merry christmas.. almost

we've had a wonderful week filled with lots of family.. too many blessings to count.. and yet somethings missing. the presents are still under the tree. the stockings are still stuffed with goodies.. patiently waiting for our little family to be complete. this little guy, his dad and i will have a very merry christmas tomorrow evening when sissy makes it home. i love christmas eve...

welcome home baby macy!

dalton and auntie james heard a rumor that baby macy was headed to home today..

thats the best news we've heard in weeks!

macy marie.. movin on up!

guess who moved out of ICU today? she is doing so much better! she certainly isnt cured. she is still suffering from the lingering effects of the virus just like any cold with a nagging cough that you cant seem to kick even after most of the other symptoms are gone. and then theres the side effects from all the crazy meds she has been on.. poor thing. but she is doing so much better! as long as they dont have to use that feeding tube you see in the pic {which is the only tube left~yay!} then she will be going home soon! merry christmas to us!

macy marie!!!

i think this pic speaks for itself!! its been a good day...............

macy.. thursday & friday {wk 2}

so.. i failed to post an update yesterday. but to make up for it i have GOOD news this morning!! on wednesday, as jenny posted, they began to wean macy off of the super strong sedative she has been on since she arrived. in fact they took away the drip all together. they started giving her a more mild sedative thru her central line just as needed to ease her transition back into wakefulness. my mom and i left the hospital just before 10pm on wednesday night and she had been awake, but not really aware, off and on for a few hours at that time. FF 24 hours. {jennys dad and s-mom, my mom, jenny, nick & lance took turns hanging out with her during those 24 hours} when i arrived just before 10pm last night she was SO awake. and SO aware! it was awesome to not only see those big blue eyes.. but to also see them focus on my face!

oh, sweet sweet baby macy, tho we have been by your side every moment for the last 10 days, we have missed you so.

around 10:30pm, lance and i over heard the night dr tell the rt to turn the vent down to 16 breaths per minute at 2:30am. and i cant tell you how excited i was! i would have called the entire fam..except the point of 2 people staying the night is so that everyone else can rest.. anyway. i did sleep some in this comfy chair. and when i stirred around 5:30am i found that they did not stop at 16.. miss macy is breathing quite comfortable with only the help of 12 breaths per minute from the vent. weve been told that the settings have to be down to 5 or 6 before they can extubate.. but it doesnt seem like it will be much longer before we are there!! however, one thing to note about this weaning process, we make lots of progress one day and then we wait... even if today is just waiting - getting her off the vent before the weekend is over is a real possibility! of course we will not be removing the tube and grabbing her bags. she will have to stay in icu for a bit longer to make sure everything is just as is should be. then she will have to move to a regular room for a little more observation.. this journey is by no means over. but i do see the light at the end of that rsv tunnel.. and its getting brighter. ;)

she is waking up now and i am going to stand by her side.. hold her little hand and enjoy her gazing in my direction until my relief arrives for the day. thank you for all your thoughts and prayer. God is good.

macy marie.. wednesday {wk 2}

today is macy's second wedneday in the hospital and hopefully her last. she is definitely getting stronger. they have turned down the sedative {and the vent a tiny bit more}. hopefully by the end of the week she will be awake and breathing on her own.

a couple of days ago, early in the morning before we had the chance to talk yet, i sent jenny a text. you know.. one of those 'feeler' text to see if your friend is out there and available to communicate with you. if you get a reply great.. if you dont.. you know they are busy and they will get back to you when they can. the beauty of texting, right? my favorite is a simple hi. but for some reason i chose good morning. her reply. hmmm. it is morning. i completely deserved that cynical response! there isnt much that seems good about waking up to no change in your sweet little angels condition. i have a point i promise. today is a special day for the shoffners.. its their 3rd wedding anniversary. if you keep up with our families.. im sure you remember jenny telling the story in this post of getting married twice and how each date has different meaning to them. so, all day today ive been trying to find the words to wish them a happy anniversary but somehow happy doesnt seem like the right word at all. then i realised how happy they make each other. and how much more difficult all of this would be with out the incredible love and awesome relationship they have. i am so proud of your beautiful marriage. i hope that you find joy and strength in each other today. and in all the happy times yet to come. happy anniversary guys. happy anniversary.

**i know this is not the most recent pic.. but i LOVE that macy bump. ;) love you guys!

macy marie.. tuesday {wk 2}

jenny took care of reporting the news for the day.. and i have the pleasure of posting two sweet pics that i took on sunday afternoon.

the first one is a little misleading. she isnt awake.. she is still heavily sedated. but over the weekend she would spontaneously open her eyes every once in a while during her more restless periods. i just happened to have my camera out to snap this one. her eyes were only open for a brief time...but it was a bit refreshing to see those big blues.

love that little fist. its a real symbol to me of the strength in that tiny body. she is a fighter. she is strong. and she will win this struggle.

macy marie.. monday

things are mostly the same around medical city today in the picu. macy is in good company. mommy has been here ALL day. and daddy got here a little while ago.. he had to get some work done today. cousin lance and i have been here since noon. the nana's have the other kids.. and we will all switch for the evening and night shift.

macy is stable.. no major changes. however, her mom and dad just met with a dr who showed them all of her chest xrays and the progression of the secretions from the virus over the last week since she arrived. her lungs are finally starting to clear! they havent made any changes to the vent today.. but we are happy with the news just the same.

jenny spoke to the nurse today and got an approval for kennedy to visit baby macy for the first time. i just told her over the phone when she got home from school and she was THRILLED.. i mean like hannah montana tickets thrilled. thank you, jenny, for thinking of my little girl when your little girl is so sick.

macy marie.. sunday evening

when i left the hospital a little before 6 macy's vent was down to 20! great progress! i took a few pics that i will share tomorrow..

macy marie.. sunday

finally! some good news. macy's mommy had the pleasure of announcing today that they turned the vent down this morning from 28 breaths per minute to 24. and she is taking up the slack on her own! way to go macy!!! it might be a baby step.. but its a baby step in the right direction!!! the prayer is working.. thank you! im having lunch with the fam and then heading up to the hospital to spend the day with my girls. looking forward to the day real soon that all the girls can hang out. kenners included. .

think im gonna take my camera with me today...

macy marie.. saturday morning

we made it thru the night. and just as i suspected.. we did not sleep. but we did catch up. and we did completely enjoy hanging out together despite the situation. jenny just posted an update about macy's condition here. i will update again later today. thanks for checking on her and please continue to pray with us that today will be the day things REALLY turn around.

macy marie.. friday evening

not much change to report.. everything is pretty much the same as this morning. she has had a full day of visitors. so many people are worried about her. im sure she is feeling all the love around her. jenny and i are having a sleepover at the hospital tonight. im sure we wont get much rest.. but not because she will be keeping us up.. somehow we havent actually seen each other since wednesday afternoon. and we need a little catch up time.

macy marie.. friday morning

ok.. so i REALLY stink at to-the-point-brief updates. but im going to try my best to get better at them. i know there are people checking this blog for any glimpse into macy's day..

she had a good night. she has been moving around and being a bit more restless since late yesterday afternoon. {even tho she is still completely out} they have decided to start turning back the vent this afternoon.. but nothing too drastic. and they still expect the process of weaning to take 24-48 hours. when she is successfully breathing on her own they will allow the sedatives to wear off so that she can wake up. we definitely dont want to rush things.. but i think i speak for everyone when i say we are anxious to see those big blue eyes looking around again. if all goes well she will be looking for mommy and daddy on monday just like she did exactly 8 weeks earlier on her birthday.

thank you so much for your continued prayer. she desperately needs it.. more voices = louder cries.. we are asking everyone we know to pray for macy and hope that you will do the same.

macy marie.. wednesday & thursday

so.. the tomorrow WILL be a better day chant.. didnt quite do the trick. in fact wednesday was some how so much worse. i have to be brief... too tired to type much. we all are. tuesday night was relatively peaceful. jenny and i took turns staying up, holding her and helping the nurse and respiratory therapist while macy and her dad got a little bit of rest. we really thought things were turning around. but by noon on wednesday it was clear that nothing was really changing. she was still very sick. early in the afternoon the staff at the mckinney medical center explained that there wasnt much more they could do. they had called for a transport team to take sweet litte macy to medical city childrens hospital in dallas. after she and her mommy arrived by ambulance they worked for more than an hour to get her settled into her new room in the pediatric intensive care unit {picu} and stabilized. she was sedated and intubated. every monitor you can imagine surround her tiny body.. a sea of wires, tubes and machines were now looking after macy. as well as a picu nurse right outside of her door. and finally she rested.

thursday has been more of the same. they did give her blood this morning.. and they discovered a bacterial infection when her cultures returned from the lab today so now they are giving her antibiotics as well. nick and jenny also met with her dr who gave them a time line of what to expect. its vague.. and who knows how many times the time line will change. but it seems like real progress. its at least a plan. we like plans. ;) the first step in that plan is to let her little body rest and recover. so, for now, she will likely sleep until saturday morning. until then.. the plan is for us {all five of her grandparents, kp & i, and numerous members of both extended families} to do whatever we can to support nick and jenny. and share every moment that we can with the little angel. kp and i spent almost 2 hours with her during shift change this evening. seeing that only two people can be in the room at a time, we are grateful for any time that we get to share with her.. she has lots of people loving her and looking after her.

jenny posted lots of pics that weve all taken from macys week in three different hospitals. she has also started a facebook group called prayers for macy please feel free to join. and please let them know that you are thinking about macy and praying for her. feel free to comment here or on jennys blog. the encouragement is so uplifting. they have so much on their minds. basically they need to be in two places at once because dalton needs his mommy & daddy too. if you are praying for this family.. please include dalton in your requests. his life has been turned upside down and shaken in the last 2 weeks. and tho she wouldnt dream of mentioning it while her baby is dealing with all of this.. jenny is quite sick too. lack of rest and stress arent helping to get her thru her cold symptoms any faster.

i promise to update regularly. even if its brief. and i promise to post pics of those big blue eyes as soon as they are open.

i love you macy marie.. we love you macy marie.

*a short disclaimer. its getting late on thurs. all the lack of sleep is finally catchin up with me. i apologize for any grammatical issues in this post. im not up for proof reading. or fixing the spacing..

macy marie..

wow. what a long day. and just because im tired.. ive borrowed well an entire post from jennys blog.


MACY
This post is not a pleasant one to write and is simply to inform everyone of what is going on with our baby girl. Friday evening Macy came down with a cold...not too bad, but she was definitely congested. Saturday all day it was more of the same. Saturday night I was up with her all night. She stopped eating and clearly couldn't breath. Sunday all day was the same...no eating, labored breathing and lots of crying. Sunday night she vomitted and became very pale, so I called the triage nurse at her pediatrician's office - she listened to Macy breathing and directed us to go to the ER. Which we did. They did a breathing treatment, took x-rays and tested for RSV. They said all the test results were okay and we went home. That was about 2:00 in the AM. First thing Monday morning we took her to the pediatrician for a follow-up appt. She had a breathing treatment and got some nasal spray and we went home. Monday night was the worst...she screamed all evening, night and early morning. Wouldn't eat, couldn't breath. So it was back to the ER at 4 AM for us. This time she tested positive for RSV and was admitted right away. We have been here all day and the doctor just said we'll be here at least until Thursday...depending on how she does. Prayers are greatly appreciated and I will try to update the blog regularly as to her progress.

so.. a few of the details. she has been having breathing treatments and suction to remove secretions every 1 to 2 hours. eating has been very difficult.. so theyve inserted a feeding tube. 3 times. she has endured 2 of the worst iv's and iv mishaps known to man {or i guess i should say baby} only to be left with an open wound on her tiny little foot. but finally 20 hours later she is sleeping.. and she actually looks almost comfortable. her breathing is still quite labored. and tho we are keeping our eyes peeled.. we cant quite see the light at the end of this rsv tunnel. we are praying for a peaceful, restful night. one thing is certain. she is so loved.

tomorrow will be better. tomorrow WILL be better.

it makes me...

its no secret that korb lives the good life around here.. he is rarely awake before 8 am on a weekday. and only then because he can hear others up around the house. on the weekends he's been known to sleep til.. well.. last sunday.. noon. what can i say. he is his fathers child. ;) but thats not the point of this story. for the most part he gets out of bed. eats breakfast. plays with his friends until 11. eats lunch. then takes a nap. and during that busy morning i almost never take the time to get him dressed. we just worry about that when he wakes up from nap. so yesterday around 3pm when i was getting him dressed for the day, i took a pair of jeans and a super-cute-old-navy-striped shirt out of his closet. one that he has had for weeks and i have only gotten him to wear a few times. this one.. he wore it the day we took kennedys hairkut pics.
its cute. i like it. so yesterday, as he was throwing the same fit he always does when i try to put it on him, and yelling that he doesnt like it... i stopped and asked, 'korb..WHY dont you like it?' {WHY is completely his favorite word right now. but thats another post entirely} his reply. and i quote. "it makes me nauseous." what? nauseous? seriously? seriously. when i inquired further.. certain that he did not know what nauseous meant. he said, "dizzy mommy. that shirt makes me nauseous & dizzy." not exactly the response one would expect from your 2 year old. he seriously cracks me up!

i stink at meme's..

and ive dodged a few tags over the last few months.. so ive decided to combine!

10 years and 5 things.. this is for kelly

Rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people & posts their names, then goes to their blog & leaves them a comment letting them know that they have been tagged & asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you've answered the questions on your blog.

10 YEARS AGO I...

1. was 21 years old.
2. bought my first SUV.
3. fell in love with buffett after my very first show.
4. moved to va beach over thanksgiving week.
5. was a few months away from being pregnant with kennedy.

5 THINGS ON TODAY'S TO-DO LIST

1. blog about meme's -- marking this one off the list, finally!
2. drop my kids off with their aunt & uncle for a few hours.. loving that option!!!
3. visit my friend erin in the hospital
4. meet with mr mabel {will the nightmare ever be over}
5. put some gas in the ha-hoe. not such a daunting task at $1.57 per gallon!
   

5 THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE A MILLIONAIRE

1. put kenny in charge so that we dont spend it all..
2. share the wealth with my family
3. travel
4. not clean the floors weekly!
5. concerts. lots of concerts.
   

5 PLACES I HAVE LIVED

1. mckinney, tx
2. plano, tx
3. virginia beach, va
4. yuma, az
5. childress, tx

5 JOBS I'VE HAD

1. daycare provider.. my favorite!
2. sales manager at neiman marcus
3. sales manager at dillards
4. account exec for nautica and ck jeans
5. visual manager at dillards

My Big Eights.. this is for jaime {and jodi and jennifer! ...julie its your turn} love me some lindley girls!

rules: this one seems pretty simple. just list eight things about yourself in each category. however.. it wasnt SO easy to come up with EIGHT things in each category! but it was fun!

8 TV Shows I Love To Watch:

1. er
2. 90210 {new and old.. cant help myself}
3. life on mars
4. boston legal
5. lost
6. 24
7. dr g
8. sports.. football, hockey, basketball, golf, nascar, poker {i know thats a stretch..but it is on espn}, baseball, horse racing~ hey, thats 8!

8 Favorite Restaurants: about restaurants.. can you really put taco bueno and nick & sams on the same list? well, im about to!

1. dos charros
2. chick fil a
3. chili's
4. boston's
5. taco bueno
6. nick & sams
7. jt's bbq
8. ensenada's

8 Things That Happened Today:

1. packed kp's lunch.
2. talked to erin pre-7:30AM
3. enjoyed my 7:35AM phone date with kp.
4. got tlk ready for school.
5. reminded parents to pick up early
6. swept up lots of cheerios after breakfast with 4 toddlers
7. read 'twas the night before christmas more than once
8. korb pooped in the potty twice

8 Things I am looking Forward To:

1. a pedicure with my SIL
2. going to the holcomb christmas party on saturday
3. the sweater party
4. my mom visiting for a full week in december
5. great seats for eyb at billy bobs
6. taking kennedy to the pat green meet-n-greet
7. christmas shopping
8. editing/posting pics from thanksgiving

8 Things On My Wish List: starting big and working my way down to realistic ;)

1. the perfect gifts for everyone for christmas
2. to win the lottery
3. a cowboys win in the playoffs {playoffs?} a girl can wish. thats what the list is for, right?
4. new flooring in the masterbedroom and bath
5. a laptop
6. a chi flat iron
7. a new camera strap
8. a new lens for my camera

And finally.. The Christmas edition of “Getting To Know Your Friends”.. this one is for melissa. because she was nice enough to play along when i tagged her in the 6th photo post.

If you are reading this, then join in the fun (not a blogger?... email it and keep the fun going!) Here's what to do and try not to be a SCROOGE! Copy and paste these 25 questions into your blog. Change all the answers so that they apply to you & your family. Tis the Season to be NICE! Enjoy reading everyones answers reading from their blog!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? for christmas, wrapping paper. for the rest of the year..definitely gift bags.
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial! totally and completely cannot breath around the real thing!
3. When do you put up the tree? Thanksgiving weekend
4. When do you take the tree down? the weekend after new years
5. Do you like eggnog? yep. and wassail!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? clothing. always clothing. imagine that.
7. Hardest person to buy for? kennedy
8. Easiest person to buy for? kyle
9. Do you have a nativity scene? actually, no. and that makes me sad!
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Snail mail - gotta do that!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? thats a hard one..
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? umm... die hard?
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? i do things at the last minute! that includes christmas shopping..
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? not that i can recall.. but if im being honest, im not sure i would tell. :)
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? deviled eggs..im sure kyle just threw up a little in his mouth.
16. Lights on the tree? clear..but i like colors on everyone elses ;)
17. Favorite Christmas song? i have a new favorite this year.. santa claus got stuck in my chimney by ella fitzgerald. dont ask. ;) normally im a christmas island kinda girl.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? a little of both
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? see above..eight things ive done today..do you know how many times ive read twas the night before christmas lately.. its korb's favorite! he can almost quote the whole thing on his own.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? angel
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? christmas eve! if we can wait that long!!!
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? most years.. the exhaustion of long hours working retail. this year.. missing the hustle and bustle of long hours working retail. i know. it makes no sense.
23. Favorite ornament? all of the kids first christmas ornaments.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? all of it!
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? for kennedy to stay home...

ok. done. that was actually kinda fun! i would love it if you could find time in your busy schedules to play along.. lita, nikki, nickie, jenny, heather, jaime, jennifer, julie, jodi, kelly, amy, katie.. not that im tagging you. just suggesting a little mindless fun..

a week in the life..

it has honestly taken 3 days to catch up on 4 days of FUN! it all started last wednesday.. i was chatting over email with a couple of girlfriends about the girls dinner we were planning for thursday night. just working out the details of where and what time.. my friend erin was bragging about her concert tickets that night and i couldnt help but be a little jealous! so, i strolled by craigslist after our chat to find someone desperate to get rid of their tickets for the show that same night.. called kp at work.. scrambled to find a sitter.. and tada - coldplay. on a random wednesday night in dallas. thanks carters and mincheys for tag-team-babysitting the k's!
**clearly i didnt shoot these videos. TGFYT.. {thank God for youtube}

thursday night GNO. the where and what time turned out to be fireside pies at 8PM with 3 of my closest friends.. aka the fab 4. i didnt take my camera.. but nikki snapped a pic to remember the moment. we reminisced a little. talked about each others current events. and took a quick vote that next month {or whenever we get around to seeing each other again} we will be the fab 5! jenny, clear your calendar! LOVE THESE GIRLS!

ok.. lets see. friday night. king tut at the dallas museum of art. the kids spent the evening with their best friends. korb at gracy's and kennedy at kaylee's. thanks reddick's and wolf's! kp and i, along with derek and nicole, met kenny painter and a friend in dallas at the dma to see the king tut exhibit. it was interesting.. the boys loved it. {my favorite part might have been the new dress that kp picked up for me on the way home.} i was almost as bored there as i am re-reading this paragraph! ;) jokes! honey, jokes! after tutankhaman, the boy king.. the 6 of us made our way to the social house in the west village to hang out. what can i say about the rest of the evening. hmmm. not boring!

doesnt kp look completely thrilled to help me try out my new tripod?

saturday morning started early. nicole and i picked korb up from his sleep over around 8:30AM. we had breakfast together. mcdonalds. egg mcmuffin's rock. nicole headed home so that she and baby p could rest up from our long night and prepare for another! korb and i got ready, picked kennedy up, and made it to bexley's 2nd birthday party around 1030AM. so much fun. i CANNOT believe these boys are already two! there is an adorable slide show over on jaime's blog.. if i do say so myself.. if anyone is interested in seeing one sweet little blonde and his best buds! i think this ones my favorite..

that afternoon was spent cleaning casa de palmer. getting ready for the next thing on the agenda.. a going away party for uncle sam. kyle's friend sam.. the best man in our wedding and roommate i stole him away from years ago.. just accepted a position in austin. he is moving this week.. we couldnt let him leave without a proper 'going away' party. complete with about 20-25 guys {and 5 or 6 girls} and one heck of a sing-along in the garage until wee hours of the morning. we are so lucky to have good neighbors! everyone had a blast. we promise the same 'coming home' bash when he makes his way back to dallas. elvis cardwell and all... ;) we will miss you sammy b. we promise to visit lots!

**there were lots of pics taken at the party. kp did the honors. and i havent gotten around to editing them yet. if i find any blog worthy.. or maybe i should say blog appropriate ;) i will post them next week. stay tuned!

rounding out the week.. lazy sunday plus a cowboys win. lazy monday evening. super lazy tuesday evening. and there you have it. a week in the life of team palmer. a crazy week in the life of team palmer. the next 7 days look to be almost as eventful. thanksgiving in east texas.. helping nick and jenny bid farewell to H-TOWN. and a lot of packing and unpacking! bring it on!

happy birthday daddy!

happy birthday to you,
happy birthday to you,
happy birthday dear.. preacher-man, daddy, papa.
happy birthday to you!

i hope have a wonderful {mission} trip to mexico this week. you are so giving.. and it makes me so proud to call you my father. happy birthday-thanksgiving {thats a kobra quote from today} dad...we love you!!!

NO amount of money..

whats the magic $number$ ...that would get that guy in YOUR belly? 50 bucks? 100?

it was a quiet night in mckinney.. about a week ago. we were having dinner with the mincheys and kenny painter.

weve been trying to make a habit of getting together every other month or so. kenny gets a little taste of family life, ya know, kids running around.. nika looking for scraps. we get to hear his latest travel adventures. a little vicarious living. all while feasting on what ever derek thoughtfully prepares and enjoying each others company. and tho these get togethers almost always take place on a school night {its hard to book kenny on the weekend} we usually put the kids to bed and stay up til 11ish. party!

so. back to last weeks dinner. the food was great. fajitas! a fitting mexican dish to eat while we heard a few stories of kenny's recent trip to oaxaca. where he purchased that lovely bottle of mezcal. we talked about baby minchey. korb took kenny to see the newly remodeled game room. kennedy amazed him with her 3rd grade math skills. and after they got into their pjs and uncle kp read baby kp a book. they went to bed. and we.....

well the truth is.. we played guitar hero. and looked at a beautiful photobook nicole just finished with pics from their honeymoon to italy. and we learned that dereks favorite band, of all times, is journey. {im sure he's gonna love that being broadcast on the www} and i almost forgot about the riveting conversation about gas prices and futures contracts. very exciting stuff! what can i say. we are getting old. but we always have a great time together!!! around 11, kyle decided it was time to go. as we were gathering our things i heard kenny say, "hey kyle. how much money would it take to get you to eat the worm in the bottle of mezcal." his reply, "no amount of money." the conversation that followed went something like this.

kenny: how about $250?

kyle: ok.

kenny: no. thats too much.

kyle: awesome. it was great to see you...

kenny: how about $150?

kyle: ok.

wait. what happened to 'no amount of money...'

i think they call that the give me my money dance.

and then we called it a night. myth says that the worm contains hallucinogens or aphrodisiac properties. we wouldnt know. after 'the dance' we loaded up in our tahoe. and went home. dont worry i drove, just in case. ;) we were all asleep within 20 min. im pretty sure the people of oaxaca would consider that a waste. but $150 richer.. i think kp would disagree! thanks for a fun night guys! cant wait til next time!!!

kennedy got a hairkut..

kennedy.. got a hairKut.

Korb likes it..

'Kause its fun.

and Kute.more importantly, Kenners likes it...

almost as much as mini muffins. ;)

2 years. 2 months..

and 2 days shy of 2 weeks.. guess what kp2 did? number 2 in the potty!!! so exciting! he has also completed number 1 two different times today for a total of 3 successful bathroom trips! not sure if this potty training genius will last.. especially since weve never even talked about potty training other than him 'watching' everyone else in the house. this was completely his idea. we dont have pull ups. or underwear. or a potty. or a step stool. guess i need to do a little potty shopping!

so.. in honor of korbs first day of potty training.. i want to remember a few other things he's said and done lately. wow. he is a HANDFUL to say the least. he cracks me up EVERYDAY! and even tho this stage is definitely the most work yet. i dont want to forget a minute of it.

he says the most random witty things.

• he left one of his favorite books within james' reach last week. when he found james tearing it up i heard him say, "nice job, james. nice job."
• last friday when i went to get him out of his bed in the morning.. the first thing out of his mouth was - "i want white donuts."
• one day last week maddie and gracy were arguing over a toy. g started to whine. then i heard korb say.. "gacy, youre being widiculous"
• on saturday while playing in the front yard at dalton's new house he heard the neighbors air conditioner come on. "dont worry, dalton's nana" he said, "its just a compressor"
• and this morning.. after dropping a toy loudly on the wood floor he looked at me and said "that scared me out of the crap" clearly he meant that it scared the crap out of him. not sure if thats an approved phrase yet.. but it definitely made me laugh out loud.

he breaks something different everyday. most recently, the light switch cover in the playroom. whacked it with a golf club... can you say destructive?

he CANNOT get enough of reading books. he doesnt care if its the same book over and over.. or one he's never seen before. he is also completely indifferent as to who reads it.. if you look like you know how to read - he will climb up in your lap. last night, he read a book with kenny painter. so sad i didnt get a picture!

he is a self-proclaimed yeftie (leftie-still working on the L sound in the beginning of words). and we (along with his pediatrician) dont see that changing.

he is definitely into music. and he wants to yisten to it youd.. wonder where he gets that.

he is so excited about daltons new house.. and he YOVES baby macy.

im sure there are tons of new things im forgetting.. it seems like thats easy to do when you spend all day hanging out with him and his friends. fun. fun. fun. thats the best way i can describe him right now. so much fun!

oops. i forgot..

..about tx v ou at the degele's. christy reminded me that i hadnt shared the pictures of all the kids. so i picked my favorite 40{ish}..and thru them on a slide show. we had a great time. thanks for having us guys! and im glad we got to hang out last friday night! we should definitely do it more often!

its official!

what an awesome day! today, i got to spend some quality time with this little bundle of joy!! she is so precious! and so tiny! and spending time with her would make any day awesome! but theres even more reason to celebrate.. her mommy & daddy spent those same precious hours that i was snuggling macy on a final walk thru and closing on their new house! right here in mckinney! less than 5 min away! i cannot begin to explain how excited we are! except for that brief-world-wind-chaotic time between the summer of 2004 and fall of 2005, that definitely counts for something.. {but not exactly quality time} my brothers family and my family have never lived in the same city. he lived in florida.. i lived in arizona. he lived in the metroplex.. i lived in hampton roads. i moved to mckinney.. he moved to houston. we just havent really been on the same page in a LONG time.. and it looks like things are finally coming together! in less than one month.. our boys will be able to see each other all the time and actually grow up together. not to mention all the school stuff his family will get to be apart of in kennedys life. and all the time we will get to help spoil the last baby in this shoffner chapter. BEYOND THRILLED! congrats guys! you bought a house today!

LOVE THESE MUNCHKINS!

november sickness = productivity & politics

much like this time last year. im sick. its been about a week now. however, instead of grinning and bearing it for a month, i saw my dr yesterday. bronchitis. ear infections.. yuk! one breathing treatment, one antibiotic injection, one steroid injection, three prescriptions, and 36 hours later. im feeling much better! however, some of the side effects of those miracle steroids are getting on my nerves! sleeplessness. and increased appetite. only 5 more days.. i am trying to use this extra time productively. i think im completely caught up on blogging! ive completed 4 posts {5 including this one} in one day. just keep scrolling if you are interested.. ive edited and narrowed down approx 1000 pictures taken in the last two weeks to around 150 images..

and ive seen the obama speach at least 4 times. i think im actually starting to believe him. ;) after making a conscience effort not to blog about politics.. i would like to publicly say how much i respect john mccain. i dont think there are many men left in this world who can say they have spent their entire adult lives serving this country and in my opinion thats remarkably respectable. i read on the blog of a friend who supports obama recently that she believed regardless of the outcome our country is still better for [obamas] presence in the political world. i feel completely the same way about senator mccain. this nation is a better place because of his life long commitment to patriotism. he may not be my president in the morning. but im proud to say that he did get my vote.

nascar 08

as planned, over the weekend kp and i attended the nascar races at texas motor speedway in ft worth. kyle got up early on saturday morning and drove the kids to meet his mom... letting me sleep in. what an awesome surprise! thanks honey! and thanks to gran gran and grandpa for letting kennedy and korb visit for the weekend. they had SO much fun! it was a long weekend..but a great time to hang out with friends and family. of course, i took a ton of pics. so once again.. a slide show is a must.

our halloween. 2008 edition

halloween was SO much fun for kennedy and korb this year. they got to wear their costumes 3 different times.. and had a blast every time! on friday the 17th, kennedy's girl scout troop participated in a carnival with all the other troops in our area. kyle, korb and i joined her for the evening. there were SO many kids there..

kennedy was a cowgirl. and her friend danny was a very friendly blue witch! korb was a pumpkin this year.. and during this outing he could NOT have been any less concerned with my camera. he just wanted to GO, GO, GO! thursday the 30th.. we attended the fall festival at kennedy's elementary school. here she is with her 3rd grade teacher. we LOVE mrs twist!

kyle was not able to go with us to the school.. and korbs fascination with this putting game kept me from taking many pictures. he was a regular pumpkin-tiger-woods. he needed to dominate the game. :)

we ran into a friend of kennedys from kindergarten that i havent seen in years. you might remember a little boy who 'poisoned' her by putting hand sanitizer in her water bottle.. oh the things boys do for attention. this pic is from her 6th bday party. thats grady sitting in the window in red.and my how grady has grown up!
and finally.. we put out a bowl of candy for trick or treaters visiting our house on halloween. and jaime & bex joined korb, kyle and i for trick or treating on our street. i LOVE that we can take our boys to do things like this together..

i wanted desperately to get a pic of bam-bam-bex and pumpkin-korb walking down the sidewalk.. but this is the best one that i got. they were in a hurry..

they HAD to get to the next house..

and the next..

until korb decided walking was over rated..

trick or treating is hard work..

kennedy spent halloween evening trick or treating with her bff, kaylee, in her new neighborhood. then they attended a halloween party from 830 pm-1030 pm. she is growing up WAY too fast.

all in all, we had a great holiday. and we have more candy than they will EVER eat! korb hasnt had much candy yet in life. but he definitely has developed a sweet tooth in the last week! oh well.. halloween only rolls around once a year, right?