The Hogan Infirmary

We have missed so much this past week....Abagayle's coming home day, the anniversary of Keyan getting her trach, the girls' actual due date, and I am sure several other things but EVERYONE has been sick! For an entire week, our living room has been sick central. The poor babes have no energy. I have never seen anything like it. They don't play at all, they just sleep and occasionally watch a movie. Keyan was in the hospital for three days and actually probably brought her home a little sooner than we should have but with the help of our great nurses, we have been able to keep her home so far. The girls have worn nothing but pajamas but an entire week! Everyone is finally rounding the bend, and we hope to catch up on Abby's day later this week. It is so hard to have sick kids!!!!

72 Valentines and counting...

Ok, Valentines Day used to be my favorite holiday...but it is no longer. As a matter of fact, I do believe it has become my least liked holiday. Why, well because I just completed filling out 72 valentines cards for the girls to take to school. They in turn brought at least 72 cards home with them also. Oh, and can I just say that I would kill for the time to make beautiful heart shaped treats for the entire class. The girls received so many cute things...I felt horrible with their store bought Wall-e, Mickey Mouse, Princesses, and Spiderman cards. As if I need more mommy guilt! Never fear though, Jamahl and I did make homemade paper airplanes for him to take to school tomorrow. For some reason last year I decided to do home made dinosaur ones with him and so he was not about to just buy the ones from the store. What was I thinking????? I guess after finishing with Jamahl's class I am up to 96! At least Jamahl could write the names on them by himself! Happy Valentine's Day! We love you all.

It is Sidney's Day!

Time is a thing that I do not have enough of!!! Life has been crazy but we did manage to celebrate Sidney's coming home day today. She got to have a frosted cookie after breakfast, which although the frosting was pink, and she much prefers red, she decided she would eat it anyhow! We ran a hundred errands this afternoon which I normally do not attempt to do on my own with the girls but things actually went fairly well. Could we really be making advancements on this front?
Four years ago, Sidney left the NICU after a bumpy 80 day stay. She had numerous infections that made her swell up really big and she had some eye problems. She came home four days after McKenzy and they were so happy to be together (that is them in the swing above). The last year has been full of changes for Sidney. She is growing up so quick. In November, she got Spiderman red glasses and that seems to really help her out. She looks so cute in them and will often comment on how she can see better.

We had spaghetti for dinner tonight and that is Sidney's favorite! She also loves to wear costumes! When I looked back over the pictures that I had taken of the day I think I counted four different costumes!

She choose Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream for her treat. Too bad Poppie is in Mexico, he is her ice cream buddy! Auntie Roo and Uncle Jay came down for dinner and helped celebrate Sidney's day. Sidney is a sweet girl that has a very stubborn side to her! She is always ready to lend a hand in the kitchen and loves to just hang out by Mommy and Daddy. She idolizes Jamahl and Spiderman and is always looking to impress her big brother. Sidney, you are one determined little girl and that will make people pay attention! I know someday you are actually going to fly, so keep up the trying! Your role as the observer is a very important one and your seriousness will serve you well. Your sweet little smile always lights up my heart and your twisty kisses are great. Always keep your individual spirit...you never know where it may lead. We love you and are so proud of you.

"Be at Peace, Molly"

When is rains, it pour around here! Molly has been sick for a while and it suddenly was getting a lot worse. I won't go into the details but a year ago she had a cancerous tumor removed and we believe that the cancer finally was taking it's toll on her body. Tonight, Paul and I took her to the vet to be put to sleep. We had prepared the kids as best we knew how. The girls were on to wondering what the next pet would be but Jamahl had alot of questions. Right before we took her, Jamahl asked why we couldn't do a transplant with another dog so that Molly could keep living. We are always amazed at how his mind works! Miraculously, when we arrived at the vet, a friend of ours who works there was there to help us through it. She was so great. She knew just the right words to say and made the ordeal as good as she could. Thanks Sharron! It feels like we have lived 10 days in this one. The house feels strangely quiet, even with the noise of the kids. Molly was a great pet that certainly could be a pain sometimes but she fit just right into this crazy home and we will all miss her.

Feb. 1st ALREADY????

This picture completly sums up McKenzy. She loves a party and lives life to the fullest. Of course, it is nopt uncommon to see her withour clothes on either but that is a whole other story! Today we celebrated McKenzy's coming home day!

I can't believe that another year has come and gone and it is time to celebrate the girl's coming home days. Four years ago today we brought McKenzy home from the NICU. We were so thrilled to finally be bringing a baby home. It felt so good to have her in familiar territory. I don't think that I will ever forget the long walk thru the hallways of the hospital and the LONG ride home. It was a long time coming and it felt so good to carry a baby out of the hospital.

February 1st was also the first time that all four girls were able to be by each other. McKenzy, Sidney, and Abagayle had been next to each other but they were never able to get close to Keyan until the day that McKenzy came home. We were so thrilled to have them close together again and you could tell they were happy to be smooshed all together like they were in utero. It took such coordination and a lot of hands to get them all next to each.....but it was so worth it!

Seeing that Mommy and Keyan just returned yesterday from the hospital after being there for 11 days, this morning we just lounged around in our jammies, which McKenzy LOVES. However, when I suggested that we get dressed and go out for Chinese, she was very excited. Of all the kids, she likes to eat out the most. Chinese does not really thrill her but they do have french fries which is her all time favorite food. She also likes the hot tea and the cookies with the tags!!! Later tonight we all had special cookies to celebrate her day and we talked about the fact that when they were born they had to stay in the hospital for a long time and that is why we celebrate the day they finally came home. I think this is the first year that they "kinda" are starting to get it.

McKenzy, you are a beautiful little girl, who although you sometimes act like you came from outer space, you are showing us exactly how smart you are with your memory. You forget NOTHING!!!! You have made great strides in your talking over the last year and you love to learn letters and what words start with. You had surgery for your ears, we discovered that you have some chronic lung disease so you have to do breathing treatments every day (which goes oh so well), and we are getting your insomnia under control. It has been a busy year for you!!! While you can be feisty, you are always the first one to notice when an opportunity to snuggle arises and you always grab it. Your hugs are the best and your kisses are even better. You definitely make your own path in life but it will be sure to be a path of joy and laughter. We love you so much and look forward to all the exciting things you will do!

A new bike for Keyan

Several months ago one of the physical therapists that Keyan sees on a semi-annual basis recommended us looking into getting an amtryke. An amtryke is a tricycle that can be powered by either your hands or your feet. Keyan does not alternate her feet on stairs and she is still running with just an accelerated walk instead of picking her feet up and alternating them up and down.....therefore pedaling a bike is very difficult for her to do as well. This special bike will allow us to strap her feet to the pedals but have her arms (which are extremely strong) do all of the work. She gets to buzz around on a bike and her legs and brain get a great workout and learn to make a cycling motion. It is a very cool concept.
My first thought was that we had to get her one of these bikes but my second thought was how we would ever afford one. This is the amazing part. There is a national service organization called the ambucs and one of there main goals is providing kids with these adaptive bikes. Once I got in touch with our local chapter, they had me fill out some forms and have her measured by a therapist and figure out which bike would fit her the best. We submitted everything a month ago and last week got a e-mail that the bike was in. This organization GAVE her this new bike. They invited us all to lunch, except for Jamahl who was in school, and presented Keyan's bike to her. These were great people!! They were so thrilled to be helping her and were so welcoming to all of us. One of the members had put the bike together so she was able to ride around the room that we had lunch in. As these two men were on their hands and knees making adjustments to the bike while she was trying to ride it, she looked at them and said,"Can I take this bike home?" And when they told her that she could, she immediately raised her arm above her helmet and "yelled" YEA!!!! It was so cute. The bike fits her great and yet gives her some room to grow. She told Poppy that her new bike is "Terrific". Now, if only we could get out of sub zero temperatures so that she could really ride the thing, that would be great.

She could not wait to try out her new bike!

The wonderful guys making the adjustments so that the bike was PERFECT

And away she goes, with a little help from Abby!

The girls were so excited for her! And yes, McKenzy spent a majority of the time with her hands over her eyes! There is always one in the crowd!!

Our girls are 4

November is a busy month for birthdays around our house and the girls celebrated theirs last Friday, the 21st. We had a great day and a very fun party. Keyan was in the Emergency Room for 5 hours the night before and she had to go to two different doctors on her birthday but we were very thankful that she was able to be at home for her special day. We had a slow start to the morning since we had been at the hospital until 3am, but after that the day was full of celebrating. The girls chose to go to Red Robin for lunch and the staff treated them like royalty! We have been going to RR about once every two weeks since it opened about two years ago. The servers all now us, have fries out to us right away, and bring chocolate milk without us asking. As I sat and watched the girls faces as the staff gathered around them to sing, I literally got tears in my eyes because I realized that even people out in the community, who accept our crazy family and do what they can to make it easier on us, play a huge part in who our kids are. There are only certain restaurants that welcome us with open arm...a lot of them would rather us leave, but to those that do, it goes a long way in making us feel normal! (Okay, a lot of rambling..but it really meant something to me!)
It wasn't long before it was time for the party. We had 40-50 people come throughout the night. We served soup, crackers, cheese, fruit, and a lot of cake. Aunt Erin spent 10 hours making each girl their own cake and needless to say the girls were thrilled beyond belief at the individuality. Once again, as I looked around the room while we were singing "Happy Birthday" four times over, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. Each person there represents a piece of who we are as a family. They all play different roles, but we could not give the kids the life we do without each of these special people. From family members, people who have become like family, people we have met just over the last year, to nurses that help us manage the many aspects of Keyan, we hold them all very near to our hearts. It is something that is very hard to explain. All I can hope is that each of you reading this can experience the joy of being surrounded by people who love you through the highs and lows of life. It has been a tumultuous four years, but ones that were filled with a lot of laughs and smiles. Happy Birthday girls! You have all inspired greatness. I can't wait to see what the next year brings!