Mere

My sweet, sweet, Meredith:

April 22, 2010 marked the two year anniversary of your going to heaven. Last year the day was terrible for me, and I was haunted with the fear that each subsequent year would be the same. However this year, we forged onward with Meredith's Miracles Colon Cancer Foundation and spent April 22nd speaking to college students about your story, colon cancer symptoms, and taking charge of your own health (there were a ton of pictures of you in the Power Point by the way, and you looked fabulous. You would have been pleased).

To say that this was therapeutic is a huge understatement. I am so confident that God is working through your Foundation and it is amazing to watch. We made our first two presentations at Ball State University and Butler University - fulfilling one of the two "missions" you envisioned: to save lives by raising awareness of the symptoms of colon cancer. We met two young women at these presentations that have been suffering from severe digestive issues for 12+ months which have been dismissed by doctors. They were so impacted by our presentations that each pushed their doctor to have a colonoscopy to determine what is ailing them. I sincerely hope they do not have colon cancer, but am thrilled that the foundation encouraged them to take charge of their own health.

MMCCF has also given "miracles" to three young colon cancer patients (the second mission you envisioned - to provide financial assistance to young colon cancer patients), and I had the inexplicable honor of meeting one of those recipients at the Butler University presentation. JR is 30 years old, married, and has two precious twin daughters. Here are some of the foundation board members with him at Butler:JR has been battling colon cancer for several years now and is currently one of ten patients undergoing an experimental treatment for the disease. It is amazing to see your wishes come true and meet a man who has directly benefited from the organization you dreamed of over two years ago.

I miss you like crazy. I wish you could see Warner and Maren - they are amazing. I wish they could see you. They would love their Aunt Muff. I know we will be together again soon, but in the meantime, I want you to know that your battle was not in vain. God is sovereign and He is working good out of all of the ugliness of your cancer. You would be so proud of the foundation. So, I wanted you to know. I love you.

Laurs

Playing

Warner has discovered the fun of pushing Maren around the kitchen in her highchair (it has wheels) and Maren loves the ride. Occasionally he'll push her too hard and the chair will hit a cabinet and she'll sort of ricochet back. She'll pause for a minute, then laugh in delight. It's almost as if she enjoys the faster and bumpier rides. Crazy girl.
Regardless of how he tortures her, Maren still lights up whenever Warner is around. I wonder how long this will last?

Swing Set

We are quickly adding to the amount of trimming required of Kevin each time he cuts the grass. First it was the garden, now we have a swing set. My dad came in town last weekend to help us put it together (clarification: when I say "us", I mean Kevin). Billy, Leslie, and the girls also came up and Billy was a huge help.The boys got started around 11am and had most of it finished by 5pm when the rain started really coming down. Kevin and my dad put the finishing touches on the swing set the following morning. It looks great and Warner LOVES it! Maren likes it too, but I think she prefers to stick with the swing and not the rock wall or slide.
We had dinner last night in the clubhouse, for which I might receive the Coolest Mom of the Year award. Warner would take a bite of his food, slide down the slide, crawl up the rock wall, and repeat ... until all of his food was gone. Yay for summer and playing outside!

Asthma

Ever since Maren had RSV in January, she hasn't been able to kick her wheezing/coughing/runny nose/yuckiness for more than a few weeks at a time. After completing a round of antibiotics for a sinus infection last week, I took her to the doctor again yesterday because her wheezing and congestion weren't any better.

Unfortunately, the pediatrician suspects she has allergy-induced asthma. This is not surprising, as I had the same thing as a child and Kevin has terrible allergies. But what a bummer. So, we left the doctor with more Albuterol for breathing treatments as needed, a prescription for a round of Prednisone, and children's Zyrtec.

I gave her two breathing treatments last night and started both the Prednisone and Zyrtec. And ... she slept through the night (8:30pm to 6am) for the first time in months! Oh how I hope she'll continue to feel better (and sleep) now.
Sorry for the bad genes, baby girl.

Spring

We have so enjoyed the warm weather lately and have caught a strong case of spring fever.
I purchased a water gun for Warner for $1 at Target the other day and I believe I scored the "coolest mom of the year" award for this. He has been thoroughly entertained with it.
He can fill the gun with water all by himself, and then shoot it at many unsuspecting targets. He did spray some dirt off our van with it, so that was helpful.
He also discovered he could shoot water in his mouth for a quick refreshment if needed.
Maren enjoyed the view from her stroller. She was supposed to be taking a nap (after skipping her afternoon nap that day) but there was too much to miss by sleeping.
The baby swing we attached to our deck still provides hours of entertainment for the kids, but Warner is quickly outgrowing it. We recently bought a swing set that is presently in four huge boxes in our garage, waiting to be assembled in our yard. Hopefully Warner will like it as much as we anticipate.
Meanwhile, Maren thinks it's hilarious when Warner pushes her on the swing. She giggles and kicks her feet in delight each time he pushes her legs.

Tutu much

Easter

Easter becomes more meaningful to me with each passing year. Especially since Meredith died, I am in awe of what my Jesus did for me on the cross and the power of His resurrection. To think that Christ would die for someone such as me is unbelievable. Of course, at eight months and two years old, the true meaning of Easter is a bit over Warner and Maren's heads. They did however enjoy our time with Kevin's family last weekend.
We had an egg hunt for the kids, and Warner got more candy than he'll be able to eat in a year.
Maren was content to be walked around the yard and watch the others collect eggs.The kids after the hunt.
Nanny and the grandchildren (apparently, Warner is over smiling for the camera. That phase was fun while it lasted).The kids decorated eggs with a special, enclosed (and gloriously clean) egg painting contraption that Leslie had. Leslie is the best for thinking of everything, including measures to avoid stained clothing.
We also made homemade ice cream in plastic bags. It was a blast! Ashley and Maren posing for a picture.

Garden

I have wanted a vegetable garden for years. Each Spring I talk about starting one but never actually get around to doing it. For good reason, I suppose. I'm told they're quite a bit of work and really, how hard is it to buy vegetables from Kroger? Well, for whatever reason, I decided this is the year. I took a shovel to our backyard this weekend. There's no turning back now.

Turns out preparing a garden is back-breaking work. I've spent about three hours so far turning the earth and still have more to do. The good news is Warner has had the biggest time helping me so far. After our first day of shoveling together, he now asks to do "more gargeen" (more gardening). We saw a bunny hopping around the area yesterday and I told him it would probably want to eat our vegetables. So now he'll stand at the window and say "no eat gargeen, buddies!" (buddies being bunnies, of course).
Warner is not afraid to get his hands dirty (or any other part of him for that matter). After "helping" me shovel, he quickly lost interest and started jumping onto the turned earth, rolling in it, etc.He was also fascinated with the worms. He'd pull them out of the dirt and play with them, then run and throw them over the edge of our yard. He showed Maren a few of the worms, too. She wasn't very impressed.I had to include these last two pictures because Warner took them himself. Before you get too impressed, I must add that he took about 10 pictures of his fingers as well, so it's a work in progress.

Problem solved

Problem: It's March, which means Kevin is engrossed in all things college basketball. The kids however have yet to develop an appreciation for March Madness and want to watch The Wiggles instead of the tournament.Solution: Play The Wiggles on the laptop while basketball plays on the TV. My husband is a genius.

Let's Catch Up

We've had a busy month but that's a poor excuse for being a bad Mommy-blogger. I've tried to capture the past few weeks in photos, so here are the highlights.

I flew with the kids to Florida for an 8-day vacation the second week of March. We stayed with my grandparents, who spend three months there each year. My mom was there with us the entire time and my dad was there for about half the time. We had a blast. Warner loved the beach. Loved it. The weather was pretty cold but that didn't stop him. He would be blue-lipped and shivering and I'd have to drag him in to warm up, but he didn't mind. All he needed was a bucket, shovel, and sand, and he was set for hours. He would run straight into the ocean without fear and splash in the water. It was so fun to see my little man so happy.Maren learned to pull herself up on our trip. We were playing one day and my Grandma suggested we move something off the coffee table so she wouldn't break it. I told her that Maren hadn't learned to pull up yet so we didn't need to worry. About one minute later she had pulled herself up to the coffee table. Famous last words.
Warner and Grandpa Gene enjoying a snack on the balcony.The kids were great on both flights. I'm beginning to feel like a pro, having flown to Texas and Florida with both kids - without Kevin - in two months. Either that or I'm crazy. Probably the latter of the two.Maren will use just about anything to pull up on. We spent last Saturday in Lexington for the HS boys state basketball tournament. Warner enjoyed the games but his favorite part were the bands and mascots. Maybe he'll like the basketball part more next year. We spent the rest of the day at Leslie and Billy's house and Warner and Maren had a blast with their cousins.In addition to pulling up, Maren is now crawling on all fours. She is a busy little girl and can often be found crawling into the kitchen ...
... to stand up by Warner's step stool. Which, of course, irks Warner to no end. Ah, the joys of quarreling siblings. And it's only just begun.

Big Kids

Both kids are doing "big kid" things lately, and since it's my blog, I get to brag about them. First of all, Maren is sleeping better. Praise Jesus. The Zantac has seriously helped our baby. She is a different child - not as cranky, and sleeping 8 hour stretches again at night. Now I feel bad for not recognizing her crankiness as discomfort earlier.
She is moving around a ton, and is into everything. I don't remember Warner being so curious. She will stand on her own for a few minutes, but can't pull up by herself yet. Kevin seems anxious for her to walk, but I'm hoping it will be a long time from now. Life will be crazy when she's using two legs to get around.
Warner continues to love to do all things grown-up, including "shaving". He got this pretend shaving set for Christmas and he and Kevin shave a few times a week. He takes it so seriously. Unfortunately he's become disenchanted with potty training, but I'm trying to let that ride. I just checked out "How to Potty Train Your Child in One Day" from the library, so stay tuned to see how that works out.

Jump Zone

Warner's playgroup met at Jump Zone this week and it was seriously the coolest place ever. It's an indoor space that has nine huge inflatables where the kids can run, jump, slide, etc. It was absolutely magical for Warner. He gave me the "this is the best day of my entire life, mom!" look about one hundred times while we were there. The pictures didn't turn out that well, but it gives you an idea of what it was like:I only wish I was allowed to play on the inflatables as well. Maren was enthralled with all of the activity and also enjoyed her time on the air hockey table, playing with the pucks. Summer/warm weather can't come soon enough, but until then, I'm thankful for indoor activities for my little monkeys.

Miss Maren

I called the pediatrician Tuesday to schedule an appointment for Maren to be seen. When the receptionist asked why she needed to come in, I answered: "Well, I figured before I put her up for adoption I should make sure there isn't a medical reason for her to be waking up 20 times a night". There was a long pause on the other end, then, "well okay. Can you come in this afternoon?".

Dr. Fiedler was kind enough to listen to me describe (in detail) our sleepless nights and cranky baby, and also gave her a quick physical exam. He determined that Maren might be suffering from heartburn/acid reflux, and he prescribed Zantac for her to take twice daily. We started the medicine Tuesday night but don't expect to see the full effects until this weekend. Since then, our nights have gotten better, but they are certainly not great (up 3-4 times a night instead of 152). I am happy for the improvement and am praying this medicine will do the trick. Keep your fingers crossed!