Blessed

My husband is such a blessing to me. I could not imagine life without him. We will celebrate ten years of marriage in a few weeks. About six months ago, we received news that devastated us. News that had me hyperventilating and crying so hard that my mom could not understand a word I was saying when I called her to help me calm down before Jeff came home. A few days after Christmas, Jeff got a blinding headache. He could not see for awhile it was so bad. Sounds like a migraine right? I get migraines all of the time, I knew what it was, but still it was kind of scary for him to get one at the age of (almost) 33 when he never really got headaches before. Our doctor told us Jeff needed to have an MRI done, just to be sure that nothing serious was causing this. On New Year's Eve I got a call from our doctor. There were no brain tumors, no aneurysm....but there was something called a Chiari Malformation. What was that?!?! We were so sure that the MRI was going to reveal nothing, that we were in absolute shock. The doctor asked to talk to Jeff & I gave her his work number. I waited for him to call me. I waited for maybe ten minutes, but it felt like an eternity. When he did call, I asked what the doctor had told him. He said he was coming home and would tell me when he got there. WHAT?!?! That's when the hyperventilating started. (My mom was able to calm me down...THANK YOU!!!) When he got home Jeff told me that his brain extends down too far. About 8 mm. OK....what does that mean? Basically he could have been born with it and he would never have any problems, or it would grow and he would lose all feeling in his arms and legs. We would have to wait six months to have another MRI done to see if it was going to grow. SIX. WHOLE. MONTHS. It was the scariest moment of my life. We sat there and just cried and tried to comfort each other. Then we did the only thing we could do at that time. We ignored it....for about a month. Then the worry started to eat away at both of us. We called the doctor and asked if we could see a neurologist to get a second opinion. (WHY didn't the doctor think of this???) They made an appointment, but we would have to wait a little over four months. Apparently there is a shortage of neurologists in Wichita. In the mean time we waited, and prayed and asked family members to pray. I was still worried about it, it was always in the back of my mind, but as the months went by and Jeff had no symptoms, I felt better about it. I had realized, after I had come out of my fog of denial, that the only thing I could do was pray that God knew what He was doing and that He would take care of us....in whatever way that was. It made the waiting more bearable. In May, Jeff had his second MRI. The radiologist told us news that we had been praying for. There was no change at all. It looked like he was born with it. Our doctor still wanted us to go to the neurologist though so that a specialist could look at all of the MRI's. We agreed that this was a good idea. We went to the neurologist this morning and we were told that Jeff was born with the malformation and that he should never have any trouble at all. His brain looks healthy and there is plenty of room for fluid to flow (which was a worry) and that everything looked fine. I think I said "Thank you God" about a hundred times in my head. And, I guess that's why I am writing this post. I am so thankful for all of the prayers that our family and friends prayed for Jeff. I am so thankful that he is healthy. I am so thankful that God gave me (and Jeff I think) some peace throughout all of this waiting. I am so blessed to have Jeff in my life. I couldn't have asked for a better husband or father to our children. I just wanted to share our happy news today.

Costume Party

The kids saw the baby Halloween costumes that I was selling in the garage sale, so on Saturday night (while I was gone) they talked Jeff into getting the box of Halloween costumes out of the basement so they could have a costume party. (so sweet of him.) =) Lily was a butterfly ballerina, Riley was a vampire, and Zach was a ninja!

Then they had snacks!!

They also got to dance and then watch a movie. The boys were disappointed that Jeff made them get into PJ's for the movie. I guess they wanted to sleep in their costumes. =) I'm glad he took pictures of their fun night!

Baseball!

We took the boys to the Wichita Wingnuts baseball game last night. (Thanks Amy for watching Lily...she would NOT have had fun.) The last time Zach went was 2 years ago, and Riley has never been. Zach really did not remember his first time, though, so it was kind of like the first time for both of them. Here are the boys up in the bleachers.

They had all of these characters walking around. Riley was excited about the Sonic hot dog and drink. He wanted to go down and see them and get his picture taken with them. Zach came along too and tried to smell the hot dog to see if he really smelled like a hot dog.....he said he didn't. =)

The boys favorite part of the game? Popcorn, pop, and cotton candy of course!

My three favorite guys!!!

The boys got excited when the game got ready to start.

They loved it when this ball that got knocked out of the park.....even though it was a score for the other team.

This is the mascot for the Wingnuts, he's a squirrel...

Riley got so excited about everything!! He was so fun to watch!

At about 8:20, Zach asked how much longer we had to sit there (the game started at 7:05), so, we figured they had had enough. =) On the way home though, they asked if they could come back another time, so I think they had fun!

Lemonade Stand

During the garage sale, the boys had a lemonade and pop stand. They have been wanting to have a lemonade stand for awhile now, so I thought that this would be the perfect time. Jeff went and got them some pop and some can lemonade to put in a cooler. Zach was the one most interested in this venture. He was quite the salesman! Sometimes too much.....he really wanted everyone who came to the garage sale to buy pop from him.

Riley would sit at the table for a little while before losing interest. It was very cute though when he would say, "We have refreshments over here for sale!"

As you can see, they drank most of their stock. =) They did make money though and they were pretty excited when a few customers even gave them a tip!

Garage Sale!

Our neighborhood is having a garage sale this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We started to get ready for it last weekend with looking through things and pricing things. UGH! I forgot what a pain garage sales can be! Jeff cleaned out the garage and I got things together. The boys wanted to put things in to sell too, but Zach couldn't seem to part with anything. In fact, he paid Riley a quarter for something that Riley wanted to sell, but Zach wanted to keep. Silly boy. =) Tonight we started setting things up in the garage. (He also bought some stuff that Grammy brought over.) The boys were a big help bringing things out.

Lily really wasn't any help at all.....

We have cute baby Halloween costumes....

...tons of baby/toddler clothes (all girl)....

....and more shoes than any little girl should posses. (and these are just the ones she has outgrown since last Fall!)

We also have TOYS!!

Hopefully we will have good weather!!!

Iced Coffee

I am obsessed. Seriously. Actually, I'm pretty obsessed with coffee in general. (Just ask my husband...) In the summer, I love iced coffee though and Jeff, probably thinking "I can't believe you continue to pay for this stuff", said, "You know, you can make that at home." I thought yes, but will it taste the same?? I decided to try it, just in case it would be good. (OK, most of you have probaby already thought of this & this really isn't a new idea, but if you already knew, why didn't you share this before?!?!) =) So anyway.....I didn't think it was going to be good, but I just poured a cup of coffee into a mug, added my creamer & sweetener (and then a dose of chocolate syrup) and I placed it in the fridge. Then I went about drinking my regular coffee, because really, I couldn't wait for coffee! Later on after a walk with the kids, I pulled out my cold coffee, poured it into a glass with ice.....and it was SO yummy!!! OK, probably not Starbucks yummy, but it was pretty good. So, for those of you who cringe every time you fork over money for an iced coffee, just make one at home! I have seriously had one everyday this week....which may not actually be such a good thing, but oh well. =)

#1: Swimming

We have actually been swimming this summer already, but when the boys added swimming to their list, they meant having their swimming pool put up so they could swim in the backyard. They love swimming in big pools, but it is so nice to just jump into their swimsuits and play for awhile in the afternoon (almost everyday...) So, when Jeff dragged the pool out of the garage yesterday, the boys got so excited that they ran and put their swimsuits on.....even though they didn't actually get to go swimming for about 3 hours after that. This is Riley just sitting and waiting to go swimming. So sad. =)

Finally! In the pool!!!!

This is Zach's new favorite trick. Aunt Mary taught it to him last year.....

this is actually how he likes to do it...."thanks" Aunt Mary......

Zach also loves jumping into the pool.

After about an hour and a half of swimming, it was time for a Popsicle break.

When Zach was done with his Popsicle, he climbed up on the monkey bars (his favorite spot), threw his towel on the bars, and laid down to dry off. I thought it was so funny!

Number one is finally crossed off our list of things to do this summer. We only have 6 more to go!!!