Back to Basketball...

Amidst the chaos and sickness that has over came our household in the last 2 weeks, we started up a new basketball season... Yeah, I just love watching him play... A sweet friend made this little movie for the team, so I thought I would share.. It is totally amazing, but make sure your sound is on.. :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfJWZNLw-L4 Thanks Jen for being so awesome with your movie making skills... Just a few snapshots of Stockton too... I love this kid, and love seeing the passion in his eyes for the game... :)

My amazing #12....

Notice the ball high in the air... Swoosh!!

Blah, Blah, Blogging....

It really has not been the best of weeks for us.. Seems like one thing after another after another, and tonight this mom IS pooped.... Just a few recaps of the past few weeks... Ten days ago Troy started getting cankers and just not feeling good, he has always gotten cankers, they usually hurt 4 or so days and feel better... This time he had 30+ on his tongue and lips... HORRID!! Not to mention he had major allergies... YUCK!! We were thinking by Monday or Tuesday he would be feeling better.... In the mean time Jade got sick on Saturday, puking a few times, diarrhea, you know the fun stuff... But by Sunday he seemed fine... Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday he complained off and on that his tummy hurt and still had some diarrhea, but seemed fine... Being the great mom I am I figured he was fine... :) Back to Troy, by Wednesday night he was shaking from the pain in his mouth, he hadn't slept, ate or even really functioned for days... I had begged him all week to go to the Dr. but of course he wouldn't go. I finally called his mom and begged her to get him to go, and being the the great mom she was, she told him either I could take him or she would... So I took him in that night... 3 hours later, he had some Percocet for the pain (after I made him ask for some..) He was actually amazed how much it helped his pain (DUH..) I am so happy he was able to get something to kill the pain for a bit, it was just awful watching him suffer.. Hopefully he is now on the mend, but it was pretty horrific... Back to Jade, while I was with Troy Wednesday night, Jade threw up again... UGH... Nothing really horrible though other than the bad tummy ache... By late Thursday he was screaming from the pain... All night Thursday, crying, would not eat, or drink... All day Friday would not eat or drink... By Friday night I could tell that he was pretty bad, so Troy and I took him in... The Dr. immediately ordered a full bag of IV fluids... Told him after he ate a Popsicle or drank juice he could go home, he wanted no part of it... So she would not take out the IV.. Sent us home with it, and back Saturday for another round of IVs.... Mind you he had not peed for like 36 hours, with 2 bags of IV fluids in him... So scary... FINALLY last night he peed.... He drank here and there, and has finally started to get an appetite back... Today woke up with a fever, UGH!!! But by noon was almost back to his funny little self... And no fever.... I am so tired, and my sympathy meter is almost non existence.... What a whirlwind of the past few weeks... I am praying for a better week and for my baby to feel better... :) Thankful for great friends and amazing family... My sweet mom came today to take the older kids (didn't even ask her, she just showed up and said I am taking them,) so Jade and I could get some sleep... I needed that more than she will ever know.. Going for 5 days with no sleep is killer.... I tried to sleep when he slept but I was so worried about him, no such luck... :) Sorry for such a long post, probably lost everyone mid post, it was so boring.. :) A few pictures of his week...

He was so brave getting his IV, not one tear.. :)

Being so brave...

Loving the "warm" blankets... :)

He was so proud of his "cast," loved showing it off...

Day 2 of IVs, still never lost his sense of humor... :)

Sorry don't have any pictures of Troy's mouth... I couldn't even look at them, they made me cringe in pain.. ;)

Dakota...

Just wanting to wish my cute nephew a Happy Birthday today.. Some of my favorite things about this kid....

D is for... Dynamite... So blessed to have him as my nephew, and love that my kids have him for a cousin..
A is for... Amusing.. Love his darling personality..
K is for... Kindred Spirit... Such a kind sweet little guy.. :)
O is for... Original... Love that he is one of a kind.. :)
T is for... Timid... Nothing wrong about being a little shy.. I love trying to get him out of his little shell... He eventually perks up and comes out of it, but that shy guy inside of him, LOVES!!!
A is for... Adorable.. Every time I see him, and he smiles, he just lights up the room.. He has the sweetest little smile... Love that smile of his.. :)

Hope you had a great day Koda... Love you so much.. :)

Funny....

Troy brought home some ones for Stockton for his birthday, and the second Cole (my money obsessed 7 year old) saw them he says without skipping a beat, "Dad where did you steal all THAT from?" Oh I am still laughing at that one... Too funny that kid is.. He is counting down the days until his birthday when he can get a wad of "stolen" cash... He he he... Oh love the little innocent comments that make my life happy.. :)

HaPpY BiRtHdAy StocktoN!!!

Today I want to wish my sweet boy a Happy Birthday... I know I say this every year but I really don't know where the last 12 years went.. Here are my favorites about Stock...

S is for... Studebaker... Love that he has had this nickname since he was born.. He will always be our little Stud... :)
T is for... Team Player.. This kid lives, breaths, loves basketball... I love his passion for the game, and that he is all about playing as a team.. I look forward to watching every game he plays.. Love seeing the passion in him as he plays..
O is for... One in a million... Never a dull moment at our house.. Stockton is constantly making us laugh... Love the happiness he adds to our family.. :D
C is for... Charming.. Already has girls chasing after him.. Oh the teenage road we will soon be going down, I am not ready for him to have girls liking him.. He cannot be that old... :)
K is for... Kind... Stockton is (for the most part) a very kind kid.. He tries to get along with everyone.. Tries to make everyone happy.. Love it, wish I was more like him.. :)
T is for... Tender... He has such a sweet spirit about him.. Would do anything for anyone, never mean to anyone.. Love this side of him... :)
O is for... Original... Nobody out there like him, and I wouldn't have it any other way.. Love you buddy.. :)
N is for... Nimble... Love it that he is smart... Don't get me wrong he is not perfect and still struggles in certain areas, but he is for the most part a pretty intelligent kid... So proud of that.. :)

Hope you have a great day buddy.. We are so blessed to have you as part of our family.. I love that you put a little humor into our family, and make everyone's day a little brighter... Love you my Studebaker... :)

Sweet Baby Ryker...

After 26 hard long hours of labor, and an emergency C-section, my new little nephew, Ryker, made his debut into this world... I have to give major kudos to my sister.... She endured 26 intense hours of labor, 4 horrible hours of pushing and to no avail still ended with a C... Blessed that it needed to be done to make sure that Mommy and baby were safe.. When they pulled him out, it was like an angel tugged at my heart...:) What an amazing little miracle he was, just perfect in every way.... I was so blessed that my sister and her husband were kind enough to let me in to see this miracle.. Levi was there to support Nancy, my job was pictures... After about 7 minutes I went over to Levi and told him to go see his baby, he was so worried about Nancy, I told him I would stay with her....Levi was a daddy... His eyes lit up, this glow emerged from within him... I loved seeing this, because I have felt it, every time I had a baby.. When I saw Nancy with him for the first time, again this amazing glow about her... She was a mommy, and from the depths of her soul, she loved that baby.. INSTANTLY... It was a very blessed thing for me to see... Loved being part of every minute of it... I think I am still on a baby high... :)

Going on hour 25 of labor.. What a trooper she was...


Minutes old...


What a cute little family...


I love this little guy...


His first Mohawk.. :)


Look at all that hair.. :)


Aww, this baby makes me so happy...



I am so grateful I got to be a part of this little miracle.. Thank you Nancy & Levi for letting me share this amazing experience with you...

Whirlwind...

That's what this last week has been for me... It was the kids official first week of school back... That was really nice... Quiet times for me and Jade to bond.. Got to spend some time with my sister too before her baby came... We decided to take the bullet and go for it with Salsa... We wanted to get it all done before baby came... So we started to mentally prepare for it Wednesday... Thursday went for tomatoes, peppers, onions, cilantro, salt, garlic and tomato paste.... We Salsaed for 3 days straight... I did all the cutting of peppers, onions, cilantro; whit and mom skinned and peeled tomatoes and we all sampled it... A LOT!!! Its always fun to do a salsa party.. We ended up doing over 200 bottles.... Mostly quarts, some pints... Troy did some pepper rings in a brine bath too... WHEW!!!! So happy to have that over, and about the time we finished cleaning up the mess, Nancy went into labor.... So it was off to the hospital with Nancy Saturday night, and I returned home Sunday night.... Long time labor, ending with a C-section.. BUT she did get something amazing out of it.... Too be continued...

Getting everything into the pot.. :)


Stockton helping feverishly... Notice Little Foot (my mom's dog) zonked out above him on the couch.. :)


Getting it ready to cook.. :D and eat...


Nancy, ready to have that baby... Notice all the jars still left to finish... :)


The finished product... OH so yummy... :)

Mr. Colton...

Courtnee & Colton... What cuties...

OK I admit I am the worst Aunt ever... I guess that's how I can tell what my stress level was when I totally forgot to wish my nephew a Happy Birthday.. So here it is, a little late... A few of our faves about Colton..

C is for... Cute.. He has now turned from a cute little boy into quite a handsome young man..
O is for... Outdoorsman... Love this about him.. He and Stockton are so much alike in this aspect.. They both adore the outdoors, hunting, fishing etc.. Love that we have got to be a part of so many outdoor memories with him..
L is for... Lovable.. Not sure if it's his darling smile, his pretty eyes, his sense of humor, or his overall demeanor but this is one lovable kid.. SO happy to have him as my nephew..
T is for... Tough... Colton is one tough kid, however I know he has a sweet side to him, not that it comes out very often, but its there... :)
O is for... One of a kind... Love, love, love him!! :)
N is for... Nothing but the best... What a great kid he is.. Someone to look up to. A role model for all kids.. :)

Colton is also a very hard worker, a great baseball player, a great son/friend/cousin/nephew/grandson/brother, an all around good kid... We love you Colton and are so happy to have you as part of our family.. I hope you had a great birthday and I am so sorry I spaced your blog post... Better late than never right? Love you buddy..