Football anyone

Leopold and the girls played some football this afternoon. Can you tell who is my girly girl? Yellow Bird really throws her arm back and Sasha throws like a girl. That is OK because Leopold says I run like a girl.

Yellow Bird's room

We have been working on Yellow Bird's room. We are getting there but nothing got done while we were out of town. Those little home improvement elves of Santa's just didn't do their job. Anyway, we still have to finish sanding and varnishing the floors, put the chair rail up, put molding around the windows and doors, attach fixtures, and I'm sure many other things. But, she is excited because we are finally getting it done. When Yellow Bird told me she wanted a horsey room I had a hard time finding little girl horse stuff. I didn't want it looking too boyish. I finally found a cute girly horse set and this wall paper border. She loves it. I think it is cute. Her room will be very bright but she is a little girl so I guess that is OK.

Pickle Eyes

I woke up early today and my friend Polly's blog got me to wanting some chili. So I made some. Vegetarian of course. I also sliced up some cucumbers to eat. I walked into the kitchen and Yellow Bird had cucumbers on her eyes. I guess it was her way of getting a spa treatment. Silly kid. Her mouth isn't dirty. She still has some very chapped skin from our trip to the frozen tundra.

Serious Wii Face

After I woke up today we played a family game of Wii bowling. Sasha had such a serious face as she was concentrating. I can't tell how much fun we are having with this game. I highly recommend it.

Another Audy Original

I'm going a little nuts with the new camera but it is fun and I'm learning how to use it. When I got to work tonight one of my babies had this name card on their bed. Isn't it cute. Good work Audy.

Weeeee! It's a Wii

The girls got a Wii for Christmas from Grammy and Grampy. I have to admit it is a lot of fun and pretty good exercise.

Don't notice the gutterball. It pop up just as I snapped the pic.

Here is a good action shot. This game is a blast. Grammy had a hard time finding one (just the gaming system and not the bundle). She persevered and found one just in time for Christmas. Way to go Grammy.

These are a few of my favorite things!

These are some pics from our living room. Some of my favorite things.

I love the pics on this wall. They all are special to me. And, yes, our walls are burgandy. I love dark, rich colors and the go well with our oak hardwood floors.

This is one of my favorite pics of my girls. They look so sweet and loving.

I had this baby pic of Leopold restored a few Christmases ago. The original was in bad shape but they were able to restore it all with the exception of one curl on the top of his head. Isn't he cute and Yellow Bird looks just like him.

This is a pic that a friend of mine took. I just love it. It is umbrella handles. She took it at Disney World at Epcot. I just think it is a cool pic and I appreciate her sharing it with me.

Cross walls are becoming more and more popular. We have started one at church. Our neice LaLa has one in her home and it got me started. The pic is one Leopold gave me a few years ago and of course the J needs no explanation.

This is the top of our entertainment center. Just more of my favorite things.

This is the wall entering the hallway. Just a few of my favorite pics and such.

This is another pic Leopold gave me a few years ago. I saw it and commented on how much I liked it. He surprised me by going back and getting it for me.

Audy and name cards

This is my friend Audy at work. She makes name cards for all the babies on the unit and we are a big unit. She does such a good job and the parents love it. Thanks Audy for doing all you do! If you have any scrapbooking supplies you would like to donate please let me know. We are always in need of more.

Ouch

I'm not sure you can tell much from the picture but my hands are already red and rashy. It is only the 1st night of 5. We have a waterless gel we can use but imagine putting alcohol on a rash. It hurts. So, I will keep coating my hands in my lotion and pray they don't get too much worse over the next couple of nights. Sometimes it is so hard to go wash them again and again. But, I have to. Infections kill so I must protect my patients.

30 day challenge

On the way to work tonight, the Christian radio station I listen to asked that listeners commit to spending the first 30 days of 2008 as if it were their last 30 days on earth, at least in a spiritual sense. If you knew you only had 30 days to live, how would you live spiritually? Think about it! I know it made me think and I'm going to take it seriously. We should live as if every day were our last but we don't. We put off Christ and make Him take a back seat. Who's up for changing that. I'm going to give it a try.

New camera

We got a digital camera for Christmas. It will make keeping this blog updated so much easier. I'm so excited. I've already taken a few pics. Here are the first pics of the girls with our new camera. I still have to get the photos from our trip developed. No more of that from now on.

No more beard

Yellow Bird did not like her daddy's beard. She has wanted him to shave it for a long time. He had grown it out for Sasha and for Yellow Bird's birthday he woke her up with a clean shaven face. I didn't even know he was going to do it. I think he looks younger.

We have to go where!?!?

We were driving to Niagara Falls -- just had to see the falls in the winter -- and just outside of Buffalo, New York it started snowing pretty hard. To us Texans it was a blizzard. We couldn't see anything. As we are driving, trying to find our hotel, Leopold says Rainbow Bridge is coming up. Now, I remembered from the directions that our hotel was near Rainbow something and figured this must be it. As we get closer we realize we are at the Canadian border and stop into what we found out was the Duty Free shop to ask for directions. In there she informs us that we will have to go to Canada since we are in their parking lot. I panic because we don't have Passports or Birth Certificates with us -- we had no plans of leaving the country. After a long inquest at the border and a visit to immigration we are allowed back into the country. We drove across the bridge and then right back over to the US. It was an adventure. By the time we finished with all the immigration stuff the snowing had stopped and we got a beautiful view of the Falls from Rainbow Bridge. So you know, the bridge that crosses the border is called Rainbow Bridge, not international border and such. In un-blizzard like conditions it is easy to see it is the border. But, to Texans in a blizzard it is not. It was an adventure and the girls love saying I got us lost all the way to Canada.

Two, Two diplomas in one

UTMB wasn't happy that my BS degree wasn't a nursing one so along with my Master's classes I've been taking BS Nursing classes also. When we arrived home from the holidays I had 2 certified packages at the post office from UTMB. I couldn't imagine what they were. Well I picked them up today and there were my diplomas. Yeah! It is officially over now. Hallelujah! It is hard to believe it is over but I have the paper to prove it now. So, now I am highly educated with an Associate Degree, 2 Bachelor Degrees and a Master's Degree. I guess you can't have too much education.

We are home!

I wanted to let everyone know that we are home now. It was a long trip and a different kind of Christmas but we had a good time. I will post pics soon. Just letting you all know we made it safely home.

Question for all you science teachers

We homeschool and normally I can answer the questions that arise. However, Sasha threw one at us that we are at a loss to answer. Any theories would be appreciated. Her question is "if you are traveling at the speed of light and turn on your headlights, can you see them?" The problem I have is that I cannot travel at the speed of light and I'm quite sure that machines that are made to travel that fast don't have headlights. So, an 11 year old girl has this question. Does anyone have an answer for her?

Our garden

This is our little garden in the backyard. There are some sunflowers that grow taller than a human. I love my sun wind chime that is hanging. This is also a rose from one of our rose bushes. Thought I would share a little bit of summertime in the freezing cold of winter.

Some of Leopold's Co-workers

Here are some pics of some of the teachers Leopold works with. We went to an Astros game with them. He loves the people he works with.

I'm soooo cold!!!!!

We ate at the Barking Crab today. The girls were excited because this is the restrauant in the movie The Game Plan. It was really good and we enjoyed looking out at the Boston Harbor as we ate. The deck was covered with snow and swans were swimming around.

I see people walking around in what look like light jackets to me looking very casual. I'm freezing to death. I know I'm not made for this kind of weather. The snow is beautiful though. We went to Boston today and walked around. I love the buildings and it is a beautiful city. I love seeing the open fields of undisturbed snow. So pretty. Yellow Bird threw a snowball at Leopold, who happened to have the camera opened at the time, and now the camera won't work. We bought a few disposables so should have some pics soon. We are heading to Niagara Falls tomorrow. We have been in the summer but never the winter. I bet it is beautiful in the snow. I found the pic on the Internet but will be able to post my own soon. I'll keep you posted.

Are we crazy or what?

Some of you know that we have traveled 2000 miles to take the girls to see Hannah Montana in Worcester, Mass. Yes, you read that right. We are in Massachusetts. It was a long drive but we are here and we went to the concert tonight. I have to say I don't think that Miley Cyrus has that great of a voice, but who am I to argue with 1000's of preteen/teen girls. Obviously, I don't know much about the music biz. It was a great concert and according to our girls we are the best parents ever. Our trek began when I joined Miley World online with the hopes of getting tickets when she was in Houston. Well, as many know those tickets were impossible to get as scalpers bought them and sold them for outrages prices on the internet. Now, I'm all for free enterprise but I thought selling a ticket for more than face value was wrong. There were so many disappointed little girls around because of it though. Well, thinking it was just not meant to be I put it out of my mind and went onto other things. Life has disappointments and this was one ofthem the girls would have to learn to live with. Well, fast forward to December 2nd. I received an email from Miley World saying they were opening additional seats in remaining venues. I still didn't think I could get them but wanted to at least say I tried. I clicked on several venues with each resulting in a no tickets left notice. All of the sudden I clicked and it said I had 2 minutes and 15 seconds to claim my tickets. I wasn't even sure where it was but just got them. It was spontaneous to say the least. Well, when Leopold gets home from work I tell him that I got Hannah Montana tickets. He comments that she already played here and I broke the news that these tickets were in Massachuettes. After his jaw dropped to the floor he was cool with it. We decided to make a vacation out of it. He took off 3 days of school before the official holiday and we hit the road. We didn't tell the girls what we were doing, just that we were going to see snow for Christmas. I wrapped the tickets and we gave them to them right before the concert. Their faces were priceless (I will post pics of their faces later). We are making a vacation out of it and going to do some sightseeing so we didn't just come for Hannah Montana. The girls can't believe what we did and are still so excited. The Jonas Brothers were also there. Sasha tells me that Nick is so cute. I guess this is where being 11 comes into play. Two very excited little girls and an amazing Christmas. BTW, I've seen the snow and have decided that while it is nice I would not want to live in it all the time. Shorts at Christmas aren't so bad. It is just down right cold here. Burrrrr!!!!

Miracles

I'm blessed to live in an area with an awesome Christian radio station, KSBJ. On my way home from work this morning they were discussing those God moments. It made me think of one of mine. Before I went back to school, my main job was running a long term heart-lung bypass machine called ECMO. We are one of the few centers in the country that not only do neonates but also pediatric and adult patients. The survival rate for children and up is only about 50/50. We had had several bad runs with bad outcomes. It always seemed to be that I was the one there to watch the child die. One night I was sitting the pump and this little girl we were pumping was not doing well at all. Her run had been one of the worst. It was about 4am and she was dying in spite of all we were doing. There isn't much more to offer than complete heart/lung bypass. I called the surgeon to let him know she was going down. He gently said that we had offered all we had to give her and to just keep doing the best I could until the family could get there. I began praying, selfishly I will admit now. I just couldn't imagine watching another child die or listen to another parent say their final goodbyes to their child. I prayed with all my might that God would not let this child die. I was working feverishly and praying just as hard. Before my eyes, in a literal blink of an eye, she got better. I had to start weaning her off the pump because she was doing so well. When the surgeon called back to check on things I told him we were ready to come off pump. He just couldn't believe it. We took her off that morning but not to die like I had thought we would. She was better. She was alive. In medicine we try to say it was this medicine or this treatment that cured the patient. But, I'm here to tell you that in all my years of ECMO experience, there is no medical reason that child lived. God reached His hand down and healed her in the blink of an eye. To this day I'm still amazed when I think of it. Who knows why God spared that child's life. But, I do know He cared about my heart that day and I like to think spared me from the grief of another patient dying. I know my grief can't compare to the family's but it gets hard watching children die. It is hard listening to the parents say good-bye to their child for the last time. I cannot imagine the words I would say and could I ever say enough. How do you let your child go? I've witnessed it more times than I wish I could say, but I still don't know how, as a parent, you let go. We try to distance ourselves emotionally as nurses, but it isn't always possible. I've cried more times that I can count with my patients and on the way home. I do know that my job makes me realize how blessed I am to have healthy children, to cherish each and every moment with them, to enjoy watching them grow in wisdom, grace and absolute beauty. I'm thankful that I will be moving away from the ECMO pump in my new role as an NNP. I will still have some patients die but not like one on ECMO. It is NEVER an easy way to go. But, forever in my heart, will be the patients I have cared for and how they have so deeply touched my life and impacted it for the better.

Funniest First Dance Ever!

This has been circling the Internet but I just saw it for the first time. I have no idea who these people are but they seem to be quite the fun pair. It is so funny. Enjoy!

Girls with Apple Jack

The girls' cousin LaLa lives in the country and has a horse named Apple Jack. They love riding him and feeding him. They love to visit LaLa. Country living is nice. I was amazed at the number of stars you can actually see when there aren't the lights of the city in the way. And, yes, Sasha is in her PJs.

Twirling Hands

We have never understood why Sasha does this but she has done it since she was a baby in a bouncy seat. Whenever she gets excited she twirls her hands and even her feet. She gets so excited. If she is standing she will lift one foot off the ground and twirl it with her hands. We laugh about it. It is just our sweet girl and her excitement.

Licensed to drive?????

Sasha loves riding Grampy's lawnmower. She can't wait to get her license. Thank goodness that is still a few years away.

Family

We had the opportunity to go see Leopold's neice LaLa coach her girls softball team last Spring. Above are pics of us with Leopold's OLDER sister, she is also LaLa's Mom.

Last year LaLa coached HS girl softball and we got to go see one of her games. It was fun.

This is the girls' cousing LaLa with her husband and our nephew. The girls absolutely adore her. She is so wonderful to them and loves them so much. We love her too!

Yellow Bird's Pic of Mommy

Yellow Bird took this picture of me so I thought I would post it. She is so proud of it. She loves taking pictures and is constantly wanting to use the camera. I guess I will need to get a camera for her.

Puppet/Tea Party

The girls put on a puppet show/tea party. They dressed up and everything. Please know that this is but a mere fraction of the stuffed animals they have. It would take an arena to host all their animals. They had fun though.

My favorite

This is my favorite picture of us together. He is such an amazing husband as I have said in many post. I love him so much and I love the way he loves me. I love that I get to spend this life with him and feel so absolutely blessed to be his wife. He loves me like I don't feel I deserve which makes it all the more amazing. We are good together. We are a team. While I tell him I love him I don't show it like I should. So Honey, know that I love you so very much and am so glad that you picked me to spend this life with. It has been an undescribable journey. Some good and some bad but overall, amazing.

Love you with all my heart,

Sophie

I'm the coolest mom in the world

I got home from work before the family got home from gymnastics. I found a note for me, with a tootsie roll to boot that said I was the coolest mom in the world. There was even a picture drawn by Yellow Bird to prove it. I feel so loved and have the greatest kids in the world. BTW, has anyone noticed that Tootsie Rolls aren't as hard has they use to be. It seems like I never liked them because they were so hard it hurt my jaw. Now they seem softer. It is a good change. I just wonder how long they have been that way.

100 pounds ago

It may seem funny that I'm posting this right after my Keep Nick Thick post but I'm not Santa and being as big as him was physically painful. These pics are embarrassing and I've hesitated posting pics of myself before I lost over 100 pounds. I hated having my picture taken and hate looking at them. I can't believe how big I got. I blamed it on the months of bed rest I was on during my pregnancy with Yellow Bird. But, when she turned 5, it didn't seem like a valid excuse any longer. There are friends that never saw me at my biggest and said they couldn't picture me that big. Well, now you can. A pic is worth a thousand words. All I can say is never again. I feel too good now. My diabetes is gone, blood pressure good and my cholesterol is great. So, here they are. Losing all that weight was the best thing I could have ever done. Any questions feel free to ask. I cannot imagine carrying that weight around any more. No wonder I was so tired all the time. So, here they are. Take heed. Loose the weight. You will feel great!