Prayers

After a few days of leaving voicemail after voicemail we finally got Claire's medication called in. After Cohen's nap, we will go pick it up and find out if insurance covers it or not! She will start tonight. Please pray for her little body. The nurse told me today that we could be in for a long weekend. Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I appreciate her honesty. I'm really nervous about it. They say that it could cause some pretty bad stomach "issues." Just pray that if she does have troubles with it that we can keep her comfortable. Did I mention that I'm extremely nervous?!? I will let you all know how it goes. After all, it's been a few days since my last "poopy post."

First Day of School

Drew and Papa before they met us at school.



Drew and Nanny

Claire, Drew and Cohen before they headed to their classrooms!

BOTH of my kiddos started "school" on Tuesday. Claire is actually in Pre-K and Cohen is just doing a "mother's day out" program. The preschool we take them to is AMAZING. They have all become like a family to us and I am not sure I would be able to leave my kids anywhere else. They love each child that comes through that door and it shows. The first day was crazy and hectic. I decided the night before that the kids would surely wake me up around 7. NOPE we all slept until 8, which is a problem since school starts at 9!!! So, we will get a handle on that for tomorrow! We were greeted by Nanny and Papa who were there with Drew waiting for us. Brian took Cohen down to his class and I never saw him again!!! I was so busy getting Claire settled in and turning in paperwork, that I totally missed my baby going into his first day! That's okay, Daddy got the job done (probably better than I would have!) AND we have a GREAT picture of it!

I went and had breakfast with my parents to celebrate their 30th anniversary! After we ate we decided that we would go to Target. Some of you may know, this is one of our favorite things to do! It may sound stupid to some and down right ridiculous to others, but we love it! I've said before, which was not the case on Tuesday, but we may not buy a thing we just love to look for bargains! We enjoyed ourselves but we were so excited to pick up the kids. When I drove up, Cohen's class was playing outside. One of my favorite things is to watch my kids when they don't know I'm watching. He was SO cute! We drove around and were the first cars in line. When Cohen looked out and saw me, he started jumping up and down with a huge smile on his face yelling "MOMMA MOMMA MOMMA!" His teachers brought him out and told me that he is one of the sweetest kids they have ever met! They said that there was a little girl that cried off and on all day. He was always hugging her and kissing her trying to console her!!! THAT'S MY BOY!

He was very excited when he saw Nanny behind me! He pointed right at her and yelled "NANNY!" Then Claire came out and was equally as excited to see me. We took the kids to Sonic for slushes and to talk about their day. Drew said his favorite part of the day was "waiting for Claire to get to school." Claire's favorite part was "the parachute." I was so proud of my big kids!

To top it off, today Cohen went without a diaper until noon! He peed in the potty 3 times! Let me rephrase that....he peed AROUND the potty. I can't believe how much he is WANTING to use the potty. I CAN'T wait to be rid of diapers! Size 6 diapers are expensive! I put him in a diaper and we headed to the movies! This was Cohen's first movie (Kung Fu Panda) and he did great. He laughed at the first 30 minutes (LOUD) and slept through the rest. Claire and Drew loved the movie (Claire had already seen it with Grandma but said it was "still good") and loved the snacks even more! I got my favorite, movie popcorn, so everyone was happy! Great day!

Results are in!

Well, after two years of pleading with 2 pediatricians and 4 pediatric specialists, we have our answer. Our sweet girl is insulin resistant. Here is the results we got on Monday.

Claire's chronological age= 4 years 1 month
Claire's bone age (the actual size of her bones)= 6 years 10 months

Normal insulin levels for a child her age= Less than 17
Claire's insulin levels= 41

SO what does this mean? Claire gets to take medication twice a day. For how long? I have no idea. We don't have another appointment with the endo doc until February unless we have problems with the meds. I wish I could tell you the name of the medication but I was driving when they called. I should have the medication in hand, but they never called it in yesterday (LIKE THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO!) which stinks. I was hoping to have at least 2 doses in her by tonight because they say it can cause some stomach issues and I was hoping to test it out on a day that she doesn't go to pre-school. So we may wait until this weekend to do it. Another thing is that the liquid form is MUCH more expensive than the pill form so not all insurance companies cover it. We have great insurance, but who knows.

We are glad to have a diagnosis. Although it's not exactly a jumping for joy moment, it is a relief to know that:

A. I'm not crazy.
B. I'm not vain for worrying about my child's weight gain. (I think she is perfect in every way, but I KNEW something wasn't right!!!)
C. What we are dealing with.
D. It's treatable.
E. It's not Type I diabetes.

So now, we wait to see what happens with the medication and hope that a spoonful of Splenda helps the medicine go down!

The glamourous life I lead...

Just the other day as I was checking my e-mail, the kids were playing together just a few feet away in the playroom. I was thinking to myself...."How sweet are they? They are just playing so well together!" Then I hear my little princess say "Oh Cohen, you took your diaper off!" Before I could get to them I heard her follow up with "OH COHEN! WHY DO YOU HAVE POOP ON YOUR FACE?!?!?" Yup, Poops McGee had taken his diaper off and then wiped his face!!! So gross. Oh, and the picture....that's him much later, after a bath enjoying some chocolate pudding. How many of you were gagging and questioning why I would actually take the time to get the camera to capture the image of my little man covered in dookie?!? Oh you underestimate me! Here is sister sledge getting in on the pudding festivities! (Sugar free of course!)

Where in the world is Chrissy?

I'm sitting in bed right now at the Doubletree Hotel in Chicago. Not exactly what we had planned for the weekend, but my poor husband is very sick. He is on antibiotics, but is actually feeling worse! I feel really bad for him. I do have a really great view from where I'm laying so I can't complain. We did a little shopping ate lunch and came back for a nap. Luckily, I have Brian's laptop and HGTV so I'm set! I just wish Brian felt better. I can't help but feel blessed though. Read this blog http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/ and you will understand why. I also found out a few days ago that a girl I know from college lost her husband and is now raising their 6 month old daughter alone. A 28 year old widow....that is a concept that I will never understand. So for now, I am thankful that we are here together and that he only has a bug. I am missing my kids like crazy and am looking forward to getting home to them. For right now, I'm going to relax, surf the net, watch deserving design and kick myself for not bringing my swimsuit!

Pajama Program

Today I was sitting in the recliner counting down the minutes until I could take more Tylenol. (I have strep throat and 2 ear infections!) I was mindlessly flipping through channels and stopped on Oprah. It was one of the "feel good" shows about doing what you can to make the lives of others better. There was a lady talking about her calling. At first I was a little annoyed with her. She kept saying that this idea just plopped into her brain like a raindrop. In my world, that is God speaking, but to each his own I guess. Anyway, her mission was something that started out very simple. She had been volunteering at a local shelter for children whose mothers were incarcerated. She would read stories to them every night. After a few nights she realized that they would all go get into bed in the clothes they had worn all day. She asked about why they didn't change into jammies and the person in charge told her it was because they didn't have any. She was stunned. She never thought about not having a nice warm pair of PJ's to cuddle up in after a long hard day. She made it her mission to provide children in need with pajamas. This story really struck a chord with me. All I could think of was the 5 or 6 drawers in our home dedicated to JUST jammies! I LOVE new jammies. There are days when we don't get out of them until 4:00! (I'm still in mine as I type this!) I thought about how sweet my babies look all cuddled up in a pair of their adorable PJ's. One of the best things about winter is the JAMMIES! My heart broke as she told a story of a 6 year old little girl that looked at the pile of PJ's and was very confused. She had never had a pair and really didn't understand the concept. It is something that I take for granted. I can honestly say, I will never feel the same when I get my kids dressed for bed. I will never take for granted our PJ collection. Of course I had to know more about it so I went to her website http://www.pajamaprogram.org/ and we will be going next week to Target to pick out some PJ's to send to girls and boys who are in need. Check it out!

Here are just a few pics of us in our pajamas! (For your sake, they are mostly of the kids!)

One of our favorite nightgowns on Miss Claire

Cohen the morning after his first birthday party!

Drew in his Christmas jammies

Claire and Drew in the hotel at the State Tournament

Claire in another pair of our favs

On Christmas morning we all have matching PJ's

(the adults match each other and the kids match each other!)

Cohen matched Claire this year too. We bought her the same nightgown in a bigger size!

That seems like so long ago!!!

Class of '98

It's been 10 years now since Brian and I walked the halls of KHS as students. We kicked off our reunion weekend last night with an evening at Touch and it was really fun! The food was really good and it was so wonderful to see so many people who we had lost touch with. Today is the family picnic which I am REALLY looking forward to. I can't wait to see every one's little ones and show off my own! Here are a few pics from last night. (I will use maiden names because that's what we all do!)

Class Couple 1998!


Some of the old gang! Alia and Missy have been around since Kindergarten and the other three girls since Jr. High!

(Alia Wilson, Becky Lins, Sarah Parker, Lindsay Whorton, Missy Moudy and me)



Me and Shanna Roberts in the back. Amanda Nevil's forhead and Ryan Perkins.



Janell Hammond, Amanda Roetto and me.



Jenny Hicklin, Ashley Barnett, me, Missy Moudy and Kim Mayer


My lifelong friend Tiffany Beasley-Dykes and me


Chad Cowden (my first boyfriend in 5th grade. LOL)


Volleyball girls
Janell, me Amanda and Kim Ansley


Dr. Kristen Yates
I may be speaking too soon since there is a picnic tomorrow, but we made it through the night in the same building without there being some type of rescue vehichles involved! There's a first time for everything!