Cooper - 17 Months

The weather this week as been a mix of absolutely beautiful and rain. On Tuesdays night the weather was near perfect so we took the boys outside for a little fresh air. Here are a few shots of Cooper loving being outside. I wish he would just realize how much MORE fun he could have if he would stand up and walk! He is getting closer everyday, but he just won't do it on his own, YET.

Playing in the Snow

Thursdays in our house is known and Grandpa and Grandma day. My kids go to my parents house every Thursday night so that Andy and I can have a date night (yes, I know we are spoiled). This week I thought we might stay home because of the snow, but Drew really wanted to see his grandparents. So when Andy got home (early) we loaded up and headed over to their house. We had so much fun having a snowball fight, and building a snowman.

Drew getting ready to get me with a snowball.

Drew and Grandpa fighting it out.

Since Cooper doesn't walk we just put him in a trash bag and sat him in the snow.
He didn't last long, he liked watching from the porch better.

Our snowman. He fell down not long after this, which broke Drew's heart.

It makes me sad to think that we may never get this much snow again. Cooper will never remember this, and didn't even get to play in it. It was beautiful, and so much fun to play in. I hope we will get snow like this again while my boys are still young. I would love to see them playing in the snow together.

Snow Days

By now you all know about the snowfall from this last week. While the official total is 12.5 inches (at DFW), our house got about 7.5 inches. here are just a few pictures from Friday. I will post a few more later of us playing in the snow.

The Park with Allison

Last week the weather here was so nice that the boys and I decided to meet some dear friends at the park. Kristin and Allison met us there for a lovely morning of play and food. My boys both adore Allison. Drew has always loved her, he called her "baby Allison" for the longest time. Once Cooper was born, Allison was torn between the Milliorn boys. I am afraid Cooper may win the affections of sweet Allison in the end, purely because of the age difference. Allison is only 7 months older than Cooper, but Drew is nearly 3 years older than Allison. We will worry about that heart break later, right now it is just sweet to see them playing together, and it gives Kristin and I time chance to talk.

Cooper is trying to share a pretzel with Allison.

Drew helping Allison down the slide.

Drew, just walking.

Cooper loved swinging.

Memory Lane

In December of 1990, I had surgery at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas to treat scoliosis (curvature of the spine). It was 2 weeks before my 17th birthday, and I was a junior in high school. I remember my 5 days in the hospital very well (except the part when I was still pretty drugged up.) So imagine my surprise when I was asked to take part in a medical research study, following up on patents who have had scoliosis surgery 20-30 years ago. Really... was it really 19 years ago? Yep, I am that old. In talking to the surgeon who called to ask me to participate, I found out that 4 of the 5 doctors who treated me are still on staff at TSRH. How cool is that? So at the end of December I dropped the boys off at my parents house and drove to Dallas to have some Xrays taken, and have an exam done as part of the study. I didn't realize what a trip down memory lane it would be, how excited I would be about going back, or how little things had changed in the years since I had been there. While I was there they tried to get my main doctor to come down to say hello, but he was in a meeting so they couldn't get in touch with him. I really wish I could have seen him... he was the one I remembered.

I saw that sign every time we drove there for appointments... about 4 years total.

This hangs in the lobby. It is the same one that was there when I was a patient. They also have always had popcorn in the lobby. That smell brought back all the memories of being there 19 years ago.

All the sections of exam rooms have a theme. These have not changed a bit.

I spent a lot of time napping in rooms just this when I was a teenager, waiting to see the doctor. I remember the appointment when they decided I needed surgery was the longest we ever waited.

Even though at 17 I hated having surgery, and all that went with it, I always new that TSRH was a great place for kids, and I actually remember my time there fondly. I was one of the lucky ones that was only there for a few days and was able to see my family everyday. There were girls in my recovery room who had been there for months, who hadn't seen their families in weeks. There was something going on everyday to get these kids out of the rooms and allow them to have some fun. Instead of sterile white walls, everything is brightly colored and geared for kids.

Hopefully I don't ever need the services of TSRH for Drew or Cooper, but if I do, I know they will be in great hands.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year 2010!

I hope each of you have a new year full of love and laughter. Thank you for being apart of my life, and my families life. I am so blessed to have such a great family, wonderful friends, the most amazing husband and the sweetest little boys I have ever met. God has truly blessed my life beyond measure. Happy 2010!

Christmas Day

It has been so long since I posted anything to this blog that I decided to just start with now, and not try to catch up. Here are just a few pictures from Christmas Day. We spent the morning at home opening gifts, and waited until after lunch to head to the ranch. We had to wait, we were actually waiting for the ice to melt off the roads.

Cooper with his new puppy dog and chair from Santa.

Drew trying to get Cooper to open his gift. A stuffed Yoda.

The boys in their chairs. We got Drew's chair on his 1st birthday.

Drew in his new Star Wars shirt. He loves all things SW right now.

This is actually all I have from Christmas day. I never even took my camera out of the car at the ranch. But I will try to do better in 2010. Happy New Year everyone.