2011 in review

A fun photo journey of our year...we sure are blessed!  You can click on the slideshow to view at your own pace.  Happy New Year!

2011

While sitting around the table tonight with fun snacky foods, we all shared the best thing that happened to us in 2011.  Here is the report.

Jamahl: Making it to the state swim meet

Sidney: Joining the swim team

Grammy: Taking a vacation to Mexico

Poppy: Riding the motorcycle down the main drag at Bike Time with Grammy

Abagayle: Christmas and going to Carly and Alexis'

McKenzy: Going into 1st grade

Mommy: Having my surgery

Daddy: Doing the 300 mile bike ride

Keyan: Meeting MAX!!!  How cute is that?

We all talked about being grateful for Keyan being home and lots of other things that went on this year.  It has been a crazy year but overall, I am glad to just have lived it.  Ready or not, here comes 2012!  We sure have had a blessed year and hope that your 2012 brings lots of joy!

Keyan rings in the new year fighting another round of pneumonia so please keep her in your thoughts...we want to continue her outpatient status!!!

Here is a picture of us all last week meeting our new niece.  What a group!

One year....

We have hit a major milestone...it has officially been one year since Keyan has been inpatient for an illness.  She has had numerous ER visits, several of which have been extremely frightening,but we have convinced the doctors to set us free every time.  We are all very happy to have met this marker on our journey.  It is only by a miracle that this has occurred.  We also have the doctors at Cincinnati to thank, as well as our nurses here at home.  A year ago, we really decided to up the ante on what we would take care of at home.  We have raised the bar for our nurses and doctors and they have met us there.  Basically, if we CAN do it at home, we do.  So that means that our nurses have had to take on more responsibility and be prepared to run a pediatric intensive care unit here in our living room.  Before our girls came along, I had no idea that families lived like this.  I had no idea that non-medically trained parents make life changing decisions for their kiddos. 

The decisions have been hard, but I know that we have made the right ones.  There have been a few occasions where I have looked at Paul and said, "Am I being stubborn?  Does she need to go in?"  We have been able to take a deep breath, take another view on the situation and keep her home.  We are so pleased with the trust that we have been given by the medical people in our life.  This is not easy.  Taking care of Keyan calls for each of us to rise above our comfort levels, step out of our sense of normal, do things that we don't really want to do, face our inner ugliness, and embrace the highs and lows that God and Keyan bring our way.  We can only do this with the support of friends and family.  She is only able to stay home because of the lovely piece of plastic the runs IV nutrition into her little body.  It is such a love/hate relationship with her central line, but for tonight, we celebrate the quality of life that it gives her and look forward to many more months admission free!

Why the picture?  Because to me, it symbolizes what having her home means...togetherness.  There is not one of us that isn't grateful to just be together as a family.  Something so simple, something that many take for granted.  Once we  experienced separation that is out of our control, we choose to embrace our time together with a whole new sense of appreciation. Tonight, I am thankful for the insight this journey has given me.  I am thankful for what I have learned and I hope that I can continue to be thankful despite the road ahead.

Birthdays…finally!

November and December are busy in any household, but in this crazy house, busy takes on a whole new meaning.  Paul, the girls, and Jamahl all celebrate their birthdays in November, the girls and Jamahl only separated by six days with Thanksgiving in the middle.  I always feel like a tornado has gone through our life when November comes to an end. 

The girls birthday is the 21st and we had such a fun day.  They got fancy new clothes from my parents and fashion boots from Paul’s parents so they thought they were little fashionistas.  On our way into school, Sidney whispered to me, “Mom, everyone is looking at our feet.  I think they like our boots!” It was very cute.  They took cupcake cake pops for a treat and the kids all loved them.  They were treated like princesses all day at school and loved every minute of the celebration.  We had tacos for dinner and than the girls all picked different things for dessert so we had more cake pops, ice cream cake, and regular birthday cake.  It was crazy, but so much fun.  We sang four different renditions of “Happy Birthday”, had presents all over the place, kids were high on sugar and running wild, but the joy on each of their faces was priceless.  We work hard at making them each feel special and I think we accomplished it.  As I was giving them each their good-night kisses, I paused for just a few seconds at each of their precious heads…I can’t believe they are 7!

Seven! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Jamahl entered the world of double digits and that was so hard for most of the adults in his life.  It is hard to believe that a whole decade has passed with him in our lives.  We are very blessed by all of our kids, but Jamahl is a very special kid.  He is so tenderhearted and kind.  Always thoughtful and has a great sense of humor.  While it is sad to think about those younger years being done, it is fun to see him growing up and changing.

We themed his birthday around “Star Wars.”  Is there anything else of such great importance in his life?  He took cake pops to school and also to swimming.  he too requested a homemade ice cream cake and picked out mint chocolate chip ice cream. We had thrown out several ideas of things to do for the day like going to see a movie,going bowling, or going to a hockey game to celebrate but he said, “If it doesn’t make anybody too mad, I would like to just stay home for the whole day!”  So, that is what we did.  Uncle Jay and Auntie Roo came and we had the party at home.  We ate lasagna for dinner but had star war themed treats beforehand.  We drank Jedi Juice and Yoda Soda.  Snacked on edible Ewoks, lightsabers, Chewbacca Chex-mix, Obiwan Oranges, ect.  It was so much fun to surprise with those extra details.  He thought that is was great!

Ten! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

So, that has been what we have been up to the last three weeks.  It is a busy time of celebrating the great kids God has blessed us with.  It is a crazy journey, but it is our journey!  One that we never would have written ourselves but one that has brought more joy and laughter than we ever could have imagined.  These five kids are are miracles.  I was recently reminded of the many nights eleven and twelve years ago that Paul and  I would hold each other crying over the worry that we would never have kids.  It was such a struggle!  Now, while we have a slew of other daily worries, our household is bouncing with life…five little lives with so much potential.  How amazing!