Get Well Soon

G-man!! This is my first cousin, Jansen and he has Type 1 Diabetes. He was admitted to hospital yesterday for DKA. (Diabetic ketoacidosis) He is a super sweet guy, but has a little too much sugar in his blood.

Praying that he feels better real soon!

SGI FUN!

This pic pretty much sums up the three hour ride there.

Finally, made it!!

Night Fishin' with Papa

B-I-N-G-O at the St George Island Fire Department

Do you have a bingo, Beck?

On the way to a special birthday party, island style!

Happy 4th Birthday, Beck

It's a Luau

and a dance party....

more dancing...

Easy, Uncle Walt

Go Dan Go!

What a fun birthday celebration

Beck you are sweet to share you b'day present with the girls

Bea, Lydia, Dantz and WD taking a little dip

Having some fun in the sun

Cheese!

Harry A's Action

Vacation will wear you out

We've been here...

Will be back soon with lots of pictures from our St George Island getaway!

One Month Pumping

I've got truckin' in my blood, so I decided to hit the highway at 4am yesterday. Sweet "Sissy" decided to go along for the ride and it was very much appreciated, especially on the ride home. A round trip to Birmingham is fu real.

It was her 1-month pump follow-up visit and we got a good report and a little more pump education.We are excited and hopeful about the "new" information and hoping it is helpful for the next pod change. Overall, A plus 100.

Woo hoo....gained two more pounds!!

Lydia stayed up for most of the trip, but she did catch a few winks before we stopped for lunch, on the way home. Overall, she was an awesome sport and held it together until we hit the light at Murphy Mill on 231. Sissy and I could feel her pain because we were ready to be home too.

To say these two were ready for the pool today would be an understatement. I was excited about the pool too because it brings on some serious naps and we could all use one around here.

"If y'all want to go swimming, sit beside each other, look at the camera and smile"

Another hot week....

Swimming lessons started today and Lydia was ready! She decided that Belle and Ariel should go too.

We got to the pool about five minutes early and she was ready to get in.  I didn't take any pictures during the lesson, but she did awesome. She is going to be a great little swimmer soon.

Yesterday, we finally got some rain and it was wonderful to see it, hear it, smell it and you get my drift. We have been needing it for so long. We heard a super loud pop and this is what we saw.... Lightning struck a tree in our neighbors yard (right behind our fence) and just strips of bark went missing.

We decided we needed something to calm our nerves, so I whipped up a big ol' batch of nachos. We cleaned that cookie sheet. Colorful is healthy, right? ;)

.

I can't end this random post without giving a shout out to my Dallas Mavericks! They won their very first NBA Championship last night against Miami Heat. 105-95.  Way to go, Mavs! They SO deserved this win!

Love the cowboy hat in the pic....

Date Night!

Last night Will surprised me and had arranged a sleepover at Bea's. (a sleepover includes Will and the girls because we cannot leave Lydia) I was super excited because a) this means I get to sleep through the night, b) I get to sleep later than 7am and c) Will and I get to go do something fun once he gets L squared away.

Will slipped out of Bea's, picked me up and we headed here with our two chairs and a cooler.

We sorta looked like the picture below, minus the jackets and kids.

It started to rain halfway through the movie, so we had to get in the truck and turn it around. (we didn't mind-just happy to see rain) We will definitely do it again. We have big plans for our next drive-in experience. We'll pick up some Mexican Connection or pizza, we'll take our portable stereo and sit it on the toolbox (so we don't have to worry about a battery dying), cold beverages again and of course, we'll have to get a large popcorn when we get there!

New Day... New Pod!

Bring it on!

This pump business is frustrating, to say the least. The good days are good and the bad ones are rough. As in 500 rough. It's an entire new learning curve and it's a tough one. We have been through four pods in four days. We are not sure if she is hitting a growth spurt and going really high at night, if being too rough in the pool is jacking it up, if they are faulty pods or what the issue seems to be. I have resorted back to shots several times this week.  Luckily, she doesn't mind a shot. I haven't missed them, but it's a good feeling to "know" she is getting exactly what I put into her body with a syringe.

We are not giving up on pumping, but got some love/hate goin' on!

And I'm just wishin' I was fishin' instead...... :)

Sweet Summertime!

Can you see, Dantz?

We survived another morning at the pool and it is fun stuff. Both girls can touch in the shallow end. Lydia has learned to swim underwater and is doing really well. They are both jumping off the side by themselves, like there's nothing to it. The joy is we take lunch and they swim from about 10am until we leave around 12:15. We are home snoozing by 12:30. Sometimes I have to snooze too. The sun will do that to you.

Just my thoughts....

Losing someone hurts no matter how they die. As most of you readers know, I lost my brother, Brandy, over two years ago. Horrible, is an understatement. Not because of how he died, but because he died. No one ever knows how they will handle a situation, until they are in it and it happens to them. If someone would have told me this is how it would have happened, I would not have believed them. The truth is, none of us know what can happen. And we cannot stop any of it from happening, no matter how hard we try.

When Brandy died, I had so many friends that would call and would not know what to say. A lot of them, I spared the awkwardness and just let them leave a message. I did take a call from a former co-worker that has stuck with me. We were just making small talk and were getting ready to get off the phone and he told me... "Kristee, I just want to say this about Brandy (whom he did not know) and I will not say anything else" He went on to say, "you do not know what he said or did in his last few seconds of life and God forgives us for anything and everything".  Absolutely true!

I'm going deep in this post because there's a couple of  families that are hurting from losing loved ones to a similar situation. They have emailed and asked me when does it get easier? How do they get answers to the whys? Hows? And so on. I'm so sad for them. I can honestly say that I never ever asked why.  I made up my mind that I did not need to know because it would not change the outcome, one bit. This was me personally and I am not speaking for anyone else. I decided all I cared about was keeping his memory alive. I wanted my brain to hold onto the exact image of his smile, the sound of his laugh that would make you laugh, the blue shorts, white t-shirt and flip flops that he had on the last time I saw him, (when he helped us get the girls out of Will's truck in his driveway), the hug he gave me that day because he was happy that we stopped by unexpectedly and the sound of his voice when he said, "Red".  Those are the things that helped me through each. and. every. day. 

I have no right answers for those families. I just know that I get through each and every day not thinking about his death, but the oh so many wonderful memories of his life! One full of adventure....

 He could ride,  jump and walk a dirk bike like you have never ever seen! It was unreal.

And many more......

Happy Birthday to Bea-Bea, Happy Birthday to you! And many more....

We love you and are so very thankful for you.