Not so much fun on the trampoline

On Sunday, November 13th we finished lunch and headed over to the neighbors to bring them a "Welcome to the Neighborhood" dinner. As we were walking back across the street, I thought it would be a great idea to jump on the trampoline. The weather was just beautiful and we really needed some outside time. We all took turns and I bounced Kade a few times. We were laughing and sharing stories....just a great afternoon. Krew started to get a bit fussy so I took him in for a feeding and Mike stayed with Kade. About 30 minutes later I heard knocking at the back door. I could not get up because Krew was still eating and I knew they would come around to the front. Sure enough they were soon at the front door and Mike was carrying a teary eyed 7 year old. I had to first calm Mike down before I could check on Kade. Kade pointed to the area around his knee and said it hurt. I had him try to stand and his leg buckled. I knew right then that his leg was broken. I then started to get upset.....but I had to remember that Kade would be as calm as we were. I quickly go online to check him into the emergency room (love that you can do this now) and called mom to come and keep the baby. We headed to Lake Pointe Hospital and they took us back right away. The xrays began and I was curious as to why they were focusing on the upper part of his leg. It never crossed my mind that it was his femur, but it was. He had broken his femur, the hardest bone to break in your body. They informed us that we would be transported by ambulance to Children's Hospital in Dallas. WHY? They felt more comfortable with a pediatric orthopedic taking a look at Kade and deciding whether or not he needed surgery. SURGERY? This terrified me, but I did remain calm (very proud of myself). They put on a temporary cast so that Kade felt more comfortable and off we went.

The ambulance driver said that we would be seen quickly since we were being transported with them. This was reassuring. We arrived at 7:30 (keep in mind that Kade had not eaten since 2:30 and they wouldn't let him in the event he needed surgery), a few nurses came to get Kade set up, and then we waited.......and waited.......and waited........and waited. It was now 2:30 am and the nurse cornered the doctor to find out when he was going to see us. He shrugged his shoulders and said he had some things to take care of. I watched him enter data on a computer for an hour and then he walked past us without an acknowledgement and that is when I came out of seat. I know that it's always best to stay calm, but I couldn't. Kade had not eaten in over 12 hours and he was miserable. I confronted that doctor, probably not in the best way, but my confrontation had us out of there within the hour with a cast and directions to see the doctor on Thursday. I know that Children's hospital does wonderful things for sick children, but our visit was not pleasant.

After we left, we found the nearest 24 hour McDonalds and got my baby some food!

The next day, Angels of Care dropped off a wheel chair for Kade. The hospital tried to get him to walk out on crutches and he fell.


Obviously Kade stayed home for the rest of the week and on Thursday, we took him back to Children's to see the orthopedic. It was determined that he did not need surgery. WOOOHOOO!!!! He would be re-evaluated in one month.

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1st Grade/1st Semester

In one year, my son has grown almost 4 inches. I thought as a Kindergartener he looked old, but looking at those pictures from last year and him now he was a baby.



We love his teacher this year. Mrs. Alders is wonderful and very patient with Kade. Right away she tested all of her students to find out their reading level so that students could be grouped together. Kade tested at a level 16, which is where he should be at the beginning of 2nd grade. She had no one to group him with so she found a student in another teachers class (who happens to be one of his best friends) and they meet during reading time. I'm so proud of my little smarty!

Kade has been struggling to stay on "Green" on the behavior chart. Mrs. Alders mentioned that maybe we should test for ADD. She said that she hated to see him get in trouble for things that he can't necessarily control. SO, we filled out all of the paperwork and met with a doctor. She reviewed the Connors questionnaire and then sent us home with a few more questions to answer. I met with her yesterday and she said that she could not diagnose him with ADD and would not prescribe him any type of medication. SIGH...so what is the problem? She said he has slight tendencies,but he is a NORMAL 7 year old boy. I am relieved and in the same breath frustrated. I sent his teacher the information and this is why I love her...she said, "Then we will just have to make sure we find alternative ways to stimulate Kade and make sure that he is challenged. I miss that little guy and can't wait to see him on Thursday." I hope Kade always has teachers that truly love him and want the best for him.

The 2nd semester of 1st grade begins tomorrow and we're ready!

Sweet Photo Session

Father's Day, 4th Of July, Florida 2011

I usually buy Mike and Kade a shirt that matches to wear on Father's Day. I was fortunate enough this year to find something for all 3. My husband is a great sport and will pretty much wear what I ask him to. All three of my boys wore their matching shirts to church that morning and I loved every minute of seeing them. They were precious. After church we stopped for lunch at On The Border and then headed home to get ready for an evening with my family.


The boys and their Bop-O

May as well have called it Grandpa's day because my dad was on cloud 9 with his two grandsons on such a special day.

This time last year I was grieving over a miscarriage and now we are celebrating with such a treasure from God.


This 3rd of July was spent at my brother's house. He had a barbecue with games, a water slide bounce house, and fireworks!


Then we went to mom and dad's for the 4th and popped the rest of our firecrackers.
Getting ready to go to Mimi and Bop-O's






At about 9:30 that night, we sat on our front porch and watched the fireworks at Harry Myers Park. This is what I love about where we live. We have a front row seat to an amazing show.

Danny, Mike's best friend, contacted me in May about coming back to Florida. How can we say no???? Kade absolutely loves the beach and mom decided to travel with us to help out with the baby. This year we flew. I can't even fathom an 18 hour drive with a 2 1/2 month old baby. That would have probably turned into a 36 hour drive with all of the stops!

We spent as much time at the beach as possible. Like I said last year, I don't go but about knee deep, but Mike and Kade like to go out to the sandbar and look for shells. It makes me soooooooo nervous. My eyes stay glued on his little head. If I don't see it, I'm calling for the both of them.







Our usual burial in the sand!

He was so upset with me for not feeding him before we got into the pool!



Krew is such a great traveler. He slept on the plane, there and back and slept on the beach for most of our stay. I had bought a protective tent for him and it was perfect. I layed a couple of towels in there for cushion and off he drifted.


Mike and Kade created their usual creature in the sand. This year they sculpted a dolphin and people would stop to ooooh and ahhhh over it. I'll admit...I was proud!


We did take a break from the beach one day and went to the Clearwater Rehabilitation Aquarium. I loved this aquarium. All of the proceeds from admission are used to save injured marine life. The shows that you see are not "Sea World" shows, they are training sessions for the animals. This aquarium also houses Winter, the dolphin from the movie Dolphin Tale. Kade had an amazing opportunity to feed him. They also offer camps in the summer and provide opportunities for the kids to learn to properly care for the animals. If we go back this year, Kade is signing up! I just think it would be such an amazing opportunity.

Adjusting

Going from 1 to 2 is tough! I have no idea how my mother did it with 3, two of which were only 8 months apart. Krew came at the beginning of our summer break when Kade and I are normally on the go. This was a huge adjustment for Kade. We always get our passes to Hawaiian Falls and we did, we just couldn't go right away. I decided to sign him up for vacation bible school and a few camps over the summer with his friend Reid so that he wasn't stuck at home in front of the television and blatantly aware that the baby was consuming all of my time. I think the adjustment would have been much easier had he been in school all day and only seen me with the baby for a few hours a day. But, things happen when they are supposed to and this is just one of the trials we will go through. It was hard. There is no way to sugar coat it. Kade was frustrated and angry with us. Again, he loves his brother, but was very angry about all of the time that the baby needed. I tried so hard to make sure that I spent time with him and focused solely on him. I never want Kade to feel neglected or pushed to the side.

Vacation bible school was great! He attended last year, but this was his first year without me as a leader. He was grouped with two of his good friends, Gavin and Jack. I offered to have them over one afternoon and we made biscuit pizzas! The kids loved making them, baking them, and eating them!

I'm not sure what I was thinking when I decided to do this, especially with a 2 week old baby. BUT, Kade had a great time with his friends. After pizza, they played with the legos and then headed upstairs to play games, transformers, and nerf guns in the playroom.


He went to art camp for 3 hours a day for one week. He created 3 magnificent Texas themed pieces. He drew a Texas self portrait, a bluebonnet pastel, and a longhorn sculpture.



His art school also offered a 1 day camp on a Saturday morning. The theme for this camp was Italy. I thought it was fitting to send him to a Texas camp, since he is a Texas boy, and an Italy camp because of his daddy's heritage. During the Italy camp, they studied clay sun art and made a replica with paint.


I also signed him up for a camp at The Arboretum. They studied the sun, the moon, and all of the planets. He came home each day with something they had created. I will send him to this camp every year! He and Reid really enjoyed hanging out together this summer. Since Reid's mom works during the summer, he would come home with us and the boys would play in the backyard, despite the heat.

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We finally got to go to Hawaiian Falls about 5 weeks into the summer. Mimi came over to keep Krew so that Kade and I could have our much needed alone time. We went and ended up running into several friends of ours. It was a perfect day for my Kade man. That evening after Mike got home, I took Kade on a date to Cold Stone and we sat and talked for about an hour. I have realized just how important those small moments really are not only to me, but to him.

A sweet arrival

On May 5th I was placed on bed rest. I wasn't confined to my bed, but that is where I stayed most of the time! I dropped Kade off at school each day and absolutely loved picking him up. That is something I rarely get to do since I work until 5 every day. The night before Krew's arrival, Kade had a flag football game, his first, and I wasn't going to miss it! So I waddled my way down to the field and cheered him on as I always do! After the game, I decided that Baby Krew needed some Snuffer's cheddar fries and a grilled chicken sandwich!

The next morning, I was awake by 5 am and Kade followed shortly. He could NOT wait to put on his "Big Brother" t-shirt and meet his baby brother. The hospital is only about a ten minute drive from our home, so we left around 7:15. I had to check in between 7:30-8:00.


After getting checked in, Mimi and Bop-O arrived to keep us company...and they were a bit anxious too! We also gave Kade his big brother bag of goodies from Krew and a special note I had written for him.


Dr. Cowart arrived and the nurses said it was time. I watch a little too much Grey's Anatomy and I get very worked up about any type of surgery so tears started to flow as I hugged my baby boy.


Throughout my entire pregnancy, my doctor forecasted a huge baby. Kade weighed 9 lbs 11oz, so as big as I was, we thought Krew would be close to the same. I remember with Kade, my doctor had to tug and pull to get him out (I had c-sections with both). Krew came out very quickly and the minute I heard him cry, I cried. Dr. Cowart popped him over the curtain for a brief second to show me my beautiful baby boy and then off to get cleaned up and weighed. Mike went over to the scale and he said 7 lbs 14 oz and 21 inches long. WHAT? Are you sure that 7 is not a 9??? Now I have no excuse for my size!!! I didn't know what I was going to do with such a small baby!!! I'm going to love that baby, that's what I am going to do....and I'm going to have to buy some newborn clothes ASAP!



This time around I was wheeled back into the prep room where my family was almost immediately. I saw my sweet 6 year old waiting to make sure that I was okay and right behind me they were wheeling a our precious little package in for all to see. The grin on Kade's face will forever be ingrained in my mind. His pride gleamed from ear to ear. We let him hold Krew first and what a special moment that was. Kade could not believe that he was actually here. I said, "You did it! You're a big brother!". He was instantly in love!



Throughout the days, we had many special visitors that came to check on us and to see our newest addition. We are so blessed to have such caring and loving people in our lives. I'm thankful that they took time out of their day to come and see us .

Others visited, but they came when I didn't have the camera!

After 4 days in the hospital it was time to go home!

The End of Kindergarten

Kindergarten ended. What? Already? NO WAY? How did this happen so fast? What an educational year for all of us. We learned that Kade was further ahead than most of his classmates. We learned how quickly he became bored. We learned how to handle a signed folder on a regular basis. We learned that our little boy was becoming a little too independent for our liking. My Kade learned how to read, and read well. By the end of the year he was reading Dr. Suess books to me! This is the most precious time I get to spend with Kade.

As the year was coming to a close, I was getting ready to deliver a baby. Unfortunately I had to miss Field Day ( I WILL BE THERE FOR 1st Grade), but Mike was off and he spent the day with Kade. They played all kinds of games and boy did I get an ear full when he came to visit me at the hospital.



A week later it was time for Kindergarten graduation. It's amazing to me how he changed over the coarse of 9 months.


That morning we woke up and daddy treated us to donuts! Mimi and Bop-O came over. Mimi stayed with baby Krew and Bop-O joined us for the awards ceremony. Camera-CHECK Kleenex- FORGOT (and I needed plenty of it!)

He was sooooo excited about the ceremony and told us that each kid gets a special award that the teacher picks just for them. He wondered for days which award he would get. When they called his name for the "Thinker" award, he was so proud as were we! Mrs. Rowe said that he always has his thinking cap on!

After the ceremony we were invited back to the classroom for a video full of memories from the past school year. The kids signed yearbooks and stuffed animals and Mrs. Hartmeier, Kade's teacher, gave each of the students a bucket with a calendar and supplies. The calendar had an assignment for each day of the summer so they would not lose the skills they had worked so hard to learn throughout the year. I LOVED THIS and appreciated it! One day she asked the students to write her a letter about their summer vacation thus far. Kade did, and he received a follow-up letter from her. He smiled from ear to ear when the mail came that day!

The kids were allowed to leave after gathering in the classroom and so we took Kade with us. He said his goodbyes to his friends and his teacher and.....cried just a little when we got in the car. He said, "I'll never have Mrs. Hartmeier again as a teacher. I hope she doesn't forget about me." I said, "How could anyone forget about you sweet boy."

Once we dropped off Bop-O we took him to lunch, just the 3 of us. He chose Kyoto, and I didn't mind that at all! We dined on some delicious teriyaki chicken, fried rice, and veggies. What a delicious way to celebrate our little man!

Kindergarten came and went in the blink of an eye. I'm excited and nervous about the years to come!