aside from the hours upon hours of pinning)

::Mozzarella Wrappers::

DISLIKE!!
Wanton wrappers subbed for traditional breading and baked instead of fried.
Don't fix with what's not broke.

::Beef and Bean Taco Cupcakes::

The bomb-digity!
Much better use of the wanton wrappers.

::Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies::


Not my pic AKA Devil Cookies. Ugh. Sooooo good!!

::Linen Closet Organization::

**Not my pic or my linen closet...rats**
Storing full sheet sets in a pillow case.
Genius!

::The Stache Jar::

A cool little place to "stache" spare change.

::Equestrian Chic::

My new riding boots with high knee socks and jeggings.
Yes, jegging.
I can't believe it either.

Hope you have a super duper weekend :-)

Wordless Wednesday:: Blanket Tent

2011-09-28T19:42:00.000-05:00

Another Busy Week In Review

2011-09-23T21:57:00.001-05:00

We were busy bees again this week.

Many very Happy Birthday Wishes to Meme and Nana this week.

Our week in pictures::

Who doesn't love Breakfast for Dinner?!
A life saver when you haven't been to the grocery store.


Anything interesting about this picture??

Upon closer inspection, and searching the whole house...one can see that a certain someone thinks she's pretty smart.

San Antonio for Nana's Birthday!!

After school snacks

This is what I get
when I ask for a
smile...

Hot Dog!
Muwahahaha Wiener Dog!!

Ready for a birthday dinner!

We are so blessed!

Here he goes again...

Zzzzzzz

This is a great picture to illustrate our recent perils with mobility...

Thank God he's not on Aspirin anymore...

::And now for a new section I like to call::

How Pinterest ~~Consumed~~ Influenced My Life This Week:

(aside from the hours upon hours of pinning)

::Magnetic Refrigerator Organizers::

Pretty organization for the fridge!
(empty cereal boxes covered in scrapbook paper!)

::Cookie Dough Truffles::

Egg-free dough
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiich!

::I L<3VE You This Much Keepsakes::


Not our actual pic, but the inspiration for it. Emmy's hand at back and W's up front.

::Spooky Jar Lanterns::

Painted mason jars with timed, battery powered votives

And finally...

I don't know what I'm going to do with this boy.

Look at those big puppy paws!!

I don't think we're ever going to be able to get him out of this bed...
giving some serious thought to putting this mattress in his room and getting a new one for us.
I don't think he can fit like that in his crib!!

Wordless Wednesday::3 years,3 months & 3 days

2011-09-21T22:49:00.001-05:00

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Any Place is a Good Place for a Nap

2011-09-20T13:44:00.001-05:00

Going


GONE! Poor Bubby missed his regularly scheduled nap time for a trip to the store. Little Man cannot tolerate a missed nap!!

A Busy End to the Week

2011-09-17T21:48:00.001-05:00

Super tired, and it's just Saturday! I've got another 5:30 alarm to snooze thru and Billy has a full day of monkey wrangling left.

We've been busy. Wednesday evening, Nana came up and the crafting and decorating began.

Emmy hitching a ride on Wes' walker.

Making jack-o-lantern magnets with Nana.

We stayed up late and decorated the fireplace and mantel in a spooky witch theme.

We should have known not to stay up so late, because SOMEONE is a well-known early bird.

Wiener Dog is not amused with the early wake up call.
We spent the rest of the day shopping and decorating.

Friday, GD was in town for a visit.

It was my "free day" on my low carb diet. Roast beef poboy...nomnomnom

Fall is TRYING to push it's way into Central Texas. It was in the low 90's and nice and overcast...perfect for enjoying a little late afternoon swing.

Poor W was so enamored with being outdoors. It made me feel bad that we have spent SO MUCH time indoors since he has been well, thanks to the broiling heat. Oh well, we will make the most of fall!!

My sentiments exactly...

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Wordless Wednesday::Watching Shrek

2011-09-14T18:13:00.001-05:00

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Yeah! Beautiful Day!

2011-09-05T20:52:00.000-05:00

Oh my God, what a beautiful day it was!

Breezy, sunny and in the high 80's.

Yes, 80's!!

We have been prisoners indoors for over a month and a half due to the extreme heat.

But not today!

We headed over to a park by the house and had a nice family bike ride and stopped for a little play time.

My big boy!

Such a great big sis!

He went down the tunnel slide all by himself!

Spider Monkey

No outing is complete without a little pouting and sass

A little elbow to the neck never hurt anyone

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Return of College Football

2011-09-02T20:31:00.000-05:00


2025 Texas Cheer & Pom

We are excited for the start of college football in the Golden house!!

Mainly, Texas Longhorn football, but we all enjoy a good game; as long as it doesn't involve Chokelahoma or the whiny red-headed, former step brother of The Big XII, ahem A&M.

Game on!!


Is there such thing as too much cheer??

A Year With BA

2011-09-01T19:43:00.000-05:00

Today marks one year since Weston's Kasai Procedure.

The first time we handed our child to the surgical staff.

A year since the Biliary Atresia diagnosis.

This was a really hard day, one year ago.

It still hurts and I remember it all so vividly.

But, TODAY is a great day.

Weston vs Apple
Believe it or not, W won.
And check out that rockin' cockatiel hair!

Bath Time!
Water and shampoo can't tame that crazy hair.

Sweet smiles.
Happy Day!

Oh, So You're the Crappy Mother...

2011-08-18T16:34:00.002-05:00

And the saga continues...

In effort to get the kids out of the house and away from that blasted Thomas the Train, that somehow has turned into our favorite show (gag), I took the kiddos out to the bounce house around the corner from the house.

I was fiddling with Weston when I saw the Emmy had rounded the corner, toward another inflatable thing. I really didn't think anything of it. I finished doing whatever with Weston, all of a couple of minutes and I realized that Emily was not in the anticipated jumper...or any around them.

I started walking to the other side of the place, Wes on hip, and was met rather quickly by a woman with Emmy in tow. Emmy quickly pointed and identified me.

I was embarrassed that she had wandered off and told someone she was missing her mommy.

Oh...if only.

In a friendly, but judgemental voice, "Oh, she was running around in her panties trying to raid the ice cream bin."

My jaw fell to the floor.

"I just wanted to see who she was paired up with."

(aka...where in the world is this chimpanzee's sorry excuse for a mother??)

I was mortified.

But, I can't blame her for thinking that about me. I'd think the same.

I quickly thanked her and grabbed Emily. In that minute, she wriggled away from me and ran off again toward the ice cream bin. The woman pointed at her again.

I was so upset. How could she do this?? WHY is she trying to put me in the asylum??

Steering her tearfully away from the ice cream, I pushed her with a jumpy thing, thinking I could distract her and then leave after she played another 2 or 3 minutes, avoiding yet another scene. Plus, I needed time to collect myself.

Stewing about the events in my head, I noticed that we were very close to the bathroom...which is just a few feet from the ice cream bin.

She ran off to use the restroom (like a responsible, big girl) and she has trouble getting her shorts up, so she always just kicks them off. Once out of the bathroom, she noticed the ice cream bin. It was unattended, so she thought she could just help herself.

Ok, so maybe I won't drop her off at a fire station on the way home...

We talked about the importance of not running away from Mommy and wearing pants in public.

On to the salon for haircut...

Unfortunately, there is ALWAYS a wait at this place.

Emily was playing with the train setup and Wes was holding onto the sides of it, walking along the edges. A little boy came up and started pushing the train along the tracks. Eventually, he met up with Weston. The little boy was not sensitive to the fact that W was just a baby and not walking without assistance. He started crowding him. I nervously waited for the boy's mother to swoop in and correct her son.

No one.

Perhaps she was dealing with her own underwear-clad, ice cream thief? I'm not judging.

He kept pushing Wes and poor little guy was looking at me like, "what's this kid's problem?? Clobber him already, mom!" When Emily moved in and shouted,

"Hey BOY! Stop bugging Wessy! He's my little brother!"

Tears came to my eyes and the biggest smile to my face.

I moved Weston out of the way and told the boy to watch out for him because he can't walk by himself yet.

I have never been so proud of anything in my life.

Yes! I am her crappy mother and damn proud of it!

The BEST big sister in the world, enjoying a special ice cream treat.

Wordless Wednesday::I want Snakey to be nice and cozy

2011-08-17T22:00:00.001-05:00

(totally fake, btw)
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We Really Should Know Better...

2011-08-17T20:02:00.000-05:00

Who is stupid enough to take a 3 and 1 year old out to eat?

**raising my hand, and pointing at The Daddy**

This evening was riddled with glaring red warning flags that we completely ignored and pretended weren't there...

I noticed that during our earlier trip to the store, Weston had entered that age where you have to walk squarely down the middle of the isle, to ensure that you keep both shelves out of reach of the little one that wants to pull everything down.

Emily came home from school happy, but clearly tired. After all, she's been awake since 0630 and more than likely did not take a nap.

Alas, grocery day is overdue, so we headed out.

I'm not going to give a play by play of the meal, but I will hit the highlights...

Weston shredded and tried to eat every napkin in grasp
Emily spilled her drink all over the floor
Weston literally covered himself from head to knees in mac&cheese, as well as my left arm
Emily wanted to go to the bathroom every ten minutes

And no family outing is complete without an angelic faced child loudly declaring that "I NEED TO POOP!!" at the dinner table.

Oh you think that's funny? Well, my little girl raised the bar...

On one of trips to the crowded, tiny restroom, I'm staring at her sitting on the toilet, drunk with power that she can legitimately get up from the dinner table to go ~~exploring~~ to the bathroom. When I tried to threaten that power, and get her off of the toilet since it was clear that this was a false alarm, she freaked and when I tried to calm her down and brush the hair out of her eyes, she angrily screamed

"YOU CAN'T TOUCH ME LIKE THAT!!"

Seriously?!

We eventually made it out, without the cops being called on me...with shredded napkins, food bits covering the table and a cup's worth of wetness all over the floor.

Now I know why there is something called "Mother's Little Helper".
Never again...

First Day of School

2011-08-15T19:29:00.000-05:00

Isn't she precious?!

This little girl was SUPER PUMPED to be going to school this morning!! She even let me fix her hair. I was a little nervous about school this year, as some of her favorite faces would be missing...mainly her BFF (who's staying home with mommy and new baby sister) and her teacher of two years.

But, I got a reassuring text from The Daddy this morning and was informed that she had no problems saying bye this morning.

When Miss Emmy got home this afternoon, she proclaimed proudly that she did not have any accidents at school and did NOT go to Time Out today. :-)

I love that she loves school.

First Days of Past:

2009

2010

The End of Summer

2011-08-10T20:42:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are at the end of another summer. Billy’s contracted days start tomorrow and Emily goes back to school on Monday. We have really enjoyed our family time together and hate to see it come to an end. I say that so dramatically, because once school starts, we go back to bare bones time together. Just a few fleeting hours at the end of the day, when everyone is tired from working, or monkey wrangling.

I wish I could say we have been busy doing this and that, going here and there; but the INTENSE, OPPRESSIVE heat has limited our activities quite a bit. I don’t think I’ve watched so much tv in my entire life. But, we turned our brains to mush as a family, and that’s what counts. ;-)

Catching up with…

Emily

We have SO ENJOYED almost a full month of a potty trained E. Never realized what freedom it would bring…or how much I disliked changing toddler poopy diapers. We are so proud of our big girl!!

Emily is excited about starting school on Monday. She can’t wait to see her friends. She’ll still go “part-time” (MWF) and then stay home with W and I on T/Th. But, we’ve got plans for Miss E. Tuesdays, she will continue her swimming lessons (30 min) and on Thursday morning, she will go to a tumbling/cheer focused Mom’s day out program. If there’s one thing I learned from this summer, Emmy needs structured activities.

Weston

Wes currently is a little under the weather. He has a cold and by the looks of the eye boogers I just noticed, he may have a sinus infection again…we’ll probably be at the doctor tomorrow while E’s tumbling her little heart out.

But, not feeling well isn’t keeping our little man down. He and his Dada have been working diligently on standing without assistance and walking behind a push toy. He’s doing great!! I’m going to have two bi-pedal babies before too long. Lord help me! He’s also doing much better with solid foods and has drastically reduced his intake of formula. Last night, he ate all the green beans out of his veggie mix. (ack!) Not a big fan of fruit, but I’m still trying.

The Mommy and Daddy

The Daddy is a master of “cool tricks, cool tricks” on his bike. We haven’t done much riding together lately, because I’m just not a fan of broiling in the 105+ degree heat.

And I have been busy, not updating the blog and honing my crochet skills. I recently completed a blanket for Project Linus and have started on one for myself.

Final Thought...


Impromptu Napping Session for the Boys

Until we meet again, Summer...

So Glad They Love Each Other...

2011-08-04T10:41:00.001-05:00

It was an intense point in the movie:

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Way to Go!!!

2011-07-25T17:35:00.000-05:00

We are celebrating some major accomplishments over here at the Golden house...

Emmy

Pretty good form, don't you agree??

It would appear that she is posing with random toys and cookie all over her face...but, the thing is

She EARNED her toys back after they were taken away and earned her cookies.

Why?

E started pooping in the potty!!!

You go Big Girl!!!

Sunday was the day she decided enough was enough.

No more pooped panties.

We are going on 48 hours without any day-time accidents.

Whoo-hoo!

Weston

I love the encouragement from big sister in the back ground.

:-)

Today was Wes' 1 year old check up.

He is a BEAST!

Weighing in at 25lbs 1oz and 31" tall.

That's approximately 98th% for weight and 90th% for height.

Big, HEALTHY boy.

So healthy, he got two immunizations. poo.

Healthy, none-the-less.

Mommy and Daddy

Our bathroom has been cleaned from TOP to BOTTOM!

Cabinets and closets cleaned out and organized.

Ahhh!

So nice.

Tomorrow, our bedroom.

Happy Birthday, Weston

2011-07-19T23:46:00.000-05:00

At 0853, we promptly sang Happy Birthday to my sweet Weston.

We all had a wonderful day of celebrating our special guy.

We are so blessed.

Sweet, little Emmy toes at breakfast


Good morning, Birthday Boy!

The Cake


The "organ donor awareness" ribbon...always in our hearts and minds

The "smash cake"

Emily being, well,Emily


My BIG BOY (so the nose...he fell the other day and scrapped up his poor nose...just in time for all his birthday pics...that's ok, he's still a Studly Muffin!)

Yum!

Pooped!

Still pooped!

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What a Year

2011-07-18T00:22:00.001-05:00

I can't believe in less than 36 hours, my little guy will turn 1. Billy and I were saying that this year has slipped away, but also felt like an eternity.

I teared up when I was selecting pictures for this post. I can't believe Weston has been thru. I can tell now, from pictures, how sick he was. What a miracle God has given us. Born in July, and reborn in January.

A year, in pictures...

July

Welcome to the world, my handsome little guy!
July 19, 2010

August

SO LOVED!!

September

Kasai Procedure, September 1, 2010
Seeing my child like this was the most painful thing I have ever experienced. Nothing could prepare you for that...

But, back to "all smiles" within a couple of days

October

November

December

Weston's first Christmas

January

Baptism in the hospital

January 28, 2011
Weston gets a second chance, thanks to God and a Donor Angel.

First smile post-transplant

February

Leaving the hospital!!

Homecoming

March

April

May

June

July

My strong, healthy boy
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Not a Baby Anymore!

2011-07-16T15:05:00.001-05:00

And he loves him some Yo Gabba Gabba!

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Wordless Wednesday::Cool Pool Party

2011-07-13T16:28:00.001-05:00

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ANOTHER Week in Review

2011-07-12T23:10:00.000-05:00

Yep, another summer week has quickly flown by and yep, I haven't updated in a week.

What the heck has been going on?!

Daddy and E went on a movie date <3 <3

RASH!

And diarrhea (not pictured...you're welcome!)

Friday, we went to Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch

How do you know we are Longhorn fans...

Because at a SAFARI, we take pictures of Longhorns.

So, the gist of the place: is you ride around the ranch in your car, check out the animals and feed them from the window. ANNNNND they stick their heads in your car, searching for more food because you didn't feed them enough...

Emmy freaked! I freaked!

A zebra right out our window.

Emmy has spent the weekend and first part of the week with her Nana.

Poor Wes. His tummy has been sick for a week, and he's not wanting to eat a whole lot of solid foods.

He lived on Pedialyte for 3 days.

Long story short, we have no idea what's caused all of this. The docs think it was probably a virus on top of milk sensitivity.

BUT, the best news is that

HIS LIVER ENZYMES ARE ALL NORMAL!!!

Praise the Lord!!

He is doing better today. His rash is fading, tummy seems to be a LITTLE bit better.

AND he has had AWESOME "shark fin" hair all day!!

My super happy, sweet guy!

Guess who's going to be a YEAR old in a week!!!

It's July Already??

2011-07-05T21:50:00.000-05:00

I knew I was late posting the pics from Houston, but I didn't realize that I was already 5 days into July. Yikes.

The Houston trip was interesting. Emily and Weston were out of their comfort zones at Uncle Johnny's and Auntie M's...thus there was a metric ass ton of whining and tantrum throwing.

Ugh.

Our visit with the Transplant Team was ok. Wes' liver enzymes have stayed the same since the last time we checked them. But, he's been sick with this and that forever. So, recheck this Friday.

After our appointment, we checked out the Houston Aquarium.

The best part of the aquarium was the White Tiger...in the aquarium.

Oh, and this:

Is that thing not CREEPY?! The tiger, not my precious E.

He was not amused by our attempt to appease the crazed tiger.

The rides were fun, though. We rode the Ferris Wheel and the Carousel.

My sweet little alligator wras'ler. He's actually holding on!!

My beautiful baby girl <3

Billy and Alli rode the Lighthouse Free-Fall. Emmy wanted to ride so badly.

Back at home...

Thursday, we had our weekly dinner with Los Harman's

Wes and his best Gal Pal, Addison

Friday, Emmy went to the doctor for her 3 year old check up.

She is 42" tall and 33lbs.

She's about the 50th percentile for weight, and 50th for height...FOR A 4.5 YEAR OLD!!

Holy guacamole!

She had to get one shot...she was not a happy camper.

Weekend...

Fourth of July at a Trauma Center...'nuff said.


Weston's War Face

Today...

Emmy went to swimming lessons, and will be moving up to the next level!!

Way to go E!!

E's in the pink suit


She's so good, she can swim with whales.

And the piece de resistance of Tuesday...

"My room is all clean!! Ta-dah!"

Take The Good With The Bad

2011-06-27T20:47:00.000-05:00

The Good:

Wes is a new baby. After two doses of his antibiotic, he was much improved. Still a little snotty, but back to his happy self.
Weston is binky-free!! We seized the opportunity to wean the bink while he was congested and couldn't breathe AND keep the binky in at the same time.
Someone slept ALL night...in HIS OWN BED!! (I'm sure it was a fluke, but it was awesome!!)
Wes waved to me and said "byebye mama"

The Bad:

Baby Girl is sick. :-(

She either has food poisoning or a tummy bug. She's had fever (101+) all day and has had terrible stomach cramps.

But, no vomiting or diarrhea.

We thought she was doing better this afternoon. She was happy and eating crackers and sprite, but seems as though her fever came back.

She's really hasn't wanted to do anything but sleep all day, which is NOT like our little Emmy.

Daddy hates to see his baby girl not feeling well, so he gave her a much coveted bink for the day.

We had plans to go to Houston together this week, but I guess we will have to see how Emmy feels in the morning.

Praying she starts feeling better NOW!

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Fever, Snot, Cough

2011-06-23T23:05:00.000-05:00

I think mucus is the devil's invention. What a miserable, disgusting thing.

I'll take blood and guts all day, but I can't stand snot.

Unfortunately, everyone but The Daddy seems to be suffering with cold/allergy issues, aka SNOT.

WHY does he always dodge the bullet? It's not fair, I tell you.

In the wee hours of Sunday morning, Weston was having some difficulty breathing. We took him to Dell, and he was diagnosed and treated for Croup. Luckily, we were able to go home that evening.

He had his ups and downs over the next few days, but today, he was just pathetic looking.

Poor baby.

We met Nana in San Marcos for the great Emily switch off. Poor Wes was whining and just wanted to be held.

I ran him up to his pediatrician when we got home.

He had a low fever, but aside from the snot and cough, everything else checked out ok. Because W is on immunosuppresive drugs, there is a chance that he has a sinus infection. So, now we have 10 days of good ole Amoxicillin. I hope this is the answer. I hate to see him so puny and lethargic.

Now for something completely different:

Random pictures from the week

I call this the "Hans and Frans" pose

You would think that cat learned his lesson after the first baby...

Resting at the hospital and holding his little rattle so sweetly <3

Snoozin' on Daddy, getting some O2

Good Lord, does the child REALLY need a megaphone???

Precious Pumpkin with her Woody and Jesse dolls

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3 Years of Sunshine!

2011-06-18T22:31:00.000-05:00

A festive route to the birthday girl's room

Receiving the royal treatment

Birthday? Me? Huh?

Emily woke up to a room full of balloons, a princess crown and streamers down her hallway

Daddy made her some special french toast complete with birthday candles

Our Beautiful 3 year old Emily

Family pic

Look at that sweet face! Emmy loves her some Nana!

NOT throwing up gang signs. Telling us how old she is at her special requested McDonald's birthday lunch

Minion Cake!!

Happy Birthday to you!!

"This is the best birthday cake ever!"


He thought it was ok.

About this time 3 years ago, Emily Ryan entered our lives.

We had such a great and busy day!

Nana came in and we went to the Bounce House for some frolicking fun and then E wanted to go to the "M" (McDonald's) for her special birthday lunch...where she dined on gourmet chicken mcnuggets and apple fries, per her request. And of course played some more in the playscape.

She got TONS of presents (not because Mom feels really guilty that we had to cancel her party or anything...)

So far, it would seem that the front runners for favorite gifts are:

Talking Woody doll

Jesse doll

Doll house

At dinner this evening, Emmy had a surprise meeting with one of her school pals, Mikey.

They were SO cute talking to each other.

Although, it does concern me that the following occurred:
"Hey Mikey, look at my pretty dress!"

**standing on the booth seat and lifting her dress up over her head**

3 going on tartlett?

Yikes!

Happy Birthday, Emily!

Happy Birthday, Emmy

2011-06-17T21:57:00.000-05:00

My sweet Emily Ryan will be 3 tomorrow...

I remember the first time I saw your beautiful face

And when you turned1...

then 2

You became a big sister this year

A great big sister...

This hasn't been the easiest year...

And the "Terrible Two's" have been quite interesting

But, you always keep us laughing


And we all love you so much

Happy Birthday, my sweet precious Love!

Last 2 year old pic!

Summer:Week 2

2011-06-15T20:13:00.000-05:00

While our second week is not quite over, there is a lot of stuff that has happened and some BIG things to come!!

"Buzz and Woody" (Toy Story 3) has passed up "Minions" (Despicable Me) as our favorite, and thus most requested thing to watch.

Do you ever find yourself willing the plot to change?

Ugh.

WHY couldn't they make it up into the attic??

Can you believe how big he is?!

Sweet Emily's birthday party was supposed to be Tuesday evening at the jumpy house. Unfortunately, we had to cancel it because of an issue with Weston (nothing's wrong, just precautionary). So, we headed over for our own little play time.

NOT amused with the chicken wrangling.

We are still taking bike rides in the morning, evening or both. Leave it to Superman, aka Daddy, to find a ~~miserable~~ awesome hill to ride up,just around the corner from our neighborhood.

They worked hard!

Tuesday, Emily start swimming lessons. I was anxious if she was going to be ok, seeing as that she HATES to get water in her face and eyes. But, she did great! She was putting her face in the water, and holding her breath for a couple of seconds by the end of the first lesson.

Dora the Explorer goggles + pink tutu swim suit = Supreme Swimming Sweetness

Emmy has started drawing people and faces. Below is a semi-complete family portrait. She was naming the people off as she was drawing them. I hung it on the fridge and she still goes up to it and points out the each person.

(ok, so I am tired of fiddling with this pic. I edited it to label all the people, but now can't get it to rotate or show at a normal size. Maybe if you click on it, it will enlarge...)

We have biked over to Aunt Ami and Uncle Scott's neighborhood park a couple of times so the kids can swing together.

Cutie Pie Addison came back from a big trip with new tricks:

Giving sweet hugs

Saying "hi!"

And now we arrive at today.

I was able to complete Summer Project 2: Cleaning out and organizing the hall linen closet.

It doesn't sound like a big deal, but after 6 years of being one of our "catch all" storage locations, it was a little bit of an undertaking.

It is now nicely organized and tidied...and even holding all of the many kid blankets.

Unfortunately, it has not been a good day with/for the monkeys.

It's a full moon tonight, if you haven't noticed.

Geez!!

I did have a brief moment of guilty parental bliss when i shot them both with water guns (much to their delight).

Don't judge me. You have no idea...

First Week of Summer

2011-06-11T21:40:00.000-05:00

Our first weekend of summer has come to a close.

If this is an indicator of times to come, I can't wait. We had a great week!

Emily started the week off visiting her Nana. This allowed Billy and I to get a couple of projects and errands out of the way.

Summer Project #1: Painting of the fire place wall

We biked 20 miles this week with the babies.

Pool Time

My tiny turtle <3

Movie night: Buzz and Woody (aka Toy Story 3)

Saturday came around way too fast, and I had to go back to work.

But, as usual, I received many a picture text to keep me in the loop of what I was missing out on at home...


I don't even want to know...

"Don't worry, Mom. I've got it under control."

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Officially in Austin

2011-06-07T23:54:00.000-05:00

After 15 years for me, and 9 for Billy, we have officially become Austinites.

The criteria...

Shopping at Whole Foods and/or Sprouts for organic produce and grass-fed beef

Embracing the oppressive heat and perpetual drought

Oh, and bikes.

We both got bikes and a little trailer for the babies.


Mommy's little B.A.M.F. posing with Daddy's bike in a box

Now that it is summer, we have been able to ride as a family in the morning and evening.

Just in the last two days, we have logged 11.5 miles.

It's so time to lose the baby/transplant stress weight!


Little Man tolerating his parents' new obsession

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What a Wednesday

2011-06-01T22:13:00.000-05:00

We had a busy morning.

Labs first thing this morning.

Home Depot for paint; we have a little project in the works.

Grocery.

All accomplished before 11:15.

So, Weston's ALT (liver enzyme) has been on the rise this month. Thus, we have been having blood drawn every. dang. week.

I was hoping for good news today, but both ALT and AST are in the 220 (hiiiiiigh).

Our transplant nurse and regular liver doc were both out, eeep!

The consensus of the nurse and doc that helped us today, was that he still has some virus on board and because his GGT (yet another liver enzyme) is perfectly normal, it is NOT rejection.

...

It would be psychotic of me to track down our regular nurse and doctor during their time off, right?

Yeah, totally crazy.

....

But, this is WESTON we are talking about.

...

We get to FINALLY stop his steroid (yea!!!) and go down a bit on his anti-rejection drug. Hopefully, stopping his steroid will allow his body to get rid of whatever virus is causing his enzymes to be all funky.

He is totally acting normal, by the way. Not acting sick at all.

~~Making a Mess~~ Enjoying Dinner

Miss Emily has had quite the Wednesday, as well.

Someone came home with a special stamp for going peepee in the potty at school

AND

we had to make a special trip to get some ice cream...

E pooped in the potty!!!

SOOOOO proud of our BIG girl!

And as to not end the night on a low note, I am currently getting the Stink Eye

(as evidenced below)

I made the mistake of listening to that Stinky Daddy and tried to make Mister self-soothe in his own bed.

Needless to say, it didn't work and I am Public Enemy #1.

Ketchup

2011-05-30T22:28:00.000-05:00

What a crazy, busy weekend!
Friday...

I sent her to school, all sweet and innocent


And she comes home with a tat! I doesn't even say "mom". :'-/

Granny and Grandpa came in for a visit Friday evening and sent us out on a much needed and appreciated date night.

Saturday:

Play all day with Granny and Granpa

Sunday:

It was Tyler's birthday pool party!


Someone had a good time

Monday:

Our first taste of summer. Enjoyed some good family time. Said bye-bye to Granny and Grandpa. Grilled, stuffed zucchini; its what was for dinner

Fresh key limes for a from scratch Key Lime Pie

And we decided to get bicycles in lieu of a family vacay this summer. The Daddy has been wanting a bike for some time now and he coerced The Mommy that not only is it good exercise, but we could have a lot of family fun time together.


The babies' chariot

So, we went for our first bike ride this evening. My first bike ride in over 15 years! And he was right, it was super fun. The kids enjoyed it and it felt good to be riding. Although, I am acutely aware of even the slightest change in elevation in our neighborhood.

Flippin' Adorable

2011-05-27T00:05:00.000-05:00

Today has just been a day full of extreme, adorabubly cuteness.


"I'm a firing princess fairy."

Let me deconstruct the outfit for you:

Firing=fireman=fireman hat

Tutu=princess

Fairy=wings


She is something else.

4:30 could not come fast enough this afternoon.

(especially since our day started before 6... :-/ )

Everyone was super excited for E's first Tumbling class!

When she came to Houston to visit during Weston's transplant stay, she went to a tumbling class with her cousin Alli. And totally loved it.

She's all about jumping and dare-deviling, so why not channel that into something with foam mats all over the place.

Miss Thang walked into the gym, hands on her hips, like she owned the place.

Jeez almighty, I am really in so much trouble with her!!

They worked her little buns for an hour and by the end, she had done some somersaults and spotted front flips.

She said she really liked it and that "it was a great idea!'

We are going to trial one more class before we commit

(we all remember ballet last year!)


Future Cheerleader?

And finally, while we are still on the topic of unbelievably cute babies:

Our wonderful and ever so talented friend and photog, Robin, sent me the first peak from last week's sitting.

Oh em gee.

Check it out for yourself.

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