Kaitlynn's Day.............

Some days I think back over the last ten months and just sigh. I am so grateful that we have made it this far with Maddie's heart surgery. We have almost all of the medical bills paid for. Our goal is to have them paid for by the end of the year. I look at Maddie some days and just cry. Why were we given such a miracle????

That answer will have to wait for another day because today is the day for Kaitlynn. I believe that I mentioned before that Kaitlynn is my Precious Gift, Jackson is my Greatest Joy and Madelynn is my Miracle. Even though all children are a gift Kaitlynn is amazingly special. She was the perfect baby. Let me explain........

Due to Phil's job having little work at the time, he was sent out of town to work close to the due date. Because it was just me I packed my hospital bag and kept it in the car because it was half the distance from my parents house to the hospital than my house to the hospital. I spent a lot of time over there. Well finally Phil told them no more travelling. I never took my hospital bag out of the car. At my last check up before my due date the doctor asked if I had my bag in the car. I told her yes. She said GO TO THE HOSPITAL. They believed I had pre-clampsia. With the due date so close they were just going to induce labor.

When Kaitlynn finally arrived about 31 hours later, she was beautiful. My mom and dad were there and so was Phil's mom. She was perfect. Perfect weight, length, color.......she had the famous Phil Addler eyelashes, blue eyes like my mother, even her birthmark was a kiss from my grandmother. Except for a two week period where I probably walked 2-3 miles a night in a circle in my house while she cried. The first five months of Kaitlynn's life were medically uneventful. Then came my first Mother's day.

I spent it in the ER. Where she had a raging temperature and the ER nurse could not figure why a child with a 103 temperature was not screaming her head off. After several hours at the ER they found nothing wrong with her and sent us home. The next day she was perfectly fine. Kaitlynn was even walking at nine months. She had a playmate that was 2 months older and she was always trying to keep up with her. She was so little when she first started walking. I even have her first steps recorded on video accidentally.

In a 5 year period I believe she has been to the doctor other than a well check maybe six times. Two of those times were reaction to bug bites. If you ever wished for a healthy baby Kaitlynn is it. As long as you spray her with bug spray she will be fine. Even with all that happened with Madelynn, Kaitlynn was a trouper. In December, I had to take Madelynn back to the hospital I cried all the way there for two reasons............

First the obvious who wants to take their heart baby back to the hospital. Second the next day was Kaitlynn's birthday and I knew Madelynn would be there for a few days. So I would miss her birthday. Thankfully, my mother went to the hospital to be with Madelynn for a few hours so I could have dinner, cake and ice cream, let her open her presents and put Kaitlynn to bed before I had to go back to the hospital.

There have been so many times I have had to lovingly tell Kaitlynn she had to wait because Madelynn needed this or that. Even with Jackson and his three surgeries, including the one two weeks after Madelynn was born. She ALWAYS patiently waited. She always waited her turn. Don't get me wrong there are days she has no patience. However I wish God would have blessed me with just half of Kaitlynn's patience. She is such a good big sister and loves sharing her room with Madelynn. I am sure some day that will change but for now I will enjoy it.

So, this past week I have tried to reward Kaitlynn for all she has had to endure. It is not her fault she is the healthiest. I thank God for that every day. She always seems to be last, this week I tried to put her first. On the days I did not have to work I kept Kaitlynn with me and sent Madelynn to daycare. We met with Kaitlynn's god-mother and had lunch and spent the afternoon with her. We ran errands together. Just spent some mommy and me time together. She loved every minute of it.

As I look at her today she is so big and ready to take on the world. I don't think any little girl is more excited about kindergarten than her. We met her teacher and walked the classroom. So as she makes the giant leap to "big girl school" I made something just for Kaitlynn. I wanted her to know that my most precious gift is never forgotten and I love her for her patience with all of my heart. I will enjoy watching her make the leap to "big girl school" and savor every minute.

Good Luck Kaitlynn.............I love you more..........

TTFN

Off to Kindergarten.............

Goggles for School

Back in July, Jack had a fun month at school. We were given a calender that shows the something different they were doing every day of the month. Mondays were color days where they wore a specific color shirt, Tuesdays were Silly days, Wednesday were water play, Thursdays were Movie days and Fridays were ice cream (of some kind popsicles, sandwiches, etc).

One of the silly days the children were to wear goggles to school. Jack did not have goggles. So Mamaw took him to the dollar store and he came home with the bottle pop glasses that looked like goggles. HILARIOUS!! All his teacher could do was laugh.


Well I kind of forgot about them. Recently, Jack found them in his room and came downstairs with them. All I could do was laugh. However, I will let you be the judge. All I can say is that it was all I could do to take these pictures because I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe and I was crying all at the same time.



Enjoy!!!!


TTFN.........

All for $35.00...........

Today was one of the first Saturdays in a while Phil did not have to work and we did not have to be anywhere. So the day started out with Pilbert making pancakes for the kids and getting ready to go out for a while. We have collected money and gift cards for the kids from their birthdays, Christmas, not to mention a few on-line coupons that were about to expire. So we decided to take a small adventure.

We started out at the Build-a-Bear factory since Jack had a gift card to make a bear (Thanks, Ray and Linda). Actually he created a dog that is just too cute. I would take a picture but "Max" is currently wrapped in Jack's arms as he sleeps. So that Katie would not feel left out I allowed her to pick out one new outfit for her Build-a-Bear's already at home. Outside the store at the mall there was a big play area where the kids could play and run for a little while. Before leaving the mall we stopped at the chick-fil-a for lunch. Did you know Maddie likes waffle fries?? I didn't.

Next we went to Toy's-R-Us where Jack and Maddie had gift cards to spend (Thanks, Uncle Ted) and Jack had a little cash (Thanks Jacque and Tony). Of all things Jack picked out a Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. He has been watching that lately. Something Maddie needed was shoes. She has become quite the walker. I have been allowing her to be barefoot to learn. However with cold and flu season quickly coming it will be better that she learn in her shoes. Due to clearance sales I was also able to get Maddie a bathing suit for next year (for $1.00) and some new jammies.

As we were leaving the second Mall area Phil remembered he had a Panera bread gift card from Christmas still in his pocket. So, he stopped there and got some goodies (bagels, bread, etc) for a special treat. As we were driving home, I remembered a Cheesecake factory gift card that has been in my purse for about two years. I confirmed it was still good and went and splurged on special treat for after dinner. The kids were very excited about the cheesecake.

So for all of you that contributed to the gift cards and birthday cash THANK YOU SO MUCH. It ended up to be a pretty fun day and it only cost us $35.00. We have been very lucky that the kids have know idea how hard some days have been for us and your gifts make it so much easier.

TTFN

Lady Girl............

Since 1998, Phil and I have had this beautiful black and brown dog...Lady (see photo on right). She has had a pretty interesting life. Up until fall of last year Lady had a constant companion Leia. Not to mention the six cats she tolerated. Leia was put to rest after 12 years of life. At least once a week I still think about her and miss her. Since Leia left us we were also forced, do to Jack's allergies, to get rid off all of the cats.

So as of about October 2008 we were now a single pet home. We really should not have Lady due to Jack's allergies but he seems okay with her for now. Lady is almost 12 and has seizures so no one would take her. She still has a good quality of life with us so we will keep her till it is time for her to go.

Now think of things from Lady's perspective....She gets extra love and attention and she really loves it from the kids however she is very attached to me some days too attached. When no one else is at our home we let Lady sleep in our master bath floor. She has some strange attachment to the bathroom rugs. I thought having Katie, Jack and Maddie I would never get a moments peace or pee alone again but Lady takes the cake.

At 5:15 in the am I am sitting on the toilet peeing and I always get a cold nose or wet tongue on my arm. I tell her to go lay down she licks my arm even more. So I have given up stopping the behavior and just tell her good morning. She then proceeds to the closet with me to make sure no one is going to contact the fashion police on me as I pick out my clothes. After we both agree I will not be arrested today she follows me back to the shower and lays on the bathroom rug while I shower.

The funniest part about it is when I get out of the shower she goes in the bedroom and lays on her blanket as if to give me privacy. She also knows the instant I am dressed as she comes back in and lays back on one of the rugs. She remains there and watches the chaos as I get myself ready, Katie and Jack dressed and check Maddie's diaper one more time before leaving to drop the kids off.

However, one day last week her routine was totally disrupted because Phil and I overslept by about an hour and a half. We were running really late and trying to get everything done as quickly as possible and Lady kept getting in the way. At one point I am trying to put lotion on after a shower and Lady is standing right in the way. Believe it or not if you say, "Excuse me Lady." She will move.

So here I am repeatedly, "Excuse me Lady, Excuse me Lady." But Lady just stood there. I finally look down and there is Lady tied up in a bra that was hanging on the back of the bathroom door handle. She was so upset and just kept getting in the way. Finally, I thought maybe she would be better off outside till chaos settled down.

Well I arrived at work only about 15 minutes late. But I had called my neighbor because in the crazy morning I forgot to pull something out for dinner. I asked her to go across the street and pull something out of the freezer. When my neighbor called me back she told me she did and let Lady in and locked my back door.

So not only did I try to hang the dog, I left her out in a day that was to be over 90 degrees and left my back door unlocked. Needless to say THANKS DEBBIE and SORRY LADY. I try not to think about what Lady thinks of me because it just makes me laugh.

TTFN

Relentless Mother

As usual my hope for daily accomplishment was more than there are hours in the day. Today was a busy day, what day isn't when you have three children under six. My hope was to clean the house, paint another wall in Jack's room, and spend a little one on one time with Maddie after her therapy. I actually achieved most of it with one strange delay.



My dryer wasn't working properly. This is a big problem considering that I have had the dryer for less than three months. My OCD was starting setting in that I would have to make a service call and wait for them...how long...what about my other goals for the week everything would be messed up. Then I remembered the birds nest that was in my dryer vent. A few months back we pulled a nest out of the dryer vent that was about a foot long. Unfortunately it had eggs and baby birds in it. We put the nest we pulled in a nearby tree. The mother killed them.



I felt really bad. So a few weeks ago I noticed this unrelenting mother rebuilt her nest in the dryer vent again. Today was the first day the dryer wasn't drying. When Phil came home I told him the dryer wasn't working. He was upset because he knew this would mean killing more babies. We were relieved to find the nest empty of the mother and live babies. All we found was one bad egg. Attached is a photo of the second nest.






As I typed I was reminded of a similar story my sister shared. Back in May my sister told a story about a family of rabbits, see link here. It is a good read.

A little side bar........I have two walls painted in Jack's room and will have photos to share when I am done. In trying to make his room more fun and different, I am painting each wall a different color to match a cool comforter I found. He is getting very excited. Since everyone is making a big deal about Katie going to kindergarten in about ten days I have been really talking up his new room and he is very excited.

TTFN

Wedding Anniversary

10 years........Yes, I said 10 years............Today is our wedding anniversary. This is a photo from our reception. I walked down the same aisle as my mother only 31 years later. The ceremony was delayed about 20 minutes because I lost Phil's ring. My sister, God made her invisible that day, so she could break every speed law possible to get to our grandmother's house, find the ring and get back to the church.

During the ceremony, I was so nervous that my knees were shaking so bad when we sat down my whole dress was shaking and Phil couldn't stop laughing. We started a fire in the church with the unity candle display. After the ceremony, the wedding party all piled in the limo like prom night and laughed all the way to the park for pictures.

I remember being so excited to see all of our family and friends at the reception. We danced, drank and crammed cake in each others faces. The hall for the reception was brand new, we were the first wedding to use it. The floor was very slippery by the end of the night I had wiped out twice. I remember we took a few ballroom dance lessons so we could dance the whole floor.

Probably the funniest part was the day we picked up the rental car to drive to Toledo the next morning. The rental company could not find our reservation until we told them to look under my maiden name as we were getting married. The nice man at the counter upgraded us to a white Cadillac at no additional charge. So here we are early in the morning not showered yet Phil in his wife beater, glasses (didn't have his contacts in yet), ND hat driving down the highway in a pristine white Cadillac. He looked like he stole it. I laughed all the way.

As we left the reception, neither Phil nor myself could wear our shoes and we crammed Jon and Dixie (Phil's brother and sister in law), Justine and Ed (my best friend and her Hubby), Jen and Angie(my sister and her roommate), Phil and I and the designated driver. I have never seen so much formalwear in one tiny place before. We laughed all the way to the hotel and even sat outside and talked before we all went to our rooms.

It was defiantly a day I will never forget. Our 10 year journey has been amazing. I remember days I was walking on clouds (graduated from college, the day we found out Kaitlynn was coming, the day we found out #2 was a boy (Jackson), the day Madelynn was born just to name a few). I also remember some of our darkest days (Jack being sick a lot that resulted in 3 surgeries, losing very special friends and family, Madelynn's heart surgery days I don't care to remember but will never forget.

We have made it through just about everything and are still here. Happy Anniversary Pilbert!!!

XOXOXOXOXO

TTFN

Uncle Ted

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE TED!!!!!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

XOXOXOXO

Chelsea, Philip, Kaitlynn, Jackson and Madelynn

The cardiologist.............

Maddie's 1st birthday included a visit to the cardiologist to check her heart. He said she looked great!! She weighed 18lbs and was 28 inches long. The Dr. said the pulses in her legs and ankles were great. She had no murmurs in her heart. They did an echo of her heart and said the repaired area had no scar tissue and looked great.



This will be the biggest area of concern is this scar tissue area. If this area ever were to shrink or start to misshape they would have to do a procedure to balloon it back open. If that did not work then another surgery would be required. This of course is a worst case scenario. We were also told she no longer needed to take the aspirin a day. We were told originally that it would be forever but the cardiologist today said that it was not necessary and she could stop it. In cases like Maddie's 6-8 months of the aspirin is all that is required.



The only medicine she is still on is the breathing treatment once a day. We do not see the pulmunologist until October and he will make a decision then as to the breathing treatments. Until then we are grateful for all of the exciting news at thought we would pass it on.

TTFN

Happy Birthday Madelynn.....

So many pictures no song long enough................... As I thought about what I wanted to do for Madelynn's Birthday a little photo video collage seem to be the answer. The one thing I have is plenty of photos of Madelynn's first year of life. I ended up with a ridiculous amount of pictures. It was so hard to choose just enough for a single song.

Once I narrowed down the photos then I had to find a song. The song chosen was appropriate for so many reasons. As you watch Madelynn's first year of life unfold, please remember there are never enough words to say Thank You. We had so much help from our parents, our friends, to the teachers at the day care, to those of you that just prayed. So many of you just opened your hearts no questions asked even for the littlest favors.

Again, we say THANK YOU for all the love and support. Enjoy my creation.


TTFN

Madelynn's First Year

Something to make my dad proud.......LOL

There are no words for these photos but they just make me laugh. When I went to go get Maddie out of her bed this morning this is what I found. So I thought I would share. Enjoy the giggles. I did.

TTFN

you are doing what?!?!?!?!?!

As if my life weren't busy enough I decided to work on some changes in my home and see how inexpensively I can do it. Originally we had I bonus room that had a guest sleeping area, office area and all of my craft stuff. We also had a room for Jack and a room Katie and Maddie shared. Katie and Maddie shared the smallest room in the house. Well not anymore.

The past three days (starting Thursday) have been very busy. I took all of Jack's belongings and moved them to part of the bonus room. A few weeks ago I moved my work station out of the bonus room and in to the living room. Once Jack's room was empty, I patched all the holes from the stuff hanging on the walls, sanded, painted, hung new wall border, changed the ceiling fan, and moved all of the items I had for the guest room into Jack's old room.

Except for swapping the ceiling fan, moving some of the furniture and the extra hands it requires to hang wall border I did all of this myself. Tomorrow I will move all of Katie and Maddie's belongings out of their room and start prepping Katie and Maddie's old room to be Jack's. So far I have only spent $15.52 on this project. I will need to buy a few items but I am trying to do all of this for less that $250.00.

I know I will need to buy one can of paint, a few curtains and blind for one of the windows. There will also be a few painting accessories. Over all it will mostly be my time and energy that will be spent. The kids are so excited to get new rooms. Back in January or February I was out shopping and found a $55.00 bed in a bag marked down to $20.00. It is so cool. It has animals, lion, tigers, bears, etc in earthy blues, browns and greens. I was going to save it for Jack for Christmas.

However, Katie and Jack are so excited about getting new rooms I figured I would paint his room with some existing paint we already have that matches the comforter. I will be sure to post pictures when my changes are complete.

We are also getting ready for Maddie's first birthday party, Katie starts kindergarten in about 4 weeks and poor Jack, he is just waiting for Mommy to finish his new room. He is most excited about these changes because his room will now face the front of the house and he can see when Daddy gets home.

It has been along day. I still need to work on a project for Maddie's birthday.

TTFN