Christmas Update

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated this, but I really haven't had much new going on. Here are a bunch of pictures from Christmas.

These pictures are actually from my birthday celebration at the ranch with Andy's side of the family. That is Drew and Madeleine (4) playing on the horse swing, Drew playing with a bow, me with my new Christmas dishes (this one is a pie server I got from Matt and Sharee). Drew always has such a great time at the ranch.

This year we spent Christmas Eve with my family. They came over for lunch with Mark and me doing most of the cooking. Okay, it was mostly Mark, but I helped a lot. We had a Mexican feast with fajitas, empanadas, tamales (Andy steamed those), and chips and queso. We were so full after lunch that we didn't even eat any of the 4 pies we had.

After we went to the Christmas Eve service at church, the Stringers came over for a birthday party for Jesus. We ate pizza and cake, read the Christmas story, sang happy birthday to Jesus, and just let the kids play. It was really a fun time, we hope to do it every year! Drew had a great time playing with Cameron, Sarah, and Rachel. I really wish I had taken more pictures. Maybe next year I will remember.

I will post again later with all the Christmas day festivities. I hope you all had a great Christmas.

Jacob Cochran

I just wanted to post a few pictures of my cousin Josh and his wife Tracy, and their son Jacob (Jake). I thought it might help to put some faces to the names of the people you have been praying for. These were taken before the heart murmur was detected, in the 2 days were able to hold and care for their little baby. The last update I received was last night.

From Josh: "He's still doing very well. He's been taken off of dopamine, which is used to open up blood vessels to improve blood flow in cardiac patients. He's still on another IV heart medicine but it's being steadily decreased too. Once he's off both medications his heart will be working entirely on its own without any assistance. Absolutely amazing to me for a baby who had open heart surgery two days ago. He was also able to have some food today for the first time since Thursday afternoon, although it was given by feeding tube rather than from a bottle."

"The only minor setback he's had is that he had to be placed back on a ventilator early this morning. This isn't at all uncommon in patients who have been on a ventilator. Already he's back to the lowest level of sedation (necessary to keep him calm with the tube down his throat) and breathing with the assistance of the ventilator, rather than being dependent upon it. The nurses expect him to be taken off of it again tomorrow."

"Once he's off of the ventilator and all IV medications he will be moved from the ICU to a regular hospital room. That will be an enormous milestone in his recovery. I'm not willing to speculate on when that might happen but he's definitely making progress toward it."

"We're already noticing small things about him that his surgery changed. Several people commented on his hands and feet being a little purple and cold during his first couple of days, before his condition was diagnosed. Since the surgery they've turned a much more normal pink and are noticeably warmer. The incision from his surgery, which is just as gruesome as you might imagine, looks better than it did yesterday."

I have edited down Josh's post, but you can still see that this is going to be a long road for this family. Please continue to pray for all of them, I know they appreciate it, as do I.

Finally Finished...and Cute Drew Stuff

The decorating is finally finished! It actually has been for a couple of weeks, I just never got around to taking pictures of my office. So here they are. It is great to finally have it done, and not have to explain to people what we have left to do. Now I can't wait to figure out where all of my Christmas stuff will go.

I decided yesterday to try something different with Drew's hair. We have been pretending to spike it, so I decided to try it for real. It is pretty cute, but I don't plan to do that much work everyday, so that will just be for special occasions. Too bad his Buzz Lightyear costume has a hood, or I would spike it for Halloween. He really looks like a little boy now instead of a toddler. It really make his mommy a little sad to see him growing up so fast. But he sure is fun right now!

I made the mistake the other day of leaving the salt shaker on the table... Drew decided to use it to his advantage. It was such a mess, but I had to take a picture before cleaning it up. You can't tell by this picture, but he is actually sick and running a fever in this picture.

Disney Trip

We got back home on Saturday from our big trip to Walt Disney World, and I just now have the energy to update my blog about it. While we had a great time, we were ready to come home so that we could get some rest. Drew was great for the majority of the trip. The last day or so he was getting a little cranky, but when he fell to sleep before take off on the way back, it really made up for a lot.

We saw just about every character we wanted to, Buzz Lightyear, Lightening McQueen, Pluto and Mickey Mouse were Drew's favorites. He also loved riding the Teacups, and driving the cars on the track. Now whenever we are in the car he says "I drive!". He was even tall enough to ride Goofy's Barnstormer, his first roller coaster. But I think his favorite thing was just playing on the little playground in Mickey's Toon Town. He also really liked riding the buses to and from the park. The first night we were there we attended Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, at the Magic Kingdom. All the kids got to dress up and trick or treat in the park after it closed. It was so neat to see all the kids in costumes, I have never seen so many little princesses in all my life. Drew was Buzz Lightyear, of course.

Andy and I did get a little time to ourselves. Since my mom and dad went with us, Andy and I were able to take the Segway tour at Epcot. It was so much fun! I was really nervous before I got on, and the first time I stepped up on the Segway, but it was really easy. I totally want one now... but I am not sure where I would use it. Maybe I could use it to walk Drew to school someday.

I am actually going to try and scrap book this trip, so when I am done (hopefully before we decide to go again) I will be able to show you more of what we did.

Inching Closer

So it has been two weeks since the decorators did the first and largest install at the house. Today they came back and finished up the kitchen area. We got the wall repaired so they were able to hang the drapes in the breakfast snook. It really adds a lot to that area. They also added a bunch of accessories to the kitchen and rearranged some stuff I already had. We are still waiting for a few pieces in the living room to come, and my office still needs to be done. But it is looking really good! I am so excited to almost be finished. We were finally able to finish the outside work. The brick and concrete work is complete and looks really great with the rest of the house.

You will all have to come by sometime soon to see all the changes.

Party Under the Stars!

Andy and I had the opportunity (thanks to WBAP) to go to an event at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas this weekend. The event was a fundraiser to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters. I knew when we first heard about the event that Brendon Morrow of the Dallas Stars was scheduled to be there, but I was giddy when we saw how many of the Stars players showed up. The table right next to us included Marty Turco, Mike Smith (Turco's backup), Stu Barnes, Stephane Robidas, Brenden Morrow, Junior Lessard, and Philippe Boucher, and a bunch of what I assume to be new players because I didn't recognise a bunch of them. I was like a kid at Christmas! I was amazed that they were all just sitting at the table next to us, in the back! I guess it was the closest table to the open bar. Morrow showed great leadership skills by making a few bar runs for his teammates.

This picture is me with Philippe Boucher and Stephane Robidas. I wish I had been a little more brave about asking for pictures, but I didn't want to intrude. These two were just standing around talking when I asked for this one. Mike Madono was also there, but he was just signing autographs at a table upstairs. I did see him walk out with Willa Ford (his new wife). Part of the fund raising included an autograph session with the players. Andy and I both got several autographs... it was for the kids after all.


The last picture is of me hooked up to the Oxygen Bar they had there. There are several scents mixed with oxygen that are suppose to be good for you. I tried out the ones for focus, hunger control, and memory recall, but I can't remember what scents those were. We had a great time. Hopefully Andy will keep advertising with WBAP so we will be invited back to this event next year.

My parents didn't have as good of a time babysitting for us that night... Andy and I accidentally set the house alarm while they were taking Drew to dinner. So when they got home they set it off... twice! Yes the police came, and told them they need to get the code from us. They have it now. SORRY Mom and Dad.

Busy Week

This has been a very busy week. Drew started school on Tuesday! He goes to FUMC in Mansfield, and absolutely loves it. He runs right into his classroom and starts to play in the mornings, he even wants to carry is own backpack and nap mat in to the room. He doesn't like leaving in the afternoon. He had a total meltdown on Tuesday when we were trying to leave. I think this will be really good for him, I know it is really good for me!

We also had the decorators here on Wednesday. They are about 90% complete. I have added a few pictures, but they really don't do it justice. We love everything they have done, but it will take some getting use to the living room layout. Evidently the "traffic flow" will be better this way. We have decided to give it a few weeks, before we change anything. I think the dining room is my favorite part. I am really not sure I am mature enough to have nice stuff like this, but maybe I will grow into it. :)

Of course while they were here they found another problem. We have a leak of some sort in our breakfast area. The wall is so soggy (we got a bunch of rain on Tuesday night) that they couldn't get the anchors for the new drapes to stay in the wall. So we have to get that repaired before they can finish. The contractor is on his way now to look at that... is initial advise was "MOVE", but we have put too much into it at this point. He has know the Milliorn family for years so I think he was kidding (I hope).

We still don't have the brick completely finished, but at least the concrete has been poured. All they have left is one pillar beside the garage, and the acid wash to bring the color out. I am sure it would only take an hour or 2, but getting them out here is the hardest part. I have just been told they should be here this afternoon... so I am crossing my fingers.